Discussion
dirty doug said:
Deep Thought said:
CPS would get my vote. Used them before. They park your car in secure parking. You just pull up to the cruise terminal.
https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/
Thankshttps://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/
You can park in one of the multi storeys for about £5 a night if you're feeling brave....
Deep Thought said:
dirty doug said:
Any car parking recommendations for P&O Southampton leaving 29/6/24
We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
CPS would get my vote. Used them before. They park your car in secure parking. You just pull up to the cruise terminal.We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
https://www.cruiseparking.co.uk/
dirty doug said:
Any car parking recommendations for P&O Southampton leaving 29/6/24
We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
miniman said:
dirty doug said:
Any car parking recommendations for P&O Southampton leaving 29/6/24
We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
Deep Thought said:
Just had some really great news from MSC.
For our next cruise, 12th May from Copenhagen and around Norway, we were in a Balcony room.
We got the opportunity to bid for a Yacht Club upgrade, but only to a Yacht Club inside room.
We mulled it over quite a bit as we really wanted a balcony room, given the scenery, but we did put in a bid, on the basis of we could go up on to the Yacht Club decks when we want to - grab a coffee and watch the world go by as it were.
Just had confirmation that that bid was accepted - BUT they've given us a free further upgrade to a Yacht Club Deluxe Balcony Suite.
Really chuffed!
Yacht Club looks amazing and we have it booked for future cruises with MSC, but didnt expect to be going with YC on this cruise.
Proper ship within a ship stuff. Cant wait!
That's a great result. We have some good friends who swear by MSC Yacht Club. Must try it sometime.For our next cruise, 12th May from Copenhagen and around Norway, we were in a Balcony room.
We got the opportunity to bid for a Yacht Club upgrade, but only to a Yacht Club inside room.
We mulled it over quite a bit as we really wanted a balcony room, given the scenery, but we did put in a bid, on the basis of we could go up on to the Yacht Club decks when we want to - grab a coffee and watch the world go by as it were.
Just had confirmation that that bid was accepted - BUT they've given us a free further upgrade to a Yacht Club Deluxe Balcony Suite.
Really chuffed!
Yacht Club looks amazing and we have it booked for future cruises with MSC, but didnt expect to be going with YC on this cruise.
Proper ship within a ship stuff. Cant wait!
Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 2nd May 14:56
Trevor555 said:
Got off P&O Arcadia yesterday.
I think that's their next boat they'll be selling off
So much rust visible from outside the ship, broken loo seats, badly worn carpets, aircon not working in cabin
I don't remember it being like it a year ago
Shame
Over Easter we went to Rotterdam on the Aurora which is even older than the Arcadia. We had a good time, but the ship is dated and it felt a bit like Butlins on sea, complete with an unfunny comedian who was clearly taking a break from doing the working men's clubs.I think that's their next boat they'll be selling off
So much rust visible from outside the ship, broken loo seats, badly worn carpets, aircon not working in cabin
I don't remember it being like it a year ago
Shame
Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Makes me wonder if they are struggling a bit financially and are cutting costs to the bone. The fact that they have now stopped you from taking spirits inboard suggests they need to make more money per passenger now.
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
We have an MSC Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona booked for July, which I am slightly worried about as this is also an older (2005) ship.
Once you have been on one of the new mega ships, everything else feels like a step down.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Trevor555 said:
Got off P&O Arcadia yesterday.
I think that's their next boat they'll be selling off
So much rust visible from outside the ship, broken loo seats, badly worn carpets, aircon not working in cabin
I don't remember it being like it a year ago
Shame
Over Easter we went to Rotterdam on the Aurora which is even older than the Arcadia. We had a good time, but the ship is dated and it felt a bit like Butlins on sea, complete with an unfunny comedian who was clearly taking a break from doing the working men's clubs.I think that's their next boat they'll be selling off
So much rust visible from outside the ship, broken loo seats, badly worn carpets, aircon not working in cabin
I don't remember it being like it a year ago
Shame
Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Makes me wonder if they are struggling a bit financially and are cutting costs to the bone. The fact that they have now stopped you from taking spirits inboard suggests they need to make more money per passenger now.
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
We have an MSC Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona booked for July, which I am slightly worried about as this is also an older (2005) ship.
Once you have been on one of the new mega ships, everything else feels like a step down.
My last few trips on Iona were great, and Wesley's announcements really made the trip "we'll soon be dragging our hairy strings in, and be on our merry way"
Aurora, and Arcadia both sound like they're in their last year maybe.
On a positive note, we did Princess last August, and that's seen a step up in quality.
miniman said:
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
How else would they have taken the luggage out of the boot of the car?They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
miniman said:
dirty doug said:
Any car parking recommendations for P&O Southampton leaving 29/6/24
We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/We don’t have the terminal as yet but probably not a train smash
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
They direct you to CPS.
