What can P&O do better going forward ?

[DamianG]

21 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

All the big players are building more innovative and dynamic ships with more to do for all ages. P&O ships just do not excite us travelling with children. I suppose i dont know where they fit apart from british market where people think we just like average. For example the great british seaside and caravans. To me a dated concept that needs improvement. 

 

. RCL style prominade. An area for people to mingle and watch world go by.

.NCL entertainment. Cirque de soleil was amazing.

.just a set price, non of this saver or select just a straight price. Hate going oh thats a good deal and then says based on two sharing, add a child and boom lots more.

.Free soft drinks package for children.

.A smart ship features, like princess medallion.

.Stop the excessive price mark up for school holiday date cruises. Such a huge difference for us families.

 

However I do love the flights included package for the Caribbean, but not the "school holiday" prices.

 

One thing that P&O have done is introduce lower child fares a couple of years back which, for us at least, has made school holiday cruises in July/August far more affordable. 

 

We're open to trying other cruise lines but having priced up similar ex-Southampton cruises every year since 2014 for the main school holidays P&O has always been the only one affordable for us. We don't get water slides, free soft drinks or ice creams, extra benefits etc. but we do get the opportunity to go on a fantastic cruise holiday. Ultimately we get what we pay for.

 

Out of the main season then I've no doubt there will be examples of similar holidays being cheaper than P&O on other cruise lines but for school holidays, in our experience, they've yet to be beaten on price.

 

I do miss a nice promenade on the newer ships though!

Edited July 1, 2021 by DamianG

[LondonLad60]

On 6/29/2021 at 10:45 PM, daiB said:

Far too many loyal customers already without the need for more benefits.

 

Unless it’s for those people with 50+ cruises then free booze, free upgrades, free transport to the ship and massive discounts would do nicely.

 

🙂. 🙂. 
 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

Dai,

 

Just a suggestion, but have you considered Saga? Free booze, free transport, free wi-fi (which was fast and reliable), free 24 hr room service, three free speciality restaurants and more. Plus all Saga cruises currently on sale include a number of shore excursions. Yes, their cruises cost more, but as my old dad was wont to say, you get what you pay for.

 

Bob

[Guest]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I agree totally Eddie, I am always amazed at the difference between Celebrity restaurant staff and P&O. On X the head waiters and the assistant Maitre'Ds always lead by example, this results in a much more customer focused approach than the "do as I order' approach on P&O, where the waiters only jump to it, when a senior officer is around.

I think it extends to all staff on P&O. The staff on Celebrity/Royal just seem to go above and beyond to make your holiday as best as it can be. I’ve had a X bar staff find us on the pool deck and give us a bucket of Corona on ice (not on the menu), as we once mentioned in passing that we had it once on a Princess ship. Remembering favourite drinks, wait staff having our drinks on the table before we even sit down (remembering what we had for the first few days). 
 

On one weird occasion, I was in the casino on the X Eclipse. The casino staff were asking to see ID of my age, and our head waiter appeared (still don’t know how to this day that happened) and sorted it all out with the casino staff. 
 

There are a few members of crew who have gone the extra mile on P&O, but it’s certainly not the norm! 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

2 hours ago, DamianG said:

 

One thing that P&O have done is introduce lower child fares a couple of years back which, for us at least, has made school holiday cruises in July/August far more affordable. 

 

We're open to trying other cruise lines but having priced up similar ex-Southampton cruises every year since 2014 for the main school holidays P&O has always been the only one affordable for us. We don't get water slides, free soft drinks or ice creams, extra benefits etc. but we do get the opportunity to go on a fantastic cruise holiday. Ultimately we get what we pay for.

 

Out of the main season then I've no doubt there will be examples of similar holidays being cheaper than P&O on other cruise lines but for school holidays, in our experience, they've yet to be beaten on price.

 

I do miss a nice promenade on the newer ships though!

I have to agree in part with you there. Cruises from southampton are expensive during school holidays. My upcoming rcl cruise out of Barcelona in late aug was cheaper including flights them an rcl cruise out of Southampton.

