frazzledmom Posted August 4, 2016 #1 Share Posted August 4, 2016 We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them! This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you. P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgs1956 Posted August 4, 2016 #2 Share Posted August 4, 2016 We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them! This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you. P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board! On board is without doubt significantly better than dealing with customer services. Hopefully you'll get your problem sorted out and be happier by the time you go on your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazzledmom Posted August 4, 2016 Author #3 Share Posted August 4, 2016 That's reassuring - thank you! xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scriv Posted August 4, 2016 #4 Share Posted August 4, 2016 (edited) That's reassuring - thank you! xx It really is a problem getting through to them at the moment and has been getting gradually worse in the past couple of months. :( Not sure what is happening, but they really do need to do something about it is so frustrating as well as very expensive for people and is causing a lot of anger even for the most patient types. Sorry this has been your first experience frazzledmom and hope you get things sorted soon and have a wonderful cruise. Edited August 4, 2016 by Scriv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazzledmom Posted August 4, 2016 Author #5 Share Posted August 4, 2016 On hold for 30 minutes tonight before speaking to someone - disgusting! Unbelievably was then told that the medical form I was promised earlier by email takes 2-3 working days to come through. Not good as we're sailing in 3 days on Sunday! Was then told that I can email the medical team directly so that they're aware of the situation before we board. Why couldn't the "muppet" I spoke to earlier have told me this! I made a point of commenting that I'd been on hold for 30 mins - no apology! Still not impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted August 4, 2016 #6 Share Posted August 4, 2016 On hold for 30 minutes tonight before speaking to someone - disgusting! Unbelievably was then told that the medical form I was promised earlier by email takes 2-3 working days to come through. Not good as we're sailing in 3 days on Sunday! Was then told that I can email the medical team directly so that they're aware of the situation before we board. Why couldn't the "muppet" I spoke to earlier have told me this! I made a point of commenting that I'd been on hold for 30 mins - no apology! Still not impressed! We recently posted about the problem we had trying to book an Welcome Onboard Package. Took hours ! I have no idea what is going on. In the past P&O has been really good when we've had to phone them about anything - particularly last year when I had to call them about an operation I had had. They checked our their procedures and the info I needed for the airline as well. Infact, they were brilliant. This year it is like trying to get through to the Pope!!! Re the form you need to fill in - I think I was able to get mine on line somewhere???? Try not to let it affect your cruise ----- though this may not be that easy understandably. Will see if I can find my form from last year and where I got it from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazzledmom Posted August 4, 2016 Author #7 Share Posted August 4, 2016 We recently posted about the problem we had trying to book an Welcome Onboard Package. Took hours ! I have no idea what is going on. In the past P&O has been really good when we've had to phone them about anything - particularly last year when I had to call them about an operation I had had. They checked our their procedures and the info I needed for the airline as well. Infact, they were brilliant. This year it is like trying to get through to the Pope!!! Re the form you need to fill in - I think I was able to get mine on line somewhere???? Try not to let it affect your cruise ----- though this may not be that easy understandably. Will see if I can find my form from last year and where I got it from. Thank you - that's very kind & helpful. Much better than P&O!! xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted August 4, 2016 #8 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Thank you - that's very kind & helpful. Much better than P&O!! xx Cant find our copy of the medical email but i remember that it was nothing to worry about. Hubby says it may be on our other server so wil check for you tomorrow . To be honest for me it seemed pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazzledmom Posted August 5, 2016 Author #9 Share Posted August 5, 2016 The medical form was emailed to me this morning and I've completed it, scanned it and sent it back. A bit of a rush but hopefully all sorted now - thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukaswithak Posted August 5, 2016 #10 Share Posted August 5, 2016 We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them! This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you. P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board! They called us back when we were sailing in March but this time ( recent weeks) we have not received our calls back either. It has taken ages to get through as well. Seems they need more staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florry Posted August 6, 2016 #11 Share Posted August 6, 2016 They say it's high call volume - surely the answer is to have enough people to deal with it? No idea what is going on there right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataraxia Posted August 7, 2016 #12 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I had problems phoning/requesting call backs etc. I then put a post on their Faceache site, and the problem was resolved in 5 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted August 7, 2016 #13 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I had problems phoning/requesting call backs etc. I then put a post on their Faceache site, and the problem was resolved in 5 hours. Like the reference to the site in question :D I avoid the Faceache site like the plague for everything and anything..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCFC Posted August 7, 2016 #14 Share Posted August 7, 2016 The thing that gets my goat with ringing P&O is they have the cheek to charge you 3p a minute to speak to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henderson1 Posted August 7, 2016 #15 Share Posted August 7, 2016 They've been saying 'high volume of calls' now for about two months - plenty of time if they're that bothered to do something about it and employ more staff - the excuse pretty thin now! I always use the local phone number, you may wait but you are not payinv silly money! Jackie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysticalmother Posted August 7, 2016 #16 Share Posted August 7, 2016 If you dig deep on their website, there is actually a freephone number...not in the obvious place , but it is there...! If I could remember how to find it, i would post here...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weylady Posted August 8, 2016 #17 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Freephone number for P&O worth keeping for future reference 0800 0523840 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltybaltiholty Posted August 8, 2016 #18 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I searched yell.com for P&O's number then called the main switchboard using my mobiles unlimited minutes, they still answer with the same menu, "Press 1 for blah blah blah" I appreciate not everybody has unlimited minutes though. