Why do P&O keep everything a secret?

[BornLucky]

Why do P&O make it so hard to find out about an upcoming cruise?

The "manage my booking" section is a joke and the knowlege of customer services lacking.

Via those routes the following questions should be no problem to answer, but they are.

What time are we scheduled to arrive and leave ports? 

On which nights are the two Gala nights (14 night cruise)? 

Are there any Theme nights?

Which entertainers / guest speakers are scheduled?

etc etc.

Why the secrecy?

[yorkshirephil]

7 minutes ago, BornLucky said:

Why do P&O make it so hard to find out about an upcoming cruise?

The "manage my booking" section is a joke and the knowlege of customer services lacking.

Via those routes the following questions should be no problem to answer, but they are.

What time are we scheduled to arrive and leave ports? 

On which nights are the two Gala nights (14 night cruise)? 

Are there any Theme nights?

Which entertainers / guest speakers are scheduled?

etc etc.

Why the secrecy?

Welcome to the forum. A few of us wonder the same thing, on the whole there is little doubt that P&O customer service is very lacking. The upside is that onboard service is much better. It does make it difficult to plan when you are struggling to get basic information. Sometimes this is where a good cruise TA can be an advantage, their staff tend to be more knowledgeable about cruising than some of the current P&O staff, a lot of which are probably new and a bit green. Plus the TA has a bit more clout and generally better access to P&O. 

[Bazrat]

59 minutes ago, BornLucky said:

Why do P&O make it so hard to find out about an upcoming cruise?

The "manage my booking" section is a joke and the knowlege of customer services lacking.

Via those routes the following questions should be no problem to answer, but they are.

What time are we scheduled to arrive and leave ports? 

On which nights are the two Gala nights (14 night cruise)? 

Are there any Theme nights?

Which entertainers / guest speakers are scheduled?

etc etc.

Why the secrecy?

Some of the questions you wish to know would be subject to change, time to arrive and leave ports that could only be an approximation because of local weather conditions etc, gala night’s usually sea days, entertainers also could be changed we had the guest singer was sick so didn’t preform so also likely to change.

[terrierjohn]

46 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Some of the questions you wish to know would be subject to change, time to arrive and leave ports that could only be an approximation because of local weather conditions etc, gala night’s usually sea days, entertainers also could be changed we had the guest singer was sick so didn’t preform so also likely to change.

But they could quite easily quote that proviso on anything they issue, and if they had even a 20th century IT system the data could be regularly updated as any changes became necessary.

[wowzz]

We have a Princess cruise booked in May, and have known  the exact arrival and departure times for the last 6 months or so. There is no reason why P&O could not do the same. Obviously there would be the proviso that timings could change. 

As to guest speakers, entertainers etc -  who cares ? Yes, it might be nice to know in advance that John Smith will be talking about 19th century steam trains, but does it really matter ? I can't imagine anyone choosing a cruise based on the guest speaker or entertainer.

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

I think P&O keep port times a secret in the hope you will book their tours!. I also find Cunard is very poor at giving out times as well.

[BornLucky]

11 hours ago, CRUISENSNOOZE said:

I think P&O keep port times a secret in the hope you will book their tours!. I also find Cunard is very poor at giving out times as well.

I tend to agree. To be fair the P&O excursions are better priced than some.

[BornLucky]

14 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Some of the questions you wish to know would be subject to change, time to arrive and leave ports that could only be an approximation because of local weather conditions etc, gala night’s usually sea days, entertainers also could be changed we had the guest singer was sick so didn’t preform so also likely to change.

Obviously any cruiser has to accept unplanned changes. The point here is that "change" means adapted from scheduled. Everything is already scheduled so why not publish the schedule. For instance if I want to book Epicurian for a formal night what am I meant to do, book all 6 sea days? If I want to experience an interesting sail away but also want to see a show why not provide me with the information to make an informed decision now. Port arrivals and departures are already booked.

Edited February 23, 2022 by BornLucky
Typos

[Amyracecar]

There's a well known travel agent site that lists port times for my Iona cruise in May, so I'm not sure if this is them suggesting approximate times or actually getting the information from P&O. It's definitely something that could be added to the cruise personaliser, even if they state that times are only approximate as a guide and subject to change. 

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, BornLucky said:

Obviously any cruiser has to accept unplanned changes. The point here is that "change" means adapted from scheduled. Everything is already scheduled so why not publish the schedule. For instance if I want to book Epicurian for a formal night what am I meant to do, book all 6 sea days? If I want to experience an interesting sail away but also want to see a show why not provide me with the information to make an informed decision now. Port arrivals and departures are already booked.

