Thank you, that is so kind, and Arvia will be amazing in July, and hopefully great weather for you too, to enjoy the outdoor spaces a bit more too. Linzi & Mark
Best video I've seen! Thanks so much for this. I wanted the private desk room but the shower does look a little small...the wheelchair access room looks the best (for my needs). Wonder if there's a private balcony room with wheelchair access??
Hi Sarah, thank you so much, for such a lovely comment. We are not sure on the wheelchair access to the balconies, it's not something we've ever come across or heard anyone talk about, it would be worth you giving P&O a call and asking. Have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
Thank you DS, really happy you enjoyed them, we've plenty more to come for you. Have a lovely day, and thank you for taking time to drop us a comment. Linzi & Mark
Thank you, I liked your insights - I shall search for your vlogs on the drinks packages. (We’ll be taking a Ventura cruise soon! Having mostly sailed with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, I’m expecting a drop in class, but maybe not in quality).
Hi Carole, thank you, we are glad you enjoyed the video, and hopefully you found our drinks package one too. We will have a P&O Drinks Package vs Pay As You Go on the channel in the next few weeks, as on our recent Iona cruise, we didn't take the package (unlike on the previous one), so you can see a direct comparison, if you are interested. We didn't hold back, and got all the drinks/cocktails we wanted, exactly, as if we had the package, but weren't restricted by the £6.95 drink price limit. We have sailed a lot with Royal and quite a few times with Celebrity, and we'd say P&O is closer to Royal and your expectations, however it is not the same as Celebrity, we would absolutely put them up a level above P&O at present. Thanks again for watching our stuff, and have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
Thanks Stuart & Karen. It might be worth putting the new one Arvia on that list, it looks pretty good, and we will definitely try her out ourselves, hopefully next year. But there is so much choice in the cruise market right now, and our list, like yours seems to just be growing nearly daily as to what we'd like to do. Take care, Linzi & Mark
My partner and I just got back from a wonderful week away in the med on Azura. Couldn't fault it. Have been cruising since 2009 and done many different cruise lines. Yes, there are changes and cut backs but life is different now too. Just so happy and privileged we could afford to go away and got there and back safely. I really like your videos. Keep it up. 💯
Hi Stu, thanks for watching and taking time to comment too. How was Azura? We were surprised by P&O, having had pre-conceptions (like we had with Cunard) and the reality is it’s another great cruise line. Which is why we are now trying Iona later this year. Sure the drinks package isn’t great and the older ships could do with a bit of a refresh in parts but overall we really enjoyed our time on P&O and can’t wait to go on again. As you rightly said, it is always a privilege to go on a cruise or any vacation and with so much choice it’s knowing what is right for you and your personal circumstances or requirements. Thanks again for such a great comment. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Thank you Mary, that is very kind, please make sure to come back and let us know what you thought of your first P&O Cruise on Azura afterwards, or join us in a live chat and let us know. Have a lovely day Linzi & Mark
@@SuiteNatured will do. We previously watched your video about their drinks package which was also very useful. We will not be getting it thanks to your information 🙂
Entirely agree with you re multigenerational holidays. My husband (39) and I (33) go away with my sisters family, my parents and my grandmother with P&O each year. Whilst the entertainment may not be generally to my taste, my family is very happy with the food and service and I enjoy the quality of the cocktails/ Bars. Whilst I may wish for more exciting food or entertainment the staff always make up for it; along with the price, and the ease of travel to Southampton. We're very excited to try Iona/Ariva next year. Something a bit more my speed hopefully! Desperate to try Virgin, but the price might make us wait for a few years! (love the channel, we watch each video religiously!)
Thank you for such a lovely comment Lauren. We saw so many multi-generational families when we were on, something we haven’t really seen on any other cruise line. Our only real gripe with P&O is the quality of the drinks package, and so when we go on Iona in November that’ll be the first cruise in a long time where we’ve simply paid as we drink. And we do like a drink to two as you will gather, so will be interesting to see how it compares to what the drinks package costs. We are sure you’d love Virgin (and we are gutted our November cruise was cancelled), there are some decent deals out there at the moment for them but only if you fly to Barcelona. Having said that we saw one today for them for 918 for a five night cruise including flights for 2 people. So not bad. Again, thank you so much for watching and for taking time to get in touch too. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured totally agree with you on the p&o drinks package. Shockingly bad. All our favourites are over the 6.95 price limit. We also miss the old loyalty card system for coffees and soft drinks!
