First P&O Cruise - Possibly our last!

[kevinyork]

Because I have never claimed that P&O are the best. Perhaps you have difficulty understanding that.

 

 

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No, I have no difficulty understanding that. No wait, I do. You denounce every single post on here where someone suggests an aspect of their P&O cruise or customer service wasnt to scratch. Please understand to critique a product you need to have something to refer to.

 

 

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[pallcare]

I did a two nighter on Oceana a few years ago, it was like a booze cruise I hated it, if it had been my first cruise it would have been my last.

On board Azura on Sunday (08/06) with my 80 year old mun. First time on Azura, lots of mixed reviews but going on board with an open mInd

 

Happy Cruising

[frenchmartiniplease]

Programmes I'd rather be watching than World Cup football

 

Game of Thrones

The Bridge

Big Bang Theory

Mad Men

24

Suits

The Wire

Bargain Hunt

Antique Roadshow

Downton

Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen)

Actually, anything really!

 

Or perhaps a cruise for the whole summer!

Edited June 4, 2014 by frenchmartiniplease

[daiB]

No, I have no difficulty understanding that. No wait, I do. You denounce every single post on here where someone suggests an aspect of their P&O cruise or customer service wasnt to scratch. Please understand to critique a product you need to have something to refer to.

 

 

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Again you prove you do not read what I have written an yet again you have a go at me. If someone makes a broad overarching statement that I think is incorrect I will say so.

 

You on the other hand just have a go at me.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Just come onto the board to catch up on P&O gossip.....see you are all still arguing. Anyone at St Petersburg on Azura on 5th July? I'm there on the Emerald Princess. No smelly crew or passengers onboard, they do our laundry for free! Lol 😀👍

 

 

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[Mysticalmother]

I did a two nighter on Oceana a few years ago, it was like a booze cruise I hated it, if it had been my first cruise it would have been my last.

On board Azura on Sunday (08/06) with my 80 year old mun. First time on Azura, lots of mixed reviews but going on board with an open mInd

 

Happy Cruising

 

Ditto ( but not with my mum)! see you on board.:)

[frenchmartiniplease]

you have done so many p and o must pick you up from your house in a limousine and drop rose petals as you walk on board

 

Play nice!

[rubydoobydoo]

I have noticed the same problem, but it's a personal thing and has absolutely nothing to do with the cruise line. I did once have cause to mention it to the Maitre D on Thomsons about one particular member of staff, quietly and succinctly and it was dealt with in the same way. Sometimes people are unaware of the situation themselves and it needs someone else to broach the subject. :)

 

I can understand what you are saying but I can't totally agree with it as it is down to poor management, for so many people to notice there is a problem then management have to educate their staff on poor hygiene, and if the problem is related to washing of clothes, as I believe is some of the problem, they have to take steps to make sure their staff can launder their uniform as required

[frenchmartiniplease]

I've decided not to tip in future. I shall be handing out dove deodorant!

:D

[Tom Baker]

I've decided not to tip in future. I shall be handing out dove deodorant!

:D

 

No sweat ;)

[frenchmartiniplease]

No sweat ;)

 

:D Good one!!!:D

[Algorfa4me]

I did a two nighter on Oceana a few years ago, it was like a booze cruise I hated it, if it had been my first cruise it would have been my last.

On board Azura on Sunday (08/06) with my 80 year old mun. First time on Azura, lots of mixed reviews but going on board with an open mInd

 

Happy Cruising

 

See you on board, I'm with my Mum (87) as well! Maybe we should sneak out to the nightclub one night! I'm assuming you are female so am I ( didn't want this post to sound like blind date!):D

[Elviex]

A412 Azura Western Med

Embarkation...smooth and swift, left Basingstoke 12 noon, in cabin 2pm

D303... Superior de luxe with friendly smiley sweet smelling steward Emily. She never failed to be cheerful and helpful.

 

Breakfasts..buffet quiet on the days we used it, Peninsular civilised, lots of nice people on our tables, no complaints except toast slow arriving one day...not a complaint in my book! Although they could put the smaller portions on smaller plates so they don't look so odd! We were told by someone who did the behind the scenes tour once that those little round bits of bread under the eggs are for presentation purposes only....room service - efficient and ample for our needs.p on the day we had an early start.

Lunch..buffet was probably not our best experience because of the crowds, but acceptable food. We bought two weeks of The Retreat so enjoyed a nice light lunch there a few times with very friendly discreet service from Vinay and his colleague.

