Should we book P&O?

[terrierjohn]

32 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

A britannia staycation cruise for 4 nights - everybody is on and off the boat before they even have time to test positive for covid

 

Plus you are close to UK hospitals etc for any treatment

 

Big difference the longer the cruises get  and the further away you travel and the different level of medical care and expertise in those countries

 

I think I'm just being careful weighing up best thing to do

 

One way or another we need a good holiday !

 

I know that !

 

 

The UK is not the only place cruising at present, our seacations were very specific to the UK. Other lines have been sailing the Med, the Caribbean, and the far east  on almost normal itineraries, and there has been very little in the media, other than the odd covid incident.

[Interestedcruisefan]

10 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The UK is not the only place cruising at present, our seacations were very specific to the UK. Other lines have been sailing the Med, the Caribbean, and the far east  on almost normal itineraries, and there has been very little in the media, other than the odd covid incident.

Yes I'm going to keep my eye on feedback from other Caribbean cruises starting up the next few weeks and then make a decision 

 

Right now Seaboum the only one starting from Barbados but at the moment operating with just 100 ish passengers !

[zap99]

4 hours ago, Billish said:

I can't speak for Wowzz, but we use the balcony a lot, so we can get away from the riff raff ! 

No riff raff on P&O cruises don't you know. Just think, going all the way to the Caribbean and having an inside cabin. I bet it looks nice outside🤔. You could take a few pictures to look at whilst in your cabin to remind you where you are.

[Interestedcruisefan]

13 minutes ago, zap99 said:

No riff raff on P&O cruises don't you know. Just think, going all the way to the Caribbean and having an inside cabin. I bet it looks nice outside🤔. You could take a few pictures to look at whilst in your cabin to remind you where you are.

We've had balconies on Caribbean cruises before

 

We had kids with us back then who didn't get up early so was nice to see the ship arriving into the ports I guess

 

But we never used the balcony  And we get up really early now and like to walk 

[Interestedcruisefan]

13 minutes ago, zap99 said:

No riff raff on P&O cruises don't you know. Just think, going all the way to the Caribbean and having an inside cabin. I bet it looks nice outside🤔. You could take a few pictures to look at whilst in your cabin to remind you where you are.

 Why stay in a cabin when you can have a beautiful view from so many other places on the ship and sip multiple cocktails and enjoy multiple upgrade meals etc with the money you save?

 

That's the way we look at it

 

We don't use balconies in hotels either when they come free if charge 

 

We like to get out and about

[zap99]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 Why stay in a cabin when you can have a beautiful view from so many other places on the ship and sip multiple cocktails and enjoy multiple upgrade meals etc with the money you save?

 

That's the way we look at it

 

We don't use balconies in hotels either when they come free if charge 

 

We like to get out and about

We are off to the Balearics on Friday and have paid extra for a sea view. Each to their own.🤔

[Billish]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 Why stay in a cabin when you can have a beautiful view from so many other places on the ship and sip multiple cocktails and enjoy multiple upgrade meals etc with the money you save?

 

That's the way we look at it

 

We don't use balconies in hotels either when they come free if charge 

 

We like to get out and about

Everyone has their own preferences. We will never cruise without a balcony, and by booking early we get "cheap" prices, so still can indulge in cocktails and specialty restaurants. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We are off to the Balearics on Friday and have paid extra for a sea view. Each to their own.🤔

Of course we all have personal choices to make

 

2 minutes ago, Billish said:

Everyone has their own preferences. We will never cruise without a balcony, and by booking early we get "cheap" prices, so still can indulge in cocktails and specialty restaurants. 

