P&O Cruises

Senior Cruises

Fitness Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Southampton

Sydney (Australia)

Hong Kong

Dubai

Singapore

Brisbane

Santiago (Valparaiso)

Dover

Europe - All

Europe - British Isles & Western

Baltic Sea

Mediterranean

Europe - Western Mediterranean

Spain

Caribbean - All

Norway

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Italy

Europe River

Portugal

Caribbean - Southern

Denmark

Norwegian Fjords

France

U.S.A.

Caribbean - Eastern

Rhine River

Australia & New Zealand

Belgium

Canary Islands

Mexico - All

Mexican Riviera

World Cruise

Croatia

Germany

Sweden

Asia

Hawaii

Douro River

Middle East

Netherlands

Oman

South Pacific

Transatlantic

China

Malaysia

Vietnam

Panama Canal & Central America

Samoa

Canada & New England

Japan

Fiji

India

Bahamas

Bermuda

Egypt

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

South America

Israel

New Caledonia

Vanuatu

Nile River

Europe - River Cruise

Africa

Brazil

French Polynesia

Thailand

Caribbean - Western

Cambodia

Chile

Falklands

Scotland

Turkey

Uruguay

Wales

Europe - Black Sea

Arctic

Iceland

Excellent

Poor

Average

Very Good

Terrible

Britannia

Ventura

Azura

Arcadia

Would not travel on Arcadia again

Kusadasi

Lovely ports of call. Good service. Some staff appeared to be very overworked.

On the whole good entertainment. Excellent speakers. Headliners could have been better especially the dancers.

 Had to ask cabin steward for bed changes. Washing machines, coffee machines, toilets all out of order. Buckets in corridor to collect water when it rained. Corrosion evident on many decks. Ship just appears to be rotting away.

Towels left on seats from 7.30 a.m. They were not taken away after people had not sat on the chairs for many hours.

Food mediocre unless dining in the Ocean Grill which was how cruising used to be. No trays in the buffet. A lot of complaints about this.

It is nice to see cocktail parties are back as are the tiered lunches. Although our lunch was nothing special.

If it would have been our first cruise we wouldnt be cruising again. Going on Iona later in the year and hoping for much better.

Cruise chosen for interesting  ports of call. Last on this ship 15 yrs ago. apart from a few theatre productions the overall entertainment was poor, there were more quizzes on this ship on a daily basis than ever before. One busker left the ship but not replaced mid cruise. Pianists only played for 45 min each session. Everything was very repetitive ( even the quiz questions). No appearance of the Captain or any senior officers throughout the cruise. Giovanni ( cruise director) only appeared before or after the evening theatre performance for approx 1 minute. Food in the buffet was very poor with hardly  any choice, afternoon tea was the same on a daily basis, scone/jam/cream . A few years ago there were several choices of cakes, sandwiches etc. MDR restaurant was slightly better but again quite similar each night, no alternative choice as was a few years ago too. No sight of all the chefs etc which used to parade throughout the restaurant on the last night. A very poor experience for people who know what cruising used to be like on P& O Cruises 22years ago.

Good ports of call but everything on the ship of poor quality

We've been cruising exclusively with P&O for the past ten years. The latest cruise was to the Med from Southampton. I really like P&O but post COVID the quality of service does make me question if we will cruise with them again. 

We accept that the acute gastroenteritis outbreak didn't help matters (we later found out that there was also COVID cases but these were not mentioned on the 1800 bridge broadcasts.

Most launderette machines out of action, interesting we did a 40 night on Arcadia six months previously as some machines had the same faults, were they repaired? 

Booking restaurants on the app was a joke. Couldn't book via the app as you had to 'join the virtual queue'. Went to the restaurant to book and was told to use the app. Explained we couldn't and told there was nothing they could do. We gave up trying to book either of the specialist restaurants.

We ate in the Meridian each evening and generally it was bulk standard P&O menu which is good and of a high quality. We did feel that this time the menus were sometimes rather repetitive and lack some adventure.

The lack of parade of the galley crew at the end of cruise was disappointing. We could not show our appreciation of their superb efforts to produce meals. The two real disappointments were wine retention and lack of after meal chocolates. You can no longer leave opened bottles of wine in the restaurant for drinking on the next visit. This resulted in folk wandering around with bottles of wine. It gave the impression of being on a booze cruise.

Is it too much to ask for a couple of complimentary chocs or similar post meal? They are missing from the evening turn down of the cabin.

The outbreak of gastroenteritis meant we had more handwashing, sanitisation and queuing. Initially I was disappointed but came to appreciate this for the buffet. Staff who were serving at the various buffet stations were very conscious of when food items needing replenishing. In addition, with staff dedicated to a food station ensured that the serving was kept very clean. Pre outbreak of gastroenteritis the self service buffet sometimes resulted in messy stage.

