Back from first cruise with P&O and....

Not overly impressed. No 'wow' factor anywhere on the ship apart from The Headliners who were excellent. Plumbing problems and water leaks were evident the whole 2 weeks. Disappointed at lack of places for late night snacks, why does The Conservatory close down? Al Fresco is too small to accommodate everyone and you can't linger because you are conscious of the queue.

We did enjoy ourselves but wouldn't return to the Oriana and would think twice about any other P&O ship; the itinerary and price would have to be fantastic before we would even consider booking. Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

Will do a full review later.

Not overly impressed. No 'wow' factor anywhere on the ship apart from The Headliners who were excellent. Plumbing problems and water leaks were evident the whole 2 weeks. Disappointed at lack of places for late night snacks, why does The Conservatory close down? Al Fresco is too small to accommodate everyone and you can't linger because you are conscious of the queue.

 

We did enjoy ourselves but wouldn't return to the Oriana and would think twice about any other P&O ship; the itinerary and price would have to be fantastic before we would even consider booking. Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

 

Will do a full review later.

I guess some people do not have to have a ship with WOW factor.

For some people it is the ports of call that makes them book.

For some it is because they like some aspect of a p and o ship.

We have tried others, went to pando and stayed there.

For us it is sailing from Southampton.

We decided getting to an airport 3 hours before took some of the gloss away, as did the flying itself. We did our fair share of long haul flights to wonderful places. Now it is about the getting to Southampton ,getting on board, and theres our holiday.

I would love to try some of the 6* lines, but when I look most of them are fly cruises ,as they start in Europe. You maybe get one cruise starting from the UK.

What I do not want to try is some huge American ship with 3000+ people on board.

Luckily we all like different things in cruising, and there are plenty of ships to accommodate everyones tastes.

I agree with englishlady...we are not interested in late night snacks. Or the entertainment for that matter. We enjoy a nice cabin with space to move about and a balcony to admire the views. We enjoy meeting different people and people watching. We go for itineraries...and like her sailing from Southampton makes it for us. We still do other holidays throughout the year which all involve flying, some long haul, so P&O floats our boat! And as is often said we are all looking for different things and with a large fleet P&O fit most people's bills, in more ways than one! I would however be concerned about faulty plumbing but would make sure it got fixed or we were compensated!

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Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

 

Will do a full review later.

Were you upset because these "die-hard' P&Oers" enjoyed their cruise? There are many people who don't want to try "American" ships. The fact that they love P&O doesn't make their opinions any less valid than yours.

As English Lady says, "Luckily we all like different things in cruising, and there are plenty of ships to accommodate everyones tastes".

I guess some people do not have to have a ship with WOW factor.

Fair comment. We are probably of a similar mind.

For some people it is the ports of call that makes them book.

Probably true for most of us

For us it is sailing from Southampton.

Perfectly reasonable decision but P&O are not the only line to sail from Southampton

What I do not want to try is some huge American ship with 3000+ people on board.

Hang on a minute.

Let me think about that one.

Hmmmm, am I not correct in observing that....

ADONIA may be a small ship but wasn't she previously operated by Princess cruises as Royal Princess and isn't she is built to the same design as Ocean Princess and Pacific Princess which because they both have a deck of mini-suites have less passengers than Adonia?

OCEANA may not have 3000+ pax but isn't she a Sun Class ship designed for and initially operated by Princess as Ocean Princess?

ARCADIA may not have 3000+ pax but isn't she is a Vista Class ship built to a design commissioned and first operated by Holland America?

VENTURA and AZURA both have 3000+ pax and aren't they both Grand Class ships built to a design commissioned and first operated by Princess?

BRITANNIA will have over 3600 pax and isn't she a Royal Class ship being built to a design commissioned and first operated by Princess?

Guess that just leaves you the option of choosing between compromising on your prejudices or sticking solely to Aurora and Oriana ;)

You have to remember that Princess has been owned by P&O since 1974 so it is not surprising that designs transfer between both companies.

Brian

Not overly impressed. No 'wow' factor anywhere on the ship apart from The Headliners who were excellent. Plumbing problems and water leaks were evident the whole 2 weeks. Disappointed at lack of places for late night snacks, why does The Conservatory close down? Al Fresco is too small to accommodate everyone and you can't linger because you are conscious of the queue.

 

We did enjoy ourselves but wouldn't return to the Oriana and would think twice about any other P&O ship; the itinerary and price would have to be fantastic before we would even consider booking. Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

 

Will do a full review later.

Sorry that you did not enjoy Oriana I would say that expecting the 'wow factor' from a ship that has been cruising for the last 20 years when cruising was much different than today may have expecting a bit much. We like the big brash more modern ships and out of the P&O fleet we prefer Azura and Ventura style of ship. I do have to say though that we had one of our best ever cruises on Oriana last year when it was one of those times when everything 'went right' and we had a great time but more comfortable and relaxing than 'wow'.

When I go on a cruise I'm not really looking for WOW. I'm really more after, aaaaahh, chilling!!

I want the itinerary to provide the WOW. Therefore it's the ports of call, then the price that guides my choice.

