Returning to Cruising

[paulscott]

We've been cruising for about 12 years or so, mostly on P&O and Princess, occasionally Cunard. We were quite happy with P&O and we're Atlantic tier, so reasonably regulars.

 

We haven't been cruising now since before Covid for a variety of reasons, and would like to start again. My wife is slightly concerned that P&O has gone "downmarket" since we last went last time (May 2019). 

 

I've read many comments here (thanks to all contributors) to see if there is any truth behind this idea, but while there are many excellent reviews I couldn't get a general "feel" for how things have changed in the preceding years.

 

All advice is welcome. Apologies if I missed a relevant previous discussion.

[Selbourne]

Hi Paul. Welcome to Cruise Critic. We had exactly the same concern as your wife. Our first P&O cruise post Covid was on Britannia last summer (we’ve done 3 other P&O cruises since). I did a live blog from this cruise but afterwards I did a long post on all the changes and how they impacted on us (or didn’t). Hopefully this will answer all (and maybe more 😂) of your questions or concerns. 
 

 

[yorkshirephil]

As a regular cruiser before and after covid I would agree that P&O has gone downmarket (I looked up the definition of downmarket) so as to try and not sound pretentious. In my experience this was happening well before covid. However the costs have also fallen which IMHO still makes a P&O cruise good value.

We have also cruised on several other lines and are seeing similar trends. Clearly we are all different and have our opinions based on experiences and likes. All I would say is give it a go and then decide for yourself whether P&O still meet your needs.

[Bazrat]

We have cruised regularly since covid on various lines, and to be honest what have been removed we have not missed.

[david63]

In my opinion, and others may disagree, the biggest change, in the wrong direction, is with the choice, and quality, of the majority of meals, especially in the MDR

[AchileLauro]

Yes you certainly could argue that the brand has gone down market but then again you could just argue that things have simply changed.

In my opinion all the ships have a different particular character to them, and to get the most enjoyment out of your cruise you need to select the right ship for you.

 

We have sailed on most of the fleet and will be trying a ship that we have never sailed on before in a month's time. We weren't prepared to risk booking our main holiday on it because of mixed reports from people whose judgement we trust. So we are only taking a short cruise, and if it suits us we shall consider it for a future longer cruise. If it doesn't then we will bear with it for a few days, but I dare say that we will enjoy the break.

 

From past cruises we have identified several of the fleet that we have found not at all to our liking and have vowed never to sail on them again, even if we were to win a free cruise in a competition or prize draw. To us the ship is all important, even more so than the ports of call.

[Camberley]

Destinations aside, I have always found P&O to be fine for what it is: not downmarket and certainly not upmarket but no frills, pleasant, great crew and pretty reliable. There were signs of things such as little cuts here and there and deterioration in food quality (admittedly the food is a subjective view!): but these were fine for us as they were not major enough overall. And I don’t mind change of the experience is still good.

 

But in the last couple of years I am now much more selective with P&O in terms of the ship than I used to be and am less keen on the “pack em in and be damned” mentality with some of their recent ships where quality seems to take second place over quantity: again, purely my opinion. Plus some very poor customer services issues that still remain unresolved over a year or so later: customer services in several cruise companies are rarely first rate in my experience but with P&O I think this area has certainly taken a nosedive.

 

And of my cruises I now sail less with P&O (about 1/4 of my cruises are with them now compared to previously sailing exclusively with them). They still have something to offer for me, but I rarely find myself recommending them to others nowadays and I sail more with other companies that I find tick the boxes more for me - despite all of them still having their own “quirks”.

Edited March 23 by Camberley

[terrierjohn]

We are on our third Iona cruise and enjoying it just as much as usual. The ship has 5400 passengers on board, and according to one of our table companions 1700 are first time P&O cruisers. There are a lot of young families on board, which is probably P&O's aim, and with inside cabins selling at under £1000pp, with under twos going free, it would be hard to find a 2 week full board sunshine holiday with lots of inclusive entertainment at anything close to that price.

