How are P&O doing now?

[Exiled Brummie]

Hi all, I had a post running back to last October regarding our cruise cancellation after we had ticked the yes box to the medical declaration because I was recovering from a cold.

To cut a long (and ongoing) story short, how is P&O doing now, there were many posts back a few months ago about poor service on board etc which has put us off rebooking with P&O if and when they arrive at a satisfactory conclusion to our complaint.

 

Bill D.

[majortom10]

Returned from Iona last week and had excellent service throughout the ship and was pleasantly surprised and really liked Iona.

[alpha whiskey]

6 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Returned from Iona last week and had excellent service throughout the ship and was pleasantly surprised and really liked Iona.

+1... was on Iona in January. Highly recommend. 

[Britboys]

I'm on another social media platform in a group for fans of Aurora where there are regular posts from people on board or recently returned. Apart from a very small number of trifling niggles, everyone seems very content with food and service aboard.

[Interestedcruisefan]

Just came back from a 2 week cruise on Arvia in Caribbean

 

Service was excellent. Ship was brilliant. So many options for food. dining and entertainment

 

And better value than any cruise we've been on before in real terms money

 

 

[gsjnd]

Returned last Saturday from a 2 week cruise on the Iona. The ship was excellent,the entertainment was as probably as good as any cruise we have done. The food and service in the restaurants was excellent. The value for money was excellent. Nearly everyone we spoke to seemed to have the same opinion.Would highly recommend the Iona.

[crompton21]

I think that this site is mostly inhabited by people who enjoy cruising and to me there is a sense that the majority are now finding an overall experience that is mostly positive.

A quick search through more generic review sites brings up a different perspective.  One of the well known sites currently has over 1000 reviews with 75% rating P&O as one star out of five, or bad in their words.  Finding (and keeping) a new type of customer may turn out to be more challenging than perhaps the new plan envisaged.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

I think that this site is mostly inhabited by people who enjoy cruising and to me there is a sense that the majority are now finding an overall experience that is mostly positive.

A quick search through more generic review sites brings up a different perspective.  One of the well known sites currently has over 1000 reviews with 75% rating P&O as one star out of five, or bad in their words.  Finding (and keeping) a new type of customer may turn out to be more challenging than perhaps the new plan envisaged.

The problem with all review sites is that they tend only to attract those with something negative to report. Those who have a positive opinion normally do not post. 

So, whilst the negative reviews are no doubt valid, they are very much in the minority. After all, 1000 reviews is a fraction of the number of people who cruised with P&O in the last year.

[crompton21]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The problem with all review sites is that they tend only to attract those with something negative to report. Those who have a positive opinion normally do not post. 

So, whilst the negative reviews are no doubt valid, they are very much in the minority. After all, 1000 reviews is a fraction of the number of people who cruised with P&O in the last year.

The same site has Tui with 58k reviews at an average score of 4.4 out of 5 against 1.6 out of 5 for P&O.  No smoke without fire as they say.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, crompton21 said:

The same site has Tui with 58k reviews at an average score of 4.4 out of 5 against 1.6 out of 5 for P&O.  No smoke without fire as they say.

Are you looking at Tui or Marella though? Just for clarification.

[carlanthony24]

Currently on Azura and no problems. Just the odd minority complaining.

[zap99]

9 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Currently on Azura and no problems. Just the odd minority complaining.

We have been on 5 P&O cruises since lockdown finished . All were fine and we have 2 more booked. Don't worry, be happy.

 

Note to predictive. If I wanted to say lickdown, I would have typed that....stupid boy.😂

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We have been on 5 P&O cruises since lockdown finished . All were fine and we have 2 more booked. Don't worry, be happy.

 

Note to predictive. If I wanted to say lickdown, I would have typed that....stupid boy.😂

Exactly. To us not much has changed. October 16 nights still to come and we are planning the 16 nights Croatia Malta to Tenerife October 2024. 

[Happy afloat]

13 hours ago, Britboys said:

I'm on another social media platform in a group for fans of Aurora where there are regular posts from people on board or recently returned. Apart from a very small number of trifling niggles, everyone seems very content with food and service aboard.

Good to hear. On her for the first time two weeks today. 

[Camberley]

I think there are doing fine. Yes, things have been cut back - as with other companies - but for a non-luxury cruise company it does things well enough and offers decent value for what it is.
 

And while they are just as appalling at dealing with issues raised before or after the cruise (though arguably not much worse than a few other cruise companies), at the very heart of the ships are the wonderful staff and crew: very much the jewel in the crown who make up for any other short-comings.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Camberley

[Yorkypete]

4 hours ago, gsjnd said:

Returned last Saturday from a 2 week cruise on the Iona. The ship was excellent,the entertainment was as probably as good as any cruise we have done. The food and service in the restaurants was excellent. The value for money was excellent. Nearly everyone we spoke to seemed to have the same opinion.Would highly recommend the Iona.

I have to disagree on the entertainment. I have been several times on RCI and their ents are 100% superior to P&O. I have seen two good acts on P&O but on Iona the acoustics in the bubble are worse than our local pub!  The main shows are the same group of entertainers each night. RCI had proper shows with people brought in. We saw Grease, The Jersey Boys  and others  from the professional American shows.They were as good as Broadway shows in my opinion. As to the food...well the Quays is OK but other cruiselines have a much bigger choice in their buffets(leaving aside the specialist restaurants) and the service is much better.IMO.