We never remember the old loyalty card systems Lauren as that was before we went on P&O, but it is a shame they decided to scrap it. We are with you on the favourites, virtually every one of our go to, fancier drinks, was over £6.95. It wouldn't even be as bad if they let you just pay the difference, but no, you pay the full amount less 20%, so even if it was £7, just 5p more, you would pay £5.60. Crazy. Whoever thought this is a good idea clearly didn't think of it from a customer experience perspective, purely from a cash for them basis. Shame. Hopefully they will eventually change it, but if people keep buying it, and they seem to be doing, then there is no real reason for them to do so anytime soon. Have a lovely day Lauren, Linzi & Mark
Hi, firstly, thank you. We are delighted you've been enjoying our videos. At the time we are writing this reply to you, we are actually on our second P&O cruise aboard Iona. So there will be a further food review incoming on Iona over the coming weeks. However we won't get ahead of ourselves as we are only a few days into a two week cruise. So we will give our reply based on P&O Ventura alone compared to Enchanted. Generally speaking P&O compared very favourably. we were surprised how favorably as Princess has been renowned for food in the past. The main dining rooms and other inclusive foods on both are very similar, and the speciality ones, all P&Os were good (except The Beach House) and likewise on Enchanted except Sur La Mer. We doubt you would be disappointed with P&O food wise compared to Princess. Hope this helps. Linzi and Mark
One point that you did not mention. Was that gratitudites were included in the fare. So you do get stung at the end of your cruise with extra fees on your bill.
Thanks Daniel. You are right, we forgot to cover that in any detail. We put it in the scroll near the start as to what’s included but we probably should have done a short section too. All gratuities (or Crew Appreciation as Princess call it) are included as part of both Premier and Plus packages, as well as services charges at bars (normally 18% on top of drink price). Thanks for watching and commenting too. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
P and O is in an odd position of trying to retain the older traditional customer, whilst launching two larger vessels aimed at families and children off on 2 week “sunshine” breaks. Having just come off the Arvia repositioning cruise across the Atlantic, a ship with great facilities, I feel we will be looking elsewhere for our next cruise - trying to recapture the feel and levels of service of the P and O of 5 years ago!! So maybe Princess or Celebrity!!
We completely agree. The new ships are definitely trying to serve a bigger audience, and their smaller ships are in need of quite a bit of TLC so a bit of an odd place to be. Princess, in our experience of late, have got their challanges too, in particular the service and how they rely on the medallion class is really struggling on their bigger, newer ships. So if you are considering them, then maybe look at the slightly smaller ships that have been updated as they don't seem to be having the same issues. Celebrity is just pretty much spot on right now, but the price premium over P&O and even Princess, is high. But we are not seeing any bad reports coming off those in comparison. Whichever you go on next, have a fantastic cruise. Linzi and Mark
Thank you so much for this review ! I have oft wondered about P & O's cruises. From the sounds of what you both said today.... looking for a great deal with Cunard instead, is a "no-brainer". I have yet to cruise on a Princess ship, but am noticing some stellar prices with them (for Western US ports). Cheers ! 🍹🍹🍹
Hi Denise, thanks for the comment, as always. We would still recommend P&O and we are going to check out Iona ourselves later this year as the newer ships are much more comparable we are told to Royal or NCLs newer ships. You must try Princess, we are on Enchanted in August but if it’s is an improvement on a Regal Princess (and it appears to be) then it will be something special. And their Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages are good value. But a Cunard deal is always a no-brainier. We’ve just seen a 4 night Queen Mary balcony trip in October this year for £309 a person! Just need to see if we can wrangle some extra time off work as that is such a great price, but it does show, Deals are out there. Take care Denise and as always, have a lovely day. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Hi, hiii ! :) :) Thank you for the hot tip about the Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages ! Yes, I do believe my next cruise will definitely be with Princess. Wishing a lovely day to you two as well !!
