X803 Canaries cruise

Reports about cruises on Oriana

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Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

X803 Canaries cruise

#1

Post by Whynd1 »

Morning all

Just a short report as it was a usual Canaries cruise calling at Funchal, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Lisbon

Embarkation went well and was on board by 1pm. Cabin was ready so went down and met up with a friend and we enjoyed the lunch and waited for our other friend to board and join us.

The Captain Sara Brereton warned us that we would having our own beast from the east and would encounter 14 m swells going down to 9 m swells. She would try to void these as much as possible.
Well Oriana doesn't do swells very well and we had a very rough passage down to Funchal so much so that for the first time ever all 3 of us never made it down to dinner on the second night. The welcome aboard drinks party were postponed to the following evening. A lot of people were affected by the bad weather.
We were not late into Funchal and it was nice to get off and wander. Quite warm no coat needed.
The usual Canaries ports of call and we did one excursion from Tenerife to the Orotava valey and puerto de la Cruz. This was good tour and somewhere I had not been.

We stayed on board in Gran Canaria and LAnzarote to relax but it was a bit windy in some places.

Lisbon was on a Sunday but lots of places weer open and we had our custard tart and a coffee. The weather was a bit nippy.
Bad weather again from Lanzarote to Lisbon and again didnt make it down to dinner on a formal evening due to feeling ill.

My main problem on this cruise was the food in the mdr, not at all good in my opinion and not up to the standard of Aurora last autumn. We had one meal in Sindhu which was excellent and one in the beach house where the portion size defeated me

Overall observations on talking to other passengers many had noticed the cutbacks and some decline of standards. I dislike the fact that apart from breakfast you now have to pay a supplement for room service.
No specific quizzes in the morning and one quiz was at 7.15 pm so no good for us on first sitting.
The bedding is now changed only 7 days instead of 5.

Disembarkation was going well until a medical emergency halted things half way through, this then recommenced about 20 mins later.

I am booked on Oriana next June for around Britain and will have to give it a lot of thought as not very happy with how this cruise panned out mainly I suppose to the bad weather and me being seasick.

Overall have three more P and O cruises booked but am seriously thinking about Cunard, one of our friends is a convert and looking at the room service and main dining room menus they are more of interest than P and O.

Lindsey

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barney
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 5603
Joined: March 2013
Location: Instow Devon

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#2

Post by barney »

Thanks for the review Lindsey.
Shame it wasn't one of your best ones but hopefully the June cruise will pan out better :thumbup:
Empty vessels .. and all that


Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#3

Post by Whynd1 »

I should have said we had an excellent table for 8 at the front of the restaurant so none of the movement from the propellers. We had the worst wine waiter ever he seemed to have such a large number of tables to see to but he was very slow. We had often started our main course before the wine appeared and he then took the bottle away and you had an awful job to catch his attention to fill up the glasses.
The last two nights of the cruise he tried to make amends and took to smiling at you, no doubt hoping for a tip.

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Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#4

Post by Manoverboard »

A great shame ... we have, no doubt, all sampled P&O at their very best over the years and there can be little doubt that those high standard have not been maintained. To return to those halcyon days one needs, in my opinion, to change Cruise Line or perhaps book a cruise on one of the leading Riverboat Lines.

I was a tad surprised that you opted to miss dinner, a seasick injection from the Doc would have been my solution.

Thanks for the report :thumbup:
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being


rita17
Third Officer
Third Officer
Posts: 117
Joined: January 2013

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#5

Post by rita17 »

Thank you for posting your report. We're off on Monday to the Azores and the Canaries. Not feeling too enthusiastic after reading your report but will go with an open mind. The weather doesn't look very promising for the first few days so am hoping the seas aren't as bad as yours. Haven't been to The Azores before so at least something different to look forward to.

Will post some comments when we return.

Rita


Finker
Cadet
Cadet
Posts: 57
Joined: June 2016

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#6

Post by Finker »

Our experience of P&O cost cutting was that the tablecloths were not changed between diners. We were at the same table on Freedom dining for two days and the same stains were there.

After this we ate in the buffet. We also ate in the speciality restaurant and the trick there was that the table cloth was flipped over between diners.

Not to change sheets regularly is disgusting. With a high turnover of guests it is surely a matter of hygeine.
I did report the dirty tablecloths but the supervisor was not too concerned.

We wont consider P&O because of this.


Topic author
Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Re: X803 Canaries cruise

#7

Post by Whynd1 »

They have stopped serving the finger sandwiches in the buffet for afternoon tea, however if you go the restaurant for afternoon tea they are available there.


My report is just my observations on what I found. Actually there were quite a few small things, in the main dining room the chicken and gammon were overcooked.
In the buffet the leuttce always looked past it's best. We tried the Al fresco but I'm afraid we disappointed in the choice.

One morning in the dining room between giving our orders and having our breakfast took over 45 minutes.The coffee in the dining room at breakfast was often lukewarm, e mentioned it once and then the next cup was hotter.

Small things I know but nonetheless annoying.

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