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Reporting from Azura - very poor, and much in need of that refit!


Harry Peterson
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Glad your cruise is looking up a little.

 

We did a ship tour on Azura a year or two ago, and went round all the cabins- I was surprised at how old and shabby the suites in particular looked. She definitely needs a good sprucing up. We sailed on the Crown Princess in December, who is older than Azura but (as I understand it) a very similar ship, and she looked a lot nicer and more modern in all areas including the cabins, following her refurb.

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17 minutes ago, ohnonotmeagain said:

Seems like you and P&O are no longer a perfect fit....will you consider sailing with them again? 

In a word, no. And we're cancelling three cruises we still have booked with them for the loss of the very minimal 5% deposit.

 

Problems can arise with any company. What marks P&O out as different is their refusal to do anything about problems when they happen.

 

Remember the 'Computer says no' sketches? That's the way they operate.

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1 hour ago, docco said:

It's supposed to be these:

 

BBC HD

ITV Choice

Sky News

Sky Sport News

Sport 24

 

All very much second-rate by comparison with full fat BBC, but certainly better than nothing at all.

 

 

 

 

We have never had the full fat BBC, as you call it, on any cruise ship on any cruise line, and the 5 you indicate will be fine with me if they are the ones we have on Aurora in April.

Sky News is much better than the BBC  World, which is often shown, and it would be better than the  BBC News channel at home, if it didn't have adverts.  The icing on ,the cake for us would be Sky Sports News, that was missing on our Ventura January Caribbean cruise, and we certainly missed keeping up to date with all the sports news, and especially missed Soccer Saturday with Jeff Stelling and the team.

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21 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

 

Oh good glad the food is up to scratch cos my little ones will be munching their way through although we will stick to the buffet restaurants. 

Have you been to the beach house? Hubby wants to go there for a meal. 

 

What about the entertainment?

Haven't tried it I'm afraid. The buffet serves perfectly good food, and the staff do their best, but the problem is greedy guests sometimes fighting for food. Not a good environment if you're not used to it.

 

Why not try the MDRs?

 

Entertainment much like in a pub. Not impressed. Personal view only of course. A lot of people like it. Standing room only if you don't turn up at the theatre way before shows start.

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Just smiling to myself. Remember deciding I should polish my shoes one afternoon as I chanced back in the cabin to turn the three detente radio dial above the door (World Service, Radio Canberra & I’m not sure what else). BBC WS was only available at certain times. WS was broadcasting the second half of a Newcastle Utd match. Changed days from in cabin tv & football blaring from seascreens and supporters wandering around pre match in strips. Not better, not worse, just different. 

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Have some sympathy with the OP. We splashed out on the Orissa Suite on Oceana to celebrate retirement and a significant birthday. It was a lot of money. We were bitterly disappointed in the whole cruise. It was our 16th cruise, our first ( and last ) with P&O. I completely understand that you are on a ship and things do not always go to plan but most of the issues were aggravated by the way the front office and later head office completely trivialised our comments. An example was I inadvertently spilt a cup of coffee on the bed sheet - when we went to bed that night, the bed had been remade with the wet & dirty sheet! The office were surprised that I complained. I eventually managed to speak for half an hour with Rod Etherington, who was the MD at that time and he admitted that they had some way to go in their resolution of customer complaints. This was about 5 years ago. It would appear from the OP s post that they haven’t managed it yet.

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9 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Hi there I have a different take on American service we have spent a lot of time in the states and there either interested or they just brush you off as being a moaning Brit,but I have no experience of American cruise lines or any other and if you say they are better who am I to argue but it is just your personal experience.

Until you experience the "can do" service that the RCI group passenger service teams provide then you  don't realise just how inferior P&O are.

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31 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Until you experience the "can do" service that the RCI group passenger service teams provide then you  don't realise just how inferior P&O are.

I’ve only cruised with RC so far, and have to agree with you. We had a few small issues that were resolved quickly and with no fuss.

First P&O cruise next week. Still no phone call back regarding the Amsterdam issue, so not exactly hopeful of ‘the extra mile’ service on board either. 

But, we plan to have a great time and will report back honestly afterwards.

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1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Until you experience the "can do" service that the RCI group passenger service teams provide then you  don't realise just how inferior P&O are.

