Passenger Survey

[Mollag]

Trying their best to win the race to the bottom

[kruzseeka]

But above Azamara 😲

Cunard only 1% higher

Marella 6th place 9% higher

 

Makes interesting reading but depends entirely on who has responded to the survey, what their expectations are and what your priorities are - star ratings for different categories don't seem consistent with placings.  Regent equal or out-perform Marella under star ratings but are one place lower.  Quite difficult to interpret. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by kruzseeka

[wowzz]

Such a small, unrepresentative sample,  that it is meaningless.

Any statistican worth his salt would chuck this in the bin.

[Britboys]

46 minutes ago, kruzseeka said:

But above Azamara 😲

Cunard only 1% higher

Marella 6th place 9% higher

 

Makes interesting reading but depends entirely on who has responded to the survey, what their expectations are and what your priorities are - star ratings for different categories don't seem consistent with placings.  Regent equal or out-perform Marella under star ratings but are one place lower.  Quite difficult to interpret. 

Absolutely agree with this.

[davecttr]

Which surveys are of their members which may not reflect cruisers in general. A 72% rating is not bad

[Selbourne]

Still interesting and relevant IMHO and I’m not at all surprised with the results. 

[Britboys]

12 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Which surveys are of their members which may not reflect cruisers in general. A 72% rating is not bad

It does say that they surveyed members and the public but it doesn't say what the split is. I agree that Which Members are probably not representative of the general public.

[Harry Peterson]

As a long-standing Which? subscriber I accept that it’s not a true cross section of society, or even those who cruise, and it’s likely to be a bit ‘picky’ about quality.

 

Still interesting, though, and it’s just a repeat performance for P&O, which hasn’t been well regarded for years. The even poorer performance this year does reflect a lot of the comments on these forums though, so Which? readers may not be all that unrepresentative.

 

A glance at that table doesn’t produce any surprises. It’s not a million miles from where I’d expect it to be.

[Mad4WDW]

When you read the actual article that goes with this table you can see straight away how badly researched it is. The figures they're quoting for drinks expenses and tips etc that are allegedly making people disgruntled are completely incorrect. The number for Princess are especially out of whack 

[jh1809]

I've cruised with both Noble Caledonia and Saga and, while both are very good, you're paying for that. I've decided that on the whole I'd rather have two or three cruises with P&O than one with NC or Saga. One advantage that they do have over P&O, that isn't mentioned in that table, is that they tend to have more interesting itineraries.

[Britboys]

51 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

I've cruised with both Noble Caledonia and Saga and, while both are very good, you're paying for that. I've decided that on the whole I'd rather have two or three cruises with P&O than one with NC or Saga. One advantage that they do have over P&O, that isn't mentioned in that table, is that they tend to have more interesting itineraries.

Although Saga regulars have been bemoaning the dull, repetitive itineraries of late. Maybe next year will be more interesting for them?

[wowzz]

In seven days no one will care less about this survey.

I occasionally fill in surveys for Saga.  I'm sure I am not alone in occasionally skewing my answers, due to the random nature of  the questions.

As I intimated earlier, the survey is so flawed that it is worthless.

[mrbluesea]

1700 is a perfectly acceptable sample size to be able to make reasonable assessment of consumers experiences.

[wowzz]

25 minutes ago, mrbluesea said:

1700 is a perfectly acceptable sample size to be able to make reasonable assessment of consumers experiences.

1700 is acceptable, if the respondents are chosen to represent the cruising public as a whole. That was not the case here.

And to then formulate a league table,  where many cruise lines had less than 40 responses, is obviously totally erroneous.

Noble Caledonian was top, with only 31 responses !

Edited March 4, 2023 by wowzz

[david63]

It's the old story - you can make statistics portray whatever you want.

 

The phrase "lies, damned lies, and statistics" comes to mind!

[Denarius]

16 minutes ago, david63 said:

It's the old story - you can make statistics portray whatever you want.

 

The phrase "lies, damned lies, and statistics" comes to mind!

Very very true. And I say that as a former statistician (actuary)

[Harry Peterson]

20 hours ago, wowzz said:

In seven days no one will care less about this survey.

I occasionally fill in surveys for Saga.  I'm sure I am not alone in occasionally skewing my answers, due to the random nature of  the questions.

As I intimated earlier, the survey is so flawed that it is worthless.

You're missing the point though. 

 

This is a Which? survey, publishing the results of the findings in the Which? magazine, primarily to members of Which?.  Those readers tend to come from particular demographic groups, and those groups tend to have higher than average levels of disposable income. Income that they spend on activities such as holidays and cruises.

 

They choose those holidays and cruises very often taking into account Which? surveys, and a lot of them will already have crossed P&O off their list of potential cruises - particularly because P&O hasn't done well in those surveys for many years.

 

Some people will certainly have forgotten about it in 7 days, but not the people it was produced for. They will see it on the Which? website every time they research cruises and holidays.  And they do very much tend to trust these surveys. It will inevitably cost P&O sales, and in the sort of free-spending group they'd probably rather like to keep.

[molecrochip]

It’s such a blunt tool.

