What can P&O do better going forward ?

[Son of Anarchy]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

A similar experience on Oceana. Frank was partial to Tiger beer, which used to be available in all bars on the ship. Going into Magnums the first evening on a new cruise , he was told it was now only available in the outside bars, so he he chose another beer. The following evening, the same waiter took my drink order, winked at Frank and walked away, returning later with my drink and a  'Lager' for Frank. He had bought some Tiger beer down for him and said to just ask for a Lager and he or another waiter would bring him a Tiger beer. Against the 'rules', but it made Frank's cruise, and needless to say earned Magnums bar staff a large tip at the end.

Avril

Occasionally I've come across bar staff who have gone to a different bar to get me my beer of choice, usually draft Stella.  I think it depends on how close that particular bar is.  They've always explained that my order may take a little longer. Good service.

[amfc_lenny]

Think the service across the board needs improving, we’ve had some horrendous responses from their main reception desk when we’ve had cabin problems. Non working toilet for a couple of days and a patio door that wouldn’t close in the middle of the night. 
 

the website/ booking system is horrific for such a large company.

 

We have some holidays booked for 22, but unless the prices for cruises come back to more normal prices when 23 is released we may end up doing other holidays

[Adawn47]

1 minute ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Occasionally I've come across bar staff who have gone to a different bar to get me my beer of choice, usually draft Stella.  I think it depends on how close that particular bar is.  They've always explained that my order may take a little longer. Good service.

I've always found the service on P&O to be excellent. The waiter would go to the pool bar every evening and bring down some bottles for Frank. Politeness, patience, a laugh or a smile always produces good service, no matter where you are.

Avril

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Could that be because P&O is a predominantly geared towards British cruisers?🤔

Avril

Oh, absolutely,  and I fully understand why that is the case. It's not a complaint, just an observation. 

If only P&O more actively marketed their cruises abroad, there would be a greater passenger mix, but I guess Carnival will not let that happen.

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, amfc_lenny said:

back to more normal prices when 23 is released we may end up doing other holidays

The latest release of cruises into 2023 were reasonably priced. Must have been, cos we booked one!

[yorkshirephil]

14 minutes ago, amfc_lenny said:

We have some holidays booked for 22, but unless the prices for cruises come back to more normal prices when 23 is released we may end up doing other holidays

I think all holidays are going to be above "normal prices" for the foreseeable future. I am amazed at the prices some people are paying for land holidays at the moment. Maybe when/if restrictions are lifted things will start settling down.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I think all holidays are going to be above "normal prices" for the foreseeable future. I am amazed at the prices some people are paying for land holidays at the moment. Maybe when/if restrictions are lifted things will start settling down.

Absolutely agree about UK holiday pricing. When you see Premier Inns on the coast charging well over £100 a night, you know the world has gone crazy!

[yorkshirephil]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Absolutely agree about UK holiday pricing. When you see Premier Inns on the coast charging well over £100 a night, you know the world has gone crazy!

People are willing to pay at the moment so I think they are making hay while the sun shines. I think it is great, let people pay over the odds now then when things settle down and we want to go prices will be easing. I wonder how long it will be before cruise lines start adding a fuel surcharge now that oil is creeping up😉

[zap99]

21 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Absolutely agree about UK holiday pricing. When you see Premier Inns on the coast charging well over £100 a night, you know the world has gone crazy!

When a 4 day P&O full board cruise in a balcony cabin with OBC is cheaper than 4 nights midweek with Warner in a mid range room, you wonder who got their sums wrong, or who is right.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, pete14 said:

I often wonder why some people come on a P&O forum to tell us about how other cruise lines are so much better. Personally I am happy with what P&O offer and have no interest in being told how down market they are and how others are so much better. If I spent a lot more on a cruise, I would expect more, after all, nothing comes free. P&O cruises are certainly not cheap but the value for money is exceptional.
As the moderators are quick to remove posts because they perceive them not to be relevant, I am a little surprised that they do not remove posts extolling the wonders of other cruise lines on this P&O forum. If I want to read about Princess, Celebrity, RCL etc, I will visit their forum pages.

The thread is asking what P&O can do better.

By giving examples of what other cruiselines do well is relevant to this question and could benefit us all if P&O implement some of our suggestions.

[pete14]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

The thread is asking what P&O can do better.

