Butlins

[Presto2]

9 hours ago, ozzysdad said:

For future reference if I quote you I am referring to you, just because my reply to the topic was after yours it doesn't necessarily mean it was in relation to your post.

 

Apologies, as I misunderstood. It read like a 'dig' at my post re the Captain issue.

Some people don't use the 'quote' feature.

 

As we're pretty close neighbours (Stoke on Trent and Manchester) am hoping we can now be 'friends'   --- I may need to pick your brains some day re Airport Hotels ;-)

 

 

[jeanlyon]

23 hours ago, docco said:

Could be worse - could be Donald Trump.  😵

The Captain has never made any difference to any cruise I have been on.  Some like to mingle, others don't.  doesn't matter to me as long as he does his job.

[Ian T]

15 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Standards or rather quality of the overall product has dropped, for example stopping the really fancy chocolate buffets, special midnight buffets with ice carvings, champagne fountains, complimentary room service, iced water in the cabin each day, proper tea sets in the cabin, silver service, band at the sail away etc etc. Some are not that big a deal but I do miss some of it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree its a shame the chocolate buffets and associated tour of the galley is no more, as this was a highlight. I have witnessed one ice carving in recent years but not on each cruise which was the norm. With the bigger ships it helps having several entertainment locations, so if their is an act or 2 on you don't fancy then their is always something else to see, even if it is watching the world go by.

[janny444]

10 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

The Captain has never made any difference to any cruise I have been on.  Some like to mingle, others don't.  doesn't matter to me as long as he does his job.

 

 

Hi....to be honest the captain didn't make any difference to our cruises ....until we " experienced" Robert Camby. ...he just exuded warmth...so.approachable ....a ready smile for everyone....both guests and crew alike and his " thought for the day" was something to look forward to. There was a lovely ambience around the ship. Fast forward six months....same ship but different captain....the change in the overall atmosphere was totally different....and not for the better. So at the end of the day...no....a captain doesn't affect our enjoyment of a cruise but certainly a good captain enhances a cruise.

 

Just wish we could cruise on the Oceana where Robert Camby is now captain but unfortunately we are now unable to fly.

[kalos]

Sorry to read your cruise on the Azura did not meet your expectations.
It's not good when that happens and you have paid good money out .
Looking on the CC  review page at recent reviews there seems to be a few that 
agree with you. yet a few that enjoyed the Azura. 
Not sure what is going on regarding the Azura in our case we enjoyed our cruises
onboard this ship .
 I agree with other posters that "it is what it is- Your your personal experience."
Still not good when a cruise goes wrong ,we had the same years ago on what 
was  the Thomson Dream . We hated it and would never step foot on that vessel again .
Yet at the time this was Thomsons flag ship. To this day people love her and why not 
if they enjoy her but we did not , so fair play to those who sail on her, go and enjoy .
Captains on any ship can help make your cruise a little better dependant on their 
actions regarding interactions with the passengers.
Robert Camby as others have said is a good example, he put on an audience with
Robert Camby one afternoon in the theatre, telling us amusing snippets of being 
a captain . 
Then a few days later, same time , same venue the staff put on a talent show
and who was there doing the Full Monty along with other officers  ..Robert Camby.
He did not have to do this but thIs is the sort of guy he is .
Standards may have changed over the years but so have the prices as many on here have noted ,

some penny pinching ,some moving with the times ,some down to customer demands and as the

reviews for this ship reflect ,some will enjoy others will not.
Just like a friend of mine really , he did one cruise and hated it never to do it again .
When he is not jetting off to one of the Costas ,he is booking  Bultlins !
He's a long time loyalty member and why not .. some love the place , others do not.
Hope your next cruise or holiday is a Happy one .
 

[Somerset Cruiser]

On ‎1‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 8:45 AM, wowzz said:

Perhaps I should have said that Marella are not promoting an up market appeal. To do so, would, I believe, alienate their target market, who basically consider cruising to be the nautical equivalent of a land based AI resort, and are not interested in formal  nights, etc.

Not true, we were on Marella at Christmas and I don't think the overall dress standards were noticeably different to P&O. Only 1 formal night a week but that was 80/90% participated in.

 

We are on Marella again in March, the Caribbean this time, interesting to see if there is any difference. 

[oxygenbanditnot]

Somerset Cruiser, We are on Marella in Feb for the Caribbean. Will post something on Marella Forum "Just Back", to let you know.

