I think I might pack up cruising!!!

[AndyMichelle]

Surprised to hear the replies saying P&O are so bad they switched to other cruise lines.... Then why are you still on the P&O forum???

I know things can go wrong, perhaps we have been the lucky ones, but we have always had great cruises with P&O, they seem to suit us.

[frenchmartiniplease]

11 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Surprised to hear the replies saying P&O are so bad they switched to other cruise lines.... Then why are you still on the P&O forum???

I know things can go wrong, perhaps we have been the lucky ones, but we have always had great cruises with P&O, they seem to suit us.

Yep!  P&O provide a great product.  I accept we have been unlucky.   The way this last incident has been dealt with, plus it's happened twice this year has shaken our confidence, well mainly my confidence.

 

I'm looking at land based holidays for next year and husband is not best pleased as he really loves cruising. 

I just don't know

 

 

 

 

[jody75]

Almost all the cruise ship have loo blockages which are mostly caused by the passengers using WET WIPES. Similar problems exist in land based plumbing systems and wet wipes are the primary cause of line blockages.  It is costing the water boards/companies a fortune in maintenance costs which has prompted some to highlight this problem with expensive TV advertisements.

 

The main difference between cruise lines is the way they respond to the problem. P&O in our experience are never proactive and seldomly address the difficulties with any empathy leading to passenger dissatisfaction.

 

We would never cruise P&O again and sometimes comment on this forum to balance the exaggeration of the Pando lovers

[frenchmartiniplease]

5 minutes ago, jody75 said:

Almost all the cruise ship have loo blockages which are mostly caused by the passengers using WET WIPES. Similar problems exist in land based plumbing systems and wet wipes are the primary cause of line blockages.  It is costing the water boards/companies a fortune in maintenance costs which has prompted some to highlight this problem with expensive TV advertisements.

 

The main difference between cruise lines is the way they respond to the problem. P&O in our experience are never proactive and seldomly address the difficulties with any empathy leading to passenger dissatisfaction.

 

We would never cruise P&O again and sometimes comment on this forum to balance the exaggeration of the Pando lovers

Azura must have been the exception then as they really made us feel that they were disappointed that our holiday enjoyment was being impaired and really made an effort.  Maybe it was because only our loo broke down on Azura whereas Ventura  got overwhelmed with a widespread problem.   Crikey! Am i sticking up for Ventura!   Nooooo!  🤦‍♀️

[daiB]

41 minutes ago, jody75 said:

Almost all the cruise ship have loo blockages which are mostly caused by the passengers using WET WIPES. Similar problems exist in land based plumbing systems and wet wipes are the primary cause of line blockages.  It is costing the water boards/companies a fortune in maintenance costs which has prompted some to highlight this problem with expensive TV advertisements.

 

The main difference between cruise lines is the way they respond to the problem. P&O in our experience are never proactive and seldomly address the difficulties with any empathy leading to passenger dissatisfaction.

 

We would never cruise P&O again and sometimes comment on this forum to balance the exaggeration of the Pando lovers

What a wonderful attitude, so everyone who had a great cruise and has the nerve to say so on here is exaggerating. Excellent.

 

So I am telling lies about our 40+ cruises with only one problem. Oh and my one problem was handled very well by the ships crew.

[grapau27]

13 minutes ago, daiB said:

What a wonderful attitude, so everyone who had a great cruise and has the nerve to say so on here is exaggerating. Excellent.

 

So I am telling lies about our 40+ cruises with only one problem. Oh and my one problem was handled very well by the ships crew.

Like you daib we have had 48 cruises with 20+ on P&O.

Fortunately never had a loo problem on P&O but 3 minor loo problems on RCCL which were quickly remedied although 1 problem had to be fixed 3 times during the weeks cruise.

