Tried P & O Australia and Unlikely to Do So Again

[datone]

We usually cruise Princess (platinum level) and decided to try a P and O cruise on the Pacific Dawn as the timing suited us workwise and we could also just drive to the port for a change. Have to say I wasn't very impressed with a number of things - variety and quality of food in the buffet, entertainment and general service levels e.g. in the theatre waitstaff were walking about not making eye contact and you just about had to wave them down to order a drink. In the evening if we were in our cabin, the steward didn't even ask if we wanted our room serviced - he just handed us the next day's Pacific Daily. You have to pay for a lot of extra things like chips, burgers, pizza, high tea, icecream. Bookings for the MDR opened at 5.30 pm the night before and if you were busy and didn't get around to it for a couple of hours, the only time slots left were after 8 pm. On formal night in the MDR, dress standards were not enforced and people were wearing sundresses, jeans & polo tops, shorts etc. I understand not everyone wants to dress up but if they don't want to on formal night, go to the buffet. No blankets provided for movies on the big screen and people were covering themselves with pool towels instead. It's not even as if P and O is that cheap - have paid less per night on most of my Princess cruises. In P and O's favour I did like the spaciousness and storage in the cabins, and my husband commented that the free coffee on the Pacific Dawn was much better than that on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Next cruise will be on another line - most likely Princess again.

[GUT2407]

We usually cruise Princess (platinum level) and decided to try a P and O cruise on the Pacific Dawn as the timing suited us workwise and we could also just drive to the port for a change. Have to say I wasn't very impressed with a number of things - variety and quality of food in the buffet, entertainment and general service levels e.g. in the theatre waitstaff were walking about not making eye contact and you just about had to wave them down to order a drink. In the evening if we were in our cabin, the steward didn't even ask if we wanted our room serviced - he just handed us the next day's Pacific Daily. You have to pay for a lot of extra things like chips, burgers, pizza, high tea, icecream. Bookings for the MDR opened at 5.30 pm the night before and if you were busy and didn't get around to it for a couple of hours, the only time slots left were after 8 pm. On formal night in the MDR, dress standards were not enforced and people were wearing sundresses, jeans & polo tops, shorts etc. I understand not everyone wants to dress up but if they don't want to on formal night, go to the buffet. No blankets provided for movies on the big screen and people were covering themselves with pool towels instead. It's not even as if P and O is that cheap - have paid less per night on most of my Princess cruises. In P and O's favour I did like the spaciousness and storage in the cabins, and my husband commented that the free coffee on the Pacific Dawn was much better than that on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Next cruise will be on another line - most likely Princess again.

 

 

Same

 

DW says she'd go if someone wanted us to go with them. But otherwise ...

[Aus Traveller]

We usually cruise Princess (platinum level) and decided to try a P and O cruise on the Pacific Dawn as the timing suited us workwise and we could also just drive to the port for a change. Have to say I wasn't very impressed with a number of things - variety and quality of food in the buffet, entertainment and general service levels e.g. in the theatre waitstaff were walking about not making eye contact and you just about had to wave them down to order a drink. In the evening if we were in our cabin, the steward didn't even ask if we wanted our room serviced - he just handed us the next day's Pacific Daily. You have to pay for a lot of extra things like chips, burgers, pizza, high tea, icecream. Bookings for the MDR opened at 5.30 pm the night before and if you were busy and didn't get around to it for a couple of hours, the only time slots left were after 8 pm. On formal night in the MDR, dress standards were not enforced and people were wearing sundresses, jeans & polo tops, shorts etc. I understand not everyone wants to dress up but if they don't want to on formal night, go to the buffet. No blankets provided for movies on the big screen and people were covering themselves with pool towels instead. It's not even as if P and O is that cheap - have paid less per night on most of my Princess cruises. In P and O's favour I did like the spaciousness and storage in the cabins, and my husband commented that the free coffee on the Pacific Dawn was much better than that on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Next cruise will be on another line - most likely Princess again.

I recently asked questions about P&O because friends are going on the Jewel soon. I was told on this forum that bookings for the MDR are flexible, but I see you had the experience we had in the past. We have cruised with P&O several times, but not since late 2012. At that time there were only "early" (5.30 - 6.15) and "late " (around 8pm) time slots in the dining room. Is this what you found?