We are taking our formal stuff.

[daiB]

On 1/30/2019 at 3:48 PM, Eglesbrech said:

 

Both. Standards / quality is dropping and choices are evolving.

 

Re dress codes for example modern life is much more casual and ship dress code rules are evolving to accommodate that. As you will remember 30 years ago you were not allowed in the MDR with shorts even at breakfast or lunch, now no one thinks twice about that and some even try to get away with it for dinner!

 

Same with for example freedom dining, people don’t like to be coraled into specific dining times or adhere to timetables. The choice is great but the downside is more pressure on the staff and kitchen when there are not fixed times and so something has to give and so it is some of the little extra touches.

 

Standards or rather quality of the overall product has dropped, for example stopping the really fancy chocolate buffets, special midnight buffets with ice carvings, champagne fountains, complimentary room service, iced water in the cabin each day, proper tea sets in the cabin, silver service, band at the sail away etc etc. Some are not that big a deal but I do miss some of it.

 

And while this is just my personal opinion the quality of entertainment is not as good, the type of acts that you now pay extra for in the Limelight used to be on the main stage. Again just my opinion and others will disagree but the food portions, choices and quality have also diminished - my personal bugbear is the pathetic plate of tasteless plastic cheese that is now served as a “cheeseboard”. The only decent cheese now is the Stilton.

 

Its still a reasonable package for a reasonable price so we will continue to use P&O for the odd cruise along with other lines.

 

Eglesbrech.

 

Some of these must have gone before 2001 as I have never seen a champagne fountain on P&O or tea sets in the cabin or midnight buffets or iced water. However I have seen an iced carving on every cruise I have been on. How far back do we go for changes?

[Eglesbrech]

5 hours ago, daiB said:

Eglesbrech.

 

Some of these must have gone before 2001 as I have never seen a champagne fountain on P&O or tea sets in the cabin or midnight buffets or iced water. However I have seen an iced carving on every cruise I have been on. How far back do we go for changes?

Dai

 

Some of these are post 2001 so you must just have been unfortunate to miss them. The champagne fountains for example were there until at least 2005 as we had a special anniversary and so remember that. The chcolate buffets were also later.

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

Dai

 

Some of these are post 2001 so you must just have been unfortunate to miss them. The champagne fountains for example were there until at least 2005 as we had a special anniversary and so remember that. The chcolate buffets were also later.

Only we can’t go on saying oh they don’t do that now when it has not happened for 18 years.

 

The biggest change is that prices now are cheaper than they were 18 years ago. 

 

 

[john watson]

7 hours ago, daiB said:

Only we can’t go on saying oh they don’t do that now when it has not happened for 18 years.

 

The biggest change is that prices now are cheaper than they were 18 years ago. 

 

 

 

In the early 1960's  P&O  survived on specific  markets like the £10 poms.   The cruising market had to be developed after the traffic slowed to a stop.  The cruise line decided to offer cruises for different classes, which was tradition on a range of transport types.  Better quality services and facilities were there for people who were dressed in tuxedos and the like every night and could afford the more expensive fares.   Cheaper fares were available to second class passengers  who only had to dress up occasionally on specific nights and in suits.

 

At some point it was determined to amalgamate all passengers into one group.  This made sense on how the space and facilities on board were allocated.  The single class ship ran for a very long time with an homogeneous group of passengers. Why this all happened is debatable.  I think they could not get enough first class people paying much higher fares.

 

In recent years the single passenger group has been introduced to paying extra for additional facilities to increase their standard fares.  Sanctuary, Cabanas, upgraded restaurants etc.  I think the current situation is continuously reducing quality or removing services to give a really cheap base price then have add ons which get people back to where they think they should be for their money but they have to pay a supplement.

 

Regards John

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2019 by john watson

[Eglesbrech]

7 hours ago, daiB said:

Only we can’t go on saying oh they don’t do that now when it has not happened for 18 years.

 

The biggest change is that prices now are cheaper than they were 18 years ago. 

 

 

 I would agree with you re the prices. We are paying less so get less in the package and pay to upgrade onboard for better restaurants or entertainment.

 

Re the changes yes we can if it reflects a general trend of dumming  down of the product and the vast majority are much more recent eg the room service was removed in 2017, the chocolate buffets were there a few years ago (remember the hideous Chocolate wine they tried to sell at it), the sail away bands were not that long ago either and that I do really miss.