[sandancer]

Thanks everyone for the input. This will be our 58th cruise and I can’t say, hand on heart that we have never had a problem but they have always been minor things and resolved quickly. It appears that more of you are satisfied with P&O than those not happy with the experience. We are hoping this cruise will be a good fit for us as we are looking to cruise out of Southampton more in future. (Not this time however).

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, jody75 said:

Almost all the cruise ship have loo blockages which are mostly caused by the passengers using WET WIPES. Similar problems exist in land based plumbing systems and wet wipes are the primary cause of line blockages.  It is costing the water boards/companies a fortune in maintenance costs which has prompted some to highlight this problem with expensive TV advertisements.

 

The main difference between cruise lines is the way they respond to the problem. P&O in our experience are never proactive and seldomly address the difficulties with any empathy leading to passenger dissatisfaction.

 

We would never cruise P&O again and sometimes comment on this forum to balance the exaggeration of the Pando lovers

I have to agree with jody75s comment about how P&O react to a problem compared with our experiences on other cruise lines.  P&O seem to feel that passengers are a nuisance to the smooth running of their ships, whereas other lines, like RCI and Celebrity, put customer service at the top of their list, and go the extra mile to put things right.

Now before the cheerleaders descend on me I would point out that, as a Yorkshireman, I am more than capable of handling this sloppy attitude, and still manage to enjoy all my cruises on  P&O, and these incidents just add to my cruising stories.

Edited November 11, 2018 by terrierjohn

[davecttr]

Nice to read that P&O have problems with plumbing. I know this of course as ALL cruise lines have problems with plumbing. P&O also have problems with gastro intestinal upsets involving cabin confinement. all cruise lines have incidents but for me P&O ships have become 'sick' In 22 P&O cruises I have been confined to my cabin on several occasions and the last 12 night cruise on Oceana I was confined to my cabin for 2 days, TWICE. My 21 cruises elsewhere have resulted in a single one day confinement several years ago. I believe this is statistically significant so I will not be cruising with P&O for the foreseeable future.

 

Vote with your wallet, there are other cruise lines out there

[daiB]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

Nice to read that P&O have problems with plumbing. I know this of course as ALL cruise lines have problems with plumbing. P&O also have problems with gastro intestinal upsets involving cabin confinement. all cruise lines have incidents but for me P&O ships have become 'sick' In 22 P&O cruises I have been confined to my cabin on several occasions and the last 12 night cruise on Oceana I was confined to my cabin for 2 days, TWICE. My 21 cruises elsewhere have resulted in a single one day confinement several years ago. I believe this is statistically significant so I will not be cruising with P&O for the foreseeable future.

 

Vote with your wallet, there are other cruise lines out there

You are so unfortunate we have never been confined at all in our 40+ cruises. On the other hand friends of ours went on one cruise and were both confined.

 

Looking at the published facts P&O do fair well in comparison with other lines. So your other cruise lines have just as many outbreaks if not more.

[daiB]

The link.

 

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/outbreaks2017.html

[davecttr]

My personal experience is more important to me than statistics that don't even include all cruise lines

[Guest ccpm]

4 weeks to go, a cruise on a ship i didn't expect to be sailing on i.e. Ventura. Its a maths cruise as they have taken away the on screen TV account and nope not going to get my account printed every day or few days as I can add up, there is no promised drinks package now and my toilet suction sounds at risk.

 

Well onward into the breech. I love a problem, I am alerted to the need for brushing up my negotiation skills and loving the challenge, bring it on Ventura it will spice up my life/cruise no end.  Honestly I can't wait just to be cruising and now there is the potential for my sort of on board resembles real life activity even better. Never complained in my life but raised issues yes and then some. I do hope the OP will return to P&O, they did have a hard shot but seem to have been very understanding. 

