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Penninsular club

pdw26

By pdw26,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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  • 3 months later...
wblee

wblee

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone, I'm fairly new to the forum and having just booked our 6th cruise we are hardly seasoned campaigners like many of you contributing to this thread. All of our cruises have been with P&O and all have been thoroughly good value. Though we are obviously in the peninsular club I don't really understand all the emotion over the benefits/advantages. We get 8.5% off the end of cruise bill which is much appreciated. We don't wear the pins they supply which I understand can get you a free drink? (Neither does anyone else from my observation). Before booking we always check the major cruise companies but overall I am convinced that we get the best deal available using P&O. Last December we had 14 nights in the med for £549! Obviously this was entry level, interior cabin etc but fabulous value which nobody else could get anywhere near. Low tips, reasonable bar prices no service gratuities, as far as we can see it's almost a no brainer.

I realise that having no experience of Princess, RC, Fred Olsen etc leaves my comments open to challenge but my point is that given the excellent staff and our satisfaction with P&O combined with a nice discount it will take a major change to move us from P&O.

By the way we're not always cheapskates and our next trip is a select price balcony so we'll get on a little earlier than previously though I don't really care about it as the ship doesn't go till the last passenger is on board.

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Host Sharon

Host Sharon

Posted
Posted
Hi everyone, I'm fairly new to the forum and having just booked our 6th cruise we are hardly seasoned campaigners like many of you contributing to this thread. All of our cruises have been with P&O and all have been thoroughly good value. Though we are obviously in the peninsular club I don't really understand all the emotion over the benefits/advantages. We get 8.5% off the end of cruise bill which is much appreciated. We don't wear the pins they supply which I understand can get you a free drink? (Neither does anyone else from my observation). Before booking we always check the major cruise companies but overall I am convinced that we get the best deal available using P&O. Last December we had 14 nights in the med for £549! Obviously this was entry level, interior cabin etc but fabulous value which nobody else could get anywhere near. Low tips, reasonable bar prices no service gratuities, as far as we can see it's almost a no brainer.

I realise that having no experience of Princess, RC, Fred Olsen etc leaves my comments open to challenge but my point is that given the excellent staff and our satisfaction with P&O combined with a nice discount it will take a major change to move us from P&O.

By the way we're not always cheapskates and our next trip is a select price balcony so we'll get on a little earlier than previously though I don't really care about it as the ship doesn't go till the last passenger is on board.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic Wblee. I don't know where you thought you got a free drink by wearing the pins. From Caribbean level upwards you get a voucher for a free glass of champagne at a sailaway and a half-bottle of champagne in your cabin one formal night.

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  • 2 months later...
lumina

lumina

Posted
Posted

P&O do not even recognise nights on Ocean Village their brand but Princess do!

8 cruise with 108 nights on OV so gives us Elite! Nothing with P&O so guess where our loyality goes? Princess ships from the UK seem to have a high % of USA pax on 3600 pax ships only around 700 were UK. Due to lack of loyality shown by P&O normally go Princess unless we really want the Itiniary. :)

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Brayman

Brayman

Posted
Posted
P&O do not even recognise nights on Ocean Village their brand but Princess do!

8 cruise with 108 nights on OV so gives us Elite! Nothing with P&O so guess where our loyality goes? Princess ships from the UK seem to have a high % of USA pax on 3600 pax ships only around 700 were UK. Due to lack of loyality shown by P&O normally go Princess unless we really want the Itiniary. :)

 

Good to see you understand the meaning of Loyalty.

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john watson

john watson

Posted
Posted
P&O do not even recognise nights on Ocean Village their brand but Princess do!

8 cruise with 108 nights on OV so gives us Elite! Nothing with P&O so guess where our loyality goes? Princess ships from the UK seem to have a high % of USA pax on 3600 pax ships only around 700 were UK. Due to lack of loyality shown by P&O normally go Princess unless we really want the Itiniary. :)

 

8 cruises with 108 nights on OV will not give you Elite status on Princess. You need 151 plus nights or 16th cruise. OV will contribute as will Sitmar cruises. You are probably Elite with additional P&O cruises being counted in. The prices on Princess are generally high to start with then drop nearer sailing date. Under US terms and conditions of sale Americans know if they book at a high price and it drops they get charged the lower rate UK terms are less favourable and therefore you can see the proportions of US/UK passengers will be affected.