The obvious question is why go with them because after reading some of the criticism on here I thought you would steer clear of them,my wife who’s friends at her work swear by p&o most are seasoned cruisers.

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Hi....probably this thread is getting a little " played out" and for those of you who have yet to do your first cruise I am sure you will enjoy P&O and become addicted to cruising.

For people who have done a few cruises and only experienced " minor niggles" then you will be wondering what all the fuss is about but when you start to experience P&O's stonewalling/ take it or leave it approach on more major issues then you start to become more negative towards the company...be it P&O or any company.

The OP is already in dispute with P&O....as I am with the same problem and so any extra negatives on top of that then compound into a much bigger negative impression.

While everything is going wonderfully well for you enjoy your cruising days but if you yourself starts to experience P&O's " customer service" and lack of Duty Of Care then you may remember the comments made on here.

Like Op who is cancelling 3 cruises so are we going to cancel 3 cruises as we have come to the end of the road of dealing with their approach to their clientele.

As I have stated before we had exactly the same  change of POC with another cruise company...MSC but absolutely no problem with them....they refunded all monies paid ....no hassle

 

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30 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

The obvious question is why go with them because after reading some of the criticism on here I thought you would steer clear of them,my wife who’s friends at her work swear by p&o most are seasoned cruisers.

My main gripe is with their customer service, if you have no problems on your cruise, or if you are prepared to put up with little niggles, then you will enjoy what is a very pleasant way to holiday.

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1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

The obvious question is why go with them because after reading some of the criticism on here I thought you would steer clear of them,my wife who’s friends at her work swear by p&o most are seasoned cruisers.

I wonder how many of your wife’s friends have tried any other cruise lines in order to make a comparison? I think P&O rely on customers who don’t want to risk trying other cruise lines. We cruise with P&O because they have the best choice sailing out of Southampton. We also find them pretty good value. However, we have also found the service on Celebrity and RCI to be much better if you do have a problem. I just think P&O need to up their game in this respect.

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It appears to me from reading a good many post's on CC, that problems seem to be more easily and agreeable resolved on a private one to one basis, albeit by phone letter or e-mail.

 

Middle management would be the people who would have the responsibility to resolve most issues, either in your favor or not.

 

I cannot understand how you would advance your case, by being disparaging against them.

 

From a lifetime of experience, I have found that those that make the most noise do so from the weakest position.

 

Cancelling 3 cruises?

 

last throw of the dice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bazrat

As the saying goes, you pay for what you get. P&O and Carnival are a 3 star rating, Princess 4 star, RCI  4 stars, Celebrity 5 stars and Cunard 5-6 stars. We have recently cancelled our cruise with Marella who aren't even on the list and re-booked  on Britannia. We are fairly new to cruising but so far have found no problems with P&O. We did go on a Celebrity cruise where the ship was much nicer and the choice of food in the buffet fabulous. The mdr was lacking in choice but as a parky eater it didn't bother me. I would gladly go on another Celebrity cruise but the price is double that of P&O.

 

https://kvi.travel/travel-tips/cruise-ship-ratings

 

Most of the people on here have been cruising for decades and have seen many changes from the way it used to be. Don't listen to their gripes, go and enjoy your cruise with an open mind. Think about how everything has changed over the years, from the price of a loaf of bread to the size of a chocolate bar and a bag of potatoes (I know those examples are not quite the same as a cruise, but the point is that everything is now changing). I am sure that many people run into problems on a land based holiday just as much as they do on a cruise.

 

After booking our first cruise I also came on here and was apprehensive after reading some of the comments. We had a fantastic time. People only post the negative comments not the good ones. In fact I think I will start a thread asking for good points of P&O cruises. Your holiday will be what you make of it. Go and enjoy it. If it isn't to your liking then the next time pay the extra money to go with a bigger star cruise line. Though I am sure you will want to return to P&O again as the people on here do many times a year. If P&O were that bad they wouldn't cruise 3 & 4 times every year with them.

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17 hours ago, emam said:

Bazrat
As the saying goes, you pay for what you get. P&O and Carnival are a 3 star rating, Princess 4 star, RCI  4 stars, Celebrity 5 stars and Cunard 5-6 stars. We have recently cancelled our cruise with Marella who aren't even on the list and re-booked  on Britannia. …...

What list?