We are still learning the best way for us but like I say when we've had cabins we've never used them anywhere near enough to justify

 

We are in a good position now as for the first time we will be cruising without the kids

 

For the first time we can do Caribbean cruises without having to pay xmas and New Year prices due to having to go in school holiday time

 

We go for the food, cocktails, entertainment, gym and sun

 

Balcony or even a sea view (weve done that as well) aren't a priority

 

It's dark ish when we get up now and dark when we go to bed

 

And when we get back we sleep early to get up early 

 

So we don't get the benefit

 

In the future we might change what we do and have balconies again

 

 

[Billish]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Of course we all have personal choices to make

 

We are still learning the best way for us but like I say when we've had cabins we've never used them anywhere near enough to justify

 

We are in a good position now as for the first time we will be cruising without the kids

 

For the first time we can do Caribbean cruises without having to pay xmas and New Year prices due to having to go in school holiday time

 

We go for the food, cocktails, entertainment, gym and sun

 

Balcony or even a sea view (weve done that as well) aren't a priority

 

It's dark ish when we get up now and dark when we go to bed

 

And when we get back we sleep early to get up early 

 

So we don't get the benefit

 

In the future we might change what we do and have balconies again

 

 

Regardless of a balcony,  the inside  cabins are just so small. No sofa, no coffee table etc. No wonder you don't spend any time in them !

[Interestedcruisefan]

24 minutes ago, Billish said:

Regardless of a balcony,  the inside  cabins are just so small. No sofa, no coffee table etc. No wonder you don't spend any time in them !

Agreed but balcony cabins are also very small

 

We didnt want to spend any time in them either 

 

Even the suites.  Why plan to spend any time in them when you are on a Caribbean Cruise? 

 

 

 

 

[Britboys]

36 minutes ago, Billish said:

Regardless of a balcony,  the inside  cabins are just so small. No sofa, no coffee table etc. No wonder you don't spend any time in them !

One of the benefits of Aurora is that even the inside cabins all have a small sofa - although of course, I appreciate she is seldom in the Caribbean these days.

When sailing solo I would be happy with an inside cabin anywhere in the world.

[Billish]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Agreed but balcony cabins are also very small

Which is why we don't book standard balcony cabins !

[picsa]

15 hours ago, Billish said:

Which is why we don't book standard balcony cabins !

So you slum it in a deluxe cabin rather than booking a suite? How terrible for you. 

[grapau27]

On 10/4/2021 at 1:35 PM, zap99 said:

We are off to the Balearics on Friday and have paid extra for a sea view. Each to their own.🤔

I hope you have a great time in the Balearic Islands Zap.

We always have a balcony cabin and always pay extra like yourself for sea view hotel rooms.

Graham.

[grapau27]

On 9/17/2021 at 11:46 PM, mondas42 said:

We have cruised with p&o a number of times but we haven’t had a holiday in over 2 years cos of the pandemic. I’m shattered and was thinking of booking a Caribbean cruise in the new year to recharge the batteries. However I’ve just seen a load of very poor reviews for the customer service with p&o recently, not something we have encountered in the past. This has made me wonder if I should book with p&o or wait for things to improve? Any advice?

We did a 4 night staycation cruise on Britannia in August and a 7 night staycation cruise on Iona in September and the crew were fantastic.

The food was very good everywhere and excellent in Epicurean speciality restaurant.

Bar service and restaurant service was excellent.

We have cruised for 18 years on P&O, Royal Caribbean and Princess so hopefully my advice is helpful for you.

Regards Graham.

 

 

 

 

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 10/4/2021 at 1:32 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

 Why stay in a cabin when you can have a beautiful view from so many other places on the ship and sip multiple cocktails and enjoy multiple upgrade meals etc with the money you save?

 

That's the way we look at it

 

We don't use balconies in hotels either when they come free if charge 

 

We like to get out and about

Must admit, only had two balcony cabins in 16 cruise. Azura and Britannia and that was probably due to the price. I do agree that Med or Canary Island cruises peak summer are nice to have a balcony. But we travel either towards the end of the year or in the first few months of the next year and as you say we would rather spend our money on a few luxuries as the only time we are in our cabin is between midnight and 8 o-clock in the morning and a few hours taking in a nap, catching up with the news and reading the ships newspaper and getting ready for a drink and evening meal. We normally buy the expensive package at £399 which gives us two champagne flutes, formal framed portrait, continental breakfast and half bottle of champagne in bed, a facial for the wife and a massage for me, flowers, 2 x speciality restuarant passes, 2 x canape's,slippers and bathrobe and chocolates.