 

P&O cannot have the same rules as Princess if they did after your sixth cruise you would get preferred check in, so would every other 6th plus P&O cruiser, as per Platinum. Think of the chaos that would cause. How many P&O people would there be on the 16th plus cruise or 151 plus days on the top level forever. Hence the recency clause in the P&O loyalty rules. This is the basis upon which P&O have enormous numbers of loyal passengers that they have to thin out to get a workable loyalty scheme.

 

Regards John

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Nannyannie

Nannyannie

Posted
Posted

Well don't quite no what to make of it all. All I want is a good cruise and itinery, good food and company. Not interested in perks. Have cruised for many years starting with Union Castle which many will not remember. Think P and O have done well from British cruisers but feel Princess are a notch above overall. Each offer extremely good cruises and of course you will never Please everyone.

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Florry

Florry

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wow, lol. There are lots of valid points here. Firstly I think for the first time in ages P&O are getting it right with upgrades, from what I can see they are being allocated on a fairness of price basis on each cruise - personally I think that's how it should be rather than based on loyalty. Secondly, great points about value for money, taking drinks onboard etc. I also like the British feel, tea and coffee in cabin etc.

Do I think P&O get loyalty right? No. I think they could be much more innovative, I think you could have some sort of points allocation per cruise based on what you have paid and previous loyalty. You could then use these points to buy something onboard. At its lowest level it might be a free drink, but it could go up to a meal in a select restaurant. P&O are paying cost price, passengers are feeling the love; win, win. The current loyalty is poor - pins, slippers percentages off spend that you never actually get because of the OBC, which is worked into the price you pay anyway. It was months ago that P&O said they were reviewing loyalty this summer, well it's nearly over and still no sign. Do I choose provider specifically for loyalty benefits? No, but if they were worth my loyalty I might be less inclined to try other brands, who do offer more attractive packages. I've tried Princess and don't intend to stop there. Will P&O care? Probably not, why pay more to reward loyalty if you are filling your ships anyway? Time will tell.

 

 

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Edited by Florry
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davecttr

davecttr

Posted
Posted
Wow, lol. There are lots of valid points here. Firstly I think for the first time in ages P&O are getting it right with upgrades, from what I can see they are being allocated on a fairness of price basis on each cruise - personally I think that's how it should be rather than based on loyalty. Secondly, great points about value for money, taking drinks onboard etc. I also like the British feel, tea and coffee in cabin etc.

Do I think P&O get loyalty right? No. I think they could be much more innovative, I think you could have some sort of points allocation per cruise based on what you have paid and previous loyalty. You could then use these points to buy something onboard. At its lowest level it might be a free drink, but it could go up to a meal in a select restaurant. P&O are paying cost price, passengers are feeling the love; win, win. The current loyalty is poor - pins, slippers percentages off spend that you never actually get because of the OBC, which is worked into the price you pay anyway. It was months ago that P&O said they were reviewing loyalty this summer, well it's nearly over and still no sign. Do I choose provider specifically for loyalty benefits? No, but if they were worth my loyalty I might be less inclined to try other brands, who do offer more attractive packages. I've tried Princess and don't intend to stop there. Will P&O care? Probably not, why pay more to reward loyalty if you are filling your ships anyway? Time will tell.

 

 

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Good points there. Why can't they have an element of loyalty awards based on how much you spend, both the fare and onboard spend. Surely the amount spent is at least as important to the company profits as the number of nights you have spent cruising. For example American cruise lines give perks to high rolling gamblers on their ships. So much so that people even get free cabins!

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Florry

Florry

Posted
Posted
Good points there. Why can't they have an element of loyalty awards based on how much you spend, both the fare and onboard spend. Surely the amount spent is at least as important to the company profits as the number of nights you have spent cruising. For example American cruise lines give perks to high rolling gamblers on their ships. So much so that people even get free cabins!

 

 

There are so many opportunities for innovation, but I fear P&O aren't agile enough in their thinking. Perhaps when they said they would be announcing change in the summer they meant 2017 [emoji38] I really hope they do something surprising, I would love to see that! @christopheredgington

 

 

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