Edited by Deep Thought on Wednesday 8th May 15:07
Alickadoo said:
miniman said:
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
How else would they have taken the luggage out of the boot of the car?They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
miniman said:
We used https://www.abparking.co.uk/
They literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
WE are using AB on Friday, they were good last time we used themThey literally took our luggage out of the boot of the car and dealt with it.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Over Easter we went to Rotterdam on the Aurora which is even older than the Arcadia. We had a good time, but the ship is dated and it felt a bit like Butlins on sea, complete with an unfunny comedian who was clearly taking a break from doing the working men's clubs.
Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
Sounds similar to our experience of P&O and would never consider them again. Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
Some friends did the Caribbean on the Arvia in January and they said it was very poor.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
Over Easter we went to Rotterdam on the Aurora which is even older than the Arcadia. We had a good time, but the ship is dated and it felt a bit like Butlins on sea, complete with an unfunny comedian who was clearly taking a break from doing the working men's clubs.
Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Makes me wonder if they are struggling a bit financially and are cutting costs to the bone. The fact that they have now stopped you from taking spirits inboard suggests they need to make more money per passenger now.
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
We have an MSC Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona booked for July, which I am slightly worried about as this is also an older (2005) ship.
Once you have been on one of the new mega ships, everything else feels like a step down.
We’ve just come back from our third MSC cruise and on the oldest ship of the three (Divina of 2012 vintage). They maintain them well but it was showing its age in several places and really wasn’t a patch on the Seashore or Virtuosa from last year. I dread to think what a 2005 ship would be like.Food was very ordinary, the buffet was terrible and the free restaurants were average. The only decent food we had was from the restaurants where you had to pay a supplement (well worth it).
Makes me wonder if they are struggling a bit financially and are cutting costs to the bone. The fact that they have now stopped you from taking spirits inboard suggests they need to make more money per passenger now.
Personally I would never go on another P&O cruise unless it was the Iona or Arvia.
We have an MSC Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona booked for July, which I am slightly worried about as this is also an older (2005) ship.
Once you have been on one of the new mega ships, everything else feels like a step down.
Just got back from a 3 day cruise on MSC Virtuosa. We went Southampton-Zeebrugge-Cherbourg-Southampton.
We (Mrs. Hants and I) were with four friends; all six of us had never cruised before.
The ship is incredible: very modern, squeaky clean, vast, and with great facilities. Our inside cabin was fine with a very comfy bed, good aircon and a decent shower.
Of course, as cruise newbies we all chatted about what we thought and it boils down to two main things. First, there were far, far too many people even though it's a big ship. You queue for everything, especially drinks where it often took 20 minutes to get served. Then there's nowhere to sit because all the seats are taken. The scrum around the food points in the self serve area on Deck 15 was especially grim.
Second - and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a towering snob - many of our fellow cruisers were loud, drunk and (sorry but it's true) obese. I've never seen so many fat women in one place before; there were a few hen parties.
It really was Butlins at sea. MSC's business model seems to be to cram in as many people as possible to be served by as few staff as possible. I suppose the price reflects that - we paid £500 per couple including a premium drinks package.
Food was decent but not great, entertainment shows were bang average, staff were friendly but none of them spoke good English (not their fault, but asking "What beers do you have?" was met with a puzzled frown), oh and Bruges was lovely, what a beautiful city.
We agreed that we had a good time, but that we'd need a lot of persuading to consider another cruise. We did hear good things about MSC Yacht Club, but perhaps the standard MSC offering just wasn't for us.
We (Mrs. Hants and I) were with four friends; all six of us had never cruised before.
The ship is incredible: very modern, squeaky clean, vast, and with great facilities. Our inside cabin was fine with a very comfy bed, good aircon and a decent shower.
Of course, as cruise newbies we all chatted about what we thought and it boils down to two main things. First, there were far, far too many people even though it's a big ship. You queue for everything, especially drinks where it often took 20 minutes to get served. Then there's nowhere to sit because all the seats are taken. The scrum around the food points in the self serve area on Deck 15 was especially grim.
Second - and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a towering snob - many of our fellow cruisers were loud, drunk and (sorry but it's true) obese. I've never seen so many fat women in one place before; there were a few hen parties.
It really was Butlins at sea. MSC's business model seems to be to cram in as many people as possible to be served by as few staff as possible. I suppose the price reflects that - we paid £500 per couple including a premium drinks package.
Food was decent but not great, entertainment shows were bang average, staff were friendly but none of them spoke good English (not their fault, but asking "What beers do you have?" was met with a puzzled frown), oh and Bruges was lovely, what a beautiful city.
We agreed that we had a good time, but that we'd need a lot of persuading to consider another cruise. We did hear good things about MSC Yacht Club, but perhaps the standard MSC offering just wasn't for us.
Hants PHer said:
Just got back from a 3 day cruise on MSC Virtuosa. We went Southampton-Zeebrugge-Cherbourg-Southampton.
