Just off Britannia

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

I have food posioning number 2 was coming out green gp said immodium on the phone walk in centre said antibotics after getting a sample tested. It was chicken. Would medical centre test sample they never tested sample when i had "noro" on the NCL Pearl which i dispute I had by the way.

Was this in the days where they could instantly test you for covid to rule that in or out?

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I'm all for fair criticism. 

 

In this thread I've also seen medical teams on board the ship being talked about negatively. Medical teams who haven't actually been made aware of anything to allow them to help on the ship. But in this thread they have become bad guys as well. 

 

Not actually fair on them either.

 

I'm in a business that serves many customers weekly. 

 

We have a tiny percentage who face issues with the service we provide. (We want to provide a fabulous service to everyone)

 

The problem we face is genuinely being able to get to the bottom of the validity of an issue so we know what we can do about it and improve. 

 

When someone faces an issue and presents the facts transparently its far far easier to resolve happily for all concerned. When the facts get clouded. That's when it's harder to resolve.

 

The saying that the customer Is always right. 

 

I honestly don't think nowadays you can always take what customers tell you at face value.

 

But because I want all my customers to be happy I do have to take what I'm told by all customers at face value and bend over backwards to help them (knowing in some cases in my head that I'm almost certainly being hoodwinked by them at times) as the facts don't really stack up. 

 

Very hard to deal with. And questioning the ones you aren't sure are being 100 per cent transparent potentially just makes a bad situation worse.

 

Can Britannia improve? No doubt she can in many ways like all businesses.

 

But be fair to her at least where she's at fault and where she's not. 

 

 

To be fair to the op, they did not blame P&O for their illness, but by calling it food poisoning it did sort of imply that it was caused by something they ate, which in fairness it might have been, even if it was an allergic reaction.

I do think though that we have battered this fishy story to death, and should now leave it to RIP.

Edited October 12, 2023 by terrierjohn

[ace2542]

18 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Was this in the days where they could instantly test you for covid to rule that in or out?

The Pearl noro outbreak was April 2019 on the T/A and though there was something with lettuce in the news in America. I wonder what we really had.

[ace2542]

FWIW A friend of mine was on the ship at the same time and he has no problem didn't mention any food problems onboard nor any mention of covid.

[Selbourne]

21 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

I am on Britannia in a few weeks so I am reading this thread with interest. Food is my thing so I shall be comparing it with the standard of food on Arcadia in August. I am expecting the same boring menu in the MDR, but hopefully on Britannia it will be ccoked to a better standard.

We were on Britannia in July Cathy and had no problems with the MDR food. Food is a highlight on cruises for us as well, and with the exceptions of the Celebration night (Marco Pierre White menu) and a balsa wood topped pie I had at lunch one day (😂), all MDR meals that both of us had were very good. No issues with quality or temperature. Portions were smaller than we’d serve at home, but as we always manage breakfast, lunch and dinner on cruises this was never a problem. 
 

I don’t know if you are Club or Freedom dining, but the bigger challenge that we had was actually getting in to the Freedom dining MDRs using the app. You might have read my ‘Live from’ blog at the time, or the tips I posted afterwards, but if you didn’t, or can’t find them, let me know and I’ll give you some workaround tips which we worked out by our second week!

[Interestedcruisefan]

I wonder what the actual stats are for people who leave a cruise ship in terms of whether they enjoyed their holiday or not?

 

We obviously get to hear extreme stuff on this forum as well as the mundane 

 

And obviously some cruises have disasters that spoil it for everyone 

 

I don't think you can even judge it by review sites as the vast majority of guests will never actually leave reviews

 

What do you guys reckon?

 

I think at least  8 out of 10 people generally will enjoy their cruise holiday

 

Doesn't mean there aren't issues at times. Doesn't mean they would do it again. 

 

My 8 out of 10 is a pure stab in the dark though

 

I've never not really enjoyed a cruise holiday. Maybe I've been lucky everywhere

 

I've never really encountered any noticeable problems anywhere either. Other than seeing late risers not find the sunbeds they want on sea days

 

Always enjoyed the food. Always enjoyed the entertainment. Always enjoyed waking up in different places

[CarlaMarie]

7 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

To be fair to the op, they did not blame P&O for their illness, but by calling it food poisoning it did sort of imply that it was caused by something they ate, which in fairness it might have been, even if it was an allergic reaction.

I do think though that we have battered this fishy story to death, and should now leave it to RIP.

