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P & O cost cutting apparent

Blackpuddi

By Blackpuddi,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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heywood

heywood

Posted
Posted

We have just returned from Arcadia. This was our first trip with P and O.

Embarkation was excellent - very smooth and all our luggage was outside our cabin within half an hour of arrival.

The cabin was more than adequate for our needs - a lack of drawers but there are shelves in the wardrobes. The bed was very comfortable and our steward was very good. (Excellent really :))

We would have liked bathrobes to be provided.

Food was generally good - some courses were excellent and none were poor. There was always a good choice to cover all tastes. I did however think some desserts were a bit too bland. Our waiters were very pleasant and courteous.

We thought the drinks were reasonably priced and the Headliners shows were the best we have ever seen.

Disembarkation was organised and quick.

Overall, we thought everything was friendly and homely and we would definitely choose P and O again.

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Host Sharon

Host Sharon

Posted
Posted
Sorry I cannot agree at all. I see the £3.10 as a minimum and have done for some time so I only gave the auto tip then the staff would not get what they would have got before.

 

The other point is of course that this amount has been the same for a long time, 10+ years. so the tips to us are getting lower as our wages are going up.

 

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

Yours might be but mine have been frozen for four years and counting .......

 

However, I saw no evidence whatsoever of cost cutting on my recent Oriana three week cruise and gave a little extra to the cabin steward and wine waiter as they were so good.

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daiB

daiB

Posted
Posted
Yours might be but mine have been frozen for four years and counting .......

 

However, I saw no evidence whatsoever of cost cutting on my recent Oriana three week cruise and gave a little extra to the cabin steward and wine waiter as they were so good.

 

 

Errrrr... Sharon if you read what I said I was talking about the past 10 years not the last 4. In the early of those 10 years most people had good pay rises but tips stayed the same.

 

BTW mine has gone up in last 4 years. Of course I do agree with you about the lack of cost cutting. I find the P&O experience very stable and consistent and I have sailed with them at least twice a year for the past few years.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

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PRINCESSTHE BEST

PRINCESSTHE BEST

Posted
Posted
We have just returned from Arcadia. This was our first trip with P and O.

Embarkation was excellent - very smooth and all our luggage was outside our cabin within half an hour of arrival.

The cabin was more than adequate for our needs - a lack of drawers but there are shelves in the wardrobes. The bed was very comfortable and our steward was very good. (Excellent really :))

We would have liked bathrobes to be provided.

Food was generally good - some courses were excellent and none were poor. There was always a good choice to cover all tastes. I did however think some desserts were a bit too bland. Our waiters were very pleasant and courteous.

We thought the drinks were reasonably priced and the Headliners shows were the best we have ever seen.

Disembarkation was organised and quick.

Overall, we thought everything was friendly and homely and we would definitely choose P and O again.

 

Hi, can I ask which other cruise lines you have cruised with in the past? I am thinking of cruising with Celebrity and would like to know how they compare. Thanks

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heywood

heywood

Posted
Posted

Hi Princessthebest,

 

Our first cruise was with Celebrity - about 2003 and we loved it. I have friends who usually sail with Celebrity and are smitten.

We have sailed with RCL (around 2004) which was not as good.

 

Our main sailings have been with Cunard on transatlantics and variations of those - the last Southampton/New York/East Coast etc/Southampton.

Sadly we had to cancel a similar one to that last year because of illness and as a result tried P and O this year.

I had felt that nothing could compare with Cunard and I must admit that I was expecting to be disappointed. However, P and O was as enjoyable but in a different way. I found it more homely - that is perhaps the best way to describe it.

On Cunard crossings, there is a lot of hype delivered re being on a liner and you are made to feel very special because of the voyage etc.

I read that Celebrity have lots of piped music etc but I also would like to try the company again as I felt that they were very good.

 

good luck with your choice

heywood

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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

Posted
Posted
Hi, can I ask which other cruise lines you have cruised with in the past? I am thinking of cruising with Celebrity and would like to know how they compare. Thanks

If you do choose a cruise on Celebrity you may need to change your forum name, because IMO Celebrity is the best of the 4 main cruise lines we have sailed with on food, accomodation and service. However if you are a party animal, you will miss the quality of entertainment venues on Princess and P&O, and even Thomson, Celebrity do come a poor third for evening entertainment.

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HDS01

HDS01

Posted
Posted

We sailed with P&O for the first time in October on Oceana. Previously we have cruised with Cunard.

 

Never again will I sail with P&O after this experience. The food was ok but nothing to write home about, the evening entertainment abysmal, there were buckets in the cocktail lounges catching water dripping from the ceiling and there were stains on many of the carpets. On the whole the ship was tatty and the service in the restaurants was below par, I could go on but won't suffice to say it will be Cunard or Celebrity for us in the future.