They could give you a complete list than add at the end subject to change, would that be acceptable

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

They could give you a complete list than add at the end subject to change, would that be acceptable

That would be perfectly acceptable, along with all the other scheduled events that they like to keep secret.

[besberry]

I always look at an excursions site for my itinerary, they usually have the port arrival and departure times.  They've never let me down yet!

[BornLucky]

1 minute ago, besberry said:

I always look at an excursions site for my itinerary, they usually have the port arrival and departure times.  They've never let me down yet!

Which is exactly my question in starting this "secrecy" topic. The information is out there so why do P&O not put it on the personal planner? 

It appears that P&O have no interest in looking at things from a customer perspective.

P&O please put times and dress codes on the daily planner. Similarly if you book speciality dining or entertainment it shows up in "my order " not on the calender. Other cruise lines manage so much better.  

[majortom10]

They used to put port arrival and departures in their brochures a few years a go but suddenly stopped doing it for no apparent reason.

[Bazrat]

41 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That would be perfectly acceptable, along with all the other scheduled events that they like to keep secret.

So you would like a complete list of things that might not happen to make you happy, we was delayed on one cruise because of weather so docking times was meaningless, we was late leaving one port because of a medical emergency, we find if we read the horizon the information is usually there for the next day rather than relying of months old information

[majortom10]

1 minute ago, Bazrat said:

So you would like a complete list of things that might not happen to make you happy, we was delayed on one cruise because of weather so docking times was meaningless, we was late leaving one port because of a medical emergency, we find if we read the horizon the information is usually there for the next day rather than relying of months old information

and to P&Os advantage stops you from organising independent tours/excursions in advance which is the real reason why P&O dont tell you so you think save the hassle I will book with them.

[purplesea]

31 minutes ago, BornLucky said:

Which is exactly my question in starting this "secrecy" topic. The information is out there so why do P&O not put it on the personal planner? 

It appears that P&O have no interest in looking at things from a customer perspective.

P&O please put times and dress codes on the daily planner. Similarly if you book speciality dining or entertainment it shows up in "my order " not on the calender. Other cruise lines manage so much better.  

Formal nights were listed in the personal planner for the cruise we took in January, but they aren't there for our cruise in April. 

Time of ships docking can normally be found by looking at the various port authorities - a long winded way of obtaining timings though!

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

So you would like a complete list of things that might not happen to make you happy, we was delayed on one cruise because of weather so docking times was meaningless, we was late leaving one port because of a medical emergency, we find if we read the horizon the information is usually there for the next day rather than relying of months old information

I am in discussion with P&O about a very similar topic at present, if you like I could put your name forward as an ambassador, you would be a great advert for them at any cruise fair.😉

[wowzz]

25 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

and to P&Os advantage stops you from organising independent tours/excursions in advance which is the real reason why P&O dont tell you so you think save the hassle I will book with them.

Most independent tour companies have a pretty good idea of ship arrival times, and will arrange their pick up times accordingly. You do not need to give them a precise time - they will tell you what time they will be picking you up.

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I am in discussion with P&O about a very similar topic at present, if you like I could put your name forward as an ambassador, you would be a great advert for them at any cruise fair.😉

Alas no to busy booking and soon to be enjoying my cruises

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

and to P&Os advantage stops you from organising independent tours/excursions in advance which is the real reason why P&O dont tell you so you think save the hassle I will book with them.

Didn't stop us organising our trips we was told what time they was leaving, if by chance they left without us they didn't get paid

[zap99]

18 hours ago, wowzz said:

We have a Princess cruise booked in May, and have known  the exact arrival and departure times for the last 6 months or so. There is no reason why P&O could not do the same. Obviously there would be the proviso that timings could change. 

As to guest speakers, entertainers etc -  who cares ? Yes, it might be nice to know in advance that John Smith will be talking about 19th century steam trains, but does it really matter ? I can't imagine anyone choosing a cruise based on the guest speaker or entertainer.

We booked Iona cos Gary was due on board. It all go cancelled, so that's another plan that didn't work.🤧

[davecttr]

2 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We booked Iona cos Gary was due on board. It all go cancelled, so that's another plan that didn't work.🤧

Who is Gary, is he the one with the white teeth on the one show.

[Vampiress88]

The OP will be like me and what to have everything planned. 
I’ve learnt by now that I’m gonna find out very late on what formal nights are etc and go with the flow but as I am more of a military style planned (spreadsheets and everything!) then I would like all this info too. Even if it is subject to change 

[devonuk]

13 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

The OP will be like me and what to have everything planned. 
I’ve learnt by now that I’m gonna find out very late on what formal nights are etc and go with the flow but as I am more of a military style planned (spreadsheets and everything!) then I would like all this info too. Even if it is subject to change 

Looking at the port days plus the first and last days narrows down the choice of formal nights to a few days.