Britannia in trouble ?

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, mickey89 said:

I made a poor decision to cruise P&O Britannia in 2018.  Thankfully I now know the reality of cruising P&O, never to be repeated.  Many of the regular posters on this website give a glorified impression of P&O with very little knowledge of other cruise lines.  Glad that there are still a few of us to balance their views  

We tried many other cruise lines before settling on P&O as our preferred option.

We all have different tastes and P&O are far from perfect, but we found more things we liked about P&O than the other lines.

Choice is a wonderful thing and we are all lucky enough to have it.

If my opinion 'glorifies' P&O, it is not an untested bias like you suggest, just an honest opinion of my experiences.

Andy

[Harry Peterson]

1 minute ago, mickey89 said:

I made a poor decision to cruise P&O Britannia in 2018.  Thankfully I now know the reality of cruising P&O, never to be repeated.  Many of the regular posters on this website give a glorified impression of P&O with very little knowledge of other cruise lines.  Glad that there are still a few of us to balance their views  

You’re absolutely right about the glorification of P&O. There are a number of regular posters in these forums who refuse to accept any criticism whatever of P&O (you know who you are) and make a point of criticising anyone who dares do so - even when there’s clear evidence of the failures.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I do use P&O - they have the sort of suite I like at lower prices than other lines. But it’s not remotely what it was, the clientele has changed, and 

P&O is poor at sorting out problems when they arise. It’s also poor at basic trust and honesty.

 

A case, I think, of getting what you pay for.

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, mickey89 said:

I made a poor decision to cruise P&O Britannia in 2018.  Thankfully I now know the reality of cruising P&O, never to be repeated.  Many of the regular posters on this website give a glorified impression of P&O with very little knowledge of other cruise lines.  Glad that there are still a few of us to balance their views  

 

Again, another sweeping generalisation that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Of the many regular posters, I can only think of one who never has a bad word to say about P&O. I think if you cared to read the posting history of the rest of us ‘P&O regulars’ you will find that the vast and overwhelming majority of us praise what they are good at and criticise what they aren’t good at. 

 

On the other hand, I could name a lot more posters who try to belittle anything positive said about P&O and seem to pick a fight for the sake of it. Rarely (as has been the case with this thread) are they based on hard facts. 

 

Personally, I tend to value the comments from those who give balanced feedback, good and bad. 

[Eglesbrech]

12 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

We tried many other cruise lines before settling on P&O as our preferred option.

We all have different tastes and P&O are far from perfect, but we found more things we liked about P&O than the other lines.

Choice is a wonderful thing and we are all lucky enough to have it.

If my opinion 'glorifies' P&O, it is not an untested bias like you suggest, just an honest opinion of my experiences.

Andy

 

I am the same Andy, P&O is not perfect but certainly not all bad either.

 

We have cruised with Celebrity, RCI, Fred Olsen,Disney, Marella, Princess, Sun cruises, Cunard etc, etc so we have a good basis for comparison.

 

I am one of the first to call out what I don’t like on P&O but I will also praise what is good. If I never intended to sail on the line again then I would not waste my time commenting on it on CC.

[AndyMichelle]

11 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

You’re absolutely right about the glorification of P&O. There are a number of regular posters in these forums who refuse to accept any criticism whatever of P&O (you know who you are) and make a point of criticising anyone who dares do so - even when there’s clear evidence of the failures.

 

Don’t get me wrong. I do use P&O - they have the sort of suite I like at lower prices than other lines. But it’s not remotely what it was, the clientele has changed, and 

P&O is poor at sorting out problems when they arise. It’s also poor at basic trust and honesty.

 

A case, I think, of getting what you pay for.

I can accept justified criticism of P&O, I do it myself often enough, but not biased slating.

Sure it is not what it used to be and standards have undoubtedly dropped, but so have the prices.

This is a huge part of the attraction for us, 3 good, reasonably priced cruises a year or one high priced top end cruise that would probably be a bit fancy for us?

P&O suits us, so I guess we are the passengers you refer to when you say the clientele has changed...

