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Lots of P & O rumours answered


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Hi, l have been watching these threads for many months and I would like to answer a few questions/queries.

I have done 33 cruises, 28 with P & O over 16 years so have seen all the changes over the years.

Just returned from 14 day med cruise with my wife, son, daughter in law and 2 grandchildren.

 

1. Alcohol Package

Just a table outside Sindu alongside specialist restaurant tables on 2nd day.

Nobody seemed interested, especially the bar waiter selling it. IMO it was a complete flop on this cruise.

2. Alcohol Prices

Much the same as before except that fever tree tonics have gone up 20p putting the price up by that mount.

Gordon's gin (47.5% proof per litre) was £22 from room service. Andersons was £29 from room service, fine gin, but £31 from duty free - strange.

3. Alcohol Policy

Total nonsense. No checks at Southampton.

If the port stop has checks on land, just an uninterested bar waiter at a table on board. Nobody stops to give any in.

If the scan checks are on board just ignore the checks.

The crew seem completely uninterested.

4. P & O dumbing down.

Yes over the past 16 years the quality has decreased. However, over the last 2 weeks the food in the MDRs has been the best for years, the specialist restaurants have been superb and the staff have treated my grandsons, 11 and 6, first time cruisers, like royalty.

 

Yes, P & O get some things wrong but they get lots right that is why we continue to sail with them.

 

Any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

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We have sailed with Fred, Cunard, RCI, Noble Caledonia, Hapag Lloyd, Holland America , Oceania and more. But we keep coming back to P&O as just suiting us very well.

But we may move on soon as P&O are selling off, IMO, all the best ships. Current new choice likely to be Oceania. Ships with max 1200 pax. All soft drinks free, I am TT. Most pax are from USA , super friendly but easier to win the quizzes ha ha.

 

 

 

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Hi, l have been watching these threads for many months and I would like to answer a few questions/queries.

I have done 33 cruises, 28 with P & O over 16 years so have seen all the changes over the years.

Just returned from 14 day med cruise with my wife, son, daughter in law and 2 grandchildren.

 

1. Alcohol Package

Just a table outside Sindu alongside specialist restaurant tables on 2nd day.

Nobody seemed interested, especially the bar waiter selling it. IMO it was a complete flop on this cruise.

2. Alcohol Prices

Much the same as before except that fever tree tonics have gone up 20p putting the price up by that mount.

Gordon's gin (47.5% proof per litre) was £22 from room service. Andersons was £29 from room service, fine gin, but £31 from duty free - strange.

3. Alcohol Policy

Total nonsense. No checks at Southampton.

If the port stop has checks on land, just an uninterested bar waiter at a table on board. Nobody stops to give any in.

If the scan checks are on board just ignore the checks.

The crew seem completely uninterested.

4. P & O dumbing down.

Yes over the past 16 years the quality has decreased. However, over the last 2 weeks the food in the MDRs has been the best for years, the specialist restaurants have been superb and the staff have treated my grandsons, 11 and 6, first time cruisers, like royalty.

 

Yes, P & O get some things wrong but they get lots right that is why we continue to sail with them.

 

Any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

Thanks for your observations.

We have been cruising exclusively with P&O for 10 years now and always enjoy our cruises with them.

We enjoy all of their ships and will certainly book a cruise on IONA when they go on sale.

Regarding the Alcohol Package.

Were you on board Azura as I understand they were only trialling the package on that ship?

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The drinks prices are very reasonable so there is no reason IMO for P&O to introduce drinks packages.

 

I like what P&O offer and this is why I continue to sail with them.

Yes agreed, we also like what P&O currently offer and have no interest in AI drinks packages. Although we would have no problem if they remained optional as is the case of their other packages (soft drinks, ice cream etc) that they have offered for some time now.

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Thanks so much for this post! Going on my first cruise on Azura this Saturday. My boyfriend, who I'm travelling with, has cruised with P&O for years with his family and loves it but sometimes the posts on this forum make me a bit nervous haha. Excited to experience it all for myself soon!

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I am confused why people should think that the Alcohol Policy will be policed @ Southampton when boarding. The "Hole in the Wall Gang" employed by AB Ports are scanning for Items prohibited under UK Law as are G4S who are responsible for searching via Security. They are not employed to administer P&O Alcohol Policy. Alcohol Policy will only be enforced when P&O do the searching@ Security as when re-boarding at Ports.

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I too have cruised regularly with P&O over the last 21 years. Yes, things have changed a lot, with some things not so good and others better. The prices have certainly come down!

I prefer smaller ships and stick to these. I have tried Azura and am unlikely to repeat that for a full-length cruise. I have no desire to try her sister ship and am only likely to maybe try a weekender on Britannia - just to see her. I don't envisage ever sailing on Iona.

