Daughter is now a cruise snob!

[suey]

Well my daughter has now decided she is a cruise snob. After returning from a 7-nighter on Pacific Dawn after cruising Princess, she does not want to travel P & O again.

Her major gripes were:

No drink package - said it cost her a great deal more (especially at $9.50 a thickshake)

No free ice-cream (didn't like $5 a scoop)

No pizza place (only room service that she had to pay for)

Also no free room service

Lack of snack opportunities especially late at night

Staff not as friendly anymore

No free internet (she is platinum on Princess)

Too many staff clogging up the passenger bars at night

But she did have a good time overall.

She is trying her first RCI cruise on Rhapsody next year, I will be interested to hear how she likes that.:p

[Gerko]

I don't blame her. P & O is the lowest standard sailing out of Australia. Their fares are cheapest because you have to pay for so much more when you get on board. Doesn't mean I would sail on them again but you get what you pay for.

[suey]

I don't blame her. P & O is the lowest standard sailing out of Australia. Their fares are cheapest because you have to pay for so much more when you get on board. Doesn't mean I would sail on them again but you get what you pay for.

 

I find Princess fares compare very well especially twin share, we have ended up paying the same or cheaper:)

[icat2000]

I don't think PO Australia that cheap to get on board. I think they have had a bit of monolopy. But still they seem to attract cruisers who will pay just as high prices as the other lines.

[keagle]

I don't think PO Australia that cheap to get on board. I think they have had a bit of monolopy. But still they seem to attract cruisers who will pay just as high prices as the other lines.

 

I agree. They are one of the dearer ones around, both for fares and on board expenses.

[Bella cruiser]

Well my daughter has now decided she is a cruise snob. After returning from a 7-nighter on Pacific Dawn after cruising Princess, she does not want to travel P & O again.

Her major gripes were:

No drink package - said it cost her a great deal more (especially at $9.50 a thickshake)

No free ice-cream (didn't like $5 a scoop)

No pizza place (only room service that she had to pay for)

Also no free room service

Lack of snack opportunities especially late at night

Staff not as friendly anymore

No free internet (she is platinum on Princess)

Too many staff clogging up the passenger bars at night

But she did have a good time overall.

She is trying her first RCI cruise on Rhapsody next year, I will be interested to hear how she likes that.:p

 

I guess that makes her a Princess then. lol. I want to try Princess too, when our son has grown up and we are older.:)

 

I doubt anyone would starve only eating included food on a P&O Ship, seriously there is more than enough, Just not 24/7. I personally think P&O are great value for money and would cruise with them again. You will find a lot of people on here who will agree with you and seem to think the are superior because they choose not to cruise P&O. Oh we'll.....she should enjoy Rhapsody, she's an older ship in the RCI fleet but beautiful by all accounts.

[icat2000]

I guess that makes her a Princess then. lol. I want to try Princess too, when our son has grown up and we are older.:)

 

I doubt anyone would starve only eating included food on a P&O Ship, seriously there is more than enough, Just not 24/7. I personally think P&O are great value for money and would cruise with them again. You will find a lot of people on here who will agree with you and seem to think the are superior because they choose not to cruise P&O. Oh we'll.....she should enjoy Rhapsody, she's an older ship in the RCI fleet but beautiful by all accounts.

I don't think I'm superior because I haven't tried PO Australia. When I am choosing a cruise regardless of cruise line I look at price and itinerary. They are my two deciding factors. I have looked at a couple of PO Australia cruises and haven't gone on them as the solo price per day was expensive and I couldn't justify the cost.

[rkmw]

Well my daughter has now decided she is a cruise snob. After returning from a 7-nighter on Pacific Dawn after cruising Princess, she does not want to travel P & O again.

Her major gripes were:

No drink package - said it cost her a great deal more (especially at $9.50 a thickshake)

No free ice-cream (didn't like $5 a scoop)

No pizza place (only room service that she had to pay for)

Also no free room service

Lack of snack opportunities especially late at night

Staff not as friendly anymore

No free internet (she is platinum on Princess)

Too many staff clogging up the passenger bars at night

But she did have a good time overall.

