Latest P&O Survey

[david63]

Anyone else seen the latest survey from P&O (warning if you have yet to complete - it takes about 45 minutes)

From the questions asked it looks as if P&O are looking at what passengers are expecting from a cruise and which market to target

[Quizzical Bob]

Yes, I've just completed one about J407. It seemed very similar to the paper one in the cabin but it was another opportunity for me to let them know how much we hate formal nights

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

[GillD46]

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

We have frequently ticked the excellent box regarding value for money. Compared to a land based holiday, we think it IS excellent value for money.

[towny44]

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

We have frequently ticked the excellent box regarding value for money. Compared to a land based holiday, we think it IS excellent value for money.

Yes Gill but is it excellent compared with Celebrity?

[GillD46]

We haven't as yet tried Celebrity.

[Quizzical Bob]

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

We have frequently ticked the excellent box regarding value for money. Compared to a land based holiday, we think it IS excellent value for money.

Oh no! They'll think they can put up all the prices.

[towny44]

We haven't as yet tried Celebrity.

I hope you have tried other lines against which to compare P&O, otherwise how could you rate them excellent value.

[GillD46]

We have indeed - several others - and no longer travel with P&O! However, we still find that cruising is excellent value compared to the land based holidays we choose.

[Kenmo1]

I have just filled in the J407 survey. It was good to have the boxes to give reasons why you gave certain aspects low ratings e.g a moan about low speeds, short time in ports and dire entertainment plus giving double OBC to very late select fare bookers. I enjoyed that survey.

Maureen

[Quizzical Bob]

I have just filled in the J407 survey. It was good to have the boxes to give reasons why you gave certain aspects low ratings e.g a moan about low speeds, short time in ports and dire entertainment plus giving double OBC to very late select fare bookers. I enjoyed that survey.

Maureen

Apart from the OBC that's exactly what I complained about!

[towny44]

We have indeed - several others - and no longer travel with P&O! However, we still find that cruising is excellent value compared to the land based holidays we choose.

Obviously not quite such excellent value as you first thought.

[johnds]

I have just filled in the J407 survey. It was good to have the boxes to give reasons why you gave certain aspects low ratings e.g a moan about low speeds, short time in ports and dire entertainment plus giving double OBC to very late select fare bookers. I enjoyed that survey.

Maureen

I haven't been asked. Perhaps they know what I might have said.
Ditto ditto ditto ditto and ditto

Regards
John

[david63]

The survey that I was referring to in the OP was not a cruise specific one but a general one about holidays (cruising more specifically) and attitudes towards type of holiday.

(Just for QB I said every night on a cruise should be formal and that there is no need for a Promenade Deck that goes all the way round )

[Quizzical Bob]

The survey that I was referring to in the OP was not a cruise specific one but a general one about holidays (cruising more specifically) and attitudes towards type of holiday.

(Just for QB I said every night on a cruise should be formal and that there is no need for a Promenade Deck that goes all the way round )

Very kind, you shouldn't have. Really, there's no need.

[Mervyn and Trish]

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

We have frequently ticked the excellent box regarding value for money. Compared to a land based holiday, we think it IS excellent value for money.

Yes Gill but is it excellent compared with Celebrity?

Yes it is, and we have tried Celebrity.

It was the worst cruise we've ever had (and we've been on P&O, Princess, Cunard and RCI as well) and by the time you'd taken into account all the costs, not just the basic price, it cost as much as P&O.

Even if it was half the price it wouldn't be good value for the shoddy service we got.

[oldbluefox]

Shouldn't 'value for money' be measured against the price you have paid, for the product you have received, not as a comparative with something else? Therefore comparisons with other cruise lines are an irrelevance.
As a comparator against land-based holidays, and even hotel holidays in UK cruising does represent good value for money, and they will all try to get money out of you one way or another. However I would say items such as photographs and spa treatments are not such good value.

[david63]

Shouldn't 'value for money' be measured against the price you have paid, for the product you have received, not as a comparative with something else? Therefore comparisons with other cruise lines are an irrelevance.
As a comparator against land-based holidays, and even hotel holidays in UK cruising does represent good value for money, and they will all try to get money out of you one way or another. However I would say items such as photographs and spa treatments are not such good value.

But you are comparing a cruise with something else - in this case land-based holidays.

I don't see a problem with comparing a P&O cruise with that of another cruise line - it is no different than comparing buying washing machine A from Currys with washing machine B from John Lewis.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Shouldn't 'value for money' be measured against the price you have paid, for the product you have received, not as a comparative with something else? Therefore comparisons with other cruise lines are an irrelevance.

Not sure I entirely agree there Foxy. If two cruise companies offer similar itineraries, facilities and service, and one is cheaper than the other, one might say the cheaper one is better value for money. On the other hand if one company offers much better service than the other, then the more expensive might be the better value for money. I think either comparison is valid.

I would also agree though that one can make a valid comparison with other ways of spending the same money, such as a land based holiday.

Or in my case, my visits to the dentist for an implant to replace a broken proved to be better value than our disastrous Celebrity trip! Certainly in terms of quality and competence of service.

[jacksparrow]

Where is the survey… is it one that is emailed to you?