Andy

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

We tried many other cruise lines before settling on P&O as our preferred option.

We all have different tastes and P&O are far from perfect, but we found more things we liked about P&O than the other lines.

Choice is a wonderful thing and we are all lucky enough to have it.

If my opinion 'glorifies' P&O, it is not an untested bias like you suggest, just an honest opinion of my experiences.

Andy

2 out of our next 5 cruises are on P&O with 2 RCCL and 1 Princess the others.

We get fantastic loyalty benefits on RCCL but still also sail on P&O because there is a lot of good things we like on P&O like British beer,great shows, afternoon tea,realistic drinks prices,good obc 8-5% loyalty discount and no autotips although I will still tip if I feel it is deserved.

All the cruiselines have faults if you want to spend time looking for them whereas we just prefer to enjoy the cruise and are grateful we can afford to cruise 

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

2 out of our next 5 cruises are on P&O with 2 RCCL and 1 Princess the others.

We get fantastic loyalty benefits on RCCL but still also sail on P&O because there is a lot of good things we like on P&O like British beer,great shows, afternoon tea,realistic drinks prices,good obc 8-5% loyalty discount and no autotips although I will still tip if I feel it is deserved.

All the cruiselines have faults if you want to spend time looking for them whereas we just prefer to enjoy the cruise and are grateful we can afford to cruise 

Sensible words Graham.

You are the type of passenger we should listen to, unbiased with no particular loyalty.

Andy

[grapau27]

54 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Sensible words Graham.

You are the type of passenger we should listen to, unbiased with no particular loyalty.

Andy

Thanks Andy,I appreciate your kind words.

Best wishes to Michelle too.

Graham

[AndyMichelle]

Does anything said in the last few posts really matter???

The subject heading is 'Britannia in trouble'. We seem to have established it isn't, so let's move on.

Play nicely please.

Andy 

[tartanexile81]

5 hours ago, mickey89 said:

I made a poor decision to cruise P&O Britannia in 2018.  Thankfully I now know the reality of cruising P&O, never to be repeated.  Many of the regular posters on this website give a glorified impression of P&O with very little knowledge of other cruise lines.  Glad that there are still a few of us to balance their views  

 

I have cruised with various US and UK cruise  lines from Fred Olsen to Cunard and everything in-between. My next cruise in 5 weeks is on Celebrity. I enjoy all my cruises and every line has something to offer that appeals to me. However overall P&O suits me best. I have had reason to complain and I have always been more than satisfied with their response. I don't wear rose-tinted specs and I feel I am able to balance my views as indeed are the vast majority of regular posters.

 

However I find it immensely irritating that there are a handful of people on this forum who choose every opportunity to bad-mouth P&O. I have a balanced view - just as I do of Celebrity, Princess, RCI etc etc. I had a very bad experience on RCI so would never cruise with them again because they do not provide what I look for in a cruise. That is my opinion and doesn't make them a bad line;  lots of other people love them.  I don't go onto the RCI boards looking for the opportunity to tell anybody prepared to listen how awful they are.  PLEASE tell things as you have found them and don't post these kind of alarmist videos. This is Cruise Critic not the Daily Star. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by tartanexile81

[jeanlyon]

Yes I believe I have a balanced views.  Have sailed with Fred a number of times and also some smaller cruise lines, but P&O suits us.  Yes there are faults, but doesn't outweigh our enjoyment.  The price is right, the smaller ships of theirs suit us, the food is pretty good.  what's not to enjoy.

[emam]

P&O have between 17,659 and 20,379 people sailing with them every week. So they must be doing something right. It's impossible to please all those people, but they do a good job of trying.

[annieuk]

One wonders whether some of these complainers have ever sailed with P&O.  What a shame these people may affect newcomers who are on here asking questions about P&O.  They can't help but wonder if they have made a mistake in booking.

[jeanlyon]

Most newcomers probably don't visit forums.  I know I didn't.

