September 2024. My parents in law have been wanting to go on a cruise for a while now but didn’t feel like going on their own so they tagged along with Sam and I. My father in law’s ultimate destination would be the Norwegian Fjords, combined with the new that soon-ish cruises to the Fjords would be limited (and thus price sky-rocketing) we decided to cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Considering I have to take time off at work outside of major school holidays we were looking at September-October, combined with my wish to cruise for longer than a week we ended up with a P&O cruise out of Southampton.
While Sam was adamant of having a balcony cabin on his cruise (as he really likes his fresh air), we decided to splurge on a Deluxe Balcony cabin compared to a Standard Balcony Cabin as the price difference on the already high fare wasn’t that much more and would offer us a slightly larger cabin and a glass fronted outside balcony wall.
Upon entry there was a bathroom to the right hand side. The bathroom was moulded in a typical late 90’s early 2000’s salmon pink coloured plastic but was otherwise in a good condition. The big mirrors hid away some storage space behind them, you just needed to open them up as doors.
The bathroom also offered a full sized bath tub, which is a rarity to have on a cruise ship where you mostly only have showers. You could of course also shower in the tub by closing the shower curtains and using the shower head.
We did encounter an issue with our thermostatic shower tap as it started going from ice cold to boiling hot on its own, becoming quite dangerous. After 3 interventions from the plumber it was replaced and the problem mitigated.
In the bathroom sufficient towels where provided. Products where in the form of multiple use bottles by The White Company, an upscale UK brand.
It had a nice scent and we were happy with them, a step up from the products on Celebrity and Princess. Standard they provided hand wash, shampoo and body wash, we requested some body lotion and a sewing kit in addition and this was brought to us without any issue.
The room itself was spacious with a comfortable bed in the middle with plenty of space to store our bags under the bed. The only downside was that due to the age of the ship there were no power plugs next to the bed. There was a big flat screen television mounted on the wall opposite the bed.
In the corner in between the bed and the bathroom was a big wardrobe with plenty of space to hang and store clothes. On the top shelves there were also our live vests.
The bedroom area of the room could be closed off from the rest of the room by using a thick curtain. There were also two separate effective temperature control units, enabling you to set a cooler temperature for the sleeping area compared to the living area.
The living area contained a couch that could be transformed into a second two-person’s bed, ideal back in the time when children were still allowed on the ship to have your kids sleeping there. There was also a small coffee table and a desk and cupboard area opposite the couch. The desk area contained the only three UK style power plugs in the room. As we had a Deluxe Balcony cabin we had the luxury of having three plugs.
Here you could also find the mini fridge as well as the typical UK staple of a kettle to brew your own tea (and instant coffee) in the room (something you will only find on British ships). The tea, coffee and biscuits where complimentary and replenished every day. In one of the drawers was also the hair dryer.
The balcony door opened up onto the balcony, which was in a bit of a sorry state. The seats where worn and stained and the glass wall was very dirty because of the salt splashing up from the waves below, yet this was never cleaned.
All in all we were pretty happy with our cabin and where pleased to have paid the premium for the Deluxe Balcony Cabin. Only the temperamental tap and the cleanliness of the balcony could be improved.
My parents-in-law on the other hand decided to be cost-conscious and opted to book the far cheaper Standard Sea View Cabin. Their cabin turned out to be only half the size of ours, and as they both use CPAP machines at night they struggled to locate a second power plug.
While one was clearly visible in plain sight, the other was hidden in the ceiling behind the television. Even though this was communicated in advance to P&O they failed to deliver proper instructions to locate it, just a small paper with the instructions would have been sufficient.
The bed was found in the centre of the room with two night stands adjacent to them while the outside window was located above the bed. In the corner to the bathroom was a small couch. While on the opposite side of the bathroom in between the entry door and the bed there was the closet, which offered plenty of storage. There was also the mini fridge, the kettle and of course the mini TV.
The bathroom itself was also smaller than ours, only offering a shower with a shower curtain. Upon embarking the shower was full of mould at the bottom. Their room steward made sure this was fixed by the second day of the sailing but this should have been tackled prior to embarkation as this could be a health hazard.
My parents-in-law claimed to be very pleased with their cabin and would consider cruising again in an outside cabin. Personally when looking at the post stamp sized cabin they had, I was very pleased to have splurged on the bigger cabin.
In both cabins you could see the age of the ship in the design and décor of the room, however the condition was mostly excellent with very well maintained and cleaned rooms. Only our faulty shower tap, filthy balcony and my parents in law’s mouldy shower where some negative points.
Spectacular, how I would like to be able to enjoy it…