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I have a (15th) cruise booked with P&O and I have been reading on these boards and watching videos on YouTube which are reporting a huge fall in standards with P&O as opposed to their pre-covid offering. So many things seem to have disappeared and been significantly reduced - from service to food and everything in between.

 

I'm beginning to regret booking with P&O now and am considering giving Cunard a go.

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Posted (edited)

Truth is things are not what they were pre-covid same with any other lines. Personally since I took one of the cruises once restrictions had lifted with only 500 people on board things have slowly been reintroduced back to what use to happen. E.G Themed buffet nights. 

 

Have not experienced a downfall in service some may say no nightly turn down is a downfall others don't. I guess it all comes down to the ship and how many is onboard especially the likes of Arvia carrying over 5000 passengers where you may experience standards being slow etc. Restaurant food found a bit repetitive last year but could always find something to have or go to a speciality restaurant.

 

Its all personal opinion. You can watch countless videos and each one says different some will say the same. People on Facecloth have come off cruises and wished they never listened to the negative reviews that people had put. It had put them off going but were glad they still went and found no faults.   

Edited by carlanthony24
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56 minutes ago, Ichabod123 said:

I have a (15th) cruise booked with P&O and I have been reading on these boards and watching videos on YouTube which are reporting a huge fall in standards with P&O as opposed to their pre-covid offering. So many things seem to have disappeared and been significantly reduced - from service to food and everything in between.

 

I'm beginning to regret booking with P&O now and am considering giving Cunard a go.

Things have changed since covid, personally I wouldn't say it is a huge fall in standards but a fall never the less. However the standards have fallen with Cunard, maybe not quite to the extent of P&O. Saying that I still think cruising is great value for money and non of the declines have given us cause to consider not cruising. Maybe you should consider one of the more elite cruise lines who should give you a better experience? at a considerable higher cost.

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There are a couple of things different but nothing that would spoil my holiday, there's so much competition out there now which means one thing that has fallen is the base price for a cruises, naturally as a result some things have to be sacrificed. Other lines will still cater for those who want top end service P&O just can't offer that for the prices they are offering cruises for now.

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12 hours ago, Ichabod123 said:

I'm beginning to regret booking with P&O now and am considering giving Cunard a go.

 

If that's how you feel then go for it .We did a Queen Victoria and the standards were

a lot higher but so was the price of the cruise but we loved it.

On the plus side you will get a far better room service for food which has no extra cost.

Going on the down side we were paying around the £11 pp in service charges per day

.I also like to watch You Tube and a couple who were knocking the drinks back forgot

they were on Cunard (not P&O) and were shocked when they saw the "Drinks service"

added to their bill.

I also want to return to Cunard for another one off but realise that we have to pay for 

better but for now am happy with what  P&O offer for the price in general.

Hope your P&O cruise goes well for you and proves to be of value for you .

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Posted (edited)

It is so personal: what some people really miss, others don’t care a fig about. Obviously P&O is nothing like higher-end cruises - not that it claims to be - and we feel it still offers good value: the main food, for instance, is adequate/functional (food standards etc haven’t dropped: I feel it has always been like that - again, just a personal opinion). Service tries to be great and it is usually good (but we have found this is dependent of the ship and when sailing). But the cruises are still good experiences and offer many potential highlights,

 

We’ve recently also been on Cunard and Princess which we also enjoy: there have been some dips here and there with each, but nothing of real concern for us. But I get folk’s concerns although these are not too dissimilar to those echoed on other cruise lines by some. I feel that despite some changes in approach, what P&O lack in “wow” factor they make up for in terms of being essentially a good “cheap and cheerful” brand…ok, not it’s not cheap as such but it’s certainly not ridiculously pricey.

 

And we still enjoy P&O when we sail with them: ok, for us it’s sometimes like having a pot noodle instead of a really great bowl of authentic pad thai, but there is pleasure to be found with a P&O cruise. I am sure you have not made a mistake and will enjoy the cruise.

Edited by Camberley
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I doubt that there is a single cruise line which does NOT have long-term regulars bewailing the fall in standards.

It has been going on for years on Saga, and I can distinctly recall pre-Covid people telling me how P&O were slipping.

 

 

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Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

Things have changed since covid, personally I wouldn't say it is a huge fall in standards but a fall never the less. However the standards have fallen with Cunard, maybe not quite to the extent of P&O. Saying that I still think cruising is great value for money and non of the declines have given us cause to consider not cruising. Maybe you should consider one of the more elite cruise lines who should give you a better experience? at a considerable higher cost.

I wouldn't. I used to cruise with Silversea before the Great Lunacy. Their standards have fallen much more, to the extent that I now consider good old P and O better value for money: I book a suite or similar, eat at the speciality restaurants, and get a good deal.

Edited by Clodia
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20 hours ago, Ichabod123 said:

and watching videos on YouTube which are reporting a huge fall in standards with P&O

 

Videos saying 'everything is fine, nothing to see here' don't generate clicks and YouTube advertising revenue, but videos that say 'shock horror, you won't believe this' do. 

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Gee....you can still get on a P&O ship for 100 quid a night....sometimes less....you can easily pay that in a bog standard hotel so if you want the " old standards" of cruising pay more on an higher end cruise line. P&O offer good value for money just be prepared to lower your expectations ....you may be pleasantly surprised 

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I don't miss the turn down, or the chocolates on the pillow.  I do think the food in the MDR has gone down a lot, mainly because they are trying to get you to pay for speciality restaurants.  Luckily I don't cruise for the food, but for the holiday.  I won't starve.

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As others have said, things have certainly changed, but we still feel there is enough on offer to have fantastic holidays. 