[goodycruising]

Thanks for your information. We have looked at some of the Pacific brand cruises due to them being available when Royal Caribbean/Celebrity has gone for the winter.

 

After having sailed on Rhapsody again recently, which is larger than Pacific Dawn, we have decided that, for our preference, we would look at the larger ships (like Voyager/Explorer/Solstice) unless there was a real compelling reason to sail on a smaller ship. Like particular itinerary or timing.

 

We found that the larger ships actually feel less crowded, and the greater variety of food options and entertainment areas just makes the experience better for us. There was a lot to like on Rhapsody, and I wouldn't say it was bad at all, but we have limited time available for going on holidays and want to have the experience that we prefer.

[kunnocat]

We usually cruise Princess (platinum level) and decided to try a P and O cruise on the Pacific Dawn as the timing suited us workwise and we could also just drive to the port for a change. Have to say I wasn't very impressed with a number of things - variety and quality of food in the buffet, entertainment and general service levels e.g. in the theatre waitstaff were walking about not making eye contact and you just about had to wave them down to order a drink. In the evening if we were in our cabin, the steward didn't even ask if we wanted our room serviced - he just handed us the next day's Pacific Daily. You have to pay for a lot of extra things like chips, burgers, pizza, high tea, icecream. Bookings for the MDR opened at 5.30 pm the night before and if you were busy and didn't get around to it for a couple of hours, the only time slots left were after 8 pm. On formal night in the MDR, dress standards were not enforced and people were wearing sundresses, jeans & polo tops, shorts etc. I understand not everyone wants to dress up but if they don't want to on formal night, go to the buffet. No blankets provided for movies on the big screen and people were covering themselves with pool towels instead. It's not even as if P and O is that cheap - have paid less per night on most of my Princess cruises. In P and O's favour I did like the spaciousness and storage in the cabins, and my husband commented that the free coffee on the Pacific Dawn was much better than that on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Next cruise will be on another line - most likely Princess again.

 

I sailed with my daughter on Pacific Pearl a couple of years ago, and said I would never do P & O again. I found similar problems as above. But we have to be flexible. P & O often has the best offers for solo cruisers of which I am one, and if you look below I have booked three cruises on the Pacific Eden. 50% supplement is better than 100%. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I also prefer the smaller ships and have recently sailed on the Volendam. I am hoping that P&O don't mess it up too much in the first year. A cruise is what you make of it. K

[Wastegirl]

We have 3 booked with P&O, a 3 nighter, followed fairly closely by a B2B, fortunately they are far enough away from our third cruise in Oct 2016 that if we are unhappy with the product we can cancel that one.

 

However we are on the Eden so hopefully it will be nicely refurbished, we are already aware of the 'pay' options on P&O, my DH hates formal nights, we prefer smaller ships and when working out my sums comparing a balcony room on the smaller Princess ships and P&O doing a similar route, I found that the P&O trip cost less, making up for the fact to get what we want on P&O we may have to pay a little more (eg burgers, room service).

 

So going with the expectation that P&O is going to be a different experience for us, so I don't think we will be disappointed. Oh and the fact that our first two leave from my home city does help with air fare costs etc and the third one we are combining with a week in far north Queensland to snorkel the reef, which we were doing anyway.

[Gaznjo]

we just spent 3 days on the pacific pearl and all our other cruises have been on Princess... I did a bit of a blog but I didn't compare them too much as a 3 day cruise probably is organised a bit different to a longer cruise.

 

We haven't totally decided not to cruise P & 0 again as there might be an itinerary that we would like to do ... but we would lean more to princess

 

http://www.gaznjosadventures.com.au/?cat=17

Edited July 7, 2015 by packetau

[avalon007]

Datone, next cruise I recommend trying Celebrity Solstice rather Princess again.

 

Beautiful ship, very stylish & elegant, large enough to offer variety & not feel crowded. Age demographic mostly 45 - 65 on average.

 

Some of the best speciality restaurants/eateries we have tried.

