Fleet Reviews

[babs135]

With such mixed reviews across all P&O ships, why do people sail with them?

[simonpjd]

This is Cruise CRITIC. And it seems to act like a magnet for lots of whingers and moaners for whom nothing could ever be perfect. They will always find something to have a good old moan about. And this P&O section seems to attract them like bees round a honeypot.

P&O suits us just fine and we have never yet left a ship without thinking what a good time we have had and what nice people we have met.

[Mysticalmother]

This is Cruise CRITIC. And it seems to act like a magnet for lots of whingers and moaners for whom nothing could ever be perfect. They will always find something to have a good old moan about. And this P&O section seems to attract them like bees round a honeypot.

P&O suits us just fine and we have never yet left a ship without thinking what a good time we have had and what nice people we have met.

 

Couldn't agree more. We are going on Azura for the first time in June and looking forward to it even though we know it will be a different experience to what we have been used to, as generally we prefer more adult focused ships. But, we will be going with our glass half full - and I am sure it will be filled up a few times! If I believed everything written on this forum I wouldn't go on a cruise on any ship,with any line, at all!

[dgs1956]

This is Cruise CRITIC. And it seems to act like a magnet for lots of whingers and moaners for whom nothing could ever be perfect. They will always find something to have a good old moan about. And this P&O section seems to attract them like bees round a honeypot.

P&O suits us just fine and we have never yet left a ship without thinking what a good time we have had and what nice people we have met.

 

Absolutely agree. We love P&O. Our last cruise was a 4 week back to back and our flight was delayed so we had to stay on the ship. We were allocated another cabin and had another lunch and a dinner. We still had to be dragged off.

David & Barbara

[jeanlyon]

Our last cruise on Oriana last September was fantastic. No complaints whatsoever. You will always find bad reviews. Nobody bothers to say what was good!

[Bells65]

Couldn't agree more. We are going on Azura for the first time in June and looking forward to it even though we know it will be a different experience to what we have been used to, as generally we prefer more adult focused ships. But, we will be going with our glass half full - and I am sure it will be filled up a few times! If I believed everything written on this forum I wouldn't go on a cruise on any ship,with any line, at all!

 

Straying off topic abit - but we were on Azura in the Caribbean in March. Whilst she's advertised as family friendly there weren't that many children on board and I suspect that in June that may be the case for you too. She's a lovely ship and I'm sure you'll enjoy her as much as we did.

 

Back to topic - we'd always look at what P&O have to offer before looking at any other cruise line. We've been on 5 cruises - all with P&O and loved every one. :)

 

Hells

[BalkanCruiser]

This is Cruise CRITIC. And it seems to act like a magnet for lots of whingers and moaners for whom nothing could ever be perfect. They will always find something to have a good old moan about. And this P&O section seems to attract them like bees round a honeypot.

P&O suits us just fine and we have never yet left a ship without thinking what a good time we have had and what nice people we have met.

 

How true !

 

We have done two cruises with P&O one of 13 days and the other 72 days. Loved them both. No complaints other than the cost of using the internet on board which was easily remedied.

[Blodwyn]

On our last Oriana cruise we had a couple of first timers on our table in the MDR.

They were really worried as they had read dreadful reviews about this beautiful ship.

Guess what-they stayed onboard for the next cruise and have already booked for later in the year!

[davecttr]

Ignore the best and worse reviews and take the rest with a pinch of salt.

 

On Ventura recently someone was moaning that the Glasshouse was not a patch on Azura's because it did not have a whole wall of bottles :confused:

 

the wine and nosh was the same surely ;)

 

Tell you what though, the staff in Tazzine where just as disinterested as last year, this spoiled my cruise, not :D

[Mysticalmother]

...adding to my earlier post...

 

As you can see we have been on Cunard for the last few years, not because we didn't like P and O but simply the Cunard dates & itineraries fitted better. We loved the Cunard ships but the "hotel charges" (auto tips by any other name!) are much higher, the drinks are much more expensive (especially when you add the 15% service charge to every one) and the food was no better & no worse. So its back to PandO this time and we will see what has changed since last time!

