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Rude passengers!!!


AndyMichelle
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The whole point of this is that the cakes should not be in the display cabinet until they can be given to customers. No-one should have to wait 15 mins for a cake when you would have drunk your coffee by then...or it would be cold. What is this time limit on dispensing cakes anyway? It’s ridiculous. 

 

I was on an my beloved Azamara a few weeks after the  “fruit tart gate” episode on Azura. I jokingly said to the Hotel Director, who I was having a coffee with at the time, that I would have loved a fruit tart but I couldn’t have one as it was only 10:45 am! He looked incredulous and when I told him the P&O story he laughed and said....how utterly stupid that rule was.... but it served me right for going on P&O! 🤣

For the rest of that Azamara cruise I was served a Fruit Tart as well as anything else I ordered in Mosaic cafe! 

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6 hours ago, Lottie A said:

I love those little fruit tarts in the Costa coffee shop. I was on Azura a couple of years ago and was told I couldn't have one until 11 am. It was then 10:50 am and there was a tray full of them in the display cabinet! I said how ridiculous that was and if they were out on display then they should be available to eat.  I got nowhere and they just said I could have a muffin but not the fruit tart, so I sat down and waited until 11 am to order my coffee! The gave me the fruit tart with a scowl! I'm on Aurora very soon and will be waiting for my coffee until 11 am this time! 😄

I'm very surprised at that. In my experience there is no way that a member of staff would scowl at anyone. 

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1 hour ago, dgs1956 said:

I'm very surprised at that. In my experience there is no way that a member of staff would scowl at anyone. 

It does happen,  not very often but it happens. Try watching the reception staff in particular who are the most likely to be sour faced, usually when you are right and they are wrong eg wrongly charged bar bill etc.

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10 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

It does happen,  not very often but it happens. Try watching the reception staff in particular who are the most likely to be sour faced, usually when you are right and they are wrong eg wrongly charged bar bill etc.

Possibly but I have never experienced it and certainly not over a bit of cake.

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1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

It does happen,  not very often but it happens. Try watching the reception staff in particular who are the most likely to be sour faced, usually when you are right and they are wrong eg wrongly charged bar bill etc.


we met a receptionist on azura called deepika. She was lovey. Not sure if she was supposed to be spending so long with us but she saw us in Brodie’s and glass house and had 15min conversations with my girls especially my eldest who is now 5. She wants to write to her but I’ve said the boat can’t get post at sea

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3 hours ago, dgs1956 said:

Possibly but I have never experienced it and certainly not over a bit of cake.

Perhaps you have never had the temerity to ask for a fruit tart before 11am? 🤣

 

When I say “scowl” that is a exactly what I meant. I had never experienced it before either but I did that time. 

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I know...in the grand scheme of things it’s not at all important. 😄 

However despite being a trivial matter, it IS a ridiculous rule by P&O and there is a very simple solution to it. Just don’t put any cakes in the display cabinet until they can be served to paying customers. Job done. 

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44 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

I know...in the grand scheme of things it’s not at all important. 😄 

However despite being a trivial matter, it IS a ridiculous rule by P&O and there is a very simple solution to it. Just don’t put any cakes in the display cabinet until they can be served to paying customers. Job done. 

Yes in the grand scheme of things it is not important however it speaks to customer service and the bad impression created was obviously enough for you to share it.

 

It is a well known fact that people will talk more often and to more people about a poor service experience than a good one. As you say there is a simple solution , or staff could be allowed to apply common sense rather than being jobsworth.

Edited by Eglesbrech
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44 minutes ago, Ivanhoe road said:

Shock, horror!!! We can’t get a piece of cake while 11.00 o’clock, what is the world coming to.

They shouldn't sell coffee until 11 then.It's a continental breakfast,you can't have one without the other.

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To be fair to the Costa shop employees I have also had excellent service from them as well.

 

Last year I was in Bruges in November with my elderly mother. I can’t remember whether it was on Azura or Ventura. It was bitterly cold that day and we had queued for about 20 mins to get back on the ship as several tour coaches arrived together.

 

My mother was shivering and feeling very faint and the coffee shop was nearest the gangway, so I took her there for a hot chocolate to warm her up. The Costa waiters were very concerned at her condition and brought her two hot chocolates immediately. They even declined payment and the supervisor went to get her a wheelchair so I could take her back to our cabin. They called an officer over to see if she was OK and they offered to take her to the medical centre if I thought it was necessary. It wasn’t necessary as I am a Doctor myself but I must say they were all very kind and concerned and for the rest of that cruise my mother got the best service ever in the coffee shop! 

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On 11/9/2019 at 10:37 AM, snaefell said:

We have often encountered rude people in the buffet areas,no intentions of joining lines,adds to the problems of people not looking where they are going(or are they not going where they are looking?),added to kids running running around,can get very interesting to say the least!

P&O seem to have a different buffet system to all the others I've been on.  I got told off on the first visit on Aurora.  If I remember rightly I had got something on my plate and just wanted some veg to go with it.  People were queuing for the mains and there was no-one actually standing in front of the veg section.  So I just went to get some and was told off in no uncertain terms that I had to join the queue.  So I did and had to wait while everyone else got to the veg, and then I could at last get what I wanted.  