 

Just a lovely ship all round. :)

[datone]

I recently asked questions about P&O because friends are going on the Jewel soon. I was told on this forum that bookings for the MDR are flexible, but I see you had the experience we had in the past. We have cruised with P&O several times, but not since late 2012. At that time there were only "early" (5.30 - 6.15) and "late " (around 8pm) time slots in the dining room. Is this what you found?

 

That's what we found - roughly 2 time slots and the early one filled up really quickly.

[NSWP]

How slack are the P&O staff not enforcing the dress rules, more so how slack are the pax disobeying the dress codes, did someone say that word..Bogan?

 

Enough said.

[sir-magoo]

We usually cruise Princess (platinum level) and decided to try a P and O cruise on the Pacific Dawn as the timing suited us workwise and we could also just drive to the port for a change. Have to say I wasn't very impressed with a number of things - variety and quality of food in the buffet, entertainment and general service levels e.g. in the theatre waitstaff were walking about not making eye contact and you just about had to wave them down to order a drink. In the evening if we were in our cabin, the steward didn't even ask if we wanted our room serviced - he just handed us the next day's Pacific Daily. You have to pay for a lot of extra things like chips, burgers, pizza, high tea, icecream. Bookings for the MDR opened at 5.30 pm the night before and if you were busy and didn't get around to it for a couple of hours, the only time slots left were after 8 pm. On formal night in the MDR, dress standards were not enforced and people were wearing sundresses, jeans & polo tops, shorts etc. I understand not everyone wants to dress up but if they don't want to on formal night, go to the buffet. No blankets provided for movies on the big screen and people were covering themselves with pool towels instead. It's not even as if P and O is that cheap - have paid less per night on most of my Princess cruises. In P and O's favour I did like the spaciousness and storage in the cabins, and my husband commented that the free coffee on the Pacific Dawn was much better than that on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Next cruise will be on another line - most likely Princess again.

 

Well this is all sounding very promising for our next cruise. We have done 8 P&O cruises and really enjoyed every one of them. We are trying Princess in a couple of months, mainly because we really like the itinerary.

 

I did try two Royal Caribbean cruises but were disappointed with both in comparison to our previous P&O cruises. Yes the ships were much nicer, but we though the food was poor, service (particularly cabin stewards) was poor, entertainment not as good and (although I couldn't explain exactly why) just found the general vibe of the ship to be not as good as P&O.

 

I know that it is probably against the opinion of a lot of people here, but I do like P&O.

[Russell21]

How slack are the P&O staff not enforcing the dress rules, more so how slack are the pax disobeying the dress codes, did someone say that word..Bogan?

 

Enough said.

Well speaking as one who, due to their occupation, was dressed in formal attire as a matter of course during their working day, I can say that "smart casual" is as formal as I dress since I retired.

I no longer own a suit nor a single tie, I donated them all to Vinnies Boutique the day after I retired.

Should I be denied entry to the dining room at any time I am quite happy to eat at the buffet, my money my choice as I no longer dance to another's tune.

Don't even whisper bogan in this case.

[bubbles2014]

pay budget prices and expect premium service............I think not. That's all I'll say!

:rolleyes:

Edited July 9, 2015 by bubbles2014

[MicCanberra]

Everyone is different and prefer differing things, P&O are not Princess, X, RCI or Cunard just as any of those are not the others, but then each of them have their fans and P&O are still very popular. It is a shame you didn't have a good cruise experience, hope your Princess cruises are better for you. :D

[bazzaw]

I am always amused by these kind of threads -- " I cruised with XYZ for the first time and NEVER AGAIN!! :)"

 

My attitude to the cruiselines that we have cruised with - P&O AUS, P&O UK, CARNIVAL, CUNARD, PRINCESS, RCL, NCL -- is that they are all the same - except that they are all different!! :) We have enjoyed them all -- and can see their points of difference, their good points and their bad points. We thoroughly enjoy the formality of Cunard - while at the same time we also thoroughly enjoy the informality of P&O AUS. The different mix of Nationalities onboard different cruiselines largely contribute to their differences. Food wise ?? -- they all serve what I call "International Hotel food". I like both English/Australian style bacon - and American bacon. :) I like the beers served on UK and American ships - and abhor the "mega"-brewery stuff served on Aussie ships.