Incidentally there are plenty of whingers and moaners on the Cunard forum as PandO! People were complaining that the Bay of Biscay was rough last year............:D

[Ty Olwen]

Hi Mysticalmother , we are going on Azura in June 15th and couldn't agree more with your comments . Holidays are what you make of them !

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[babs135]

We've booked a 14 nights cruise on the Oriana in June, our first cruise with P&O and having looked at the reviews for her I was curious re the rest of the fleet, hence the question. I suppose the problem is that people are quicker to moan/complain than praise these days.

 

Holidays are what you make of them, but P&O do seem to have a lot of negative comments which I find slightly disconcerting. However, we will go with an open mind and hopefully will enjoy ourselves. After all the reason we booked the cruise was for the itinerary (and price if I'm being honest).

[jeanlyon]

Also, sometimes you mistake constructive reviews with a few negative points to mean that the whole thing is awful. I didn't like Azura, she's too big for me and too noisy, but that's just my opinion. I love Oriana and I loved Artemis and Arcadia.

 

Same thing happens with the Fred ships. I've just been on Black Watch - she's seen better days, there were quite a few problems, but I still had a good time, good food, great service.

[annieuk]

People tend to moan about having a bad time and are less likely to say when they have had a wonderful time - also I agree with other posters that some people just like to moan!

 

We have been on over 15 cruises, the majority with P&O and I can honestly say we haven't had a bad one yet. We go on a cruise expecting to enjoy ourselves and we do!

[shallwe]

Went for our first ever cruise earlier this year on Oriana. The cruise could have been called a disaster by some as the ship virtually broke down. It only made it to 3 of the 7 ports.

 

Guess what, my wife and I loved it. The food, the service, the things to do, the spa, the gym, the theatre shows, the list is endless.

 

We were given our money back for a future cruise and could have chesen any other ship in the P&O fleet. Guess what, we chose Oriana again and am looking massively forward to it.

 

Not only that, but booked up Brittania for the Caribean next year. Like all things in life, it's what you make of it. Go with an open mind, you might just enjoy it.

[Sea Green]

Remember P&O is aimed at the British market and we Brits just love to moan :-)

Just back off the Oriana and yes the toilet broke down once and there was a little vibration from the engines - but I loved the whole thing! ;)

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi Babs135

My better half and I started cruising with P&O in 2005 on Arcadia we have cruised since that date on Arcadia (2),Oceana(1),Ventura(5),Azura(6), and have had a great time on every occasion we are booked on Ventura for February 2015, and are actively looking for a cruise for Nov/Dec 2014 and Feb/March 2016. Our only problem being P&O appear to be cutting back on their flights from Glasgow. I am not a P&O groupie I am the first to admit they are not perfect but what cruise line is, in my opinion they provide a product I like and I am prepared to pay for tho those who are anti P&O and are constantly complaining about them my advice is go elsewhere there are plenty of other cruise lines willing to take your money. I use another forum and read up on other cruise lines and it is amazing how others are complaining about changes etc on these lines so P&O are not alone. Go on your cruise with an open mind and enjoy yourselves.

Jim.

[babs135]

Remember P&O is aimed at the British market and we Brits just love to moan :-)

Just back off the Oriana and yes the toilet broke down once and there was a little vibration from the engines - but I loved the whole thing! ;)

 

Maybe it's me, but I find some of the (negative) comments almost hostile. It's as if the writer is on a mission to completely ruin anyone else's opinion of P&O. I just wonder why people appear to hate P&O?

 

We are lucky enough to have cruised before, this will be our 9th, and we've yet to have a 'bad' one. We've had terrible weather (didn't complain as I don't think the weather gods would read my comments:D), bad service (did complain), cancelled ports (not going to argue with the Captain who felt it too dangerous to attempt to dock) and it didn't spoil our holidays. Yet, reading reviews of these cruises, people did complain as if it was the cruiseline's fault for absolutely everything :rolleyes:

 

Pretty unbelievable at times.