She is trying her first RCI cruise on Rhapsody next year, I will be interested to hear how she likes that.:p

 

we are elite with princess but we cruise with p&o also and even tho we dont get any benefits with p&o they run rings around princess as far as entertamint and the cabins are so much bigger than princess or RCI (the rhapsody you dont have a fridge in your cabin) our last cruise on p&o was in february and every night on the main deck they had a BBQ so there is plenty of food.....with the fares you can always get a bargain and you are not worried about paying for tips

[bazzaw]

I am looking forward to our Pac Dawn cruise to PNG in a little over a week. Currently on Radiance, this is our14th cruise on 11 ships in the past 6 years. Our first 5 cruises were P&O AUD and I have some nostalgia for them. Over the last few years we have been on some nice ships - Oriana, Arcadia, Queens Mary 2, Victoria and Elizabeth, Voyager and now Radiance. I cant really pick between them - like women, they are all the same, except that each one is different. :) Some are prettier than others and some are smarter -but fundamentally they all do the same thing!:)

 

Barry

 

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[Esilef]

The P&o ships can't compete with the newer ships coming here now. They do have good itineraries.

[zoncom]

Put her on Celebrity Solstice. Best ship you will see cruising out of your area.

[icat2000]

The P&o ships can't compete with the newer ships coming here now. They do have good itineraries.

 

I agree they have some itineraries that are good. The one that pipped my curiosity is this one. Indonesian Explorer - J522. Very tempting.

[suey]

we are elite with princess but we cruise with p&o also and even tho we dont get any benefits with p&o they run rings around princess as far as entertamint and the cabins are so much bigger than princess or RCI (the rhapsody you dont have a fridge in your cabin) our last cruise on p&o was in february and every night on the main deck they had a BBQ so there is plenty of food.....with the fares you can always get a bargain and you are not worried about paying for tips

 

Personally I think the only thing P & O have over Princess entertainment wise is their daytime entertainment is more varied, I prefer the shows on Princess. The worst for daytime entertainment was Carnival Spirit. :)

I never spend much time in the cabin during the day so size not that important to me:)

[suey]

 

I doubt anyone would starve only eating included food on a P&O Ship, seriously there is more than enough, Just not 24/7. .

 

I don't think she needed the food, it was just the fact it wasn't there if she did want it especially the pizza, for some reason she just loves pizza on board ship:D

[CCC's]

I am sailing on Celebrity Solstice on 4 November 2013. Since I booked in January this year whenever I see an advert by P & O, Princess, Carnival I check out whether I got a good deal or not. Invariably I am always happy with my deal. I read the other day that on Solstice there are 85% balcony staterooms. Now that is a fairly high percentage of balconies compared to other cruise lines I have mentioned here. I believe, correct me if I am wrong, that to have a balcony on say, a P & O ship which has a much lower ratio of balcony cabins, it can be much more expensive than Solstice, mainly I believe because they are not the "Norm" for that cruise ship.

 

This comparison is only for balcony staterooms, not inside cabins or oceanview cabins. Probably the other cruise lines would be much more competitive price wise for these types of cabins. Am I correct in my assumptions ? I am not a cruise snob but I do like to get the biggest "bang for my buck".

[bazzaw]

Regarding the availability of certain cabin types in different ships - it is true that more modern ships have a greater percentage of balcony cabins, but this often has a negative impact in that this reduces the number of outside cabins available.

 

Barry

 

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[The_Big_M]

I believe' date=' correct me if I am wrong, that to have a balcony on say, a P & O ship which has a much lower ratio of balcony cabins, it can be much more expensive than Solstice, mainly I believe because they are not the "Norm" for that cruise ship.

[/quote']

 

That's sort of true, but I wouldn't actually say it's a lot more expensive than Solstice - but more that it's uncommon on P&O due to the smaller numbers, so people don't look at them that much so just acknowledge them as expensive. But from what I've seen, they're often say 400 or 500 more than an oceanview (depending on duration, popularity) on both lines.

 

I'd say if you were just looking at balconies, the price differences probably wouldn't be too great between the two.

 

But that's just my impression :-)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Regarding the availability of certain cabin types in different ships - it is true that more modern ships have a greater percentage of balcony cabins, but this often has a negative impact in that this reduces the number of outside cabins available.

 

Barry

 

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Thats quite true Barry. If the demand for outside cabins is so great that they sell out very quickly, the price will increase. You could end up in a situation where outsides become dearer than balconies.

I have actually seen cruises advertised where all the insides were sold out and they had heaps of balcony cabins available....so they had a sale and sold the balconies cheaper than the insides.:rolleyes:

 

It all comes down to those two darned parrots that sit on each shoulder .

