Breaking News P&O is safe!

[geecee1]

I come from the OV site with wonderful news from the P&O cruise specialist on the latest OV cruise, in that he/she stated "that the current dress codes" would remain in place on future P&O voyages".

It would appear that P&O's current marketing team are so keen to ensure that nobody from the OV customer base "taints" their fleet, that there were suggestion boxes on OV pointing passengers towards NCL and Thomson ships.

As those of you who are familiar with my previous posts on both forums, I am a retired Sales and Marketing manager with experience of FMCG and Automotive Markets in both Anglo-American and Franco-American businesses.

I cannot believe that Carnival/P&O are so confident of their market share in an expanding but increasingly competitive market, that they are prepared to ditch their current OV customers and leave them without any fly/cruise holidays on British-themed ships.

I also believe that many British holidaymakers looking for an alternative to land -based holidays are put off cruising by it's "stuffy" image perpetuated by the insisstence on formal attire.

I, myself, was sceptical about cruising until I went on OV1 to the Caribbean in 2007, but with the demise of the OV ships, I am now left with no alternative to return to land-based holidays

In fact, we have just booked an all inclusive holiday to Barbados at considerable expense, but I am assured that there are only turtles(no penguins) on the beach and that I will not be refused entry to St. Lawrence Gap if casually dressed!

[Johnthed0g]

Casual dress is compulsory in the gap!! where have you booked? Almond? Turtle?

[geecee1]

Casual dress is compulsory in the gap!! where have you booked? Almond? Turtle?

 

Slightly "down market" from the above in that our TA got us a great deal at Escape at the Gap, which is only 3* . But if we have to "escape", we have some friends renting up near Gibbes(sic) beach.

Have you stayed in Barbados? Our only experience has been "port days " on the last three OV cruises.

[Johnthed0g]

To be honest the South isnt my cup of tea, can be rowdy. Gibbes Beach is our favourite, just along from Mullins Beach bar now owned by RW hotel. Have a good look at EATG to see if it what you really want, from what I gather I think you would be more suited at maybe Almond Casurina if you want the South. You can ask more on the BDS forum on TA, the port info section on this site or Barbados travel advisor site. Some hotels have ..erm..dress codes for evening!!

[LibraLass41]

There are cruise ships out there for casual cruising, NCL would suit you if you don't want to dress up.

[SqueakyDust]

GeeCee, we did a land based holiday in Barbados but it was rather a while ago now ('89 ;)). But we loved it and would go back at the drop of a hat.

On our last OV cruise there we had a full day in Barbados and hired a car and took off ourselves.

Get a good map, maybe even a compass (their road signage is terrible) and just go with the flow. There is heaps to do. You must go north to the Sanctuary/zoo and then of course you can pop over to Bathsheba.

We stayed in Hastings, the Coconut Court. No idea if it is still there. We did walk along towards the Gap but turned back after we were approached and offered a certain substance. When we politely refused the guy became agressive!

Do some research on your area/hotel on the Net and check it is what you're looking for.

 

Another thing we did was go to the local Drive-In. I doubt it is still there (probably a lovely multi-lex now:rolleyes:) but it was great. Folks were taking bits of sofa out of their car to sit on under the stars.

 

It's true that a lot of places have a dress code. West coast can be quite stuffy, but not everyone expects you to pack a penguin suit.

 

We've done Thomsons, again pre OV. We'd to dress up for a couple of nights a week (we were only told of one) and I found it stressful. Some were REALLY dolled up, others just smart casual (maybe posh to them)

I would use them again, but would probably avoid the Captains dinner nights etc and just go to the buffet. they are similar to OV in that there is none of this tipping right left and centre and it's mainly Brits too.

[Johnthed0g]

All much the same as previous poster found, apart from the ''stuffy'' remark about the West coast, any of the classier places will require at least the "smart casual" dress code irrespective of which part of the island, the (now closed) Restaurant at Southsea would let you in without a jacket. Having said that most South coast dining venues don't mind.