 

BTW that's one reason I read comments here. If I'm feeling fed up with myself I know I'm guaranteed a laugh or two at some of the questions - some of which are meant to be funny and the others.....

[Mrs Moho]

Just wanted to say thank you to the posters on this thread, you have totally reassured us that P&O cruisers are not all moaners.

 

This is our first cruise with P&O and having read some of the other threads, we were, in true honesty wondering had we done the right thing, so much so, my husband has stopped reading them as he was getting quite wound up.

 

I have seen some of you have written on some of the threads in questions and agree with a lot of your comments - especially the us and them but really don't want to open that up on this friendly thread.

 

All we want to do is go on holiday, my husband works away, so for us, this is quality time together. We don't want to get embroiled with complaints, my motto is - 'Always look for the positives' and we normally find them. Like others have said, we've had missed ports, bad weather - including a hurricane, delayed flights but all we say is, we're cruising - not working.

 

When life gives you lemons - you make limoncello :) hic :)

 

Thanks again, this really is a nice friendly, helpful thread

 

Maureen & Dave

[Brayman]

Just wanted to say thank you to the posters on this thread, you have totally reassured us that P&O cruisers are not all moaners.

 

This is our first cruise with P&O and having read some of the other threads, we were, in true honesty wondering had we done the right thing, so much so, my husband has stopped reading them as he was getting quite wound up.

 

I have seen some of you have written on some of the threads in questions and agree with a lot of your comments - especially the us and them but really don't want to open that up on this friendly thread.

 

All we want to do is go on holiday, my husband works away, so for us, this is quality time together. We don't want to get embroiled with complaints, my motto is - 'Always look for the positives' and we normally find them. Like others have said, we've had missed ports, bad weather - including a hurricane, delayed flights but all we say is, we're cruising - not working.

 

When life gives you lemons - you make limoncello :) hic :)

 

Thanks again, this really is a nice friendly, helpful thread

 

Maureen & Dave

 

Well said :

 

As they say "A bad day at sea is better than a good day at work" :)

Edited May 24, 2014 by Brayman

[Sanjam cruisers]

Ho Mrs MoHo

Don't worry go on your cruise, relax and enjoy. And when you get back post a review let us know how you got on.

 

Jim.

[cruisegirl999]

We have been on 25 cruises with P&O and not had a bad one yet and honestly don't expect to in the future. In all those cruises we only missed one port because of high seas. Yes P&O have made changes, and I haven't always agreed with them but their product still suits. We must be lucky when we are on board as we seem to escape the moaners.

[Mrs Moho]

Ho Mrs MoHo

Don't worry go on your cruise, relax and enjoy. And when you get back post a review let us know how you got on.

 

Jim.

 

Thanks Jim, we can do no more than try :D

[rooftop]

We're looking forward to our fourth cruise in July - all have been with P&O, this being (purely chance) our third time on Aurora.

 

All have been absolutely great. Perhaps the staff on Ventura (cruise no. 2 in 2010) appeared less attentive than the Aurora crews but they got the job done none the less.

 

I think to a certain extent if you get on board looking to pick fault then you are more likely to find things to moan about.

[AchileLauro]

I've enjoyed quite a few cruises with P&O over very many years and while I have had the odd moan about something, usually because the company has changed things that have previously been absolutely fine or the design of a particular ship, the one thing that I have never complained about is the staff. The staff have always been absolutely first rate and have always done their very best to make your holiday as pleasant as possible. The only exception to this has been the odd member of staff on reception who hasn't known one end of the ship to the other or has been just plain unhelpful. Thankfully it has only ben the odd member of reception staff and in any case your interaction with them is normally minimal anyway.

 

I wish I that I could say the same about the Carnival H.Q. staff. The company certainly has some issues with communicating with their loyal customer base. Perhaps this is because most of the land based staff are British and not from a country where courtesy and good manners seem to come as second nature, values that traditionally the British have cherished.

Edited May 26, 2014 by AchileLauro