Recent experiences of P&O

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'd be interested to hear forum members views based on recent experiences on P&O.

The company is coming in for a lot of stick on social media, though that is of course the nature of the beast. People seem more inclined to moan on Facebook than praise, for example. But I also recently saw a more considered comparison of different cruise lines where P&O came out pretty badly.

When we first started cruising P&O was up there alongside rival Cunard. But there is no doubt that since Cunard, Princess and P&O all became part of Carnival there has been a specific effort to differentiate them. That is commercially sensible. No point in fighting yourself. It is also clear that in price range the ranking is as above, with P&O being the cheapest. It is also the one going hard for the family market and younger cruisers.

So of course to maintain a price point, with inflation as it is, especially the price of fuel, that has meant cutbacks. It would be insane to expect a 6 star product at a 4 star price. For sure when we priced options for taking our family away last summer the likes of Cunard, Princess, Celebrity and RCI were coming out at anything up to twice the price - and that was even before you took into account that all the others added on tips and P&O was handing out perks such as OBC.

So those who have travelled P&O recently what is your view? For what it's worth we very much enjoyed our family cruise on Iona. A very different experience to our past trips but that was more to do with the presence of two excited children than anything else.

We have Cunard Queen Victoria booked for this year and Aurora for next but we are still pondering 2025, so what do you think?

[david63]

It depends on how recent you mean. We were on Britannia May/June last year when cruising was still coming out of Covid (although there were not really any restrictions that affected us)

On that cruise the real downside was the MDR with "cut back" menus for both food and wine.

Overall though I am starting to think that P&O is no longer the product that suits my needs - not least due to their uninspiring itineraries.

We have swapped our P&O cruise for later this year to Princess for a number of reasons so it will be interesting to see the comparison (so far Princess is winning in many areas - especially price!) and next year we are pushing the boat out with Silversea which will really be an interesting comparison.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It depends on how recent you mean. We were on Britannia May/June last year when cruising was still coming out of Covid (although there were not really any restrictions that affected us)

Anything post Covid really

Next year we are pushing the boat out with Silversea which will really be an interesting comparison.

If the answer to that comparison is not glaringly obvious you'll be needing a stack of compo forms!

[Ray B]

We have always been happy with the cruises taken on P&O ships. So recent experience. Waiters in the MDRs, prior to covid the waiters were mainly very professional, friendly and attentive but since the return of cruising it may be a case of not having the trained waiters returning or that the best have been transfered to make an impression on the new big ships. It showed when having taken the orders from the menu returning to serve most plates were going to the wrong person. Plates were served between passengers serving to both left and right and not from the left, clearing was again in between and even leaning across to reach a plate and not removed from the right of individual passengers. You may get this service at spoons but do not expect it on a P&O cruise. Wine waiter is now the waiter when they have time. P&O must have noticed wine sales plummet at dinner.
We cruised February 2022 so not long after cruises started to resume. Covid was still rampant. All this may have attributed to this, getting new staff up to the standard requied but unfortunately the food was also lacking of the past.
Now don't get me wrong, it did not spoil my enjoyment but as a long time cruiser it was a noticeable lowering of standards. It will be interesting to see if any improvements in future posts on Mervs topic
The speciality restaurants did give a better experience.

[Stephen]

I'm inclined to agree wit David.

We cruised July/August last year and each time we cruise we notice little cut backs here and there on things like food and cabin amenities. It does make you wonder how far they can go before the customer thinks enough is enough and jumps ship to another brand.

[towny44]

I'd be interested to hear forum members views based on recent experiences on P&O.

The company is coming in for a lot of stick on social media, though that is of course the nature of the beast. People seem more inclined to moan on Facebook than praise, for example. But I also recently saw a more considered comparison of different cruise lines where P&O came out pretty badly.

When we first started cruising P&O was up there alongside rival Cunard. But there is no doubt that since Cunard, Princess and P&O all became part of Carnival there has been a specific effort to differentiate them. That is commercially sensible. No point in fighting yourself. It is also clear that in price range the ranking is as above, with P&O being the cheapest. It is also the one going hard for the family market and younger cruisers.

So of course to maintain a price point, with inflation as it is, especially the price of fuel, that has meant cutbacks. It would be insane to expect a 6 star product at a 4 star price. For sure when we priced options for taking our family away last summer the likes of Cunard, Princess, Celebrity and RCI were coming out at anything up to twice the price - and that was even before you took into account that all the others added on tips and P&O was handing out perks such as OBC.

