Adonia to leave P&O

Very true, probably. It would be difficult to fill a smaller ship with revenue raising features which enable the headline fare to be kept low, and the mid market sector appears to be quite price sensitive. The only way to make a small ship pay IMO is to offer a premium product and charge accordingly, as Oceania do or as Celebrity have done with Azamara. Adonia could have become P&Os answer to the latter if this route had been adopted.

Just had friends come back from Azamara and they loved it - said it make Celebrity look ordinary. P&O could have done this - missed an opportunity I think.

The only way to make a small ship pay IMO is to offer a premium product and charge accordingly, as Oceania do or as Celebrity have done with Azamara. Adonia could have become P&Os answer to the latter if this route had been adopted.

I agree with your thoughts. Every cruise line is competing with every other cruise line to quote the lowest prices, as if they were selling onions in a supermarket. And I think most would agree that this really shows in the reduction of general quality. But the smaller ships have big advantages over the modern monsters. Do P&O have a ship that can sail into the heart of Seville or Bordeaux or any of the smaller ports on the Croation Coast etc. Not now. A smaller P&O ship with enhanced quality and fares to match would get my custom if it existed.

But I fear it's not going to happen.

P.S. Of course Britannia will sail full. Prices will be slashed to ensure it.

David.

I agree with your thoughts. Every cruise line is competing with every other cruise line to quote the lowest prices, as if they were selling onions in a supermarket. And I think most would agree that this really shows in the reduction of general quality. But the smaller ships have big advantages over the modern monsters. Do P&O have a ship that can sail into the heart of Seville or Bordeaux or any of the smaller ports on the Croation Coast etc. Not now. A smaller P&O ship with enhanced quality and fares to match would get my custom if it existed.

 

But I fear it's not going to happen.

 

P.S. Of course Britannia will sail full. Prices will be slashed to ensure it.

 

David.

I think you have hit the nail on the head to operate Adonia the prices will have to go up, however I have read that unlike other R class ships she does not have a deck of mini suites. So charging a price mum is difficult without the facilities to go with the increase.

I think you have hit the nail on the head to operate Adonia the prices will have to go up, however I have read that unlike other R class ships she does not have a deck of mini suites. So charging a price mum is difficult without the facilities to go with the increase.

You are correct that the cabin configuration of the Azamara and Oceania ships differ from Adonia.

Azamara sail two R class ships, Azamara Quest and Azamara Journey. In both cases half of the equivalent of A deck on Adonia is occupied by suites. Oceania sail three, Regatta, Insignia and Nautica. In each case the whole of "A deck" is occupied by suites.

How big a problem this would be should P&O have gone down this route one can only speculate. Not all passengers on an up market ship want a suite, but the relative absence of them could reduce the market if a substantial proportion do. However, all these ships were originally Renaissance line ships. Did they commission them with different cabin configurations, or have they been adapted by their new owners? I do not know, perhaps someone else does.

Sorry if I am offending anyone, but I certainly am rather pleased at the demise of Adonia, hopefully P&O will see some sense and re market Arcadia as well.

 

The concept of Adults only crusing is fine provided you get a broad spectrum of age groups travelling, sadly in the UK - adults only appears to equal quite a senior age group. Having tried the product, I would not go again on an Adults Only - after 23:30 Arcadia becomes a ghost ship, whilst I am not a 24 hr party animal, I do want to enjoy some life late at night, after all I am on holiday.

 

Perhaps P&O should consider a re branding of the Adults only concept, with more emphasis on late night entertainment etc - it might work wonders.

 

So Adonia gone - Oriana probably next, the marketing hype re Britannia failing miserably, what next - Crisis - what Crisis.

 

Happy Joe

Many of us are quite happy with the P&O adult-only concept thanks Happy Joe. There are now 5 ships offering approximately 15000 berths aboard family ships with lively late-night venues. Adult-only is only offered on 2 ships offering approximately 4000 berths.

