Did P&O Order the Wrong Ships?

[kalos]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Fortunately there are ships out there for all of us. I'd book Fred Olsen above Azura, Ventura, Iona or Arvia any day but others would think I'm mad for doing that. I will try Britannia one day but doubt I would ever do more than a week on her.

 

Exactly there are ships for everyone ,we tried Fred once, nice ships but not for us.

We like the Grand Class ships, they are far from perfect, some could do with tarting up

more than others. A new cabin TV in the P&O's two ships would be nice.

I think that's reasonable, I'm not asking for zip lines and dodgems, there are plenty of 

other ships out there for those that do.

I completely get it that some ships are too big or small for some, or what they offer is 

a step to far, that's why you would never see me on a Virgin Cruise but that is just my 

personal choice.

[Gettingwarmer]

20 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

We like the Grand Class ships, they are far from perfect, some could do with tarting up

more than others. A new cabin TV in the P&O's two ships would be nice.

Agree. The cabin size and balcony size are among the best. Would not go on Britannia as the balconies are so small they are not comfortable. 

[jeanlyon]

I have had 2 great cruises on Balmoral, one out to Dubai.  We had a great time, super ports and the other passengers were all ages.    We also had a very good cruise on the Braemar.  I did not enjoy the Black Watch - she wasn't for me.  Too old and dilapidated.  I do think it depends on what cruise you go on.  If it's a common one to the Fjords or Hamburg, then I think you do get the older brigade.

 

I'm looking to do one in 2024 on the Bolette, but I will do a last minute.

[Yorkypete]

5 hours ago, Britboys said:

Not really down to procurement. As has been previously mentioned, Carnival Corp wanted P&O to expand and they didn't really have a choice of ship - Excel Class was all that was available to them.

With limited availability of LNG around Europe, I expect there was a very limited choice of no-fly 7-night itineraries.

I do however completely agree that someone totally cocked-up with Geiranger....

.....and Bergen and the other ports Iona has missed!

[Yorkypete]

1 hour ago, kalos said:

 

Exactly there are ships for everyone ,we tried Fred once, nice ships but not for us.

We like the Grand Class ships, they are far from perfect, some could do with tarting up

more than others. A new cabin TV in the P&O's two ships would be nice.

I think that's reasonable, I'm not asking for zip lines and dodgems, there are plenty of 

other ships out there for those that do.

I completely get it that some ships are too big or small for some, or what they offer is 

a step to far, that's why you would never see me on a Virgin Cruise but that is just my 

personal choice.

I totally agree about the choice but from Southampton.....?...there is not so much choice.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

Exactly there are ships for everyone ,we tried Fred once, nice ships but not for us.

We like the Grand Class ships, they are far from perfect, some could do with tarting up

more than others. A new cabin TV in the P&O's two ships would be nice.

I think that's reasonable, I'm not asking for zip lines and dodgems, there are plenty of 

other ships out there for those that do.

I completely get it that some ships are too big or small for some, or what they offer is 

a step to far, that's why you would never see me on a Virgin Cruise but that is just my 

personal choice.

On both cruises I did on Azura (1 x Caribbean & 1 by Northern Europe) I found her hideously overcrowded, which is why I won't do her or Ventura now - unless I could be guaranteed 60% occupancy 😂). The tv's don't bother me at all - only use them for the navigation channel... As we keep saying, horses for courses...

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

I totally agree about the choice but from Southampton.....?...there is not so much choice.

More choice than ever from Southampton - but only in the main season.

[gsmt47471015]

32 minutes ago, Britboys said:

On both cruises I did on Azura (1 x Caribbean & 1 by Northern Europe) I found her hideously overcrowded, which is why I won't do her or Ventura now - unless I could be guaranteed 60% occupancy 😂). The tv's don't bother me at all - only use them for the navigation channel... As we keep saying, horses for courses...

