Changes

[AndyMichelle]

Hi all, 

Just thought I would highlight some of the changes implemented on our Ventura New Years cruise. 

I have mentioned some on another thread but keep thinking of others. 

Cans of water are now supplied in the cabin instead of plastic bottles. You can still buy bottles, but only at the bar. 

This seemed to increase the number of bottles being filled at the buffet, despite the signs on the machines. 

No wine waiters in the MDR, drinks orders were taken by the food waiters. 

No chefs parade. 

No Captain's welcome party, although this is our shortest cruise and first at New Year, so not sure if this is standard for a 5 night or NY cruise?

None of the above affected our enjoyment, just observations. 

Online check in worked well for us and the lack of a turn down service on the first night made no difference to us at all. 

The only real negative was the service on the first few days, very difficult to get a drink anywhere with tables not cleared for long periods. 

A waiter explained that they had reduced staff since the introduction of the ipads as they are supposed to make them more efficient, but as he said, the ipads don't deliver drinks or clear tables... 

We had a fantastic time and Ventura is in good nick. 

Andy 

 

 

 

 

[Deeliteful]

Pleased to hear about no chefs’ parade. Always hated it, totally dated and not needed imo.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[beachmad123]

I Also think the chefs parade is a bit pointless to imo .A bit like the captain's welcome party we noticed quite a few just get a drink and take it to one of the bars for a quiet drink instead of just standing around like a spare part . Others of course might like it it would be interesting to find out why. 

Agree with Andy despite some people moaning we thought Ventura looked superb .

Edited January 3, 2020 by beachmad123
didn't finish

[beachmad123]

Just to say apart from we did have the captain's party Andy's summary is very accurate 

[AndyMichelle]

5 minutes ago, beachmad123 said:

Just to say apart from we did have the captain's party Andy's summary is very accurate 

9 minutes ago, beachmad123 said:

I Also think the chefs parade is a bit pointless to imo .A bit like the captain's welcome party we noticed quite a few just get a drink and take it to one of the bars for a quiet drink instead of just standing around like a spare part . Others of course might like it it would be interesting to find out why. 

Agree with Andy despite some people moaning we thought Ventura looked superb .

I enjoy the chefs parade as it is the only time we get to show any sort of appreciation and always thought the galley staff seemed to enjoy it. 

Didn't really miss it though. 

Andy 

 

[the english lady]

we did a weeks cruise in November. We had a parade..included waiters etc. I think there was a captains welcome party, but we didnt go to it. 

[AndyMichelle]

39 minutes ago, the english lady said:

we did a weeks cruise in November. We had a parade..included waiters etc. I think there was a captains welcome party, but we didnt go to it. 

We also had both in November, but not on this cruise. 

The chefs parade seems to be a thing of the past now, according to other reports but the lack of the captain's welcome may only have been because it was only 5 nights. 

Andy 

 

[Cathygh]

Just to add my bit

No flower in the cabin

No captain's log

No copy of menus

and no mints on last night in MDR on our table, (but I think we were unlucky with our table that night)

Cathy

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Just to add my bit

No flower in the cabin

No captain's log

No copy of menus

and no mints on last night in MDR on our table, (but I think we were unlucky with our table that night)

Cathy

I must have had your mints Cathy... 

Haven't had a captain's log on our last couple of cruises, so didn't miss it. 

Now you mention the flower, we didn't have one either, but again, didn't miss it. 

We noticed no menus but as this was the first time we had done freedom dining, didn't know if it was the norm. 

Lots of little changes, but not enough yet to stop us having a great time. 

Andy 

 

 

 

[Cathygh]

Yes, Andy it doesn't stop overall enjoyment and new cruisers wouldn't know there is anything different. Overall P&O offer good value for money. 

Cathy

[AndyMichelle]

Ooh, I have more... 

No golden triangles available in the buffet or mdr... I did ask..

No dedicated 'egg man'... I think you could get an omelette but had to hunt to find a reluctant chef to make it. 

The same with the hot chocolate in the late night buffet... It was available but again you had to find someone willing to do it. 

Andy 

 

 

[Hampshire Steve]

We were on N935 and did have a flower in the cabin and the Captains log, perhaps they are dropping on the short cruises?

 

So far the little changes don't bother us (such as the sweet tray in the cabin, face cloth, change of biscuits etc) and despite the breakdown on our cruise we are on Ventura again in March and have 5 others booked, as said P&O do offer decent value for money and whilst some other brands offer a bit more we are overall very happy.

[AndyMichelle]

2 hours ago, Hampshire Steve said:

We were on N935 and did have a flower in the cabin and the Captains log, perhaps they are dropping on the short cruises?

 

So far the little changes don't bother us (such as the sweet tray in the cabin, face cloth, change of biscuits etc) and despite the breakdown on our cruise we are on Ventura again in March and have 5 others booked, as said P&O do offer decent value for money and whilst some other brands offer a bit more we are overall very happy.

Well said Steve. 