Sadly, some pax who don't like larger ships keep booking them and then complain that they don't like them. I know I don't enjoy them so sail on the smaller ones. My recent cruises on Aurora & Oriana were both great and I will really miss Oriana. I will however happily sail on Aurora and maybe Arcadia, who I have not been on for years. I won't rule out Oceana but somehow she just doesn't have the same appeal for me.

Whilst I am happy with P&O's product on the smaller ships, I also happily sail on other lines. Tried Marella in January and unlikely to repeat and then CMV in May, which I will happily repeat.

Even within P&O, there is now such a contrast of styles that they are not going to be able to please all of the people all of the time. Some pax like all the ships and others only either the smaller ones or the larger ones. You pays your money...

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Whilst I am happy with P&O's product on the smaller ships, I also happily sail on other lines. Tried Marella in January and unlikely to repeat and then CMV in May, which I will happily repeat.

.

 

Hi Andrew. Really interested to know what you liked about CMV - have you posted about it anywhere? We have done a couple of overnights with dinner on Marco Polo and Magellan to check them out, but haven't felt confident enough to book a cruise with them, but I know that we have similar tastes.

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Hi Andrew. Really interested to know what you liked about CMV - have you posted about it anywhere? We have done a couple of overnights with dinner on Marco Polo and Magellan to check them out, but haven't felt confident enough to book a cruise with them, but I know that we have similar tastes.

 

I suppose it was the overall atmosphere on board really. It has to be qualified by saying it was on Marco Polo, which definitely has that 'small ship' & 'classic' feel to it. I would say that they are not as slick and stylish as P&O (based on Aurora & Oriana) but gave a classic feel.

 

The food was of a perfectly acceptable standard, without being exciting in any way. Everything was tasty & hot and of a good quality. We were on a table of 8 and there only seemed a couple of 'misses' across the whole 11 nights and one or two dishes went down very well indeed. Service was pretty good in the dining room, akin to the P&O unobtrusive style. One thing that I didn't like about the food was that breakfast is served buffet-style in both the main dining room and the buffet (Marco's). I personally prefer the option of being served breakfast at table. Additionally, the buffet in the main dining room was set out over quite a few tables and there did not seem any logic to it at all.

 

We found service to also be generally good in the bars and lounges with a couple of staff being outstanding.

 

Entertainment was limited in comparison with P&O but again, you have to expect that on a ship that only holds 800 pax. There was a small show team who did reviews similar to P&O in style but without the large stage full of scenery etc.. They were backed by a small but proficient band/orchestra. Individual members of the show team did late night solo spots in the nightclub and the two girl singers & three boy singers did sets together on other nights. There were two comedians, neither of which I found to my taste but others seemed to enjoy their performances and there were two classical musicians playing in the lounge pre & post dinner on piano and violin. I think they also had a duo playing early evening in the nightclub but we didn't really get to see them. The one thing that would have been nice is a 'cocktail pianist' as an alternative to the classical duo.

 

There were a couple of very good daytime lecturers covering a range of subjects.

 

I wouldn't say that I would make CMV my 'go to' cruise line but I will quite happily sail with them again and would like to try the new Columbus, which is of course P&O's previous Arcadia.

 

Maybe you should try a one-week cruise with them? Nothing ventured, nothing gained :D

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I suppose it was the overall atmosphere on board really. It has to be qualified by saying it was on Marco Polo, which definitely has that 'small ship' & 'classic' feel to it. I would say that they are not as slick and stylish as P&O (based on Aurora & Oriana) but gave a classic feel.

 

The food was of a perfectly acceptable standard, without being exciting in any way. Everything was tasty & hot and of a good quality. We were on a table of 8 and there only seemed a couple of 'misses' across the whole 11 nights and one or two dishes went down very well indeed. Service was pretty good in the dining room, akin to the P&O unobtrusive style. One thing that I didn't like about the food was that breakfast is served buffet-style in both the main dining room and the buffet (Marco's). I personally prefer the option of being served breakfast at table. Additionally, the buffet in the main dining room was set out over quite a few tables and there did not seem any logic to it at all.

 

We found service to also be generally good in the bars and lounges with a couple of staff being outstanding.

 

Entertainment was limited in comparison with P&O but again, you have to expect that on a ship that only holds 800 pax. There was a small show team who did reviews similar to P&O in style but without the large stage full of scenery etc.. They were backed by a small but proficient band/orchestra. Individual members of the show team did late night solo spots in the nightclub and the two girl singers & three boy singers did sets together on other nights. There were two comedians, neither of which I found to my taste but others seemed to enjoy their performances and there were two classical musicians playing in the lounge pre & post dinner on piano and violin. I think they also had a duo playing early evening in the nightclub but we didn't really get to see them. The one thing that would have been nice is a 'cocktail pianist' as an alternative to the classical duo.

