Good points of P&O

[emam]

This has probably already been asked before, but as there are so many negative comments going around about P&O, can you please give us some good reasons why you cruise with them. Many of you cruise multiple times a year so you must have something good to say about them. 

 

PLEASE  do not post negative points on this thread.

[P-L-B]

For us some of the reasons are.

Being able to sail from Southampton.

Good food.

Good service.

Relatively cheap drinks. (as far as cruise ships go)

Ballroom Dancing.

The occasional Formal nights.

P&O make no secret of the fact that they cater for British traditions (£'s and the occasional Speckled Hen) 😀 which we have no problem with.

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by P-L-B

[Strawberry field]

I have no problems with P&O whatsoever. I have only sailed four times with them and any problems (very rare) has been dealt with quickly both onboard or prior to sailing. I find the staff extremely helpful and we have two further cruises booked.

 

staff good

food good

British

locations I want to visit

nice relaxed holidays

[terrierjohn]

Year round sailings from Southampton, essential as we no longer fly.

Biggest range of itineraries from Southampton.

Currently prices a lot better than competition, and no gratuities from May 2019.

Generally good food, and service has improved over last couple of years.

Entertainment is generally quite good and varied, with lots of venues on board.

 

 

 

 

[DamianG]

For us the main attraction is affordability as we are limited to school holiday sailings and despite shopping around various cruise lines every year P&O are consistently in a price range that we can afford.

Other things that matter to us:

Sailing from the UK.

On board account in GBP.

Fair drink prices.

Loyalty benefits (we enjoy the occasional free drinks and especially the Caribbean tier lunch).

Good food.

Good service.

Good entertainment.

I've deliberately chosen "good" to describe the above three points as I believe that you get what you pay for. If we were paying for a 5 star cruise then our expectations would be higher.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by DamianG

[showingdiva]

Arcadia.

 

A good amount of shorter 2-7 night sailings as cannot get away for longer.

Good food and drink commensurate with prices in the UK.

OBC.

[kruzseeka]

I would agree with the points made.  We're happy with P&O - good service, pleasant, relaxing ambience - we just feel at home.  Of course it's a package and whilst some aspects may be better on other lines - and some things worse (at least from our perspective) on balance we feel it's good value for money and we always enjoy our cruises with them.  On the whole, its a 'best fit' for us and whilst ever it remains so, it's our current first port of call (😶!) when searching for cruises.

[jeanlyon]

1 hour ago, P-L-B said:

For us some of the reasons are.

Being able to sail from Southampton.

Good food.

Good service.

Relatively cheap drinks. (as far as cruise ships go)

Ballroom Dancing.

The occasional Formal nights.

P&O make no secret of the fact that they cater for British traditions (£'s and the occasional Speckled Hen) 😀 which we have no problem with.

 

I agree with all those apart from the Ballroom Dancing which has far too much sequence, so we don't bother, but that's very minor.

[Dorset cruise fan]

The Syndicate quiz is our perfect way to round off an evening. We also enjoy the dance lessons, most of the speakers, most of the food in the MDR, the themed buffets and just the general ambience.

[Tom Baker]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

For us the main attraction is affordability as we are limited to school holiday sailings and despite shopping around various cruise lines every year P&O are consistently in a price range that we can afford.

Other things that matter to us:

Sailing from the UK.

On board account in GBP.

Fair drink prices.

Loyalty benefits (we enjoy the occasional free drinks and especially the Caribbean tier lunch).

Good food.

Good service.

Good entertainment.

I've deliberately chosen "good" to describe the above three points as I believe that you get what you pay for. If we were paying for a 5 star cruise then our expectations would be higher.

 

 

The price for P&O cruises for families with two children / teenagers is far cheaper than any other cruise company sailing from Southampton in the school holidays. This is the primary factor these days. We can get a deluxe balcony for a fortnight approx. £1000pp where someone like RCCI charge double that.

 

I agree with you about your "good" statement, it's not 5 star and those who expect that will be disappointed. You do get what you pay for.

[tartanexile81]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

For us the main attraction is affordability as we are limited to school holiday sailings and despite shopping around various cruise lines every year P&O are consistently in a price range that we can afford.

Other things that matter to us:

Sailing from the UK.