[daiB]

I come from the OV site with wonderful news from the P&O cruise specialist on the latest OV cruise, in that he/she stated "that the current dress codes" would remain in place on future P&O voyages".

It would appear that P&O's current marketing team are so keen to ensure that nobody from the OV customer base "taints" their fleet, that there were suggestion boxes on OV pointing passengers towards NCL and Thomson ships.

As those of you who are familiar with my previous posts on both forums, I am a retired Sales and Marketing manager with experience of FMCG and Automotive Markets in both Anglo-American and Franco-American businesses.

I cannot believe that Carnival/P&O are so confident of their market share in an expanding but increasingly competitive market, that they are prepared to ditch their current OV customers and leave them without any fly/cruise holidays on British-themed ships.

I also believe that many British holidaymakers looking for an alternative to land -based holidays are put off cruising by it's "stuffy" image perpetuated by the insisstence on formal attire.

I, myself, was sceptical about cruising until I went on OV1 to the Caribbean in 2007, but with the demise of the OV ships, I am now left with no alternative to return to land-based holidays

In fact, we have just booked an all inclusive holiday to Barbados at considerable expense, but I am assured that there are only turtles(no penguins) on the beach and that I will not be refused entry to St. Lawrence Gap if casually dressed!

 

 

Errr emmmmmm I think you will find that I said this when the OV cruisers first came over here for a look.

 

P&O have a good expanding product, why would they change to move into a seperate product when they are improving the infrastructure in Southampton to deal with the expansion.

 

I said that they would not change just to get the OV market and I still think this is true although they have eased the dress code on 2 ships.

 

I get the impression that P&O think that there are more people who want the full cruise experience than the totally casual one of OV.

 

 

If there was a market for OV cruising then OV would not be going. That seems to me to be the market lead conclusion.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Johnthed0g]

Just been perusing the dress codes on Celebrity, we thought it was a better experience all round last time, & as we have booked again I would refresh my memory, they certainly state if you don't want to dress up you can dine in the buffet..no problem, no confusing double standards...a statement... smart casual. Sail from Southampton.

[Ilovecake]

Errr emmmmmm I think you will find that I said this when the OV cruisers first came over here for a look.

 

P&O have a good expanding product, why would they change to move into a seperate product when they are improving the infrastructure in Southampton to deal with the expansion.

 

I said that they would not change just to get the OV market and I still think this is true although they have eased the dress code on 2 ships.

 

I get the impression that P&O think that there are more people who want the full cruise experience than the totally casual one of OV.

 

 

If there was a market for OV cruising then OV would not be going. That seems to me to be the market lead conclusion.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

So full ships x 52 weeks a year obviously mean nothing to Carnival

Higher average selling prices for the Caribbean than Ventura.

Highest scoring ship in UK Carnival fleet obviously means nothing to them

There is a market, an expanding market or why are they making some allowances and confusing everyone along the way on 2 of their P&O ships.

I wouldn't mind trying P&O but only when they introduce total casual 24 hour dining - not being enforced into one restaurant on certain nights because you don't want to wear a dinner jacket. That is segregation! Dinner jacket in the Caribbean or in the height of a Med summer are inpractical and ridiculous.

They will learn in 2011 when their OV passengers have deserted them.:mad:

[daiB]

Errr emmmmmm I think you will find that I said this when the OV cruisers first came over here for a look.

 

P&O have a good expanding product, why would they change to move into a seperate product when they are improving the infrastructure in Southampton to deal with the expansion.

 

I said that they would not change just to get the OV market and I still think this is true although they have eased the dress code on 2 ships.

 

I get the impression that P&O think that there are more people who want the full cruise experience than the totally casual one of OV.

 

 

If there was a market for OV cruising then OV would not be going. That seems to me to be the market lead conclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So full ships x 52 weeks a year obviously mean nothing to Carnival

Higher average selling prices for the Caribbean than Ventura.

