Is P&O for me -please help.

[bandit0000]

Hi

I have pre registered for the new Ventura (Caribbean 2008), however after reading quite a few reviews I am now starting to think if this line is for me or not.

Read some reviews that said us Brits complain about absolutely everything, although must admit it was someone from USA said that.

I have been on 13 cruises all American apart from orient lines. I have enjoyed all of them & really like the mix of nationalities. Are we really a nation of moaners, I really wanted to try P&O, but do not want my cruise ruined my everyone complaining about everything.

We enjoy nice food, good entertainment, not too formal, we enjoy a laugh & meeting people.

I was really looking forward to flying from my local airport straight to the ship (although read many reviews about nightmare flights & people fainting because of lack of space) & not having any overnight stays in hotels, so every possible moment was on the ship, not travelling to & from.

This is not a cheap cruise, most expensive one apart from one other, so if any of you seasoned P&O cruisers could help me out, I would be most grateful.

 

Many thanks in advance,

Lisa:o

[wakelover]

Hi there...we sailed RCI first and P&O second. Sailing RCI again this year and next.

P&O are much more formal. We noticed on the US ships you can get changed if you want on formal and only the dining room and some lounges carried the formal night throughout the night. P&O it was across the ship.

We have only one experience of P&O so cant give you a broad experience of the line....but I think our first cruise with them will probably be our last...although having said that I have been rather tempted by Ventura because she looks lovely.

 

One of the best people on here to ask is Haggis as he sails P&O and Princess. I'll email him for you if he doesnt see this first!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise...the above is just our opinion from 1 cruise...others on here are much better qualified to answer your question but hope it helps:)

 

It depends what you're into....we didnt hear many people moaning as such...but there certainly were some snotty people on our cruise but they're everywhere. Word of warning though - we did go to one nights "entertainment" where we were all asked to sing Knees Up Mother Brown:eek:

[bandit0000]

Thankyou for your quick reply, that certainly is a help.

Kind regards,

Lisa:)

[Sparkle 123]

Hi Lisa

Its me again.

I understand your dilemma. If I had read all the bad reviews before our Arcadia cruise we probably wouldn't have booked it. Then we would have missed out on a fabulous itinerary and memories that will last a lifetime.Yes we came accross a few moaners,although they are on every cruiseline and I don't quite get this "Britishness" thing either. However here I am again about to book the Ventura mainly because the ship looks fantastic , the early booking discounts are pretty tempting and the drinks are reasonably priced on P&O and they don'y slap 15% service charge on your bar bill! Plus we enjoyed the entertainment on P&O. They did not sing Knees up mother brown on our cruise! Thank goodness! You can always reteat to your aft balcony if they do. another thing we liked is they don't mind you bringing your own booze onboard either!

Any thing else you want to know dont hesitate to ask

Bye for now

Lisa

[wakelover]

We were just short of having powdered egg!! It was the British Pub Quiz night - "We'll meet again", and if I heard "Over the Rainbow" once I heard it 30 times....:eek: Glad you didnt have the same experience....maybe they do actually read the letters we send them!!:)

[bandit0000]

Aah thanks Lisa,

Decisions, decisions. I'm with you I think the ship looks great and you are right there a moaners on every ship, just so long as its not everyone moaning! On my last cruise, Celebrity Century every one was moaning, although I was one of them I must admit:eek: It was not up to the usual fantastic Celebrity experience.

Anyway I think I have decided that if I can get one of the aft cabins I will book.

I am just nervous I think because it is so far out, I normally book about 11 mnths in advance & I am worrying about this & that & not knowing what we will be doing by that time.

Then again if for any reason I was unable to go its only the deposit we would lose (before final payment of course), so its not that big a deal.

I think I am getting indecisive in my old age (35).

Sorry for moaning, I never thought I'd get nervous about booking a cruise, I think its just because P&O is different to the other cruises I have been on.

Thanks for listening,

Lisa:)

[daiB]

Aah thanks Lisa,

Decisions, decisions. I'm with you I think the ship looks great and you are right there a moaners on every ship, just so long as its not everyone moaning! On my last cruise, Celebrity Century every one was moaning, although I was one of them I must admit:eek: It was not up to the usual fantastic Celebrity experience.

Anyway I think I have decided that if I can get one of the aft cabins I will book.

I am just nervous I think because it is so far out, I normally book about 11 mnths in advance & I am worrying about this & that & not knowing what we will be doing by that time.

Then again if for any reason I was unable to go its only the deposit we would lose (before final payment of course), so its not that big a deal.