[sandancer]

We recently cruised on Iona (I think we got off as you got on John). There were a lot of young families onboard. In fact I said it was the first cruise where there were as many buggies as wheelchairs. For the OP, if not having a turn down at night, no body lotion, no facecloths and reduced portions at meal times, no trays in the buffet and paying a delivery charge for room service matters to you then you might not find P&O suits you now. 

[terrierjohn]

14 minutes ago, sandancer said:

We recently cruised on Iona (I think we got off as you got on John). There were a lot of young families onboard. In fact I said it was the first cruise where there were as many buggies as wheelchairs. For the OP, if not having a turn down at night, no body lotion, no facecloths and reduced portions at meal times, no trays in the buffet and paying a delivery charge for room service matters to you then you might not find P&O suits you now. 

If you request body lotion and daily facecloth  change, your steward will happily provide them.

[sandancer]

Unfortunately not John. Our cabin attendant told us that she was not allowed to give us either unless we were in a suite. I can live without a face cloth and I bought some body lotion at our first port. 

[smokey01]

Every P&O cruise we go on (ordinary balconies) we ask for flannels/face cloths, absolutely no problem, we get them changed daily without asking (after embarkation day). Not asked for body lotion though. Mostly cruised P&O since covid, so 3 times per year for face cloths with no problem so maybe it is the body lotion that is a problem (I always bring my own body lotion as I have sensitive skin). Next 2 P&O cruises will be in a suite (for the first time, yay) so I can’t test if things have changed! I have found though that if we ask for flannels there is a blank look so we make sure we Americanise it to face cloths.

[terrierjohn]

47 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Unfortunately not John. Our cabin attendant told us that she was not allowed to give us either unless we were in a suite. I can live without a face cloth and I bought some body lotion at our first port. 

Clearly there is different interpretations made by the hotel staff, I imagine if you ask to speak to the stewards line manager, then you should get a different answer.

[sandancer]

I didn’t. Not important enough for me to make it an issue. We had a fairly serious medical problem so more pressing problems. I take this opportunity to commend the excellent medical staff on Iona. Couldn’t fault the service. 

[Valfan]

I've done six P&O cruises since my own restart 18 months ago, mainly in the cheapest grade of inside cabin.  And I've never had any problem getting face flannels, body lotion or conditioner.  I just ask the cabin steward on the first day. 

Some other small items which I thought had stopped being available and they weren't important anyway, I discovered from other passengers that you can still get them by asking your steward.  This happened with a P&O note pad and pen on my last cruise in Dec. I noticed that other solos were using them and wondered if they'd got them onboard. I was greeted with a chorus of "Ask your steward".

[Selbourne]

@paulscott Having re-read the posts that I made detailing the few dozen post Covid changes that we noticed on Britannia, it was interesting that the experience on the three other P&O ships that we’ve been on since then was slightly different. Some things that have been stopped on some ships have continued on others. Notably, the app system for booking MDR dining seems to be reserved for the larger ships. 
 

As others have said, the experience can vary quite a bit depending on which ship you go on. We found some aspects of Iona to be very good, but other issues that we had mean that I simply cannot convince my wife to go on her again (nor sister ship Arvia). By contrast, our favourite ship had always been Aurora, but having spent a long time on her recently we are now finding her to be past her best and the MDR food was the weakest of the four P&O ships that we’ve been on. For us, I think our priority for our future P&O cruises may now be Britannia and Ventura. We have also started using Cunard as well. 

[doog442]

We'd kind of faded away from cruising, instead choosing land based all inclusive holidays (Maldives, Mauritius, Antigua, St Lucia Mexico etc).

 

We have an absolute minimum standard - so decent quality hotels.

 

We did a Princess cruise after Covid in 2022 but it almost put us off for life - clearly struggling in all areas from covid plus an extremely elderly demographic.

