Lucky to Cruise With P&O!

[ROSEBASKETS]

You pays your money you takes your choice! Right! Lured by the "Big Fat Juicy Worm Rate" I jumped at the chance to cruise on the Costa Magica, out of Dover, for 10 nights at the end of June. Not having cruised with the Europeans before I thought I would give it a go. Can't be much different to P&O I thought, but then didn't count on the "extras" that keep appearing as I go through the "on line" info. Costa don't do brochures anymore you know!, that because they want to to find things out at the last minute.

 

Tips, no tips on Costa ----- Yippeee!, NO it's a service charge! So If the service isn't good you can't refuse to pay it. 6 euro per person per night. 15% on drinks, though unlike RCI the service charge doesn't appear on the menus, it's in addition to the price printed £5 for a bottle of becks £3 for a can of Coke £5 for a virgin cocktail £7.50 for a glass of wine or cocktail, £22 a bottle of the house red or white. Mind you I could go all inclusive for £1017 for the 10 days!

 

Shuttle buses into town from ports £5 (so £20 for a family of 4) and that's what i've found out before sailing.........

 

Buffet not 24 hours only (9 hours a day!) open for breakfast lunch and dinner and free teas, coffes and water only available at these times also:eek:

 

No tea or coffee or biscuits in cabin (fire risk:rolleyes:)

 

Cannot take drinks on board including water, soft or juice

 

Cannot take ANY food, not even a packet of polos on board, they will be returned to you on your last night aboard!

 

Never mind! I'm not looking for sympathy or "should have done your research" comments. Just wanted to let you know that the prices on P&O may sometimes seem quite alot, but the amount you get and take for granted at no extra cost is something that I will, in future be very greatful for!

 

 

 

NB :) It was a REALLY REALLY good big fat juicy worm rate though!:)

[newport dave]

You pays your money you takes your choice! Right! Lured by the "Big Fat Juicy Worm Rate" I jumped at the chance to cruise on the Costa Magica, out of Dover, for 10 nights at the end of June. Not having cruised with the Europeans before I thought I would give it a go. Can't be much different to P&O I thought, but then didn't count on the "extras" that keep appearing as I go through the "on line" info. Costa don't do brochures anymore you know!, that because they want to to find things out at the last minute.

 

Tips, no tips on Costa ----- Yippeee!, NO it's a service charge! So If the service isn't good you can't refuse to pay it. 6 euro per person per night. 15% on drinks, though unlike RCI the service charge doesn't appear on the menus, it's in addition to the price printed £5 for a bottle of becks £3 for a can of Coke £5 for a virgin cocktail £7.50 for a glass of wine or cocktail, £22 a bottle of the house red or white. Mind you I could go all inclusive for £1017 for the 10 days!

 

Shuttle buses into town from ports £5 (so £20 for a family of 4) and that's what i've found out before sailing.........

 

Buffet not 24 hours only (9 hours a day!) open for breakfast lunch and dinner and free teas, coffes and water only available at these times also:eek:

 

No tea or coffee or biscuits in cabin (fire risk:rolleyes:)

 

Cannot take drinks on board including water, soft or juice

 

Cannot take ANY food, not even a packet of polos on board, they will be returned to you on your last night aboard!

 

Never mind! I'm not looking for sympathy or "should have done your research" comments. Just wanted to let you know that the prices on P&O may sometimes seem quite alot, but the amount you get and take for granted at no extra cost is something that I will, in future be very greatful for!

 

 

 

NB :) It was a REALLY REALLY good big fat juicy worm rate though!:)

 

And because of that rate, it's why you pay all these extras. Just like all the American lines, where its $11 service charge and the added 15% on drinks.

 

We're going on our first P&O cruise this July, and the more research I do, the more I'm realising what good value for money it is, even if the initial cost is slightly more than the American lines.

 

The tips are considerably less, drinks alot cheaper, free shuttle buses etc..

[BrianI]

Rosebaskets,

Would be interested to hear your on board experience. We did a Costa cruise six years ago. The best thing about it was it was only 5 days. The Italians do good pasta and ice cream but thats about it and most of the food was dire. Then there are the endless announcements in five, or is it six, languages.

Bon voyage

Brian

[capasamari]

Many years ago in the Caribbean, we met a couple who were on a big, glitzy ship for which they'd paid a cheap fare. Amongst other issues, they even had to pay for water at the dinner table in the evenings: they weren't happy at all.

 

I can't remember which ship they were on, but we were on Airtours Sunbird (now Thomson Destiny) and they said they wished they were on her as well. It was a warning for us.

 

Carol x

[SeaSickGill]

It's swings and roundabouts - I felt thoroughly shafted by P&O this year and if I did ever cruise again, which I probably won't, I'll book last minute to get the juicy worm rate.

Incidently, I have a Costa Cruise brochure with me now.

Enjoy your cruise, it may still work out cheaper, and does anyone honestly need a 24 hour buffet?

[Host Sharon]

Enjoy your cruise, it may still work out cheaper, and does anyone honestly need a 24 hour buffet?

 

I would have agreed with you about the 24 hour buffet until I came up against the same thing with Fred Olsen - open for breakfast, lunch (2 hours), tea (1 hour) and dinner. It wasn't that I want to eat 24/7 but that the meal times restricted what you did - for example if you missed lunch and tea as you were ashore, you couldn't eat until dinner (8.30 as I was on second sitting) except for room service. Often all I wanted was a couple of biscuits and chees.

