What kind of people are p&o trying to attract?

[Vampiress88]

1 minute ago, david63 said:

In answer to the original question it depends on the ship/itinerary.

 

The "adult" ships obviously will attract adults.

 

The longer cruises (over three weeks) will, in the most part, attract those who are retired.

 

All other ships/itineraries main target is young families and the under 40s - both groups being the long term customer base.

I’m quite jealous of some of the itineraries on the adult only ships. 
 

yes I think most would only be able to do those really long ones when retired 

[Harry Peterson]

49 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

my kids love cruising and are excited to go back. However when we told them we had booked they did ask is it msc or p&o as the difference they both found was massive. They were glad it was p&o but the youngest (7) did say “it’s iona, again” will have to ask why she said that. Unfortunately she had to go learn to swim and the conversation got interrupted 

Maybe she’d been reading this thread and was worried for her mother’s reputation?😇

Edited April 12, 2023 by Harry Peterson

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

I’m quite jealous of some of the itineraries on the adult only ships. 
 

yes I think most would only be able to do those really long ones when retired 

There's no reason why those itineraries within Europe at least have to be restricted to the adult only ships.  Variety of ports existed on all lines I sailed until a few years back.  This "shuttle" planning has crept in at the expense of mixed itineraries and is my main complaint about ex UK cruises.

 

As a member of the new demographic for cruising it would be great if your group could emphasise your desire for variety to P&O etc al and hopefully it might happen.

[Yorkypete]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I feel anyone who looks down on their fellow guests on holiday and complains about people around them are quite simply in the wrong place themselves

 

We all know with cruising its possible to pay more than 5 times the price P and O charges if it's important for them to be surrounded by a "higher class" of guest

 

If you want to be surrounded by that higher class of guest then bite the bullet and be prepared to pay the prices the pay

 

Can't  have it both ways unfortunately

 

Are the people on cruiselines who are paying 5 times the prices having 5 times better holidays?

 

Not a chance

 Sorry Interestedcruisefan but

 

Your first point is totally wrong. What your sentence reads as, is if someone is misbehaving and you complain then it is you that is in the wrong.. Where did that come from? So if I was annoyed about the 'adult' behaviour in the hot tubs and complained it is me that should not be on the ship? WOW...what an attitude.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Yorkypete

[Yorkypete]

34 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Depends on which behaviours I'm supposed to find acceptable, be they rich or poor.  Unfortunately the level of drunkenness and anti social related behaviour onboard vessels has notably increased in recent years (not just P&O) in the same way as it has at big events in society.  Whilst having accidentally become caught up in a brawl at Glorious Goodwood a couple of years back was frightening encountering it on a ship (as has happened on some US sailings) in a closed environment would be far worse.  Carnival recently laid out very clearly what will happen to passengers causing disruption to other passengers including fines and being forced to leave the ship, but will it stop the problem.

 

Whilst UK sailings on any line rarely have the problems they are trying to address the cruise lines have to be careful that it doesn't creep in through the back door. My last cruise over Christmas was spoilt by drunken fellow passengers and the disappointing reaction of staff to their behaviour. Just a one off I hope, but the memory lingers and does cause a little anxiety that this one off experience won't become the norm.

 

 

Our last cruise was spoiled by the same sort of behaviour but the crew did nothing to alleviate it. It just seemed to be the view that these people were spending a lot of money so  why bother.....or the crew were frightened of them!

[Bobblehat71]

IMHO P&O has something of an identity crises. Its trying to attract families and younger cruisers but at the same time not alienate its core of older cruisers. Their new ships Iona and Arvia are IMO fairly dull and in reality don't offer anything new or particularly exciting. I'm a relatively new cruiser in my early 50's and probably in the target audience for P&O. I've done 5 P&O cruises in the last 5 years and probably will again.Pretty much all of these were chosen either on price or simply because they were from Southampton. My last cruise was on MSC Europa , which was incredible and my next is with Virgin Voyages.I've also sailed with RCL ,NCL and Viking so have had lots to compare. P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.

[Vampiress88]

3 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

IMHO P&O has something of an identity crises. Its trying to attract families and younger cruisers but at the same time not alienate its core of older cruisers. Their new ships Iona and Arvia are IMO fairly dull and in reality don't offer anything new or particularly exciting. I'm a relatively new cruiser in my early 50's and probably in the target audience for P&O. I've done 5 P&O cruises in the last 5 years and probably will again.Pretty much all of these were chosen either on price or simply because they were from Southampton. My last cruise was on MSC Europa , which was incredible and my next is with Virgin Voyages.I've also sailed with RCL ,NCL and Viking so have had lots to compare. P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.