 

I agree. I think the OP is being unfairly criticized and there has been no mention of the medical teams being the bad guys either. A member of my family experienced a "reaction to food" on one of the ships (you can't call it food poisoning as you can never be 100% sure it was that, but some sort of reaction occurred after eating fish in the buffet and naturally food poisoning did spring to mind fairly quickly), plus also Noro on another. It is a difficult and unpleasant situation to be in and I do sympathise with the OP. In our case regarding the food reaction, it was the last day before we disembarked at Southampton. We let the medical team know, they went through a list of questions over the phone, visited the cabin etc... The family member was confined to the cabin (to be honest, they didn't want to be anywhere else!), and the medical team liased with the assistance team for disembarkation and the following morning they remained in the cabin until being called and were the last to leave the ship so that they could disembark quickly and avoiding other passengers. 

 

I hope the OP recovers soon.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

But thought he had food posioning which they would say is noro when it isn't.

This is called a loop. Did he, didn't he ?. Who knows. Perhaps this thread is well past its sell by date.

[GSPG]

22 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I wonder what the actual stats are for people who leave a cruise ship in terms of whether they enjoyed their holiday or not?

 

We obviously get to hear extreme stuff on this forum as well as the mundane 

 

And obviously some cruises have disasters that spoil it for everyone 

 

I don't think you can even judge it by review sites as the vast majority of guests will never actually leave reviews

 

What do you guys reckon?

 

I think at least  8 out of 10 people generally will enjoy their cruise holiday

 

Doesn't mean there aren't issues at times. Doesn't mean they would do it again. 

 

My 8 out of 10 is a pure stab in the dark though

 

I've never not really enjoyed a cruise holiday. Maybe I've been lucky everywhere

 

I've never really encountered any noticeable problems anywhere either. Other than seeing late risers not find the sunbeds they want on sea days

 

Always enjoyed the food. Always enjoyed the entertainment. Always enjoyed waking up in different places

Probably worth a thread of it’s own this one.

You are probably right with that figure, a hell of a lot of people carry on cruising.

 

I did have an unenjoyable one in October 2021 on Sky Princess where we were all masked up, whilst sitting down sipped a drink and put your mask back on etc.

The DJ played songs to clear the dancefloor and get guests to turn in for an early night.

 

Those are lesser things above. The main reason I did not like it was it felt like the crew did not want us on there. There was a lot of fear still with the virus.

 

Perhaps it’s unlucky and unfair of me to comment about Princessbeing so soon after the outbreak, but my take away was should we have been actually allowed to cruise at that time given all the dangers of covid, and then the ship contradicts itself about passenger safety?

At the time, covid was and is considered far more dangerous than novavirus.

 

Why put passengers at risk and welcome them on board when all they really wanted was your currency. Seemed a bit hypocritical to me.  

 

 

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I wonder what the actual stats are for people who leave a cruise ship in terms of whether they enjoyed their holiday or not?

 

We obviously get to hear extreme stuff on this forum as well as the mundane 

 

And obviously some cruises have disasters that spoil it for everyone 

 

I don't think you can even judge it by review sites as the vast majority of guests will never actually leave reviews

 

What do you guys reckon?

 

I think at least  8 out of 10 people generally will enjoy their cruise holiday

 

Doesn't mean there aren't issues at times. Doesn't mean they would do it again. 

 

My 8 out of 10 is a pure stab in the dark though

 

I've never not really enjoyed a cruise holiday. Maybe I've been lucky everywhere

 

I've never really encountered any noticeable problems anywhere either. Other than seeing late risers not find the sunbeds they want on sea days

 

Always enjoyed the food. Always enjoyed the entertainment. Always enjoyed waking up in different places

We have taken 30+odd cruises on various lines. Have we enjoyed every aspect of every cruise ?  Probably not. Anything of any consequence we remember......???...Oh ! Did I mention my toe ?.

[Megabear2]

As the person who asked the original question of the OP about reporting he was unwell, I asked because he stated he had food poisoning after "the mistake of having a shrimp dish followed by clam chowder. This led to the four days of food poisoning".  At the point of asking, before the poor gentleman even had a chance to answer or explain, several people weighed in with comments about how he was right not to report it and the list included the medical team confing him to his cabin and insurance excess. All of these in my opinion are very poor reasons to not report any illness which may or may not be a public health issue for the other people onboard.

 

The OP very kindly offered an explanation and as  his subsequent diagnosis for which I thank him.  Hopefully he is now on the road to recovery and to be honest, reading the thread back he personally isn't actually being given a hard time.  He posted in words, maybe accidentally, that he had food poisoning after eating a meal on Britannia which he then said "led to the four days of food poisoning".  Anyone reading that last line could be easily led to believe the meal was the source, particularly as he has been pretty scathing about other aspects of his dining experience onboard.

