Things that we want P&O to INTRODUCE ...

[Britboys]

12 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I can understand why couples would want to have a table to themselves in a Speciality restaurant, but for solo travellers an option to share a table in Speiality dining would appeal to me if I was solo.

That depends who you end up sharing with though 😂

[Eglesbrech]

The ability to use OBC in advance of the cruise to book trips, speciality restaurants etc. Celebrity do it so it is possible.

 

 

[peteukmcr]

3 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

The ability to use OBC in advance of the cruise to book trips, speciality restaurants etc. Celebrity do it so it is possible.

 

 

I agree, just used my $600 OBC from upcoming RCI cruise to book things, especially useful when there's sales on.

[Guest]

So I have cruised on Celebrity/Princess and RCI before I tried P&O which in hindsight was probably the wrong way round! Seemed to spend the cruise comparing to other lines. Come to the conclusion now that it’s in a different league and to take it for what it is! 
 

Things which I think are attainable for them to do:

- Allow people to sit at bars and drink. We found this really odd. Even if the bar was empty, they make you sit down and wait ages for them to serve you! And we quite like sitting round the bar as it’s sociable! 
- Get rid of the Costa and just put a normal coffee shop in there. It’s a gimic and they won’t let you have more than one cake with your drink! I’m not greedy, but on Celebrity they practically beg you to take more than 1 each! it would also be nice to have alcoholic coffees on a night but it closes early! 
- More choice in the buffet. I find the offering incredibly limiting compared to other lines. Especially in terms of salads and fresh fruit. 
 

Things you can’t change:

- How unfriendly the staff are. Never experienced staff as unfriendly as I did on the Britannia, 2 years apart! 
 

I could go on and on, but I’ve come to realise we book P&O for the price and destinations, not necessarily the ship! I wouldn’t keep booking them if I didn’t enjoy it! 

[AndyMichelle]

14 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

So I have cruised on Celebrity/Princess and RCI before I tried P&O which in hindsight was probably the wrong way round! Seemed to spend the cruise comparing to other lines. Come to the conclusion now that it’s in a different league and to take it for what it is! 
 

Things which I think are attainable for them to do:

- Allow people to sit at bars and drink. We found this really odd. Even if the bar was empty, they make you sit down and wait ages for them to serve you! And we quite like sitting round the bar as it’s sociable! 
- Get rid of the Costa and just put a normal coffee shop in there. It’s a gimic and they won’t let you have more than one cake with your drink! I’m not greedy, but on Celebrity they practically beg you to take more than 1 each! it would also be nice to have alcoholic coffees on a night but it closes early! 
- More choice in the buffet. I find the offering incredibly limiting compared to other lines. Especially in terms of salads and fresh fruit. 
 

Things you can’t change:

- How unfriendly the staff are. Never experienced staff as unfriendly as I did on the Britannia, 2 years apart! 
 

I could go on and on, but I’ve come to realise we book P&O for the price and destinations, not necessarily the ship! I wouldn’t keep booking them if I didn’t enjoy it! 

It's funny how all our experiences differ. 

I have often sat at the bar on various P&O cruises and have never been asked to move. 

One of the reasons we keep returning to P&O is the fabulous crew. We have encountered the odd surly bar waiter, but that is it. 

To my knowledge, you can have an alcoholic coffee from most bars anytime, not just Costa. 

In general though, you are right, cost is the driving force, I still find them great value for money. 

Andy 

 

[ann141]

54 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

So I have cruised on Celebrity/Princess and RCI before I tried P&O which in hindsight was probably the wrong way round! Seemed to spend the cruise comparing to other lines. Come to the conclusion now that it’s in a different league and to take it for what it is! 
 

Things which I think are attainable for them to do:

- Allow people to sit at bars and drink. We found this really odd. Even if the bar was empty, they make you sit down and wait ages for them to serve you! And we quite like sitting round the bar as it’s sociable! 
- Get rid of the Costa and just put a normal coffee shop in there. It’s a gimic and they won’t let you have more than one cake with your drink! I’m not greedy, but on Celebrity they practically beg you to take more than 1 each! it would also be nice to have alcoholic coffees on a night but it closes early! 
- More choice in the buffet. I find the offering incredibly limiting compared to other lines. Especially in terms of salads and fresh fruit. 
 

Things you can’t change:

- How unfriendly the staff are. Never experienced staff as unfriendly as I did on the Britannia, 2 years apart! 
 

I could go on and on, but I’ve come to realise we book P&O for the price and destinations, not necessarily the ship! I wouldn’t keep booking them if I didn’t enjoy it! 

We tried Princess and RCI before coming across P and O and although despite some things we are not keen on, we still prefer P and O to Princess and RCI (We tend to choose by Itinerary and more P and O cruises sail from Southampton than other lines.We have come across occasional grumpy staff(not just on P and O ) but only rarely and often because they are overworked e.g short cruises where there is a quick turnaround.It would be nice if we could pick the best the best bits of each cruise line but I suspect we would all end up with different choicesIthink it is great that we have such a choice and I feel very fortunate to be able to cruise.Free ice cream would be nice(as on Princess and RCI but it is not my top priority or the reason I choose a particular cruise line!

