Camberley

We love Princess - now loving them a bit more than P&O - although we sail with both and feel each offers better things than the other in places. For us, Princess curiously still has a slightly less “mass market” vibe to it when on board and doesn’t feel quite as cheap/penny pinching as P&O does in areas. But yes, their breakfasts were a poor second to P&Os: ugh, the bacon. And without sounding like I’ve escaped from a Carry On film, trying to get a good sausage on board was a saga! But we found Princess’s food quality in the MDRs much better overall and more variety, although we slightly prefer P&O’s speciality restaurants.

We usually do aft suites as we love them, but we did have a fwd suite to the Med and Canaries. The inside suite was fabulous. We were sometimes able to use our fwd balcony at sea but it was mostly not a comfortable experience with the wind. But fine for the time in port when we got back to the ship although the balcony, while being a long corner balcony, was very narrow. I know, first world problems and all that! If were us and that’s all they had left, for the price and given the limited P&O suite perks compared to other companies, we would not book a fwd again and would instead either do a different cruise or use a different company that had the aft balcony/other experience we wanted. That said, I know many love the fwd suites. Just not for us again,

Oh this needs to be snuck into their advertising campaign as a passenger quote. Love it 🤣🤣

Some love it and we wished we did. Once should have been enough for us but we tried again a few cruises later (still Iona) just in case we had an off night. But now we have learned! The (pretty much the same) menu itself each time was very good (on paper!) but the execution of most of our dishes barely rose above adequate. It was a chaotic, fairly rushed affair, in pretty grim surroundings, adding up to being culinary meh and an experience so far removed from the celebratory event it was trying to be. Such an anticlimax but it might be better on the smaller ships.

I booked for several visits to Epicurean and other specialty restaurants for our July cruise when I saw the 120 day thing: having found previously for busy cruises the slots seem to be booked up. And I see it is now back to the normal “coming soon”. Thankfully they still appear as booked on the personaliser, credit card has been charged and when I emailed P&O to check the bookings are definitely in place they confirmed: and with surprising speed.

I have to say I usually find the vast majority of these cruise bloggers and vloggers to be self-indulgent and pretentious: the whole promotion of their so-called “influencer” status. No thanks: they’re just filming and posting stuff. IMO they can be useful but sometimes even so called “amateurs” who offer short pics,videos and info on forums etc..do it just as well or badly. Sometimes not! While many are at least respectful of other passengers, we had a vlogger try to organise a “shoot” on Sky Princess the other week: he and his fellow vlogger were trying to stop people going past so they were not in their way as they filmed themselves and a few chosen ones who were fawning around them. And boy were they annoyed that other non vloggie folk were ignoring them and went past anyway. And last year on Iona a vlogger at a table next to our table asked us to be quiet for a few mins while she spoke about her meal into her device. Ok, some are fine to watch on YouTube and some can be entertaining - in very small doses - but I find for most it is mainly just about me, me, me.

Just from a personal view, it’s very much a “no frills” cruise company, but arguably without being too tacky. For the prices involved I think it’s absolutely fine, even in school holidays, but not particularly special if you crave something a bit more upscale - but it is, I feel, decent value for money for what it is. We used to just do P&O but we now do far fewer P&O cruises in favour of other cruise lines which tick our boxes much better, but we still keep our options open with P&O.

It can indeed be done and there are some phenomenal foods that are any combination of gluten-free, dairy-free, low sugar, low salt, suitable for vegans etc….. Sadly, a combination of using cheap alternatives for the key ingredients (which are themselves often ultra-processed rubbish), and making the dishes without any real conviction or love of food, will rarely a result in a good dish! And for me, a good dish - be it suitable for vegans, meat eaters or whatever - should be able to stand up well in its own right rather than a very obvious afterthought to “tick a box”.

Ah I came to this thread thinking it was about the movie under the stars but with a typo 🤣

We are also likely to be jumping ship as for us P&0 has become far too watered down and the last couple of cruises with them has been only about adequate overall. We are finding that even the extras you pay for are becoming less value. We have one paid for this summer with family on Arvia…..But despite my criticisms of them - and praise where it has been due - I always board with a very positive mind, so fair play if they win me back over: I am giving them every chance to - and I really hope they do. Granted, other cruise companies have also made cuts and changes, but for us some of those in a simpler price bracket we have also done have offered better value and a better experience. Again, this is just how we feel: I appreciate how subjective it all is.

This thread is now well and truly saturated

Well, this issue has certainly generated quite the Buzz!

No although it sure seems like it at times

Absolutely the same: it’s like diving into an ashtray and rubbing it all into your clothes, skin and mouth. Just a horrid, horrid experience

I’m so sorry about this and how you were treated onboard: a little concern for patients and looking out for them more can go a long way. I hope it doesn’t put you off cruising but I understand how you will be feeling at the moment,