Britain's biggest cruise operator is becoming 'Butlins on Sea', Which? survey finds (today's Telegraph)

[DamianG]

7 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I know little about either of these two, but are they actually doing much in the way of performing?

 

All I’ve ever encountered is pub act comics and singers. Can’t recall anything more than that.

 

We once saw Tom O'Connor perform on Artemis and he was brilliant. Oh, hang on a minute, that was back in 2008! 😃

[AndyMichelle]

20 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The issue for me (and I fully appreciate I may be odd in this) is that a wine waiter actually knows something about wine and could previously have recommend a proper match to go with the food you were ordering. The waiting staff don’t have either the time or more probably the knowledge to do so. 
 

I really like wine with dinner (sometimes a different one with each course) and one of the pleasures of a cruise used to be trying something a little bit different from the wine list but pretty safe in the knowledge that if the sommelier had said it would be fine, it would be fine. You would not end up with something that overpowered the food or food that wiped out the wine. 

 

With my much more limited knowledge I end up going for wines that I am familiar with, safe options.

 

I know this is not something that will not bother many, perhaps most passengers and I accept that times change but sometimes the wines are not even served at the correct temperature anymore. The whites are stored so cold that they are tasteless until they actually warm up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a good point, the waiters were unfamiliar with the menu as well as little/no knowledge. 

But, it seems the wine waiters are still around for now, it must have just been because they were drastically understaffed at New Year... 

Andy 

[Selbourne]

28 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The issue for me (and I fully appreciate I may be odd in this) is that a wine waiter actually knows something about wine and could previously have recommend a proper match to go with the food you were ordering. The waiting staff don’t have either the time or more probably the knowledge to do so. 
 

I really like wine with dinner (sometimes a different one with each course) and one of the pleasures of a cruise used to be trying something a little bit different from the wine list but pretty safe in the knowledge that if the sommelier had said it would be fine, it would be fine. You would not end up with something that overpowered the food or food that wiped out the wine. 

 

With my much more limited knowledge I end up going for wines that I am familiar with, safe options.

 

I know this is not something that will not bother many, perhaps most passengers and I accept that times change but sometimes the wines are not even served at the correct temperature anymore. The whites are stored so cold that they are tasteless until they actually warm up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s very interesting as my perception has always been that the wine waiters in the MDR’s have zero knowledge of the wines that they sell. They have certainly never displayed any knowledge to me, but perhaps I haven’t asked (then again, neither have they offered). Even in the Glasshouse I find that only the head sommelier seems to have a good knowledge. I’m with you regarding serving wine (or any drinks for that matter) at the correct temperature. It’s a real bug bear of mine. Whilst I like white wine to be chilled I hate red at anything more than room temperature and preferably warmer! The worst place for this is the Beach House (certainly on Aurora) where wines are stored in the outside deck bar behind the Beach House at the aft of the ship and are always very cold as a result. I have had to ask for bottles of red to be stood in warm water for a while. Same issue with beer. The correct way to serve ale is at room temperature, whereas lager needs to be chilled. All too often nowadays a pint of beer is served deeply chilled, which I find horrible to drink. On P&O ships I always ask for a beer that’s room temperature and hasn’t been chilled and the drinks waiters have always obliged - until our last cruise where it became a challenge. In these days of challenging everything from an environmental perspective, I do wonder why so much electricity and refrigerant is used to chill drinks that shouldn’t be chilled in the first place!

Edited February 5, 2020 by Selbourne

[Adawn47]

I was just wondering that as they have reduced the numbers of wine waiters on the smaller ships that they will be removing them entirely from the larger ones. Just a thought.