 

We thought we'd give it one last go and did the Arvia Caribbean in Feb. We had a fantastic time and it's converted us back, not fully (as we'll still do beach holidays - Maldives next month) but it reminded us why we started cruising back in 2007, they just nailed it. We've booked Cunard for next year ( to sample the Queen Anne) but I have quite a few P&O cruises on my radar.

[Eglesbrech]

For me the biggest change is the food which is, in my opinion, nothing like as good as it used to be. Others disagree and think nothing has changed, it could be down to personal food preferences but for me there is nothing like the same choice, quality or portion sizes.

 

That said with the much lower cost for cruises now you can use what you saved on the basic cruise to have meals in the speciality restaurants. On the new bigger ships the choice is quite extensive (but managing to get a booking can be a bit hit and miss with the new “app”).

 

As @Bazrat suggests above it depends on what you need / like as to whether or not some of the changes will bother you. For example no evening turndown, charges for all room service, only one sit down afternoon tea per week (available every day in the buffet), no wine waiters, cheap biscuits on the tea tray etc.etc.. The changes while small in themselves do give less of a “special” feel to P&O cruises compared to the past.

 

The customer base has also changed. P&O set out to bring in a younger and more family based passenger demographic. They have achieved this and consequently the passenger mix on some ships and at some times of year don’t appeal to me. I don’t like overcrowded ships which happens when the rooms are 3 or 4 up rather than 2 per cabin. While that has always been the case the success of marketing means it’s much more noticeable. Choose your time of travel and ship wisely for your personal preferences.

 

The lower (sometimes very low) prices certainly make cruising more accessible across a range of people who would perhaps not previously have considered it and this can change the atmosphere. That change is neither good or bad, just different from years gone by.

 

I would not describe P&O as “downmarket”, it’s just a lot more basic and less special than it used to be. This “feel” is not helped by some of their lack of customer service eg long waits for anyone to answer the phone, less than helpful reception staff onboard or making customers wait out in the cold and wet if they arrive early.

 

With all that P&O still offer a decent cruise with food, decent entertainment and a clean cabin taking you to places of interest at a good price.

 

[tring]

Regards face cloths, I remember Molecrochip saying that we will be able to ask for them while stocks last, but they will not be replacing those stocks.  Hence makes sense to me that they may now only be providing them on request for passengers in suites.

 

They are something we do appreciate, not just for personal use, but mainly to be able to wipe around sink area and keep it clean/tidy during the day.  We will be taking some Jay cloths for our next cruise, though will still ask for them.  Taking a couple of face cloths is not a problem, but they are much better laundered regularly.

 

Regards food, we we cruise for the ports and destinations, (sometimes along with some warm weather) and we have always found something to eat that we are quite happy with.  I do wonder how people eat at home sometimes, but different people have their own preferences and priorities, so I do appreciate that is a very personal choice.  The lack of an evening cabin service is something I have found an advantage as we no longer feel we have to make the cabin tidy and everything off the beds before we go to dinner.  It can be a lot easier to keep things we will need later that night out and available.

 

The larger ships have no appeal to us though, so have mainly sailed on Aurora/Arcadia, with an Azura or Ventura added for a specific itineraries.

 

 

 

Edited March 24 by tring

[AndyMichelle]

2 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

For me the biggest change is the food which is, in my opinion, nothing like as good as it used to be. Others disagree and think nothing has changed, it could be down to personal food preferences but for me there is nothing like the same choice, quality or portion sizes.

 

That said with the much lower cost for cruises now you can use what you saved on the basic cruise to have meals in the speciality restaurants. On the new bigger ships the choice is quite extensive (but managing to get a booking can be a bit hit and miss with the new “app”).

 

As @Bazrat suggests above it depends on what you need / like as to whether or not some of the changes will bother you. For example no evening turndown, charges for all room service, only one sit down afternoon tea per week (available every day in the buffet), no wine waiters, cheap biscuits on the tea tray etc.etc.. The changes while small in themselves do give less of a “special” feel to P&O cruises compared to the past.