We are still very happy with the overall package offered by P&O, so no need to look elsewhere. 

As for the captain's log, we did 4 cruises last year, all more than 7 nights and did not get it on any of them. The last time we got one was on Britannia in May 2018.

Andy 

[beachmad123]

We were on the same cruise as Steve got the flowers in the cabin and the log.

Wouldn't mind if I didn't get the log but the flowers are a nice touch. 

Out of intrest Steve have you had your refund ?

[Cathygh]

I think I got the log on Oceana in October I will have to see if I still have it

I did miss having a wine waiter to poor the wine though

I am looking at other lines mainly because P&O don't go where I want to go. I have done Cunard and I do like it but resent paying extortionate prices for the drinks

Cathy

[Presto2]

Hi Andy, only just seen this thread. Minutes before have started a new thread about what we want them to introduce !

Looking at what has gone or may go I is quite depressing. We have booked a land holiday for 2021 and can't wait as we are finding that hotels seem to be doing more and more to attract customers, not reducing what they offer ….

We actually started cruising as we like all the little things that made it special: the Chefs' Parade, the Captain's Log, the mints and flower in the cabin was a nice touch and that just for starters.

I can honestly see that if they keep taking away the things that make us turn to P&O we will look elsewhere

Edited January 4, 2020 by Presto2

[Hampshire Steve]

12 minutes ago, beachmad123 said:

We were on the same cruise as Steve got the flowers in the cabin and the log.

Wouldn't mind if I didn't get the log but the flowers are a nice touch. 

Out of intrest Steve have you had your refund ?

Yes we had our refund back on the card before we got home, we book direct though so I assume that if going through a TA it may take longer. We have not seen the extra promised days on cruise personaliser though so will keep an eye on that if they ever fix it.

[jeanlyon]

I also wouldn't miss the chef's parade and definitely wouldn't miss the menus as I always felt bad putting them in the bin.

 

We don't go to the Captain's party as it's always at 8.15 when we really prefer to have a drink at 7 and eat at 8.

[Britboys]

Having been lucky enough to have cruised since 1995, I find it really sad to see all these little touches disappearing.  One of the main things I like about cruising is that it has always been 'different' to a normal hotel holiday.  It seems that P&O and some of the other big lines are now hell bent on making it into a hotel holiday on the water...😞

[emam]

I hope they don't stop the Captains log, I like to keep them.

[AndyMichelle]

19 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

I think I got the log on Oceana in October I will have to see if I still have it

I did miss having a wine waiter to poor the wine though

I am looking at other lines mainly because P&O don't go where I want to go. I have done Cunard and I do like it but resent paying extortionate prices for the drinks

Cathy

I would happily use other lines if what was on offer from P&O didn't suit us anymore, but at the moment, we are happy. 

Reasonable prices and being onboard within 20 minutes of leaving home are the big draws for us. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

22 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Hi Andy, only just seen this thread. Minutes before have started a new thread about what we want them to introduce !

Looking at what has gone or may go I is quite depressing. We have booked a land holiday for 2021 and can't wait as we are finding that hotels seem to be doing more and more to attract customers, not reducing what they offer ….

We actually started cruising as we like all the little things that made it special: the Chefs' Parade, the Captain's Log, the mints and flower in the cabin was a nice touch and that just for starters.

I can honestly see that if they keep taking away the things that make us turn to P&O we will look elsewhere

We always say that if this was our first cruise, would we come again.... 

The simple answer for us is yes. 

It's a shame the nice touches are going, but we didn't even notice half the things had gone until our fellow passengers mentioned them, so can't have really been important to us. 

Andy 

[Hampshire Steve]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

I would happily use other lines if what was on offer from P&O didn't suit us anymore, but at the moment, we are happy. 

Reasonable prices and being onboard within 20 minutes of leaving home are the big draws for us. 

Andy 

Andy, we are the same with the distance to port, a big draw for us. We did cancel a P&O last year to go with Princess to the USA & Canada because it looked much the same itinerary, same series of ship but for much less money. The surprise was the massive daily gratuities, the extra 18% on drinks and we really were not overly impressed with the food in the club class restaurant. Their Pizza restaurant was great but we do prefer the select venues on P&O, I guess they are catering for our market.

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, Hampshire Steve said:

Andy, we are the same with the distance to port, a big draw for us. We did cancel a P&O last year to go with Princess to the USA & Canada because it looked much the same itinerary, same series of ship but for much less money. The surprise was the massive daily gratuities, the extra 18% on drinks and we really were not overly impressed with the food in the club class restaurant. Their Pizza restaurant was great but we do prefer the select venues on P&O, I guess they are catering for our market.

That's our thoughts at the moment Steve, in general, P&O suits us... 

We are very rarely disappointed with the food, service or entertainment and the prices enable us to cruise more often. 

Andy 

 

[Cathygh]

Anyone nearer than 20 minutes from the port? We are 30

So as this thread is about changes can P&O move the dock so it's nearer to us?☺️