P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.
Agreed. 
would love to go on Royal Caribbean or Disney but are they really twice or more as good as p&o for me to be paying the double price? 
and then I end up back with p&o

[Bobblehat71]

Just now, Vampiress88 said:

P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.
Agreed. 
would love to go on Royal Caribbean or Disney but are they really twice or more as good as p&o for me to be paying the double price? 
and then I end up back with p&o

You may not think they're worth twice the price but your kids probably will 😉

RCL and P&O are not really comparable , for me they are totally different experiences.

[Sarah1974]

12 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.
Agreed. 
would love to go on Royal Caribbean or Disney but are they really twice or more as good as p&o for me to be paying the double price? 
and then I end up back with p&o

I have cruised with Royal Caribbean several times and P&O twice.  A friend and I were looking to cruise in the near future (she will only go with RC) and the price of RC was so much more and I'm not sure they are that much of a better product than P&O to warrant me spending £200+ more to sail with them - it's more about the destinations than the ship's facilities.  So that's on hold at the moment. 

 

I don't have children so can appreciate they would appreciate more to do on the ship!

 

Yesterday I booked to go on Arcadia with some other friends and know that's adults only and as the cruise is 16 nights will probably attract more retired people so I'll be in the lower age bracket at 49 (the friends I'm going with are 60 & 69)

 

I think manners are more important than class

Edited April 12, 2023 by Sarah1974

[Interestedcruisefan]

16 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.
Agreed. 
would love to go on Royal Caribbean or Disney but are they really twice or more as good as p&o for me to be paying the double price? 
and then I end up back with p&o

For families Carnival is better than RCL and cheaper than RCL normally but not cheaper than P and O for Brits due to flight costs etc

 

My kids enjoyed all their cruises with RCL, P and O and Carnival. But Carnival the best.

 

As parents we preferred Carnival and RCL. Older teenage kids on P and O start thinking they can try and drink alcohol on board etc. 

 

You don't get that with US kids etc as the drinking laws don't allow them to drink til age 21. So it's not even on their radar. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Bill Y]

39 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

Our last cruise was spoiled by the same sort of behaviour but the crew did nothing to alleviate it. It just seemed to be the view that these people were spending a lot of money so  why bother.....or the crew were frightened of them!

Probably the same as the sun lounger problem, the crew need a good report to get their contract renewed. So do not wish to risk any complaints and probably feel for what they are getting paid should they have to deal with obnoxious passengers.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Bill Y

[davecttr]

Maybe they should resurrect Ocean Village for Arvia & Iona

[Britboys]

40 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

IMHO P&O has something of an identity crises. Its trying to attract families and younger cruisers but at the same time not alienate its core of older cruisers. Their new ships Iona and Arvia are IMO fairly dull and in reality don't offer anything new or particularly exciting. I'm a relatively new cruiser in my early 50's and probably in the target audience for P&O. I've done 5 P&O cruises in the last 5 years and probably will again.Pretty much all of these were chosen either on price or simply because they were from Southampton. My last cruise was on MSC Europa , which was incredible and my next is with Virgin Voyages.I've also sailed with RCL ,NCL and Viking so have had lots to compare. P&O Cruises are a decent product and great value for money but you do get what you pay for.

Indeed and that is something we have discussed on this board in the past. They are a cruise line very much in a state of change and where they are at present is that they are trying to be all things to all passengers. To a degree this works but it is a difficult balancing act and won't work all the time. They have some long-standing pax who are determined to try the new ships knowing that they won't like them and then they will have some who cruise on the new ships and then try the likes of Aurora and will be disappointed.

Fortunately they are big enough to withstand this crossover time and in a few years I expect the two smallest ships will have been disposed of and the style on all the others will become more casual as per Iona & Arvia.

[Harry Peterson]

12 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

I wouldn’t say we have any class but do have manners. We are probably what they are trying to attract the younger age but just cos we are younger etc doesn’t mean we are slobs etc. 

 

I suppose I assume that when I hear these comments that I feel they are slightly towards us younger ones rather that the ones who have been cruising decades, feels like a dig. 
 

anyhow, I’ve seen some things before from all ages that I don’t like anywhere. 
Feet out on the back of my child seat and farting in theatre. 
talking down to staff

laying across a large sofa with no shoes on in the pub when others wanted seats. 

