MV Britannia Should it be MV White Elephant?

[jeanlyon]

Why do you think being British means that you don't enjoy foreign food and need somewhere to doze? Most Brits say their favourite food is curry!!

[kevinyork]

Why do you think being British means that you don't enjoy foreign food and need somewhere to doze? Most Brits say their favourite food is curry!!

 

Good point. Italian for me though.

 

What P&O needed to do is be brave. Design Britannia for a new market not for their regular long standing clientelle who will find her too big. Ventura and Azura both suffered criticism from P&O regulars for being too big (despite all publicity saying they were the biggest in the fleet). No doubt the same will be directed at Britannia by the same passengers.

 

They needed to make Britannia fun. Have adverts like Royal Caribbean which show activities, young people, lively interaction. In short....attract a new crowd and also those in their existing client base that like lots of things to do.

 

I agree with the poster above that it sounds just like a bigger Azura. Where is the fun in that?

[davecttr]

Why do you think being British means that you don't enjoy foreign food and need somewhere to doze? Most Brits say their favourite food is curry!!

 

Just think of it as an allegory about one of the things wrong with P&O. Too much like an old comfortable pair of slippers.

[littlesteelo]

I don't understand why you are already slamming a ship of which we know very few details about yet.

[kevinyork]

I don't understand why you are already slamming a ship of which we know very few details about yet.

 

But we do know a lot. Princess' Royal is out there and gets very mixed reviews. P&O have not seemingly changed/added anything of note. Yet I know a lot more about Anthem of the Seas. Where is the wow factor?

[daiB]

I don't understand why you are already slamming a ship of which we know very few details about yet.

 

You are so correct, a lot of people crying before the milk is spilt.

 

My answer to them is ... Don't go on the ship. We will and have a great time.

 

I have seen this sort of comment about every new ship since Arcadia in 06, long before they were even afloat. Pathetic.

[marylizcat]

We actually already know what she will be like, if you have been reading the released info. As has been said, she will simply be a bigger Azura, with no fun factor whatsoever.

 

I was amused to see one of the attractions of the RCI Quantum class is circus workshops. You know, like they used to have on Ventura before they economised and removed it.

 

 

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[daiB]

We actually already know what she will be like, if you have been reading the released info. As has been said, she will simply be a bigger Azura, with no fun factor whatsoever.

 

I was amused to see one of the attractions of the RCI Quantum class is circus workshops. You know, like they used to have on Ventura before they economised and removed it.

 

 

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They removed it because it was not being used. Waste of space.

 

I also would love to cruise on Quantum, sounds great. But I do not think she would go down well with the majority of P&O cruisers.

[marylizcat]

Somehow I doubt you were in the habit of using it! It was actually very well used and popular when we were on board. My son used to attend regularly. He also loved the bungee trampolines. Now they have both gone, there is nothing left of interest on Ventura. They claimed they removed them to make room for another half dozen sun beds. Of course, enforcing non-reservation of sunbeds would free up far more, but that would cost money since it needs staff to enforce.

 

 

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[daiB]

Somehow I doubt you were in the habit of using it! It was actually very well used and popular when we were on board. My son used to attend regularly. He also loved the bungee trampolines. Now they have both gone, there is nothing left of interest on Ventura. They claimed they removed them to make room for another half dozen sun beds. Of course, enforcing non-reservation of sunbeds would free up far more, but that would cost money since it needs staff to enforce.

 

 

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No doubt on some cruises it would be used, but not outside school hols. Family friendly ships often have very few children. Recently, well September there were 2 children, it was a long cruise. Our last trip on Ventura to Venice had about 30. So overall it was not used. If it had been very popular all the time it would still be there.

[marylizcat]

No doubt on some cruises it would be used, but not outside school hols. Family friendly ships often have very few children. Recently, well September there were 2 children, it was a long cruise. Our last trip on Ventura to Venice had about 30. So overall it was not used. If it had been very popular all the time it would still be there.

 

Well, that is your opinion. Not fact. My opinion is that the Circus school and bungee trampolines were removed as a cost cutting measure, like all the others. It meant they could get rid of several staff members who had previously run them. Our Ventura cruises were in term time and these facilities were all being used by adults not children. There were always long queues for the trampolines and the circus skills workshops were well attended.

 

 

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[marylizcat]

Actually, it has just struck me that your answer encapsulates what is wrong with P & O thinking. You immediately think of facilities for children. I am talking about facilities for adults! But not the doddery OAPs! P & O need to realise that they will soon have died off and there will be nobody to take their place. They have to focus on younger cruisers. The oldies prefer the small ships like those of FO anyway.

 

 

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[terrierjohn]

Actually, it has just struck me that your answer encapsulates what is wrong with P & O thinking. You immediately think of facilities for children. I am talking about facilities for adults! But not the doddery OAPs! P & O need to realise that they will soon have died off and there will be nobody to take their place. They have to focus on younger cruisers. The oldies prefer the small ships like those of FO anyway.

 

 

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Hey not so fast there in condemning all OAP's as doddering oldies who dislike all playground style facilities. We discovered the wonders of the Florida theme parks long after our own children had flown the nest, and we were then able to introduce our son and grandchildren to the wonders of Disney.

Whilst I may be a bit too old to participate on a flowrider or bungee trampoline I think I would enjoy watching others, and I am sure I am will enjoy some of the Quantum features which will be on the new Anthem OTS, as will many others who might have tried Britannia had it had anything worthwhile to offer.

