sweep2907

I literally could've written all this myself! Just done two Beyond cruises with TA on Britannia sandwiched between and Ventura Xmas short break. You do pay for what you get on Celebrity but I won't moan when back on P&O as I know what I am getting. I spend a lot of my cruise in Glasshouse, Beach House, Sindhu etc. You definitely need to lower expectations after Beyond as it is simply the finest cruise ship I've ever sailed on to date. Agree on itineraries I'd only consider Caribbean on P&O as you visit so many lovely islands. Top post Glitterati.

Love that itinerary and wonder why they gone away from those sorts of stops. Other lines like RC and Celebrity visit some of those regularly on their cruises.

Good spot 👌 Never seen Jamaica stop on P&O itineraries so that's nice change. Never understand why P&O stick to same 8 islands or so year in year out when there are so many others that are visited by other companies. You got me interested in one of those now even though Britannia isn't my favourite

Which are these two one off cruises? Have I missed something in my fleeting glance?

Prices are up but as I mentioned previously on forum, the strategy from P&O was fill the ships post Covid and attract a lot of new people to cruising. Once that was achieved and cash flow was back then they were going to increase prices again to pre covid levels. Incidentally P&O have recorded their biggest forward sales in a decade so in good position.

No sneak previews of any potential itineraries, I know we usually get odd leak ahead of the day on here? Guess it be same old with few surprises.

Losing speakers shouldn't be an economy or cost cutting thing. Speakers (unless celebrities) who speak on their careers or specialist topics do not get paid by the cruiseline. Having spoken to former police officers or concorde pilots, they simply get their cruise paid for and find it a great way to cruise cheaply!

I agree, I was only ever P&O but there are some amazing alternatives out there. However I will still book with P&O when itinerary and price suit etc

Following many cruise forums, these sorts of posts are prevalent on all of them. Every cruise line is losing long time loyal customers. On flip side they are gaining many many new passengers new to cruising. Grass isn't always greener and times are a changing where cruise passengers will flip companies year on year. The old days of staying loyal to one brand are coming to an end. Most cruise companies are putting a lot of their effort into attracting new passengers rather than working on keeping loyalty.

I chose 11 to 1130am on Beyond from Rome two weeks ago. Was onboard 1105.

I booked Sunday inside deluxe with all inclusive. Priced it up today and the cruise with all inclusive was slightly higher, but that now didn't include gratuities so I ticked them and hey presto.....my cruise 3 days after I booked is around £300 more which coincidentally is the cost of adding gratuities on. As celebrity rep said on Sunday it was unlikely prices would drop as would take far too long to change all their pricing. The reason it's changed is customer feedback as unanimously we all voted that wifi and drinks were most important when booking a cruise! These changes show a significant hike in prices and will probably mean more people will simply remove gratuities on their on-board account.

P&O cruises plan in aftermath of Covid was to attract lots of new customers at very attractive prices. Once this was achieved, they were then going to increase prices. As mentioned having 100% occupancy is not much good for profitability if 3500 people are paying £70pppn when you consider fuel, overheads, food etc all gone through the roof. Expect to keep seeing prices steadily rise as they are there to make money at end of the day and have large debts from 2020 to 2021 to repay.

Cpt Kate was on live from Celebrity Beyond as well.

Couldn't put it better, I only ever did P&O uo until last year and when you return to P&O after Celebrity, the food is at times laughable. Anyhow without comparing different companies, P&O quality has reduced massively over the last 5 years and you simply can't argue with that. Whereas other cruise lines have increased their prices since Covid, P&O have dropped theirs. I paid more to do caribbean cruises 10 years ago then you can get now!

I understand this new deal is not people's first choice but nowhere was any particular airline promised at time of booking a cruise. You can certainly understand why the Brits are known worldwide for moaning these days. If people genuinely want a relaxing and luxurious experience then why book P&O in the first instance? You pay for what you get these days and P&O are at the bottom of prices so understandably the days of flying BA or Virgin are long gone. Try and enjoy your 2 weeks in caribbean.

We met for our Sail away at Sunset Bar for Civitavecchia last August from FB group and it is fine. It is busy but not packed and had great music and we had a ball as we set sail! Magic Carpet open but fairly small if a few of you there.

Ridiculous comments from P&O staff about "that type of passenger" and assuming it for old people. On Ventura last year we found 2 other couples on first night to play in Syndicate with one couple early 20s, the other in their late 50s and us in our 40s. It is a GREAT way to find new friends and socialise and is for ALL ages. Britannia last year I made some excellent friends playing Syndicate in afternoon on Britannia and none of us are over 50!!!! Maybe if they asked their entertainment team they would tell you how popular and competitive and fun this format is on their cruises. I really look forward to Syndicate when going on P&O. My partner loved it for her first time!!! it was highlight of her day!

Utterly useless, fast becoming the worst budget cruise line going. I remember the good old days before covid where you wander around the ship and if you fancied Sindhu or Epicurean that evening, you'd pop in and book. Most of the time they'd entice you in with cheap offers of free bottle of wine. Now it seems every person panics and books everything as soon as they board. By 6pm day one, most reservations are gone as Most speciality restaurants only operate at half capacity at that. What has happened to P&O? It's so disappointing and I really don't mind paying more if we can get back to a semblance of what they were a few years ago. Sorry for my rant but this sort of email from them just annoys me as their right hand doesn't speak to their left hand. They give the impression of amateur hour.

I likewise always enjoyed the white wine on offer at these welcome lunches. I always assumed these lunches are only for loyalty tiers and never knew suite guests had access? Although from this post, it sounds as if suite guests didn't get access. They never get widely advertised and we always go as we know about them from past cruises.

What worries me having seen retreats on other ships like Ventura, is there are a lot of sunbeds in the shade. Can you report back how many sunbeds are in the sun as wouldn't want shade all day.

I've seen P&O pushing cruises at under £40pppn which is unheard of. I remember discussing on here during covid 2020, how we all expected prices to go through the roof upon resumption to claw losses back. P&O are giving cruises away and you wonder if it is to attract 1000s of new customers in an ever more competitive market. I think going forward, the new breed of cruisers will show less loyalty to any one brand and will choose the ship or itinerary that they like or a good offer. I'm looking to try NCL and Princess in the coming year having put P&O to one side for a while. My first decade of cruising was solely P&O. Sadly for me they are sliding towards the bottom of the pile for experience and wow factor and it isn't surprising when they charge so little.

Is this poster for real? These companies exist to make a profit for goodness sake and not pander to one and all who feel hard done by! I bought a garden furniture set recently and several weeks later, it's a lot cheaper. It is a fact of life that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Don't expect companies to be on your side. Bet your post would be boasting if you'd benefitted over others?

Excellent changes to package and very reasonably priced. Nice to see P&O updating their offering and making it a lot more attractive to many people.

Just completed on Britannia 6 months ago. Weather was awful upto Tenerife where some first time cruisers got off and flew home as was too much for them. Still scratching head as to why you'd choose a TA for your debut cruise experience! However the 5 days across Atlantic were wonderful and very hot most of the time hitting average 30 most days but felt hotter where we were. Atlantic was like a millpond at times.

Yes like many others, you get what you pay for and P&O priced at bottom end of market now. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my sailings with P&O but don't expect 5 star food and standards at 3* prices. My first sailing with P&O almost a decade ago was double the price you can get the identical cruise now. I'd rather pay more and have better quality but the beauty is we have so many cruise lines to choose from now. Great value with P&O and never had bad cruise. In fact just booking for Iona in June as super prices for Fjords. Again they are more than 50% cheaper than when Iona first came out.