Cut backs on P&O

[Camberley]

3 hours ago, Tablelamp said:

I have a friend on the Iona at the moment.  She tells me that the quality of the food has deteriorated and that you need to ask if you want a banana.  They are no longer put out on the buffet at breakfast time.

If you ask for a banana, hopefully they will bring you a prawn cocktail

[terrierjohn]

31 minutes ago, Camberley said:

If you ask for a banana, hopefully they will bring you a prawn cocktail

The whole fruit on Iona was stored under the serving counter, hopefully in a chilled area to keep it fresh, which is why you need to request it.

[happy v]

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The whole fruit on Iona was stored under the serving counter, hopefully in a chilled area to keep it fresh, which is why you need to request it.

Probably to stop everyone handling it also

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, Cathygh said:

I concur that is dreadful, and if that had been my experience I wouldn;y go back either

 

I can assure you there were many other incidents and the way were treated especially by reception.

[zap99]

13 minutes ago, happy v said:

Probably to stop everyone handling it also

We were both on Britannia in October. I can't  for the fyffe of me remember if there was a banana crisis, or not.

[Happy afloat]

58 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We were both on Britannia in October. I can't  for the fyffe of me remember if there was a banana crisis, or not.

Perhaps a trip to South America? Bound to find a Banana Republic there....

[alpha whiskey]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We were both on Britannia in October. I can't  for the fyffe of me remember if there was a banana crisis, or not.

They might have just been showing off, but did see people with bananas on Iona. 

[No pager thank you]

Perhaps the bananas have been moved to the MDR as a new "always available" dessert?🙂

[Satellite city]

The always available menu only contains green beans.

 

starter is green bean cocktail or green bean soup

main is green bean surprise

dessert is green beans and custard

 

if you go to the medical centre you probably get prescribed them

Edited January 21, 2023 by Satellite city

[July morning]

Zapp, we were on Britannia in October and there were bananas (and other fresh fruit) available in the buffet.

Seen people taking a tray and piling it high with fruit. It was a port day so I suppose taking it with them!

[Neil_c]

On 1/20/2023 at 6:40 PM, Britboys said:

Try to go with a positive frame of mind. As it's a long cruise, they might try harder!

I agree we have come back from the Ventura 35 day cruise. Had a great time, yes there were thing not as they were before. Menu in MDR was varied but very little Salmon. Main complaint heard was no turndown service at night (did not bother us ) also lack of chocolate on the bed at night, although nobody seems to eat them rather they are taken home for Grandkids

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

2 minutes ago, Neil_c said:

I agree we have come back from the Ventura 35 day cruise. Had a great time, yes there were thing not as they were before. Menu in MDR was varied but very little Salmon. Main complaint heard was no turndown service at night (did not bother us ) also lack of chocolate on the bed at night, although nobody seems to eat them rather they are taken home for Grandkids

 

 

That’s encouraging - thanks. Turndown and chocolates are trivial for most people, I suspect - and a £2 box of After Eights should see the grandchildren happy!

[yorkshirephil]

11 minutes ago, Neil_c said:

I agree we have come back from the Ventura 35 day cruise. Had a great time, yes there were thing not as they were before. Menu in MDR was varied but very little Salmon. Main complaint heard was no turndown service at night (did not bother us ) also lack of chocolate on the bed at night, although nobody seems to eat them rather they are taken home for Grandkids

 

 

We were on Arcadia 40 nights to Dec, I don't ever remember anybody mentioning the lack of turn down, my missis didn't actually notice till the second night, and that was only because the horizons was in the slot outside the cabin instead of on the bed. I would say the most commented thing for us was the cut to the menu, especially the buffet, albeit we didn't use that other than for coffee and the odd cake in the afternoon when Costa was closed on port days. 

[Fionboard]

25 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

That’s encouraging - thanks. Turndown and chocolates are trivial for most people, I suspect - and a £2 box of After Eights should see the grandchildren happy!

The £1 box of Tesco own brand is better!

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

The £1 box of Tesco own brand is better!

Fair point! 

[Britboys]

10 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

The £1 box of Tesco own brand is better!

One prefers Elizabeth Shaw...😉😄

[zap99]

45 minutes ago, Neil_c said:

I agree we have come back from the Ventura 35 day cruise. Had a great time, yes there were thing not as they were before. Menu in MDR was varied but very little Salmon. Main complaint heard was no turndown service at night (did not bother us ) also lack of chocolate on the bed at night, although nobody seems to eat them rather they are taken home for Grandkids

 

 

Same as bananas, so it seems.....look kids. Granddad and Grandma got you these lovely presents from Barbados. Little chocolates and quishy brown slime in a bag.