 

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50 minutes ago, lujaha said:

P&O seem to have a different buffet system to all the others I've been on.  I got told off on the first visit on Aurora.  If I remember rightly I had got something on my plate and just wanted some veg to go with it.  People were queuing for the mains and there was no-one actually standing in front of the veg section.  So I just went to get some and was told off in no uncertain terms that I had to join the queue.  So I did and had to wait while everyone else got to the veg, and then I could at last get what I wanted.  

 

By which time your mains were probably cold? This is one thing that really gets my goat with P&O but not on all ships. They should have all of the veg available on all main stations so that you can choose which ones you want with a particular main not having to then go and queue up again because you wanted cauliflower instead of carrots. 😡

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1 hour ago, lujaha said:

P&O seem to have a different buffet system to all the others I've been on.  I got told off on the first visit on Aurora.  If I remember rightly I had got something on my plate and just wanted some veg to go with it.  People were queuing for the mains and there was no-one actually standing in front of the veg section.  So I just went to get some and was told off in no uncertain terms that I had to join the queue.  So I did and had to wait while everyone else got to the veg, and then I could at last get what I wanted.  

 

You will always get someone who will complain in that situation, best just to ignore them because whatever you say they will argue against.

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On 11/13/2019 at 9:40 AM, eddie11 said:

Generally I find the Costa outlets on P&O to be unsatisfactory 

 

I’m sure the bean-counters have an answer but, IMO, P&O could do much better with their own coffee places, operating under entirely their own rules.

Its been a couple of years since I've been on P&O properly but last time I sailed the coffee outlets were staffed by ship's company and the coffee shops just served Costa Coffee.  Has this now changed?  Are they now fully-fledged Costa Franchises?

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On 11/13/2019 at 9:40 AM, eddie11 said:

Generally I find the Costa outlets on P&O to be unsatisfactory 

 

I’m sure the bean-counters have an answer but, IMO, P&O could do much better with their own coffee places, operating under entirely their own rules.


I am surprised that P&O offer Costa Coffee. Presumably they have to pay for the coffee and use of the brand. I wonder how it compares cost wise with say Lavazza or an unbranded product. Perhaps they feel familiarity of their passengers with the taste and brand of Costa encourages sales. 

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5 minutes ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:


I am surprised that P&O offer Costa Coffee. Presumably they have to pay for the coffee and use of the brand. I wonder how it compares cost wise with say Lavazza or an unbranded product. Perhaps they feel familiarity of their passengers with the taste and brand of Costa encourages sales. 

Brands brands brands. All the time. Pointless, overpriced, usually nondescript, and Costa's no exception.

 

One of the reasons I'm very happy to shop at Aldi and Lidl.

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2 hours ago, Britboys said:

Its been a couple of years since I've been on P&O properly but last time I sailed the coffee outlets were staffed by ship's company and the coffee shops just served Costa Coffee.  Has this now changed?  Are they now fully-fledged Costa Franchises?

No, still served by the P&O waiters, just the coffee that is Costa. 

Andy 

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On 11/12/2019 at 6:21 PM, Eglesbrech said:

It does happen,  not very often but it happens. Try watching the reception staff in particular who are the most likely to be sour faced, usually when you are right and they are wrong eg wrongly charged bar bill etc.

I have to defend the reception staff on Oceana, they were an absolute joy. 

We had a noise issue that they handled perfectly, moved us (almost) immediately and sent us a bottle of wine as an apology. 

They were always smiling and overly helpful, a real credit to P&O. 

Andy 

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There is the saying 'a great captain makes a happy ship'.

 

In all the years of cruising where we had impeccable service, we unfortunately did have one not so good cruise on Arcadia. On that particular cruise it was notable that the staff in all areas were not their normal selves especially reception. It is rare but it can happen.

 

However it is important to remember that reception face the brunt of most complaints - only last year (again on Arcadia again!) a passenger was shouting at the receptionist and reception manager about how it was against their human rights to have to pay for bottled water when the cabin water was in their opinion 'undrinkable'. It escalated when they assumed the staff were all provided with free bottled water (when in fact they pay just like we do)!.

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5 hours ago, stephen@stoneyard.co.uk said:


I am surprised that P&O offer Costa Coffee. Presumably they have to pay for the coffee and use of the brand. I wonder how it compares cost wise with say Lavazza or an unbranded product. Perhaps they feel familiarity of their passengers with the taste and brand of Costa encourages sales. 

At the end of the day, finances will dictate such decisions.  If pax keep buying the Costa Coffee on board and the contract makes it worth it, they will keep it.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the future I guess.  Like P&O being American owned but British-based, so is Costa now - so it depends how hard Costa's owners negotiate whenever the contract comes up for renewal.

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49 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Like P&O being American owned but British-based, so is Costa now - so it depends how hard Costa's owners negotiate whenever the contract comes up for renewal.

Let's just hope and pray that any new contract is not won by Starbucks,  probably the worst coffee in the world!

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