[Harry Peterson]

24 minutes ago, LynnForestgate said:

Has it really got that bad ?

I suppose it depends how you define ‘bad’, really.  It’s not bad, in most senses of the word, but I suspect a 1980s customer would be horrified. I think the description I gave of a down to earth cruise line offering pretty good value for money, in hotel terms maybe three star UK, was a fair one, but others may disagree.

 

It certainly isn’t remotely a luxury product any more, but that’s reflected in the prices.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

I suppose it depends how you define ‘bad’, really.  It’s not bad, in most senses of the word, but I suspect a 1980s customer would be horrified. I think the description I gave of a down to earth cruise line offering pretty good value for money, in hotel terms maybe three star UK, was a fair one, but others may disagree.

 

It certainly isn’t remotely a luxury product any more, but that’s reflected in the prices.

Harry, I think you are about right, but as long as people keep their expectations in line with their expenditure, there is nothing wrong with 3* cruising.

[Harry Peterson]

6 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Harry, I think you are about right, but as long as people keep their expectations in line with their expenditure, there is nothing wrong with 3* cruising.

This is very true, wowzz, and I wouldn’t want to put anybody off P&O, but the marketing does need to be taken with a few grains of salt.

 

The pluses are that drinks are affordable, and so, for that matter, are some rather good suites.

[bobstheboy]

Cruising today cannot be compared with cruising 40 years ago, when it was the preserve of the upper middle classes. It is affordable and I do not accept that P&O is a 3* product, the surroundings, cabins and food on Iona is far superior to any 3* hotel and cheaper.

 

Why some of you daily frequent the P&O board is beyond my thinking, you just like picking it to pieces.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, bobstheboy said:

Cruising today cannot be compared with cruising 40 years ago, when it was the preserve of the upper middle classes. It is affordable and I do not accept that P&O is a 3* product, the surroundings, cabins and food on Iona is far superior to any 3* hotel and cheaper.

 

Why some of you daily frequent the P&O board is beyond my thinking, you just like picking it to pieces.

I guess we are using 3* as a point if comparison.  If you take a line such a Viking to be 5*, Celebrity to be 4*, then P&O is 3*. 

No one is knocking P&O for being 3*,  we are just reflecting on the quality vis a vis other lines.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, LynnForestgate said:

Has it really got that bad ?

No it's not. We have had 3 P&O cruises so far this year. No problems with standards at all. None, nowt. Graham Pauline has had 2, us 3. Other opioniongivers none. 

[terrierjohn]

57 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I suppose it depends how you define ‘bad’, really.  It’s not bad, in most senses of the word, but I suspect a 1980s customer would be horrified. I think the description I gave of a down to earth cruise line offering pretty good value for money, in hotel terms maybe three star UK, was a fair one, but others may disagree.

 

It certainly isn’t remotely a luxury product any more, but that’s reflected in the prices.

Unless its changed drastically since 2019 then I think your 3 star rating a bit unkind, IMO 4 star would be more suitable, with Celebrity on 5 and Princess between the two.

 

[zap99]

21 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Cruising today cannot be compared with cruising 40 years ago, when it was the preserve of the upper middle classes. It is affordable and I do not accept that P&O is a 3* product, the surroundings, cabins and food on Iona is far superior to any 3* hotel and cheaper.

 

Why some of you daily frequent the P&O board is beyond my thinking, you just like picking it to pieces.

Steerage on the Titanic was a bit naff, but We have noticed no dropping of standards on P&O. We stay in many 4 star and a few 5 star hotels in the UK. Calling  P&O three star seems an exaggeration, but we never stay 3 Star in hotels, so don't really know.

[zap99]

29 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

 

 

Why some of you daily frequent the P&O board is beyond my thinking, you just like picking it to pieces.

Some folk actually have cruised recently, some haven't. It seems that those that have enjoyed them, those that haven't.........🤔