lcheater

Experience tells me that mid-ship lower decks are best for minimising ship movement. Decks up high (anywhere on the ship) are more akin to sideways (starboard -port) movement (law of physics) and decks that are forward or aft (any deck level) are more akin to the front and back movement (again, law of physics). So, depending on the cruise location and what the sea conditions are likely to be like, i would recommend a cabin on a lower deck, mid-ship.

Im booked on the 5 nighter from 25th May, which I can confirm is definitely a UK Travel Agent Charter (CruiseCo)

Roll Call for that cruise is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2119427

Sounds like my expectations of a 2 night cruise being the same as a 2 week cruise is what has caused my disappointment. Its a shame because i am now going to be very nervous of booking any cruise (long or short) with P&O. As people have said, i suspect any cruise line will "let their hair" down a bit on shorter cruises because they know their customer base is a different sort of class (generally), and they also know not as much money has been spent.

Princess dont do short roundtrips from Southampton, which is why i will probably end up back on P&O again at some point in the future, but at least this time i will know what to expect!

The main thing is that it was a two nighter. They are renowned for being completely different to a two weeker. I suspect if you did a two night Princess trip your high opinion of them might come down a notch or two as well.

Having said that I agree with many of your points but would have expected lower standards - which is one reason I wouldn't have booked it.

I accept what you are saying about the difference between a 2 night and a 2 week cruise, but loads of people try a 2 night cruise as a sampler to help them decide whether to shell out thousands on a 2 week cruise; OK, P&O cant alter the people who are on these 2 nighters but they can at least provide their best quality services so that people are hopefully impressed enough to book again. All i know is that a 2 week cruise with P&O is out of the question!

OK, my wife and I are just back from a 2 night mini cruise on P&O's Azura from Southampton to Zeebrugge, back to Southampton.

This was our 2nd ever cruise, our first being last August for a 2 week roundtrip cruise from Southampton to the Med, on Princess' Crown Princess. Azura and the Crown are the same ship, just run by different cruise operators, so we knew what to expect from the ship in terms of size and layout. The similarities between the two ships sadly ended there for us...

Let me start by saying we aren't snobs by any stretch of the imagination, and we are down-to-earth and easy going people (both in our mid-late 20's). BUT... we see cruising as a very expensive top-notch holiday choice; and as a result, it is reasonable to expect good service and quality. Princess more than exceeded ALL our expectations and as a result, obviously this has set our expectations for future cruises.

I know i am comparing a 2 week £1600 per person cruise to a 2 night £220 per person cruise, but per night, the price isnt massively different. However, as one of the bar staff said to me just after we boarded, "this will be a different experience to a 2 week cruise, you will see people being carried away on stretchers and all sorts". I think what he was trying to say is this "cruise" is going to be like booze cruise. Obviously because its only a couple of hundred pounds per person, it is affordable to alot more people, which means the "class" (for want of a better word) of people on a 2 night cruise will be somewhat different to a 2 week cruise. OK, i accept that, and thats fine; as a result, i found the atmosphere to be quite good - lots more going on, the entertainment seemed to be enjoyed better etc. Buit thats no excuse in my opinion for the staff to let their hair down and lower their standards...

Maybe this is just the way P&O operate, and I shouldnt be comparing to Princess (a far superior cruise operator in my opinion), but I found the following thing unacceptable:

Despite multiple requests at all the bars we visited, not one of them could provide us with a cocktail menu or wine menu (except for the Peninsular Restaurant where a wine menu was provided). This is VERY poor in my opinion.

The laundry service ruined my brand new shirt which i sent to be ironed. The shirt came back with 4 or 5 different crease lines down the sleeves (instead of one running all the way down). I complained to my room steward, who responded with a big smile and a chuckle!!!??? I then visited the reception desk to complain and after a phone call to someone, the receptionist told me they had refunded the laundry charge. There was no apology from anyone!

Our room steward and the laundry person delivering our laundry both let themselves into our cabin unannounced whilst we were in it; once whilst i was in the middle of getting changed! Unacceptable in my opinion!

The length of time it took to be served at the bars (even though they weren't busy) was also unacceptable. The bar staff seemingly ignored me in favour of doing other things!

The formal evening dress code was not policed in the restaurants. My wife and I were dressed appropriately and in the middle of a quiet meal in the Glass House (think that's its name) when a group of people came in with T-shirts and jeans and sat next to us! The restaurant staff then told us to move our table away from them so that we weren't so close! We were not very impressed at all!

You could probably argue that all of the above *must* have been one-off isolated incidents, but the attitude of all the staff was the same, and we quite often witnessed things which we said "you wouldn't see that on Princess".

Lots of other finishing touch sort of details that were there on Princess were missing from P&O - tiny things which i would probably get slated for if i mentioned them on here, but to us, its the small finishing touches that differentiates between good and excellent.

I would be very interested to hear from people who have cruised P&O and Princess to see what your thoughts are.