Terrible standards now on P and O

We have cruised many times with P and O and up until the last couple we have really enjoyed our time onboard. Our superior deluxe cabin on this occassion was a total disappointment and was dirty, especially around the bath and a dirty shower curtain. It needed a deep clean to remover the grime around the tiles above the bath and the floor especially around the loo, disgusting! The room was old and very tired with the exception of the curtains as they looked new (probably from the last refit). The sheets had a few small tears in them and the pillows so flat and uncomfortable. Regarding all the extras that you expect with this cabin, well they were not there! no slippers, no fruit until a few days into the cruise and taken away a few days before we got back to Southampton! No flowers and poor canapés which were inedible. The cabin steward didn’t ever vacuum and the floor had bits of fluff and hairs from previous occupants. P and O do mislead guests by’ bigging up’ what they offer on their website and brochures. The experience really does not live up to expectations. It is a couple of years since being on this ship and we were shocked how tired the cabins are now.

The food was ok but nothing special. The ship seemed so crowded it was hard to find somewhere to sit and the Costa coffee area was terrible it resembled a supermarket cafe, really dirty and disorganised. You waited so long for a coffee and when it arrived it was cool and certainly tasted nothing like Costa on land. They also would only serve the coffees in that area so on busy days you were not allowed to have a coffee in other areas around the atrium, you could only order bar drinks (not everyone wants alcohol during the day) surely they need to address this as it was chaos on sea days. Lots of complaining customers!

The ship in general looked tatty in areas especially outside on the decks, the sun loungers are really dirty and old and our balcony had filthy furniture, understandable it is out in all weathers but it looked so old and had holes in it! The public areas that had been upgraded over the last refurb and looked ok. The spa area was in need of care as lots of dirty towels around and the blue towels in were so tatty and thin, it just wasn’t a nice experience in there which is not what you would expect in a spa, the spa showers had no gel in one and they all looked very dirty with lots of hair on the floor. It just needs someone to check it occasionally to keep it useable. Some facilities didn’t seem to work properly like both the jacuzzis in the adult only area.

We had hoped to book another cruise onboard but having had such a disappointment, we have returned to book with other companies who having read reviews seem to provide a better service than P and O. It is such a shame P and O are no longer a reliable company as they would have suited us as we like to sail from Southampton.