 

I have my eye on a Pacific Dawn cruise later in November - departing from Brisbane with a very unusual itinerary - I'm not going to say which one because I don't want to create a push in the market place!! :) Needless to say, I won't need to take my Tux on that one!! :)

[GUT2407]

Everyone is different and prefer differing things, P&O are not Princess, X, RCI or Cunard just as any of those are not the others, but then each of them have their fans and P&O are still very popular. It is a shame you didn't have a good cruise experience, hope your Princess cruises are better for you. :D

 

 

Agreed.

 

I freely admit I am not a big P&O fan, doesn't mean I won't sail with them again, and I was unwell when I went with them, DW says she wasn't happy, but then again that may have been because was unwell and she spent most of the cruise worrying about me.

 

I prefer a more relaxing atmosphere.

 

Love Princess and Celebrity. We were lucky that our first Princess cruise got us hooked, now if we try something else and aren't impressed "We can always go back to Princess" and now we'd certainly add Celebrity as one we can go back to.

 

But whatever floats you boat.

[MicCanberra]

I am always amused by these kind of threads -- " I cruised with XYZ for the first time and NEVER AGAIN!! :)"

 

My attitude to the cruiselines that we have cruised with - P&O AUS, P&O UK, CARNIVAL, CUNARD, PRINCESS, RCL, NCL -- is that they are all the same - except that they are all different!! :) We have enjoyed them all -- and can see their points of difference, their good points and their bad points. We thoroughly enjoy the formality of Cunard - while at the same time we also thoroughly enjoy the informality of P&O AUS. The different mix of Nationalities onboard different cruiselines largely contribute to their differences. Food wise ?? -- they all serve what I call "International Hotel food". I like both English/Australian style bacon - and American bacon. :) I like the beers served on UK and American ships - and abhor the "mega"-brewery stuff served on Aussie ships.

 

I have my eye on a Pacific Dawn cruise later in November - departing from Brisbane with a very unusual itinerary - I'm not going to say which one because I don't want to create a push in the market place!! :) Needless to say, I won't need to take my Tux on that one!! :)

 

Well put Bazzaw.:D

[Gnomey]

Must admit I swore off P & O after the last cruise with them, but I am now booked on another anyway! Our problem wasn't the ship/crew package but the P & O management stuffed things up badly leaving a really sour taste. Our crew were really good, the dining was wonderful, itinerary great but the comedy of stuff-ups P & O management performed was quite forgettable. We've tried RCI and they were good, but not quite to our liking. Princess just keeps us coming back for more, so I guess we just fit the profile with them. We also quite enjoyed P & O UK and will probably sail again with them. When on holidays it pays to make the most of what is offered, rather than getting bitter.

Steve.

[MicCanberra]

Must admit I swore off P & O after the last cruise with them, but I am now booked on another anyway! Our problem wasn't the ship/crew package but the P & O management stuffed things up badly leaving a really sour taste. Our crew were really good, the dining was wonderful, itinerary great but the comedy of stuff-ups P & O management performed was quite forgettable. We've tried RCI and they were good, but not quite to our liking. Princess just keeps us coming back for more, so I guess we just fit the profile with them. We also quite enjoyed P & O UK and will probably sail again with them. When on holidays it pays to make the most of what is offered, rather than getting bitter.

Steve.

 

Good attitude.

I have never had a bad cruise but obviously some have been much better than others. While the ship isn't a big issue for me, I did find that the P&O ships are dated and as such seem more crowded in certain areas, this affects the service which in no means was bad but sometimes you have to go to the bar rather than a waiter if you want a drink.:D

Edited July 9, 2015 by MicCanberra

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I have not been a big fan of P&O Australia in the past ,but have cruised with them. my beef was that they were charging top dollar for ancient old rusty ships. This has changed , and is changing , as other ships albeit old ones come into service.

As far as putting on a fun cruise they are tops .

When faced with their patch being challenged in the past , they fought off competition by slashing prices to the point where NCl and RCCL left our shores .Now they have to face up to the competitors , and as part of Carnival , work with them , as the competition is here to stay.

I am looking forward to hearing reports once the 2 new ships come into service.

They will have to lift their game if they want to get the prices they are asking , especially for the suites on the new ships.