Evening meals...fab. Sindhu twice, Glass House a few times. MDR on Freedom dining which worked well, sometimes we took a pager to wait for a table for two, others we took pot luck and enjoyed meeting new people. The taster evening at the Glass House was wonderful. Our wines and our courses were presented to each table in turn with full explanation of the food and wines. No complaints about service anywhere. All food was hot and properly cooked. No steaks were tough and I have plenty of photos to show how delightfully presented it all was. Become my friend on FB to see them!

Tours...I have seen comments about the short port days and started to note our times..Gibraltar was the shortest with sail away 1pn. Villefranche was 6.15pm, Livorno 9.15am to 4pm, Ajaccio 8am to 4pm, Barcelona 9am to 6pm, Cartagena 10am to 6pm. So we were happy with all that. We took four P&O tours and found them good value. Maybe "Panoramic Cartagena" stretched the imagination a bit as we had a coach drive up into the Sierra and to La Manga, an hour away, but we loved the opportunity to see scenery we probably won't see again.

Entertainment...not really our thing. Although we did catch the excellent Elton John tribute and his second night with George Michael was great. We accepted it would be near impossible to get a seat in the Playhouse unless you went to the second show, but we are late birds and prefer to eat around 7 to 8 pm. The comedian whose show we saw the end of was hilarious, Peter Piper I think his name was.

Other facilities...I had a nice pedicure in the Spa, browsed the shops most days, used the Library, took advantage of the free bubbles in The Gallery, one of the features I particularly like, had questions for Reception (dealt with promptly and efficiently), used the launderette and generally tried most things.

Disembarkation..we chose a time, waited in the allocated venue, and disembarked with no hassle or queueing ten minutes before that time.

We accepted that with 3100 people or thereabouts in one place there would be some folk not shall I say, like-minded. But the dress code was on the whole adhered to. If I had seen anything unpleasant or unacceptable I would have said. My only comment on the final questionnaire was we were surprised that gentlemen could remove their jackets on formal nights in Sindhu as two years ago my husband tried to do that and was told to put it back on!

Thanks for reading! Arcadia next.

Finally, we enjoyed it so much we are in A510N next May and Britannia in September.

 

 

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[dgs1956]

Elviex

That was a great report and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you for taking the time to write it.

David

[tom_uk]

Elviex: many thanks for the review.

 

Just over three weeks until we board Azura....

[daiB]

A412 Azura Western Med

Embarkation...smooth and swift, left Basingstoke 12 noon, in cabin 2pm

D303... Superior de luxe with friendly smiley sweet smelling steward Emily. She never failed to be cheerful and helpful.

 

Breakfasts..buffet quiet on the days we used it, Peninsular civilised, lots of nice people on our tables, no complaints except toast slow arriving one day...not a complaint in my book! Although they could put the smaller portions on smaller plates so they don't look so odd! We were told by someone who did the behind the scenes tour once that those little round bits of bread under the eggs are for presentation purposes only....room service - efficient and ample for our needs.p on the day we had an early start.

Lunch..buffet was probably not our best experience because of the crowds, but acceptable food. We bought two weeks of The Retreat so enjoyed a nice light lunch there a few times with very friendly discreet service from Vinay and his colleague.

Evening meals...fab. Sindhu twice, Glass House a few times. MDR on Freedom dining which worked well, sometimes we took a pager to wait for a table for two, others we took pot luck and enjoyed meeting new people. The taster evening at the Glass House was wonderful. Our wines and our courses were presented to each table in turn with full explanation of the food and wines. No complaints about service anywhere. All food was hot and properly cooked. No steaks were tough and I have plenty of photos to show how delightfully presented it all was. Become my friend on FB to see them!

Tours...I have seen comments about the short port days and started to note our times..Gibraltar was the shortest with sail away 1pn. Villefranche was 6.15pm, Livorno 9.15am to 4pm, Ajaccio 8am to 4pm, Barcelona 9am to 6pm, Cartagena 10am to 6pm. So we were happy with all that. We took four P&O tours and found them good value. Maybe "Panoramic Cartagena" stretched the imagination a bit as we had a coach drive up into the Sierra and to La Manga, an hour away, but we loved the opportunity to see scenery we probably won't see again.

Entertainment...not really our thing. Although we did catch the excellent Elton John tribute and his second night with George Michael was great. We accepted it would be near impossible to get a seat in the Playhouse unless you went to the second show, but we are late birds and prefer to eat around 7 to 8 pm. The comedian whose show we saw the end of was hilarious, Peter Piper I think his name was.

