Oh dear ! Will I like P&O ?

[Tizzy]

All packed up and ready to go, for our first P&O Cruise but I am not feeling very relaxed as the packing has been horrendous and I feel very nervous.

We tend to favour more informal Cruises and have Cruised lately on mainly American ships. Everyone seems to love P&O and having a son on Adonia I felt it was time we gave P&O a try. I think I feel apprehensive because everyone on here seems to have been on several P&O cruises and everyone knows everyone else ! There don't seem to be many First Timers.

[goose30]

Seems a little late in the game to start questioning your choice. That said remember everyone had a first time. Go. Be Happy. Don't Worry.

[hammers]

Hi Tizzy, don't worry, you will have a wonderful time. We will be on the Azura on your second week, you will recognise us, we will be the couple wearing the big grins :D

[Tizzy]

Hi Goose and Hammers.

Just last minute nerves I think.

So much snow here and worries whether our flight to UK will be cancelled like last Year !!! Enjoy the Cruise 'Hammers.'

[BrianI]

You will probably find there are around 500 people new to P&O on board so I don't think you will be the only ones.

Just remember when you land in Barbados you are put straight onto a small bus and taken direct to the ship. No waiting for passport checks or your luggage. The only downside is that it may be 2-3 hours before your luggage appears in your cabin so if you fancy a swim when you get on board pack your hand luggage accordingly.

Brian

[Cristaltips]

So pleased you've got to grips with the packing at last, Tizzy!!

You'll have a super time, I'm sure. Don't forget to update us on how you found it when you get back. We're off on Friday from Gatwick, weather permitting and looking forward to some sun and relaxation.

Enjoy!!

[Starbright]

Hi Tizzy. I think I'm on the same cruise as you (A303N?). I've never been on P&O before, having mainly sailed with Princess and HAL, but I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure we'll all have a great time! Hope so anyway after all the stress of the last few days with this terrible UK weather. :)

[davecttr]

All packed up and ready to go, for our first P&O Cruise but I am not feeling very relaxed as the packing has been horrendous and I feel very nervous.

We tend to favour more informal Cruises and have Cruised lately on mainly American ships. Everyone seems to love P&O and having a son on Adonia I felt it was time we gave P&O a try. I think I feel apprehensive because everyone on here seems to have been on several P&O cruises and everyone knows everyone else ! There don't seem to be many First Timers.

I used to worry about formality on P&O until my first cruise with them. Don't worry, it is not as formal and stuffy as you might imagine. The passengers are actually normal people ;)

 

Just go and enjoy yourself in the wonderful sunshine. Even the rain out there is 'liquid sunshine' :D

[smithy62]

Tizzy

 

Thats not true at all - we did our first P&O (and only 2nd ever cruise) on December 21st and it was fabulous. We met loads of new cruisers and many seasoned cruisers too. Take all you can from the chats with the 'old timers' and enjoy discovering the new things too. I guarantee you will be hooked.

Some are very formal in their dress, others are not - abide by the main rules and you will be fine.

 

We booked again within a week of returning home!

 

Have fun x

[chirpy007]

I was like you when l first went, thought it was going to be very posh ;) it was absolutely fine, had a lovely time and did it again.:D

[Host Sharon]

Have a great time. Just think - if all those people keep coming back P&O must be doing something right?

[SolentSeawater]

This will be our first P&O cruise too, leaving on Thursday. Husband is not too happy about how formal dinner arrangements are. This could be our last one if he really hates it. :(

[HomelessBear]

Hi Tizzy,

 

We had done about 10 cruises with other cruise lines before we did our first P&O one last year. I also felt as though I would be the "newby" and wondered if I would like the experience.

I needn't have worried and it was just like any other cruise.

 

We are cruising with another cruise line later this year, so another new cruise experience. You have to try different ones to find out which ones are your favourites anyway!

 

There will be loads of people on the ship who don't read or participate in these boards on CC, so there is no chance of everyone knowing everyone else! I'm sure you will be fine and will have a great time.

 

Glad your packing is done - that's the part I hate about holidays - so just relax now and start getting excited about your forthcoming experience, which will be brilliant!

 

Best wishes.

[chirpy007]

This will be our first P&O cruise too, leaving on Thursday. Husband is not too happy about how formal dinner arrangements are. This could be our last one if he really hates it. :(

 

 

Mines not keen on getting suited and booted either but after dinner he just nips back to the cabin to change :D

[Starbright]

Remember SolentSeaWater, not all evenings in the dining room are "formal" dress, and if your husband hates getting dressed up for dinner in any way, you can always dine in the buffet where casual dress is fine.