 

Re the ice carvings I don’t recall one on the cruise we were both on in 2017, though I may just have missed it, as you have the champagne tower.

[P&O SUE]

It's always interesting that the same cruise attracts different reviews. Must admit I'm trying not to worry about the recent Azura reviews as I'm booked on her for 2020 for a special birthday for my husband. Having said that I've had 3 cruises on her and always had a good time. Shame Captain Camby isn't on Azura at present as he is a good captain (don't care what people say they do influence the atmosphere onboard like a good Headmaster)

 

I'm going on my first Princess cruise in June so I'll see how they compare. Although I'm the sort of person who always enjoys my holidays.

Edited February 2, 2019 by P&O SUE
Typo

[jeanlyon]

To be honest, why on earth would anyone want a midnight buffet.  It's really bad to eat just before you go to bed.  Most people aren't hungry at that time of night.  As for the chocolate buffet, they must waste loads of it.

[majortom10]

The chocaholic buffets used to be a grand affair held in a MDR at afternoon tea time and was always well attended this was then dumbed down to a chocolate themed afternoon tea in buffet. Equally they used to do a Neptune Buffet in MDR in the early 2000s which was always very well attended and had a huge choice of fish and shellfish but this disappeared altogether no doubt as a cost cutting exercise. Midnight buffet used to be a very grand affair on QE2 but again that is something else that has dropped away.

[ollienbertsmum]

I always smile when I read posts saying that a particular cruise line is going downhill and people will be moving to another cruise line.  I shop around different lines because it is the itinerary I go for - and I have read the same sort of comment in CC Boards for RCL, NCL, Princess, MSC and now P & O.    By the tone of the comments you would think these lines would be empty.  They are not.  

 

 

There are more upscale cruise lines but I am not tempted.  I would rather take 3 ordinary cruises for the price of a more expensive cruise.  You get what you pay for.  

 

 

[Britboys]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:43 PM, Somerset Cruiser said:

Not true, we were on Marella at Christmas and I don't think the overall dress standards were noticeably different to P&O. Only 1 formal night a week but that was 80/90% participated in.

 

We are on Marella again in March, the Caribbean this time, interesting to see if there is any difference. 

 

Maybe it depends on the itinerary and even varies between particular departures.  I was on Marella Discovery 2 for a week last January in the Caribbean and on the "Dress to Impress" night, I would say only about 5 - 10% of men dressed Formally (i.e. Dinner suit etc), with a reasonable number dressing in Jacket (some with tie) and a few in open neck short-sleeved shirt and tailored shorts.

[Britboys]

Re Champagne Waterfalls/Towers - I have been cruising with P&O since 1997 and don't recall ever seeing a Champagne Waterfall.  I think it may have been done more often on Oceana & Adonia than Aurora & Oriana???

[Somerset Cruiser]

17 minutes ago, Britboys said:

 

Maybe it depends on the itinerary and even varies between particular departures.  

I think that is fairly certain given it will be different passengers. 

[Presto2]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 6:08 PM, daiB said:

Eglesbrech.

 

Some of these must have gone before 2001 as I have never seen a champagne fountain on P&O or tea sets in the cabin or midnight buffets or iced water. However I have seen an iced carving on every cruise I have been on. How far back do we go for changes?

 

We were on our first cruise on Oceana in August 2010 and remember bands playing on the quay side and they definitely had a champagne fountain on one of the formal nights. Have photos to prove it. It was a brilliant night with lots of streamers thrown over that lovely atrium at about 1 a.m. ;-)

[daiB]

1 hour ago, Presto2 said:

 

We were on our first cruise on Oceana in August 2010 and remember bands playing on the quay side and they definitely had a champagne fountain on one of the formal nights. Have photos to prove it. It was a brilliant night with lots of streamers thrown over that lovely atrium at about 1 a.m. 😉

The only fountain we have seen was on Princess a couple of years ago. On 44 P&O cruises since 2001 we have not seen one. The bands finished about 10 years ago. The reason I was given was the availability of the bands themselves especially when two or three were needed on the same day.

[DamianG]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 11:31 PM, Eglesbrech said:

Dai

 

Some of these are post 2001 so you must just have been unfortunate to miss them. The champagne fountains for example were there until at least 2005 as we had a special anniversary and so remember that. The chcolate buffets were also later.