[marylizcat]

Hey not so fast there in condemning all OAP's as doddering oldies who dislike all playground style facilities. We discovered the wonders of the Florida theme parks long after our own children had flown the nest, and we were then able to introduce our son and grandchildren to the wonders of Disney.

Whilst I may be a bit too old to participate on a flowrider or bungee trampoline I think I would enjoy watching others, and I am sure I am will enjoy some of the Quantum features which will be on the new Anthem OTS, as will many others who might have tried Britannia had it had anything worthwhile to offer.

 

No, not all OAPs are doddery! I was referring to those who are! The chap ahead of us in the queue for the bungee trampoline one time was a retired headmaster. And as you say, watching others use such facilities is fun too. I didn't go on the Flowrider, but enjoyed watching others.

 

 

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[daiB]

Actually, it has just struck me that your answer encapsulates what is wrong with P & O thinking. You immediately think of facilities for children. I am talking about facilities for adults! But not the doddery OAPs! P & O need to realise that they will soon have died off and there will be nobody to take their place. They have to focus on younger cruisers. The oldies prefer the small ships like those of FO anyway.

 

 

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Well yes in an ideal world that would be true....but let's us have a bit of reality. Which group of people have the money and time to go cruising in January, February, March, May,September,October,November and December. Then answer is those who have retired. You may want to go cruising when you are younger but you must have a great job to get more than 3/4 weeks a year off. If you have children you are even more constrained by school holidays. A cruise line in the UK cannot survive by providing cruises only for young people when they can cruise.

 

So the company will have to carry on providing for the BOF's like me or disappear. Also remember that P&O has a large number of repeat cruisers, taking 3,4 or more cruises a year. They are mostly retired.

 

I fully understand the need to attract younger cruisers but it cannot be at the disadvantage of those who cruise now.

 

BTW careful when you say what other people would prefer.

 

I would go on the Oasis of the Seas, tomorrow but flying is difficult for us. We would certainly think about going on Quantum.

 

That of course would be as well as our P&O cruises.

[marylizcat]

Strange how the likes of RCI and Carnival manage to fill their ships year round by appealing to ALL age groups, not just the elderly.

 

(And you are behind the times. The statutory minimum annual leave is four weeks. Nobody gets only three weeks and the great majority get five or six weeks and quite a few get more than six weeks amongst my acquaintance!)

 

 

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[kevinyork]

Strange how the likes of RCI and Carnival manage to fill their ships year round by appealing to ALL age groups, not just the elderly.

 

 

I was just going to say the same thing. The two RCI ships weve been on have had a wide cross section of ages with attractions and events tailored to different age groups.

 

With Ventura they called her a Family Friendly ship but in reality it had the Cirque School ( now removed ) and the kids clubs. RCI has surfing machines, mini golf, in line skating tracks, H2O water parks, rock climbing plus the kids clubs. RCI seem to have a much stronger strategy when planning their ships and marketing them. P&Os strategy seems to be 'dont do anything to offend their long standing client base'.

[terrierjohn]

I was just going to say the same thing. The two RCI ships weve been on have had a wide cross section of ages with attractions and events tailored to different age groups.

 

With Ventura they called her a Family Friendly ship but in reality it had the Cirque School ( now removed ) and the kids clubs. RCI has surfing machines, mini golf, in line skating tracks, H2O water parks, rock climbing plus the kids clubs. RCI seem to have a much stronger strategy when planning their ships and marketing them. P&Os strategy seems to be 'dont do anything to offend their long standing client base'.

As I said earlier in this thread P&O board and shareholders made the wrong decision when they decided to the Carnival takeover rather than sticking with the Royal Caribbean merger.

[daiB]

Strange how the likes of RCI and Carnival manage to fill their ships year round by appealing to ALL age groups, not just the elderly.

 

(And you are behind the times. The statutory minimum annual leave is four weeks. Nobody gets only three weeks and the great majority get five or six weeks and quite a few get more than six weeks amongst my acquaintance!)

 

 

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How do you know that RCI and Carnival fill there ships. Most of them do short cruises in the Caribbean 7 days or less and can do this all the year round. That is not the P&O model.

 

Whatever you say about holidays they are not going to fill their ships serving a clientele which is not there and never will.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Having read all the posts on this thread I thought all cruise lines and their individual ships have have pros and cons. If I want a theme park type cruise with all the attendant razz a mataz I would go with RCCL or for other attractions such as the gourmet food perhaps I would cruise with Celebrity.I pick P&O because I like a relaxing on a ship with a British atmosphere.I have a great choice of cruises available to me as does everyone else. I cannot understand why people want P&O to change to suit them. If you don't like that cruise line the answer is simple don't use them, if as a result they then go out of business you will have nothing to worry about, it wil only affect those who like to cruise with P&O.

While I like to holiday in the United States where I find most of the people I have met to be very friendly and helpful, I find that while they are on vacation as on a cruise ship they can be very loud and brash hence the reason I stick to British ships and before you all jump in I know some of our own can behave in a boorish manner.Enjoy what you like all cruise ships/lines do not have to be the same.

[jeanlyon]

I couldn't agree more. Personally I like to go on a cruise to get some relaxing time away from work, good food, nice company, dress up for a few nights which I hardly ever do at home. I don't need climbing walls, noisy music everywhere, seascreens etc. I enjoy the odd lecture, love my port days which we DIY nearly everywhere. There are big ships for those that do like that sort of thing and smaller, more trad ships for those that simply want to be on a ship. Simples!