New on board app

[Denarius]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:47 PM, Monorail Orange said:

Ah now that's music to my ears! 😄

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

 

But not to mine. To me, the advantage of - indeed, the main principle of - freedom dining is the freedom to go down to the dining room when you feel ready to do so without having to decide in advance at what time you will dine. If advance bookings become the norm this freedom will be curtailed. A retrograde step imo.

[Britboys]

53 minutes ago, Denarius said:

But not to mine. To me, the advantage of - indeed, the main principle of - freedom dining is the freedom to go down to the dining room when you feel ready to do so without having to decide in advance at what time you will dine. If advance bookings become the norm this freedom will be curtailed. A retrograde step imo.

I'm sure this will only be in place whilst Covid restrictions apply. I'm not interested in Freedom Dining but completely agree with you that those who book it really don't want to have to make a booking in advance for each night. That would make a mockery of the whole principle of Freedom Dining.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Denarius said:

But not to mine. To me, the advantage of - indeed, the main principle of - freedom dining is the freedom to go down to the dining room when you feel ready to do so without having to decide in advance at what time you will dine. If advance bookings become the norm this freedom will be curtailed. A retrograde step imo.

Which is exactly the same as us. The P&O system ( which is not an app as such) is not really an issue, because it is clunky and not user friendly.

Princess,  however,  are going the full app route with their Medallion, as it is a major cost saver. Fortunately,  it is expensive to retro fit, so I assume that the good old fashioned system of just turning up at the MDR  will continue on P&O for the foreseeable future.

[Son of Anarchy]

12 hours ago, Denarius said:

But not to mine. To me, the advantage of - indeed, the main principle of - freedom dining is the freedom to go down to the dining room when you feel ready to do so without having to decide in advance at what time you will dine. If advance bookings become the norm this freedom will be curtailed. A retrograde step imo.

 

11 hours ago, Britboys said:

I'm sure this will only be in place whilst Covid restrictions apply. I'm not interested in Freedom Dining but completely agree with you that those who book it really don't want to have to make a booking in advance for each night. That would make a mockery of the whole principle of Freedom Dining.

My understanding of what I've read is that there will be a "virtual queue".  Which, to me, sounds a bit like once you're ready to go to dinner you simply use the app to join the queue for a table, instead of standing in line, potentially waiting for a pager.

Obviously that's just my interpretation of what's been published on the P&O site.

 

It will be interesting to see what others say when they have returned from their staycations.  Ours isn't for another 89 days.  We will probably give both the app and the traditional way of getting a Freedom dining table a go.

[TheGinBoy]

I think calling it an "app" is very generous. It's a private web portal, accessible in your browser only when connected to the onboard WiFi.

 

My first sailing with P&O coming up in less than three weeks, and I have been a little disappointed with P&O's lack of tech. Most lines have a dedicated smartphone app that allows you to check in, manage your account, message fellow travellers etc. 

 

I guess this is a step in the right direction though.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, TheGinBoy said:

I think calling it an "app" is very generous. It's a private web portal, accessible in your browser only when connected to the onboard WiFi.

 

My first sailing with P&O coming up in less than three weeks, and I have been a little disappointed with P&O's lack of tech. Most lines have a dedicated smartphone app that allows you to check in, manage your account, message fellow travellers etc. 

 

I guess this is a step in the right direction though.

Perhaps not everybody is up to date with smartphones and Apps and Tech because not everyone, myself included, wants to carry a smartphone around with them all day and spend all my time with my head in a phone.

[TheGinBoy]

I get that. But it's something a lot of people want - and it is the way things are heading. 

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Perhaps not everybody is up to date with smartphones and Apps and Tech because not everyone, myself included, wants to carry a smartphone around with them all day and spend all my time with my head in a phone.

I like to leave my smart phone in the cabin, unless I know I want to take some pictures. I take it ashore for the same reason or to check emails etc when I can get free WiFi , or data roaming. If it needs to be carried around onboard, I wonder how many will jump into the pool with their phone tucked in the back of their Speedo's?🤔

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, TheGinBoy said:

I think calling it an "app" is very generous. It's a private web portal, accessible in your browser only when connected to the onboard WiFi.

