Penny- pinching and Ordinary

This is my 5th time taking a world cruise with P&O and over the past 5 years and this one in particular P&O have declined to the point where I no longer wish to cruise with them. In fact P&O should stand for ‘Penny-pinching and Ordinary’ It has been the continual cutbacks and petty manner in which they attempt to save costs and often results in a degradation of why one normal would choose to cruise with P&O. The onboard management clearly have very little real authority and must strictly adhere to the Carnival policy which means referring most things to Southampton for approval – a demoralising situation for them.

The food quality has declined and the choices in the buffet have no become very much allied to Indian cuisine . Last year the Belvedere restaurant – Buffet style – had numerous choices along it food counters, now two of them offer Indian dishes and perhaps a roast option which maybe Pork belly. Inexpensive Indian food and meats is another example of the cheese paring attitude of the company.
The evening meals have similarly declined in quality and offering to the point where for example it becomes laughable. For instance the petite fours at the end of the meal are just a waste of time presenting, grubby little pieces of Madeline cake as one example. If you can’t do something well, don’t do it !!

Many many long term clients of P&O I spoke to on the ship felt the same way and often said this was their last cruise with the company . Many thought P&O were moving downmarket, without being sniffy about it, the socioeconomic level has increasingly dropped and as a consequence what P&O now offer would been seen as ‘Good Fare ‘

If you believe I am being unfair in my assessment just research the decline in the number of passengers taking the full World cruise, on this particular cruise there were only about 380, whereas last year that figure I believe was around 800

So, if you’ve not cruised before, you’ll have enjoyed this cruise, if you’ve been used to P&O cruises or been on Celebrity, Fred Olsen, Royal Caribbean you’ll have been mightily disappointed. By pushing the offering downmarket P&O attract new and less demanding and worldly clients trying cruising rather than Benidorm

Are P&O concerned ? Not at all