JDB78

Think nail on the head with the last part. Also think this is where a lot of the 'complaints' come from. On the one hand you've got some cruisers paying £3,000 and thinking its value for money over their normal family package holiday. Then you've got some - maybe more experienced P&O cruisers who don't mind paying a lot more but want a more comprehensive service. Before my recent cruise on Ventura, my previous cruise history had been with RC on the IOS. Last cruise on the Indy was pre-pandemic and wouldn't really say there was much difference in terms of staffing levels and queuing etc. Plenty of times we struggled to get seated in the buffet at lunch times on the Indy. Wouldn't be able to get a sunbed if you weren't up early and had to get to the main theatre at least 40 mins before the show otherwise you just wouldn't get a seat, well certainly not more than 2 or 3 together anyway. Never seemed to be seats in the English pub (forget the name) and ordering drinks at bars or from the theatre did take a while at busy times. Hasn't passenger capacity and staff numbers always been an issue for the bigger ships? The only differences really I could tell between Indy and Ventura was the structural facilities - watersides, surf machine, rock climbing etc. Ventura was showing its age a little bit whereas Indy did have a lot of newer facilities that had been added. The food was better on Indy and think its well known that the P&O menu has been constricted. Staffing levels however, wouldn't have said it was noticeable.

Great post. Without wishing to pick out anyone in particular, there are some people who look down on folk don't dress up and prefer they weren't onboard. If you can't afford to dress in a suit / tux all cruise you shouldn't be sailing with P&O type attitude. As has been mentioned a suit these days can be picked up for next to nothing but a designer t shirt might coz many hundreds of pounds so the price point of P&O and dress code doesn't really wash. Probably more of a class thing - cruising should be for respectable people who dress a certain way, not the riff raff who were dragged up. I'm surprised to hear you say P&O have always been mid-market. Having only sailed with RC previously, the one thing that put me off booking with P&O was the perception I had of the ships being a bit stuffy and not being to relax on board (especially travelling with children). My 1st experience was on Ventura so guess maybe not the same experience we would have had on some of the older ships. On Arvia next year and can't wait - will of course pack whatever we need to. Wouldn't be my choice to take the tux, but I have a when in Rome attitude - can't have people talking about me now ha

I think identity is a problem for P&O at the minute. You've got 1 group of people, the more traditional cruisers many of whom dont like the move to bigger ships, more families onboard and the more relaxed and informal holiday in general. Then you've got the other end of the spectrum who hate dressing up, want a laid back informal experience and will say there's very few facilities on board especially for kids. Maybe P&O don't have to be all 1 or the other but the new direction does seem to be causing a bit of upset for some. They could be accused of trying to please everyone, but pleasing no-one - the booking levels suggest this isn't the case however. IMO prices have been very reasonable, probably too low. If, as expected, prices have to rise to return to profitability, you may start to see people question if P&O are still worth for them. Me, being an accountants son, admittedly I am a bit price sensitive and usually put value above looking for a specific experience. It would be price that would affect me booking in future rather than the rules and regs onboard. Always take a tux for the formal nights but mainly just to fit it - mainly book just to get away from work and hopefully a bit of sunshine, so pretty laid back and will just go with the flow when comes to dress codes etc

Glad you had a great time. Got agree, there is a lot of negativity on here at times. The second we got off our 1st P&O cruise in July, we couldn't wait to get on our next. Sure it wasn't perfect, but think it we'd gone on any other type of holiday or with a different cruise company, it wouldn't have been perfect either.

Lots of ifs and buts, but IF ABTA come back and say the clause is not illegal as such, isn't a case then of you pays your money you make you choice. You're not happy to take the risk don't book - vote with your feet as they say. I totally understand where P&O are coming from with the rule. They hardly want to give the impression their ships are full of people who could have Covid, flu or other transmissible diseases. The rules are a very contradictory however - dropping the requirement to show proof of a test meaning hundreds could be on board with Covid on the one hand. Yet on the other, have a non covid cough and you're supposed to tick a box and your cruise is cancelled. Maybe drop the dreaded clause and a return to proof of testing? Bit of overkill if P&O review the rule and keep it basically saying you are going to be out of pocket for thousands if you have a common cold. What was the rule pre-covid? Me personally, even with the rule, it's not enough to put me off travelling with them, but obviously needs looking at. Right intentions wrong implementation?