 

P & o are cheaper just more for us to do as a family on other cruise lines

Edited July 1, 2021 by FamilyCruiserUK

[wowzz]

13 hours ago, emam said:

But P&O allow them onboard. Do they actually sell much.

They don't "allow" them on board, the retailers pay to be on the ship, and, I assume, pay a percentage of their t.o. to P&O as well.

As to how much they sell - well if they weren't making a profit, they wouldn't be paying to be onboard!   

[NaomiW]

On 6/30/2021 at 1:59 PM, grapau27 said:

This is Star class Suites on Royal Caribbean Oasis class ships.

Graham 

Wow, this looks amazing!!

[NaomiW]

On 6/30/2021 at 6:12 PM, downsmead said:

With our Celebrity suite, we get Premium Drinks package, fast WiFi, dedicated restaurant, dedicated sun deck, dedicated bar and $300 dollars each OBC. Our cruise around the U.K. equates to the same price as our Caribbean one with P&O which only offers the Epicurean breakfast, though I appreciate there are flights included with P&O. However what you get with Celebrity far exceeds P&O.

Maybe I need to start branching out!

[Windsurfboy]

P&O suites are the most economical on the market. Very nice suites but with very few perks. I don't know if it would be a good idea  for P&O to go down the ship within a ship route.  All the perks above would increase fares considerably 

 

But it could on the mid size ships offer the Epicurean,  which would give the opportunity of adding better dinning. I'd book it most nights

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, NaomiW said:

Maybe I need to start branching out!

But those nice extras come at a cost!

[DamianG]

23 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I have to agree in part with you there. Cruises from southampton are expensive during school holidays. My upcoming rcl cruise out of Barcelona in late aug was cheaper including flights them an rcl cruise out of Southampton.

 

P & o are cheaper just more for us to do as a family on other cruise lines

 

I'm not too keen on flying but will take a look for 2023. Thanks for the tip.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

2 hours ago, DamianG said:

 

I'm not too keen on flying but will take a look for 2023. Thanks for the tip.

Always worth a look. Also easy to get flights from uk to barcelona, lost of companies fly, BA, easyjet, vueling etc and cheap as well for. 2hr 20min ish flight

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Always worth a look. Also easy to get flights from uk to barcelona, lost of companies fly, BA, easyjet, vueling etc and cheap as well for. 2hr 20min ish flight

Don't forget to factor in the cost of an overnight hotel before your cruise starts, plus, the, admittedly small, transfer costs. 

[Jennizor]

There appears to be a lot of negativity about cruising with P & O on this thread. Having only cruised with them and Princess, I can’t really make comparisons. All I can say is that after having 4 cruises cancelled, I can’t wait to sail on Britannia on 25 September (fingers crossed). 

[indiana123]

49 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

There appears to be a lot of negativity about cruising with P & O on this thread

I must admit that that thought crossed my mind too.

 

 

[wowzz]

51 minutes ago, Jennizor said:

There appears to be a lot of negativity about cruising with P & O on this thread. Having only cruised with them and Princess, I can’t really make comparisons. All I can say is that after having 4 cruises cancelled, I can’t wait to sail on Britannia on 25 September (fingers crossed). 

My feeling is that P&O offer a middle of the road cruising experience,  at middle of the road pricing. Absolutely nothing wrong with that,  and we will continue to cruise occasionally with P&O. 

If you want water slides,  or Circus Soleil,  look elsewhere.

The only issue we have with P&O,  and it is entirely a matter of our individual  perspective,  is that it is just too British.  

On other cruises we have met people from all over the world.  That does not happen on P&O,  so after 14 nights aboard, you feel that you have never really left the UK. Obviously that is bound to be the case with a cruise line, based in the UK,  aimed at UK cruisers, but I just wish that I didn't feel that I was sailing on MS Eastbourne !

