Grimsby Mariner

I think it’s only a matter of time before P&O scrap formal nights. They have gone so down market in the type of cruiser they are now desperate to attract that those type of people can barely dress themselves, let alone wear anything remotely smart. Either the clientele are refurbished or P&O will be running nothing but glorified booze cruises on Iona and Arvia. At least until some kind of tragedy occurs.

The rear cabins on Arvia will all be susceptible to noise from the loud thumping dance music on deck 8. That usually lasts until about 10.00pm. We were on a cruise in November and we heard from a few people in the rear cabins that the noise was an issue. Complaining to reception though was as usual a total waste of time.

We have walked it there and back. It is a better area around Reids than the centre of Funchal. Also some nice bars up by the carlton hotel. I think they told us in Reids afternoon tea starts about 2.00 pm but they were fully booked for the day we were in port. They let us look round though, a lovely old fashioned place.

P&O seem to have done away with dress codes almost entirely. Though that is probably because of the standard of cruiser they are now happy to attract. So on normal nights on Arvia recently tee shirts, polo shirts, shorts and tracksuits were de rigeur. Even saw a football shirt one night. At least on formal nights everyone in the MDR's was smart, jackets and ties are required with shirt and trousers though not necessarily black tie. Still some idiots who sit in the Atrium in shorts and tee shirts gawping at everybody though whilst claiming their free champagne. Well it is a booze cruise after all!

I would suggest this is likely another misleading P&O advertising gimmick. Given that their policy is to reduce the price of unsold cabins near the cruise embarkation date to rock bottom, I would have thought that there would not be any left to upgrade to? But if they sell you the original cruise on the basis an upgrade is a possibility it might make someone book on the off chance....

Unfortunately P&O do not impose the rules on their dress code, certainly on Iona. On formal nights the lower decks are supposed to be for people dressing up only. Yet there is still the odd buffoon walking round in jeans and tee shirt - on our recent cruise there was someone who could not respect the dress code but was still mingling with the sole intention of getting his free glass of champagne. But no crew member made any effort to remove him. In the MDR's dress code is supposed to be casual trousers and shirts. My wife and I like to dress smart and, whilst we have no problem with people not following the dress code as long as they stay out of the designated areas that is fine, but P&O still seem to allow tracksuits and football shirts in the MDR's every cruise, so there seems little point in rules. That is annoying and I still do not understand why some people feel the need to dress slovenly, if I wanted to mix with people in shorts and tee shirts at dinner I would go to Horizon and dress similarly, so why can they not respect the smarter people on ship? Yet ironically they are very strict on not letting people in shorts in the Crows Nest. Bizarre that some rules are enforced there, yet since 18th April they now allow children in there. Clearly there are not enough bars on Iona for children that they have to ruin the ambience of the one adults only location?

Having just come off Iona we found if you went to the club about five minutes before the show was due to start there was always space to sit even if we were not booked. Not too sure how easy it will be on Arvia though now they have Harrison playing in the 710 as word is out about how good he is. Presumably more tables have been added to the club for the demand as they did on Iona.

Positives - well we got into every port! As I say the crew (in impossible circumstances given the lack of leadership from above all the way up the ladder), and food are fantastic. Just make sure you book as many things as you can before going on board to avoid disappointment. We have just seen everything race downhill towards the bottom over the last sixteen months to be too positive anymore. Such a shame as it is a magnificent ship and I cannot believe when it was built it was envisaged as being used for glorified booze cruises. We are just disillusioned with the whole P&O experience now, but that does not mean to say it will not appeal to others, I am just leaving an honest opinion based on what we had to put up with. I do not know the exact figure of cruisers on board it was difficult to count and apparently the P&O figure is never accurate you can always scale that up allegedly, I am just going by what crew members told me.

We were told by staff onboard last week the real reason that Iona did not dock in Stavanger on 13 April. If it is true they never had any intention of doing so and knew when the cruise set sail they were missing the first port day. Everyone on that cruise should be getting a refund, just another example of the contempt P&O has for its customers.

Just returned from a week in the Norwegian fjords on Iona. Weather was fantastic, but this was our fifth time on the ship in sixteen months and, sad to say, our last sailing experience with P&O for the foreseeable future. Over those five cruises the ship has gone from a beautiful clean high end experience, to a glorified ferry crammed to the limit, giving little better than a booze cruise experience. Cutbacks have been massive so that now the experience is pared to the bone, and there are nowhere near enough staff to service the massive number of cruisers, which we were assured by staff onboard the ship is actually above the number the ship was meant to sail with. P&O's policy is well known, sell all the cabins regardless of price, so to some extent it is our own fault for continuing to pay the low end prices as you really do get what you pay for nowadays. At least as experienced cruisers we can get round all the issues on board by booking before we go, but even then the online booking system P&O use is a nightmare as their IT is so bad and bookings do not register or disappear. And don't mention the MYHoliday App on ship, a system not fit for purpose which suits P&O perfectly because it means nothing gets overbooked because so many people cannot use it! Plusses - fantastic food - cabin crew and restaurant staff are brilliant - Embarkation is efficient (at least it is once you get in the departure hall) Minuses - You can never complain to anyone senior on board - You never see a senior member of staff around the ship - There are nowhere near enough staff on the ship for the number of cruisers - Disembarkation - an utter shambles with again no senior staff members overseeing - Customer service - 28 days to reply to an email! Probably dealing with so many complaints We have tired of the P&O experience now. To be honest my view is if they continue too much longer as they are there is going to come a time where the Company hits huge difficulties. You can only go on for so long treating existing customers so badly whilst selling cruises in the bargain basement to people unlikely to return as they are so shocked by the experience. Eventually there will come a time where there are no returning customers. In my opinion the policy the Company are pursuing is a one way trip to bankruptcy unless they have a very fast re-think and start listening to all the criticisms aimed at them.