On board account in GBP.

Fair drink prices.

Loyalty benefits (we enjoy the occasional free drinks and especially the Caribbean tier lunch).

Good food.

Good service.

Good entertainment.

I've deliberately chosen "good" to describe the above three points as I believe that you get what you pay for. If we were paying for a 5 star cruise then our expectations would be higher.

 

 

 

I agree with much of what you said  DamianG. Here's my version. 

 P&O is consistently in a price range that we can afford.

A range of cruises sailing from the UK (but not Scotland!)  particularly in the Winter

Fair drink prices.

No gratuities on drinks

Good service

Good entertainment

Good range of dining venues 

More sociable than other lines we've used 

 

And I used good for the same reason you did

 

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by tartanexile81

[AndyMichelle]

P&O Just suit us.

We feel we have found our level, not too 'poncy' but 'poncy' enough.

Andy

 

[pete14]

Can’t disagree with anything but for me, one of the most important are the people on board, most of the passengers and all crew I have met. It is a pleasure to share a ship with these people. 

[Denarius]

Good food, with nice balance between traditional British and international dishes

Fair drink prices, without added gratuities

Friendly unobtrusive service in restaurants and bars

Livelier atmosphere than many ships, Britons tend not to retire to their cabins as early as some other nationalities

English spoken and understood everywhere on board, no tedious multi lingual announcments

Generally good organisation onboard and at embarkation and disembarkation, incl at ports of call

Traditional cuise experience with relative absence of gimmicks

Reasonable single supplements

 

[Britboys]

Pretty much agree with everything that has been said above.

 

I would add that for me, P&O still have a couple of good small/medium size ships sailing most of the year from Southampton - Aurora & Arcadia (plus Oriana, which I will miss terribly).  These give me a relatively 'classic' cruise experience which is what I like.  I feel they are less crowded than the larger ships I have experienced (not been on Britannia) and I am happy 'only' having three or so eating options to choose from.  For me, P&O have a good balance of sophistication & friendliness on these ships.

 

Since my partner died, I have also found them a comfortable place to be when sailing solo (we had sailed P&O regularly together), with plenty of other solo pax and hosted opportunities to meet those solo travellers. 

 

I must say, when P&O sell off Aurora & Arcadia, I would probably defect to Fred Olsen and/or CMV.

[Son of Anarchy]

50 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

P&O Just suit us.

We feel we have found our level, not too 'poncy' but 'poncy' enough.

Andy

 

 

Sums it up for us as well.

 

Good value from our perspective

We both enjoy the ballroom dance classes

General relaxing ambience on board

Crows Nest

[Presto2]

P&O:

 

Love the tradition and heritage

Formal nights

Sailing from Southampton

Drinks policy and prices onboard

Sailaways when we are in the mood - ha ha

Staff we find are friendly - treat others as you'd like to be treated and they all rise to it

Oceana and Britannia - old and new ships I suppose

The price is very good

The menus - like the British feel to the menus

The dining experience

Select dining venues very reasonably priced

British TV channels and choice

Promenade decks

Tea and coffee making facilities / buscuits each day - oh and the chocolates at turn down

The brochures we get before we cruise

The cruise logs we get on the last day

The efficiency of the fly cruises - the way that your cases if left at the airport and is next seen in your cabin

Love to watch people doing the ballroom - all generations

All generations on holiday together

Not too stuffy

 

Could go on and on

 

 

 

[cabin4three]

UK plug sockets!

Kids club staff and facilities (I think its one of the best for pre-schoolers)

All items priced in GBP so easy to budget/compare prices etc

[waughy]

Ive yet to sail with them (only sailed with NCL) but why i've picked them because:

 

good price for family of 5 (basically 4 adults and 1 child)

kids over 16 can stay in own cabin,  so my 17 year olds in cabin with  10 year old

the 2 x 17.5 year olds can drink wine and beer with dinner (yes i know they are under 18 but when i was that age i was clubbing etc)

we love dressing up and formal dinners

excellent itinerary of the Caribbean  

good bar prices

the football shown for the men in my life

 

We spend very little time in hotel rooms and assume this will be the same on the cruise 

 

[AndyMichelle]

5 hours ago, emam said:

This has probably already been asked before, but as there are so many negative comments going around about P&O, can you please give us some good reasons why you cruise with them. Many of you cruise multiple times a year so you must have something good to say about them. 

