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Will Fred gain new customers from P&O after sale of Adonia?


Eglesbrech
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It appears that P&O are selling their only small ship and cancelling a lot of cruises. Adonia,s USP was that she was small and could visit ports and rivers that her big sisters cannot. Sound familiar?

 

As Fred ships can and do also visit these less accessible ports do you think that Fred will gain new customers who prefer smaller ship?

 

IMO I am now glad that I have my bookings in place for next year as I suspect that some pax will be miffed with P&O and look elsewhere for their replacement cruise.

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One of my first cruises with P & O was on the Artemis(sold to a German cruise company). Although I like QM2 it did give me a hankering for the smaller ships and FO fitted the bill. Maybe Fred will buy the Adonia :)

 

RCI have bought it for the Azamara brand.

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IMO P&O just never used Adonia as she could have been used and that is their downfall. We have looked at the itineraries and none of them struck our heartstrings at all. The cruises are almost as mundane as what is offered on the rest of the fleet and if an unusual port is used, it is still in a very run of the mill location (e.g. The Med). We thought the same about the itinerary of the remaining renaissance ship that Princess have.

 

At one time they were offering cruises from Europe to North America via northerly reaches, Greenland etc., but that died a death. I think they were just looking for cheap routes to keep the prices down as people would not pay more for a P&O ship.

 

I think the main attraction of Adonia to certain P&O customers was a sort of snob value to those who did not consider it seemly to go on a big ship.

 

As I said, just my opinion.

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We have been on Adonia three times and with Fred Olsen three times. Most of our cruising has been with P&O and have been on all their current fleet apart from Britannia, which is far too big for us. Adonia, along with Aurora and Oceana are our favourites. Adonia appealed to many P&O customers because of her size but also because of the itineraries. She has a wonderful welcoming feel to her, is very elegant and offers different places to dine. We are very sorry that P&O have sold her but not surprised. We have recently been on Braemar which apart from a short cruise was the first time that we've been on her since our very first cruise back in 2003 before she was 'stretched'. As we've been with P&O mostly since then it was the first time we've been able to compare cruising experiences. We have been on Azura and Ventura, P&O's largest ships apart from Britannia. We have been on them because of they were going where we wanted to go, not because we particularly liked the ships - both have very good points, in fact they are the same design, but neither would be our first choice to go back to.

 

I enjoyed our recent trip on Braemar, for me the things that stood out were the friendliness of the staff and the size of the ship. The food was good, about on a par with P&O, occasionally better. Fred Olsen is expensive compared to P&O considering the size of the cabins. We had a Balcony Suite on Braemar and for the same money we could have a mini suite on P&O at less cost which would be three times the size. I like the fact that there are different dining options on P&O, not only the choice between Fixed and Freedom Ding - we would always choose Fixed - but that even on the smaller ship, Adonia, there are two other Select Dining venues that you can choose to go to for a small extra cost should you wish. Also we found the fact that if you return late from a morning excursion on Fred Olsen and you've missed lunch your only option is to have sandwiches from Room Service. On P&O there is always food available at the buffet. I also didn't like the fact that in both the main restaurants, The Thistle and The Grampian, it is a mixture of buffet and menu at both lunch and breakfast. So it means that some people are always moving around to get things from the buffet while others stay seated waiting for Waiter service. This isn't so bad in the Grampian as it's a much smaller restaurant but in the Thistle we found it far too noisy with too many people moving around. I would have liked just one restaurant, maybe the smaller Grampian, to have menu only.

This is only my choice, it wouldn't be others I realise.

 

I certainly haven't encountered any one on our trips on Adonia who I would say thought there was a 'snob value' to being on her. It's a real pity she's gone. We might look at Azmara, although their cruises usually mean a fly cruise. It was interesting being back on Braemar and there was much I liked but I wouldn't consider Fred Olsen for a longer cruise. I'm sure some customers from P&O will look at FO and may well try a cruise to see if they like it. I think some customers will find, as we did, that P&O offer more for our money.

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We loved what is now Adonia, when she was sailing for Swan Hellenic as Minerva II, with relaxed open dining for all evening meals and really adventurous itineraries. We also sailed on her during her first season as Adonia and would never have considered booking on her again. The self service restaurant was only open about 4 nights on our 17 night cruise, so the only alternative to set dining times on the other nights were the premium restaurants. One of those was mostly a steak restaurant (not my sort of fodder) and the other an Italian with very small portions which took an age to serve - we spent about two and a half hours in there a couple of nights, but did not even feel like we had had a decent meal when we came out and there was no alternative for me as I do not eat steak.

 

At least Fred have very pleasant self service restaurants as an alternative to the rigid set dining times open every night on all ships, though we do not like set dining either. I can see wider dining options are an advantage on the other P&O ships as well as many other lines, but there was not even a self service available on Adonia most of the time - it was way off the open all hours eating on their other ships. I know some people are quite happy to be confined to set sittings all the time and that is obviously their choice. Perhaps I was being a bit strong saying there is a snob value, after all everyone has there own likes and dislikes and makes their own choice. Compared to Minerva II though, Adonia was a totally different animal, we could not even find a quiet bar to sit in to have a drink after dinner as they were running "entertainments" (quizzes etc.) in all bars at some stage during the night, so we spent quite a bit of time walking from one bar to the other, drink in hand when an "entertainment" started up. It was the worst cruise we have ever had in our opinion.

