First time on P & O - disappointed

[darknightsdespiser]

(Sorry if this is a bit like a review further down! - I am also usually a Princess person!) Just back from Azura to Norway. Really wanted to bond with P & O for a more British experience but it was sometimes like Britain in the 1970s!

 

BAD THINGS

 

offhand, slow and surly service in the bars, was completely ignored for 20 minutes before walking out of The Blue Bar

badly trained waiting staff in the dining rooms

poor choice of food in the dining rooms - the quality was ok but a bit "home cooking"

poor choice in buffets - again quality ok but no variety

no explanation for the poolside pizzeria's demise - only a shrug from the operative

no lime on board until Friday - my drinks of choice are g & t; Corona, mojitos and margaritas - you can see the problem!:mad:

inconsistencies - persuaded Brodie's into an Irish coffee on Tuesday but wasn't allowed one on Friday!:confused:

Utterly chaotic coffee bar, rude staff, ages to wait

spillages left unmopped

dirty glasses in buffet

venues filling up ages before the event making attending more than one evening one really difficult - this ship felt so much busier than the similar Emerald Princess, could be just because the Brits stay up later and spend less daytime in the casino?!

 

 

 

GOOD THINGS

The entertainments Manager - Leon

The production shows - genuine quality

The sailaways - great fun and an inspired choice to have a classical music one

Food in Sindhu and The Glasshouse

View and service in the Planet Bar

 

I will no doubt think of other things but thanks for listening meantime!:)

[kevinyork]

Thanks for your feedback. No doubt DaiB will be along shortly to tell you that you are completely wrong.

 

 

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[delondin]

You have hit the nail on the head. Almost too British! We won't sail P&O again, which is such a shame as their itineraries are excellent.

[rooftop]

badly trained waiting staff in the dining rooms

poor choice of food in the dining rooms - the quality was ok but a bit "home cooking"

poor choice in buffets - again quality ok but no variety

 

Could you expand on the typical menu choices and why they were disappointing? Also what was the issue with the waiters?

[tjwa]

Thanks for your feedback. No doubt DaiB will be along shortly to tell you that you are completely wrong.

 

 

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Watch this space.;)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report! Sorry it left you a bit short.

[darknightsdespiser]

there was no "hello my name is ******* and I will be your waiter this evening - typically 3 or 4 of them were involved. There was shoving menus between 2 people conversing and handling the top of glasses instead of the base. There was no recommending of dishes (we all know this is what they are trying to shift but it is still usually a nice touch), no conversation, rushed through courses.

 

In terms of the food, the "dish of the day" on the 2 occasions I can remember was chicken tikka masala and lasagne and garlic bread - maybe they were being post ironic or something? There were lots of roasts with no choice of veg and the 2 puddings I tried - chocolate moussey things with fancy names were tasteless. The buffet (we were never up in time to breakfast in the dining rooms!) had perfectly decent bacon, eggs etc but no smoked salmon or anything exciting. There were intermittent hash browns and a promise that you could have a boiled egg if you asked, wow! I should have mentioned one big plus over Princess was that the coffee was drinkable in the buffet (tasteless and lukewarm in the dining rooms)

 

Hope this helps!!

Edited June 8, 2014 by darknightsdespiser

[Sealoveragain]

I'm hoping that's because you were on one of the big ships. We've only been on the medium ships with P&O, although our last cruise on the Oriana was very disappointing and for the first time we didn't tip our waiters extra. The reason was they were dreadful. We have one more cruise booked with P&O, booked for the itinerary. I won't be booking another until we come back and it may well be with another cruise line.

[Host Sharon]

I would suggest that trying one of the smaller ships might be better for a more personal experience. Don't necessarily judge P&O on one ship - they are all different - and that's the problem IMO.

[2irisheyes]

Our last few cruises have been with Cunard and our last P&O one was in 2010. We are back to P&O next week and it will be interesting to see if we find the same. Of course the more American lines do add 15% to all bar drinks so I wonder if that has anything to do with the speed of service or lack of it in selling drinks. We have gone back to P&O for the itinerary. I would say one thing missed from the "good things" list is less expensive wine/drinks. We did have a bad waiter on one Cunard cruise. He was so bad it became a joke at the dinner table.