We have been on these two ships a number of times ,sometimes when they are full but never felt overcrowded ,however we are not too bothered about been near pools etc and can always find a quiet place to relax, the time will soon be here though that large refurbishment will be required

[kalos]

50 minutes ago, Britboys said:

More choice than ever from Southampton - but only in the main season.

Just done a quick check ,Sept  month there is at least 7 cruise lines visiting Southampton 

doing 29 cruises of 7nts and above .Something for everyone from Fred to Regent .

Edited August 7, 2022 by kalos

[kalos]

20 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

We have been on these two ships a number of times ,sometimes when they are full but never felt overcrowded ,however we are not too bothered about been near pools etc and can always find a quiet place to relax, the time will soon be here though that large refurbishment will be required

 

When doing our 2 TA's on Azura especially on sea days if we were not on our balcony .

Chances are we would chill out up on deck 19 near the golf nets . Great views to be had ,

more often than not we were the only ones up there .

[jeanlyon]

and I did one trip on Azura and hated it.  We are all different that's for sure.  The noise of the seascreen could be heard at every pool.  Deafening.  wondered why they couldn't have had wifi headsets.

[Bazrat]

Just out of interest are there any posters who are going on a P&O cruise on this site, or as it become a Fred fan forum if a new cruiser was to read theses post’s, they would think P&O was a terrible company to cruise with, we have enjoyed our holidays with them have 3 more booked, would we go on Fred I would not pay there rates.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Bazrat

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

Just done a quick check ,Sept  month there is at least 7 cruise lines visiting Southampton 

doing 29 cruises of 7nts and above .Something for everyone from Fred to Regent .

Not all of those will be round trip ones however. 

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

We have been on these two ships a number of times ,sometimes when they are full but never felt overcrowded ,however we are not too bothered about been near pools etc and can always find a quiet place to relax, the time will soon be here though that large refurbishment will be required

It wasn't just the open decks that felt crowded to me. Apart from the Theatre I found it almost impossible to get a seat in the bars and other entertainment venues every night.

[Britboys]

39 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Just out of interest are there any posters who are going on a P&O cruise on this site, or as it become a Fred fan forum if a new cruiser was to read theses post’s, they would think P&O was a terrible company to cruise with, we have enjoyed our holidays with them have 3 more booked, would we go on Fred I would not pay there rates.

Yep. Two booked with P&O, one this year and one next. Trying a short cruise on a new line later this year too.

[Snow Hill]

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

On both cruises I did on Azura (1 x Caribbean & 1 by Northern Europe) I found her hideously overcrowded, which is why I won't do her or Ventura now - unless I could be guaranteed 60% occupancy 😂). The tv's don't bother me at all - only use them for the navigation channel... As we keep saying, horses for courses...

Been on the Azura twice, once round the Med and once to the fjords in Norway, never felt it was overcrowded on either cruise, we even found space by the pools. On our last cruise on her on 2018, did feel,that some areas needed updating, the furniture in the cabin looked tired in places. 

[Britboys]

4 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

Been on the Azura twice, once round the Med and once to the fjords in Norway, never felt it was overcrowded on either cruise, we even found space by the pools. On our last cruise on her on 2018, did feel,that some areas needed updating, the furniture in the cabin looked tired in places. 

Just goes to show how we all experience things differently...

[molecrochip]

10 hours ago, Britboys said:

Not really down to procurement. As has been previously mentioned, Carnival Corp wanted P&O to expand and they didn't really have a choice of ship - Excel Class was all that was available to them.

With limited availability of LNG around Europe, I expect there was a very limited choice of no-fly 7-night itineraries.

I do however completely agree that someone totally cocked-up with Geiranger....

Geiranger cocked up with Geiranger. They took the booking, confirmed the ship would fit and provided information confirming it would fit.

 

As I understand it, from crew onboard Iona, Geiranger changed the mooring positions for the SeaWalk which now means you cannot safely moor Iona alongside.

