P&O shops closing?

Yes things have changed, not so many years ago there was no freedom dining and once breakfast was finished you would need to wait till Noon for lunch and, after that, wait till afternoon tea and. then wait again till first or second sitting dinner. Let's not forget, no late night or midnight buffet. There were no kettles in the cabin or tv's. I was just looking at a wine list from 2001, the price of bottle of Australian Chardonnay was £19.75 and a bottle of Chablis at £17.40. There was also an automatic, no quibble, service charge of 15% on top. Also, it wasn't until circa 2000 that you could buy wine by the glass in the bars. Although there were some guest entertainers, most of the time the shows and evening entertainment was by way of the Entertainment team .. very good too I must add but certainly different to todays experience in the theatre.

Yes things have changed, some for the good and some not so but todays cruise packages far outstrip value wise what used to be the offer. Oh! it's worth pointing out that the cost a cruise was three times the price, probably more, than today. Our first two week P&O cruise back in '82 was £1650 each for a porthole 2 berth cabin, no balconies or suites in those days .. smiles.

Bal

136 P&O cruises, 13 in the pipeline

P&O have not done real silver service since mid 1990s it was just a pretend imitiation and if you were on a table for 8 and had manners and waited for everyone to receive their vegetables if you were first served then by the time you started your vegetables were cold. The plated service, like nearly all if not all cruise lines, currently is far superior and you are served quicker with hot meals.

Totally agree, meals are hotter and if you want more veg or a side salad just ask. Must be an age thing but I am perfectly happy with smaller meals on board as there is so much food to start with. And we avoid lunch.

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Overall it does seem to be a rather a lot of minor cutbacks, which do add up.

 

As I understand it Silver Service went years ago and plates are ready to serve in the MDR.

 

I suspect it won't be long before they remove the biscuits and pillow chocolates. They'll also start charging for galley and backstage tours and then have a "Chef's Table" at £75 a head to bring it in line with the rest of the US Carnival brands.

 

How long before the kettles are removed and the free bottle of water is stopped?

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Do you eat the pillow chocolates?

 

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No, I shower with them, wedge the balcony door open with them and use them as wall magnets :rolleyes:

The shops were all closed in the last week of our 35 nights on Ventura before her refit......the only bargains to be had were the P and O branded things.

To add to the previous lists of cutbacks (sorry if any have already been mentioned)

Complimentary drinks on included flights

resident steel band in Caribbean

classical musician

rock school for teenagers during summer hols (Ventura)

bungee trampolines and giant scalectrix (Ventura)

circus school (Ventura)

reduction of live musicians in favour of audience participation "fun" and dancing to CDs

champagne and canapes at captains reception

Its a steady drip drip drip of cutting back to a price instead of pricing up to a standard.

The shops on board are quite the worst quality of clothes and expensive tat that I have ever seen. No loss.

The shops on board are quite the worst quality of clothes and expensive tat that I have ever seen. No loss.

Surprised to hear you say that , joules is quite a well known quality brand, so is Ralph Lauren but if you aren't familiar with these brands then each to their own

To add to the previous lists of cutbacks (sorry if any have already been mentioned)

Complimentary drinks on included flights

resident steel band in Caribbean

classical musician

rock school for teenagers during summer hols (Ventura)

bungee trampolines and giant scalectrix (Ventura)

circus school (Ventura)

reduction of live musicians in favour of audience participation "fun" and dancing to CDs

champagne and canapes at captains reception

Its a steady drip drip drip of cutting back to a price instead of pricing up to a standard.

If you are going to have a list make it accurate. We have certainly had classical musicians in the last 6 month and champagne for the Captains do. If there ever was canapés it was a long time ago. As for the rock school and bungee trampolines never saw them used. Not sure where the reduction of live music comes from as there seems to me as much as ever. How can it be a steady drip drip if half the things are still there.

The shops on board are quite the worst quality of clothes and expensive tat that I have ever seen. No loss.