[davecttr]

This will be our first P&O cruise too, leaving on Thursday. Husband is not too happy about how formal dinner arrangements are. This could be our last one if he really hates it. :(

Tell him not to worry about the formal nights, there are alternative restaurants available with evening casual dress code. The Venezia buffet, Verona buffet which turns into a Trattoria in the evening plus the Glass House which i believe charges for food although it is a free to enter bar.

 

Or he could do like i do and pop back to the cabin after dinner and change into smart casual for the rest of the evening. Most of the public venues are evening casual welcome anyway. If you avoid the planet and blue bars you will be fine.

[scareyness]

All packed up and ready to go, for our first P&O Cruise but I am not feeling very relaxed as the packing has been horrendous and I feel very nervous.

We tend to favour more informal Cruises and have Cruised lately on mainly American ships. Everyone seems to love P&O and having a son on Adonia I felt it was time we gave P&O a try. I think I feel apprehensive because everyone on here seems to have been on several P&O cruises and everyone knows everyone else ! There don't seem to be many First Timers.

 

Our 2nd cruise was with P&O and the last 3 have been with US ships. Just returned from our latest adventure on Ventura. Let me first say that all cruises are fabulous, some better than others in various ways. We wanted to do the Caribbean and chose Ventura due to date and itinary only. DH wanted to go over xmas/new year but I wanted to be with family. Luckily I won and we left on 4th Jan.

 

We had a fantastic holiday together. But Ventura is not for us. Many aspects of the cruise were extremely disappointing but you live and learn. We will return to HAL or Celebrity again next year.

 

I hope you have a fab time and escape this awful weather, we got held up on the ship as did many other passengers and the itinery had to be changed this week as some flights did not leave UK last Friday.

 

I would defs agree to pack swimsuit in hand luggage though!! Happy sailing:D:D

[sotonjoe]

People buy in to the formal nights, but it's a pretty average crowd to be fair.

 

Take away the formal nights and you've basically got a holiday camp atmosphere (on the larger ships at least).

[dorsetlad]

I knew there was a reason I didn't like the larger ships.:o

 

Brian

[janieb1962]

I have to completely disagree with the holiday camp atmosphere mentioned previously. We didn't find that at all. Maybe it's the people you mix with. The cruise is what you make it...there are 3000+ passengers on board and obviously spans a diverse range of personalities. I feared my packing was too formal, but as it turned out I preferred to wear that and the more casual gear went unworn. Be yourself and I am sure you will enjoy it. :)

[alvin moondust]

Its amazing how half the world complain that ships like Ventura and Azura are too posh and the other half complain that they are too like Butlins at sea:)

 

We enjoyed our first ever cruise on Ventura just over a year ago and it was fabulous. The ship has a great mix of entertainment, you may wish to listen to a West End singer with a full band in the Lovely Tamarind lounge, or taking part in the pub quiz and kareoke in the pub may be more your thing,Enjoy a brandy while listening to the Grand Piano in the lounge or head for a cocktail or a beer at the nightclub. I find it hard to believe you will not find something to suit your taste most of the time:)

As for the dressing for dinner, its brilliant, almost everyone does it so there is no need to feel self conscious at all and you can soon change after dinner if you wish:). just accept that different people have different tastes and interests and enjoy yourself, the ship does a great job of catering for everyone.

[teddy dicklinson]

We did christmas/new year on Aurora, P and O most definately NOT posh. The food was poor, tasteless,bland, very disappointed. Very much like Thomson cruises now(but their food better), we did Ventura 3 years ago and standards have fallen, some of the passengers did belong to the Butlins at sea brigade.

[scareyness]

We had a really good cruise on Arcadia a few years ago. Only booked Ventura this year because the date and itinerary was what we wanted.

