Lee Jones Jnr

You can take it away and bring it back but it won't be stored for you

Cunard are decent value if you don’t mind a slightly dressier definition of smart casual

Which lines will you be cruising with instead?

Erm… does drinkable wine come in litre bottles?

Yep, there are cruise lines that suit everyone. It appears from this thread that I am in the minority in that I am a little disappointed that P&O has moved to a different market. I am not against lines appealing to whomever, I suppose that its just a shame for me that it is P&O who has changed the product rather than a line that I wasn't as affectionate towards. At the moment there are plenty of lines that fill the space that P&O were in, so ultimately very little change in the market other than an extra line for MSC passengers to try.

I think its not really quite as mercenary as that, its in order to make the revised business model work, all in all its probably around the same but they are trying to offer low headline cruise costs

The P&O website still shows A-OK to take spirits onboard for me, maybe I need to clear internet history or summink. EDIT It appears that one part of the website has been updated and one has not.

WELL... P&O want to change the game IMO, they are changing where the line sits in the market by offering bargain basement cruises and then recouping via extras, sort of a little more in the MSC direction.

If the drinks package changes and implementation dates are correct then it does seem hugely short notice, one would expect there to be a longer notice period rather than 'with immediate effect'.

Possibly a more ‘like for like’ comparison might be QV/QE/QA or NCL or similar, something closer in size?

I haven’t been on Arvia. I have been on Iona and am on there again in Oct, I like the ship well enough. It seems like you think we are having some kind of argument or contest and you need to win, so whatever it is, consider yourself the champ.

I think it’s nice that a broader audience are now enjoying cruise ships. There are cruise lines for everyone, it’s simply that P&O has very strongly shifted focus to a become a different product attracting different people than it used to.

I believe they are the only ones? I am on QM on Sunday but I wouldn’t ever bother taking alcohol onboard anyway.

I really think that I probably won’t. i have three cruises booked which I’ll still do but I won’t book anything else for now, I’ll see how I feel after the next one. If it’s not clear, I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with what P&O is now, just that I liked what P&O used to be and will certainly use other lines more if not exclude P&O completely.

How old are you? I am 40, I don't think its the age of the passengers that is the primary difference in the line that P&O is becoming, just aiming to be more of a 'value' brand than before.

Are you offended by that comment? How do you see it? I have three future cruises booked with P&O but I’m waiting to see what my next trip is like before I book any more, my next trip is QM next week. i suspect that I will be using other lines more and cruising less with P&O. I feel a little that P&O is moving in a direction that I don’t really want to move in, I am not complaining or doing what many of the ‘new’ P&O customers seem to do when they book a trip which includes a formal night then sit in the MDR in leggings loudly saying how they will ‘holiday their way’ etc, I’ll just either accept the new product or book with a line that suits me better.

It seems P&O are operating Schrodingers cruise ships. Some people (I am one) think that P&O are trying to appeal more and more to the 3 star package holiday audience and are becoming more and more of a cheap and cheerful product and some claim that costs are rocketing and value is less and less.

Certainly not, I’m as foolish as the people claiming that P&O can’t change their prices or remove the allowance to take alcohol onboard. I do have someone who dealt with my contracts on the team but just reading T&Cs makes them redundant in this case.

WELL… it may turn out to be a weird hoax but the document being shared isn’t from P&O it’s from a travel agent and may well be for internal use and not checked for spelling and grammar. as per an earlier post, people making up contract law is not going to change anything either way.

I’m not meaning to be argumentative, it was a 100% earnest question. i like the cinema and prefer coke to Pepsi but I don’t even consider which brand is for sale when I choose where I am going to see a movie but perhaps some people would.

Will you be cruising on a line that sells your preferred drink in future instead?

P&O is a business and this was always going to happen once the race to the bottom started. It’s always seemed mad to me that people are so desperate to save £3-4 that they bother taking on a bottle anyway rather than just getting a bottle delivered to the cabin and I dislike the constant Facebook threads about how to smuggle more on. It seems a little tragic that some are thinking of smuggling on something because P&O don’t sell it too, just drink something that they do sell or if it’s that important cruise with a line that sells what you want.

There are barbells and a power rack but lets not pretend, its very rare that any QM guest is lifting heavy

Could you give some specific details of when this has affected you and who was the vlogger etc please?

The current level of bloggers on ships has not reached the point where it has bothered me as I have never even seen one let alone the hoards that some on here seem to have been hounded by. Assuming that it does reach a point where it is a problem then rules would be welcome however they must be enforced by the cruise lines, which given the way that Karen & Co treat formal night and the way that P&O react, I cannot see happening.