One saying, Supply , and the other , Demand.:D

 

[icat2000]

this is exactly what happened on my Celebrity TA. After final payment they had tons of Balcony cabins left and they flogged them off just under what I paid for inside. I was :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Balconies were originally a luxury.

As cruise ships evolved , cruise lines discovered that people would pay more for a balcony , so as the new designs came on stream , more and more balconies were added , until now they have become the norm .

Cruise lines now have to look at Mini Suites, Penthouse Suites,Owners Suites etc in order to ask higher prices for their cabins.

 

 

 

[thied]

I do think all the lines that cruise in and out of Australia are good, most are newer then P&O , but I do like the old style of cruising and wish they would being it back. as most you know we only stay in suites, yes we pay more but we like the things that go with it and the way bigger room.

[gaechann]

I don't think PO Australia that cheap to get on board. I think they have had a bit of monolopy. But still they seem to attract cruisers who will pay just as high prices as the other lines.

 

I agree! I'm paying $2500 in an oceanview for a 15-night cruise on P&O next year. Very expensive compared to what I'm used to paying for an OV cabin.

[ceejay3377]

I do think all the lines that cruise in and out of Australia are good, most are newer then P&O , but I do like the old style of cruising and wish they would being it back. as most you know we only stay in suites, yes we pay more but we like the things that go with it and the way bigger room.

 

I'm going to ignore the obvious and just keep my comment relevant to your suggestion that P&O suites are somehow superior to other cabin grades and cruise lines ...

 

I've stayed in a suite on P&O and been disappointed in the verandah space and really tired condition of the cabin. When I compare my P&O experiences (three cruises, only one was in a suite) to my experience on other lines, then yes, the suites are a little larger than, say, standard balcony cabins on HAL and X, but the balcony space on P&O is WAY less. If you have a family in the cabin, I can understand the desire for extra cabin floor space, but I personally would prefer a balcony with a lounger or two and a slightly smaller cabin area.

 

I have looked at a few P&O cruises in recent months, but I always reject them because other cruise lines offer more inclusions in the cruise fare - and for me it is all about what it will cost at the end of the cruise, not the cruise fare.

 

As a teacher, I can only cruise during school holidays and P&O offer nothing out of the ordinary during these peak times, just the usual South Pacific or Qld runs - so I look for a more interesting itinerary and/or ship amongst all the offerings. I am looking forward to trying out Rhapsody for the first time in 7 weeks and looking forward to a couple of relaxing weeks on Solstice in January.

 

Cheers

[karmac]

I agree! I'm paying $2500 in an oceanview for a 15-night cruise on P&O next year. Very expensive compared to what I'm used to paying for an OV cabin.

 

We did a 9 night cruise on Pearl in July (school holidays) and paid $989 for an OV cabin.

[karmac]

Well my daughter has now decided she is a cruise snob. After returning from a 7-nighter on Pacific Dawn after cruising Princess, she does not want to travel P & O again.

Her major gripes were:

No drink package - said it cost her a great deal more (especially at $9.50 a thickshake)

No free ice-cream (didn't like $5 a scoop)

No pizza place (only room service that she had to pay for)

Also no free room service

Lack of snack opportunities especially late at night

Staff not as friendly anymore

No free internet (she is platinum on Princess)

Too many staff clogging up the passenger bars at night

But she did have a good time overall.

She is trying her first RCI cruise on Rhapsody next year, I will be interested to hear how she likes that.:p

 

This is why the "extras" that other lines offer don't persuade me to cruise with them.

 

Drink package.....certainly not interested in a soft drink one. would like an alcohol one but as far as I'm aware Princess don't do these.

Free ice cream.....don't eat it.

Free Pizza.....mmm....take it or leave it but eat way too much anyway

Room Service......don't spend enough time in there. Can't eat when I'm in the shower or sleeping lol

Late night snack opportunities.....again, eat too much anyway

Staff not friendly enough??.......NEVER EVER EVER come across that on P&O (but did on RCI)

No free internet.....love my internet but it's nice to escape it

Staff clogging up passenger bars??.....NEVER encountered that. Not even sure what you're talking about there.

 

The one thing you didn't mention which is the one thing I WOULD like.....get my laundry done for free:D

Edited October 31, 2013 by karmac