Embarkation Times - Recent Experiences?

[Presto2]

Just remembered the ice flannels and looking forward to these in a few days time.

 

You are doing the cruise that we had booked for next August and it got cancelled. :-(

Have a great time - brilliant itinerary and I imagine a stunning ship like Silhouette.

[CABINET]

Celebrity don't discriminate and all passengers get a glass ;)

 

The don't discriminate but nor do you get Champagne just a glass of something white and fizzy.

[brillo]

Why if someone loves Celebrity so much do they spend all their time on the PO board ?

[terrierjohn]

Why if someone loves Celebrity so much do they spend all their time on the PO board ?

Have you tried talking sense to the Americans?;p

[mercury7289]

Terrierjohn

 

Wow, you might want to rethink that!

 

Red card in my books

[peteukmcr]

Why if someone loves Celebrity so much do they spend all their time on the PO board ?

Because in a couple of moments of madness we have a couple of future P&O cruises booked so I need to keep up to date with the antics on the P&O forum. :D

 

Although as I've already stated, one of those may be cancelled because we'd rather return to RCI for 2018 after all the positive comments on this forum. :rolleyes:

 

And just as some on this board like to visit the other cruise line forums and quote posts from there to highlight the apparent dissatisfaction of other cruisers, I can visit here and post my experience from other cruise lines when I consider their procedures superior to those implemented by P&O.

 

For info I visit this board, and contribute to the RCI, Celebrity and MSC boards too.

[Presto2]

Because in a couple of moments of madness we have a couple of future P&O cruises booked so I need to keep up to date with the antics on the P&O forum. :D

 

Although as I've already stated, one of those may be cancelled because we'd rather return to RCI for 2018 after all the positive comments on this forum. :rolleyes:

 

And just as some on this board like to visit the other cruise line forums and quote posts from there to highlight the apparent dissatisfaction of other cruisers, I can visit here and post my experience from other cruise lines when I consider their procedures superior to those implemented by P&O.

 

For info I visit this board, and contribute to the RCI, Celebrity and MSC boards too.

 

We love Celebrity and P&O - just accept that they are different, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. RCI just wasn't for us though, though the speciality Italian restaurant was the best we have ever been in and the cabin just wow!

 

Notice that you are going on Ventura. We are in August for the first time, so will let you know what we think and how we think it compares to the US lines

 

Give us any ship than none ;-)

[gadabout60]

Have only ever cruised Celebrity and P&O and IMHO the Celebrity product is far superior and I would always book Celebrity all things being equal - even if the holidays costs a few hundred pounds more

However the fact that P&O cruise year round from Southampton is a major plus for me thus I cruise with them occasionally and keep an eye on this board

From speaking to friends and others I meet on cruises all mainstream cruise are cost cutting as they have more cabins to fill. Obviously some savings impact me more than others e.g we rarely bother with the entertainment so though many report drops in standards there I am not affected

I do have a number of minor issues with P&O such as embarkation though you do tend to have forgotten this by day 2 of the cruise and while the lack of customer care is irritating it doesn't really spoil the holiday

What does affect me is the food on board. Again I can only speak to Celebrity and P&O and would accept that the MDR food on Celebrity is perhaps not quite what it was but still very acceptable with a fantastic buffet. P&O on the other hand in my opinion have now reached an unacceptable level with MDR and buffet offerings. As someone just posted on a review on another site, gone are the days when you might take a photo of your meal to send to family and friends. Strange cuts of meat in reconstituted shapes, endless rubbery green beans, potatoes that bear no resemblance to potatoes you get elsewhere. I could go on but in my view it is cheap food. I'd be fascinated to know the food spend per day per passenger

The menus might look great but the food does not live up to the reality of them. I know many will disagree with me and think the food great - either they have been a whole lot luckier with their choices, or they don't eat well at home. As I say I am not a foodie but I do like quality fresh food cooked well. I know I am not the only one who thinks like this as I talk to loads of folk on cruises who feel the same about food, and the MDR on my recent Azura cruise had many empty tables

I can and do go to speciality restaurants - and the quality there is on the whole great - but then you lose the cruise experience of dining with new people.

I also personally like the fact that the US lines have a good international mix of passengers and have made some lovely friends from overseas that I still keep in touch with

Deep down though I want P&O to go back to what they were like only 5 years ago. There are some interesting years ahead as they build bigger and bigger ships and sadly more and more people book on the basis of price alone. I would be happy to pay more to keep the standards the way they were

[dgs1956]

I know many will disagree with me and think the food great - either they have been a whole lot luckier with their choices, or they don't eat well at home.

 

I really find this sort of comment offensive. I respect your opinion that you don't enjoy the food on P&O but why do you feel it necessary to say that those who disagree with you must not eat well at home? This Forum really needs people to be more respectful to others.