Asking if my kids can move up so she can sit down to watch a comedian 5mins before the show after we’d been there an hour to fetch three more people and end up with kids on our knees (they are 7&8 and so not want to sit on our knees in pubs nor do I want a numb knee for an hour!) 

pushing my kids out the way to sit at a table when they had already put their bags down. 

That’s a pretty astounding post when you read the detail - and outrageously bad behaviour. Speaking personally, I’d welcome more young people on cruise ships because they tend to have more open minds and make better conversationalists. Not a rule, of course, but just what we’ve found. Age itself is no barrier though, but it does depend on attitudes not being blocked by years of moaning about young people. The same young people that are paying for our pensions and healthcare!
 

Your family sounds delightful, and most young people will be the same. It’s not young people that cause the problems - it’s unruly louts, and they come in all sizes and ages!

[Harry Peterson]

4 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Indeed and that is something we have discussed on this board in the past. They are a cruise line very much in a state of change and where they are at present is that they are trying to be all things to all passengers. To a degree this works but it is a difficult balancing act and won't work all the time. They have some long-standing pax who are determined to try the new ships knowing that they won't like them and then they will have some who cruise on the new ships and then try the likes of Aurora and will be disappointed.

Fortunately they are big enough to withstand this crossover time and in a few years I expect the two smallest ships will have been disposed of and the style on all the others will become more casual as per Iona & Arvia.

An excellent summary of the position P&O is in now. It’s seen by Carnival as the most profitable route, and I’m sure they know exactly what they’re doing. Their track record is one of success.

 

This put me in mind of Ryanair, which was a full fat airline, making losses, until Michael O’Leary came on the scene in the late 1980s and transformed it, bit by bit, into the money making machine that it is now. Those early passengers during the crossover period must have felt the way many longer term P&O customers feel now, but times change and people adjust expectations.

 

I do wonder what would happen if a younger Michael O’Leary became CEO of P&O or Carnival.

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Depends on which behaviours I'm supposed to find acceptable, be they rich or poor.  Unfortunately the level of drunkenness and anti social related behaviour onboard vessels has notably increased in recent years (not just P&O) in the same way as it has at big events in society.  Whilst having accidentally become caught up in a brawl at Glorious Goodwood a couple of years back was frightening encountering it on a ship (as has happened on some US sailings) in a closed environment would be far worse.  Carnival recently laid out very clearly what will happen to passengers causing disruption to other passengers including fines and being forced to leave the ship, but will it stop the problem.

 

Whilst UK sailings on any line rarely have the problems they are trying to address the cruise lines have to be careful that it doesn't creep in through the back door. My last cruise over Christmas was spoilt by drunken fellow passengers and the disappointing reaction of staff to their behaviour. Just a one off I hope, but the memory lingers and does cause a little anxiety that this one off experience won't become the norm.

 

 

I've been on RCL and there were a large family of Travellers from Ireland on board 

 

As you guys know they are naturally loud at everything they do. And that's just the adults!

 

Didnt cause me any problems. But I'm sure there were a few people they bothered.

 

Dressed up to the nines on formal nights!!

 

 

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

22 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

That’s a pretty astounding post when you read the detail - and outrageously bad behaviour. Speaking personally, I’d welcome more young people on cruise ships because they tend to have more open minds and make better conversationalists. Not a rule, of course, but just what we’ve found. Age itself is no barrier though, but it does depend on attitudes not being blocked by years of moaning about young people. The same young people that are paying for our pensions and healthcare!
 

Your family sounds delightful, and most young people will be the same. It’s not young people that cause the problems - it’s unruly louts, and they come in all sizes and ages!

Generally I think young people are better educated, as a result far more open minded,  and  far more caring of the world and others than when we were kids. Obviously there's bad eggs as well. But that's always been the case.

 

In the world we live in right now it's definitely adults who should know far better who cause all the problems

 

The younger generations must despair at some of the things they see happening in the world tbh

[david63]

One of the problems that P&O will probably have in the future will be in retaining their new demographic.

 

There has always been a progression with holidays, Spain > Greece > USA > Thailand > cruising > ?

 

In order to keep the demographic then P&O's ships will need to become the destination as the "glitzy" US ships have done. If they don't do that then they will need to do something about their itineraries - there are only so many times that the "new" passengers will go to the fjords or Cadiz without something else to attract then to the ship.

[Adawn47]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

No but many monied people do think they are above average class.