I think I am getting indecisive in my old age (35).

Sorry for moaning, I never thought I'd get nervous about booking a cruise, I think its just because P&O is different to the other cruises I have been on.

Thanks for listening,

Lisa:)

 

 

 

 

Hi Lisa,

 

As you will see we are P&O nuts and are currently working our way round the fleet. Ventura will have to wait cos we have others still to try. We were on Arcadia in October and had a wonderful cruise. There is a review under the review section on here and some pictures from the link below.

 

Unfortunately we were somewhat disappointed during the last cruise as we did not hear any moans at all. A great blow as I do love to wind up people who do that, great fun.

 

I am sure that you have made a good choice with Ventura at Christmas as she looks a fabulous ship. And Christmas is a wonderful time on P&O.

 

We have only done New Year and that was great so we have Christmas to come. Unfortunately with my wife still working we are restricted by her holidays. Still someone has to work to pay for our cruising.;)

 

 

:)Happy Cruising:)

[Shogun]

Hi There Lisa,

 

A few years back got the chance to go cruising while out in the Carbi, saw the Golden Princess and thought must try that, since then have only done Princess cruises, however the worst Princess cruise I had was on the Sea Princess, which is the only ship in the fleet aimed at UK market first so is like 70% Brits 30% other. Now I am British so by that I get along with other Brits, but was quite upset by the way a number of folk acted on the ship, I did not like folk sitting around the big out door movie screen drinking beer shouting at the ref while wearing the football shirts, yip they were showing football on the screen. Have done air tour cruises etc and did not have a problem with a ship full of UK folk.

 

But have stayed with Princess because I like the mix of ages, meeting folk from around the world, the mix of formal to informal, in doing so I have met many P&O cruisers, some love the Princess ships, others want back to P&O as soon as possible, I was so looking forward to the Ventura and will give her a try out but only as a short break, to see if I like her.

 

While I may be getting on in life and Saga cruises are almost here, I still want fun, and I do not mind kids teens etc so long as there are adult only areas as well for me the new Retreats on the Princess ships are great,

 

However after all that the most important thing is to go with the right frame of mind, I have booked cruises on ships that would not be my first choice but they went to where I wanted to go, same as the price and the dates were right but had been to most of the ports before so what I will still have a great holiday.

 

Book the holiday you want, be happy and have a great cruise.

 

yours Shogun

[Sparkle 123]

Hi Lisa

We are on the Century again in 8 weeks time. I hope it lives up to our expections as we have mainly cruised with Celebrity. It will be our 4th time on the Century, we went on a 3 nighter after the refit. I think sometimes you do get a cruise where things just don't come up to expectations, it happened to us when we cruised on the Millenium, we had a bad cabin steward and they messed up our dinner arrangements plus I had pre paid for the speciality reataurant and that took them 5 days to chase up, but the wonderful people we met on that cruise more than made up for those shortcomings. We have stayed in touch with one couple from America and have been over to visit them and cruised twice (on Celebrity) with them and will be spending this Xmas and New Year together too, so all the disappointments with that cruise have been forgotten now! We are also on the Constellation in November and are really looking forward to that.

Read your other post concerning the first choice flights, sounds promising, Thomsons or First choice sound good, hopefully Thomas Cook don't do flights from EMA for P&O!

[LibraLass41]

We are pre -booked on the weekender in Sept 08 on Ventura. (bookings open tomorrow, then we will be booked!)

She looks fab with lots to do, the Tapas bar, comedy club, live jazz , the white room, hardly powdered egg!!

 

I am sure you will have a fantastic time, go for it!

:D

 

Sue

[bandit0000]

Thankyou all so much for your helpful replies, I have decided to give P&O a go if I get my cabin choice, after all I have done many American cruises with one booked for this year as well, so maybe I am due for a change.

Happy sailing to you all:)

Regards,

lisa

[daiB]

Thankyou all so much for your helpful replies, I have decided to give P&O a go if I get my cabin choice, after all I have done many American cruises with one booked for this year as well, so maybe I am due for a change.

Happy sailing to you all:)

Regards,

lisa

 

 

 

Excellent choice Madam,

 

Will I send it, or will Madam take it with her.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

:)Happy Cruising:)

[Kazzy]

Hi Bandit,

 

First cruise I ever went on was the old P & O Arcadia (now the Ocean village) second cruise was Aurora in her maiden season. The old arcadia I hac a great time on but it was my first ship, got the (that was a dream feeling when I got off her at the end of the cruise) the Aurora was ok but missed character I thought.