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

I have to disagree on the entertainment. I have been several times on RCI and their ents are 100% superior to P&O. I have seen two good acts on P&O but on Iona the acoustics in the bubble are worse than our local pub!  The main shows are the same group of entertainers each night. RCI had proper shows with people brought in. We saw Grease, The Jersey Boys  and others  from the professional American shows.They were as good as Broadway shows in my opinion. As to the food...well the Quays is OK but other cruiselines have a much bigger choice in their buffets(leaving aside the specialist restaurants) and the service is much better.IMO.

Last year we enjoyed our Fjords cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. Food was good. Can't remember much about the entertainment. I can remember the cost of the balcony cabin.£1700 each. I understand P&O are a little cheaper.🤔

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

I have to disagree on the entertainment. I have been several times on RCI and their ents are 100% superior to P&O. I have seen two good acts on P&O but on Iona the acoustics in the bubble are worse than our local pub!  The main shows are the same group of entertainers each night. RCI had proper shows with people brought in. We saw Grease, The Jersey Boys  and others  from the professional American shows.They were as good as Broadway shows in my opinion. As to the food...well the Quays is OK but other cruiselines have a much bigger choice in their buffets(leaving aside the specialist restaurants) and the service is much better.IMO.

P&O also bring in the Jersey Boys, people from the west end, The Four Seasons etc

[Harry Peterson]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

The problem with all review sites is that they tend only to attract those with something negative to report. Those who have a positive opinion normally do not post. 

So, whilst the negative reviews are no doubt valid, they are very much in the minority. After all, 1000 reviews is a fraction of the number of people who cruised with P&O in the last year.

That’s a pretty blinkered viewpoint. Try looking at the Trustpilot reviews for Richer Sounds or Tui - good companies get good reviews.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Harry Peterson

[Ardennais]

5 hours ago, gsjnd said:

Returned last Saturday from a 2 week cruise on the Iona. The ship was excellent,the entertainment was as probably as good as any cruise we have done. The food and service in the restaurants was excellent. The value for money was excellent. Nearly everyone we spoke to seemed to have the same opinion.Would highly recommend the Iona.

We would mostly agree having spent a wonderful week on Iona last month. The only ‘problem’ was slow service but that was probably because it was half term and packed full. I can’t wait to sail on Iona again, but the next few cruises are on different P&O ships because we don’t really want to visit the Fjords again any time soon. 

[Ilovemygarden]

5 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

That’s a pretty blinkered viewpoint. Try looking at the Trustpilot reviews for Richer Sounds or Tui - good companies get good reviews.

Sorry but I can’t imagine how TUI would get so many good reviews.  For me, they have only ever gone from bad to worse!   

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

That’s a pretty blinkered viewpoint. Try looking at the Trustpilot reviews for Richer Sounds or Tui - good companies get good reviews.

If you look at the poor reviews for P&O,  a large number relate to price cuts ( which Tui tend not to do) and to poor service from P&O  customer services. No argument about that !

The comments on the actual cruises tend to be far more positive, although obviously issues will still be raised.

 

[gsjnd]

40 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

I have to disagree on the entertainment. I have been several times on RCI and their ents are 100% superior to P&O. I have seen two good acts on P&O but on Iona the acoustics in the bubble are worse than our local pub!  The main shows are the same group of entertainers each night. RCI had proper shows with people brought in. We saw Grease, The Jersey Boys  and others  from the professional American shows.They were as good as Broadway shows in my opinion. As to the food...well the Quays is OK but other cruiselines have a much bigger choice in their buffets(leaving aside the specialist restaurants) and the service is much better.IMO.

Should have been clearer I meant the entertainment was the best I have seen on any PO cruise I have done. Totally agree with the sound in the skydome thou we decided  not to watch any musical shows in the skydome as the sound was so poor.

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 hours ago, crompton21 said:

I think that this site is mostly inhabited by people who enjoy cruising and to me there is a sense that the majority are now finding an overall experience that is mostly positive.

A quick search through more generic review sites brings up a different perspective.  One of the well known sites currently has over 1000 reviews with 75% rating P&O as one star out of five, or bad in their words.  Finding (and keeping) a new type of customer may turn out to be more challenging than perhaps the new plan envisaged.

It's funny because I feel the opposite

 

I feel it's experienced cruisers who find things not the same as the past who find fault and rate things low

 

Also people with a complaint are far more likely to review than people who had a good or great time. Check out reviews for parcel delivery services.

 

All 1 or 2 star. Because the 99% who got a good delivery don't take time to write about it as much. But those with a complaint are more likely to take time to review. And with so many people cruising on these ships now there's bound to be some complaints

 

New people cruising on ships like Arvia and Iona won't even use the forums where cruises are rated by and large. But vast majority will find it hard not to enjoy the experience they get for the price they have paid

 

IMO

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

The problem with all review sites is that they tend only to attract those with something negative to report. Those who have a positive opinion normally do not post. 

So, whilst the negative reviews are no doubt valid, they are very much in the minority. After all, 1000 reviews is a fraction of the number of people who cruised with P&O in the last year.

Great minds think alike

 

I already posted similar without reading your post wowzz