who will be our captain ?

[philred]

hi all we are off to the caribbean on the azura in march was just wondering is there any way we could find out who the captain will be on our cruise only our 4th cruise with p&o hoping it is robert camby had him our last 2 voyages found him very approachable and he was always willing to stop and chat and his thought of the day was always a talking point any replies would be welcome thanks  and a happy new year to you all in advance happy cruising

[Balaena]

Sure it will be Paul Brown who until recently was Captain on the Britannia.  Great guy, personally think he is much better than Camby, but that is only my opinion.

[Host Sharon]

Currently Robert Camby is one of Oceana's captains.

[galeforce9]

Any idea about aurora Feb 27. Thanks 

[Presto2]

22 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

Any idea about aurora Feb 27. Thanks 

 

Not sure if this helps, but the Moments magazine says that David Pembrige is Captain from Jan 3rd but has not end date.

[Presto2]

On a different note, we sail on Azura on the 20th April. The magazine doesn't say who will be Captain then - just wondering if Azura has any regular Captains.

[PrincessPete]

Any idea for the Oriana Captain 22nd February please.

It would be great if it was the wonderful Mike Carr who was in charge on our last cruise on the Oriana in 2003 but as he retired many years ago I guess not 😂😂

Edited January 1, 2019 by PrincessPete
Grammar error

[Balaena]

33 minutes ago, PrincessPete said:

Any idea for the Oriana Captain 22nd February please.

It would be great if it was the wonderful Mike Carr who was in charge on our last cruise on the Oriana in 2003 but as he retired many years ago I guess not 😂😂

No idea but yes Mike Carr was a great Captain, often took passengers up to the bridge .. happy times eh

[philred]

would liked to have experencied the visit to the bridge but with all the added security cannot see that being allowed now most a pity 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, philred said:

would liked to have experencied the visit to the bridge but with all the added security cannot see that being allowed now most a pity 

It can still be done it forms part of a behind the scenes tour, but it costs £75pp.

[Presto2]

19 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

It can still be done it forms part of a behind the scenes tour, but it costs £75pp.

 

And you are scanned for security purposes and security accompany you throughout. Worth it though and Capts Willard and Brown were excellent and made us so welcome. They answered questions for a long time. Now the Capt of Ventura --- mmm --- can't even remember his name but he only showed up half way through and didn't even let us have photos taken with him.

 

[Balaena]

32 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

And you are scanned for security purposes and security accompany you throughout. Worth it though and Capts Willard and Brown were excellent and made us so welcome. They answered questions for a long time. Now the Capt of Ventura --- mmm --- can't even remember his name but he only showed up half way through and didn't even let us have photos taken with him.

 

Shame, probably Marcin Branach . Great guy and top Captain, no doubt had a lot going on.

Bal

[P&O SUE]

3 hours ago, Balaena said:

Shame, probably Marcin Branach . Great guy and top Captain, no doubt had a lot going on.

Bal

 

Can’t believe Captain Banache didn’t allow photos, he had loads taken with people on our cruise.

[Presto2]

33 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

 

Can’t believe Captain Banache didn’t allow photos, he had loads taken with people on our cruise.

Sounds like the one. Never saw him about ship and on Behind Scenes Tour another officer did Bridge tour and when he arrived just photos with the group not individuals. We complained as he was not  in  the same league as other Captains we have sailed with. Will check if this is the same one. 

[P&O SUE]

8 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Sounds like the one. Never saw him about ship and on Behind Scenes Tour another officer did Bridge tour and when he arrived just photos with the group not individuals. We complained as he was not  in  the same league as other Captains we have sailed with. Will check if this is the same one. 

 

No he was really good for us! Saw him round the ship lots. Even bumped into him near our cabin twice!

Someone else said he was really good with their disabled daughter.

Edited January 3, 2019 by P&O SUE

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

 

No he was really good for us! Saw him round the ship lots. Even bumped into him near our cabin twice!

Someone else said he was really good with their disabled daughter.

 

Have just checked out the photos and it looks like it was him. (He looks very young?) Only saw him for about 10 minutes of Bridge Tour and really was not engaging with guests at all. Never saw him once about the ship in 17 days apart from the Captain's Welcome and to be fair he seemed to have a sense of humour. It didn't come across during any announcements that he made afterwards though and we needed cheering up as the weather was dire !!!

 

How odd. As someone else has said, I suppose us guests don't know what is going on behind the scenes.

[Josy1953]

Well had  Marcin Branach on one of our cruises and while he was not as visible as some of the other captains we did see him around the ship from time to time.  We noticed that when we did see him he seemed to talking to people with children.

 

The worst captain that we have had was Evans Hoyt on Azura last year. He never made any announcements they were all left to another bridge officer who had a strong accent that meant it was difficult to understand what was being said.  We never saw him around the ship, we never both with the welcome on board cocktail party so I don't know whether he appeared or not but he didn't make it to the Peninsular Club party.

 

I don't think that the captain makes a big difference to our enjoyment of the cruise but it is nice to see them and have the chance to speak with them

Edited January 3, 2019 by Josy1953

[Malcolm142]

We are due on Oceana next week (SOU to Dubai) and in 'Moments' the captain is listed as Chris Bourne.

Does anyone have comments or views on his captaincy and customer facing liaison?  

Would you expect him and the other officers to be more visible as its P&O's first foray into a

season in the Middle East and therefore maybe attracting a new customer group

[kalos]

18 hours ago, Malcolm142 said:

We are due on Oceana next week (SOU to Dubai) and in 'Moments' the captain is listed as Chris Bourne.

Does anyone have comments or views on his captaincy and customer facing liaison?  

Would you expect him and the other officers to be more visible as its P&O's first foray into a

season in the Middle East and therefore maybe attracting a new customer group

Chris Bourne was Captain for the New Year and we saw him most morningsas he walked through the ship .

He always had a cheery hello if he passed you and the same for any of his crew members he passed by.

Any messages he put through the ships PA was always down to earth and informative.

He would broadcast things like ..

 

"When heading for Zeebrugges , the ship nearly failed to make port due to a

force 9 wind hitting the ship and thanks to his bridge crew who were on duty

and thanks to their skills we made it into port .. A job well done "

 

He would also give updates on the conditions to reassure anyone who was feeling the effects of the ships movements .

On pushing off and heading home for Southampton again he broadcast that he was "letting the saftey officer take the

ship out to sea ,under his watch ,keeping an eye on him to improve safety officers  portfolio."

To us he was a Captain Camby style minus the "thought for the day"

Down to earth ,willing to help and let others know if others were doing a good job .

I think you will be OK with him Malcolm .

[Presto2]

18 hours ago, Malcolm142 said:

We are due on Oceana next week (SOU to Dubai) and in 'Moments' the captain is listed as Chris Bourne.

Does anyone have comments or views on his captaincy and customer facing liaison?  

Would you expect him and the other officers to be more visible as its P&O's first foray into a

season in the Middle East and therefore maybe attracting a new customer group

 

Hi, we have had Capt Bourne a couple of times and though he isn't as witty when making announcements as some of the others he is a very pleasant, down to earth, presence around the ship - if that makes sense. Would be happy to have him as our Captain again. Have a great time and let us know how the new cruise for Oceana goes when you return.