A few more replies to your comments

Sheila and Terry, thank you for your comments regarding early booking. We are really keen to reward our early bookers with the best offers and, of course, there’s also the peace of mind that comes with being able to secure the cabin of your choice on the cruise of your choice, and being able to select your preferred dining arrangements.

Booking late does involve the risk that the cruise you had particularly wanted to travel on will be fully booked, or will only have grades/ locations of cabin and dining arrangements left that weren’t exactly what you would had hoped for, but that said, I do understand why the situation you found yourselves in would have caused you disappointment – and it certainly isn’t a position that we want our customers to find themselves in. While a variety of deals may be available throughout the period of time before the cruise sails, we do try to ensure that, although packaged differently to appeal to different customers, the deals available aren’t more advantageous than those offered as part of our early booking scheme. Like all businesses, over the last year or so we have found ourselves in economically challenging times and, as a result, there have been some occasions where we, or our travel agent partners, have offered even more competitive deals than the early offers to ensure that the ships sail full. We trust that as the economic climate improves, we can eliminate the need for these promotions altogether and continue to reward those who book early.

Of course, if you’re happy to be flexible with your date of travel and cabin, then we have some great new earlier booking options that might appeal. Flexicruise is available on Ventura and Azura’s pre and post Christmas Caribbean fly-cruises. You pay a set, reduced amount for your preferred stateroom type and we’ll allocate you a cruise and cabin subsequent to booking, but in good time for your departure.

Gill, I agree it does make the dining experience all the more pleasant when passengers dine together, and it is certainly our intention that this would happen. On Arcadia we do make the announcements over the tannoy to confirm sittings, as well as publishing times in the Horizon paper. There are occasions where we would change the second sitting dining time from 8:30pm to 8:45pm to allow passengers to make their way to the restaurant after the Captain’s welcome on board party for example, as well to allow time for the Chef’s farewell dinner parade to take place at both first and second sitting. With regard to the Syndicate Quiz, we received feedback from customers that the start time of 11:00pm was too late, so on Arcadia we moved it forward to 10:30 as a trial, but others felt it too early, so it’s now at 10:45pm. Hopefully the new time will be well received by all who wish to attend the quiz on Arcadia.

Elaine, I’m delighted to hear you and your daughter had such a lovely time at Azura’s naming ceremony, it really was a magical evening and Darcey was wonderful as Godmother! You’re absolutely right, Azura was designed to be a classic ship, much like Aurora and Oriana in her atmosphere and feel, and it seems that even those who have always favoured these ships (as you have done with Aurora) have been tempted by Azura. Of course all of our ships are united by the same P&O Cruises feel that makes travelling on different members of the fleet seem a familiar experience – it’s their décor, facilities and size that makes each a little different.

You mentioned the Portunus Club and we are indeed currently working on reviewing and evolving the club’s structure, following member feedback. We will, of course, seek the thoughts and opinions of some of our passengers on the proposed changes, which will help to shape the future of The Portunus Club. I look forward to sharing the news with you and your fellow Portunus Club members further down the line.