P & O often fit the bill, plus sailing from Southampton is good as I live here. Daft, I know, but I love being able to make a cup of tea in my cabin instead of waiting for it to turn up and being able to bring drink for my cabin on board.

That said, I have equally enjoyed cruises, chosen because of dates, price and itinerary on Princess, Carnival and Celebrity.

If I had had problems with leaks and dodgy loos I'd have been put off that ship no matter what name they sailed under.

How unfortunate Oriana and therefore P&O blew it for you. Never mind, loads of other lines to choose from. Happy sailings in the future, whoever it's with.:)

Thanks for the report!

You have to remember that Princess has been owned by P&O since 1974 so it is not surprising that designs transfer between both companies.

Brian

Princess was bought off P&O by Carnival Corp in 2002 sadly. Oddly all the ships, even the new builds have the P&O rising sun in the bow.

For goodness sake! Everyone likes different things. Book what you enjoy and stop moaning! Sad!

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I feel much the same. I don't need a WOW factor, or an atrium come to that. My Wow comes from just being on board, being at sea, enjoying the activities and some of the shows. After breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I definitely don't need late night snacks and it's very bad for you to eat late at night and go to bed.

I wouldn't try an American ship, because they are too big for our taste, I don't want to be charged in dollars, nor do I want to be charged 15% on each drink.

Not overly impressed. No 'wow' factor anywhere on the ship apart from The Headliners who were excellent. Plumbing problems and water leaks were evident the whole 2 weeks. Disappointed at lack of places for late night snacks, why does The Conservatory close down? Al Fresco is too small to accommodate everyone and you can't linger because you are conscious of the queue.

 

We did enjoy ourselves but wouldn't return to the Oriana and would think twice about any other P&O ship; the itinerary and price would have to be fantastic before we would even consider booking. Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

 

Will do a full review later.

I agree with some of your points we were on Oriana in March and there were water leaks around the ship, toilets around the ship were defective. We also had toilet problems, water coming out of tap unfit to drink or clean teeth and shower water a mucky yellowy brown in our cabin throughout the cruise. I would never ever cruise again on Oriana and said that she was well past her sell by date. I also got loads of abuse from die hard Oriana fans when I mentioned this in reviews about my cruise. A lot of P&Oers would have a shock if they sailed with Princess to see how far P&O have fallen behind in their standards and cruise experience.

I wouldn't try an American ship, because they are too big for our taste, I don't want to be charged in dollars, nor do I want to be charged 15% on each drink.

Not paying 15% service charge and not being charged in dollars makes perfect sense.

However, when you say that American ships are too big for your taste you are missing the point that:

a) Britannia at 142,000 registered tonnage, will be larger than anything operated by Princess or any other brand in Carnival Corporation, except Cunard's Queen Mary 2.

and

b) Ventura at just over 116,000 registered tonnage is larger than any of the Grand class ships operated by Princess.

I know what the OP means we found Ventura a bit beige and bland, it doesnt have the wow factor as a ship and does lack some pazazz found on other lines.

Started cruising on American ships. Tried a few different lines. Felt they all lacked that je ne sais quoi. Moved to P&O; loved them. Each to his own.

We cruise on different lines as you can see from my signature, but many of our cruises have been with P&O. We actually really like Oriana which offers more traditional cruising and it makes a refreshing change from other ships we've been on.

We love every cruise we do and our favourite line is usually the one we're about to go on / have just been on!! IMO, every line has something different to offer and we just go in a positive frame of mind, ready to enjoy ourselves whatever :). I could give you a list of what I like/ don't like about RCCI, Princess, Celebrity and Cunard, as well as P&O. However we LOVE cruising and we'll go with whichever line has the dates and itinerary we're interested in. Don't write off P&O

IMHO P&O is a low budget cruise line designed for older people who don't want late nights, modern entertainment or modern ships. If this is not your cup of tea, don't bother looking at their brochures. Go for Princess or Celebrity, they are 21st century cruise lines with a lower average age of passengers.

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Not overly impressed. No 'wow' factor anywhere on the ship apart from The Headliners who were excellent. Plumbing problems and water leaks were evident the whole 2 weeks. Disappointed at lack of places for late night snacks, why does The Conservatory close down? Al Fresco is too small to accommodate everyone and you can't linger because you are conscious of the queue.

 

We did enjoy ourselves but wouldn't return to the Oriana and would think twice about any other P&O ship; the itinerary and price would have to be fantastic before we would even consider booking. Intrigued that 'die-hard' P&Oers couldn't see any problems at all and the thought of trying an 'American' ship sent them almost frothing at the mouth, although most admitted they'd never been on board such a ship!

 

Will do a full review later.

I agree with you completely.

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I have sailed on US ships - not all are big btw - including Nautica, Royal Princess and the Cunard fleet but out of all the ships I have travelled on still around today, Oriana is my favourite. I love the fact she still has a separate cinema and theatre, the theatre has unobstructed sight lines, the teak decks everywhere, the sheer amount of open deck space, much of it secluded, the elegant colour scheme.. I could go on. I don't need late night snacks and my cruises are itinerary driven anyway. But bottom line is that it is as well we don't all look for the same thing in our ships or they would be awfully crowded and expensive!