Yes a very odd statement. When the Harding company sells the same stuff on all the ships they are on or were on.

If you are going to have a list make it accurate. We have certainly had classical musicians in the last 6 month and champagne for the Captains do. If there ever was canapés it was a long time ago. As for the rock school and bungee trampolines never saw them used. Not sure where the reduction of live music comes from as there seems to me as much as ever. How can it be a steady drip drip if half the things are still there.

Hi....I think that is the point....half of the things that I mentioned in my list are not there....on some of the ships. Certainly on the Azura they have not been there on the last two cruises so maybe it is only on certain ships that they have the cutbacks....for whatever reason.

Getting back to OP and the point that was being made is that at the time of booking they fully expected to enjoy everything they had experienced before and have now found that one of the things they were looking forward to will not be there for the whole cruise. For some of us the minor cutbacks are " no big deal" but I was just answering a question that was asked....think it may have been Tom Baker's question... as to what they were. Doesn't mean that I am " miffed" at the cutbacks...just stating what we have found.

Having said all that I still think cruising is very good value for money when you work out the price per night

Hi....I think P&O started to alter the goalposts after people had booked when they stopped Silver Service in the MDRs. Since then it has been a slight cutback here...a slight cutback three....each one not a big issue but collectively have an overall impact on the cruise. On our last cruise last week....no boiled sweets in cabins & no " nibbles" with our pre dinner drinks were the cutbacks... from our last cruise with P&O in Sep 2017. It has now got to the stage where we are thinking what will have been cutback on our next cruise with P&O in April 2109.

I thought it depended which bar you were in as to whether you got the nibbles.

If you are going to have a list make it accurate. We have certainly had classical musicians in the last 6 month and champagne for the Captains do. If there ever was canapés it was a long time ago. As for the rock school and bungee trampolines never saw them used. Not sure where the reduction of live music comes from as there seems to me as much as ever. How can it be a steady drip drip if half the things are still there.

Dai - we have also seen all the things that you mention on our cruises over the past few years and, like you, prefer plated meals to Silver Service. However, whilst they do serve sparkling plonk at the Captains Welcome on Board Reception, Champagne it most certainly is not! Maybe you get it at the Caribbean / Baltic / Ligurian functions, but us plebs are given paint stripper ;)

We were on Aurora in January and we certainly had nibbles in the bar - in Andersons definitely. We also had Port talks in the theatre and we had classical musicians. The only thing we noticed that had gone were the sweets in the cabin which we didn't miss. As far as the shops on Aurora were concerned they were extremely poor. Yes there was Joules but such a small selection there was absolutely nothing that appealed to me and I have a number of things from Joules, including two I bought yesterday. The rest of the clothes on offer were all stretchy jersey, nothing attractive to them as far as I was concerned. There was the usual selection of expensive jewellery and then the lower end, cheap stuff. I've always thought that the shops missed out by not stocking middle of the range - good costume jewellery. There was of course the perfumes, no great difference from that I could buy on line at home - I took prices with me so I could compare. Hopefully the new suppliers of the shops will have something different to offer.

As far as Silver Service is concerned, it was never proper Silver Service, the meat/fish was already plated and it was only the vegetables that were brought round to be served. This, if you were on a large table meant that you had to wait until everyone had been served their potatoes and vegetables and this way things got cold. So much better to have it plated - in my opinion. As Dai says you can ask for different vegetables from those listed with the dish you choose, ask for extra - my husband had an extra dish of vegetables every evening. If the amount is too small you can ask for more and the waiters will bring it willingly. On the Lobster evening one of our table companions asked for the Lobster - from the main course - to be served as a starter and then he had the Beef Wellington as his main course! No problem said the waiter.

Of course things will change over the years and yes I miss some things but not enough to make me think I need to go to another cruise line, although we do sail with other lines as well.

