Our initial impressions weren't great. There was a lot of queuing up to get through before we boarded. Then we got a terse note in our cabin to say our luggage had been 'confiscated' and we had to go and queue again, like naughty schoolkids. By this time, we'd really had it with queuing! It turned out we had a pair of scissors (which we'd taken on many cruises before) that were an inch or two too long for P&O. Why they couldn't have delivered the bag to our cabin and then asked us for the scissors (which I wouldn't have minded), I don't know. Presumably it would have cost them an extra few cents in crew payments and, as we found out, saving money and skinning their passengers seems to be a major focus for P&O.
It's possible that the cruise line depends on having a lot of first-time cruisers - who don't know any better - on these trips. So, from having sailed on a few ships, here are a few observations...
1 Many ships have, say, seven restaurants and you may have to pay for one of them. Pacific Dawn has 7 restaurants and you have to pay for FIVE of them. The restaurants you don't have to pay for are the buffet, which was dire, and the Waterfront, which was better but no more than 'OK'.