 

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 11:31 PM, Eglesbrech said:

Dai

 

Some of these are post 2001 so you must just have been unfortunate to miss them. The champagne fountains for example were there until at least 2005 as we had a special anniversary and so remember that. The chcolate buffets were also later.

Just as a reference point we last saw a champagne fountain on a Caribbean cruise in November 2006. Very memorable as a drunken passenger fell into it. Captain Wells was dancing in the Atrium with a passenger, looked over his shoulder at the chaos, then skilfully manoueuvred his partner away from the debris and carried on.

[Cozzyleicester]

I suspect we were on the very same cruise the OP refers to, returning on Jan 26th. Like an earlier respondent  I was struggling somewhat to make sense of this post but whilst I would agree that the in house Pulse band were nothing like as good as on Britannia 2 years ago in the Caribbean,  I can’t disagree more with everything else the OP said.

 

If you ignore the whole ridiculous Butlins reference (if I had a £ for every time I see the old “P&O is becoming Butlins” chestnut I could have paid for my on board account), first thing I would say is if you’ve got a cruise coming up on Azura then don’t be put off, I saw no evidence of “it’s all going downhill”. We loved it from beginning to end and never spoke to anyone in the MDR that wasn’t enjoying it too.

 

I thought the entertainment hosts were great, I did several of the poolside quizzes and enjoyed them. And as for saying the Captain was “shocking”, well honestly I thought his announcements were just fine, and was my holiday spoiled because I didn’t see him to say hello?  No, of course it wasn’t. I went to the audience with the Captain and his team in the theatre and really enjoyed it, thought he carried himself pretty well in the face of some well, yes whinging by a couple of people which made me cringe; that’s despite the entertainment host saying at the outset, “please can we take individual concerns outside of this session”.

 

BTW we only ate a couple of times in the buffet when time was short and thought it was just fine, particularly the curries.

 

So overall, horses for courses but I thought it was worth bringing a bit of balance to this debate from someone on the same cruise, particularly for the benefit of those for whom these forums are their only source of info if new to cruising and might be worried when seeing posts like this (believe me I know what that’s like, reading all sorts of critical reviews of Britannia before our first cruise and thinking oh no - then you get on the ship and say to yourself “they must have been on a different ship!”)

[P-L-B]

1 hour ago, Cozzyleicester said:

I suspect we were on the very same cruise the OP refers to, returning on Jan 26th. Like an earlier respondent  I was struggling somewhat to make sense of this post but whilst I would agree that the in house Pulse band were nothing like as good as on Britannia 2 years ago in the Caribbean,  I can’t disagree more with everything else the OP said.

 

If you ignore the whole ridiculous Butlins reference (if I had a £ for every time I see the old “P&O is becoming Butlins” chestnut I could have paid for my on board account), first thing I would say is if you’ve got a cruise coming up on Azura then don’t be put off, I saw no evidence of “it’s all going downhill”. We loved it from beginning to end and never spoke to anyone in the MDR that wasn’t enjoying it too.

 

I thought the entertainment hosts were great, I did several of the poolside quizzes and enjoyed them. And as for saying the Captain was “shocking”, well honestly I thought his announcements were just fine, and was my holiday spoiled because I didn’t see him to say hello?  No, of course it wasn’t. I went to the audience with the Captain and his team in the theatre and really enjoyed it, thought he carried himself pretty well in the face of some well, yes whinging by a couple of people which made me cringe; that’s despite the entertainment host saying at the outset, “please can we take individual concerns outside of this session”.

 

BTW we only ate a couple of times in the buffet when time was short and thought it was just fine, particularly the curries.

 

So overall, horses for courses but I thought it was worth bringing a bit of balance to this debate from someone on the same cruise, particularly for the benefit of those for whom these forums are their only source of info if new to cruising and might be worried when seeing posts like this (believe me I know what that’s like, reading all sorts of critical reviews of Britannia before our first cruise and thinking oh no - then you get on the ship and say to yourself “they must have been on a different ship!”)

 

Thank you for taking the time to post your reassuring comments and observations.

 

We have had many wonderful cruises with P&O and we look forward to many more but agree that comparing P&O to Butlin’s is silly and unjustified.

[Harry Peterson]

What's wrong with Butlins?  🙂