Would I go back to the P&O of 1996?

[daiB]

I was just thinking that by 2001 our first cruise on Aurora, there were changes by that time. Price, we had a standard balcony and it was £392 for two. BTW quite often we pay less for a suite now including our cruise we booked for March 19. And our Princess Mini suite is well over £140 less per night less. Food was available 24 hours n the new Cafe Bordeaux. Embarkation had moved to 14.00. People started arriving about 12 checking in then you went and waited in the lounge in the Mayflower. If you arrived at 13.00 you were lucky to get on much before 15.00. Suites were the only priority. Those in wheelchairs were then taken on but the had a natural barrier, only one small lift. This looks like an improvement from 1996.

 

 

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[majortom10]

Think Selbourne's thread is excellent and just shows how much cruising has changed price wise for the better and quality wise for the worst but you cannot have both. Cruisers who cruised in those days of 1996, we started on QE2 in 1997, harp on constantly about the "good old days" and how cruising has changed for the worst but they don't remember the price of cruising as it was and end of the day with today's excellent prices something has to give. Many still keep on about good old Canberra but they forget that the majority of cabins had shared bathrooms and you suggest that today and there would be uproar. With reference to champagne waterfall we have never seen one on a P&O cruise if my memory serves me right but they still do it on Princess and hand out free champagne during the spectacle in the Atrium.

[AchileLauro]

I think your memory of the band is slightly confused as The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment wasn't formed until 1994.

[kalos]

I think your memory of the band is slightly confused as The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment wasn't formed until 1994.

 

And Selbourne saw the band two years later in 1996 (unless I've misread something)

[Selbourne]

I think your memory of the band is slightly confused as The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment wasn't formed until 1994.

 

No confusion here! As Kalos says, we saw the band in 1996 (the name of the thread is the clue)! I wouldn't have remembered the name of the band from 21 years ago, but as I still have all the daily schedules from the cruise I was able to lift the name from that. Admittedly I didn't know that they were formed in 1994. They were obviously fast learners as just 2 years later they were very good indeed! :D

[AchileLauro]

I think your memory of the band is slightly confused as The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment wasn't formed until 1994.

 

No I misread it and thought that I had deleted the post when I realised shortly after, clearly I hadn't.:o

 

By coincidence this was the same band that played on one of our sailaways. No a bad band but certainly not up to the standards of the Marines who played on our first cruise on Canberra.

Though I must say that they were certainly better than the rather poor town band that played the last time that a band played us away just before P&O decided to abandon the custom. A paper and comb band might have done better.:D

Edited April 17, 2017 by AchileLauro

[ascot2012]

One thing everybody seems to forget is the price of fuel, how much was a gallon of diesel back in 1996 compared with today's £1.20/L, £5.00 per gallon, On Oceana they gave the fuel economy out as 90 gallons per mile.

So with everything taken into consideration the cost of the holiday has gone down, running cost have gone up, so somethings got to give, and all the little extra's cost money, and if P&O isn't making money, it will go bankrupt and then what will we do for a holiday?;p

[CCFC]

Never seen one on P&O but Princess always used to have one on the last formal night.

 

I think its the first formal night on Princess, the number of glasses seems to have got less and less over the years though.

 

Never seen one on P&O.

 

 

Top idea for a thread, I might have to dig out my Oriana menus (In a presentation folder) from 2008 :)

[groovechick]

Thank you for this wonderful thread, Selbourne, it's brought back a lot of happy memories. We started cruising a little earlier than you, I think 1992 (would have to dig stuff out of the loft to be sure) on Canberra, followed by Victoria two years later (I'm sure of that because I was pregnant with our daughter).

 

One thing I also remember that has stopped: around 11 am (I think) the waiters used to walk around the decks serving tubs of ice cream. Also the savoury at the end of dinner mentioned by another poster.

[Florry]

The other thing I liked was the old P&O forum, I know why they had to get rid of it but I do miss it. I enjoyed the great posts from the Monocled Mutineer [emoji4]

 

 

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[bee-ess]

A couple of v low res photos of a Champagne Fountain on Oceana in 2003

[Clodia]

I also cruised for the first time on the little Victoria in I think 1999 and do miss the band and streamers; however like a lot of people I like the greater choices for dining and entertainment that there are now though still prefer the smaller ships, Aurora being my favourite.

 

The point about price is important; it works out a lot cheaper now and I can afford 3 cruises a year rather than one every 2 years which was the case back in the late 90s!

