Thus was our 16th cruise and looking forward to boarding what was the flag ship of P&O the Oriana.

Great start as we had to wait to board approx. 2 hours due to an out break of Norovirus on the previous cruise.This then set the theme for the rest of our cruise.Mayhem in the Conservatory restaurant as waiters served and all the dishes had to be handed out trays and plates,drinks etc.the already rather small area became Butlins at sea.The cabin A311 was smaller than we were used too and the wardrobe inadequate.The safe which became an issue later on was too small.The only real saving grace was the Tea making facilities as with all P&O we have been on and the lovely hot shower albeit in a very small bath.The first meal in the Peninsular restaurant which is now freedom dining was poor.We are used to asking for an receiving a table for two as is our wish, but was informed we could wait up to an our for this.So sitting with a table of 6 we listened to the gripes and moans of the other two couples sending back their food swapping dishes to try to see if their partners were any better, so we decided the following night to try the Ocean Grill of Marco Pierre Whites fame.This was a pleasant and rewarding experience costing us about £46 with wine for two.We returned to the Peninsular on the following evening and found it better, but not great, so the last evening we went back to the Ocean Grille.

having booked the excursion called "Bruges on your own" which basically a bus ride into Bruges at 9.30am and a certain pick up time of 4pm costing £74 for the two of us, which my wife wanted to do to make sure we got there and back in time for the ships departure,but alas on the morning poor Yorick it was not meant to be.The safe was having none of it all of our passports and money remained sealed behind the metal door, the code meant nothing to this junk of metal, so we called for assistance at reception.We were promised 10 minutes -this came and went -we phoned and explained that the coach is about to depart for Bruges without us another 5 minutes he said - so I asked my wife to go down and explain our predicament and see if we could get a slight delay to the rep.dealing with the excursion -10 more minutes she was told - and eventually after 25 minutes a guy turned up put a card in a slot tutted and said "the safe is kaput,I will have to call for the guy with the tools" " how long" I asked""10 minutes" he said after 10 minutes I phoned reception and they said he must have gone the long way round,10 minutes after that he turned up and proceeded to drill out the front of the safe UUMM this is the 21st century and yet here we are drilling out an ancient safe because the electrics have gone tits up.When at last he managed to drill off the front I retrieved our documents and monies and headed off to be with my wife.The coach had gone and the shuttle bus was full so we had to wait for the next which meant we missed the connection at the station and as the train only goes on ten passed the hour, we had to wait and hour ,which meant getting to Bruges at 12pm and the last train we could catch back was 2.30 because they stopped running the shuttle at 4pm.It ruined the day and although I managed to get a refund for the excursion there was no apology -- nothing. Read more