Things that we want P&O to INTRODUCE ...

[brian1]

5 hours ago, majortom10 said:

On our last Princess cruise on Crown Princess in August last year one night we went to the Anytime dining restaurant and was told no tables were available, even though there clearly was, and was told that those were for people who had reserved tables in Anytime in advance. We were taken by a member of staff from midships to the aft of the restaurant to the Club Dining restaurant which was half empty and given a table for 2. We got some very strange and dirty looks because it was between set dining times and everbody was well into being served and eating their evening meals.

Our last Princess cruise was 2016,perhaps the system is not as good as it was.I don't mind having an extra drink in the bar,buzzer in hand,lol.

[dunnster1965]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

 

Our son has had these as a side dish quite a few times in the MDR. His grandparents have often chosen food from the kids menu as well so I don't think it would do any harm to ask even if they are not on the menu.

 

Damian,

I think the winky and my sense of humour have eluded you. I was referring to P&O's previous form for serving up green beans with everything in the MDR - sorry!

 

Dunnster

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

Better than leaving it under the bed,if you know what I mean,lol.

If you mean what I think you mean, then all I can say is that even Marella have en-suite bathrooms in the cabins 😂

[Presto2]

(This isn't meant as a pro Celebrity post but just been thinking of some good ideas we saw on Celebrity's new ship. EDGE that we loved and thought any cruise line could copy to make things better. With the new ships P&O could take on board some of these new ideas that others are trying)

 

They had 4 main dining rooms for freedom dining. (They also had set dining restaurants too so choice for everyone)

Each freedom dining restaurant had a different 'personality' and specialist dishes for their type of restaurant. They all had the same main dining room options as well each evening. You booked the time like you would book a restaurant at home. It worked brilliantly and it was great to be freedom dining and have the choice of 4 different places to eat: French, Italian, Greek and more US dining. It was like having the choice of 4 speciality restaurants that you didn't have to pay extra for and the booking system worked really well. It was brilliant. If you liked one you had the chance to book again and if you didn't enjoy one you could cancel it and rebook another one via the app on your phone.

 

They also had what they called 'Destination Gateway' which was a huge space where you quite literally just walked on to your tender ….. no scrambling and so much better for anyone who had a disability. It was awesome.

 

An app on your phone where you could book activities, excursions etc etc etc and control things in your cabin like the lights, heating, tv etc

 

 

[DamianG]

1 hour ago, dunnster1965 said:

 

Damian,

I think the winky and my sense of humour have eluded you. I was referring to P&O's previous form for serving up green beans with everything in the MDR - sorry!

 

Dunnster

 

D'oh! I've not had a sense of humour bypass - honestly! No need to apologise either! Think I need a (cruise) break!

[Tikka234]

3 hours ago, davemorton said:

Definitely Ventura, and I think Azura (but that would need checking).  In the back of my head, I think  if Britannia may have the same too, but cant be too sure on that on.  Sure someone must be on her soon, that could tell you.

I was on Azure in June didn't see anything then we're going on Britannia in May (no kids) will look around then thanks

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

Our last Princess cruise was 2016,perhaps the system is not as good as it was.I don't mind having an extra drink in the bar,buzzer in hand,lol.

you perhaps would mind if you saw the recent increase in drinks prices and also increase in service charge to 18% maked alcoholic drinks on Princess very expensive.

[peteukmcr]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Royal Caribbean have these group meetings on every cruise so singles or lesbian/gays can meet up.The daily newsletter or a sign at reception advises people of these get togethers.

So do NCL

 

Also as mentioned by Presto2, apps are becoming more common on other lines. Great way to reduce the amount of paper being used for the daily newsletter, track on board account, make reservations for excursions or dining. Also some have the ability (by using the onboard wifi for a nominal fee) for you to call others onboard to assist in keeping in touch with family members for example.

