P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[Purdey16]

Had a lovely day in Bergen today sunny and 16 dgs felt hotter because I was in my swimming costume sunbathing, walked around the town again and the fish market, off to glam now , up on the train first then cycling down, then getting ready for the chefs table tomorrow night , managed to get a invite 😜 so food porn tomorrow, tonight’s drink which is massive, oh one tip is dontip the waiter because he takes such good care of you and ales gives you double and this tipped up 10 minutes before dinner so kept it for pudding 😂 strawberry margarita and baked Alaska 

[Ilovemygarden]

23 minutes ago, Britboys said:

At least my mother-in-law will be enjoying the sunny weather then...😊

See - it IS nice to be nice 😀

[Presto2]

19 minutes ago, Purdey16 said:

Had a lovely day in Bergen today sunny and 16 dgs felt hotter because I was in my swimming costume sunbathing, walked around the town again and the fish market, off to glam now , up on the train first then cycling down, then getting ready for the chefs table tomorrow night , managed to get a invite 😜 so food porn tomorrow, tonight’s drink which is massive, oh one tip is dontip the waiter because he takes such good care of you and ales gives you double and this tipped up 10 minutes before dinner so kept it for pudding 😂 strawberry margarita and baked Alaska 

You ate tempting us with Princess . Looks amazing.  Have a lovely evening x

[lincslady]

I read that as 'in my swimming costume walking round the town'.  I think maybe I got it wrong?😉

[P&O SUE]

Morning all, my most exciting news ( seeings as it’s not that warm here STILL 😡) is that I’ve just booked Epicurean for the first night of our cruise 😁😁

[lincslady]

Good for you, Sue.  The menus do look lovely.  My impression nowadays is that the basic price is so cheap that those who like good food can pay for for a really good meal, hopefully most evenings.

 

It is not warm here, either, in fact yet another pale grey sky - I suppose it is our turn, in the East, as we usually get the dry sunny stuff.

[brian1]

8 hours ago, lincslady said:

I read that as 'in my swimming costume walking round the town'.  I think maybe I got it wrong?😉

And the fish market😲.There's a comma there so she probably didn't.English grammar wasn't my best subject though.

[brian1]

10 hours ago, Purdey16 said:

Had a lovely day in Bergen today sunny and 16 dgs felt hotter because I was in my swimming costume sunbathing, walked around the town again and the fish market, off to glam now , up on the train first then cycling down, then getting ready for the chefs table tomorrow night , managed to get a invite 😜 so food porn tomorrow, tonight’s drink which is massive, oh one tip is dontip the waiter because he takes such good care of you and ales gives you double and this tipped up 10 minutes before dinner so kept it for pudding 😂 strawberry margarita and baked Alaska 

We used to give our waiter 5 dollars each night on Cunard.OMG, he used double me up on everything including surf and turf on formal night.

[pete14]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

Good for you, Sue.  The menus do look lovely.  My impression nowadays is that the basic price is so cheap that those who like good food can pay for for a really good meal, hopefully most evenings.

I am not being awkward and I know it is first come, first served, but doesn’t making bookings for multiple nights deny others the chance because they are fully booked more quickly? I am not suggesting that it is something you do personally or would do given the chance. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by pete14

[kalos]

58 minutes ago, pete14 said:

I am not being awkward and I know it is first come, first served, but doesn’t making bookings for multiple nights deny others the chance because they are fully booked more quickly? I am not suggesting that it is something you do personally or would do given the chance. 

 

In the payable food venues ,maybe put in a non refundable booking fee per person that

is deducted off your bill at the end of your meal .

 

[lincslady]

I suspect that P and O are trying to fill up the new ships, and cheap prices will bring in new punters, maybe younger people who would not feel like/be able to pay higher prices, and would be content with what is included.  A difficult sum to work out, since they also want to attract those who can pay more, without losing goodwill because there are not enough venues to give them all a superior dinner each night?  We have seen on here that it can work, and also that it can be very irritating when it doesn't.  They have just got too many cabins to fill too quickly - just my opinion.

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, pete14 said:

I am not being awkward and I know it is first come, first served, but doesn’t making bookings for multiple nights deny others the chance because they are fully booked more quickly? I am not suggesting that it is something you do personally or would do given the chance. 

The only way to stop multiple bookings would be for P&O to limit them.
 

To secure specialty dining bookings P&O get cash well in advance of the cruise as most of these bookings are paid upfront so it’s not in their business interest to limit the availability to book. From their perspective early bookings must mean they have a full, profitable restaurant.

 

I booked multiple nights for speciality restaurants as some of the food in the MDR was not to my taste. If I couldn’t do this then I probably wouldn’t now cruise with P&O as good food is an important part of cruising for me.

 

I do understand your point however as I couldn’t get bookings for some of the entertainment as others had clearly made multiple bookings for every night (but they didn’t all turn up as there were last minute seats available). 
 

P&O must be well aware that some folks can’t get restaurant or entertainment bookings?