So those who have travelled P&O recently what is your view? For what it's worth we very much enjoyed our family cruise on Iona. A very different experience to our past trips but that was more to do with the presence of two excited children than anything else.

We have Cunard Queen Victoria booked for this year and Aurora for next but we are still pondering 2025, so what do you think?

Join us on Iona for a 35 night round trip to the Caribbean in January 2025, assuming we are still here, and the insurance is not too expensive.
We had 2 post covid cruises last year, Britannia to the Med and Iona to the Canaries. The menus have been reduced and the quality is maybe a little lower, and the service in the MDRs also seems a bit lower, but they are still suffering staff shortages, plus lots of new recruits not yet fully trained, so maybe that could improve.
The entertainment does vary, but there are lots of venues on the bigger ships and over a 2 week cruise there are always enough enjoyable entertainers to keep us happy.
We did expect to miss the evening turn down service and general bathroom tidy, but in actual fact it has not bothered us at all. Overall P&O do still offer a reasonable cruise experience, especially if, like us, there are mobility issues, I guess if we were both fit and active then the new Saga ships would be very tempting, but that would be at a price.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I think you'd find Saga are very good with mobility issues, but you're right it comes at a price!

[Whynd1]

I cruised on Iona Christmas markets cruise last December, first time on this ship and first cruise since the pandemic.
Its very different to my favourites Arcadia and Aurora.
Some staff shortages,we chatted with a waiter who we knew from Aurora and he had asked to ne transferred back to Aurora, request denied too short staffed. He didnt like the larger ships,

Some things I really liked the ineractive screens, I disliked the way of booking your evening meal, and breakfast very hit and miss and we waited an absolute age one night for a table.

One of the reasons for trying this ship was the different dining venus. Enjoyed the olive grove and the Limelight club. They are good additions.

It seems to me P and O are selling a weeks cruise for under £500 and that's cheap. We often heard of many families sharing cabins with other adults,family members or children,keeps costs down. If you dont buy excursions or buy too many drinks its a cheap week.

I am on Aurora in June so will be nice to see how they are doing on her.
The lack of different ports and the cut backs will lead to me looking at other options.

Lindsey

[towny44]

I think you'd find Saga are very good with mobility issues, but you're right it comes at a price!

Their price does include some shore excursions, but Pauline cannot board a coach, so that would be of no benefir. Similarly she does not drink, so the included drinks value would be diminished, especially as I need to limit my drinking so that I am not drunk in charge of a wheelchair. Whilst I am sure that a Saga cruise would be superior to P&O, on a cost benefit analysis it does not really offer sufficient benefits to cover the price gap.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I think you'd find Saga are very good with mobility issues, but you're right it comes at a price!

Their price does include some shore excursions, but Pauline cannot board a coach, so that would be of no benefir. Similarly she does not drink, so the included drinks value would be diminished, especially as I need to limit my drinking so that I am not drunk in charge of a wheelchair. Whilst I am sure that a Saga cruise would be superior to P&O, on a cost benefit analysis it does not really offer sufficient benefits to cover the price gap.

Yes that's true. It only becomes truly cost effective if you are able to take advantage of the included stuff.

[barney]

I'm just back, last week, so think I'm probably entitled to say.

We have cruised from back in the day when there was a band on the quay and dinner was rigidly fixed and silver service.

Today's P&O is quite a different beast from those days.

We have two more booked, the next being a repositioning cruise from Malta to Tenerife.
15 nights - C deck balcony cabin - £3,448 with £710 OBC

To us, that represents fantastic value for money.

The tourism industry has changed generally, right across the board.

You pick the cruise line and you'll find someone having a good old moan about it, so we simply decide for ourselves.
A couple I was chatting to while Mrs B was in the Spa had nothing good to say about P&O although they we on their 12th P&O cruise ??

They were telling me how brilliant Saga had been on their previous cruise so I obviously asked why they hadn't booked Saga again, instead of Azura, and the answer was obvious.
The cost.
It was nearly £4k each for a week. (everything included)

Just pre-covid, we had a land based holiday in Lanzarote in a very nice hotel.
We found nothing to complain about.
Others did.
I read a few reviews after we'd returned about the same weeks that we were there and they described something totally different to our experience.

So, to summarise, the cruising experience with P&O is light years away from when we started, but, we still like it.
Because of the price range, it certainly attracts a slightly different demographic but we are adapt at avoiding those, and the serial moaners.
We go with good intention and so far, touch wood, we've never had a bad cruise.
For now, we'll stick with what we like and know.

[Mervyn and Trish]

That perfectly illustrates the point so many miss Barney when moaning about "cutbacks". Even without taking account of the OBC I reckon that's about £115 per person per night.