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosby99 Posted August 10, 2016 #19 Share Posted August 10, 2016 We haven't even boarded yet & I'm already unimpressed with P&O! I've had to phone their customer services several times over the past couple of days and can't believe how difficult & how long it takes to get through! Promises of a member of staff calling me back to confirm things haven't been kept hence my need to keep calling them! This is our second cruise but we previously sailed with Royal Carribean who were amazing & couldn't do enough for you. P&O have got to up their game quite significantly to impress me once we get on board! Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse. Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolferT Posted August 10, 2016 #20 Share Posted August 10, 2016 (edited) Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse. Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely. Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.......can I ask what went wrong?? As I'm due to sail on the Ventura in a few months Thanx Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Edited August 10, 2016 by GolferT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crosby99 Posted August 11, 2016 #21 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise.......can I ask what went wrong?? As I'm due to sail on the Ventura in a few months Thanx Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app I'm sorry I should not have said that:) Everybody like different things. My impression was they had moved their best staff to Britannia and the ship was very unfriendly e.g. I don't think 1 waiter interacted with either child the whole week. The officer that shouted at a toddler for talking during Muster did not create that family friendly feeling either. Food was very poor(but i have heard better reports from elsewhere) & entertainment was abysmal with what seemed to be a very poor Cruise Director. Special dietary requests were far too difficult to get compared to elsewhere. On a positive front the kids club was very good but outside of this the was nothing for kids to do. Despite being marketed as family friendly I didn't feel it was and had a really bad atmosphere. The were several issues with customer services prior to boarding which came across as P&O simply do not care about customer care and I had considered even cancelling before traveling. However many people rate the ship highly including my parents so you should have a great time :) I am tempted to book Britannia but our previous experience does make me hesitate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolferT Posted August 11, 2016 #22 Share Posted August 11, 2016 I'm sorry I should not have said that:) Everybody like different things. My impression was they had moved their best staff to Britannia and the ship was very unfriendly e.g. I don't think 1 waiter interacted with either child the whole week. The officer that shouted at a toddler for talking during Muster did not create that family friendly feeling either. Food was very poor(but i have heard better reports from elsewhere) & entertainment was abysmal with what seemed to be a very poor Cruise Director. Special dietary requests were far too difficult to get compared to elsewhere. On a positive front the kids club was very good but outside of this the was nothing for kids to do. Despite being marketed as family friendly I didn't feel it was and had a really bad atmosphere. The were several issues with customer services prior to boarding which came across as P&O simply do not care about customer care and I had considered even cancelling before traveling. However many people rate the ship highly including my parents so you should have a great time :) I am tempted to book Britannia but our previous experience does make me hesitate. That great cheers. There hasn't been many reviews recently for the Ventura so it's good to hear from someone who was on board recently. I like to get the whole picture from both people who loved it and from people who didn't. When we were on the oceana last year there was things we didn't like as well so we know p&o ain't perfect. Thanx Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josy1953 Posted August 12, 2016 #23 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Sadly this was our experience too and the cruise was even worse.Despite being tempted to sail on Britannia our Ventura P&O experience makes it highly unlikely. Sorry to hear that your cruise was poor but don't let the Ventura experience put you off all P&O ships. We were on Ventura in April this year and had a bad experience to the point where I complained on board and then wrote to P&O when we got home, we are regular P&O cruisers but we have said that we will avoid Ventura in the future because we are convinced that for some reason there are problems on that particular ship. We went on Azura in July and it was a totally different experience, happy smiling crew, much better entertainment and although both cruises had exactly the same menus for dinner the food on Azura far exceeded that on Ventura, it was better cooked and presented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiB Posted August 12, 2016 #24 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Only thing is that we were on her in January and had a great time the staff were excellent and the food fine. Move on 3 month and you have a different experience. Same ship. But of course different crew. Go on her now and the crew will be different again. Not all the crew of course but perhaps the ones you come across. What I am saying is that the experience on on ship is not necessarily an indication of how it will be sometime in the future. Good or bad. The other key factor is that if you have a problem you must get it resolved on the ship. If you leave it until you get home some of the staff you dealt with may not be on the ship so for shoreside to get an understanding of what happened could be very difficult. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josy1953 Posted August 12, 2016 #25 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Only thing is that we were on her in January and had a great time the staff were excellent and the food fine. Move on 3 month and you have a different experience. Same ship. But of course different crew. Go on her now and the crew will be different again. Not all the crew of course but perhaps the ones you come across. What I am saying is that the experience on on ship is not necessarily an indication of how it will be sometime in the future. Good or bad. The other key factor is that if you have a problem you must get it resolved on the ship. If you leave it until you get home some of the staff you dealt with may not be on the ship so for shoreside to get an understanding of what happened could be very difficult. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app You are absolutely right but for some reason the atmosphere on Ventura ways seems different to that on the other P&O ships. I agree that any problems should be dealt with on board but I was less than impressed with the reception on Ventura but again this may have been a one-off as I have never had reason to complain before. Writing to P&O did bring an apology and an assurance that the ship would be informed of our concerns along with some suggestions of changes that should be made on board. They may or may not have contacted the ship but I felt better that they were prepared to address the problem rather than feeling that we were fobbed off on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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