[Britboys]

27 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I suspect that P and O are trying to fill up the new ships, and cheap prices will bring in new punters, maybe younger people who would not feel like/be able to pay higher prices, and would be content with what is included.  A difficult sum to work out, since they also want to attract those who can pay more, without losing goodwill because there are not enough venues to give them all a superior dinner each night?  We have seen on here that it can work, and also that it can be very irritating when it doesn't.  They have just got too many cabins to fill too quickly - just my opinion.

Indeed. I guess it will be trial and error for P&O to get the pricing right on the big ships to maximise income, capacity and profit.

[zap99]

46 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I suspect that P and O are trying to fill up the new ships, and cheap prices will bring in new punters, maybe younger people who would not feel like/be able to pay higher prices, and would be content with what is included.  A difficult sum to work out, since they also want to attract those who can pay more, without losing goodwill because there are not enough venues to give them all a superior dinner each night?  We have seen on here that it can work, and also that it can be very irritating when it doesn't.  They have just got too many cabins to fill too quickly - just my opinion.

Food is fine in the MDR, but we like a bit of variety so sometimes dine in the speciality restaurants, or buffet for a change. As cruises, even in a ' budget ' inside cabin are still more expensive than a holiday hotel, I don't think they are filling these ships up with only poor people.

Edited June 6, 2023 by zap99

[lincslady]

Some of the smaller lines do ration visits to their 'extra' restaurants, to one visit per cruise or per week - even the non-payment ones.  But they can do this, as there are enough places for everyone on the ship to visit once.  This obviously would not apply on a ship with 5,000 passengers!

[Eglesbrech]

37 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Some of the smaller lines do ration visits to their 'extra' restaurants, to one visit per cruise or per week - even the non-payment ones.  But they can do this, as there are enough places for everyone on the ship to visit once.  This obviously would not apply on a ship with 5,000 passengers!

Yes it would be pointless on a large ship as restricting passenger A to one booking would still not mean that most other passengers b-z were guaranteed one.

[Eglesbrech]

43 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Food is fine in the MDR, but we like a bit of variety so sometimes dine in the speciality restaurants, or buffet for a change. As cruises, even in a ' budget ' inside cabin are still more expensive than a holiday hotel, I don't think they are filling these ships up with only poor people.

By definition anyone who can afford any holiday right now is not “poor”.

[zap99]

9 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

By definition anyone who can afford any holiday right now is not “poor”.

There seems to be a misconception that P&O are filling their ships up with people who can't afford anything else, have never cruised before, so will not notice poor standards. Quite insulting really.

[lincslady]

No, obviously no one who can afford a cruise or any holiday is really 'poor', but some  are less well off than others  as we all know.  And among the middle range probably at present the older ones are better off, or at least have more to spend on luxuries like a holiday, as they have paid off their mortgages and have the fairly good pensions which many do have.  

 

P and O's tv adverts at present show what demographic they are trying to appeal to, and the more casual  restaurants with fast food etc. are likely to be to their taste, and are not of a poor standard, more that they have a less formal vibe which appeals to them, but usually less to those who are long time cruise fans, who enjoy the several courses and longer time taken over an evening meal.  Horses for courses.

 

 

[Fionboard]

35 minutes ago, zap99 said:

There seems to be a misconception that P&O are filling their ships up with people who can't afford anything else, have never cruised before, so will not notice poor standards. Quite insulting really.

On the other hand,  you do not miss what you've never had! 

[P&O SUE]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

In the payable food venues ,maybe put in a non refundable booking fee per person that

is deducted off your bill at the end of your meal .

 

Ventura, where I’ve just booked the Epicurean, I’ve paid the full amount now. It’s not like the MDR queue just to get in. I got my peninsula discount so was happy to pay.

[Snow Hill]

Our first cloudy day for over a week, temperature stuck around 14C, felt chillier in the wind. 
 

Seems I upset the H&S Manager where I volunteer on a Tuesday seems he suggested some of the issues raised in feedback were rude and unwarranted, seems he doesn’t like criticism as I was up before the HoD of the area I volunteer in. I didn’t accept the H&S managers remarks and stated the reasons why, after all I have spent 20+ years in roles in which H&S was my responsibility on projects I worked or managed. If they didn’t want feedback then they shouldn’t have asked for it and should accept both positive and negative feedback and not attack those who provide the latter. The HoD did say though that they were impressed with what I was doing as a volunteer , so I think he was just the messenger, the H&S manager took the cowardly way out by not speaking to me face to face. 

[purplesea]

After having waited several weeks for a hospital appointment and attended last week plus getting a date at the end of the month for treatment, I today received a phone call offering me an appointment for treatment on  Friday, which is too soon to get transportation organised. I have now been given a choice of three dates for next week and one for the week after. Talk about buses!!

[Josy1953]

Another cool, grey cloudy morning here, I have just put the washing out in the hope that the breeze will help it to dry but the forecast is for a slight chance of drizzle.  

 

Have a good day everyone,.

[Beckett]

@brian1 Good luck for tonight Brian. Fingers crossed for you. Jane xx