 

There were a couple of very good daytime lecturers covering a range of subjects.

 

I wouldn't say that I would make CMV my 'go to' cruise line but I will quite happily sail with them again and would like to try the new Columbus, which is of course P&O's previous Arcadia.

 

Maybe you should try a one-week cruise with them? Nothing ventured, nothing gained :D

 

Many thanks Andrew. Very kind of you to provide such a detailed review.

 

From the extremely limited experience we’ve had with CMV, we would agree on all points. We’ve experienced the ship, dinner, overnight and breakfast on each of Marco Polo and Magellan and were pleasantly surprised.

 

We found that the food in the MDR was perfectly acceptable (not quite P&O standard) and service was very good (certainly on a par with P&O). Like you, we aren’t a fan of buffets, but the choice at breakfast was excellent and the staff kindly offered to get food for my wife (who, as you know, is in a wheelchair), even though I was with her. Embarkation and disembarkation was less of a kerfuffle than with P&O although security wasn’t good (we were allowed to bypass it completely due to the wheelchair)! Bar service was good and the entertainment was a bit amateurish, but so can P&O’s be. We just had a sense that it was a bit ‘budget’ compared to P&O and not quite as professional. In one show, we were joined in our row by what looked like the captain and two or three other senior ships officers, all Eastern European and drinking alcohol. They do have far more interesting itineraries than P&O (which we find to be very repetitive) and we saw Columbus (old Arcadia) last month in Flaam when we were on the current Arcadia. We were on the berth and they were at tender!

 

We are taking early retirement next year and have no P&O Cruises booked beyond next May, so will possibly give them a go one day!

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Andrew, very interesting. Shirley who you met, has been on the Marco Polo and said never again. She did not enjoy the food, thought the waiting staff were surly and even rude. Her cabin stewardess was also unfriendly. She has cruised extensively with Fred, and P&O, but nothing would get her on Cruise Maritime again.

 

We are the same as you. Tried Azura once, that told us never again on big ships. Arcadia is the biggest for us. Prefer Aurora size. I have gone off Fred, although wouldn't mind trying the Braemar again.

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I have heard others say that the staff were a bit surly but am pleased to say we didn't experience that at all. They have a fairly high percentage of Easter European staff, some of who can be a bit 'reserved'. We had an Indian Waiter and Eastern European Assistant Waiter. There was an Eastern European Bar Waitress in the Captains Club by the name of Sanja and she was an absolute delight.

 

I think you might like Marco Polo Jean.

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Hi, l have been watching these threads for many months and I would like to answer a few questions/queries.

I have done 33 cruises, 28 with P & O over 16 years so have seen all the changes over the years.

Just returned from 14 day med cruise with my wife, son, daughter in law and 2 grandchildren.

 

1. Alcohol Package

Just a table outside Sindu alongside specialist restaurant tables on 2nd day.

Nobody seemed interested, especially the bar waiter selling it. IMO it was a complete flop on this cruise.

2. Alcohol Prices

Much the same as before except that fever tree tonics have gone up 20p putting the price up by that mount.

Gordon's gin (47.5% proof per litre) was £22 from room service. Andersons was £29 from room service, fine gin, but £31 from duty free - strange.

3. Alcohol Policy

Total nonsense. No checks at Southampton.

If the port stop has checks on land, just an uninterested bar waiter at a table on board. Nobody stops to give any in.

If the scan checks are on board just ignore the checks.

The crew seem completely uninterested.

4. P & O dumbing down.

Yes over the past 16 years the quality has decreased. However, over the last 2 weeks the food in the MDRs has been the best for years, the specialist restaurants have been superb and the staff have treated my grandsons, 11 and 6, first time cruisers, like royalty.

 

Yes, P & O get some things wrong but they get lots right that is why we continue to sail with them.

 

Any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

 

The alcohol policy is not total nonsense... On Britannia in May, alcohol was taken from us in Norway after showing up through the scanners that you had to use, security then took us to get a receipt and it was returned at the end of the cruise. It may be often unchecked, but it certainly was on our cruise. The security staff were very interested...That said, we knew the rules, so was not disappointed.

Agree with your point that P&O get so much right, we had such a good time we have booked 2 more...

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Hi, l have been watching these threads for many months and I would like to answer a few questions/queries.

I have done 33 cruises, 28 with P & O over 16 years so have seen all the changes over the years.

Just returned from 14 day med cruise with my wife, son, daughter in law and 2 grandchildren.

 

1. Alcohol Package

Just a table outside Sindu alongside specialist restaurant tables on 2nd day.

Nobody seemed interested, especially the bar waiter selling it. IMO it was a complete flop on this cruise.