[bee-ess]

Have only ever cruised Celebrity and P&O and IMHO the Celebrity product is far superior and I would always book Celebrity all things being equal - even if the holidays costs a few hundred pounds more

However the fact that P&O cruise year round from Southampton is a major plus for me thus I cruise with them occasionally and keep an eye on this board

From speaking to friends and others I meet on cruises all mainstream cruise are cost cutting as they have more cabins to fill. Obviously some savings impact me more than others e.g we rarely bother with the entertainment so though many report drops in standards there I am not affected

I do have a number of minor issues with P&O such as embarkation though you do tend to have forgotten this by day 2 of the cruise and while the lack of customer care is irritating it doesn't really spoil the holiday

What does affect me is the food on board. Again I can only speak to Celebrity and P&O and would accept that the MDR food on Celebrity is perhaps not quite what it was but still very acceptable with a fantastic buffet. P&O on the other hand in my opinion have now reached an unacceptable level with MDR and buffet offerings. As someone just posted on a review on another site, gone are the days when you might take a photo of your meal to send to family and friends. Strange cuts of meat in reconstituted shapes, endless rubbery green beans, potatoes that bear no resemblance to potatoes you get elsewhere. I could go on but in my view it is cheap food. I'd be fascinated to know the food spend per day per passenger

The menus might look great but the food does not live up to the reality of them. I know many will disagree with me and think the food great - either they have been a whole lot luckier with their choices, or they don't eat well at home. As I say I am not a foodie but I do like quality fresh food cooked well. I know I am not the only one who thinks like this as I talk to loads of folk on cruises who feel the same about food, and the MDR on my recent Azura cruise had many empty tables

I can and do go to speciality restaurants - and the quality there is on the whole great - but then you lose the cruise experience of dining with new people.

I also personally like the fact that the US lines have a good international mix of passengers and have made some lovely friends from overseas that I still keep in touch with

Deep down though I want P&O to go back to what they were like only 5 years ago. There are some interesting years ahead as they build bigger and bigger ships and sadly more and more people book on the basis of price alone. I would be happy to pay more to keep the standards the way they were

 

Great comparison and pretty much how we feel about the differences between the 2, but due to exchange rates at the moment there is quite a difference in the onboard spend when converted to Sterling which can I know sometimes be offset with a drinks package. However at the moment we are sticking with P&O for this reason but will almost certainly go back to Celebrity and Princess when/if things improve with the exchange rates.

[gadabout60]

I really find this sort of comment offensive. I respect your opinion that you don't enjoy the food on P&O but why do you feel it necessary to say that those who disagree with you must not eat well at home? This Forum really needs people to be more respectful to others.

 

Or if you read my comments you will see that you could have been luckier with choices

 

Actually there is nothing fundamentally wrong with eating cheaper food - we all have different priorities and some eat to live rather than live to eat

[Scriv]

On our last cruise on Oriana in Feb/March there was the new menu which was excellent and the food was better than ever before, we felt. We were told there was a new chef on board with the new menu...and it was really lovely. Dishes looked beautifully presented and tasted delicious and food was of excellent quality. Very few green beans were to be seen with a wide range of lovely perfectly cooked vegetables ;)Yes there was the odd 'strange' dish like the 8 layer choc dessert which puzzled everyone as to where the 8 layers were - but that's par for the course in the menus of any restaurant. ......... That was our experience and opinion and for the record, we are very discerning diners, eat out regularly and frequently in good quality restaurants and defy anyone to challenge the quality of our cooking or eating habits at home ;)....... Also for the record, I do not 'eat to live'. Nor do I 'live to eat' as that is the other extreme ......I do feel taking the discussion to that level does not become you, gadabout.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Scriv

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

When we were on Aurora it was just advertised as layered. So i suppose that only needs two layers. Personally I enjoyed the food. Only one dish was disappointing. I eat quite basic food at home but do also enjoy my local (2 Michelin stared) restaurant.

 

Service was excellent around the ship. I loved Aurora. Embarkation could have been better but it did what was advertised.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

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[daiB]

Or if you read my comments you will see that you could have been luckier with choices

 

 

 

Actually there is nothing fundamentally wrong with eating cheaper food - we all have different priorities and some eat to live rather than live to eat

 

 

You do like to be rude about people who do not agree with your opinion.

 

I find you comments disgusting. You seem to put down 99% of fellow P&O cruisers.

 

I would suggest it is you who is wrong.

 

You should apologise for your statement.

 

 

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[terrierjohn]

You do like to be rude about people who do not agree with your opinion.

 

I find you comments disgusting. You seem to put down 99% of fellow P&O cruisers.

 

I would suggest it is you who is wrong.

 

You should apologise for your statement.

 

 

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I think you might be a bit OTT with your comments Dai, I accept that Gadabout might have been less than polite with some of his, but I don't believe he was impolite to 99% of his fellow passengers.