[tartanexile81]

I used CruiseCritic before my first cruise and it really influenced me so I agree Annie. I was too shy to post in those days in case I said something wrong and didn't even join the roll call. I'm sure there are many 'Lurkers' like me who scan the boards for information about their cruise. 

[Eglesbrech]

23 minutes ago, tartanexile81 said:

I used CruiseCritic before my first cruise and it really influenced me so I agree Annie. I was too shy to post in those days in case I said something wrong and didn't even join the roll call. I'm sure there are many 'Lurkers' like me who scan the boards for information about their cruise. 

I would agree, I viewed for a long time before I posted.

[ohnonotmeagain]

And another here, who viewed,watched and learnt a lot ,long before posting myself.

There are forum's for anything that you're vaguely interested in ,just reading those can gain a great deal of insight./knowledge.

[Harry Peterson]

Important, though, for anybody considering P&O (or any other cruise operator) to see all aspects of a company - good and bad.

 

Forums like this are ideal for new cruisers but the tendency by a small number of longstanding posters to attack anyone daring to criticise P&O is childish and helps nobody.

 

This thread, for example, arose because of what looks to have been a genuine mistake. Why have a go at the OP? We all make mistakes.

[Selbourne]

32 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Important, though, for anybody considering P&O (or any other cruise operator) to see all aspects of a company - good and bad.

 

Forums like this are ideal for new cruisers but the tendency by a small number of longstanding posters to attack anyone daring to criticise P&O is childish and helps nobody.

 

This thread, for example, arose because of what looks to have been a genuine mistake. Why have a go at the OP? We all make mistakes.

 

I am completely with you on the first comment and would like to think that I fall into the category of one who gives balanced feedback. For example, whilst I am usually very positive about on-board service and food, I have made many posts criticising aspects such as itinerary changes, land based customer service, complaint resolution, disembarkation, tender operations, entertainment etc.

 

I said previously that I could only think of one regular poster who never says a bad word about P&O. I have given this more thought and can maybe stretch this to two or three - at a push. On the other hand, I can think of a larger number of posters who are constantly negative about P&O and / or are deliberately provocative. Often their criticisms are generalisations (rarely backed up with facts) or based upon one incident and drawing the illogical conclusion that those who state that they haven’t experienced such a problem are in denial / P&O apologists etc. On that basis, I feel that the ‘childish’ behaviour that you describe is more often than not deliberately provoked by such posters. 

 

As for the OP, I agree that we all make mistakes, but when a number of us pointed out (with hard facts) that the YouTube article was untrue we were greeted with sarcasm. Once it became clear to everyone that the story was nonsense, the OP should have come back on and apologised for causing undue alarm. They didn’t. We heard nothing. I then made a point of looking back over the OP’s past posts about P&O and found that they were 100% negative, so not balanced at all. 

 

So, to end where I started, I agree that balanced feedback is essential, but the frequent allegation that some are overly defensive needs to be ‘balanced’ with a recognition that just as many are overly critical. 

[AndyMichelle]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

 

I am completely with you on the first comment and would like to think that I fall into the category of one who gives balanced feedback. For example, whilst I am usually very positive about on-board service and food, I have made many posts criticising aspects such as itinerary changes, land based customer service, complaint resolution, disembarkation, tender operations, entertainment etc.

 

I said previously that I could only think of one regular poster who never says a bad word about P&O. I have given this more thought and can maybe stretch this to two or three - at a push. On the other hand, I can think of a larger number of posters who are constantly negative about P&O and / or are deliberately provocative. Often their criticisms are generalisations (rarely backed up with facts) or based upon one incident and drawing the illogical conclusion that those who state that they haven’t experienced such a problem are in denial / P&O apologists etc. On that basis, I feel that the ‘childish’ behaviour that you describe is more often than not deliberately provoked by such posters. 

 

As for the OP, I agree that we all make mistakes, but when a number of us pointed out (with hard facts) that the YouTube article was untrue we were greeted with sarcasm. Once it became clear to everyone that the story was nonsense, the OP should have come back on and apologised for causing undue alarm. They didn’t. We heard nothing. I then made a point of looking back over the OP’s past posts about P&O and found that they were 100% negative, so not balanced at all. 