2. Alcohol Prices

Much the same as before except that fever tree tonics have gone up 20p putting the price up by that mount.

Gordon's gin (47.5% proof per litre) was £22 from room service. Andersons was £29 from room service, fine gin, but £31 from duty free - strange.

3. Alcohol Policy

Total nonsense. No checks at Southampton.

If the port stop has checks on land, just an uninterested bar waiter at a table on board. Nobody stops to give any in.

If the scan checks are on board just ignore the checks.

The crew seem completely uninterested.

4. P & O dumbing down.

Yes over the past 16 years the quality has decreased. However, over the last 2 weeks the food in the MDRs has been the best for years, the specialist restaurants have been superb and the staff have treated my grandsons, 11 and 6, first time cruisers, like royalty.

 

Yes, P & O get some things wrong but they get lots right that is why we continue to sail with them.

 

Any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

 

Hi there,

 

Just wanted to say that we agree with you that P&O get lots right.

 

We've also been travelling with them (amongst others) for 17 years and will continue to do so, we hope, for many years to come. They are one of the few lines that don't have service charges on everything, and go from Southampton.

 

We've travelled on most of their ships, old and new, (just about to do Ventura which is the only recent one we haven't been on) and we like all of them for different reasons. We'll be booking Iona when she becomes available and we will have to see if (1) we find her too big, or, (2) we don't like the passengers she attracts.

 

Only time will tell.......:)

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Hi there,

 

Just wanted to say that we agree with you that P&O get lots right.

 

We've also been travelling with them (amongst others) for 17 years and will continue to do so, we hope, for many years to come. They are one of the few lines that don't have service charges on everything, and go from Southampton.

 

We've travelled on most of their ships, old and new, (just about to do Ventura which is the only recent one we haven't been on) and we like all of them for different reasons. We'll be booking Iona when she becomes available and we will have to see if (1) we find her too big, or, (2) we don't like the passengers she attracts.

 

Only time will tell.......:)

If you've been on Azura, you have been on Ventura, they are almost identical

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If you've been on Azura, you have been on Ventura, they are almost identical

 

I disagree with the statement even though they are the same build layout IMO totally different ships. We sailed on Ventura maiden in 2008 and havent sailed on her since we sailed on Azura maiden in 2010 and have sailed on her 5 times in total think that says it all.

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The drinks prices are very reasonable so there is no reason IMO for P&O to introduce drinks packages.

 

I like what P&O offer and this is why I continue to sail with them.

RCCL might be our first choice because our loyalty status gets us an exclusive lounge for three and a half hours of free drinks nightly but we still come back to P&O for short cruises out of Southampton because P&O do a lot of British things well.
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I disagree with the statement even though they are the same build layout IMO totally different ships. We sailed on Ventura maiden in 2008 and havent sailed on her since we sailed on Azura maiden in 2010 and have sailed on her 5 times in total think that says it all.

They are twins. Same size, same floor plan (apart from a few tweaks that prevent the promenade deck being continuous) and the dome on one and sea screen on the other.

The theatre, show lounges, shops, dining rooms etc are in the same place on one as the other. (I think the pub/casino are mirrored images of each other). Everything else such as colours, names etc are cosmetic.

I have been on both, more than once, and even on board, have trouble recognising which one I am on.

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They are twins. Same size, same floor plan (apart from a few tweaks that prevent the promenade deck being continuous) and the dome on one and sea screen on the other.

The theatre, show lounges, shops, dining rooms etc are in the same place on one as the other. (I think the pub/casino are mirrored images of each other). Everything else such as colours, names etc are cosmetic.

I have been on both, more than once, and even on board, have trouble recognising which one I am on.

I thought they were very similar too.

We have been on Ventura several times but only once on Azura.

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They are almost identical in design just cosmetic differences but when we went on the Maiden cruise there was many differences on Ventura i.e. no Glass House it was Tapas, Epicurean was The White Room and was very poor IMO and there was no Sindhu. Azura was launched on her Maiden with Glass House, Sindhu as restaurants in the initial design and not changed after and Azura's speciality fine dining restaurant prior to Epicurean was XV11 which IMO was the best and still the best fine dining restaurant we have ever been on with P&O and had a fantastic menu. There were many different designs initially that have now being aligned on both ships but made the experience entirely different and with Ventura being P&Os first large ship as it was then they thought they could run it with not much of an increase in staff numbers and the service suffered dramatically. We then sailed on Azura Maiden and like I said had things that are now aligned on both ships but made it a more enjoyable experience. Funnily most of the changes made to Ventura in re fits since have made it virtually the same as Azura always was. Like everything people have different views and we did not have an enjoyable cruise on Ventura and have not had any desire to sail on her since or again.

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