I have this feeling that one of my posts has been removed from this thread, i wonder why :confused:

IMHO P&O is a low budget cruise line designed for older people who don't want late nights, modern entertainment or modern ships. If this is not your cup of tea, don't bother looking at their brochures. Go for Princess or Celebrity, they are 21st century cruise lines with a lower average age of passengers.

 

 

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Why do you cruise on P&O then? You say it's because it's cheaper but even if it's cheaper, a cruise to the USA is hardly just a few pounds.

I've been on Azura / Ventura numerous times and I have

1. Stayed up to the early hours in bars and in the club with lots of other people having great laugh.

2. Enjoyed the really modern design of the cabins and public areas as they were only built in the last few years.

3. Appreciated that the average age is the same as on the Ruby Princess and Celebrity Equinox cruises I've done recently.

4. Loved the entertainment in the Manhattan, the video walls in the Planet and the casual, relaxed vibe in The Glasshouse.

What's not to like?

The reason the late-night buffet is so much less than it was is, I would presume, that it wasn't getting used, food was wasted, staff time was wasted. Most P&O passengers seem to prefer not to have food at midnight.

Will try and reply to some of your comments in the morning. Meanwhile maybe it will help if I publish my fuller review. It is not my intention to rubbish other people's feelings re P&O, I just wanted to state my own personal opinion; and it is just that - totally personal.

Just back from our first ever P&O cruise and it was ‘interesting’. Embarkation onto the Oriana was slightly delayed due to Maritime Inspection/Technical Problems. However, we were soon on board and in our inside cabin. This has to be the tiniest cabin we’ve ever been in and the shower cubicle was similarly tiny. On first glance the Oriana looks a fine ship and the cabin and public areas were clean and tidy, but scratch below the surface and a multitude of problems appeared. The plumbing, not just in our cabin, failed several times; our friends suffered a leak from their toilet and there was at least one major leak which closed down The Conservatory for some time. A number of the Ladies Public Toilets were ‘out of order’ during the 2 weeks and at least 2 of the lifts kept breaking down. I spoke to one lady whose husband had caught his arm in the lift as the doors did not go back when he touched them.

The food was okay, but nothing special and my personal view was that the quality tailed off towards the end of the cruise. The vegetarian choices, both in the MDR and The Conservatory were poor and speaking to a gentleman about it, I got the distinct impression that he was hungry – not what you would expect on a cruise! And why oh why did The Conservatory close down after dinner? If you’ve been to the late show, cinema, etc you sometimes want a snack before going to bed but there was nowhere open apart from Al Fresco which we felt was not fit for purpose. It’s too small and the snacks provided were not brilliant. Part of going for a drink and a snack after a show is to linger and talk with friends, but you can’t do that in Al Fresco as you are conscious of the queue outside. This is the first ship we’ve been on where you couldn’t get a late night snack. However, the crew were mainly very friendly and happy to oblige with any requests we made in the MDR – we were Freedom Dining which meant different waiters most nights. The entertainment was very good and we thought that the Headliners were excellent. The daily films were recent releases and well attended. We enjoyed sitting in the Crows Nest but avoided Andersons as it was gloomy and reminded us of ‘God’s Waiting Room’. Whilst we knew that there would be no children on the ship, we were very surprised at the age range of the passengers which was mainly elderly; this also meant we were constantly skipping around wheelchairs, mobility scooters and people with sticks. Not their fault, of course, but we found we prefer a mix of age groups. Again, we knew it would be full of Brits and we found that we prefer a mix of nationalities.

What did surprise us was that when we made a few comments about the ship to ‘die-hard’ P&Oers, they fell on us like a ton of bricks. As far as they were concerned there was nothing wrong at all with the ship (did they not need to use the public toilets, see the broken-down lifts, etc.) and they wouldn’t touch an American ship for all the tea in China. When asked why, most of them admitted they’d never even been with any other line other than P&O; so how could they make such remarks?

The itinerary of Norway and Iceland was the reason we chose the cruise and that did not disappoint. The ports we visited were interesting, but again we found the cost of the official excursions to be exorbitant. I appreciate P&O is a business and has to cover the costs of coaches, drivers, guides, etc, but in Akuyreri and Reykjavik we did exactly the same trips at less than half the cost. Surely a rethink of pricing would mean more people would take the official trips and the cruise line (not just P&O) would make the same or more money.

Did we enjoy ourselves; Yes we did. Would we sail with P&O again; Not on the Oriana and it would have to be a fantastic itinerary and price before we would consider trying any other P&O ship.

IMHO P&O is a low budget cruise line designed for older people who don't want late nights, modern entertainment or modern ships. If this is not your cup of tea, don't bother looking at their brochures. Go for Princess or Celebrity, they are 21st century cruise lines with a lower average age of passengers.

 

 

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You went to the USA on Aurora and liked it or that's the impression you gave.

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