[Britboys]

Can't say that I have found the crew to be unfriendly on P&O but I do think they are more reserved than on many other lines. I think the crew members from India are not as outgoing and overtly/openly friendly as - for example - those from the Far East.

I've never been asked not to sit at the bar either - and if they were doing that on a regular basis, I am sure we would have heard about it from our forum-friend Dai!

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Can't say that I have found the crew to be unfriendly on P&O but I do think they are more reserved than on many other lines. I think the crew members from India are not as outgoing and overtly/openly friendly as - for example - those from the Far East.

I've never been asked not to sit at the bar either - and if they were doing that on a regular basis, I am sure we would have heard about it from our forum-friend Dai!

Dai has been a bit quiet the last while. Wonder if he is off on a long cruise.

 

I do think the P&O crew are much less willing to engage with customers than staff are on some other lines (perhaps they are too busy), A bit of conversation now and then does add to the feeling of being a valued individual customer rather than simply a “cover” to be moved through dining or served at a bar.

In summer last year we did 2 cruises a few months apart and the difference in engagement was stark.

[AndyMichelle]

10 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Dai has been a bit quiet the last while. Wonder if he is off on a long cruise.

 

I do think the P&O crew are much less willing to engage with customers than staff are on some other lines (perhaps they are too busy), A bit of conversation now and then does add to the feeling of being a valued individual customer rather than simply a “cover” to be moved through dining or served at a bar.

In summer last year we did 2 cruises a few months apart and the difference in engagement was stark.

I believe Dai is currently doing 35 nights on Ventura. 

He has popped in a couple of times, sounds like he is having a good time. 

 

On Oceana in November, our waiters on club  were superb with plenty of time to chat. They explained that they could only do this on second sitting as it is effectively their time when they finished, but they needed to rush through the earlier sitting. 

 

Andy 

[Eglesbrech]

15 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I believe Dai is currently doing 35 nights on Ventura. 

He has popped in a couple of times, sounds like he is having a good time. 

 

On Oceana in November, our waiters on club  were superb with plenty of time to chat. They explained that they could only do this on second sitting as it is effectively their time when they finished, but they needed to rush through the earlier sitting. 

 

Andy 

Hope Dai is having fun, knowing him he will be.

 

That makes sense that there would be more time on second sitting.

 

 

 

[wowzz]

I think that there are a few issues that need to be considered here.

Firstly, the staff on P&O tend to be from the Indian subcontinent,  and are quite reserved, as is the norm . Conversely,  on Princess,  the crew are,  in the main,  from the Philippines,  and tend to  be  more outgoing. 

Secondly, the length of the cruise is a big factor in pax/crew interaction. On short  (less than 14 days) cruises, the crew never have the chance to really know you. On our last Princess cruise,  18 days or so, we kept bumping into the same wait staff in the buffet and the MDR, and had a good rapport, although we knew that we were never going to be life long friends. 

It probably also helped that we were   only two out  of six Brits on the entire cruise,  so we were a bit of a novelty item!

 

[peteukmcr]

19 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I think that there are a few issues that need to be considered here.

Firstly, the staff on P&O tend to be from the Indian subcontinent,  and are quite reserved, as is the norm . Conversely,  on Princess,  the crew are,  in the main,  from the Philippines,  and tend to  be  more outgoing. 

Secondly, the length of the cruise is a big factor in pax/crew interaction. On short  (less than 14 days) cruises, the crew never have the chance to really know you. On our last Princess cruise,  18 days or so, we kept bumping into the same wait staff in the buffet and the MDR, and had a good rapport, although we knew that we were never going to be life long friends. 

It probably also helped that we were   only two out  of six Brits on the entire cruise,  so we were a bit of a novelty item!

 

There must be something else in the mix here because several of the staff on our recent NCL sailing were from the Indian subcontinent and were some of most outgoing and engaging personalities we’ve met. I don’t agree about the length of cruise though as we’ve done many 7 night sailings where the crew remember you, but then again they’ve not been on P&O. This to me points to the cruise line itself. Do P&O discourage staff from being over familiar?

[Hampshire Steve]

We are newbies compared to the many here (Just 127 nights so far) however we have always found crew friendly, beyond what they need to do I suspect, perhaps it's because we are polite, not demanding, we use a few words of Filipino to say hello or thanks, it goes a long way. How many times do you read cruise reviews for someone who has the worse holiday ever just to get to the end of the review (rant) and think (perhaps unfairly) sounds like you had that coming! 

 

I have commented once or twice about Arcadia being a favourite, perhaps we don't care about the odd plumbing issue, none of us are brand new anymore! Over expectation is, I suspect, a factor in disappointment. 

 

Our one and only Princess cruise we had waiting staff from all over the planet, spoke to two from Ukraine, a Bulgarian, an Italian, one from USA, they certainly weren't all Indian and Filipino on that one.