By giving examples of what other cruiselines do well is relevant to this question and could benefit us all if P&O implement some of our suggestions.

This assumes that P&O don’t know what other cruise lines do well, even those in the Carnival portfolio, and have never considered implementing change. None of us know what has been considered and rejected (or has been rejected at a higher level than P&O)   but I would be prepared to bet that nothing we suggest will be new to them.

[terrierjohn]

Just now, pete14 said:

This assumes that P&O don’t know what other cruise lines do well, even those in the Carnival portfolio, and have never considered implementing change. None of us know what has been considered and rejected (or has been rejected at a higher level than P&O)   but I would be prepared to bet that nothing we suggest will be new to them.

Since most other cruise lines do customer service better than P&O, and going by the general consensus that CS is the most important factor when picking any purchase, then I can only assume that the top management at P&O needs changing. So come on Carnival and give them a shake up, maybe if they swapped some top managers with Princess it might help. 

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

I've always found the service on P&O to be excellent. The waiter would go to the pool bar every evening and bring down some bottles for Frank. Politeness, patience, a laugh or a smile always produces good service, no matter where you are.

Avril

I agree Avril. Where I think shoreside the service is at best sporadic (and that is what needs improving along with their IT) I do think that whilst on board the crew are in the main utterly charming and will always do everything and anything they possibly can for you. We have all met the occasional grumpy one but it’s unusual. I admit I have known Reception staff to be a tad abrupt but I also think some passengers give them quite a hard time and that must get to them, so I try and smile and be extra pleasant which usually works!

 

[pete14]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Since most other cruise lines do customer service better than P&O, and going by the general consensus that CS is the most important factor when picking any purchase, then I can only assume that the top management at P&O needs changing. So come on Carnival and give them a shake up, maybe if they swapped some top managers with Princess it might help. 

The only weakness in customer service in my opinion is in some of those working on the ‘front desk’ on a ship who often seen inexperienced and unable or not allowed to make decisions. I book cruises directly with P&O and their phone staff and shore based staff are exceptional, as are most of the crew on any ship. As others have said, customer service from hospitality staff whether in bars, restaurants or cabin staff is, with very few exceptions, of the highest standard.

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, pete14 said:

The only weakness in customer service in my opinion is in some of those working on the ‘front desk’ on a ship who often seen inexperienced and unable or not allowed to make decisions. I book cruises directly with P&O and their phone staff and shore based staff are exceptional, as are most of the crew on any ship. As others have said, customer service from hospitality staff whether in bars, restaurants or cabin staff is, with very few exceptions, of the highest standard.

We always book direct with P&O and others. I had cause to phone customer services yesterday and spoke with a young lady at Southampton. Very friendly and knowledgeable. She sorted my little issue. What they need to do is sort out the IT so that phone calls are not necessary. I don't like, when on their website to be told ' oops, something went wrong, please try again later.

[Camberley]

In my limited experience, their customer service has been very good. But I loathe their website and the “My P and O cruises” part: possibly created by people who don’t want others to have an easy life!

 

Away from the excellent “extra” restaurants I found the onboard food to be decent if sometimes uninspiring - as unashamed foodies, we always look forward to a meal but the MDR meals were not a great lure and sometimes became a mere formality: my partner referred to it as “holiday camp food on nice plates”: a bit harsh perhaps, but the food at those meals were never special. And their “canapés” can’t even flirt with being a culinary treat…...just pitiful. However, I love the ambience in the dining rooms and meeting and chatting with others at the table - that company often elevated what was a basic meal into more of an occasion.

 

Great staff on board who have always been so helpful, and their professionalism and help are invaluable: well, apart from that lemon-sucking dear at the reception once who wore the perpetual air of one who truly could not be arsed! But she was very much the exception in an otherwise very very strong onboard team who add real value to P and O.

 

And I love P and O far more than these and other niggles might suggest.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Camberley

[Stokie33]

3 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Occasionally I've come across bar staff who have gone to a different bar to get me my beer of choice, usually draft Stella.  I think it depends on how close that particular bar is.  They've always explained that my order may take a little longer. Good service.