 

I think on the whole I prefer that. I'm thinking of trying one of the 6 star lines like Silversea for a treat. But I like P and O .It suits me.

[Cruise Puss]

 

I'm thinking of trying one of the 6 star lines like Silversea for a treat. But I like P and O .It suits me.

 

If you are unsure about which one to go with, we can recommend Seabourn. When we were on board one of their ships we spoke to someone who had travelled on both Seabourn and Silverseas and they said the service etc was the same on both, but the atmosphere on Seabourn was, shall we say, not so 'upper class'.

 

 

We found the passengers on board Seabourn (mainly well travelled Americans) very friendly, and, unusually for us, made friends with quite a few people that we were very happy to meet up with and have lunch etc occasionally. The wonderful thing about Seabourn (and other six star cruise lines) is that everything, including caviar and champagne, is included so you can order a round for everyone and it doesn't matter!

 

We have two abiding memories - one, leaving Capri in the August sunshine eating caviar and drinking champagne, and two, their famous champagne and caviar parties held around the pool on the last afternoon before getting to Venice. We won't spoil anything, but suffice to say even 16 years later it is still one of the most amazing experiences we've had.

 

Go and enjoy yourself! :)

[MMDown Under]

Not sure if everyone missed the smoking policy - shared accommodation point. This would be where complete strangers would be booked into your cabin as single supplements had not been thought about yet. You could book cruises by "berth" instead of cabin each set of bunks upper and lower had a designation A or B and it was defined which was upper/lower. So much for not getting on with anyone you did not seem to get on with on club dining when years ago you had to get on with them in your cabin because you had booked a single berth in a four berth cabin!

Lol John

 

In 1970, I returned from London to Brisbane on P&O Chusan in a four berth cabin, with three strangers. My first cruise overseas to and fro London set the benchmark for all future cruising.

 

Thank you Selbourne for sharing your comparison between modern cruising and your 1996 cruise.

 

Would I go back to 1970 - Yes! Cruising then for me was all about first time visits to exotic destinations, rather than the ship. Yet the ship offered all the special activities already mentioned on this thread.

[Tjb1960]

I was in your first cruise Selbourne but I was there for all 18 nights Yes times change and so much better in those days

 

 

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[Tjb1960]

I do remember talking to someone that got off in Istanbul Freelance travel reporter Was that you ?

 

 

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[Selbourne]

I do remember talking to someone that got off in Istanbul Freelance travel reporter Was that you ?

 

 

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No that wasn't me, but I shall take that as a compliment! If you had been amongst the contingent flying back, you might have recalled Police boarding the coach transferring us to the airport and asking for my wife and I. We were asked to accompany them into the terminal. We were pretty terrified not knowing why we had been singled out. One of our bags had been opened and we couldn't work out whether they had opened it or it had arrived at the airport opened (their English wasn't great), but the bottom line was that our binoculars had been stolen. We were allowed to go on our way but were a little bemused at it all.

[Tjb1960]

I do recollect hearing something like what happened to you but then again it may have been on another cruise It was a great cruise you should have stayed in for the duration I'd just been home for 10 days after being on the Oriana Caribbean Easter cruise before embarking on the Black Sea cruise We noticed the increase in the average age of passengers on that cruise

 

 

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[annieuk]

I certainly remember a Champagne Waterfall on our first P&O cruise which was on the old Adonia (now Sea Princess) and I think, but am not entirely sure, that we had one on our Oceana cruise in 2005. As for Port Presentations we were on Ventura this last January when we hear the best Port Presentations we have heard on any ship from a man called Sam - I don't remember his last name. He didn't only talk about the P&O tours he talked about what passengers could do at each port independently. We were sat on a table with him at the Caribbean lunch and his enthusiasm for the job was obvious. He said he liked to be able to talk without notes and spend lots of time researching and learning about the different places - many of which he'd visited. We weren't the only ones who thought he was excellent and heard others chatting about 'that excellent Port Presenter'. I must say he leaves all the others we've heard far behind.

Having heard about things in the past I think I'd rather stay in the present but the band at Southampton was really a wonderful start to a cruise - streamers had gone by the time we started cruising. On both our January Ventura cruise and our last December Aurora the Stilton appeared every evening - the proper Port soaked Stilton.

[Fatchemist]

We had a champagne waterfall on Britannia last year, although it was her first birthday and they made something of the occasion. There was also a cake in the form of the ship. We didn't get any of the champagne or cake though! Back on her this year and no champagne waterfall, so my guess is that they're reserved for special occasions.