In 1999 our first cruise on Oriana in an outside cabin, no balcony, for 9 nights (all we could afford) cost us £120 pppn! And no OBC.

I must admit our last experience on Azura put us off P&O a bit. It was just after the drinks package had been introduced and there were too many loud tattooed zombies roaming the ship at 10am with pints in their hand - and that was just the women! But as you say they were dodgeable. Our Iona family cruise went some way to restore things - maybe family ships in the school hols don't attract so many drunks.

[barney]

I checked my OBC for this cruise Merv and it's actually £820 plus my Shareholder £150 so £970 in total.
That makes all inclusive, pretty much.
My onboard spend for the last one came to £12.60 for the week after obc.
The nightly rate is £114 per person per night for a balcony cabin.

Azura, last time also had what I called the 'drinkers corner'
A large group monopolised the smoking area and it looked like they pretty much spent their holiday there.
As we don't smoke and didn't use that area, it didn't bother us.
All inclusive drinks package may become a problem in the future for P&O but they really have no option, given that all the other lines offer it.
My sister in law did a Marella last summer with an all inclusive drinks package and said that it was a bit of a booze cruise, unfortunately.
We did notice when on deck in the day, that it was quite obvious who had paid the £40 per person drinks package.
Some where on the beer and wine very early.
It's just the way of the world.

[barney]

It depends on how recent you mean. We were on Britannia May/June last year when cruising was still coming out of Covid (although there were not really any restrictions that affected us)

On that cruise the real downside was the MDR with "cut back" menus for both food and wine.

Overall though I am starting to think that P&O is no longer the product that suits my needs - not least due to their uninspiring itineraries.

We have swapped our P&O cruise for later this year to Princess for a number of reasons so it will be interesting to see the comparison (so far Princess is winning in many areas - especially price!) and next year we are pushing the boat out with Silversea which will really be an interesting comparison.

To be fair David, comparing Silver Sea and P&O is not on, purely on price.
It’s a bit like comparing The Ritz to the Premier Inn.
There can be no comparison.
If Silver Sea was anything short of exceptional, I’d be very disappointed.
For example, 7 nights Silversea Adriatic in June is £5,000
P&O 7 nights Adriatic in June £1,300
I don’t expect exceptional from P&O
I expect it to be pretty good, nothing more than that.

[david63]

To be fair David, comparing Silver Sea and P&O is not on, purely on price.

I disagree - it is still valid to compare P&O against Silversea. Yes Silversea is more expensive but bear in mind that it is all inclusive and does includes other "extras" such as excursions and select dining.

[Mervyn and Trish]

You could, on P&O, pay for every excursion and select dine every night and it still wouldn't get near the Silversea price! What you're really paying for is exclusivity (fewer riff raff), a higher staff to passenger ratio hence better service and some extra luxury. I've no problem with that if you can afford it. We go a bit further up market when it's just us but not quite that far and couldn't afford it with the whole family.

Oddly I think all inclusive is less drunk encouraging than drinks packages. With the latter you know exactly what they cost and have a target to beat. Not so the former where the cost is just buried in the price. I've done a couple of all.inclusives, one ashore one at sea, and saw no drunks at all.

[barney]

We did an all inclusive holiday to Benalmadena a few years back and there was a punch up in the bar on our first night
Mrs B wanted to pack up and leave but I thought it was brilliant.
Better than the entertainment
As it turned out, it was those people’s last night and the following nights were uneventful.
I must admit that when on an all inclusive, I do tend to drink a bit more than usual.

[CaroleF]

I have recently had an email from friends who John and I met on a P&O cruise, I think probably on Oceana or Azura, can't remember, but we've kept in touch for the last six or so years. They did the first sector of the Arcadia World earlier this month. They have sailed with P&O for quite a few years and really enjoyed their cruises. However, on Arcadia things weren't good. I had heard there was Norovirus on board - not the fault of P&O as they said. The service was one of the things they were most disappointed with. They thought that maybe several of the crew were new as they didn't appear to know what they were doing. The wife asked for an omelette at breakfast and after quite a time the waiter returned and asked if she wanted her eggs fried or scrambled! They also said they were waiting up to 20 minutes between courses in the MDR. The select restaurants always seemed booked up but when they looked into them there were many empty tables, presumably because they didn't have enough waiters. They were so disappointed that their favourite cruise line was so dreadful on that particular cruise. Now it may be that things have improved immensely and I know that once cruising started again there were all sorts of problems. I don't know if the Noro outbreak has gone, I hope so for the passengers' sake. I also accept that this couple's view of their cruise but they are friends and I have no reason to doubt what they say. It has made them say no more P&O which is a pity.