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annieuk

annieuk

Posted
Posted

HDSO1 - we too were on Oceana in October and I can only say it must have been a different ship. Which cocktail lounge are you referring to? We saw no buckets. We did not think the ship was tatty either. Yes Oceana is due for her refit in December and yes some of the carpets and soft furnishings need replacing but tatty? Not in our opinion.

 

We had a fantastic cruise. We saw several good shows, heard some good lectures and had some lovely evenings with table mates in Magnums. It is amazing how different people view the same cruise differently. We will hopoefully be going back on Oceana after her refit and will be interested in seeing the changes. One member of staff told us he will be donning his hard hat for two weeks to supervise the updating of the cabins.

 

:)

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Denarius

Denarius

Posted
Posted
If you do choose a cruise on Celebrity you may need to change your forum name, because IMO Celebrity is the best of the 4 main cruise lines we have sailed with on food, accomodation and service. However if you are a party animal, you will miss the quality of entertainment venues on Princess and P&O, and even Thomson, Celebrity do come a poor third for evening entertainment.

Agree. In my experience Celebrity tend to major on food and service rather than formal evening entertainment. Its all a matter of priority, yours and theirs. This suits me as I am not one for shows etc. and prefer informal entertainment in bars, something which Celebrity do well. If however big production shows in a theatre are a big thing for you you may find Celebrity dissappointing. If however your priority is to eat well ....

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scareyness

scareyness

Posted
Posted
Hi, can I ask which other cruise lines you have cruised with in the past? I am thinking of cruising with Celebrity and would like to know how they compare. Thanks

 

Hi

 

I sailed with P&O a few years ago and with Celebrity last year, I just LOVED Celebrity:D We are sailing with P&O in January purely for the itinerary and the date, have read a few threads and have a few worries and hope we will not be disappointed, but will defs go with Celebrity again ASAP!

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barrymx5

barrymx5

Posted
Posted
Hi all,

 

Thanks very much for all your replies. No matter who i speak to, all recommend that i give Celebrity a whirl. So i have booked a 2 week cruise on the Infinity. Watch this space:)

 

We are doing it the other way round. Our last 3 cruises have been on Celebrity and were very impressed (especially with Aqua) but have just booked a last minute deal on P&O Aurora to Eastern Med. This cruise has the advantage of covering some new ground for us as well as being very good value,especially for a balcony. It also usefully starts and finishes at Southampton.

 

We book Celebrity in USA and in USD so the prices are normally keen. (Brits paying in UKP are sometimes taken advantage of). It will be interesting to compare and contrast the two Lines. We start by accepting P&O is a 4 star line while Celebrity (Silouette Class) is 5 star. The mix of passengers may be less international and us Brits have a reputation for being less demanding (or whingeing after the event in Aussie terms!). Celebrity's weakness in my experience is its shore excursions - but my experience of cruise line shore excursions in general is limited. We prefer to organise our own thing or get together with other folks through Cruise Critic.

Over a long period we have tried other Lines and enjoyed HAL but detested Costa and never repeated!

 

So this will be our first taste of P&O in over 40 years. Last time was on Orsova in First Class when a g&t was 1/9 ! Some of the comments above have been reassuring. We look forward to a different experience.:rolleyes:

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barrymx5

barrymx5

Posted
Posted

Yes we book through a TA in Jax Florida. They have a very helpful English lady. You need a USA or Canada address. Friend or family will do. We also have that address registered with the USA cruise line for booking direct with them. Of course you have to pay in USD. American cruise lines are defensive about dual pricing and sometimes blame UK TAs. ABTA seem to be a major player in driving dual pricing. Their claim to protect the passenger interest rings hollow to me. Book on a cc and you get protection. I am urging Which? Magazine to investigate.

Cruises booked in the USA have a USD 100 per night benchmark whereas it is more like UKP 100 if booked in UK.

Oh and look out for the cookies which try and switch your web browser back to the UK rather than USA website. CruiseCritic is not blameless. In fairness some of the very latest UK offers are under UKP 50 per night for a balcony.

Hope this helps.

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Presto2 Great Review Rare

Presto2

Posted
Posted

Have sailed with both Celebrity (Silhouette) and Oceana. Have just asked hubby that if given an option of the same cruise, same itinerary, same cabin type etc on the Silhouette or Oceana what would we pick ..........

 

We are still undecided as both have an equal number of pros and cons ------

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badge1771

badge1771

Posted
Posted

Just returned from 21 nights on the Ventura in the Caribbean and the food was fantastic. No complaints whatsoever. The choice on each night was excellent and very well presented. The staff were great always greeting you in the MDR or Waterside and the Beach House staff couldn't have been better.

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