Edited January 6, 2020 by peteukmcr

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, peteukmcr said:

So do NCL

 

Also as mentioned by Presto2, apps are becoming more common on other lines. Great way to reduce the amount of paper being used for the daily newsletter, track on board account, make reservations for excursions or dining. Also some have the ability (by using the onboard wifi for a nominal fee) for you to call others onboard to assist in keeping in touch with family members for example.

RC give both Pauline and I as D+ loyalty 2 days free internet each through ships WiFi.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

you perhaps would mind if you saw the recent increase in drinks prices and also increase in service charge to 18% maked alcoholic drinks on Princess very expensive.

Princess also have $14.50pp autogratuities on board.

Our last Princess cruise we paid $435 autogratuities although some on board were pleased with themselves because they stopped them.

Edited January 6, 2020 by grapau27

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, peteukmcr said:

So do NCL

 

Also as mentioned by Presto2, apps are becoming more common on other lines. Great way to reduce the amount of paper being used for the daily newsletter, track on board account, make reservations for excursions or dining. Also some have the ability (by using the onboard wifi for a nominal fee) for you to call others onboard to assist in keeping in touch with family members for example.

I think the RCI app already allows you to message other family members via the app with free wi-fi.

[peteukmcr]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

RC give both Pauline and I as D+ loyalty 2 days free internet each through ships WiFi.

And us too

[peteukmcr]

20 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I think the RCI app already allows you to message other family members via the app with free wi-fi.

Yes, maybe, but NCL allow you to actually call each other for a nominal fee. 

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, Presto2 said:

(This isn't meant as a pro Celebrity post but just been thinking of some good ideas we saw on Celebrity's new ship. EDGE that we loved and thought any cruise line could copy to make things better. With the new ships P&O could take on board some of these new ideas that others are trying)

 

They had 4 main dining rooms for freedom dining. (They also had set dining restaurants too so choice for everyone)

Each freedom dining restaurant had a different 'personality' and specialist dishes for their type of restaurant. They all had the same main dining room options as well each evening. You booked the time like you would book a restaurant at home. It worked brilliantly and it was great to be freedom dining and have the choice of 4 different places to eat: French, Italian, Greek and more US dining. It was like having the choice of 4 speciality restaurants that you didn't have to pay extra for and the booking system worked really well. It was brilliant. If you liked one you had the chance to book again and if you didn't enjoy one you could cancel it and rebook another one via the app on your phone.

 

They also had what they called 'Destination Gateway' which was a huge space where you quite literally just walked on to your tender ….. no scrambling and so much better for anyone who had a disability. It was awesome.

 

An app on your phone where you could book activities, excursions etc etc etc and control things in your cabin like the lights, heating, tv etc

 

 

It will indeed be interesting to see how P&O manage the 4 main dining rooms on Iona.

 

Very happy with apps to control things as long as you don't have to use them.  As a confirmed luddite and troglodyte, I have no wish to use my mobile phone when on a cruise 😁

[brian1]

14 hours ago, Britboys said:

If you mean what I think you mean, then all I can say is that even Marella have en-suite bathrooms in the cabins 😂

With the stereotyping of Marella customers.I think they can't be asked to walk there ,lol.

[brian1]

12 hours ago, majortom10 said:

you perhaps would mind if you saw the recent increase in drinks prices and also increase in service charge to 18% maked alcoholic drinks on Princess very expensive.

We only sail for itineraries and never repeat the same one.Good job we've gone thru the Princess list.Mind you,Cunard took some beating on bar prices.

[davecttr]

4 minutes ago, brian1 said:

With the stereotyping of Marella customers.I think they can't be asked to walk there ,lol.

Indeed, a lot of stereotyping of Marella and its passengers here. You would be surprised how many Marella cruisers use P&O and vice versa. Marella cruisers on P&O ships tend not to mention Marella so they don't get the inevitable ill informed snobby comments and references to Butlins at Sea. 