[janny444]

Hi....if this problem has never happened to you or out of over 40 cruises only occurred once and fixed relatively quickly then it isn't a problem....just one of those things....but if it happens twice in one year and isn't sorted relatively quickly then you will have a different view point. Would it put me off cruising....possibly....would depend on how much I had " enjoyed" trailing along corridors in the middle of the night in mi nightie searching for a  working loo

[daiB]

We have to wait until March and then October and of course January. All on Ventura. Just paid the balance on the first one a back to back,  could not resist a look at current prices. WOW turn up now and we would have to pay double what we have just paid. Early booking strikes again.

[Harry Peterson]

There's a pretty clear right to compensation here, in that you didn't remotely get what you paid for.  I'd be looking for something worthwhile from P&O, and if they don't offer it pass the problem to the card company under S75.

[kentchris]

2 hours ago, docco said:

There's a pretty clear right to compensation here, in that you didn't remotely get what you paid for.  I'd be looking for something worthwhile from P&O, and if they don't offer it pass the problem to the card company under S75.

There have been so many posts about different experiences on this thread that simply replying without providing some context by quoting the post you're replying to makes it pretty meaningless.

[frenchmartiniplease]

3 hours ago, janny444 said:

Hi....if this problem has never happened to you or out of over 40 cruises only occurred once and fixed relatively quickly then it isn't a problem....just one of those things....but if it happens twice in one year and isn't sorted relatively quickly then you will have a different view point. Would it put me off cruising....possibly....would depend on how much I had " enjoyed" trailing along corridors in the middle of the night in mi nightie searching for a  working loo

😳 It wasn't 'enjoyable'.  Also, it was not nice waking up in the middle of the night with a dodgy tummy  with our loo situated 12 cabins away! I suppose we could have moved into the inside cabin but I find them claustrophobic which is why we always pay for a balcony.

[frenchmartiniplease]

2 hours ago, docco said:

There's a pretty clear right to compensation here, in that you didn't remotely get what you paid for.  I'd be looking for something worthwhile from P&O, and if they don't offer it pass the problem to the card company under S75.

We feel that the ensuite balcony cabin we paid for was not fit for purpose.   We paid with a debit card😒 so assume S75 would not apply.

[Harry Peterson]

16 minutes ago, frenchmartiniplease said:

We feel that the ensuite balcony cabin we paid for was not fit for purpose.   We paid with a debit card😒 so assume S75 would not apply.

Not as easy as easy with debit cards.  As you say, S75 doesn't apply.  Chargeback isn't as good (debit cards) but worth a go in your circumstances:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-use-chargeback

 

[janny444]

9 hours ago, frenchmartiniplease said:

😳 It wasn't 'enjoyable'.  Also, it was not nice waking up in the middle of the night with a dodgy tummy  with our loo situated 12 cabins away! I suppose we could have moved into the inside cabin but I find them claustrophobic which is why we always pay for a balcony.

 

Hi....certainly couldn't have been " enjoyable"....that's the point I was making 

[frenchmartiniplease]

1 hour ago, janny444 said:

 

Hi....certainly couldn't have been " enjoyable"....that's the point I was making 

.  Yep!  I had got that's what you meant.  I was appreciating your comment👍

[Britboys]

On 11/10/2018 at 7:54 PM, mickey89 said:

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. 

 

 

In general, all UK companies are much inferior regarding Customer Relations and attitude towards complaints.  If you think P&O are the worst, take a look over on the Marella Boards.  Even pax who love their Marella cruises often say that Customer Services are dreadful.

[daiB]

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

 

In general, all UK companies are much inferior regarding Customer Relations and attitude towards complaints.  If you think P&O are the worst, take a look over on the Marella Boards.  Even pax who love their Marella cruises often say that Customer Services are dreadful.

 

We have never had a problem with any customer service. Mainly because like many others we have never used them apart from the one mentioned when we had the problem resolved on board.

[terrierjohn]

14 hours ago, daiB said:

 

We have never had a problem with any customer service. Mainly because like many others we have never used them apart from the one mentioned when we had the problem resolved on board.

You have indeed been very fortunate then Dai, or is that your expectations are not quite as high as mine?