I think you've got your head in the sand a little bit in terms of who sails with P&O and dress code in the UK in general. I'm 44 and the 1st job I had expected everyone to wear trousers and shirts no matter what position they held. You couldn't get in town or city centre pubs / clubs without your shirt and shoes. For better or worse things have changed. P&O's target market has also widened due to the size of ships and the pure number of passengers they need to keep the business going. I was on Ventura in July and attended all 4 formal nights - would I have done so if it wasn't 'expected' of me? Probably not. I get that there a lot of people who sail with P&O who have done so for a number of years and enjoy the formal aspects and dressing up. I would imagine however that percentage is reducing each year. Slowly but surely cruises are becoming a 'normal' holiday rather than an experience??

I wouldn't say they encourage you to lie. Think we just live in different times now. We're used to having minor coughs or colds and ploughing on still turning up for work, doing your shopping etc. Unfortunately Covid has changed all that and think there is an expectation now that people will be responsible and not be in close contact with people if they think they might have a virus. Also companies have a responsibility to keep people 'safe'. I know the measures are pointless but they have to be seen to be at least going through the motions. The last thing cruise companies accusations that they are irresponsible and that cruising is not safe. You could say that well P&O should do the right thing and give a refund. Then you run into the possibility that people could just effectively cancel their holiday 2 days before and expect a refund. 'Yeah sorry we're not coming, I've got a cold, can I have a refund'. Obviously shocking what has happened to the OP but, I honestly don't really see a better way around things. The company can hardly say yes come on board sniffs and sniffles, coughs and colds welcome. Yet I wouldn't expect many to admit to a minor illness if it meant their holiday being cancelled and a lengthy fight just to get a refund. Bad situation all round but don't think you can 'blame' P&O. Just a sign of the times and hazard of the industry they are in?

I've seen the prices on Arvia fluctuate quite a lot. We booked for June 2023, a few months later, just thought I'd check current prices. Saw it had gone down by about £600-700. Called P&O who advised would have to cancel and re-book meaning we lost the deposit, but still about £500 saved. Just checked again and it's now £900 more than what we've booked for. We did get 3rd & 4th guest free, but even taking that into account, its more now than when we re-booked back in June. I would book for 2024 but itineraries seem a bit limited and same as 2022 & 2023. I know this has been mentioned on a different thread, but since the re-start the choice of destinations seems a bit more limited

I'm on Vodafone was able to use my phone in the EU with no extra charges. I did put it on flight mode whilst at sea but I didn't actually need to. I received the following text when connected to the maritime network: "Important Information: You're now connected to a Maritime Network, offered on ferries and ships. Making a call costs £2.40 per minute, receiving one costs £1.80 per minute. Texts are 60p to send, but they're free to receive. To help you manage costs, data services are only available to our business customers, charged at £7.20/MB (inc. VAT). Have a good trip" So in short a personal Vodafone account cannot attract data charges on the maritime network. Obviously worth checking with the provider before you travel. Most info is available online. My travel contract info and what was included was available through my Vodafone app

Everyone's situation is different isn't it. We live in the North West of England and both my wife and I still work. So getting back home, getting back to normal asap is very much a priority. I'm always surprised how many people from Scotland travel down to Southampton. I'm sure one passenger said they were on the coach for about 12 hours. Sure it would be nice to just take our time, maybe stay in Southampton another night if we felt like it. Unfortunately, kids, dogs, work etc means I'm thinking about Monday morning from a few days before the end of the cruise. Taking all things into consideration, being held up for 10-15 mins waiting for a lift on the last day isn't the end of the world and probably very little anyone can do about it. Maybe an announcement or 2 about trying to avoid using lifts before their allocated time but it would probably have next to no effect. It is what it is, think its just a few people's attitude that makes an already stressful situation that bit worse.