We are trying Cunard soon for the first time, so will be interesting to compare as, if you look on their boards, seemingly standards have dropped there too. 

Go on your cruise and make your own mind up, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Andy 

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If you have made a big mistake, then countless thousands of others with future bookings must have done the same, so you will be in good company with plenty of others to moan to about your big mistake.😉😇

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Yes there are changes but only you will know if they will affect your overall enjoyment of the cruise or not. As an example there is less choice of drinks and wines but if your favourite is still there (or a good alternative) then it won’t bother you one bit. If turndown wasn’t your thing then you won’t miss it

 

For me personally the biggest issue is the food both in the main dining rooms and buffet. There is less choice and in my opinion a lower standard of produce. You won’t however starve and you will have perfectly edible meals, if not particularly exciting.
 

There are however several speciality restaurants still offering better food options and given the reduced price of P&O cruises it makes the option of dining there on several (or every) evening very affordable. I would suggest that if you are a foodie try to book some in advance.

 

Go with an open mind and look for the positives and you will find them.

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On 8/15/2024 at 8:27 PM, Ichabod123 said:

I have a (15th) cruise booked with P&O and I have been reading on these boards and watching videos on YouTube which are reporting a huge fall in standards with P&O as opposed to their pre-covid offering. So many things seem to have disappeared and been significantly reduced - from service to food and everything in between.

 

I'm beginning to regret booking with P&O now and am considering giving Cunard a go.

If you don't enjoy it, try somewhere else. We enjoy P&O and others. Watch Utube videos at your peril.

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18 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Videos saying 'everything is fine, nothing to see here' don't generate clicks and YouTube advertising revenue, but videos that say 'shock horror, you won't believe this' do. 

Absolutely right. Many of the tubers are now commercial enterprises. Bad reviews get the revenue up.

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Just now, zap99 said:

Absolutely right. Many of the tubers are now commercial enterprises. Bad reviews get the revenue up.

Been going on a while, Freddie Starr ate my hamster. That was 1986 ish and most of us oldies still remember it.

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On 8/15/2024 at 8:27 PM, Ichabod123 said:

I have a (15th) cruise booked with P&O and I have been reading on these boards and watching videos on YouTube which are reporting a huge fall in standards with P&O as opposed to their pre-covid offering. So many things seem to have disappeared and been significantly reduced - from service to food and everything in between.

 

I'm beginning to regret booking with P&O now and am considering giving Cunard a go.

 

Covid19 was a major issue for all cruise lines a financial disaster of catastrophic proportions. In coming back after they were allowed to restart all cruise lines have looked at trying to claw back money to get back to a better financial status.  All of them have trimmed back on everything they believe will help, P&O are not unique in this respect.

 

Regards John

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I am so glad we are newbie's, only two so far, Arcadia and Arvia. Both different experiences and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. It is all new to us and have had little that has irked us. I guess a few more cruises and we will be moaning along with every one else. 😉

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1 hour ago, AlexMcSpot said:

I am so glad we are newbie's, only two so far, Arcadia and Arvia. Both different experiences and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. It is all new to us and have had little that has irked us. I guess a few more cruises and we will be moaning along with every one else. 😉

New people don't know the difference and sometimes wonder what people are complaining about because they like yourselves enjoy it. When we started cruising nearly 30 years ago people were saying it isn't like it used to be, we started on a budget line (Suncruises) and thought it was brilliant, we still cruise with a budget line (P&O) and still think it is brilliant only not quite as brilliant as it used to be. 

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1 hour ago, AlexMcSpot said:

I am so glad we are newbie's, only two so far, Arcadia and Arvia. Both different experiences and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. It is all new to us and have had little that has irked us. I guess a few more cruises and we will be moaning along with every one else. 😉

No you probably won’t moan for a good few years yet. It’s only once some of the things that you really like are removed that the moaning begins 😀

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20 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

New people don't know the difference and sometimes wonder what people are complaining about because they like yourselves enjoy it. When we started cruising nearly 30 years ago people were saying it isn't like it used to be, we started on a budget line (Suncruises) and thought it was brilliant, we still cruise with a budget line (P&O) and still think it is brilliant only not quite as brilliant as it used to be. 

Loved Sun cruises.Still have a fridge magnet on the fridge for winning something on there.

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20 hours ago, AlexMcSpot said:

I am so glad we are newbie's, only two so far, Arcadia and Arvia. Both different experiences and we thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. It is all new to us and have had little that has irked us. I guess a few more cruises and we will be moaning along with every one else. 😉

I have been on many cruises as you can see. I have no moans about any ship or cruise. But that is just me.

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Totally depends on what and level of service you want or expect.

 

P&O are your cheap butlins at sea cruise line. Now there is nothing wrong with that as i enjoy just being me on a cruise. We are so not interested in being pampered and having constant attention. Being military as well i have no idea what good food is 🤣 or entertainment on long flights. 

So for us if P&O just made their ships more fun, water slides, etc then it would be a winner everytime. Hence why we mostly now sail with Royal. 

 

Maybe when i am much much older i will try cunard.....but not yet.....

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23 hours ago, AlexMcSpot said:

 I guess a few more cruises and we will be moaning along with every one else.

😉

 

Or you will do what most of us do and find a cruise line that suits your needs

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

 

So for us if P&O just made their ships more fun, water slides, etc then it would be a winner everytime. Hence why we mostly now sail with Royal. 

 

 But to others the lack of what you desire is what makes P&O their winner.

Last time I looked Skeggy Butlins was full of water slides etc just like Royal who you sail with.

Problem is if  P&O copied Royal then all the ships would be samey and both expensive ?

 

@Ichabod123  Are you out of curiosity  keeping your P&O or changing it to Cunard 

to go with your other booking in March 25 ?🤔

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