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, Jennizor said:

There appears to be a lot of negativity about cruising with P & O on this thread. Having only cruised with them and Princess, I can’t really make comparisons. All I can say is that after having 4 cruises cancelled, I can’t wait to sail on Britannia on 25 September (fingers crossed). 

The question asked is a good one and there’s nothing wrong with suggesting improvements. We’ll resume cruising with P&O next year, hopefully! 

[Jennizor]

I totally agree with you Pete. In normal times we cruise twice a year and have one land based holiday abroad. If we sailed with the more expensive lines that would have to change and we are not ready to do that just yet.

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, pete14 said:

If I want to read about Princess, Celebrity, RCL etc, I will visit their forum pages.

I see no harm at all in making comparisons with other cruuse lines.  It's always good to hear how P&O compares to other lines, so that those of us who are not P&O centric can consider if those lines are worth considering for future cruises.

[kalos]

There is a thread called P&O vs Princess this one is called

"What can P&O do better going forward ?" So I fully understand Pete's thought's.

 

[Adawn47]

On 7/1/2021 at 4:12 PM, Glitterati said:

 I’ve had a X bar staff find us on the pool deck and give us a bucket of Corona on ice (not on the menu), as we once mentioned in passing that we had it once on a Princess ship. Remembering favourite drinks, wait staff having our drinks on the table before we even sit down (remembering what we had for the first few days). 

A similar experience on Oceana. Frank was partial to Tiger beer, which used to be available in all bars on the ship. Going into Magnums the first evening on a new cruise , he was told it was now only available in the outside bars, so he he chose another beer. The following evening, the same waiter took my drink order, winked at Frank and walked away, returning later with my drink and a  'Lager' for Frank. He had bought some Tiger beer down for him and said to just ask for a Lager and he or another waiter would bring him a Tiger beer. Against the 'rules', but it made Frank's cruise, and needless to say earned Magnums bar staff a large tip at the end.

Avril

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You are entitled to your opinion, but I think comparisons with other cruise lines benefit anyone starting out on a cruising experience, and most of the service improvements I would like to see would come at very little cost to P&O, and should not lead to higher prices.

I agree with you. I did all the American lines before P&O, so unfortunately have been spoiled with all the extras and I can’t help but draw comparisons! 
 

P&O are great for the price, but if the prices are comparable to Royal/Celebrity/Princess I will choose them. You get a lot more for the money. (I’m looking at you, Arvia Caribbean 2023 prices!!!!!) 

 

I have 3 P&O cruises booked so I’m certainly not against them! 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

Don't forget to factor in the cost of an overnight hotel before your cruise starts, plus, the, admittedly small, transfer costs. 

Premier inn at gatwick nice and cheap, £60 for three of us including breakfast, fly out on the day ( plenty of flights and time to get there) and transfers in taxi is about £30. Well worth it and also can almost guarantee the weather. In fact the three times ive been never had a rainy day. Last one in 2019 was veey hot

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Premier inn at gatwick nice and cheap, £60 for three of us including breakfast, fly out on the day ( plenty of flights and time to get there) and transfers in taxi is about £30. Well worth it and also can almost guarantee the weather. In fact the three times ive been never had a rainy day. Last one in 2019 was veey hot

I agree, the extra costs are not that much. Personally I would never fly in on the day of a cruise - I'm far too risk averse, and over the years have had too many flight cancellations !

[wowzz]

43 minutes ago, pete14 said:

I agree in part that there is no harm in making comparisons, provided some of those doing so (many of whom seem to be infrequent posters on here) do not have an anti P&O / pro other cruise lines agenda behind their posting. I would suggest that if people want to consider other cruise lines, they look at their forums, not P&Os, a cruise experience they know very well. 

Exactly - there is one occasional poster on here who has a specific anti P&O bias, and I see no merit in his constant belitilling of P&O.

Fair criticism and comparisons are a different matter.

[Adawn47]

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

The only issue we have with P&O,  and it is entirely a matter of our individual  perspective,  is that it is just too British.  

 

Could that be because P&O is a predominantly geared towards British cruisers?🤔

Avril