P & 0 - Don't seem to be interested, once they have your money.

[lake5298]

We are only going to do the afternoon "Distinctly Dublin" one and make our own way to Guiness either morning or evening.

 

I wouldn't bother with the "Distinctly Dublin" tour. Take the P&O shuttle bus into Dublin (not advertised pre cruise, just arrange it on board) and take the Hop On - Hop Off bus. The HOHO bus goes from just round the corner from where the port shuttle stops.

 

In my opinion, "Dublin Bus" do the best bus tour - there's a live commentary by the driver, and most of the drivers are superbly entertaining - you get to know everything about the City, and the bus stops directly outside Guinness. If you are unlucky enough to get a dull driver, just hop off and catch the next bus, 5-10 minutes later. The buses are open top, so for the best views climb the stairs - maybe take a warm jumper.

 

Personally, I thought the Guinness brewery tour boring - it's just static displays, no guide or commentary, while the Jamesons distillery tour was far, far more entertaining.

 

Dublin is fascinating.... enjoy!

 

(By the way... in the Princess cruise guide, they suggest a minimum of 45 minutes between excursions.)

[petlambDurham_UK]

With a first P & O cruise coming up, I needed some information on shore excursions - nothing complicated, just a straighforward answer regarding timings. I e-mailed them twice in a week and waited another week, but still no reply. I got through easily on the phone, but the answers to my questions were a bit vague, almost as though the rep I spoke to couldn't care less.

Has anyone else had this problem?

I wrote 3 letters to P&O Passengers Relations Dept. and it took them one month to reply and I believe that was because I eventually sent a message via their website. Not impressed at all! In fact, all-in-all, up to now, I'm really disappointed with P&O, especially since they reduced my cruise by £494 per person and they couldn't care less.

[LynnKnicker]

I said I'd let you know.

 

The very next day after I posted my comment I received a PHONE call from P & O answering my letter and apologising for their delay in replying!

 

Maybe it's a coincidence but it could be reasonably assumed that P & O DO watch this forum and respond when they feel like doing so.

 

What can I say :D

[BigTanya]

I have cruised with pando before and like them a lot.

Nice people to deal with

[LynnKnicker]

I have cruised with pando before and like them a lot.

Nice people to deal with

 

I am glad BigTanya.

Firstly welcome to the forum, where most of us like to engage in great conversation.

Always nice to welcome along new members like myself.

There are also members who have been here longer than me, and "most" are nice and helpful.

 

Has it just been P&O you have cruised on ??

There is a lot more variety out there. I do Admit that all the major cruise brands are all owned and operated by RCCL/CCL, but each to his/her own I suppose.

As a value for money cruise line, P&O its fine.

Nothing more.

[ovccruiser]

Hi jodanuke,

All I needed to know was if it was reasonable to go on two excursions in Dublin, with the first due to return only 15 mins before the 2nd was due to leave. I did get a very bored answer and will stick to one official tour and a DIY one.

Thanks

 

I knew I shouldn't have read this post, your headline slags off or appears to slag off P & O, "once they have your money," and all you wanted to know was if 15 minutes between tours was feasable. I can understand why the staff were a little vague. How are they likely to know if the first trip will or will not be delayed, if they had said yes bags of time and you missed the second trip, who would you attack then, P & O or the people on your first trip who held it up. Maybe you wanted a sensational headline for folk to read your post, I knew I shouldn't have.

[jeanlyon]

P:))

[BORDER REIVER]

P & 0 - Don't seem to be interested, once they have your money.

 

With regard to the above post, I would like to point out that in no way am I being over-critical of P&O.

"Slagging off" and "attacking" are harsh words, I presume that means criticising. If that's the case, then yes, I felt criticism was justified in this instance. I had sent 2 e-mails that had not even been acknowledged and even now have still not been answered after over a month. My telephone call to P&O was answered, but the answer did not leave me feeling confident enough to make a decision - that's why I posted on this forum.

No matter what the question posed to P&O, there are sufficient words in the English language for anyone asked a question, to be able to respond properly.

Prior to me e-mailing P&O with a question, I had found them to be pleasure to deal with, everything being dealt with promptly and efficiently, by staff that were polite and helpful. It just seemed that when I had paid the balance, I wasn't getting any help.

By posting on this forum, I not only found out that fellow members had occasionally had the same problems with cruise companies, but I received much very useful information that not only answered my question, but also told me that my original question to P&O was difficult for them to answer. When you're new to anything (this is our first attempt at booking excursions and only our 2nd cruise), you will tend to ask more questions and make more mistakes. I will take this opportunity to thank those fellow cruisers who gave me the benefit of their own experience, by guiding me through the system so well - there are some really nice people out there.

Just a further observation:- despite me still not getting a reply to my e-mails, P&O are still continuing to do an excellent job in other areas, keeping me updated and sending documents - so maybe it's just the one area they need to improve upon.

 

Cheers everyone - and thanks.

[mabel58]

It's not just P&O who seem to have problems communicating, Cunard aren't particularly good at it either, in my experience.:)

[2irisheyes]

Border Reiver - it might help if you were able to leave the first tour in the city to carry on on your own rather than going back to the port and out again. Although I've spent a little time in Dublin I haven't cruise ported there so don't know the geography of the port in relation to the city. The DART railway is useful for getting around. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Cheers.

[BORDER REIVER]

Thanks 2irisheyes, I'm sure whatever we do, we'll enjoy it. My fiancee has been to Dublin before and is homing in on the Guiness Factory - should be good.