What the nouveau riche fail to understand is you can't buy class. You either have it or you don't, regardless the size of the wallet.

Or the mouth.😉

Avril

[david63]

5 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

As you guys know they are naturally loud at everything they do. And that's just the adults!

And that is one of the advantages of the big ships - you can get away from them!

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

An excellent summary of the position P&O is in now. It’s seen by Carnival as the most profitable route, and I’m sure they know exactly what they’re doing. Their track record is one of success.

 

This put me in mind of Ryanair, which was a full fat airline, making losses, until Michael O’Leary came on the scene in the late 1980s and transformed it, bit by bit, into the money making machine that it is now. Those early passengers during the crossover period must have felt the way many longer term P&O customers feel now, but times change and people adjust expectations.

 

I do wonder what would happen if a younger Michael O’Leary became CEO of P&O or Carnival.

 

 

Don't forget the growth of market research and technology allows companies now to find out what customers want for their future holidays and to model with reasonable accuracy what will happen (in the normal world at least - Covid will have scuppered those calculations) depending on what they implement

 

Imagine the discussion on here if we didn't have bigger boats and new policies and as a result prices on cruises had risen with inflation last 20 years!!

 

Half of us on here wouldn't even be cruising at all

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Generally I think young people are better educated, as a result far more open minded,  and  far more caring of the world and others than when we were kids. Obviously there's bad eggs as well. But that's always been the case.

 

In the world we live in right now it's definitely adults who should know far better who cause all the problems

 

The younger generations must despair at some of the things they see happening in the world tbh

Controversial here, perhaps, but I agree with all of that. As a generalisation only of course, with many, many exceptions. 

[Bobblehat71]

1 minute ago, david63 said:

 

 

In order to keep the demographic then P&O's ships will need to become the destination as the "glitzy" US ships have done. If they don't do that then they will need to do something about their itineraries - there are only so many times that the "new" passengers will go to the fjords or Cadiz without something else to attract then to the ship.

A good friend of mine took his first ever cruise last year on Iona. He loved the cruise experience so much so that when he got back he booked a cruise on MSC Virtuosa. When he got back from that he booked another cruise,  on MSC! He loved his P&O cruise but he said MSC just offered more.

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

For families Carnival is better than RCL and cheaper than RCL normally but not cheaper than P and O for Brits due to flight costs etc

 

My kids enjoyed all their cruises with RCL, P and O and Carnival. But Carnival the best.

 

As parents we preferred Carnival and RCL. Older teenage kids on P and O start thinking they can try and drink alcohol on board etc. 

 

You don't get that with US kids etc as the drinking laws don't allow them to drink til age 21. So it's not even on their radar. 

Very good point on the drinking laws.  On a couple of ex UK RC cruises when they applied their 21 age rule I've seen arguments about people being able to drink at home because of the age 18 legality difference.  RC amended their age to 18 to fall in line with European laws accordingly. 

 

However my experience on RC compared to P&O is they are still very much tougher on anti social behaviour of any type.  As others have pointed out here they are also far more expensive and I presume if you've paid double or sometimes treble the price for your cruise you're more likely to take heed of the warnings.

 

Part of the problem in the cross over is what different age groups deem acceptable. I recall people moaning about "ferile hordes" of teenagers when Ventura was introduced. I very much doubt they were either just groups of bored youngsters hanging out together.  On my one and only Celebrity cruise there was a section of the ship handed over as an evening meeting place for that age group where computer games etc were available.  Big beanbags, lounging stuff, fairy lights etc.  Seemed very popular.  As someone with no children or grandchildren it looked a great idea and no one seemed bored or wandering aimlessly like I've sometimes seen on Britannia or Azura on my Caribbean cruises.

 

Do Iona and Arvia have spaces like this for the evenings, if not surely it might be welcomed by the parents and the youngsters.

[windra06]

Untill recently I had the impression that P&O were a budget line (in my mind I had lumped them with carnival) but having now watched hours of reviews I think we will enjoy our upcoming cruise.

 

We did our fist cruise with Celebrity 10 years ago when we were in our early twenties, it was a little sedate but we loved how quiet it was, it suited our preference. We took the stairs everywhere to avoid the mobility scooters which were usually queing for the lifts, It felt like we were the youngest couple on board by around a 20 year margin and we got the gym almost exclusively.

 

This time around, we were attracted to P&O by the interesting itinerary, good veggie food and low price! Feels like a middle ground between the family oriented ships and those with a little luxury.