[pete14]

23 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

That’s very interesting as my perception has always been that the wine waiters in the MDR’s have zero knowledge of the wines that they sell. They have certainly never displayed any knowledge to me, but perhaps I haven’t asked (then again, neither have they offered). Even in the Glasshouse I find that only the head sommelier seems to have a good knowledge. I’m with you regarding serving wine (or any drinks for that matter) at the correct temperature. It’s a real bug bear of mine. Whilst I like white wine to be chilled I hate red at anything more than room temperature and preferably warmer! The worst place for this is the Beach House (certainly on Aurora) where wines are stored in the outside deck bar behind the Beach House at the aft of the ship and are always very cold as a result. I have had to ask for bottles of red to be stood in warm water for a while. Same issue with beer. The correct way to serve ale is at room temperature, whereas lager needs to be chilled. All too often nowadays a pint of beer is served deeply chilled, which I find horrible to drink. On P&O ships I always ask for a beer that’s room temperature and hasn’t been chilled and the drinks waiters have always obliged - until our last cruise where it became a challenge. In these days of challenging everything from an environmental perspective, I do wonder why so much electricity and refrigerant is used to chill drinks that shouldn’t be chilled in the first place!

We had a knowledgeable wine waiter on Arcadia at the end of last year who provided good service for us. 
 

Whilst I have never encountered cold red wine onboard, I share your desire for ale to be served at room temperature and always ask for a bottle that has not been in the fridge. Sadly the draught ‘real ale’ they serve does not come with that option. 

[DamianG]

17 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

 

There seem to be attempts to play down the which? report and other criticisms.   Pointless exercise because there are tons of people disenchanted with P&O at the moment.  I spoke to loads of them on the Christmas cruise just gone, most resolved to switch to another line.  But one doesn't need to even look at the Which? report.  One needs only read the various cruise reviews on this very site to see the picture:

 

A sprinkling here:

 

Worst food and service at sea
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=674293

Tatty
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=676314

Last time with P and O
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=677051

Holiday camp at sea
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=676621

P&O poorly operated.
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=675011

Benidorm at sea.
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=674747

 

 

 

 

I've just read through these out of interest, one states "Drinks expensive" which I disagree with and refers to "the cabin boy" which I find derogatory. Another also refers to "the cabin boy" but to be fair seems a bit more balanced and has some positive comments as do some of the others. As for the review titled "P&O poorly operated" I just wonder what made the security staff visit the poster's cabin at 4am and what does that suggest about them????

You've selected a handful of negative reviews to make your point so fair enough but personally I wouldn't get too hung up on any particular review

 

Edited February 5, 2020 by DamianG

[Bazrat]

17 hours ago, KnowTheScore said:

 

This is the P&O related board.  Why would I post P&O related opinions and feedback elsewhere?!!

 

Why now?   Because I've recently reached the point where enough is enough for me personally.

 

My primary purpose in joining was to discuss the Coronavirus crisis and hopefully to gain the feedback and opinions of other cruisers but I then noticed other threads inc this one discussing the dumbing down of the whole experience so decided to add my viewpoints.   Thanks for your interest.

 

 

 

 

 

They had to dumb down the conversation for people like me to be able to join in.

[Bazrat]

8 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 

I've just read through these out of interest, one states "Drinks expensive" which I disagree with and refers to "the cabin boy" which I find derogatory. Another also refers to "the cabin boy" but to be fair seems a bit more balanced and has some positive comments as do some of the others. As for the review titled "P&O poorly operated" I just wonder what made the security staff visit the poster's cabin at 4am and what does that suggest about them????

You've selected a handful of negative reviews to make your point so fair enough but personally I wouldn't get too hung up on any particular review

 

The cabin boy delivered expensive drinks what else could go wrong

[Bazrat]

14 minutes ago, pete14 said:

We had a knowledgeable wine waiter on Arcadia at the end of last year who provided good service for us. 
 

Whilst I have never encountered cold red wine onboard, I share your desire for ale to be served at room temperature and always ask for a bottle that has not been in the fridge. Sadly the draught ‘real ale’ they serve does not come with that option. 

We’re I grew up the beer was kept in a cellar so it was naturally slightly chilled which is what I prefer but not the frozen stuff they sell in the states.

[Bazrat]

42 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I was just wondering that as they have reduced the numbers of wine waiters on the smaller ships that they will be removing them entirely from the larger ones. Just a thought.

