I think I might pack up cruising!!!

[frenchmartiniplease]

We have just got off Ventura and the toilet in our cabin was faulty the whole 12 night cruise.  The last cruise we had in May, our toilet was out of action for 5 days out of a 7 night cruise but at least Azura dealt with it to our satisfaction, Ventura did not.  This happening two cruises in a row is just depressing.  Trudging round the public decks in a dressing gown early in the morning is just frustrating, embarrassing and inconvenient.  At least on a land based holiday we could be moved to another hotel if needs be. 

Have we been extraordinarily unlucky or is it happening more?

Should I give up cruises, this cruise line or book up and take my own chamber pot?!

To P&O or not to P&O.  That is the question

 

[Tom Baker]

It would have been fixed very quickly if the toilet had broken in my cabin for days on end, once I started using the sink or the shower or the bin or the vase or reception (which cabin was it so we can all avoid it in the future)

🤮

Edited November 10, 2018 by Tom Baker

[jh1809]

I think you must have been very unlucky. In half a dozen cruises with P&O I've never had a problem with my toilet (touch wood).

[Presto2]

Never had a problem but probably should never say 'never'

[L751]

 

I don't think you are unlucky, I just think standards have dropped. We had a buzzing  noice in our cabin for 28 nights which was never fixed that to keep the door shut could still hear it. 

[majortom10]

We had the whole of our 12 nt cruise on Oriana with black bits in our tap water and brownish water occasionally in the water from the shower which is very annoying and not nice when it happens halfway through a shower. It was reported to Pursers desk repeatedly throughout the cruise and they did nothing until the last morning of the cruise while we were having breakfast and prior to disembarkation. On our return to the cabin bathroom floor was flooded and towels soaking up dirty brown water and bits off the sink and tools on the floor but no workman. Do what we did and move to another cruise line.

[frenchmartiniplease]

These were our 7th and 8th cruises with P&O and had always been satisfied flushers.

No point in saying the cabin number as it was a system that failed causing a number of toilets to pack up.  Unfortunately, we were so reasonable about it others got moved and we, didn't.  However, we did have the use of an empty inside cabin about 12 cabins along our deck to trot along to. 

 We had no choice but to make it work.  It's not ideal when of a certain age or when you've over indulged but let's not go there.

 

We felt very down when we realised we had been unlucky with the loo, again!  I wanted to get off when we got to Madeira but was persuaded to stay..The last two nights, as we rocked and rolled in storm force gales, I lay awake thinking, "I'm never doing this again!!!" but DH loves cruising.

 

On a positive note, the food was great, as was Madeira, Las Palmas, Lisbon and we met lovely people.

[mickey89]

Forget P&O, they are the worse cruiseline for customer relations. They take your money then you are shown two fingers. We gave up after the first cruise, disgraceful company. 

 

[daiB]

We have had 1 very bad experience out of 40+ cruises. A new part was required but we were on our way back from the Caribbean. Every morning someone came to outside the cabin and did what was required to make the loo work for the morning and then cam back at night.

 

We negotiated rather good OBC in compensation. We complained early and to the correct people. 

 

You could try another cruise line line but they all use exactly the same system which is of course is more complicated than on land.

 

Most of the time blockages are caused by passengers. 

[bee-ess]

3 hours ago, frenchmartiniplease said:

We have just got off Ventura and the toilet in our cabin was faulty the whole 12 night cruise.  The last cruise we had in May, our toilet was out of action for 5 days out of a 7 night cruise but at least Azura dealt with it to our satisfaction, Ventura did not.  This happening two cruises in a row is just depressing.  Trudging round the public decks in a dressing gown early in the morning is just frustrating, embarrassing and inconvenient.  At least on a land based holiday we could be moved to another hotel if needs be. 

Have we been extraordinarily unlucky or is it happening more?

Should I give up cruises, this cruise line or book up and take my own chamber pot?!

To P&O or not to P&O.  That is the question

 

 

Did you complain while on board ?

I would complain strongly to P&O now and say that you expect compensation and tell then clearly that you don't plan to cruise with them again as you have had this problem twice and have had no satisfaction while on board. Maybe try this email address which got results with the recent pricing issue - christopher.edgington@pocruises.com 

[terrierjohn]

On our last 2 cruises we have experienced plumbing issues, the first was a leaking shower head which despite daily visits from the plumber proved impossible for him to fix. The last cruise our toilet had an obviously leaking valve which resulted in the water in the bowl emptying in a couple of hours, this initially proved impossible for the plumber to fix, until I collared him on day 3 and told him he needed to disconnect the bowl and fix the seal, once that was done it worked perfectly.

My assumption from these and other plumbing issues is that P&O must employ under qualified tradesmen, and have a very poor management system, and this poor management is also often evident in the restaurants.  But they are generally cheaper than other lines, which does make up for some of the deficiencies.

[frenchmartiniplease]

37 minutes ago, daiB said:

We have had 1 very bad experience out of 40+ cruises. A new part was required but we were on our way back from the Caribbean. Every morning someone came to outside the cabin and did what was required to make the loo work for the morning and then cam back at night.

 

We negotiated rather good OBC in compensation. We complained early and to the correct people. 