[mollymoomoo]

Sailed on the Ventura in April/May for 2 weeks and thought the ship was great but the bar staff and waiters let it down. After being on the Thomson Celebration last year the difference was very noticeable.

Just back off a short cruise on the Thomson Spirit and all staff were brilliant and the waiters and bar staff so much better than on the Ventura.

The ships are very dated compared to P & O but the staff more than make up for this. Move the staff from Thomson to P & O and things would be perfect!

Have to say though that the theatre shows so much better on the Ventura than the Spirit.

[lake5298]

(Sorry if this is a bit like a review further down! - I am also usually a Princess person!) Just back from Azura to Norway. Really wanted to bond with P & O for a more British experience but it was sometimes like Britain in the 1970s!

 

We were on Azura in May - I think on the same cruise as you - and it was probably the worst experience of P&O we have had so far - a complete contrast to Oriana last November which was excellent.

 

offhand, slow and surly service in the bars, badly trained waiting staff in the dining rooms - yes, we also found this. There was hardly a single pleasant, happy, chatty person amongst them.

 

poor choice of food in the dining rooms - the quality was ok but a bit "home cooking" P&O are quite "traditional" in the menu offerings - I guess that no doubt it suits the majority of their passengers.

 

no explanation for the poolside pizzeria's demise - only a shrug from the operative The pizzeria caught fire. OK, that can't be helped, things happen….. but the shrug was typical of the service I had from many of the crew - a complete contrast with the crew on Oriana.

 

venues filling up ages before the event making attending more than one evening one really difficult This is quite typical with UK passengers - as you say the casino is not much of a draw - but I have noticed that Princess often have three performances of the production shows each evening - Azura only had two.

 

The entertainments Manager - Leon Yes - he is, IMHO, the best CD I have ever seen

 

The production shows - genuine quality Agree completely. An excellent cast.

[richleeds]

Currently on Ventura and would echo the OP's first 4 points.

[Elviex]

I wasn't going to contribute to the thread but feel I should because our experience was somewhat different, as were reasons for cruising. We too were on that cruise in May. We had chosen Freedom Dining and our evenings were spent as follows: 6 in the MDR, 2 in Sindhu, 4 The Glass House and 1 in Verona. One evening after we had been on the Atul Kochar lunch excursion we were too full to eat! We had a variety of waiters and wine stewards and while I accept that in the MDR we had no meet and greet or much conversation from the waiters that is not what we want when dining...we enjoyed the company of our fellow diners. Our food was always timely, fresh and hot where appropriate. I disagree with the choice but failed to note details so can't say any specifics.

We found a big smile went a long way and were always warmly greeted when we arrived. The select dining venue staff were without exception friendly, discreet and efficient. I agree though with the glasses in the buffet, but being cheap plastic they probably should be renewed frequently. For mass catering I think P&O do a great job.

 

We had no problem with bar service in those we used (Planet Bar, Glass House, Sindhu and Manhattan) in fact we were very impressed given the speed of service in such packed evening venues as Manhattan.

I can't comment on inconsistencies or spillages other than to say we saw none, so maybe we were lucky. Pizzeria not something we would use either.

 

I agree with the venues point but we don't cruise for the entertainment, although I accept if you do it must be very frustrating. Having said that we did see Leon do Freddie Mercury in the crew Variety Show and thought he was hilarious!

 

 

 

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[davecttr]

I was on Ventura last month and found the bar service just fine, with the exception of Tazzine where they seem to specialise in ignoring customers.

 

I found getting to know the staff resulted in them being a lot friendlier. they are, however, more reserved than I would expect. I think this is either natural for them or they are told not to be too friendly in case they upset the all to common snooty type of passenger ;)

 

Buffet choice has got worse recently, no more smoked salmon etc and on a med cruise no sign of olives, sun dried tomatos, anchovies etc etc, things I would expect on the salad bar. My other 'downmarket' cruise line can do this but big centralised P&O can't. Why? because they source all their food centrally in contrast to the 'other' line which sources a lot of the food locally where the ship is based.