 

PLEASE  do not post negative points on this thread.

I'm loving this thread, so many positive responses, thank you for posting.

Andy

[Bazrat]

Well done a bit of positivity for a change and my better half told me we are going cruising and with p&o so here I am or will be soon.

[Canberra forever !]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I'm loving this thread, so many positive responses, thank you for posting.

Andy

I’m loving it too, how wonderful to hear the plus points for once, we need more threads like this !

 

I’ve been very fortunate to have been cruising with P&O since the days of the Canberra and yes, I’ve seen many changes......... but cruising with P&O to me is like coming ‘home’ and even though there may be ‘little irritations’ there really is no place like ‘home’ ..... & I still get that buzz when I drive into Southampton dock and see my ship 😀

 

Happy cruising everyone !

 

 

[happy v]

I get picked up 10 minutes away from home and taken to the ship, and then home again..... included in the price.

When I book the staff are really good. They know what they are talking about and are very helpful.

On board I enjoy the variety of entertainment.

The food.

The people.

The service.

The itineraries.

To sum up an excellent holiday experience.

[emam]

I am also loving it, some very good points which especially ring true with me. I will start with the last one mentioned. It feels like coming home. I'm not a very adventurous traveller and after going ashore in a foreign speaking country and not being able to talk or understand the language, it feels like coming home when getting back onto the ship.

The cruise log is another favourite of mine. I am saving them up, so that when I can't cruise anymore, either because of money or health I can read over them and remember the good times.

I know most of you go off on your own on buses, trains, ferrys etc, but I quite like the tours that P&O organise. The guide's are always very good and can give you tips of other things to do. They go to some places you probably couldn't on your own.

The coach travel has been excellent from up here in the far north and embarkation very quick. Barely enough time  to visit the toilet and fill out the medical form before being called. 

Prices in pounds. They cater for the British, tea and kettles in cabins, real chocolate in the shop, British news. Every announcement is not repeated in several languages. 

Quote - not too 'poncy' but 'poncy' enough.

Formal nights, but you don't have to take part if you don't want to (though it's a shame not to). As we usually dine later, I love to sit and watch the first sitting people in all their finery.

Relaxing on a sea day, while my other half spends his time looking out to sea. 

The big bath towels.

 

[mary heyworth]

12 hours ago, emam said:

I am also loving it, some very good points which especially ring true with me. I will start with the last one mentioned. It feels like coming home. I'm not a very adventurous traveller and after going ashore in a foreign speaking country and not being able to talk or understand the language, it feels like coming home when getting back onto the ship.

The cruise log is another favourite of mine. I am saving them up, so that when I can't cruise anymore, either because of money or health I can read over them and remember the good times.

I know most of you go off on your own on buses, trains, ferrys etc, but I quite like the tours that P&O organise. The guide's are always very good and can give you tips of other things to do. They go to some places you probably couldn't on your own.

The coach travel has been excellent from up here in the far north and embarkation very quick. Barely enough time  to visit the toilet and fill out the medical form before being called. 

Prices in pounds. They cater for the British, tea and kettles in cabins, real chocolate in the shop, British news. Every announcement is not repeated in several languages. 

Quote - not too 'poncy' but 'poncy' enough.

Formal nights, but you don't have to take part if you don't want to (though it's a shame not to). As we usually dine later, I love to sit and watch the first sitting people in all their finery.

Relaxing on a sea day, while my other half spends his time looking out to sea. 

The big bath towels.

 

This thread is absolutely brilliant ! Full of really nice people who enjoy their holidays knowing they will get exactly what they have paid for. I'm weary of the constant moaning about one thing or the other so reading all this is very refreshing. Life isn't perfect nobody ever said it was. We are all very lucky to be able to enjoy holidays all over the world so lets just think positive. I agree with all the great comments about P and O and we have tried several of the other cruiselines both cheaper and much more expensive but come back to P and O time and time again. In our opinion P and O provide exactly what we want and all the lovely people we meet along the way provide that extra bonus. Long may they sail !