The gripes may be pathetic but it was the little attention to detail that made P&O stand out in our opinion from other cruise lines. On the positive their staff were fantastic and we had a good cruise.

Would I cruise again with P&O?

We chose this cruise because it went to a few ports we hadn't visited before, and it was at a time (April) when we thought the weather would be good but not too hot.  We have sailed with P&O 6 times before and 3 of those on Arcadia, and have always enjoyed ourselves.  Not on this occasion.  We were surprised when our Cabin Steward advised us there was no evening turn-down and that he wasn't allowed in the cabin unless the Make Me sign was on the door.  We found later that this meant towels weren't changed regularly in the evenings and ordering water etc meant we had to be in our cabin when it was delivered.  We weren't too fussed about the lack of chocolate on our pillows but other passengers were!.  We were on Freedom Dining - a misnomer as it should have been called Queuing Chaos Dining.  Our first experience was an hour wait for a table for 2 and although it got down to about 30-40 minutes that was still not what we expected, and have experienced on other ships.  The system and processes don't work and even bringing in more staff didn't improve much.  Tables were left uncleared while people were still queuing outside, and is quite off-putting for this still eating.  

There was very little to do during sea days compared to other cruises.  On a 19 night cruise we had only two speakers, one of whom we had seen before.  There were lots of quizzes and even though we like quizzes we got bored with 4 or 5 a day.  There didn't appear to be a Cruise/Entertainment Director or Manager for the first half of the cruise and some of the entertainment staff were new and inexperienced.  That was also  true of many staff and crew - after the world cruise it seemed a lot of experienced crew members had been transferred to the new ship or had finished their contracts and gone home.  

Somewhat concerning was the report of 2 fires on the ship.  One was in the Incinerator, where you might expect a fire but not one to be reported over the ships tannoy, and the other in the Medical Centre, where you don't expect a fire at all.  The Italian authorities took that seriously and we were delayed from leaving port for several hours.   

Embarkation was a bit chaotic but the wait was not too long.  I was to have assistance on leaving the ship and was told to wait in the Spinnaker lounge, along with others requiring assistance.  There were no representatives from the ship in that area and eventually someone came through and told us we were all in the wrong place and had to move to where they 'always were for assistance'.  Never having had assistance before I did wonder how I was meant to know this.  But the man who assisted me was lovely.

We are booked on Ventura in January for 35 nights and are somewhat concerned that the same poor experience will be repeated.  P&O need to improve dramatically to keep their core passengers happy.

P&O Seem to have lost the plot

Having just completed the P&O j219 cruise on Arcadia to the Greek islands with a stop at Malaga on the way out and Gib on the way back, I will give you the gen. Firstly we have only ever been with Cunard before this, so that is the benchmark I am working from, some facts..

£6400 for a deluxe balcony £3200 each.

Was it worth it, NO..the only difference between a balcony on a cunard was a half sized bath, pair of binoculars and a world atlas, the bath is unusable unless you are half size. In February this year we did a Carribean 28 night cruise for £3000 each.. just over £100 per night, whereas j219 was over £150 a night…

on Cunard the cabin was cleaned in a morning and tidied at night with the bed turned down, on P&O it is cleaned just once a day, half the service for half as much again on the cost, you do the maths. Only 2 niggles with the cabin, which I have to say were resolved promptly.

On port days, Cunard would provide you with a map of the port, and a talk on each port before you got there, nothing of the sort on P&O unless you scanned a map to your phone, of what use a city map is on a 5 inch screen I have yet to find out….very poor.

Food… least said I think.

Dining arrangements shocking...long queues with lots of whinging (rightly so.) never queued once with Cunard. Only free water after breakfast, no fruit juices..afternoon tea was a travesty

Sometimes the food was ok, sometimes it was more transport cafe, and green bloody beans...endless. Ordered a steak 1 day, spot on, never got it right again the whole cruise. I soled a shoe with mine one day, it will last years.

Entertainment.

Overall good. The Headliners were superb, well worth every show.

One guy who was a comic/impressionist had been made to stretch a 60 minute show to 90 mins. First show great, 2nd not even average.

The lavelles mowtown group emptied the theatre but not my bag anyway so didn’t go, just watched the procession out, 2nd spot emptied faster.

Was it worth the £6000+ overall, never in this world I am afraid, back to Cunard for us if we cruise again

not the best

Arcadia is my favourite ship. I have sailed on Cunard QM2 but on that 7 days was too many.

Arcadia may not be perfect the buckets are still about but she has a soul and the friendliest most helpful crew at sea.