The most embarrassing moment was when I got onto Aurora and said hello to o e of the waiters and his reply was sorry ma'am this bar doesn't have Stella but I'll go to the other bar for you, I hadn't even asked for anything and it was only our 2nd p&o cruise, I'm so hoping he's on iona in September 🤣

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I agree Avril. Where I think shoreside the service is at best sporadic (and that is what needs improving along with their IT) I do think that whilst on board the crew are in the main utterly charming and will always do everything and anything they possibly can for you. We have all met the occasional grumpy one but it’s unusual. I admit I have known Reception staff to be a tad abrupt but I also think some passengers give them quite a hard time and that must get to them, so I try and smile and be extra pleasant which usually works!

 

My experience is that getting a problem resolved with P&O is very hit and miss, and it can take days to fix even minor issues.

With Princess, Celebrity and RCI the only other lines we have used in recent years, someone responds very quickly  often within minutes, and generally gets it sorted first time, and I then have several follow up phone calls checking if everything is OK.

With P&O the normal response is while the cabin is empty, so you don't really know if they have been,  until you find the problem still exists, and on one famous occasion we had daily visits the first week to sort out a leaky shower head, eventually I dismantled it myself  found the problem and re-fitted the shower head, and I cannot seem to recall any occasion when a senior manager rang me to check if the problem had been resolved.

And I am always polite, even when reporting unresolved problems to couldn't care less customer service staff for the umpteenth time.

But they do offer competitive prices, and sail year round with lots of Southampton departures for non flying customers, and since I have 4 cruises booked with them  and am considering a 5th they clearly are not totally incompetent.

[Adawn47]

I think we tend to speak as we find John, and so far we've had no issues with P&O.🤞

Avril

[terrierjohn]

11 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I think we tend to speak as we find John, and so far we've had no issues with P&O.🤞

Avril

You're very lucky, the cabins are, in normal circumstances, in use 24/7 for 365 days a year, so it's not unusual for little niggles to appear  even on 6 star cruise lines. If you have never had any on P&O you're fortunate  if you have and you got it fixed immediately, then I think you should enter the lottery.!!!😉

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You're very lucky, the cabins are, in normal circumstances, in use 24/7 for 365 days a year, so it's not unusual for little niggles to appear  even on 6 star cruise lines. If you have never had any on P&O you're fortunate  if you have and you got it fixed immediately, then I think you should enter the lottery.!!!😉

Interestingly, during our first ever cruise with P&O,  after Celebrity and Princess, we were given a comment card to fill in.

We noted that the condition of the balcony (Arcadia) was poor, with numerous rust stains on the railings,  floor area etc ( never seen rust on our previous cruises).  Much to our surprise  we got a visit from a very pleasant third (?)officer,  who agreed that there was a lot of rust in evidence,  and then promptly disappeared. 

In retrospect, we should have said nothing, but in our defence, we had never before been on a ship  with so much rust.

The problem is, as just mentioned, that the ships are constantly utilised,  so that there is never the time for cosmetic surgery. 

 

[davecttr]

As far as stuff breaking down is concerned think of it like this. A ship has thousands of toilets, taps, showers etc etc. It is a given certainty that at any one time some will have problems with of course toilets being the worst because idiot passengers keep putting things down there which just don't belong.

 

My experience on Oceana was worrying. I noticed a trip hazard where the carpet edge had lifted so reported it. Thanks they said we have noted it, a week later there was not even any hazard tape applied. I suppose they wanted to wait until someone tripped and injured themselves before they did anything 😠

[Adawn47]

10 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

You're very lucky, the cabins are, in normal circumstances, in use 24/7 for 365 days a year, so it's not unusual for little niggles to appear  even on 6 star cruise lines. If you have never had any on P&O you're fortunate  if you have and you got it fixed immediately, then I think you should enter the lottery.!!!😉

The only issue that has arisen, is the usual 'blocked toilet' which was no fault of P&O and quickly fixed. Now, if you want to hear the list of complaints I have about another cruiseline..........😁

As I say, I can only speak as I find, so either we've been lucky, or we're not as pernickety as some. I don't mean you John, so please don't take offence, just speaking in general😊

Avril

[Dorset cruise fan]

We had a shower problem on Oriana, reported it and within 5 minutes someone came out to take a look. They arranged a convenient time the next morning to fix it and did so. I thought that was very efficient and good service.

[Angel57]

Loss of suction with Aurora’s toilets are a perennial problem although they are generally very quickly fixed.

All ships will have problems - it is how they are dealt with. Being fobbed off is what really winds me up. But if a problem is admitted and then fixed I’ve no issue.