Just returned from our second cruise on Iona and it really is a great ship and company, . Positives and Negatives...positives is great value for money and excellent staff, ships and amenities/restaurants and entertainment. Negatives are the queues (the ships are big because they pack a lot of folk on them), queues can be avoided or kept manageable if you get your timings right (go early or late and avoid peak times if you can). Biggest gripe is the increasing amount of 'scruffy buggers' on board. Smart Casual is the dress code and 75% of people adhere to this but seeing some people walking into the fine dining restaurants in clothes I would'nt do the gardening in is a bit much. P&O need to tighten up on this and redirect the 'scruffy buggers' to the buffet. Dark Denim,Trousers, open neck shirts and Polo shirts are smart casual not ripped jeans,hoodies and trainers.
Hi Stuart, thanks for this as we are on Iona in a month (our first time). Interesting to hear about the bigger queues (major problem on Enchanted Princess recently), we accept bigger ships have more passengers and therefore queues to a degree have to be expected. Clothing is a very interesting comment too, as we noticed similar on our three most recent cruises (Princess, Virgin and Cunard, yes Cunard) where very casual wear had become quite a common sight. Even on Gala /Formal nights. We shall report back on our Iona cruise and let you know if it's improved or not. Have a lovely day, Linzi and Mark
Quick Answer 😂 Yes you can. We did it each day. You could if you really wanted take it onboard with you, or simply fill up a container (take a plastic bottle with you) from the Buffet and put it in your mini-fridge, which is what we do. Hope this helps, and have a lovely day, Linzi & Mark
good evening lovely people :-) Oh gosh, this is going to show me for the drinks much that I am haha. the thing that stops me wanting to go on another P&O ship is the appalling drinks package..terrible, just terrible. I do however have a side f me that wants to go 0n the IONA, so am working on convincing dean to dos that also. I will, like your god selves be paying for drinks as and when on any future P&O sailing - will be very interesting to see if I spend more or less than the drinks package?! Hope all is good with you two ...Terry x
Hi Terry, we always smile when we see your name on the comments :) You know our opinion on the drinks package and it does need to change but we weren’t going to let that stop us trying Iona (which so many people are raving about) when our Resilient Lady trip was cancelled for Nov this year. It’ll be interesting and a bit scary, to see how much our bill is at the end especially with it being a longer cruise too. All is great our side thank you, we are just on countdown (60 days today) to next cruise. It seems ages away right now. Hope you, Dean and of course Spencer are all good. Linzi and Mark
@@SuiteNatured Aww thank you so much :-) I always look forward t my Sunday evenings, getting my Suite Natured Fix :-) I am absolutely with you on the drinks package - I will go 0n Iona, have wanted to for a long while - but will also be interested to see if I spend more than the drinks package would have cost me lol. Im so sorry to hear about your November Resilient Lady cruise - thats not good news at all - hopefully, they will make it up to you with a good credit deal ... fingers crossed. 60 days today - yeyyyy..it does seem a long time away, but, it will be here before you know it, im sure ( and it wouldnt surprise me if you dont cram a cheeky one in between haha. ) We are all good thank you - trying to get all of Spencer's paperwork in order for our cruise on 27th July! so near, yet dos far haha. take care lovely people :-) x x
The compensation package from Virgin was very good, 200% FCV and if you could go on a cruise in 2022 with some (not all) of the FCV, then you get another cruise (Sea Terrace Cabin) in the future for FREE! Unfortunatly I doubt we are going to be able to make the most of that one though. We are looking at using the FCV on Resilient Lady next Nov (23) to go from Dubai to Singapore, which sounds amazing. If you didn't want the full FCV they gave you a 100% cash refund, and 25% FCV, so really not bad at all. We will be on countdown with you to your cruise on 27th July, as when you come back, we will only have a few days till ours, that makes it seem much closer. Take care Terry, speak soon, Linzi & Mark
For P&O when we went on it was still formal testing on the day plus only Fully vaccinated passengers were allowed. That however is changing every day on cruise lines now. Princess, which were are on right now, changed three days ago to no longer require medical testing, but rather a lateral test yourself 72 hrs before the cruise if you are fully vaccinated, if you are not up to date then they required medically supervised tests. But every cruise is different right now, and even the same lines are different in different countries. It’s all reducing but remains, if anything, more confusing than previously. Linzi and Mark
Hi Jesse, it is definitely more geared to British/Europeans, in the same way Carnival (the parent company many) is more geared towards the USA. You do get a wider cruise audience too but it is a minority. P&O Australia is a different case and is mainly (for obvious reasons) a Australian and New Zealand market. Linzi and Mark