 

You could try another cruise line line but they all use exactly the same system which is of course is more complicated than on land.

 

Most of the time blockages are caused by passengers. 

On both ships the problem was reported to reception a few hours after boarding.  We were in contact with our Stewards, Receptions, Reception Managers and Deck Managers on both ships. 

Azura were very pro active and we were happy enough with how they dealt with the situation. The loo was fixed after 3 hours work by the head engineer after 5 days. Ventura did not deal with the situation very well in our opinion. My understanding is that the 'vacuum' problem affected a number of cabins and could not be fixed.  All malfunctions were repeatedly reported and logged as per instructed by the deck manager to be passed onto head office.  But this still resulted in a poor response from customer services on board who were invisible.

 

[frenchmartiniplease]

1 hour ago, bee-ess said:

 

Did you complain while on board ?

I would complain strongly to P&O now and say that you expect compensation and tell then clearly that you don't plan to cruise with them again as you have had this problem twice and have had no satisfaction while on board. Maybe try this email address which got results with the recent pricing issue - christopher.edgington@pocruises.com 

We did complain within hours of boarding ( hate that word as we just don't like to complain.  We prefer to go with the flow) or we reported the problem promptly, frequently and politely.

We be in contact with P&O cruises and hopefully there will be a better response.  Thank you for the email address.

[sandancer]

This is all very depressing considering we are about to take our first ever P&O cruise over Christmas. Just have to hope we get a cabin with a working loo. 

[jeanlyon]

Sandancer, not all cabins are like this.  We have never had a problem in over 20 cruises, although there were some cabins on our decks that had some plumbing issues.  However, this was on Oriana and some time ago.

[daiB]

8 hours ago, sandancer said:

This is all very depressing considering we are about to take our first ever P&O cruise over Christmas. Just have to hope we get a cabin with a working loo. 

 

No bonny lad divest fash. It does happen but is reasonably rare.

[grapau27]

On 11/10/2018 at 5:38 PM, Tom Baker said:

It would have been fixed very quickly if the toilet had broken in my cabin for days on end, once I started using the sink or the shower or the bin or the vase or reception (which cabin was it so we can all avoid it in the future)

🤮

Thanks for the laugh.

[grapau27]

21 hours ago, daiB said:

We have had 1 very bad experience out of 40+ cruises. A new part was required but we were on our way back from the Caribbean. Every morning someone came to outside the cabin and did what was required to make the loo work for the morning and then cam back at night.

 

We negotiated rather good OBC in compensation. We complained early and to the correct people. 

 

You could try another cruise line line but they all use exactly the same system which is of course is more complicated than on land.

 

Most of the time blockages are caused by passengers. 

I agree, passengers who put items like sanitary towels,condoms etc are to blame for the blockages and this happens on all cruiselines.

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

I agree, passengers who put items like sanitary towels,condoms etc are to blame for the blockages and this happens on all cruiselines.

 

Happens in hotels in Greece where visitors are asked not to put things down in to the toilet.

Do people do as they are asked? Nope.

Is it the hotel's fault when the system is blocked? Of course !!!

[grapau27]

8 hours ago, sandancer said:

This is all very depressing considering we are about to take our first ever P&O cruise over Christmas. Just have to hope we get a cabin with a working loo. 

It is rare to have a major problem.

There is usually a good suction but if your toilet has a poor suction mention it to your cabin steward because in my experience within a day or two the bowl will fill up when you don't want it to.

 

 

[ONT-CA]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

 

On 11/10/2018 at 12:38 PM, Tom Baker said:

It would have been fixed very quickly if the toilet had broken in my cabin for days on end, once I started using the sink or the shower or the bin or the vase or reception (which cabin was it so we can all avoid it in the future)

🤮

 

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks for the laugh.

 

Laugh not, thanks for the idea

[frenchmartiniplease]

9 hours ago, sandancer said:

This is all very depressing considering we are about to take our first ever P&O cruise over Christmas. Just have to hope we get a cabin with a working loo. 

We have had a number of cruises with P&O and they were excellent.  I'm sure you will have a super time.  I think we have been super unlucky (which has put me off).  We had an expectation of the way we would be treated and it didn't happen which has miffed us(polite way of putting it)

The wait, stewards were wonderful and the food was just tooo good.  As my waistline would prove.  Go and have a wonderful time.

[frenchmartiniplease]

I do hope people are not implying we put unsuitable items down the toilet!  

 

I am aware if others do it has a knock on effect. As far as I'm aware, it was a part that needed replacing on the Ventura system and on our loo on Azura.  On both cruises we were told it was an unexpected breakdown of a valve or part of the vacuum system.

 

[frenchmartiniplease]

35 minutes ago, ONT-CA said:

🤣

 

Laugh not, thanks for the idea

🤣🤣

[grapau27]

8 minutes ago, frenchmartiniplease said:

I do hope people are not implying we put unsuitable items down the toilet!  

 

I am aware if others do it has a knock on effect. As far as I'm aware, it was a part that needed replacing on the Ventura system and on our loo on Azura.  On both cruises we were told it was an unexpected breakdown of a valve or part of the vacuum system.

 

We have had blockages and like you it certainly wasn't us putting foreign objects down the toilet.