Highest scoring ship in UK Carnival fleet obviously means nothing to them

There is a market, an expanding market or why are they making some allowances and confusing everyone along the way on 2 of their P&O ships.

I wouldn't mind trying P&O but only when they introduce total casual 24 hour dining - not being enforced into one restaurant on certain nights because you don't want to wear a dinner jacket. That is segregation! Dinner jacket in the Caribbean or in the height of a Med summer are inpractical and ridiculous.

They will learn in 2011 when their OV passengers have deserted them.:mad:

 

Well that is the concern of Carnival and not P&O.

 

But those who cruise with P&O want the formality and just why should they change for the few who don't when they can fill their ships with those who do.

 

I repeat, if it worked then why are they ditching it. Also why did Island Cruises go belly up, with a similar product.

 

Thompsons who have taken an Island ship are not going all casual so why not have a go at them?

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[davecttr]

[/color]

 

...........Thompsons who have taken an Island ship are not going all casual so why not have a go at them?

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

Thomsons manage Island Escape but currently market it as a seperate product, maybe because as it is all casual it would cause confusion with Thomsons normal one formal night per week. I am surprised that there is no apparent market in the UK for informal cruising when only a year ago there were 4 ships involved. If Carnival decide to re enter the market it would be better to have a different brand and avoid confusion. Apparently LOTS of cruisers don't read the brochures or small print.

[Johnthed0g]

I am SURE a lot of people don't read the brochure/website, I find this strange because I not only read every word but enjoy doing so. We are trying Celebrity again & I am learning all I can before we go. People do turn up without the required clothes, I was talking to a man on a cruise last year, he was just in shirt & trousers, so to avoid him being embarrassed I mentioned that it was a semi-formal night & a jacket was required, he had NO IDEA what I was talking about....not a clue.

[geecee1]

Errr emmmmmm I think you will find that I said this when the OV cruisers first came over here for a look.

 

P&O have a good expanding product, why would they change to move into a seperate product when they are improving the infrastructure in Southampton to deal with the expansion.

 

I said that they would not change just to get the OV market and I still think this is true although they have eased the dress code on 2 ships.

 

I get the impression that P&O think that there are more people who want the full cruise experience than the totally casual one of OV.

 

 

If there was a market for OV cruising then OV would not be going. That seems to me to be the market lead conclusion.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

So full ships x 52 weeks a year obviously mean nothing to Carnival

Higher average selling prices for the Caribbean than Ventura.

Highest scoring ship in UK Carnival fleet obviously means nothing to them

There is a market, an expanding market or why are they making some allowances and confusing everyone along the way on 2 of their P&O ships.

I wouldn't mind trying P&O but only when they introduce total casual 24 hour dining - not being enforced into one restaurant on certain nights because you don't want to wear a dinner jacket. That is segregation! Dinner jacket in the Caribbean or in the height of a Med summer are inpractical and ridiculous.

They will learn in 2011 when their OV passengers have deserted them.:mad:

 

Well said. I like to dress very smartly when dining on a cruise, but the DJ is surely the drabbest piece of attire to adorn mankind since he first walked upright!

[geecee1]

There are cruise ships out there for casual cruising, NCL would suit you if you don't want to dress up.[/quot

 

 

Sue, why do you associate dressing up with putting on that appalling piece of male attire, the dinner suit.

I love dressing up and and looking smart when dining on a cruise i.e

Dressy shirt(sometimes with cuff-links, linen slacks and moccasins by John White or Pikolinos.Altenatively, on other evenings it may be golf shirt and chinos.

[Johnthed0g]

Whether it looks nice or not that's the dress code, we either respect it or go elsewhere, our next cruise is with Celebrity.

[geecee1]

Whether it looks nice or not that's the dress code, we either respect it or go elsewhere, our next cruise is with Celebrity.

 

It is not just the dress cose it is the attitude of others(only 5% you say), to those of us who wish to dress smartly on formal nights.