[jeanlyon]

Thanks for that info Sharon. We're on FO next year, so that's useful.

[tartanexile81]

It's swings and roundabouts - I felt thoroughly shafted by P&O this year and if I did ever cruise again, which I probably won't, I'll book last minute to get the juicy worm rate.

Incidently, I have a Costa Cruise brochure with me now.

Enjoy your cruise, it may still work out cheaper, and does anyone honestly need a 24 hour buffet?

 

I don't know how you were 'shafted' but when I compare US lines with P&O, I honestly think they offer great value. So much more is included ad I'm sure the cost of the shuttle alone is agreat saving. I know there is a juicy worm rate for late booking on all lines and maybe some day I'll take advantage of that but personally I want to choose my cabin and go on the dates I prefer. I agree a 24 hour buffet isn't top of my list of priorities but we never eat at what would be called set times. For example, we usually have a late breakfast on port days and spend the day ashore so we're always glad of a coffee and snack (afternoon tea) when we get back to the ship. This tides us over till 2nd sitting dinner. On sea days we'll have an even later breakfast then a late lunch or early afternoon tea so it suits us that the buffet offers flexible hours, but 24 hours... can't imagine eating another morsel after dinner.

[Single Cruiser]

I think you have to be careful and look at the overall picture. The base price of the American ones tend to be less than P&O.

I pre-paid my daily service charge on recent RCI and NCL cruises so part of the holiday price. OK 15% on drinks but it's a lot easier to get OBC on the American ships. I got $75 which offset any tips, never got offered OBC with Ocean Village.

 

Things like ice creams which I had to pay for on OV, I assume P&O is the same? Are free on most American lines.

 

You just have to work out an overall average onboard spend.

[cruiseluvva]

I think you have to be careful and look at the overall picture. The base price of the American ones tend to be less than P&O.

I pre-paid my daily service charge on recent RCI and NCL cruises so part of the holiday price. OK 15% on drinks but it's a lot easier to get OBC on the American ships. I got $75 which offset any tips, never got offered OBC with Ocean Village.

 

Things like ice creams which I had to pay for on OV, I assume P&O is the same? Are free on most American lines.

 

You just have to work out an overall average onboard spend.

 

I agree.

 

We have cruised extensively with P&O and about a dozen times with Cunard, Princess, Carnival and Regent and have not found any great difference in our overall spend ie cruise cost plus on board spend - apart from with Regent which cost considerably more initally, but nothing at all once on board.

[kevinyork]

I think you have to be careful and look at the overall picture. The base price of the American ones tend to be less than P&O.

I pre-paid my daily service charge on recent RCI and NCL cruises so part of the holiday price. OK 15% on drinks but it's a lot easier to get OBC on the American ships. I got $75 which offset any tips, never got offered OBC with Ocean Village.

 

Things like ice creams which I had to pay for on OV, I assume P&O is the same? Are free on most American lines.

 

You just have to work out an overall average onboard spend.

 

We got £260 each OBC on our recent P&O cruise which paid for tips and all our onboard spend. Overall much cheaper than our last trip on RCI who gave us zero OBC.

[ts636]

My one and only cruise so far was onboard the Costa Serena and yes the Buffet opening times were an issue. Not because we wanted to eat 24 hrs a day but because on the occcasions we felt like a snack (or even an ice cream or some fresh fruit) in the afternoon there was nowhere to get it. Likewise if you didn't fancy what was on the menu in the main dining room(which we frequently didn't) the only alternative was pizza (and even that wasn't very good). The drinks prices were outrageous, although we did manage to save a fortune by taking the prepaid package. All in all, much as we enjoyed our holiday, the overall experience of cruising with Costa would probably have been enough to put us off cruising for good had it not been for the number of people we met on board who pleaded with us not to judge cruising on our Costa experience. So roll on April 2012 and 2 weeks in the Med for P & O to show us how it should be done!!

[caber]

We have just come back from our first cruise on P&O for 6 years. We have been with Princess since then. We were on Ventura.

 

We found the drinks more affordable on P&O, especially the wine.

 

On our last day we had lunch in Ramblas. I am not too familiar with Spanish wines. The first bottle we ordered was £12 but out of stock. The wine at £16.50 that the waiter then recommended was also out of stock so he brought another to show us. We drank it and it was very pleasant. On getting the bill we found that this wine was only £9.95 a bottle, a very good wine for the money.

[kevinyork]

We have just come back from our first cruise on P&O for 6 years. We have been with Princess since then. We were on Ventura.

 

We found the drinks more affordable on P&O, especially the wine.

 

On our last day we had lunch in Ramblas. I am not too familiar with Spanish wines. The first bottle we ordered was £12 but out of stock. The wine at £16.50 that the waiter then recommended was also out of stock so he brought another to show us. We drank it and it was very pleasant. On getting the bill we found that this wine was only £9.95 a bottle, a very good wine for the money.

 

Yes Ramblas on Ventura has the cheapest wine onboard, maybe anywhere on P&O? For those that like Spanish wines they have a fair selection although their Spanish house white is a little coarse after the regular house white served everywhere else onboard.