Embarkation was a bit slow as there were visas to check and a new online check in system was being trialled.  It is the only time my luggage has beat me to the cabin!!!  Our cabin steward was Elias and he was with us until Fremantle, then Jofran took over.  Both were above excellent.

Our cabin A173 was wonderful.  We spent many mornings having coffee on the balcony watching the wake.  There is a bit of soot around but I knew that before I booked the cabin.  Reception will launder free of charge if required willingly with an apology.

We usually have breakfast and lunch in the Belvedere then dinner in the Meridian.  The food is excellent in both.  We never needed a pager for the MDR on Freedom Dining and we did not necessarily go the same time every night except for the first night club dining was stopped due to social distancing.  Once in 99 nights is no big deal.  We always share a table as it is a great way to meet people.  We dined twice in Sindhi which is excellent but missed Ocean Grill as we had saved it for the last leg but the specialty restaurants were closed after 23 March due to social distancing measures.

The guest speakers were excellent.  Didi Conn (Frenchy in Grease) was very friendly and sociable.  Bob Champion, Ben McBean, Wayne Sleep, Terry Brown, Sharron Davies, the wonderful Reza Muhammad and Geoff Peters were my favourites.

The headliners were great and the guest acts excelled.  I enjoyed Dean Stansby, Suzy Madin, Fogwell Flax, David Copperfield and Jeff Stevenson, Mark Rueberry, to name a few.  I did not like Micky Zany at all and would not watch him again.  The very best performance was Entertainments Manager Nick Cosslett singing Music of the Night he earned a standing ovation in the early show.  The guest entertainers were outstanding for the last 31 days of the cruise especially as some had only signed on for 5!!!

We had 3 Captains, Ashley Cook, Wesley Dunlop and Luko Vojvoda.  All were great.  However a very special thanks is owed to Captain Luko who got us home safe and in good health when Covid19 was wreaking havoc across the world.  His 08:55 daily messages lifted spirits.  As he said we were all in it together.

The itinerary took a bashing but it could not be avoided the last place I wanted to be after the outbreak was Asia and the Australian ports were a bonus.  

We had a stretch of 31 days at sea but at least we had plenty of toilet rolls!!!

P&O went over and above in my opinion and we have been richly compensated for the changes of port in future cruise credit and extra OBC.

I booked a cruise titled Arcadia’s Western Circumnavigation and that is what I got just the bit in the middle was slightly amended!!!

Would I go again you bet already booked for 2021 so fingers crossed.

Thank you Arcadia you gave me the holiday of a lifetime and I am missing you already.

Best Holiday Ever

The cruise set off prior to virus and went well until half way round when virus caught up with us it then  became a mystery tour which p & o dealt with in a brilliant way.  The boat was a bit old and other were buckets around catching drips, but it didn't interfer with anything. Restaurant was excellent good service and food.  The self service restaurant was ok breakfast was really good, so was lunch evening meal always seemed to have a curry in some shape or form, but always had steak which was cooked to order.  We only went to sidhu once  but it was very good. The entertainment was varied and mostly very good. The ports that we did stop at were well described and lots of tips if you were doing it on your own.  The captain's that we had were very good especially captain Luca he had to deal with the change of ports and authorities regarding the virus.  It was a disappointment not to have the cruise that we signed up for but p and o did everything in their power to still give us an experience to remember.  We really enjoyed our cruise and a big thank you to p and o in this difficult time.  Some people didn't enjoy the experience but we did.  In the extreme circumstances a really lovely holiday. Didn't use the fitness centre or any of the trips to comment on. However there was an excellent bridge tutors which we attended they were brilliant. The library was also well stocked and a used book swope which was also good. The shop was ok but take own washing powder if you want to wash. Laundrette was also good I never had any problem getting a machine.

World cruise with a difference  brilliant

Firstly the price paid is a huge factor in the context of any review - your expectations are naturally higher paying £1000 per night than our bargain £79.00 each for a balcony cabin. At this value my expectations were certainly exceeded.  We have sailed on 20 cruises, mostly Cunard, and this was our first trip on an adult only ship.  I hadn’t expected much difference but it was SO much calmer without noisy children rushing around. The weather was dreadful on the departure day from Southampton and rather than put us all through hell the captain delayed leaving until 3.00 am the next morning when things were forecast to be calmer - at no doubt a considerable cost to P&O in port fees.  Impressive touch. Tip - if you are a delicate sailor when seas get rough there is considerably less movement in the cabins midship compared to where we were at the front.  And you don’t hear the loud bangs of the waves hitting the bow.  Food was excellent and even better in the speciality dining venues - worth waiting for the special offers to sample.  In fact no meal disappointed but the Lido was a bit of a scrum at breakfast and lunch. Much more relaxing in the dining rooms.  We opted for Freedom Dining but the queues and waits were so long unless you ate right at the beginning or towards the end of the session, when the food took a while to arrive. Next time we will go for fixed dining and have our table waiting for us. The ships interior wasn’t up to Cunards high boutique standards but then the price was considerably lower.  And it felt comfortable all round. Cabin fine, You do have to climb into a uselessly small bath to have a shower which could be a mobility issue but beds were comfy.  Not many tv channels. Our cabin steward Maria was just lovely - prepared everything with such care. The was a smell of sewage at times in the central atrium area but perhaps they will sort this next April in the refurbishment. No tips or service charge on the drinks which along with the excellent shore excursions were much cheaper than Cunard.  Excellent entertainment in a stunning theatre. Lovely spa too and one acupuncture session instantly cured my frozen shoulder after two years. Would we go back? For the right destinations at the right price definitely!