It seems to work on Thomson ships where there does not seem to be a them and us situation.

On OV I have met many ABC1's who could well afford to cruise P&O, but chose OV because of the relaxed atmosphere.

By the way,on 3 OV cruises to the Caribbean(all in Jan),I have never queued for any meal in Waterfront or Plantation. Loved La Luna, thought Bistro over rated>

[KenAndJulie]

It is not just the dress cose it is the attitude of others(only 5% you say), to those of us who wish to dress smartly on formal nights.

geecee1, do you really blame those who wish to see dress code standards maintained. BTW on Oceana over Christmas pretty much everybody maintained the dress code.

 

Recently on the OV board there was a posting that was concerned standards may drop due to the demise of the OV brand. Similarly many P&O customers are concerned that the standards on their preferred cruise line may drop ... and they consider the dress code an important part of those standards. I am not a particular fan of dressing up but out of respect for my wife (who does like to dress up) I will join in - with the compromise that I can remove my bowtie after eating (which many people do).

 

What P&O customers are concerned about is that if the dress code standard is allowed to slip then that will be the thin end of the wedge ... next will be the lowering of standards in food, service and entertainment i.e. the whole package is reduced to the much lower standards found on OV. The P&O brand has been shaped over the years by its customers and I think it is reasonable for them to expect others to come up to the expected/published standard rather than (as is often the case in Britain) allowing it to be dragged down to accomodate the lowest common denominator (taking it to its extreme but logical conclusion) - remember that it is what happend to places like Ibiza, Majorca and even the 2008 Xmas cruise on Ventura.

[Ilovecake]

geecee1, do you really blame those who wish to see dress code standards maintained. BTW on Oceana over Christmas pretty much everybody maintained the dress code.

 

Recently on the OV board there was a posting that was concerned standards may drop due to the demise of the OV brand. Similarly many P&O customers are concerned that the standards on their preferred cruise line may drop ... and they consider the dress code an important part of those standards. I am not a particular fan of dressing up but out of respect for my wife (who does like to dress up) I will join in - with the compromise that I can remove my bowtie after eating (which many people do).

 

What P&O customers are concerned about is that if the dress code standard is allowed to slip then that will be the thin end of the wedge ... next will be the lowering of standards in food, service and entertainment i.e. the whole package is reduced to the much lower standards found on OV. The P&O brand has been shaped over the years by its customers and I think it is reasonable for them to expect others to come up to the expected/published standard rather than (as is often the case in Britain) allowing it to be dragged down to accomodate the lowest common denominator (taking it to its extreme but logical conclusion) - remember that it is what happend to places like Ibiza, Majorca and even the 2008 Xmas cruise on Ventura.

 

This just epitomises the P&O we're better than you brigade. Why do you think that the food, entertainment and service is much higher on P&O than on OV? When were you last on Ocean Village? And incidentally Ocean Village has scored the highest satisfaction ratings in the UK Carnival fleet this summer which hardly seems to reflect it to be a dumbed down operation. What utter nonsense, all 3 mechanisms were of the highest order on OV and this is from us who have stayed at 4 and 5 star properties throughout the world. Putting on a dinner jacket and bow tie in the evening does not make you or the cruise have more style. I could ask why P&O are getting less fussy about formal wear in some restaurants on some ships - I have a funny suspicion it is because they and Carnival both know that they are about to lose a significant number of cruisers with the demise of OV and all to keep the Australian market happy because apparently they have a booming cruise market whereas in the UK it is shrinking. It will be shrinking further now...

[capasamari]

Thomson ships do have a friendly ambience and also a high adherence to the dress code on their formal nights (one per week). On the smart casual nights people were very nicely dressed as well.

 

The food and service is easily equal to that on P&O (with an extra course at dinner) and the entertainment is better.