However we are on Azura in 8 days time and you can rely on me to return with a fair and unbiased view of the food quality on board.;p

[daiB]

I think you might be a bit OTT with your comments Dai, I accept that Gadabout might have been less than polite with some of his, but I don't believe he was impolite to 99% of his fellow passengers.

 

However we are on Azura in 8 days time and you can rely on me to return with a fair and unbiased view of the food quality on board.;p

 

 

If it were a one off possibly. It is not a one off he has a history of this.

 

 

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[gadabout60]

If it were a one off possibly. It is not a one off he has a history of this.

 

 

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Whereas Dai your history is of claiming to be attacked or bullied and getting a thread pulled

 

Clearly I do not wish to offend anyone. We all like different things about our cruises - for some its the entertainment, or the quizzes or the dancing. For me I like having a lovely meal and meeting new people

That did not happen on Azura - someone choked at our table on very dry salmon, pork was overcooked and inedible, steak was hit or miss. I don't each fish so if people are choosing fish and it good - well that's great. All I can say is the amount of food wastage I saw on Azura at our table of 6 was astonishing

[daiB]

As others who have been on here long enough you do like to attack me when I point out you are in the wrong.

 

In all our cruises I have never come across any meal as you describe above in front of me or anyone on our table. Which is why I find you connect to be so appalling.

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

We love Celebrity and P&O - just accept that they are different, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. RCI just wasn't for us though, though the speciality Italian restaurant was the best we have ever been in and the cabin just wow!

 

Notice that you are going on Ventura. We are in August for the first time, so will let you know what we think and how we think it compares to the US lines

 

Give us any ship than none ;-)

I look forward to your feedback on Ventura, it will be appreciated as we're not due to sail until 2018 on her. I don't believe RCI is for us 100% now, but the deal for next April for us to get back to Florida couldn't be beat and we do enjoy the Oasis class of ship. I agree any ship is better than none, but I just can't warm to P&O as much as the other lines we sail on.

[Scriv]

That did not happen on Azura - someone choked at our table on very dry salmon, pork was overcooked and inedible, steak was hit or miss. I don't each fish so if people are choosing fish and it good - well that's great. All I can say is the amount of food wastage I saw on Azura at our table of 6 was astonishing

Oh yeah, right.......

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

It's generally earlier than P&O. Last Sep on Celebrity self disembarkation started at 6.15 till 7.00 then the allocated slots started. The latest slot if I remember correctly was 9.45 however our experience has been they the slots are generally called earlier than timed with the 'all off' call coming around 9.30.

 

On Celebrity they don't make announcements to disembark. As we usually have a slot before 8am ( when you need to be out of your cabin) we generally have breakfast then wait in our cabin till our time then

 

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So on what basis to they allocate your time slot to disembark on P and O?

[dgs1956]

Or if you read my comments you will see that you could have been luckier with choices

 

Actually there is nothing fundamentally wrong with eating cheaper food - we all have different priorities and some eat to live rather than live to eat

 

You did say some may have been luckier but you also said people must not eat well at home. I enjoy dining on P&O and I do eat well at home so clearly I must be lucky however the point I made was there was no need to insult people who have a differing view. What point you are making about eating cheap food is completely lost on me particularly as the thread is about embarkation time.

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

So on what basis to they allocate your time slot to disembark on P and O?

Oops will start a new thread about disembarking.....;p

[Cathygh]

 

That did not happen on Azura - someone choked at our table on very dry salmon, pork was overcooked and inedible, steak was hit or miss. I don't each fish so if people are choosing fish and it good - well that's great. All I can say is the amount of food wastage I saw on Azura at our table of 6 was astonishing

 

I have to ( partly) agree about Azura. On a recent 2 nighter the food in the MDR on the first night was cold, overcooked etc. The 2nd night was a totally different experience - freshly cooked, and a delight to eat

Cathy

[sapphire4]

If the thread has now moved to food(?) I felt the food on Britannia was not as good as our previous cruises on her. Not a lot of choices in the buffet at lunch/dinner for both hot and cold choices. Lots of roast lamb which was a bit repetitive. The soups were still tasty but lots of tomato type soups. Limited choices for desert. Even the tandoori/ curry /thai nights were lacking in selection choice. In the MDR I didn't find the menu as pleasing as in September. The menus had merged into one large one with P and O staples such as prawn cocktail, chicken, steak etc...still present but I didn't feel the choice was as good. Rather than battle with the 5.30 queues for the 6pm dinner and the rush to get into the shows we would go down and peruse the menu and if there was nothing jumping out and grabbing us so to speak we would go into the speciality restaurants. Sindhu was amazing as usual and the Beach House had improved no end. The huge huge portions changed to more acceptable sizes and improved presentation. Bit disappointed really but on a good note only put on 2 pounds in a two week cruise!