Spain 8th to 18th December 2019

Hammering, Drilling and Maintenance

We were on our third cruise with P and O. We were so looking forward to this which was my birthday present cruise in December. We thought our cabin had seen better days but had the very professional Hilda as our steward and she took care of usvand was always smiling. Most of the staff were wonderful and so happy.

On boarding we decided to loaf around in the pool area and had to leave pretty quick as the pool was empty and being painted. I have asthma and paint doesn't serve me well. The paint stench last a few days.

The Meridien restaurant was superb and the staff were magical professionals.

MAINTENANCE... For a few nights we heard something like a ball continually bouncing above our cabin....then scraping and banging. It kept us awake for hours and we eventually informed reception who said we should call when it's happening (snotty attitude). Must say that Katarina at reception was superb and suggested a wonderful walking tour of Lisbon which included history and shopping at smaller stores. Our walking talking tour was the highlight of our cruise and we thank Katarina.

MAINTENANCE... Bang, bang at night again. We called reception and someone was sent to check it out (above cabin A 098) We were told that it was kitchen staff washing dishes and prepping food which we thought was a lie as the ships map didn't show a kitchen above us. The banging eventually stopped and we couldn't sleep as we were too wound up. We are happy go lucky and easy going but this was too much.

Next day I heard banging and scraping whilst in the buffet and there was a white sheet covering an area which hid a worker banging and scraping. I have a video recorded ready for YouTube. It seems the floor area and the mural above were more important than us passengers. Everyone was upset. I was as this was my 68th birthday and I was but days out of hospital and in need of peace.

The first part of the cruise we were often, snottily, told that we couldn't sit in a certain area as it was for officers only. That's fair enough but a whole side which was never full???

One night there was a lot of banging in the balcony area of our cabin and a polite maintenance guy came and fixed it in the morning.

We were given $200 extra onboard spend and a beautiful bouquet of flowers as an apology but what price an unhappy holiday?

Is there anything that can be done to stop the stench of cigarettes wafting into the buffet? Or the awful people that smoke in the public toilets????

We thought the entertainment wasn't up to much and the sound testing could have been more professional - continual 1 2 ing is not necessary these days. The four piece in the Rising Sun looked terribly miserable.

The food and service was very good in the Belvedere although the continual upselling at the tables was too much. The Meridien food, service and ambience was high quality.

I hate giving bad reviews but be careful folks. I've been in the Hotel, Club and Entertainment business for most of my life and, ironically, not fussy but this was way too annoying for us.

I feel cheated

DS

Disappointed and Sad

Initially, we chose this cruise because it was quite cheap and we could pay monthly. As the time for the cruise drew nearer I was quite nervous because I'd seen some bad reviews for the ship. 

My fears soon vanished when we arrived at the terminal. Embarkation was simple and quick and we were soon in our room. The cabin was much larger than I expected, very roomy and plenty of storage space. We had a great room steward, Thomas, who looked after the cabin really well.

We had a meal in the Belvidere Buffet which was excellent. Later we went to the Meridian restaurant where we introduced to our waiters Joe and Lee. The food and service were absolutely fantastic, every single day. I can't praise the service highly enough, nothing was too much trouble and the food was so lovely.

The Palladium Theatre was excellent and provided first-rate entertainment from the Headliners and various other entertainers. The ship talks were interesting and varied. Gym facilities are excellent and there are free dance classes. The spa is lovely and I had an excellent series of acupuncture sessions with Koko and learned a great deal about Chinese medicine. The two pools are excellent, especially the whirlpools.  There are several excellent bars and the Globe does some very interesting talks too. The library is good.

The shore excursions were fabulous and good value for money, especially the Corfu and Sardinian ones. 

Was there anything I disliked??? Yes, there was, the cruise had to end. It was an experience of a lifetime.

The best experience ever.

Filters

1-10 of 106