AchileLauro

If the pools have water in them, and often they don't, and the nets are removed we often race to be the first into the pool on embarkation day. We're all big kids at heart after all.

I do however find it annoying that not all the pools are available on embarkation and disembarkation days.

Over the years I have enjoyed some excellent meals on a number of P&O ships but even I have to admit that the quality has diminished somewhat in recent years. The choice of vegetables is often bizarre and certainly aren't matched to some of the dishes.

When on Oceana two years ago the captain boasted that the ship had a reputation for producing the best meals in the fleet, well four of us begged to differ, in fact we found that it was probably the worst of any cruise that we had been on.

Other than the boar sausage I can honestly say that I have never had a truly bad meal and usually I am spoilt for choice, but I wish they would go back a few years to more traditional dishes.

Does anyone have any favourite meals to recommend from the main dining room. Anything special on formal nights? Any nice hot puddings with custard?

Yes spatchcock partridge only ever had it the once on Aurora but it was memorable and definitely the nicest meal that I have ever had on P&O. Wild boar sausage were also memorable but for an entirely different reason, they were the worst meal that I have ever eaten on any ship and by far the worst that I have ever had boar served up anywhere.

Correct - 20% of the value of the original price that you paid for the 2 night cruise with a minimum of £50 discount.

Work mates of my wife who happened to have booked the same cruise also misread or misunderstood the offer and assumed that they would be eligible for 20% discount off the total value of any cruise that they booked.

We were particularly disappointed as it was a special anniversary cruise. We tried to change to an alternative cruise leaving a few days later but as we were informed so late in the day this was already fully booked. We then tried moving to Cunard as a consolation which had a short cruise leaving just after Christmas. We contacted Carnival but they failed to respond to our emails despite speaking to them on the telephone first to confirm that we would be contacting the right person. We emailed David Dingle and fair dues to the guy he responded immediately on a Sunday afternoon and acknowledged that we had raised a number of matters that concerned him.

Cunard then messed around by changing their offer and not being able to answer questions put to them. We finally got an answer to the main question we asked of Carnival some 12 days after the cruise that we were interested in had sailed. Hence our reluctance to deal with Carnival again. David Dingle did however impress us, unfortunately his staff are not as coconscious as he is, and the company really does have a problem with communicating with it's customers.

Chazswan we too were supposed to be on that cruise and were bitterly disappointed to be let down at very short notice. Unfortunately the discount offered on future cruise bookings was no way near as generous as it would first appear, you really need to read what was offered carefully. My wife and daughter also lost leave as a result of this cancellation and feel agrieved that they were not compensated in any way. We simply decided that in light of this that in future we will avoid P&O and carnival.

I was betting that as chief apologist for P & O that you would be the first to respond DaiB, looks like I won my bet.

I have read this debate with some interest and listened carefully to both the comments by other aggrieved customers and by the P & O apologists. My wife and I should have been travelling on this cruise and we were both bitterly disappointed that the cruise should be cancelled, my wife particularly so as this was a silver wedding anniversary gift to her and she had been eagerly awaiting the cruise for many months. The late announcement of the cancellation late Tuesday afternoon prevented us from making alternative arrangements. We did enquire about transferring to the similar cruise on Aurora that was leaving later in the week but this was already fully booked and P & O were unable to offer any other short break cruise earlier than summer of next year. My wife had booked holidays from work to take this cruise and also our elder daughter did the same in order to “babysit” our younger daughter who is still in school. Neither was able to cancel their leave so that is wasted. CPS were very good and have immediately refunded the car parking and P&O have also been quick to refund so no complaints on that score. By coincidence four of my wife’s work colleges were also on the cruise but it was late Tuesday evening before they first got word of the cancellation when my wife phoned one to see how she felt about the cancellation. At the time the lady was actually packing for the cruise. It would have been the first cruise for all four so four potential future cruise customers. It was far more difficult for them as not only have they lost leave from work but they have also had to try and recover their pre-booked rail travel costs.

My feelings are that P & O/ Carnival have dealt with this matter poorly whichever way you look at it. Either they have planned the Arcadia refit with absolutely no slack in the scheduling that would allow for unforeseen eventualities, such as a couple of days when high winds prevent heavy lift operations. Hardly unknown at this time of the year in Europe. Basically they have forgotten that “Proper Prior Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance” – the 7Ps principle. Or they have had it in mind all along that this would be a sacrificial cruise that could be dropped at short notice. If the later is the case then they have treated their customers with absolute contempt.

As customers of P & O for the last 27 years, my wife and I met on the Canberra, we will be seriously considering whether to book with the company ever again. I just wonder what the four work colleagues of my wife now think of the company especially as my wife has been recommending them for years.