 

The thread has created interest and been an eye opener for me at least.

[ace2542]

6 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Is that what's putting people off using them?

Perhaps being locked in the cabin for 2 days probably the entire trip in conditions worse than jail is what is putting people off

[Megabear2]

46 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Perhaps being locked in the cabin for 2 days probably the entire trip in conditions worse than jail is what is putting people off

Crikey, NCL must have pretty dreadful cabins if they're worse than a jail.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Crikey, NCL must have pretty dreadful cabins if they're worse than a jail.

A jail with 24 HR room service?

[Interestedcruisefan]

50 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Perhaps being locked in the cabin for 2 days probably the entire trip in conditions worse than jail is what is putting people off

The OP chose to stay in cabin for 4 days without being asked to though

 

So that can't be the reason in this case?

[shot2bits]

Just to finally draw a line under this topic: I thank you all for you comments both good and bad (none taken)! I finally tested negative today, some 10 days after the initial sickness and diarrhoea. I never realised the latter were symptoms of Covid, but stand corrected. I stand by my appraisal of the food and I do think there is room for improvement regarding the general hygiene standards just my opinion. Anyway that’s me finished with cruising, I no longer consider it a value for money option. So, Bon voyage 

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, shot2bits said:

Just to finally draw a line under this topic: I thank you all for you comments both good and bad (none taken)! I finally tested negative today, some 10 days after the initial sickness and diarrhoea. I never realised the latter were symptoms of Covid, but stand corrected. I stand by my appraisal of the food and I do think there is room for improvement regarding the general hygiene standards just my opinion. Anyway that’s me finished with cruising, I no longer consider it a value for money option. So, Bon voyage 

I'm very glad to hear you are better.  Thank you for taking the time to review the cruise in the first place, I'm just sorry it was a bad experience.  Good luck in your future holidays whatever you choose.

[ace2542]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Crikey, NCL must have pretty dreadful cabins if they're worse than a jail.

TV DID NOT work, no radio and it wasn't 24 hour room service hardly any room service at all. Ok there was a full noro outbreak onboard effecting the staff.

[ace2542]

6 minutes ago, shot2bits said:

Anyway that’s me finished with cruising, I no longer consider it a value for money option. So, Bon voyage 

There are more lines than P&O you know just to put that out their for you.

[ace2542]

12 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

A jail with 24 HR room service?

Having to eat with plastic knives and forks as well was terrible. Metal ones can be bolled after use you know to kill off any germs.

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

There are more lines than P&O you know just to put that out their for you.

Excellent advice, the proviso however appearing to be avoid NCL as the cabins leave a lot to be desired.

 

The fact is both you and the OP were unlucky, neither event is the norm thankfully.

[S1971]

5 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Having to eat with plastic knives and forks as well was terrible. Metal ones can be bolled after use you know to kill off any germs.

Must admit overall it does sound like a nightmare situation.

[Interestedcruisefan]

16 minutes ago, shot2bits said:

Just to finally draw a line under this topic: I thank you all for you comments both good and bad (none taken)! I finally tested negative today, some 10 days after the initial sickness and diarrhoea. I never realised the latter were symptoms of Covid, but stand corrected. I stand by my appraisal of the food and I do think there is room for improvement regarding the general hygiene standards just my opinion. Anyway that’s me finished with cruising, I no longer consider it a value for money option. So, Bon voyage 

Good luck with your future holidays!

 

Glad you are ok now

[Harry Peterson]

But, much more importantly, what about @zap99’s  toe? I know he doesn’t like to talk about it, but there’s possibly a court action pending and it’s making eating out at Pizza Express in Woking a bit tricky for him. 

[S1971]

26 minutes ago, shot2bits said:

Just to finally draw a line under this topic: I thank you all for you comments both good and bad (none taken)! I finally tested negative today, some 10 days after the initial sickness and diarrhoea. I never realised the latter were symptoms of Covid, but stand corrected. I stand by my appraisal of the food and I do think there is room for improvement regarding the general hygiene standards just my opinion. Anyway that’s me finished with cruising, I no longer consider it a value for money option. So, Bon voyage 

Don't let one bad experience put you off altogether, it sounds to me that all your bad luck came at once.

For what it's worth P&O are no different from other mainstream cruiseline, they all have their faults but given the choice cruising over land base holidays everytime for me.

 

Glad you are feeling better and enjoy your future travels wherever they may be.