I know its only a hypothetical scenario but even if true, should they have lugged heavy suitcases down the stairs? Potentially causing an accident to themselves and others? Disembarkation was quite difficult for us too. Decided to self disembark with 2 adults 2 kids and about 7 or 8 bags in total. Was early so before any of the allotted times, but lifts whizzed by full for me too. One horrible set of people even stood there and deliberately let the doors close while my son was about to walk into the lift but had no hands free to try to stop it from closing. In the end 2 of us had to do the old go up to go down trick. Would like to have said that my experience of disembarkation day was a bit of an eye opener in terms of respect for fellow passengers - but sadly I wasn't that surprised.

We were on in July. Yes still free, but can't comment on the powder as we took a few tablets with us. Well the mrs packed some anyway. Reminded me of the days as a child when my mum used to take tea bags and sugar on package holidays wherever we went. To be fair was a good move as even just on a 14 night cruise we did use them a few times although did seem to get quite busy.

Was looking forward to Sicily and visiting Pompei as never visited before. Post Covid there seems to be a lot less choice? Especially the Italian stops?

Late onto this thread. We only get away once a year, we booked for this year, next year but haven't booked yet for 2024 purely due to the fact that the itineraries are exactly the same as 22 and 23. We had cruises cancelled in lockdown that docked in Monte Carlo, Civitavecchia, Naples and Cagliari, but now from Southampton at least, there seems to be very little variety, with some docks completely off the agenda?

No, if I'm understanding the posts correctly then they are referring to the older ships that are adult only? I was on Ventura last month, you've got the white bath towels in your cabin, then you've got blue beach towels that you get + return poolside. We took our on towels, but didn't really need them

I used to worry about roaming charges and there was 1 day where I forgot to turn off the mobile data after leaving port. I got the following message on the picture So basically 60p a text - so not going to break the bank but would add up over a couple of weeks. The good thing me was that it was impossible for Vodafone to charge me roaming charges. All of the countries we visited were included in our contract allowance and Vodafone wont allow me to use the maritime network - so basically could have left my mobile data on aall holiday and not be charged anything extra. Always worth checking with your provider what is included.

Think you were doing well until the last comment. As others have said what you are looking for still exists, but just not with P&O. Imo its not just a price issue - many people I know who are non cruisers still view cruising as something that generally older people do, posh people, very formal and just not what they would regard as a holiday or somewhere they could relax. Some people, like me I suppose, cruise as they like holidays, but just dont want to fly. I'm not interested in the pomp or creating a 5* hotel experience. So to be honest I'm 100% glad of the changes and our biggest fear of travelling with P&O was that it would be exactly how you describe it used to be like. I dont think the new era of cruising is any less of a product than previously. I honestly wouldnt want many of the formal elements even if they were available for free. For what it's worth I thought Ventura's entertainment was brilliant and couldn't have been more organised or varied. Guest speakers, singers, discos, gameshows, quizes, race nights. Activities taking place in the gym / Spa, kids club, table tennis, quoits, shuffleboard, films, magicians, live music poolside - and this was on top of the main shows in the Arena theatre. Did I watch or take part in many of these activities? No, but I certainly couldn't say they weren't making the effort to entertain people on board. It seemed to me there was always 2 if not 3 different forms of entertainment on at all times of the day and night.

Surely no-one will force you to sleep in a particular place? No cctv in place A little bit naughty but we did turn our twin beds in a double / king size on Ventura. Quickly turned back into twin beds before we left for the day. Still don't understand the logic in P&O building ships that only seem to offer twin beds when 3rd or 4th passenger is in the room. Certainly on the Independence, it wasn't a problem. Not the be all and and all, but surely 95% of family rooms on any other holiday would be a double??