Surprised to hear you say that , joules is quite a well known quality brand, so is Ralph Lauren but if you aren't familiar with these brands then each to their own

I have been aware of the Ralph Lauren name for years but hadn't been into one of their nstores until a few months ago,couldn't believe the prices being asked,& paid,for stuff that seemed poor,IMO,quality &,to me,looked largely like it was second hand!

If you are going to have a list make it accurate. We have certainly had classical musicians in the last 6 month and champagne for the Captains do. If there ever was canapés it was a long time ago. As for the rock school and bungee trampolines never saw them used. Not sure where the reduction of live music comes from as there seems to me as much as ever. How can it be a steady drip drip if half the things are still there.

The point is that on some cruises they are not all there, there is a lack of consistency. We had a wonderful classical musician on Aurora in December which was well attended however the Cruise director actually made a statement that he was not always able to provide this - so from the horses mouth they don’t provide this on every cruise. He made a joke about cutbacks and HQ so there will be cruises that people go on that don’t have the full range of what always used to be provided.

As for other facilities eg bungee they may have been better used on the cruises you were not on.

The sparkle at the Captains is perfectly described by Selbourne as paint stripper. I don’t even drink it anymore, part of that issue is that you see people knocking back as many drinks as they can get their hands on. That is new, people used to have better manners.

I agree with the previous statment that P&O should price cruises to a set standard, currently it appears to be reducing the standard to a price. It’s still a good holiday and you can make it better by using the pay for extras for some things but unfortunately not for others.

As I stated previously individually each one not such as a big issue

 

Silver Service in MDRs

 

No bath robes....even though they were the thin waffle type

 

No boiled sweets in cabins

 

No Free Galley tour

 

On Sea days no exhibition of the different departments on the ship....meeting the engineers & officers and being able to ask them questions ...that used to be really good and very interesting

 

No " nibbles"...nuts/crisps etc with pre dinner drinks

 

No port lectures in Main theatre

 

Afternoon tea in MDR was a real poor do last week....not the usual choice ....served the scones first....then some time later came with a couple of choices of sandwiches...then some toasted teacakes and then disappeared....no asking if you would like any more until we were ready for leaving then they came with a few cheese and onion pies.

A selection of cakes were already on the tables.

 

These are the ones that spring to mind initially.....

I have certainly had boiled sweets in my cabin, nibbles in Andersons, port lectures in the theatre and the ship "uncovered" on all my cruises, including the two last year.

Dai - we have also seen all the things that you mention on our cruises over the past few years and, like you, prefer plated meals to Silver Service. However, whilst they do serve sparkling plonk at the Captains Welcome on Board Reception, Champagne it most certainly is not! Maybe you get it at the Caribbean / Baltic / Ligurian functions, but us plebs are given paint stripper ;)

Look it white and fizz it has to be Champagne. :)

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The point is that on some cruises they are not all there, there is a lack of consistency. We had a wonderful classical musician on Aurora in December which was well attended however the Cruise director actually made a statement that he was not always able to provide this - so from the horses mouth they don’t provide this on every cruise. He made a joke about cutbacks and HQ so there will be cruises that people go on that don’t have the full range of what always used to be provided.

 

 

 

As for other facilities eg bungee they may have been better used on the cruises you were not on.

 

 

 

The sparkle at the Captains is perfectly described by Selbourne as paint stripper. I don’t even drink it anymore, part of that issue is that you see people knocking back as many drinks as they can get their hands on. That is new, people used to have better manners.

 

 

 

I agree with the previous statment that P&O should price cruises to a set standard, currently it appears to be reducing the standard to a price. It’s still a good holiday and you can make it better by using the pay for extras for some things but unfortunately not for others.

The bungee was on Ventura from new and was removed not long after, less than a couple of years.

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If you are going to have a list make it accurate. We have certainly had classical musicians in the last 6 month and champagne for the Captains do. If there ever was canapés it was a long time ago. As for the rock school and bungee trampolines never saw them used. Not sure where the reduction of live music comes from as there seems to me as much as ever. How can it be a steady drip drip if half the things are still there.