[jeanlyon]

Gosh - very interesting. We were on Azura her first year and although I didn't like the ship, too big for us, we certainly had no problem with the food or service.

 

Last September we were on Oriana and everything was fantastic, the food, the service and the staff.

[rubydoobydoo]

We all see things differently, it is funny how one person can have a wonderful cruise and another can hate it but I think this goes for every cruise line

 

There have been certain aspects of P and O that I have been unhappy with and other aspects that I love about it, for me weighing up the pros and cons Celebrity came out tops and I have been more than happy with their cruises but if you read the Celebrity boards you will find a stack load of posts about how they have gone down hill, the food is not as good etc. etc.

 

It comes down to personal preferences in the end :D

[daiB]

Thanks for your feedback. No doubt DaiB will be along shortly to tell you that you are completely wrong.

 

 

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No once again you are the one who wrong but then again you always are.

 

 

 

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[daiB]

The poolside pizza had a fire in it last month clearly has not been replaced.

 

With regard to your other problems, they are clearly your opinion. Other people including myself have found the total opposite.

 

 

 

 

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[Elviex]

Yes, Davecctr, very interesting comments, and quite a valid point. Buffet only used when it suits the schedule. My husband does love their fried bread though!

 

 

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[robinwatch]

Having just returned from my first ever P&O cruise, having previously cruised with Princess, Celebrity and RCL I can only echo the negative points so far and add a few of my own. My biggest complaint was the lack of public toilets and when you did find one they quite clearly were not cleaned on a regualar basis along with the fact that hand sanitizer was not policed when entering the dining venues and when returning to the ship after going a shore. I was amazed by the amount of people who failed to sanitize their hands. This included crew that I saw returning to the ship and just walking straight past the hand gel.

The waiters in the MDR were amongst the rudest I have ever come across in any place I have ever visited on land or sea. Breakfast only available in the MDR until 9am on port days and 9.30 on sea days. As already mentioned lack of choice in the buffet. Only one pool towel per person and only available from your cabin steward. I could mention more but I won't.

If this is P&O it's not for me!!

[dgs1956]

Having just returned from my first ever P&O cruise, having previously cruised with Princess, Celebrity and RCL I can only echo the negative points so far and add a few of my own. My biggest complaint was the lack of public toilets and when you did find one they quite clearly were not cleaned on a regualar basis along with the fact that hand sanitizer was not policed when entering the dining venues and when returning to the ship after going a shore. I was amazed by the amount of people who failed to sanitize their hands. This included crew that I saw returning to the ship and just walking straight past the hand gel.

The waiters in the MDR were amongst the rudest I have ever come across in any place I have ever visited on land or sea. Breakfast only available in the MDR until 9am on port days and 9.30 on sea days. As already mentioned lack of choice in the buffet. Only one pool towel per person and only available from your cabin steward. I could mention more but I won't.

If this is P&O it's not for me!!

 

Please don't think I am disagreeing with your view but I have found exactly the opposite on all my P&O cruises. The waiters have always been extremely friendly. I must say though that not using hand sanitisers has always been a major bugbear of mine. I'm not sure why you would want more than one pool towel. My main complaint was passengers leaving them on the sunbeds when they were finished with them meaning they lay unused for long periods.

Could I ask which ship you were on?

[Antmadmanda]

Don't be fooled into thinking hand sanitiser is the answer. You cannot beat soap and water!

 

http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html

[dgs1956]

Don't be fooled into thinking hand sanitiser is the answer. You cannot beat soap and water!

 

http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html

 

Of course I agree but using the hand sanitiser does indicate someone is trying to maintain hygiene standards. It certainly doesn't replace proper hand washing.

[jeanlyon]

I must say I have always found the waiters in the MDR to be extremely friendly once you have got to know them, but it does help to have a chat with them when you first arrive. I have noticed a lot of people just sit down, take the menu, not a word to the waiters.