 

Carol x

[daiB]

This just epitomises the P&O we're better than you brigade. Why do you think that the food, entertainment and service is much higher on P&O than on OV? When were you last on Ocean Village? And incidentally Ocean Village has scored the highest satisfaction ratings in the UK Carnival fleet this summer which hardly seems to reflect it to be a dumbed down operation. What utter nonsense, all 3 mechanisms were of the highest order on OV and this is from us who have stayed at 4 and 5 star properties throughout the world. Putting on a dinner jacket and bow tie in the evening does not make you or the cruise have more style. I could ask why P&O are getting less fussy about formal wear in some restaurants on some ships - I have a funny suspicion it is because they and Carnival both know that they are about to lose a significant number of cruisers with the demise of OV and all to keep the Australian market happy because apparently they have a booming cruise market whereas in the UK it is shrinking. It will be shrinking further now...

 

The cruise market in the UK is in fact booming. And there are many cruise lines taking advantage of this including P&O with an expanding fleet.

 

Just because you do not like putting on a DJ does not make it a bad thing. P&O passengers are no better or worse than any other passengers. Only they like to put on a DJ.

 

Now if you do not like DJ's then fine, find another place to go but do not try to change P&O just to suit yourself.

 

If it were viable for Carnival to run OV, then it would. They are not.

 

 

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Beckyfaye-2008]

Forget Formal, reading this thread some people have a strange idea of what is smart, even when talking about smart casual.

Some of it ok to go down town shopping, but certainly not for going out to restaurant, whether it be land based or on a ship.:eek:

However each to there own.

[davecttr]

Thomson ships do have a friendly ambience and also a high adherence to the dress code on their formal nights (one per week). On the smart casual nights people were very nicely dressed as well.

 

The food and service is easily equal to that on P&O (with an extra course at dinner) and the entertainment is better.

 

Carol x

I importance difference with Thomsons is they do not enforce a ship wide formal dress code on formal nights. You can dress smart casual, eat in the buffet, and visit the bars, casino etc etc.

[Stitchman]

Wow the debate's really hotting up now! ILoveCake..... Where do you get your stats. from? They seem very interesting and just so you know - not all P&O passengers are that "breed". We love P&O and OV - in fact we feel that they are one and the same except for the dress code but we don't believe that this changes the standards of service or entertainment or food in any way or that the passengers are a different "class". We've met some lifelong friends on both OV & P&O.

 

As you can see from our cruise list, we have tried quite a few different cruise companies and ships:

 

RCCI - great ship - no attention to detail

Carnival - fantastic ship - piano bar exceptional - should be one on every ship

Easycruise - you get what you pay for - ferry really but good for a cheap weekend in the sun with your mates - well when it was 1st launched - not anymore (another story for another day)

Louis Cruises - don't do it

NCL - brilliant ship - brilliant service

Island Cruises - very out of date ship - staff great though

Royal Star - small ship but all facilities of bigger ships just in smaller package

Ocean Village - great art decor ship - fantastic atmosphere & crowd - loved it every single time

P&O - everything that OV is but with a little something extra (especially Arcadia but that's probably cos it's over 18's)!

 

In a nutshell, even though OV is going, it's not the end of the world and I'm sure something else will come along to satisfy all the informal cruise crowd.

 

Now I'm off to pack for Ventura :D:D:D:D Happy Cruising!

Take it easy

Stitch

x

[Ilovecake]

Right OK my comment on UK cruise market in decline was wrong - I hold my hands up. But surely Carnival UK are in fact losing Artemis? OV1 and OV2 and gaining Adonia (small ship) and Azura - so surely they are losing some capacity and they are losing the casual market completely which is a big part of their loss and no guarantee (certainly no evidence) that OV cruisers will cross over to P&O, so they are going to have to find lots of new cruisers who all want formal cruising.

 

It's not for me - I've enjoyed my cruising so far and will be giving it a break for a few years now and see what the market brings in a couple of years time, maybe another OV.

P&O customers are getting exactly what they want with 2 new ships so it would be nice if Carnival listened to their other passengers as well.

No hard feelings to anyone on here.

Stitchman - enjoy Ventura.