 

The customer base has also changed. P&O set out to bring in a younger and more family based passenger demographic. They have achieved this and consequently the passenger mix on some ships and at some times of year don’t appeal to me. I don’t like overcrowded ships which happens when the rooms are 3 or 4 up rather than 2 per cabin. While that has always been the case the success of marketing means it’s much more noticeable. Choose your time of travel and ship wisely for your personal preferences.

 

The lower (sometimes very low) prices certainly make cruising more accessible across a range of people who would perhaps not previously have considered it and this can change the atmosphere. That change is neither good or bad, just different from years gone by.

 

I would not describe P&O as “downmarket”, it’s just a lot more basic and less special than it used to be. This “feel” is not helped by some of their lack of customer service eg long waits for anyone to answer the phone, less than helpful reception staff onboard or making customers wait out in the cold and wet if they arrive early.

 

With all that P&O still offer a decent cruise with food, decent entertainment and a clean cabin taking you to places of interest at a good price.

 

What a great, balanced summary. 

Just about hits the nail on the head. 

Thank you 

Andy 

[Ardennais]

On 3/23/2024 at 11:30 AM, david63 said:

In my opinion, and others may disagree, the biggest change, in the wrong direction, is with the choice, and quality, of the majority of meals, especially in the MDR

I would agree with you there. 

[Thejuggler]

There are now far more cabins at sea than even 5 years ago.  Far more competition keeps prices keen.

 

However as cruises are still similar prices to 15 years ago, but the price of food certainly isn't, so thats one area where large savings can be made by operators.

[Glad Bailey]

6 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

For me the biggest change is the food which is, in my opinion, nothing like as good as it used to be. Others disagree and think nothing has changed, it could be down to personal food preferences but for me there is nothing like the same choice, quality or portion sizes.

 

That said with the much lower cost for cruises now you can use what you saved on the basic cruise to have meals in the speciality restaurants. On the new bigger ships the choice is quite extensive (but managing to get a booking can be a bit hit and miss with the new “app”).

 

As @Bazrat suggests above it depends on what you need / like as to whether or not some of the changes will bother you. For example no evening turndown, charges for all room service, only one sit down afternoon tea per week (available every day in the buffet), no wine waiters, cheap biscuits on the tea tray etc.etc.. The changes while small in themselves do give less of a “special” feel to P&O cruises compared to the past.

 

The customer base has also changed. P&O set out to bring in a younger and more family based passenger demographic. They have achieved this and consequently the passenger mix on some ships and at some times of year don’t appeal to me. I don’t like overcrowded ships which happens when the rooms are 3 or 4 up rather than 2 per cabin. While that has always been the case the success of marketing means it’s much more noticeable. Choose your time of travel and ship wisely for your personal preferences.

 

The lower (sometimes very low) prices certainly make cruising more accessible across a range of people who would perhaps not previously have considered it and this can change the atmosphere. That change is neither good or bad, just different from years gone by.

 

I would not describe P&O as “downmarket”, it’s just a lot more basic and less special than it used to be. This “feel” is not helped by some of their lack of customer service eg long waits for anyone to answer the phone, less than helpful reception staff onboard or making customers wait out in the cold and wet if they arrive early.

 

With all that P&O still offer a decent cruise with food, decent entertainment and a clean cabin taking you to places of interest at a good price.

 

 

[Glad Bailey]

Have to agree 100%

[terrierjohn]

On our current Iona cruise the biggest change we are noticing is the number of overweight passengers there are on board, and quite a number could described as morbidly obese, some quite young but mainly among the elderly retired. So it appears that the withdrawal of trays might have reduced wastage, but possibly the passengers are now eating it all rather than leaving it!!

The age range of all passengers goes from very young families right up to the very elderly, so no significant noticeable change in the age demographic for a 14 nt winter sun cruise.