decided to cancel

[BaggersCruising]

our recent, and first, cruise with P&O also included:-

)cabin selection when when booking.

)free safe in cabin.

)free shuttle bus in some ports to "resort" centre

)ability to remove tips if we felt poor service had been received (they were brilliant)

)free steak in evening in MDR. we could order steak every night if we wanted to. no supplement.

)no charge for seats in theaters for shows.

:(no towel animals as our cabin steward did not do them.)chocolates on pillow every night:) Mrs Len nightwear ironed :D (steady!!!) (he left mine well alone!!!!)

)2 free small bottles of water in fridge.

)2 free packets of biscuits every day to have with tea and coffee in cabin.

)boiled sweets

)free car parking at Southampton or OBC or coach.

)free slippers & gowns.

)pamper pack, not a bottle on the wall!

:Dfree upgrade from outside cabin to outside deluxe. We felt really special and was worth hundreds of pounds. We had initial booking issues but P&O did something about it.

)no telephone calls prior to departure with staff flogging upgrades, currency etc. We just had the odd e-mail suggesting services available on board.

)Cruise Personaliser was accessible after a few days.

 

We are gong on The Dream in 2016 for Mexico & Cuba but after that we've got an open mind.

 

All very well, but several of the perks you received are only available if you book the "select" price, and not the "Saver" price, of which there can be a vast difference, and puts little Thomson charges into perspective. All of a sudden, £42 to select a particular cabin isn't too bad, neither is £15/25 for a safe!

 

The perks I'm referring to are: Selection of cabin at time of booking, free shuttle bus, parking/obc/coach, and a very slim chance of an upgrade on a saver fare (quite rightly select price guests get first pickings for upgrades as they've paid more, something which Thomson could take not of BTW)!!

Edited March 12, 2015 by BaggersCruising

[Len Baker]

Agreed. I was stating the facts we encountered on our first P&O cruise. We pay our money and take our chances. As many posters say, its the time of booking that can be the most critical factor in major price fluctuations fora specific cruise.

We like the atmosphere on Thomson cruises but the P&O "hotel" experience was far superior in our opinions.

Len

[Pensioncruiser]

Just remember nothing is truly free just included in the overall cost :rolleyes:

[Len Baker]

Just remember nothing is truly free just included in the overall cost :rolleyes:

 

Oops I forgot that. Thanks :) :D

[SparklyB]

I noticed a comment earlier that P&O offered a Pamper Pack instead of a product in a pump dispenser. We were on Brittania for a look round at the weekend. Yes, there was a small pack of White Company products but there was also a pump of shower gel in the shower.

 

As first timers sailing on Celebration next year I am reading with interest but not allowing myself to be scared off.

[ThePauls]

Hello all. Finally got my login working, though I've been reading the forums for months now.

 

We've been on all four current Thomson ships (and the old car ferry the Calypso years ago). Also have cruised with P&O twice (Oceana and Azura) and with Costa once. So far I've always found the staff and passengers on Thomson ships friendlier. I will say that the prices on Thomson cruises are edging too high for us, we did the two weeks on the Dream (Cuban Fusion + Pride of Panama starting on the 30th Dec 2014). The staff were awesome as always though the windy weather and cancelled ports were a real shame.

 

Will hopefully be booking onto a Greek cruise early May on the Majesty or Spirit. That's going to be the acid test as it were - as to whether we keep cruising with Thomson or consider other options in future. For the record my last experience of P&O was 2012 on the Azura (Norwegian Fjords), there were two days at sea in a one week holiday and the ship stopped in Stavanger on a public holiday (most stuff was shut). The tipping culture on most cruises grate on us a bit, I prefer Thomson for that. Ships like the Azura are too large for our personal tastes as well.