Other facilities...I had a nice pedicure in the Spa, browsed the shops most days, used the Library, took advantage of the free bubbles in The Gallery, one of the features I particularly like, had questions for Reception (dealt with promptly and efficiently), used the launderette and generally tried most things.

Disembarkation..we chose a time, waited in the allocated venue, and disembarked with no hassle or queueing ten minutes before that time.

We accepted that with 3100 people or thereabouts in one place there would be some folk not shall I say, like-minded. But the dress code was on the whole adhered to. If I had seen anything unpleasant or unacceptable I would have said. My only comment on the final questionnaire was we were surprised that gentlemen could remove their jackets on formal nights in Sindhu as two years ago my husband tried to do that and was told to put it back on!

Thanks for reading! Arcadia next.

Finally, we enjoyed it so much we are in A510N next May and Britannia in September.

 

 

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Like the report, certainly mirrors our experience on A409 and A410. Do like the glasshouse. We did the tasting menu as well. Excellent.

 

 

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[happytravelleruk]

I agree with all you have said about Azura. We enjoyed the same cruise as you. This was our first time on board Azura and we were a bit worried about the number of people on board but found it no problem even in the buffet. We always managed to get a table and met many lovely people. I took my wheelchair and scooter and found people very accommodating in the lifts. We will certainly sail on Azura again.

[P&O SUE]

Hi!

 

The 4 nighter we had last week ( Mon/Fri) was nothing like a party cruise, it was a great minibreak, though you probably need at least a week to really chill.

 

We had Freedom dining but we wanted to spoil ourselves and paid extra for the other dinner options. If you fancy trying these I would recommend booking Sindu and XV11 before getting on board ( I booked weeks ahead). These venues were VERY busy and we saw people turning up to see if there were cancellations. These places may not look busy when you walk past but tables are reserved and you're not rushed. Sindu dinner about 1 1/2 hours. They serve little tasters/muse bouches (sp) during the meal. XV11 took 2 1/2 hours. Again lots of little tasters, I staggered out of there truly stuffed.

 

As someone else said, bar staff are usually busy getting the bar waiters orders ready, so take a seat with a view in Planet Bar and relax. They do great Martinis.

 

Oooh! Just remembered. A few years ago we did a 3 nighter on Grand Princess from Southampton/Le Harve. visiting Honfleur. Again, was not a 'booze cruise'

 

Enjoy your 4 nighter.

 

Thank you very much for your reply - sorry only just seen it!

We are actually going on Orianna for the 4 nighter - sorry if I gave the wrong impression. We hope to be on a 12 night cruise with Azura next year so thanks for the tip about booking the Select restaurants early.:)

[P&O SUE]

Elviex thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review - I enjoyed it.

[Elviex]

Thanks to those who read my review of Azura! I was a bit worried it wasn't the right place for a review, but in view of the thread I decided to go for it!

 

 

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[Elviex]

Thanks to those who read my review. I was a bit worried it might not have been the right place to post a review but in view of the thread I decided to go for it!

 

 

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[Slugsta]

Great review Elviex, thank you!

 

We have cruised with P+O a few times and Princess once (also tried Cunard and a shortie on FO). We loved Crown Princess, she was beautiful and, of course, Azura is the same configuration. On the whole we found little to choose between P+O and Princess. Some things were done bettter by one line, some by the other. In future our decision will be entirely on itinerary and price.

 

I would never do a 2 nighter with any cruise line!

[jackieo]

We are really Princess people but have tried P and O several times, hoping things will get better. Just not to be.

 

I had an odd experience in the main dining room. I couldn't decide between two main courses so I asked for both. oh my goodness the waiter looked very shocked and said he would have to ask the chef! Now we cruise a lot on Princess and have never had this happen! Anyway off he goes to ask and then made a big thing of telling me the chef had agreed I could have two!

 

In addition we have not had a great experience with the wine waiters on P and O. Once you can actually order and it arrives the wine waiter seems to disappear so we are left with empty glasses and trying to see where on earth he actually stashed our bottle. Lol! Hubby gets very frustrated.

 

So it's back to Princess for us. Each to their own.

[jeanlyon]

Now that's another comment I fail to understand. We have always had the wine on the table, not "stashed" somewhere? White wine usually in a cooler and red wine just on the table. We prefer to pour our own. Don't want someone filling my glass, I might not want it filled. Also, we always order it beforehand, so we don't have to wait for it to come. It's usually on the table when we arrive.

[rooftop]

Indeed - they'll leave the bottle on the table if asked. If they do take it away, it usually gets "stashed" by the bar.