 

I am wanting to initiate a Fred vs Adonia debate - there are indeed things we do not like about Fred either, but just wanted to point out the disadvantages of how P&O ran Adonia, whist accepting that some people liked her - just not enough to keep the ship going it seems, which I still see as a shame as it diminishes choice, which is always good.

Edited by tring
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We loved what is now Adonia, when she was sailing for Swan Hellenic as Minerva II, with relaxed open dining for all evening meals and really adventurous itineraries. We also sailed on her during her first season as Adonia and would never have considered booking on her again. The self service restaurant was only open about 4 nights on our 17 night cruise, so the only alternative to set dining times on the other nights were the premium restaurants. One of those was mostly a steak restaurant (not my sort of fodder) and the other an Italian with very small portions which took an age to serve - we spent about two and a half hours in there a couple of nights, but did not even feel like we had had a decent meal when we came out and there was no alternative for me as I do not eat steak.

 

At least Fred have very pleasant self service restaurants as an alternative to the rigid set dining times open every night on all ships, though we do not like set dining either. I can see wider dining options are an advantage on the other P&O ships as well as many other lines, but there was not even a self service available on Adonia most of the time - it was way off the open all hours eating on their other ships. I know some people are quite happy to be confined to set sittings all the time and that is obviously their choice. Perhaps I was being a bit strong saying there is a snob value, after all everyone has there own likes and dislikes and makes their own choice. Compared to Minerva II though, Adonia was a totally different animal, we could not even find a quiet bar to sit in to have a drink after dinner as they were running "entertainments" (quizzes etc.) in all bars at some stage during the night, so we spent quite a bit of time walking from one bar to the other, drink in hand when an "entertainment" started up. It was the worst cruise we have ever had in our opinion.

 

I am wanting to initiate a Fred vs Adonia debate - there are indeed things we do not like about Fred either, but just wanted to point out the disadvantages of how P&O ran Adonia, whist accepting that some people liked her - just not enough to keep the ship going it seems, which I still see as a shame as it diminishes choice, which is always good.

 

I will happily contribute to that debate.....after this coming weekend when I am going on Fred for the first time...my previous cruise in June this year being on Adonia....which, i would stress has obviously changed since she returned to P &O this year and since you last sailed on her. The most significant aspects by the sound of it is that the buffet was open every day and every evening....and also the addition of the Glass house, with food available from midday to 11pm. We also never had a problem finding an entertainment free bar...

 

So....I will be back next week!

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.my previous cruise in June this year being on Adonia....which, i would stress has obviously changed since she returned to P &O this year and since you last sailed on her. The most significant aspects by the sound of it is that the buffet was open every day and every evening....and also the addition of the Glass house, with food available from midday to 11pm. We also never had a problem finding an entertainment free bar...

 

So....I will be back next week!

 

If those changes have indeed been made to how P&O are running Adonia, then the ship is a sad loss. Our experience could not have been more different, though as I did say it was when Adonia was first taken on by P&O and we were not the only unhappy people, so not surprising if there have been changes.

 

The itineraries were still not likely to really attract us as we do like something a bit different, though sadly that is becoming more and more difficult to find. Land holidays, or fly cruises combined with land stays are becoming more prominent on our holiday list as there is more freedom in planning.

 

Enjoy your holiday.

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If those changes have indeed been made to how P&O are running Adonia, then the ship is a sad loss. Our experience could not have been more different, though as I did say it was when Adonia was first taken on by P&O and we were not the only unhappy people, so not surprising if there have been changes.

 

The itineraries were still not likely to really attract us as we do like something a bit different, though sadly that is becoming more and more difficult to find. Land holidays, or fly cruises combined with land stays are becoming more prominent on our holiday list as there is more freedom in planning.

 

Enjoy your holiday.

 

It is indeed a sad loss...we loved her and were thinking of booking another on her for next year or 2019.... but it is not to be,..:(

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I would guess so - a few days ago I looked at a cruise on Olsen's website that I've been monitoring for ages. It's been consistently getting between one and two hundred views per day - on this particular day it got well over a thousand.

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We have had an interesting Adonia cruise next year cancelled and have booked a weeks cruise with Fred to try it out

I am surprised that Adonia was sold - but P&O now just seem to want to have large ships. Not for me. I prefer not to fly so if we like Fred this could become a reasonable option for us

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Well, I am back from my 3 nighter on Fred, and am in process of wriring a review...which will, amongst other things, feature comparisons between Fred and P &O. But in a nutshell......would I consider Fred again....? Yes...Definitely. We had a lovely time.

Would I cruise with P &O again? (After the 2 I have already booked for 2018) Probably/possibly. But the ship and itinerary will be important....P &O need to look to their laurels or they will lose a large part of their loyal customer base. Will they care.....well that depends on the replacement customers....

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