We (Mrs. Hants and I) were with four friends; all six of us had never cruised before.
The ship is incredible: very modern, squeaky clean, vast, and with great facilities. Our inside cabin was fine with a very comfy bed, good aircon and a decent shower.
Of course, as cruise newbies we all chatted about what we thought and it boils down to two main things. First, there were far, far too many people even though it's a big ship. You queue for everything, especially drinks where it often took 20 minutes to get served. Then there's nowhere to sit because all the seats are taken. The scrum around the food points in the self serve area on Deck 15 was especially grim.
Second - and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a towering snob - many of our fellow cruisers were loud, drunk and (sorry but it's true) obese. I've never seen so many fat women in one place before; there were a few hen parties.
It really was Butlins at sea. MSC's business model seems to be to cram in as many people as possible to be served by as few staff as possible. I suppose the price reflects that - we paid £500 per couple including a premium drinks package.
Food was decent but not great, entertainment shows were bang average, staff were friendly but none of them spoke good English (not their fault, but asking "What beers do you have?" was met with a puzzled frown), oh and Bruges was lovely, what a beautiful city.
We agreed that we had a good time, but that we'd need a lot of persuading to consider another cruise. We did hear good things about MSC Yacht Club, but perhaps the standard MSC offering just wasn't for us.
The short cruises with MSC tend to be ram packed with families and / or booze cruises.We (Mrs. Hants and I) were with four friends; all six of us had never cruised before.
The ship is incredible: very modern, squeaky clean, vast, and with great facilities. Our inside cabin was fine with a very comfy bed, good aircon and a decent shower.
Of course, as cruise newbies we all chatted about what we thought and it boils down to two main things. First, there were far, far too many people even though it's a big ship. You queue for everything, especially drinks where it often took 20 minutes to get served. Then there's nowhere to sit because all the seats are taken. The scrum around the food points in the self serve area on Deck 15 was especially grim.
Second - and I don't know how to say this without sounding like a towering snob - many of our fellow cruisers were loud, drunk and (sorry but it's true) obese. I've never seen so many fat women in one place before; there were a few hen parties.
It really was Butlins at sea. MSC's business model seems to be to cram in as many people as possible to be served by as few staff as possible. I suppose the price reflects that - we paid £500 per couple including a premium drinks package.
Food was decent but not great, entertainment shows were bang average, staff were friendly but none of them spoke good English (not their fault, but asking "What beers do you have?" was met with a puzzled frown), oh and Bruges was lovely, what a beautiful city.
We agreed that we had a good time, but that we'd need a lot of persuading to consider another cruise. We did hear good things about MSC Yacht Club, but perhaps the standard MSC offering just wasn't for us.
They also have a high percentage of people there to "get their money's worth" in food and drink
Best experience is the 7 nighters out of peak holiday season / not over bank hols or half terms when it's quieter.
We were on Virtuosa Dec 22 but went early in the month and there were approx 2800 on board, so half full. Was lovely. Staff were saying the following week there were due to be 5000+ people on it and they said it would be a different experience altogether. We did World Europa last June, again a little bit out of season. The ship was near capacity but you'd never have known it. World Europa seems better thought out for the passenger volumes.
The trick is also to avoid the buffet - certainly at peak times anyway when it's going to be carnage or avoid it altogether and go to the main dining room for breakfast and lunch as well as evening meals where you don't have to go looking for your food.
There are quieter bars too - Virtuosa bar is always heaving as is masters of the seas but the infinity bar and champagne bars are always much quieter.
The speciality restaurants are all excellent and a bargain when booked as a bundle before sailing.
Doing Yacht Club this weekend on Euribia for a week around Norway from Copenhagen.
It seems to be another level altogether and a proper ship within a ship experience with only around 200 people accessing the area and having their own private dining, bar, pool and butler service.
Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 9th May 20:52
Hants PHer said:
It really was Butlins at sea. MSC's business model seems to be to cram in as many people as possible to be served by as few staff as possible. I suppose the price reflects that - we paid £500 per couple including a premium drinks package.
The issue is the cost, £500 for two nights with all your food, accommodation, drinks and entertainment is a crazy cheap amount of money. This is why we started going on cruises, it was cheaper to fly to Miami and do a weeks cruise around the Caribbean than do a couple of long weekend city breaks in Europe once you add up the flights, accommodation, food, taxis etc.The P&O cruise I went on over Easter to Rotterdam was the same, it was full of Hen dos, chavs, people on mobility scooters with dole poles etc. The buffet was horrendous and we ended up paying the supplement for the restaurants as it was just so much nicer than sitting on a table of 8 with strangers at night.
They have made the prices low enough so the ships are full, but this attracts a lot of chavs and they have to reduce food and service quality to make any profit.
I suspect they make the real profit on the drinks, hence why P&O have stopped you taking spirits onboard.
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