 

Geiranger never told P&O and it was the first pilot of the season that noticed when they checked their paperwork the day before or so.

 

I understand from the same crew that Geiranger will review the mooring position again for next season.

[molecrochip]

Carnival have an entire shipbuild team who work with shipyards to design ship platforms - think Grand, Royal, Pinnacle, Excel etc.

 

These covers the basic ship and mechanics/engineering. Each brand then specs their fit out/interior design/deck features.

 

There is massive savings in cost and time from building ships on a platform spec than individually.

 

Because the designs are done in conjunction with shipyards, it does mean that all the Royal class ships were built in Italy, the Excel class are split across the Meyer yards in German & Turkey.

 

It was likely 2016 that Iona was allocated to work Norway before some ports brought in restrictions. These things are planned dar in advance.

[gsmt47471015]

10 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Just out of interest are there any posters who are going on a P&O cruise on this site, or as it become a Fred fan forum if a new cruiser was to read theses post’s, they would think P&O was a terrible company to cruise with, we have enjoyed our holidays with them have 3 more booked, would we go on Fred I would not pay there rates.

A long time since I checked Freds prices , my stars they have shot up a lot

[Britboys]

6 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

A long time since I checked Freds prices , my stars they have shot up a lot

Yes, they have but for some reason they stick to high launch/mid prices and then do fairly decent late deals. Not good if you like or need to plan ahead...

[kalos]

25 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Yes, they have but for some reason they stick to high launch/mid prices and then do fairly decent late deals. Not good if you like or need to plan ahead...

Talking of late deals , last night we were on You Tube channel watching a couple who 

had just done an Iona cruise .They were first timers .

They admit P&O gave them the cruising bug as within 3 weeks they were off again on 

a last minute deal but with MSC round trip Southampton .

They bagged a mid ship balcony for the pair of them for £678.30 !! just over £48pppn😍

 

 

 

[Britboys]

25 minutes ago, kalos said:

Talking of late deals , last night we were on You Tube channel watching a couple who 

had just done an Iona cruise .They were first timers .

They admit P&O gave them the cruising bug as within 3 weeks they were off again on 

a last minute deal but with MSC round trip Southampton .

They bagged a mid ship balcony for the pair of them for £678.30 !! just over £48pppn😍

 

 

 

There are quite a number of large ships sailing ex-uk this summer, so bound to be some good deals around.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

14 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Just out of interest are there any posters who are going on a P&O cruise on this site, or as it become a Fred fan forum if a new cruiser was to read theses post’s, they would think P&O was a terrible company to cruise with, we have enjoyed our holidays with them have 3 more booked, would we go on Fred I would not pay there rates.

We are booked on P&O Aug 23, family cruise. Been away from P&O for a while but looking forward to a new shop and see how much tjey have changed since ventura way back. As for Fred not our cup of tea. So Royal this year, royal and P&O next year. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 8/5/2022 at 9:00 PM, Megabear2 said:

The American ships are more expensive though.  Also as has been said elsewhere formulaic.  Even MSC is like a one armed bandit with extras - 10 pin bowling, arcade etc spring to mind.  As pointed out by Moley British passengers aren't so keen to pay for the extras like the flow riders etc. As I said before all these zip lines etc come st a cost.  

I really think it's an age thing and what you are looking for in a cruise. I'm not saying because anyone is of an older generation doesn't want to trip the light fantastic, but many are looking for other things. For instance we, that's me and the wife want relaxation, entertainment, drinks, eats, a bit of sightseeing, some shopping. Taking in local dining and culture. Do I won't zip lines, climbing walls, dodgems, ice rinks, flumes ? No. But I fully understand there are those that do, especially families with children. There being two reasons why we take cruises early or late in the year. Firstly neither of us have any desire to roast ourselves on a sunbed and secondly because there is less likelihood of the ship being overrun with children. We have both brought our kids up and have Grandchildren who we love, but we don't want them 24/7.