 

Slightly off original topic (hitting the submit anyway)

[alsa]

On 1/26/2020 at 4:31 PM, Glitterati said:

So I have cruised on Celebrity/Princess and RCI before I tried P&O which in hindsight was probably the wrong way round! Seemed to spend the cruise comparing to other lines. Come to the conclusion now that it’s in a different league and to take it for what it is! 
 

Things which I think are attainable for them to do:

- Allow people to sit at bars and drink. We found this really odd. Even if the bar was empty, they make you sit down and wait ages for them to serve you! And we quite like sitting round the bar as it’s sociable! 
- Get rid of the Costa and just put a normal coffee shop in there. It’s a gimic and they won’t let you have more than one cake with your drink! I’m not greedy, but on Celebrity they practically beg you to take more than 1 each! it would also be nice to have alcoholic coffees on a night but it closes early! 
- More choice in the buffet. I find the offering incredibly limiting compared to other lines. Especially in terms of salads and fresh fruit. 
 

Things you can’t change:

- How unfriendly the staff are. Never experienced staff as unfriendly as I did on the Britannia, 2 years apart! 
 

I could go on and on, but I’ve come to realise we book P&O for the price and destinations, not necessarily the ship! I wouldn’t keep booking them if I didn’t enjoy it! 

I have  to say that I totally agree with you on this one.    having sailed on many different cruise lines over the years unfortunately i too find P&O way behind the others in terms of food choice, drink choice, friendliness of staff.  the main buffet is so far behind Celebrity, RC and Princess in choice, but i truly believe this is because you get what you pay for.  We too only choose to go on P&O if its a good deal, unfortunately the other cruise lines just don't do the 'whole package' as cheaply.    Unfortunately this shows in the quality of food etc.  Yes there is plenty to eat but the choice is limited compared to other cruise lines.  On our last cruise on Britannia we spoke to several guests about their experience, and they all had one thing in common - they had only sailed with P&O so weren't in a position to comment.  I think people like to stick to the same cruise line once they have experienced one, which is fine, but they really don't know what they are missing!

On a positive note i find the entertainment on P&O in the theater one of the best and hope to see an improvement in the main atrium next month on Britannia now that they have updated it.  A band and dancing always makes for a good atmosphere in the middle of the ship.

Having said all this, it will not stop us cruising with P&O as we just love to cruise, but regarding the original thread I do think there are lots of things P&O can do to improve, unfortunately most of these things need money and it seems that all cruise lines are trying to save money at the moment which results in the loss of certain facilities.  I really don't want to see anymore 'Pay For' restaurants on any cruise lines, there are far too many in my opinion, the food in the main dining rooms is more than adequate -unless you want the odd meal for a special occassion.  I think the demand possibly comes from the Americans who are very much 'into' their food and because they only seem to go on 7 days cruises, they like to try different types of dining.  This is why i don't think cutting out the great British Sailaway to attract more overseas cruisers will make any difference - I just don't  think they will accept the limited food and dining choice on P&O compared to their usual cruise lines.

[Guest]

22 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Dai has been a bit quiet the last while. Wonder if he is off on a long cruise.

 

I do think the P&O crew are much less willing to engage with customers than staff are on some other lines (perhaps they are too busy), A bit of conversation now and then does add to the feeling of being a valued individual customer rather than simply a “cover” to be moved through dining or served at a bar.

In summer last year we did 2 cruises a few months apart and the difference in engagement was stark.

 

I think maybe on other lines (with more American PAX) they are overly friendly, as it is the American disposition to tip anyone who does anything that is slightly above the ordinary. I was sat at the (amazing) new Tiki Bar- The Bamboo Room on the Navigator of the Seas in April. The bartenders were fantastic, and i noticed all Americans would tip them a few $ every time they made a drink. I don't go this far, but i will give the staff who have gone above and beyond to make my trip special an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

 

One of the most notable "Above and beyond" as on the Celebrity Reflection a couple of years back. One of the bartenders overheard my Dad talking about how on Princess you could buy buckets of beer for round the pool. The next day, my Dad was sat sunbathing, and said bartender from the previous evening appeared out of no-where with a bucket of ice with a few bottles of corona and some lime! Now this trick worked, as we kept going back to his bar (Sunset bar, aft if anyone is familiar with it) and he got a nice tip at the end of the cruise!!

 

As highlighted by the removal of the gratuities on P&O, it has become known that most (not all) Brits do not tip. And its nothing to do with being rude, its just culture. American waitstaff get paid peanuts, and rely on tips. That mentality is then taken on holiday with them and they continue to tip everyone they encounter, as they would back home. For cruise staff on a British ship, it would be a lot of unrewarded effort to go over the top for no real return. There are some anomalies to this rule! There was a fantastic head barman in the Crows Nest on the Britannia, he recognised us every night and ensured we got good seats and served quickly. He also dealt with a query we had very quickly. (My Mum asked them to change the brand of rum in her Mojito from dark to white rum... to the bar staff this was the end of the world, but it was dealt with by their manager). Maybe they are told not to deviate from recipes etc for cost, but it was such a simple request!