 

So, to end where I started, I agree that balanced feedback is essential, but the frequent allegation that some are overly defensive needs to be ‘balanced’ with a recognition that just as many are overly critical. 

Perfectly explained Selbourne.

My feedback on here is always positive and I find it insulting when I am referred to as a 'fan boy' or 'must be an employee'...

The reason for my positivity is, on the whole, our experiences with P&O have been great and really find there is enough on offer to give us a fantastic holiday. We know they are not perfect but we don't let minor niggles interfere with our enjoyment.

Secondly, people are working hard to pay for these cruises, why flatten them with the negatives, but I do understand the need for balance and would never criticise someone for sharing their experiences, good or bad, as long as it is justified.

Many book on impulse, then come here seeking reassurance.. The last thing they want to hear is that they have wasted their money, which they haven't as thousands of us keep returning.

Keep smiling and enjoy cruising.

Andy

 

[Harry Peterson]

Just to give an example of what I meant above, recently we cruised on Azura. I commented positively on several things, including the food and the staff.

 

I also commented though on the fact that there were no TV channels for more than half the cruise, and that the suite was in a pretty poor state, with an unpleasant odour in the bathroom, furnishings that needed replacing, a shower that wouldn’t drain, and flickering lights. There was also the smell of sewage on the Promenade Deck, a problem which had existed for some time and probably still does.

 

We’d paid a fair bit for that cruise, and these issues, all unfixable, were simply unacceptable. A refusal by Reception to allow customers to talk to the Customer Service Manager was equally unacceptable, as was the deliberate misinformation onscreen about the reason for the TV failure - it was nothing whatever to do with satellite reception.

 

It took an email to the Carnival CEO to get anywhere because it was impossible onboard to get beyond Reception. 

 

For those negative comments, all entirely factual, I’ve received nothing but abuse from certain members of this forum, and that still continues even now, with frequent snide comments.

 

I have no problem with that. I’m pretty tough skinned. But others are probably put off by this kind of bullying, and it’s unhelpful if the forum is genuinely to represent all views, positive and negative.

[Gazza64]

43 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

 

I also commented though on the fact that there were no TV channels for more than half the cruise, and that the suite was in a pretty poor state, with an unpleasant odour in the bathroom, furnishings that needed replacing, a shower that wouldn’t drain, and flickering lights. There was also the smell of sewage on the Promenade Deck, a problem which had existed for some time and probably still does.

 

I agree with your comments about representing all views, people should treat forums more like a version of Trip Adviser - I leave a lot of reviews, both positive and negative & never get the sort of negative response or snide comments you experience. There will always be extremes of opinion (just look at any Amazon product review) as everybody has a different idea of what is acceptable.

I think the difference when it comes to cruises is that you are a captive market, if you had experienced the same issues with odour in the bathrooms etc in a hotel it is highly likely you would be moved to a different room, or worst case you could check out and go somewhere else - not possible on a cruise & they know this which may explain some of the apathy from customer services on board. 

[daiB]

Still having a wonderful cruise on Britannia today in Tallin

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

5 hours ago, daiB said:

Still having a wonderful cruise on Britannia today in Tallin

 

 

 

 

Great to hear that you are having a good cruise Dai, not least because we have friends on board. So I take it that you can confirm that there have been no missed ports, no slow running and that the £70 per head compensation was purely as a result of the delayed departure following problems with the preceding cruise?

 

P.S. We loved Tallin when we went there

P.P.S. Is that Jay Leno in your photo?

[Jossie1960]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

......As for the OP, I agree that we all make mistakes, but when a number of us pointed out (with hard facts) that the YouTube article was untrue we were greeted with sarcasm. Once it became clear to everyone that the story was nonsense, the OP should have come back on and apologise.................

Well I ‘m back and see no need whatsoever to apologise.  Hard facts ! you are a joker, just hearsay at best.  I believe the YouTube report...no smoke without fire.