We chose this cruise as a break to avoid flying during the Covid restrictions hoping for a bit of winter sun. The cruise began with a 5-hour delay as the ship had taken a poorly passenger to shore on the previous cruise. We don't know if the boarding process was worse due to the delay but we boarded around 7 pm with a delayed time of 5.30 pm to arrive at the port. After queuing in the cab to get to the port we joined the queue to get tested and followed the usual post-covid boarding process. The test result took longer than we would have expected but apart from that the process was fairly smooth. The main criticism is that people were herded together to get tested and sit and wait for results which given the large number of cases by the end of the cruise may not be a good process. We heard that the queue for testing became much longer resulting in many people standing outside on a very cold day for 1-2 hours. Some boarded as late as 11 pm so not great value for their 1st day. No token gesture to apologise to the passengers for this debacle of a boarding which greatly inconvenienced so many people. Many did not get a proper dinner and if you had a drinks package you paid £40 per person for that 'day'.

The ship itself is beautiful and has lots of fantastic views of the sea from indoor bars, restaurants and also deck space. There seemed to be lots of different areas on deck to sit and enjoy pools and sunshine but unfortunately on this cruise, the weather did not allow for enjoyment of those areas. Prior to boarding, we had made reservations for some dining. The dining was definitely worth doing as there was a discount and some restaurants were difficult to book once onboard. We had booked a show followed by dinner for the 1st sea day but the show was cancelled due to 'technical issues' which meant we had a dinner reservation to wait for. This would be a minor inconvenience if this happened once on the cruise but night after night there was a cancellation of the show. We went to the Dome to watch the show 3 nights in a row and it was cancelled due to technical issues. When we finally saw a show in the Dome it stopped for a technical issue. It seems to be a technical disaster! The shows in the theatre were also cancelled in the 2nd week which we believe was due to covid in the cast although this was not explained.

The biggest issue we had was the laughable named Ultimate Drinks Package it was more the ‘what can I have’ package! When ordering a drink we felt very restricted and the myriad of rules was frustrating and petty. For example, I don’t like Pepsi and prefer Coke products but the soft drink choice is Pepsi, Pepsi Max or R Whites Lemonade - no other fizzy drink. We even had trouble getting a double espresso (our normal after-dinner coffee) as that was apparently a double! If you go to Anderson’s you cannot have a drink from the menu. You can ask for a single measure but you can’t have the tonic that it is paired with either. It made us feel like second class citizens when ordering drinks. We did speak to a Food & Beverage Manager who advised us that the package is changing due to many many complaints. All beverage packages have rules and restrictions but this one does not work at all due to the pricing structure. No doubles are allowed but a single Baileys is 25ml which is basically a dirty glass and the double is within the price limit but not allowed. If you want to pair your wine with the food in The Glass House the suggestions are not included…….My husband wanted a milkshake - not included then a ginger ale - not included……..and so on. P&O and the staff are well aware that their package is a problem, I would say it is the worst at sea. It may cost more to buy drinks but at least you can choose what you want. The P&O way seems to be to drink your own drinks in your cabin. Overall it was how the package made us feel. It was not about the money but was too restrictive and wanting something not included did not mean paying the extra but only a 20% discount. Pepsi has a wide range of soft drinks - a choice of 3 is pathetic. We had the package on Queen Elizabeth and had no problems as there was a wide choice. We like to try things and the choice in the package was confusing. We ended up drinking what we knew we were allowed. Having had a package on NCL, Cunard, RCL Viking, MSC and Celebrity in the last few years we have never felt the way we did on P&O. It does seem to be under review by them according to the management on board but it will have to improve greatly for us to book P&O ever again. The other cruise lines' better offering would win for us. Read more