 

My first sailing with P&O coming up in less than three weeks, and I have been a little disappointed with P&O's lack of tech. Most lines have a dedicated smartphone app that allows you to check in, manage your account, message fellow travellers etc. 

 

I guess this is a step in the right direction though.

I think P&O are probably being cautious about introducing too much tech too quickly. Whilst with the two new ships they are going all-out to attract younger customers, their business has been built on - and to a large degree is still probably based on - a long-term, loyal, passenger demographic skewed to middle-age and above. Whilst many of us 'older' people are not technophobes, we are not of the generation to run our lives on a smartphone or have it welded to our hand 😀.

The USA cruise market in particular attracts a lot of younger pax on 7 nights or fewer itineraries. P&O's 'bread & butter' is closer to the 14 night and longer itineraries, especially in winter - and to populate these cruises, they need the 'older' generation.

The other issue for them is that historically (including the recent past), their IT has been rubbish. The current website is poor, as is the cruise personaliser, which frequently seems to be down...

[TheGinBoy]

45 minutes ago, Britboys said:

The other issue for them is that historically (including the recent past), their IT has been rubbish. The current website is poor, as is the cruise personaliser, which frequently seems to be down...

 

Yeah, I know it seems a requirement for cruise lines to have really bad websites but P&O's is particularly dated and user unfriendly. 

 

Having worked in IT before my change in career I can fully appreciate that a slow and steady rollout is always wiser than a fast and flawed one. 

 

I think another point to be cognisant of is the environmental savings of moving to digital rather than paper based working. How many daily newsletters does a cruise line print each year across all of their ships, daily changing menus, shore excursion sheets etc. The amount of paper (and thus trees) saved is not to be sniffed at. The cruise lines will also appreciate the huge financial savings too -  paper, toner, printing machines, maintenance contracts, recycling & waste costs etc etc.

[Denarius]

8 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

 

My understanding of what I've read is that there will be a "virtual queue".  Which, to me, sounds a bit like once you're ready to go to dinner you simply use the app to join the queue for a table, instead of standing in line, potentially waiting for a pager.

Obviously that's just my interpretation of what's been published on the P&O site.

 

It will be interesting to see what others say when they have returned from their staycations.  Ours isn't for another 89 days.  We will probably give both the app and the traditional way of getting a Freedom dining table a go.

That would be a good idea. No need to form a queue outside the restaurant and then probably hang around with a pager waiting for a table to become vacant, could do it all from the comfort of your cabin - or a friendly bar. But would probably need a time limit (15 minutes?) on how long the table would be held after you were called to mitigate no-shows.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, TheGinBoy said:

...I think another point to be cognisant of is the environmental savings of moving to digital rather than paper based working. How many daily newsletters does a cruise line print each year across all of their ships, daily changing menus, shore excursion sheets etc. The amount of paper (and thus trees) saved is not to be sniffed at. The cruise lines will also appreciate the huge financial savings too -  paper, toner, printing machines, maintenance contracts, recycling & waste costs etc etc.

Can't disagree with this at all. Being a luddite and selfish however, I still want my paper/card menu in front me at the dining table and a paper daily programme to peruse and highlight 😄.  I am happy however to collect the daily programme from the Purser's/Reception desk. Sorry but my phone will stay locked in the cabin safe...

[Son of Anarchy]

12 hours ago, Britboys said:

Can't disagree with this at all. Being a luddite and selfish however, I still want my paper/card menu in front me at the dining table and a paper daily programme to peruse and highlight 😄.  I am happy however to collect the daily programme from the Purser's/Reception desk. Sorry but my phone will stay locked in the cabin safe...

I like the idea of being able to access menus on the phone/tablet, but mainly to decide whether to go to the MDR or buffet for lunch.

Having a paper/card menu handed to you at your table is all part of the dining experience, and imho should remain wherever possible.  As much as I like Wetherspoons, using your phone to order a meal is reducing the dining experience to the level of err... Wetherspoons.