[Sheila127]

On 1/21/2023 at 10:12 AM, Tablelamp said:

I have a friend on the Iona at the moment.  She tells me that the quality of the food has deteriorated and that you need to ask if you want a banana.  They are no longer put out on the buffet at breakfast time.

I had to ask for a box of crunchy nut cornflakes every morning.  They were always behind the counter! I could only assume that they wanted you to only have the cereals they buy in bulk!

[pete14]

11 hours ago, July morning said:

 

Seen people taking a tray and piling it high with fruit. It was a port day so I suppose taking it with them!

If that happens, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, I don’t blame P&O for ‘rationing them’ by not making them freely available. It also stops myriads of people handling them, squeezing them to see whether they are of the correct ripeness for their taste. Not to mention non sanitised hands rummaging through fruit that you don’t peel such as apples. 

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, Sheila127 said:

I had to ask for a box of crunchy nut cornflakes every morning.  They were always behind the counter! I could only assume that they wanted you to only have the cereals they buy in bulk!

High in sugar so they may be trying to be helpful. Top tip. Don't ask for under the counter goods in your local corner shop.

[molecrochip]

Youve all made some really valid points however a detailed reply will need to wait so that I do it justice.

 

Just to say, most cruise lines have dropped their prices sligtly and then increased their add-ons. This is a great way of reducing price for newbies, but still broadly offering the same experience for cruise regulars. I would always suggest looking at your total cruise bill - upfront and onboard spent together.

 

There are significant ongoing supply shortages - I've heard that the 330ml iconic Glass bottles of coke is one such shortage. P&O were actually serving 500ml plastic bottles for the same price. Giving away 50% extra for free, and having to deal with single use plastic is not in P&O's interest but it was an alternative product.

 

There are also still significant staff shortages. The problem is sourcing new staff from Asia. A lot of them don't want to travel still. Peoples priorities change. The situation is slowly getting better however there is no playbook for returning all your crew home and then 18 months later starting from scratch again. 

[zap99]

21 minutes ago, pete14 said:

If that happens, and I have no reason to disbelieve it, I don’t blame P&O for ‘rationing them’ by not making them freely available. It also stops myriads of people handling them, squeezing them to see whether they are of the correct ripeness for their taste. Not to mention non sanitised hands rummaging through fruit that you don’t peel such as apples. 

Just a thought. If something is available, but not on display, perhaps we should ask the staff. There may be a perfectly rational explanation....Well Sir, there are people who have an allergy to the sight of cardboard boxes.  Elf and safety..We can't issue crunchy nut cornflakes in case folk have a nut allergy, we need to get them to fill in a form.....Now don't get me started on those bananas and potassium intolerance...😁

Edited January 22, 2023 by zap99

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Youve all made some really valid points however a detailed reply will need to wait so that I do it justice.

 

Just to say, most cruise lines have dropped their prices sligtly and then increased their add-ons. This is a great way of reducing price for newbies, but still broadly offering the same experience for cruise regulars. I would always suggest looking at your total cruise bill - upfront and onboard spent together.

 

There are significant ongoing supply shortages - I've heard that the 330ml iconic Glass bottles of coke is one such shortage. P&O were actually serving 500ml plastic bottles for the same price. Giving away 50% extra for free, and having to deal with single use plastic is not in P&O's interest but it was an alternative product.

 

There are also still significant staff shortages. The problem is sourcing new staff from Asia. A lot of them don't want to travel still. Peoples priorities change. The situation is slowly getting better however there is no playbook for returning all your crew home and then 18 months later starting from scratch again. 

Perhaps I can help P&O. Most folk at home don't buy 330ml glass bottles. When we purchase our coke in that size container, we buy a can. Solves the shortage of glass bottles and the single use plastics issue in one go. Cans are lighter than bottles,  so saves weight and therefore fuel..... Win, win.

[Camberley]

I accept staffing challenges and cut-backs, changes etc…. - which are on many cruise lines and other areas other than cruising - and many cut-backs are probably not that noticeable for many.

But it’s making the experience look cheap and feel cheap, along with the utter inability to give effective, clear communication that bugs me. And P&O - for all their strengths (and they do have them, and at heart they’re a decent non-luxury cruise company) - have the knack of steering into those traps.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Camberley

[Megabear2]

There were plenty of apples, pears, oranges and bananas on Britannia at Christmas in baskets in the buffet.  Strangely they never made their way to the dining room but when the lady seated with us asked the waiter for a banana he appeared 20 minutes later triumphantly waving one.  He also magicked up cream cheese for my bagel every morning so it never hurts to ask.

 

The only wasteful thing that annoyed me was a gin and tonic being accompanied every time by a 330ml tin of Canada Dry, unless of course it was a ply where they were encouraging extra drinking of gin! gin 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Megabear2