[david63]

Where is the survey… is it one that is emailed to you?

yes - but only to the "selected" ones

[towny44]

They always ask silly questions about 'value for money', surely nobody is ever going to tick the 'excellent' box, are they?

We have frequently ticked the excellent box regarding value for money. Compared to a land based holiday, we think it IS excellent value for money.

Yes Gill but is it excellent compared with Celebrity?

Yes it is, and we have tried Celebrity.

It was the worst cruise we've ever had (and we've been on P&O, Princess, Cunard and RCI as well) and by the time you'd taken into account all the costs, not just the basic price, it cost as much as P&O.

Even if it was half the price it wouldn't be good value for the shoddy service we got.

Yes we know you hated your Celebrity cruise Merv but you are in a very small minority of those we have come across.

What happened did they refuse to put your picture on their wall of fame?

[Mervyn and Trish]

We have tried Celebrity.

It was the worst cruise we've ever had (and we've been on P&O, Princess, Cunard and RCI as well) and by the time you'd taken into account all the costs, not just the basic price, it cost as much as P&O.

Even if it was half the price it wouldn't be good value for the shoddy service we got.

Yes we know you hated your Celebrity cruise Merv but you are in a very small minority of those we have come across.

What happened did they refuse to put your picture on their wall of fame?

And I know you are a Celebrity groupie John, because you praise them at every opportunity, and of course you will come across many other fellow fans when you travel on their ships. I have come across many others who consider them over-rated. Neither of us has conducted a scientific study and we are both entitled to our opinions.

But no it had nothing to do with a picture.

In order: boarding was a shambles, main dining room allocations were not in cabins (not even confirmation of sitting) so we had to queue up for the information, the cabin layout was awful, they lost a reservation for select dining made and paid for on-line and instead swore blind we had booked a table for six people at a different time (odd with just two of us on board) and then made me spend an hour sorting it out, they spent every minute of every day praising themselves and when they did so in the dining room it took so long our food went cold, they pretended to give us a choice of when to disembark and then completely ignored it and allocated us, and our entire corridor, a time as far away as possible from that we had requested. And when I described all this on the passenger survey form and gave them contact details so they could follow it up, they didn't.

So I'm not going to waste a penny giving them another try when there are other cruise lines I find superior in service and better value.

[ItsmeAnnC]

Mervyn and Trish

We would have agreed with you - and indeed did a few years ago. Having tried (and loved) a Celebrity cruise back in 1999, and with the falling standards of just about everything with P&O, we went with Celebrity again. There were six of us and we went to the Baltic on Eclipse. We had the worst service imaginable, the cabin steward was over-familiar, and many things went wrong that took days of our precious holiday to sort out. We all said never again. People of all nationalities around the ship were complaining amongst themselves.
We wrote when we got home, as did one of the other couples, and complained bitterly to no avail - just a stock letter in reply.
Other P&O cruising friends did the same cruise the following year and had exactly the same experience. My daughter and son-in-law went and he landed up in their hospital on two consecutive nights after being given nut-contaminated bread in the restaurant, despite mentioning his allergy at every opportunity. They were given $600 off another cruise in compensation.

Then both daughters and husbands (anxious to use the $600, and having enjoyed their trip despite the allergy issues) booked a Med cruise on Eclipse and asked us to join them. We went, despite our awful experience, because we considered this may be the last time we travel as six, before grandchildren started to come along (true, as it happened).
Well, what a difference! We could not fault anything - and we are fussy people. It was as if it were a different cruise line. And the care my other son-in-law had following a head injury was faultless. They even held the ship from sailing to wait for him and my daughter to return to the ship after his scans.
I cannot stress how different this experience was - the food was excellent - and hot - service impeccable - entertainment tip top - there was just nothing to moan about. Now, I confess, we are Celebrity converts, having done four since then, on different ships, and one a fly-cruise, and two more booked. It just keeps getting better. I reckon they listened to all our complaints and actually did something about it.
Oh, and one of our suitcases was damaged beyond repair by the coach driver who took us from the ship to the airport on the way home. I rang head office when I got home and the value was immediately put back on the credit card we used on the ship.

If you can summon up the courage, I would recommend you try it again.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'm pleased that it was better for you when you tried again, but we don't see any reason ever to do so.

We like P&O and also enjoyed our recent experience of Princess. We also liked Cunard. So with all those to choose from we see no point in gambling £4k or more for another two weeks on Celebrity that might be better than our last dismal experience, or might not. They had their chance to respond to our feedback questionnaire last time but didn't value our custom sufficiently to do so.

I understand Celebrity has its fans, as do all the other lines, but it's not for us and I admit it winds me up whenever it is trumpeted as if it was the world's greatest line and anyone who thinks differently is wrong.

[towny44]

Merv, for us it is, currently, the worlds greatest cruise line, but that would change if we experienced the problems you had on your cruise. However our 2, yes only 2 so far, Eclipse cruises have eclipsed anything else we have experienced in the 20 cruises we have taken to date. I will report back to you after our Azores & Canaries cruise this autumn, and again after our 2 cruises booked for 2015. I will also let you know how we feel Eclipse compares with P&O's Britannia after our cruise on her in April next year. However please accept my assurance that I do not think you are wrong not liking Celebrity, but I do think that your decision never to give them another try is a little closed minded.