[emam]

On 6/13/2021 at 8:10 PM, Britboys said:

Can't disagree with this at all. Being a luddite and selfish however, I still want my paper/card menu in front me at the dining table and a paper daily programme to peruse and highlight 😄.  I am happy however to collect the daily programme from the Purser's/Reception desk. Sorry but my phone will stay locked in the cabin safe...

 

I like to keep the daily Horizon's, something to look back on when I can't cruise anymore. I haven't though done anywhere near the amount of cruises that people on here have.

[jaydee6969]

34 minutes ago, emam said:

 

I like to keep the daily Horizon's, something to look back on when I can't cruise anymore. I haven't though done anywhere near the amount of cruises that people on here have.

 

I collect the little crosswords/sudoku pages everyday on board too.  Never seem to find time to do them on board, but bring them home with all the Horizon's.

[Beckett]

8 hours ago, emam said:

 

I like to keep the daily Horizon's, something to look back on when I can't cruise anymore. I haven't though done anywhere near the amount of cruises that people on here have.

But it's the quality of your cruises that count emam - not the quantity!  Have a good day. Best wishes. Jane.x

[ToxM]

Disruptive events bring disruptive change. The change to using online methods to streamline things is a disruptive change within the cruising industry, it is a good and natural evolution, but like the growth of cars on the road it can be scary for people at first. 

 

Embrace the change - the test will be the staycations, and I am sure they will fine tune things for when(ever) more regular style itineraries start to take place. 

 

 

[emam]

6 hours ago, Beckett said:

But it's the quality of your cruises that count emam - not the quantity!  Have a good day. Best wishes. Jane.x

 

Yes and we visited places that we would never have, on a land based holiday.

DH was asking the other night, out of the places we have been, is there one I would like to visit for two weeks. My reply was yes, France and Belgium Battlefield's, which wasn't the answer he was looking for. As to place's we have cruised to, the answer was no.

[Bazrat]

On 6/14/2021 at 8:50 AM, Son of Anarchy said:

I like the idea of being able to access menus on the phone/tablet, but mainly to decide whether to go to the MDR or buffet for lunch.

Having a paper/card menu handed to you at your table is all part of the dining experience, and imho should remain wherever possible.  As much as I like Wetherspoons, using your phone to order a meal is reducing the dining experience to the level of err... Wetherspoons.

Most restaurants would like you to order from there app now, one to reduce costs secondly to avoid cross contamination, and being your average couple we like Wetherspoons 

[the english lady]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:41 PM, 7th cruise said:

Guests in England and Wales can download the NHS app

 

No they cant as we don't have one in Wales yet

i have seen posted in Wales and Scotland you dial 119 and something is sent to you. However someone in Wales then posted you ring an 0300 number, but i cant remember the rest.

 

[TheGinBoy]

Anyway.... so there's a new app onboard?

[Pink-belle]

17 minutes ago, TheGinBoy said:

Anyway.... so there's a new app onboard?

I’m guessing the New App will be put to the test by the “test” cruisers on Monday.  Looking forward to hearing their thoughts.

[TheGinBoy]

I'm looking forward to trying it out July 1st too.

 

Seemingly not able to book speciality dining etc ahead of the cruise, so I'll be logging on to bag some spots as soon as I step onboard.

[Pink-belle]

Celebrity Eclipse 2010 the first time I ever held an iPad , brand new product used as a menu in their restaurant Quisine. From that moment I knew I would buy one, would have bought it there and then if available.

 

I’ve not looked, but do P&O sell tablets onboard?  If not I’m thinking now is the time to do so.  So many on here saying they have no need for a smart phone, which I understand.  They may however not have discovered the benefit of “tablets”. User friendly and no need for contracts that put people off.  There could be access to free books both written and audio on board, especially at the moment when handling books may not be allowed, in that setting people may embrace the technology thinking they would use it for holidays.  
thinking of tablets cheaper than iPads, even though I have no experience of them. 

[kalos]

2 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

I’m guessing the New App will be put to the test by the “test” cruisers on Monday.  Looking forward to hearing their thoughts.

Lets all goes well .I know my phone would wind me up with .."the device wasn't able to connect

to internet due to connection error" and then as to rub salt into the wound ,it goes on to ask ...

 " would you like to go online to search for a solution".

 

Looking forward to the feedback of what happens though