In my experience of P&O and Marella (over 20 cruises on each) If P&O was rated 3 star Marella would nowadays be at least the equivalent. You do pay for what you get which is why Carnivals desire to rebuild its dollar income stream from P&O is reflecting aboard the ships .

 

That list you mention is a USA travel agent! who are expressing their opinion, nothing more and don't mention Marella or a lot of other cruise lines either.

 

 

Edited by davecttr
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Many aspects of cruising are very subjective to each of us as individuals.  On the basis of my cruising over the last 3 or so years, I would rate Marella as 2.5 stars, CMV as 3 stars, P&O as 3.5/4 stars and Cunard as 4.5/5 star.  As I say, only my view and others will differ on their own experience/taste.

 

I think it also varies by ship too on some lines.  I would rate Oriana & Aurora at 4 star but on the basis of my recent, short Azura cruise, couldn't give her more than 3 stars.

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I wasn't meaning to criticise Marella, as we haven't been on one of their cruises and so can't comment on how good or bad they are. The point I was trying to get across maybe badly was that you can't compare P&O to cruises that are classed as a higher star then them. The list may not be a true reflection, but it gives a rough idea.

 

The reason we cancelled our cruise with Marella is for a few reasons, too many port days, not enough days at sea, the time of year that the cruise was booked for (there was only a choice of two dates) and how hot the weather will be, the price, way above the price of the P&O cruise. The reason we booked it in the first place was for the destinations, however on reflection, the before mentioned reasons swayed us to cancel. One day we will try Marella on a fly cruise but for a week rather than two weeks.

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23 hours ago, Spike11 said:

I wonder how many of your wife’s friends have tried any other cruise lines in order to make a comparison? I think P&O rely on customers who don’t want to risk trying other cruise lines. We cruise with P&O because they have the best choice sailing out of Southampton. We also find them pretty good value. However, we have also found the service on Celebrity and RCI to be much better if you do have a problem. I just think P&O need to up their game in this respect.

The reply to you question 2 of them have thirty plus years experience of cruising,the rest it varies they have all tried various cruise lines most chose p&o for price and convenience and they all told my wife to ignore this site because of the general attitude to p&o.

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1 hour ago, emam said:

I wasn't meaning to criticise Marella, as we haven't been on one of their cruises and so can't comment on how good or bad they are. The point I was trying to get across maybe badly was that you can't compare P&O to cruises that are classed as a higher star then them. The list may not be a true reflection, but it gives a rough idea.

 

The reason we cancelled our cruise with Marella is for a few reasons, too many port days, not enough days at sea, the time of year that the cruise was booked for (there was only a choice of two dates) and how hot the weather will be, the price, way above the price of the P&O cruise. The reason we booked it in the first place was for the destinations, however on reflection, the before mentioned reasons swayed us to cancel. One day we will try Marella on a fly cruise but for a week rather than two weeks.

Ok, apologies, I understand your reasons for cancelling. Interesting point about the price difference as price has been mentioned on Marella forums as well although it does not seem to stop people  booking.

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On 4/3/2019 at 9:08 AM, terrierjohn said:

Until you experience the "can do" service that the RCI group passenger service teams provide then you  don't realise just how inferior P&O are.

We have 1004 points and 2 cruises prebooked on P&O.

As a Diamond plus high loyalty member on RCI I confirm the service is much better on their ships.

Remember though tips are $14.50pp per day for everyone including very young children in all cabins up to grand suites where the gratuity is $17.50pppd.

All bar bills have 18% gratuities automatically added.

Speciality restaurants and room service have gratuities included.

Service is better because very few people don't pay gratuities.

Graham

 

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1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Ok, apologies, I understand your reasons for cancelling. Interesting point about the price difference as price has been mentioned on Marella forums as well although it does not seem to stop people  booking.

Yet we are sailing Marella from Southampton to Iceland and back with a few good ports inbetween.Sept this year,14 days,balcony,£3200 for 2 of us. All similar cruises were at least £1500 dearer on other cruiselines.

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It was going to cost us £4000 for two people on an inside cabin for 14 nights. From booking I thought it was expensive, but put it down to flying and the ports (Greece and Italy). Hubby would have liked to visit these. I had all of the previous mentioned reasons for not doing so plus the fact of flying but was going to try and put them all out of my head. Then he also started to query those reasons as it got nearer to the time to pay for the holiday. So we cancelled just last week and booked Britannia for £1000 less, though the itinerary is different. 

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