[Cardiff girl]

Off topic, but this reminded me - is there still a customer satisfaction survey at the end of P&O cruises?

I was on Azura in January and I didn't see one in my cabin. Does it come after by email? If so, I didn't receive it, and I was planning to praise several crew by name as I'm told this helps them a lot. 

Fortunately I'd nominated my cabin steward in the exceptional service box by reception, but I wondered if my survey had gone adrift. 

[Cardiff girl]

Re the Which survey, it's interesting but odd. Are there any other similar surveys to compare it against? One survey alone is a snapshot, as others have said. 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

You're missing the point though. 

 

This is a Which? survey, publishing the results of the findings in the Which? magazine, primarily to members of Which?.  Those readers tend to come from particular demographic groups, and those groups tend to have higher than average levels of disposable income. Income that they spend on activities such as holidays and cruises.

 

They choose those holidays and cruises very often taking into account Which? surveys, and a lot of them will already have crossed P&O off their list of potential cruises - particularly because P&O hasn't done well in those surveys for many years.

 

Some people will certainly have forgotten about it in 7 days, but not the people it was produced for. They will see it on the Which? website every time they research cruises and holidays.  And they do very much tend to trust these surveys. It will inevitably cost P&O sales, and in the sort of free-spending group they'd probably rather like to keep.

So, by your logic, everyone will now cruise with Noble Caledonian based on 31 out of 1700 responses ?

The people it was "produced for" are such a small minority that I don't see the likes of Princess or P&O being too worried.

Similar surveys show that Ryanair are one  of  the worst airlines in Europe.  They seem to be doing OK !

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

You're missing the point though. 

 

This is a Which? survey, publishing the results of the findings in the Which? magazine, primarily to members of Which?.  Those readers tend to come from particular demographic groups, and those groups tend to have higher than average levels of disposable income. Income that they spend on activities such as holidays and cruises.

 

They choose those holidays and cruises very often taking into account Which? surveys, and a lot of them will already have crossed P&O off their list of potential cruises - particularly because P&O hasn't done well in those surveys for many years.

 

Some people will certainly have forgotten about it in 7 days, but not the people it was produced for. They will see it on the Which? website every time they research cruises and holidays.  And they do very much tend to trust these surveys. It will inevitably cost P&O sales, and in the sort of free-spending group they'd probably rather like to keep.

But in total they are are a minor group, so even if they all avoid P&O cruises, it's hardly likely to affect Carnivals results.

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

You're missing the point though. 

 

This is a Which? survey, publishing the results of the findings in the Which? magazine, primarily to members of Which?.  Those readers tend to come from particular demographic groups, and those groups tend to have higher than average levels of disposable income. Income that they spend on activities such as holidays and cruises.

 

They choose those holidays and cruises very often taking into account Which? surveys, and a lot of them will already have crossed P&O off their list of potential cruises - particularly because P&O hasn't done well in those surveys for many years.

 

Some people will certainly have forgotten about it in 7 days, but not the people it was produced for. They will see it on the Which? website every time they research cruises and holidays.  And they do very much tend to trust these surveys. It will inevitably cost P&O sales, and in the sort of free-spending group they'd probably rather like to keep.

I am a Which member and have just been researching Microwaves. Still booking P&O cruises though.

[tring]

3 hours ago, Cardiff girl said:

Off topic, but this reminded me - is there still a customer satisfaction survey at the end of P&O cruises?

I was on Azura in January and I didn't see one in my cabin. Does it come after by email? If so, I didn't receive it, and I was planning to praise several crew by name as I'm told this helps them a lot. 

Fortunately I'd nominated my cabin steward in the exceptional service box by reception, but I wondered if my survey had gone adrift. 

 

We were told on the ships that we would get a questionaire by post, but never had one for either cruise we did this winter.  Seem to me it is something they send to some people but not others - I wonder if they decide who they will send it to and who they will not bother with?  Would be interesting if  Molecrochip has any thoughts on that?

 

[Harry Peterson]

7 hours ago, davecttr said:

I am a Which member and have just been researching Microwaves. Still booking P&O cruises though.

 

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

So, by your logic, everyone will now cruise with Noble Caledonian based on 31 out of 1700 responses ?

The people it was "produced for" are such a small minority that I don't see the likes of Princess or P&O being too worried.

Similar surveys show that Ryanair are one  of  the worst airlines in Europe.  They seem to be doing OK !

 

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

But in total they are are a minor group, so even if they all avoid P&O cruises, it's hardly likely to affect Carnivals results.

Me too - it's an invaluable (and, unusually, independent) tool for aiding decisions on a very wide range of goods and services.  Particularly useful recently in deciding on a new printer - and its comparative running costs.  Our next cruise will probably be with Saga, after many years with P&O - and the reviews of P&O in Which? pretty much match our recent experiences, and those of friends.

 

As for 'small minority' and 'minor group', I wouldn't dismiss Which? readers quite so readily. Around 600,000 subscribers (roughly 75% that of the Daily Mail) plus family members, plus copies read in libraries across the UK and online.  That's not exactly a small minority group in most people's book - it's a pretty large chunk of people with a pretty substantial buying power!