Leon was still on Venutra last month. I actually thought he was quite quiet, kept things very short. The more we saw of him though, a bit more if his personality came out and warmed to him. Think we were just too used to a man called Joff Eaton on RC. Every show had a good 5 intro plus 5 mins after the show - an entertainer in his own right really. Not sure if it was just Leon of P&O in general, but it was very much, hello here's the act then at the end, it's was give them round of applause and thanks for coming. Would have liked to have seen a lot of Leon as you could tell he had a great personality, but just didn't hear enough from him. Most I saw of him was the build a ship on a ship judging by the pool - Leon was the tidal wave provider via a belly flop into the pool to sink the ships 🤣

Yes found it very useful onboard, but sadly doesn't work once back home. Oh well - we were in a rush to get off ship on day of departure as took our own cases to speed things up with having relatively long drive ahead of us. It's possible we just didn't see the letter outside the cabin in the morning, but certainly didn't see it. Just in too much of a rush with 2 kids, lots of luggage and didn't stop to think about the final balance - well until we got home. Lesson learned but hopefully not one that's cost us anything.

Yes, I think that's more likely. Water parks are a proven attraction around the world - scalextrix? Maybe 30 years ago? How many UK children want to spend a holiday learning musical instrument? For me, given what was on Ventura compared to RC's Independence. I would settle for a decent sized sports court, a big outdoor screen and a water slide or 2. Rock climbing - done it once, no incentive to do it again. Ice skating + the Flo-rider surfing - again did it once and wasn't really that bothered about doing it over and over to learn how to skate / surf. The ice rink doubled up as a lazer tag facility which was very popular. Think son would have spent far too much of the holiday playing lazer tag if we'd let him. Think P&O just need to find a balance between gimmicks and genuine facilities that would get used. Crazy golf was always popular on the Indy, so glad there seems to be a course on Arvia. Will probably only play a couple of times but still something to do early evening to pass the time.

Surely that goes for anything. 10 bedroom gated mansions, fancy cars, expensive clothes. Not an expert but bought a few Pandora gifts on Ventura. Prices seemed very reasonable especially with the 20% off.

What app is it? I saw the website page being advertised onboard and used it to book shows and keep an eye on my account. The page only worked when connected to the ships WiFi however. I'm 99% sure what got charged to my credit card is correct just would have been nice to check it didn't get a hard copy delivered - or at least didn't seem to be one there in the morning when we left. Would have been a lot less if the kids would have stayed out of the shop. I'm sure a colouring book + some colours was about £25 then the Mrs in the jewellery shop didn't help either 🤔

I also think a couple of water slides would have been good for Arvia. As people have said, would divert some kids + young people away from the main pools. Also I wouldn't have thought a water slide would cost a lot to build or maintain. A flo-rider, an ice rink or massive outdoor movie screen, I get why P&O would be reluctant, a couple of water slides? Surely just a question of space. Looking forward to sailing on Arvia next year as looks like there are a few different facilities that are not on the other ships, but P&O could have pushed the kids facilities a little bit more imo.

Must admit I was a little surprised our towels weren't replaced in the evening, but it was a kind of shrug your shoulders type moment - oh well there are still some clean ones there to use and know full well they will be getting replaced in the morning. In the evening, we would be out of room by half 6 and not return until somewhere between 11-12 and straight to bed. Up in the morning, breakfast and by then the room would probably have been made up. So the towels being replaced would have a very minimal if any practical benefit. The turndown service to me - absolutely not bothered. Surely just a superficial gesture to somehow make people feel important? If the staff's time can be better spent doing other tasks then isnt that a good thing? It's not as if P&O are now having the stewards just sat around not doing anything when they would normally be going back into the rooms is it? Thinking of things practically - Are people saying A) The staff should work even more hours? B) Have more staff onboard than they had previously due to the extra tasks or C) Not do the additional tasks? Surely A + B would not be possible. Leaving C - people really want to prioritise towel changing and a turndown service over P&O doing everything they can to keep people safe onboard as cruising is taking its 1st tentative steps to regain people's confidence after what has happened in the last 2 years? Everyone was sick on board, but at least the corner of the bed was turned down and a chocolate was left for me - Sounds fantastic.