Keep yer mits off :D

Quite agree Andrew. Plenty of room for those that want to sail with children. Let's keep the adult only ones for the rest of us.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong country; when it's time to plan a cruise, especially! I love the Cunard ships and would love to cruise on P & O as well. I'm still missing the QE2 and always will! I am dismayed by these big floating hotels here at the Florida ports near me, and all this drama created by both NCL and Carnival Corp lately is just ridiculous. As an American I would like to apologize that your Adonia has been taken away and some of you are not going to embark on the trip you were so looking forward to taking. That's how I felt when they sold the QE2 to the Arabs... 😔 If budget were no object we'd be taking a transatlantic over on the QM2 and boarding one of your British liners which still offer the smaller ships and ballroom dancing, which is mostly nonexistent on the mainline ships over here that we've cruised on with our children and grandchildren. We have many friends and students that participate in mission trips to the DR on a yearly basis. When I saw the cost of this fathom "volunteer cruise" I was completely speechless. I wonder if the cruisers will "raise support" for the trips the way our church members do for their missions costs??? 😳

Don,t be too sad about missing the QE2. You can always listen to her on Youtube especially when she is approaching Geirangerfjord.

Whilst on board Britannia I was told that Adonia's Fathom cruises are pre-booking really fast and that she may come back to P&O in March 2017 as Fathom want a larger ship. Adonia was chosen as a low cost low risk ship to test out the concept. I was told that P&O are committed to a long term 8 ship fleet. Oceana was the name that was floated as possibly swapping with Adonia with another potential new build ship of Britannia size being introduced.

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Another Britannia for P&O? Holy sh**

I for one will be very pleased if Adonia comes back. We absolutely loved her.

And I for one wouldn't mind if they cut up Adonia to fund another Britannia. Each to their own.

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Whilst on board Britannia I was told that Adonia's Fathom cruises are pre-booking really fast and that she may come back to P&O in March 2017 as Fathom want a larger ship. Adonia was chosen as a low cost low risk ship to test out the concept. I was told that P&O are committed to a long term 8 ship fleet. Oceana was the name that was floated as possibly swapping with Adonia with another potential new build ship of Britannia size being introduced.

 

 

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Oceana - nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :(:(:(:(

Which ship would go from Venice though ------ there won't be many left that will be allowed to sail from there.

They will have a hard time filling Britannia all the time I would think. there have been some extremely cheap offers on her. No cheap offers on Adonia.

Both Oriana and Aurora are still allowed into Venice.

All ships can sail into Venice as the ban on larger ships never happened and seems never to happen. The reason we are stuck with smaller ships in Venice is due to that lag between planning cruises and them happening.

It won't be anymore difficult filling Britannia than any other ship. For everyone that hates her, there is someone that likes her. I've got relatives with young children and buggies who are pleased to have a bigger more modern ship to go on. I've not seen any really cheap prices and most cruises have sailed full. Having experienced Britannia, she will now be my ship of choice followed by Ventura and Azura. I don't expect to travel on a small ship on P&O again.

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All ships can sail into Venice as the ban on larger ships never happened and seems never to happen. The reason we are stuck with smaller ships in Venice is due to that lag between planning cruises and them happening.

 

It won't be anymore difficult filling Britannia than any other ship. For everyone that hates her, there is someone that likes her. I've got relatives with young children and buggies who are pleased to have a bigger more modern ship to go on. I've not seen any really cheap prices and most cruises have sailed full. Having experienced Britannia, she will now be my ship of choice followed by Ventura and Azura. I don't expect to travel on a small ship on P&O again.

 

 

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I thought that the cruise lines have agreed not to send in the big ships despite the legislation. I would be disappointed if any of the cruise lines didn't keep to this agreement.

I have to say that we loved Oceana on our first P&O cruise, less so last year, but had an amazing week on her in April. We fell in love all over again. Britannia has a lot to live up to in July - and, yes, we like big ships.

In addition to all this, cruise next March, D606 is being cancelled! Apparently a letter is in the post. We were really looking forward to this. It was a cruise in the Caribbean calling at places like Bequia, then on to several stops in the Southern states of the USA, then back across the Atlantic to Southampton. Our cruise and D606A is being cancelled, according to the P&O website. Not happy!

This was to be our first cruise with P & O for my special birthday we looked forward to having a celebratory lunch with our friends who live on Bequia and our son who extended his annual dive holiday there to celebrate with us. We also looked forward to visiting Miami, Charlston and Bermuda. The Adonia was a small adult only ship who was able to call at small islands, ideal for the Caribbean now the majority of cruise ships to all at Bequia will be American very disappointing and to rub salt into the wound P & O have still not returned our deposit which we paid October 2014 so much for them being sorry that their plans have impacted on our holiday. Not Happy!!