 

We then went on Oriana and loved her and the year after tried Aurora again and she had completely changed had a fantastic time on her,the character was there to (sounds corny I know) recently over the last 2 years we have been with Royal Carribean think they are good but think P & O are just as good infact would say the food is better on P & O.

 

I know u have made your choice and I dont think you will be dissapointed.

[bandit0000]

Thanks very much, I just hope I get my choice of cabin now,

Regards,

Lisa

[CrabbyHarper]

Hi folks - I cruised on Grand Princess last summer and met a lot of great Brits. Had a wonderful time despite our difference in language.

 

Hubby and I are looking for a different cruise experience. We've cruised HAL, Celebrity, RCI and several other lines, but will probably not go back to Princess.

 

I wonder if we should give P&O a go? We are beyond middle-age, fairly well-traveled, and not formal. Any advice?

[daiB]

Hi folks - I cruised on Grand Princess last summer and met a lot of great Brits. Had a wonderful time despite our difference in language.

 

Hubby and I are looking for a different cruise experience. We've cruised HAL, Celebrity, RCI and several other lines, but will probably not go back to Princess.

 

I wonder if we should give P&O a go? We are beyond middle-age, fairly well-traveled, and not formal. Any advice?

 

 

 

Go for it, and before anyone else says it, but I would say that:rolleyes:

 

Go for it and enjoy because it will be different and you will have a great time.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

[Bar-fly]

Hi Crabby

I would urge you to try P&O they are very good and if you pick some interesting stops I'm sure you will have a good time.

In my estimation the smaller the ship the better the cruise, perhaps Grand Princess was a little bit big, I'm sold on the sun and sea princesses as I think they are just the right size and are twins to P&O's Oceana.

Are you thinking of flying to England and doing a round trip from Southampton? anyway go for it you won't be disappointed.

[floatingpalace]

laughing my a** off at the brittish being the biggest moaners........... when i went on the usa cruisers all they did was moan! this isnt good enough / this isnt big enough etc etc etc ! saying that it was still good with them but p&o are still much more formal and it feels that you get treated like a king/queen with there staff.... and very few moaners! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Pemcorgimum]

Just off Oceana and I am sorry but it will be my last P&O for a long time- I am in my 50s but honestly I did not feel OLD enough. Nothing against the over 75s on the cruise- they were a lot of fun- just the people my age who are old before their time. And MOANERS- oh my- even the person on my dinner table who is a big P&O fan complained about the moaners.

 

Did not feel treated like a Queen by anybody- mediocre service throughout the ship. In the buffet you could order a drink and never see the waiter again. And in the lounges you could wait and wait to catch the attention of the wait staff.

The good things- lovely food in the restaurant in the evenings, some good guides on the ship's tours,good cabin steward, some friendly people to chat with of all ages,smooth sailing despite force 8 in channel first night, impressive emergency situation with a helicopter transfer off the stern of the ship dealt with so well by the crew on the last evening.

I am sure many people love P&O and will be surprised by what I have written but I just write it as I saw it. I am sure they would hate going on RCCL which I love. Each to their own.

[daiB]

Just off Oceana and I am sorry but it will be my last P&O for a long time- I am in my 50s but honestly I did not feel OLD enough. Nothing against the over 75s on the cruise- they were a lot of fun- just the people my age who are old before their time. And MOANERS- oh my- even the person on my dinner table who is a big P&O fan complained about the moaners.

 

Did not feel treated like a Queen by anybody- mediocre service throughout the ship. In the buffet you could order a drink and never see the waiter again. And in the lounges you could wait and wait to catch the attention of the wait staff.

The good things- lovely food in the restaurant in the evenings, some good guides on the ship's tours,good cabin steward, some friendly people to chat with of all ages,smooth sailing despite force 8 in channel first night, impressive emergency situation with a helicopter transfer off the stern of the ship dealt with so well by the crew on the last evening.

I am sure many people love P&O and will be surprised by what I have written but I just write it as I saw it. I am sure they would hate going on RCCL which I love. Each to their own.

 

I think the last 2 sentences say it all.

 

 

Happy Cruising

 

 

:cool:

Dai

[Deeliteful]

Hi All

 

I started my cruising with P&O a few years ago and really loved it. I tried Celebrity Century and enjoyed it and Fred Olsen Black Watch and thought that was a very fruendly ship. This year I cruised RCL Legend of the Seas and have to say it was fabulous.

 

There are lots of things that P&O could learn from them but also vice versa. Check in on Legend was so much better than any check in I have done before.