Alas as I am not a wine drinker but better start before they disappear 

[AndyMichelle]

17 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Alas as I am not a wine drinker but better start before they disappear 

The wine waiter would usually pop off to another bar to get my pint of Peroni while I took my jacket off... 😊

Doubt the food waiter would have the time. 

Andy 

[jeanlyon]

So does anybody have the new drinks prices?

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

The issue for me (and I fully appreciate I may be odd in this) is that a wine waiter actually knows something about wine and could previously have recommend a proper match to go with the food you were ordering. The waiting staff don’t have either the time or more probably the knowledge to do so. 
 

I really like wine with dinner (sometimes a different one with each course) and one of the pleasures of a cruise used to be trying something a little bit different from the wine list but pretty safe in the knowledge that if the sommelier had said it would be fine, it would be fine. You would not end up with something that overpowered the food or food that wiped out the wine. 

 

With my much more limited knowledge I end up going for wines that I am familiar with, safe options.

 

I know this is not something that will not bother many, perhaps most passengers and I accept that times change but sometimes the wines are not even served at the correct temperature anymore. The whites are stored so cold that they are tasteless until they actually warm up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not odd at all.  Certainly going back a few years all the wine waiters had some knowledge about the wines they were serving although far from being at Sommelier level.  I suspect that now, their numbers have been cut and probably with it any training they had about the wines on offer.  When I sail solo, I often have two bottles of wine on the go so that I can have a glass appropriate for what I choose off the menu.  If they are doing away with them completely, there could be quite a few bottles sitting on a table of eight people, some of course in wine coolers...

[terrierjohn]

54 minutes ago, pete14 said:

We had a knowledgeable wine waiter on Arcadia at the end of last year who provided good service for us. 
 

Whilst I have never encountered cold red wine onboard, I share your desire for ale to be served at room temperature and always ask for a bottle that has not been in the fridge. Sadly the draught ‘real ale’ they serve does not come with that option. 

Room temperature nowadays is too warm for real ale, maybe it was OK before central heating, today we no longer have cellars or cool pantries, which would have been ideal.

[Bazrat]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

Room temperature nowadays is too warm for real ale, maybe it was OK before central heating, today we no longer have cellars or cool pantries, which would have been ideal.

I feel particularly lucky in the area that I live in in that the art of keeping real ale as not died out,from Sarah Hughes dark ruby mild to Holden’s golden so when ever anybody mentions real ale I shudder slightly knowing it’s going to be warm and usually taste like a keg beer.

[grapau27]

8 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

It had to go somewhere Graham. 

I'm glad it is flannels and flowers in the cabin rather than increased drink prices etc... 

Andy 

 

Ps. Hope you are well and not overdoing it. 

Thanks Andy.

I am taking it easy and went back to work for a couple of hours last week.

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks Andy.

I am taking it easy and went back to work for a couple of hours last week.

Glad to hear, but don't overdo it... 

Andy 

[Vampiress88]

31 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

So does anybody have the new drinks prices?

I really wanna know this too!!!

 

[AndyMichelle]

33 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

So does anybody have the new drinks prices?

Looked everywhere Jean, can't find anything.

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

47 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

The wine waiter would usually pop off to another bar to get my pint of Peroni while I took my jacket off... 😊

Doubt the food waiter would have the time. 

Andy 

So it’s you who are taking up all the wine waiters time then 😉.

 

We stayed in a Nastra Azzura  owned hotel in Italy where the peroni / nastra azzura was cheaper than the water - bliss.

[grapau27]

7 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Thanks. That’s a useful insight. Presumably they’ve been using the same wording for years - the maintenance team comment rings a bell from a year or so back, but the problem existed well before that.

Where on the ship is the smell?

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

Where on the ship is the smell?

Somewhere near Malibar as I recall. More detail above from other posters.

[grapau27]

18 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Glad to hear, but don't overdo it... 

Andy 

Cheers.

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Somewhere near Malibar as I recall. More detail above from other posters.

Thanks, I've just logged back into this thread and read them.

[Vampiress88]

20 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Looked everywhere Jean, can't find anything.

Andy 

 

Nothing I can find on google