I'm going on Aurora in April, only for a short cruise but I hope I will find things back to normal, or as normal as it can be. I don't blame P&O for Norovirus which many passengers seem to do. It's brought on board by passengers and until everyone is careful with their hygiene it will still persist.

Carole

[barney]

Things are pretty much back to normal regarding staffing levels Carole.
Still fewer than before but nowhere near as bad as it was just post covid.

It's different in quite a few ways but I can only speak as I find.

I had no issues with the App.
No issues with booking dining in the speciality restaurants.
No problem getting drinks.
The deck staff were thin on the ground but it didn't kill me to get my lazy backside off the lounger and get my own drinks.
I was aware that all the special restaurants had a fair bit of capacity when we dined, so they are still limiting spaces.

One funny thing that I came across on our recent cruise was when chatting to this small group from Wales, all on their first cruise.
The guy was telling me that the App didn't work for dining and he was refused entry to the MDR so they had to eat in the buffet for the first two nights.
Being a bit experienced, I said that I'd help them if I could.
So, I went down to reception with the chap and explained his predicament.
I transpired that unknown to them, they had booked for fixed dining 6.30 sitting when he booked online.
I asked on his behalf if they could be changed to Freedom, explaining their mistake.
They got changed to Freedom and enjoyed the rest of their holiday.
We met up again at Bristol airport baggage collect and they had a whale of a time.
So much so that they booked another onboard. All four of them.

So, for us experienced cruisers, there have been many changes, but new people still seem to love as much as we did (do)

[barney]

I’ve just been watching a review about Azamara Cruise Line about how standards have dropped

They paid £14k for their cruise by the way.

[david63]

I transpired that unknown to them, they had booked for fixed dining 6.30 sitting when he booked online.

But that is nothing new and is more about the passengers not doing their homework and/or P&O not explaining things clearly enough when first boarding.

On our last cruise we were talking to a couple in the bar one night towards the end of the cruise and they ate in the buffet every night because they thought that they had to pay to use the MDR.

[Stephen]

I transpired that unknown to them, they had booked for fixed dining 6.30 sitting when he booked online.

But that is nothing new and is more about the passengers not doing their homework and/or P&O not explaining things clearly enough when first boarding.

On our last cruise we were talking to a couple in the bar one night towards the end of the cruise and they ate in the buffet every night because they thought that they had to pay to use the MDR.

I'm not too sure myself so I'm taking two weeks worth of sandwiches when we cruise later this year.

[barney]

I transpired that unknown to them, they had booked for fixed dining 6.30 sitting when he booked online.

But that is nothing new and is more about the passengers not doing their homework and/or P&O not explaining things clearly enough when first boarding.

On our last cruise we were talking to a couple in the bar one night towards the end of the cruise and they ate in the buffet every night because they thought that they had to pay to use the MDR.

I do agree that the P&O systems are unnecessarily complicated David.
It’s similar with the current fly cruise in Tenerife.
Some flights are P&O charter so no pre check in necessary as P&O are at the departure airport.
Others are scheduled which means that passengers have to check in online with the carrier.
You have to dig deep and carefully check the terms to discover which system you are on.
They could make it a lot easier with clear instructions.
Equally with the different fares structure.
Their website and IT in general leaves a lot to be desired.

[barney]

I transpired that unknown to them, they had booked for fixed dining 6.30 sitting when he booked online.

But that is nothing new and is more about the passengers not doing their homework and/or P&O not explaining things clearly enough when first boarding.

On our last cruise we were talking to a couple in the bar one night towards the end of the cruise and they ate in the buffet every night because they thought that they had to pay to use the MDR.

I'm not too sure myself so I'm taking two weeks worth of sandwiches when we cruise later this year.

I don’t know if it’s still operating but years ago, Arcadia had an outside dining area where the food was cooked fresh and the menu changed every couple of days. Nothing fancy but fresh and tasty.
This was often our lunch of choice when onboard.
On the second to last day of a trip we were on, we were having lunch and another passenger asked if ‘this was always here?’
It turned out that he and his wife had always headed to the aft deck to sunbathe and hadn’t explored the rest of the ship so didn’t know what was available.
They had literally eaten every meal in the buffet.

[david63]

They had literally eaten every meal in the buffet.

Not wanting to be disparaging to anyone but I wonder if that is possibly more to do with the type of holiday that they are used to having - the all inclusive holiday in Spain where all meals are buffet style.