 

I think P&O is great for the no 15% service charge on everything. I also think the food is better than others I have sailed with but let's face it a cruise is what you make it and, of course the people you meet.

 

You're right there are moaners everywhere who aren't happy unless they are whining about something. I had a lady (Brit) on my table on the Legend who complained that the food was boring - she chose the standby options of steak or salmon every night of a 15 night cruise - I never had the same thing twice I thought the food was fab.

 

I loved the Legend and would go back anytime but I would say the same for all the other cruises I have been on - never had a bad one.

 

Enjoy the Ventura - I hope I can try her too.

 

Pat

[daiB]

Hi All

 

I started my cruising with P&O a few years ago and really loved it. I tried Celebrity Century and enjoyed it and Fred Olsen Black Watch and thought that was a very fruendly ship. This year I cruised RCL Legend of the Seas and have to say it was fabulous.

 

There are lots of things that P&O could learn from them but also vice versa. Check in on Legend was so much better than any check in I have done before.

 

I think P&O is great for the no 15% service charge on everything. I also think the food is better than others I have sailed with but let's face it a cruise is what you make it and, of course the people you meet.

 

You're right there are moaners everywhere who aren't happy unless they are whining about something. I had a lady (Brit) on my table on the Legend who complained that the food was boring - she chose the standby options of steak or salmon every night of a 15 night cruise - I never had the same thing twice I thought the food was fab.

 

I loved the Legend and would go back anytime but I would say the same for all the other cruises I have been on - never had a bad one.

 

Enjoy the Ventura - I hope I can try her too.

 

Pat

 

Pat,

 

Exactly very well said, If you go on a cruise to enjoy yourself then you will have a great time:D

 

If you go on a cruise with another line to see how bad they are you will find hundreds of faults. :mad:

 

Cruising is like life it is what you make it. Go with a positive attitude and no matter which cruise line you will have a great time.:D

 

We stick to P&O cos, well, we like it. How ever if we had the chance of a cruise with any other line then we would take it and enjoy it

 

Oh yes we stay with P&O cos we want to get to GOLD.:D:D

 

 

 

Happy Cruising

 

 

 

Dai

[Pemcorgimum]

Pat,

 

Exactly very well said, If you go on a cruise to enjoy yourself then you will have a great time:D

 

If you go on a cruise with another line to see how bad they are you will find hundreds of faults. :mad:

 

Cruising is like life it is what you make it. Go with a positive attitude and no matter which cruise line you will have a great time.:D

 

Dai

So I take it you are suggesting that

a) I didn't go to enjoy myself?

b) I went looking for P&O to be bad?

c) I don't have a positive attitude?

 

What strange assumptions.

 

And can I ask what you mean by the last two sentences say it all?

 

You are very defensive about P&O. I am not like that about RCCL. I recognise that it is not for some people and as I said Each to their own.I have many friends who cruise P&O and I thought, if they are my friends and I like what they like , then I will like P&O. I was eager for P&O to be good for me as I wanted to be able to sail easily from the UK and I am certainly a most positvie person. As I said there was another person at my table who is a Gold P&O member and thought exactly the same about Oceana.So work that out.

[Pemcorgimum]

Wanted to say too that if you think it was maybe just this cruise and Oceana then you could persuade me to give P&O another try next year.

[daiB]

Laura,

 

I am sorry if I have offended you in any way. The main point was your last sentence.

 

However, I am somewhat defensive as I have not experienced any bad service in my 8 cruises on P&O. I may have had to wait a while in a packed casino for a drink, but never long and certainly not enough to come on here and complain.

 

I have not been accosted by any moaners. The people I have talked to have been 'full of cruising'. Even when delayed by 23 hours on return from our last cruise there were no complaints. (the fact we had free booze and another night on Arcadia helped).

 

Interestingly I had just read a report of a cruise on your favourite cruise line which was less than favourable, over on the P&O CC site. Which I could have quoted as it mirrors yours. But I did not because I have never and will never knock another cruise line.

 

I have found that there are a group of people who love to have a go at P&O, with very little personal experience and slam the cruise line for trivial matters like a long wait for a drink.

 

Perhaps I did 'have a go at you' but you seemed to be condemning a cruise line for some of the passengers you met and because some of the service was not as quick as you like. Are you telling me that you have never had to wait for a drink on RCCL, or that you have never heard a passenger moan. Try looking at the message board on here 'Ask a cruise question' and you will see that this topic is common over all cruise lines. So using the expression "I am sorry but it will be my last P&O for a long time" seems to me to be a little over the top.

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

Dai