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We booked this cruise last minute & had to fly from Gatwick which is a 4 hr drive from us, if we went again to the Carribean i would book earlier to get a more local flight. the journey is long but it wasn't a problem the chartered flight was great, the service brilliant & not having to collect cases at the airport was very nice.
Our cabin was brill,we were a bit disappointed with the ship as it is a carbon copy of Ventura & the Grand Princess why they build them all the same I don't know even the carpets were identical. we have travelled with P&O 3 times and sadly we think that the service & food is not as good as it was on the other 2 trips. they are cutting corners & its a shame as it is so petty its irritating. You can no longer automatically have prawn cocktails & steaks if you don't fancy anything on the evening menu. At the 6.30 time slot there was a lot of empty tables, we were on a table for 6 & no-one joined us so we asked to be moved after 4 nights. The choice of lunchtime food in the buffet was very repetitive & I thought there salad was limp & unappealing. I found that the waiters in the buffet were surly & unhelpful . I completed a survey that was left in my cabin and rated the service in the restaurant as ok. the next evening the deputy manager/headwaiter came to our table and interrograted me in an aggressive manner about my comments, he was hacked off that i didn't put a higher rating for the service. my fellow diners were "gobsmacked" as we say up north at the way he spoke to me.I think he was totally out of line & had no right to query my comments in public. it wasn't that i had said service was bad its just acceptable. Our main waiter wasn't chatty he looked grumpy most nights, he did his job ok, I think we saw a difference as the waiter on the first empty table we had was a really happy guy & it was lovely to see him each night.
The ports we called at were smashing except for 2 of them.
The entertainment on board is one of the main reasons we cruise & we weren't disappointed its really good. Some fab dance shows & great comedians Martin Martinez from Cuba was the highlight of cruise.
We had a lovely holiday with plenty to do & see & some lovely meals, but standards of service on this ship are nowhere near as good as on the Princess line...but then drink is more expensive on Princess with a very irritating 15% service charge. So its swings & roundabouts isnt it. We had a problem a couple of days before the end of the cruise and it was dealt with swiftly & by insisting on speaking to the passenger services manager it had a satisfactory outcome. We will deffo cruise with P&O again as despite my gripes its a brilliant way to holiday.There is one thing I'd like to suggest that ships have a hireshop on board for wheelchairs & gents tuxedos...just incase you forget the jacket!& please consider cheaper trips they really are expensive.
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