It is. Maybe my memories of P&O go back further than yours (to the 1990s) or perhaps some ships have been downgraded more than others.

I have not seen classical musicians for several years. Certainly there were none on Britannia in 2017 nor on Ventura in 2015.

As regards champagne at the captains reception, when I started sailing with P&O waiters circulated with trays of a choice of genuine champagne or bucks fizz. Also canapes, of the type now only seen at the Peninsular Club party. Then the champagne was replaced by glasses of still wine or pre mixed G&Ts etc. True, if you ask for champagne they will give you a glass of sparkling wine, but it will not be champagne. Canapes dissappeared around the same time.

As regards musicians, let me take Ventura as a specific example rather than talk in terms of generalities. In her early days she hosted two cocktail pianists, one of whom was based mainly in the Red Bar and one in Metropolis. Then one of them was culled and when the remaining pianist was playing in Metropolis someone played CDs for dancing in the atrium, because there were no live musicians available. There used to be regular live music in the Exchange, but following the cuts these were replaced by members of the entertainments staff hosting quizzes, karioke and other forms of audience participation "fun". I believe that the reductions amounted to a pianist and at least one band, plus the steel band in the Caribbean in the winter and the band that led the rock school in the summer.

It is. Maybe my memories of P&O go back further than yours (to the 1990s) or perhaps some ships have been downgraded more than others.

 

I have not seen classical musicians for several years. Certainly there were none on Britannia in 2017 nor on Ventura in 2015.

 

As regards champagne at the captains reception, when I started sailing with P&O waiters circulated with trays of a choice of genuine champagne or bucks fizz. Also canapes, of the type now only seen at the Peninsular Club party. Then the champagne was replaced by glasses of still wine or pre mixed G&Ts etc. True, if you ask for champagne they will give you a glass of sparkling wine, but it will not be champagne. Canapes dissappeared around the same time.

 

As regards musicians, let me take Ventura as a specific example rather than talk in terms of generalities. In her early days she hosted two cocktail pianists, one of whom was based mainly in the Red Bar and one in Metropolis. Then one of them was culled and when the remaining pianist was playing in Metropolis someone played CDs for dancing in the atrium, because there were no live musicians available. There used to be regular live music in the Exchange, but following the cuts these were replaced by members of the entertainments staff hosting quizzes, karioke and other forms of audience participation "fun". I believe that the reductions amounted to a pianist and two bands, plus the steel band in the Caribbean and the band that led the rock school in the summer.

Well the drinks have been as they are now since we started in 2001. So the Change must have been made before then. You cannot expect things to be the same as they were over 20 years ago.

But then again in 2001 I paid far more per day than I would now in the same cabin. That is in money terms if we added inflation then it is considerably less.

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I have certainly had boiled sweets in my cabin, nibbles in Andersons, port lectures in the theatre and the ship "uncovered" on all my cruises, including the two last year.

It certainly seems like it depends which ship you are on as to what you actually get...I can only comment on the Azura....when we were on the Azura last week the latest " cut"...on top of the other little cutbacks.... was no boiled sweets on a little tray in the cabin

It’s not just inconsistency between ships it’s happening during your specific cruise aswell. We were on Aurora last November and sometimes we got pre drink nibbles in Anderson’s and sometimes we didn’t. Same with the sweets, a few times they were in the cabin, other times they weren’t. We thought maybe there was 1 dish of sweets that was being passed between cabins!!

Doesn't just apply to cruises though does it,in all sorts of things prices are cut so that either more people can afford them,or more people can afford them more often!

boiled sweets...never ate them when we had them on Ventura last year ( well I lie I ate one and it was horrible so left the rest )

Bar nibbles...yuck, yuck, yuck....full of other peoples germs..don't eat the peanuts because you might also be eating some pee !

Pillow chocolates...naff and nasty chocolate could do without that. Would rather have more water instead.

just my opinion however.