Pros

itinerary & date

cost

reasonable drinks prices

good size balcony

red bar

tapas bar

cons

ship needs a lot of attention (lots of rust, carpet frayed, toilets smell vile, very dated looking, etc) which I cannot see them doing in just 2 weeks in dry dock

food was very poor

tiny bathroom with filthy shower curtain

lack of sunbeds (P&O do not 'police' them, be there to reserve one at 7am or no chance! we saw loads of people reserving 1 in sun and 1 in shade!!)

never seen so many tattoos, and that was just the women

drunken behaviour

buffet badly designed

evening dinner far too rushed

I am not a snob in anyway, but this is the 1st cruise I have been on where it has been akin to a working mans club. although the 2nd week was better. the 1st week the ship was full of shaven headed blokes in muscle vests downing as much beer as possible, women giving mutton a bad name bad language, I agree that it was butlins at sea. I spoke to quite a few people who were on their first cruise and were so horrified have said they would never cruise again, I felt very sad about that.

We certainly picked which areas of the ship to use, something we have not had to do on any cruise before.

Before anyone shouts me down................... 2 days into the cruise we heard all about the wedding party thrown off in St Kitts, and heard the story over and over from people who witnessed it all. NOT something I expect on a cruise. One lady I spoke to likened it to Magaluf.

P&O standards have definitely sunk.

[sez809]

We had a really good cruise on Arcadia a few years ago. Only booked Ventura this year because the date and itinerary was what we wanted.

Pros

itinerary & date

cost

reasonable drinks prices

good size balcony

red bar

tapas bar

cons

ship needs a lot of attention (lots of rust, carpet frayed, toilets smell vile, very dated looking, etc) which I cannot see them doing in just 2 weeks in dry dock

food was very poor

tiny bathroom with filthy shower curtain

lack of sunbeds (P&O do not 'police' them, be there to reserve one at 7am or no chance! we saw loads of people reserving 1 in sun and 1 in shade!!)

never seen so many tattoos, and that was just the women

drunken behaviour

buffet badly designed

evening dinner far too rushed

I am not a snob in anyway, but this is the 1st cruise I have been on where it has been akin to a working mans club. although the 2nd week was better. the 1st week the ship was full of shaven headed blokes in muscle vests downing as much beer as possible, women giving mutton a bad name bad language, I agree that it was butlins at sea. I spoke to quite a few people who were on their first cruise and were so horrified have said they would never cruise again, I felt very sad about that.

We certainly picked which areas of the ship to use, something we have not had to do on any cruise before.

Before anyone shouts me down................... 2 days into the cruise we heard all about the wedding party thrown off in St Kitts, and heard the story over and over from people who witnessed it all. NOT something I expect on a cruise. One lady I spoke to likened it to Magaluf.

P&O standards have definitely sunk.

 

It is exactly this type of review that makes me worry so much about our forthcoming, first cruise with P&O. We are on the Aurora in August, and were it not for the fact that we would lose our deposit (which we can ill afford) I think that, now, I would cancel like a shot. We have sailed Princess and RC several times, and loved it. Fingers crossed that this Summer wont be the one that spoils cruising for us.

[hammers]

We had a really good cruise on Arcadia a few years ago. Only booked Ventura this year because the date and itinerary was what we wanted.

 

Pros

itinerary & date

cost

reasonable drinks prices

good size balcony

red bar

tapas bar

 

cons

ship needs a lot of attention (lots of rust, carpet frayed, toilets smell vile, very dated looking, etc) which I cannot see them doing in just 2 weeks in dry dock

food was very poor

tiny bathroom with filthy shower curtain

lack of sunbeds (P&O do not 'police' them, be there to reserve one at 7am or no chance! we saw loads of people reserving 1 in sun and 1 in shade!!)

never seen so many tattoos, and that was just the women

drunken behaviour

buffet badly designed

evening dinner far too rushed

 

I am not a snob in anyway, but this is the 1st cruise I have been on where it has been akin to a working mans club. although the 2nd week was better. the 1st week the ship was full of shaven headed blokes in muscle vests downing as much beer as possible, women giving mutton a bad name bad language, I agree that it was butlins at sea. I spoke to quite a few people who were on their first cruise and were so horrified have said they would never cruise again, I felt very sad about that.

 

We certainly picked which areas of the ship to use, something we have not had to do on any cruise before.

 

Before anyone shouts me down................... 2 days into the cruise we heard all about the wedding party thrown off in St Kitts, and heard the story over and over from people who witnessed it all. NOT something I expect on a cruise. One lady I spoke to likened it to Magaluf.

 

P&O standards have definitely sunk.

 

Hi Scareyness, I do tend agree but in fairness to P&O they cannot know at the time of booking if the 'customer' is bald and covered in tattoos :rolleyes:

 

PS. FYI, I have a full head of hair and myself and Mrs Hammers are tattoo free :D