 

Anyway back on subject. I think P&O should consider two things Marella have, cooled carbon filtered water stations on passenger decks which are free and cuts down on plastic use. A free to use App which you load on your smart device and allows you to view and book excursions, menus and restaurants, daily news, account details etc. They also have interactive screens around the ship where you can access the same service. They still have cruise news because not everyone has a smart device, including me. I believe when Explorer was refitted before joining Marella they added nearly 50km of wiring to provide WiFi coverage. Do we think Carnival would want to spend a load of money on fitting say 100km of wiring to Ventura?

[davecttr]

15 hours ago, Britboys said:

If you mean what I think you mean, then all I can say is that even Marella have en-suite bathrooms in the cabins 😂

Indeed they have and very nice ones too on their latest ships, lovely powerful showers with DOORS, no more assaults by shower curtain.

 

Free Italian restaurant in the MDR called Vista, open in the evening and very popular, serving regional Italian dishes, not just pasta and pizza, there is a separate restaurant for that

[Cathygh]

I wonder if P&O will follow Princess with it's current offer - £35ppd for free gratuities, premium drinks package and 200 mins of wifi? Seems like a good deal when the gratuities are $14.50/day and there's 15% added to drinks

Cathy

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

I wonder if P&O will follow Princess with it's current offer - £35ppd for free gratuities, premium drinks package and 200 mins of wifi? Seems like a good deal when the gratuities are $14.50/day and there's 15% added to drinks

Cathy

The service charge for drinks is actually 18%, but, iirc, this is shortly to be increased to 20!

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Indeed, a lot of stereotyping of Marella and its passengers here. You would be surprised how many Marella cruisers use P&O and vice versa. Marella cruisers on P&O ships tend not to mention Marella so they don't get the inevitable ill informed snobby comments and references to Butlins at Sea. 

 

Anyway back on subject. I think P&O should consider two things Marella have, cooled carbon filtered water stations on passenger decks which are free and cuts down on plastic use. A free to use App which you load on your smart device and allows you to view and book excursions, menus and restaurants, daily news, account details etc. They also have interactive screens around the ship where you can access the same service. They still have cruise news because not everyone has a smart device, including me. I believe when Explorer was refitted before joining Marella they added nearly 50km of wiring to provide WiFi coverage. Do we think Carnival would want to spend a load of money on fitting say 100km of wiring to Ventura?

The app and interactive screens sounds the same as RCI, which is not surprising as TUI cruises is a 50% joint venture with RCI.  Just think if the P&O Princess board had stuck to their original RCI merger deal, maybe Ventura would already have this system. 

[brian1]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

Indeed they have and very nice ones too on their latest ships, lovely powerful showers with DOORS, no more assaults by shower curtain.

 

Free Italian restaurant in the MDR called Vista, open in the evening and very popular, serving regional Italian dishes, not just pasta and pizza, there is a separate restaurant for that

Alright,you've got the job.New Marella PR director.Don't know about the newer ships of P&O,but Marella surpases the likes of Aurora etc,in all aspects.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

Alright,you've got the job.New Marella PR director.Don't know about the newer ships of P&O,but Marella surpases the likes of Aurora etc,in all aspects.

No not surpass, as good as or better on their latest ships. Must change my signature, I booked 2 P&O cruises yesterday.

[alpha whiskey]

Some great suggestions going on in this thread. We are not frequent P&O cruisers but this could change based on our last super trip on Aurora.

We have travelled with most of the popular lines and a couple of things we did miss compared to other lines - unable to view onboard account or MDR menus in the comfort of your stateroom TV. 

 

A really nice touch on a recent Holland America cruise was the Captain (in person) at the gangway wishing you a nice day ashore. This was a frequent occurrence at many of the ports. It felt so genuine.

 

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

 

 

A really nice touch on a recent Holland America cruise was the Captain (in person) at the gangway wishing you a nice day ashore. This was a frequent occurrence at many of the ports. It felt so genuine.

 

Captain Wes Dunlop did this on our Fjords cruise on Britannia last year. 

Nice touch, perhaps that's why he got the Iona gig... 

Andy