 

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I have not been a big fan of P&O Australia in the past ,but have cruised with them. my beef was that they were charging top dollar for ancient old rusty ships. This has changed , and is changing , as other ships albeit old ones come into service.

As far as putting on a fun cruise they are tops .

When faced with their patch being challenged in the past , they fought off competition by slashing prices to the point where NCl and RCCL left our shores .Now they have to face up to the competitors , and as part of Carnival , work with them , as the competition is here to stay.

I am looking forward to hearing reports once the 2 new ships come into service.

They will have to lift their game if they want to get the prices they are asking , especially for the suites on the new ships.

 

 

 

Agreed, I think they still seem to be priced higher than they should be but then they are filling their ships, so there is no need for them. With the dipping AUD some of their competition will automatically be putting themselves out of reach for cruises looking for overall cost value. Time will tell what will happen next year.

[PetaAnne]

We cruise P&O once, on a 4 day comedy cruise. I hated it. Im sure because it was a short cruise, it had different processes, but Hubbie and I counted down the hours to be off that ship.

My heart sank when I saw how old the rooms were, and how "old and rusted" the balconies felt (no relaxing on them).

Then it felt like the cast of Jersey Shore were always obnoxiously over-riding the pool decks 24/7, there were that many hens nights and bucks nights aboard that trip... it was like being stuck in a messy reality show.

Then we were confused when we went to have breakfast in the restaurant, and they went to seat us 2, at a table of 6 that was already seated a family of 4???? I looked at the waiter and said... "Can we not sit at a table for 2??" (The place was near empty) And he looked at us confused, then had to speak to his manager, then came and walked us ALL OVER the place, to seat us at a table for 2 that was crammed in the middle of 2 other packed tables, whilst we had walked past at least 20 empty tables for 2!

It was so strange... the best part of that cruise was a small high end bar inside, out front of the duty free shop, that had good music and good quality liquor.

 

But even the bar staff filled us in on how awful it was to work for P&O. :(

[MicCanberra]

We cruise P&O once, on a 4 day comedy cruise. I hated it. Im sure because it was a short cruise, it had different processes, but Hubbie and I counted down the hours to be off that ship.

My heart sank when I saw how old the rooms were, and how "old and rusted" the balconies felt (no relaxing on them).

Then it felt like the cast of Jersey Shore were always obnoxiously over-riding the pool decks 24/7, there were that many hens nights and bucks nights aboard that trip... it was like being stuck in a messy reality show.

Then we were confused when we went to have breakfast in the restaurant, and they went to seat us 2, at a table of 6 that was already seated a family of 4???? I looked at the waiter and said... "Can we not sit at a table for 2??" (The place was near empty) And he looked at us confused, then had to speak to his manager, then came and walked us ALL OVER the place, to seat us at a table for 2 that was crammed in the middle of 2 other packed tables, whilst we had walked past at least 20 empty tables for 2!

It was so strange... the best part of that cruise was a small high end bar inside, out front of the duty free shop, that had good music and good quality liquor.

 

But even the bar staff filled us in on how awful it was to work for P&O. :(

 

Yes, the short cruises can get very messy with groups and parties aboard. I see you are doing your third Hawaii cruise, which I am sure is the other end of the spectrum. Enjoy.:D

[The_Big_M]

We cruise P&O once, on a 4 day comedy cruise. I hated it. Im sure because it was a short cruise, it had different processes, but Hubbie and I counted down the hours to be off that ship.

My heart sank when I saw how old the rooms were, and how "old and rusted" the balconies felt (no relaxing on them).

Then it felt like the cast of Jersey Shore were always obnoxiously over-riding the pool decks 24/7, there were that many hens nights and bucks nights aboard that trip... it was like being stuck in a messy reality show.

 

You would have hit the jackpot with that sort of cruise for that sort of audience.

 

Short cruises already pick up a large number of partiers/celebrations. And then when you add it's a comedy cruise that's going to attract even more of that audience.

 

Each lines will get different demographics depending on the itinerary and focus of the cruise. That's also an important aspect of finding something that suits you.

[MicCanberra]

The samplers, comedy cruises, and such will always attract an element that few them as a party cruise or a booze cruise. They are often not very cost effective either as the price per day can be more than double for a 7 or 10 day cruise.