Will P&O attract enough new customers

[jamfan59]

On our recent cruise we used to speak to a couple who I would say were in their late 40's. They had enjoyed the cruise except for one thing they said they were sick of retired people telling them how well off they were and how many cruises they have. I don't believe they were jealous but just fearful of their own future

This couple said it is alright for the people who have managed to get out with decent pensions but people who still have years of work left face a more uncertain future and they don't believe P&O will attract a new generation to replace their loyal customers, mainly because a lot of them will not have the money.

I thought 2 cruises ago that I would stay with P&O for years but I will now move onto other lines or holidays for a while. I have had 4 great cruises with P&O but the novelty has worn off.

I think that most of P&O food entertainment etc is aimed at people in their late 60's and I can't see many people under 50 sticking with P&O.

I understand that the company has to cater for its large loyal customer base but it needs to attract new customers.

I wonder what thoughts others may have on this matter?

[Dancing Queen]

I've been cruising for over 20 years and the novelty hasn't worn off for me but each to their own

If you feel the P&O passenger is "too old" then perhaps you would find Carnival/Disney/RCCI more to your taste, on the subject of taste .. how food on P&O is aimed at people in their late 60's I find quite amusing, do people younger than this not eat steak, chicken, fish etc

[Dark Knight]

JamFan

we are in our mid and early 40's. me 45 , Lady Dark is 41 tomorrow

and I have to agree with you, we are not vastly experienced crusiers but have done a few and feel PandO is squarley aimed at the older generation and is very much geared for a more sedate crusing style, whilst there is nothing wrong with that , we are not overly impressed by PandO and do not see them as an upmarket holiday and the smaller ships hold no appeal, also the repetitive itnineraries are getting stale
If PandO are going to attract a younger customer base, they are going to have to improve the entertainment, modernise the facilites and recognise that the revenue stream from the 65-100 yr olds is fast drying up and not being replaced by younger people, who see cruising as stuffy and for old people
Cruise lines such as RCI, Celebrity etc are advertised and marketed at families and a much younger customer base, the recent PandO ads show where PandO are aiming at it is still the couples, traditional cruiser, which is fine for now but will not last
Interestingly I wonder where the new ship will be aimed as it has already been heavily critiqued for being too big, perhapos the best thing to do is to dilute the brand and use the larger ships to attract a younger customer base

Also the recent price slashing has backfired as it is not attracting the people who would make a cruise holiday their first choice, rather it is attracting people who see it as a cheap getaway

[kaymar]

I
I think that most of P&O food entertainment etc is aimed at people in their late 60's

I

Not sure I understand, jamfan59. Do people change the way they eat when they reach their late 60s?

[jamfan59]

Not having teeth probably means they do

Dark Knight put forward some sensible points. Why can't people join in and debate the question instead of quoting little bits of a post.

I think the food a long with other things are a little safe and most people tend to choose a variation of meat and two veg.

The truth is older people don't like change and as long as P&O keep going just long enough for their last few holidays they don't care.

I also do not need people telling me what cruise lines I should use thank you.

[GillD46]

I agree with much of what you say, Jamfan. We have decided P&O are no longer for us. The food is very "safe" and while as a vegetarian there is plenty of choice, it is all rather stodgy, whereas other cruise lines seem able to provide a lighter, more adventurous selection, which suits me better. My husband, as a carnivore finds the quality of meat very poor indeed these days.

Now in our view things aren't what they used to be, but if it really is just that we have rose tinted spectacles on, then so be it, and we lean towards another line these days.

[Boris+]

I didn't like the entertainment much - similarly there were other things which have found more to our preference with a different cruise line at the moment.

I'd love to have an excuse to revert to P&O - I'll just have to be patient.

Em

[Princess]

Guess we are now just that little bit older now (50s) but have been loyal to P&O for nearly 30 years. Our kids were 2&3 on their first Canberra cruise and are now beginning to cruise independently with thier families. However, after our last cruise with P&O we have ALL defected. To Princess and RCL.

We feel that P&O have lost their way, alienating their loyal customers and doing little to attract new long term customers.

[Dancing Queen]

Not having teeth probably means they do

Dark Knight put forward some sensible points. Why can't people join in and debate the question instead of quoting little bits of a post.

I think the food a long with other things are a little safe and most people tend to choose a variation of meat and two veg.

The truth is older people don't like change and as long as P&O keep going just long enough for their last few holidays they don't care.

I also do not need people telling me what cruise lines I should use thank you.

Well I certainly wasn't telling you what cruise line you should use although I did suggest three that you might find suited your "needs" better

Your comment re: meat and two veg, if you had said that earlier I would also have suggested MSC and Costa as I believe both these lines lean more towards "Italian" food that might suit your palate

Me ... well I prefer Cunard and the Grills, no playing safe there you can basically have anything you want, it comes at a price though

[GillD46]

Me ... well I prefer Cunard and the Grills, no playing safe there you can basically have anything you want, it comes at a price though

Like your style, Jo.....us too

[jamfan59]

Dancing Queen do you come on here to make a fool of yourself.

What a very silly post. " your needs or tastes"
You don't want meat and two veg you must want Italian food.

Cunard ha ha

[Dancing Queen]

Dancing Queen do you come on here to make a fool of yourself.

What a very silly post. " your needs or tastes"
You don't want meat and two veg you must want Italian food.

Cunard ha ha

If you say so jamfan, actually I would say not my need but very much to "my taste"

Obviously you yourself haven't reached that level yet, but do come back and tell us what you thought when you do

[suespud]

Dancing Queen do you come on here to make a fool of yourself.

What a very silly post. " your needs or tastes"
You don't want meat and two veg you must want Italian food.

Cunard ha ha

Jamfan.... what a very rude post !! There is no need for that.!!

Ypu asked people what were their thoughts..if you dont want answers maybe you shouldnt ask for them.

[Bobbie]

I'm 54, hubby is 58. We were hoping that when he retires in 2 -5 years we'd be able to take plenty of holidays - cruises and land holidays - but the way the pension situation is looking, and the horrendously low interest on our savings, we are worried we may not be able to afford to.

We have enjoyed our P&O cruises but after 7 of them I must say I'm getting slightly fed up with some of the entertainment (not all), but we still enjoy the food very much. We would quite like to try another cruise line but we do like the adults only ships that P&O offer, also the mid-sized ships, and we only ever sail from Southampton. For the moment we'll stick with P&O.

[Boris+]

Well said Jo, well said.

Em

[jacksparrow]

Whilst I personally will probably stick with P & O it would be nice if they could come up with a few different itineraries.....

As regards the food, well lets say I will be staying away from anything resembling Beef.... who knows where it might have come from......

[Gill W]

Why can't people join in and debate the question instead of quoting little bits of a post.

The quote facility makes it much easier to reply to points raised - people can immediately see what you are talking about.

All real forums have this facility, and it is widely used. It was just the P & O forum that didn't have it!

I'm 53 next month and Mr Gill is now 61. We've been cruising with P & O since 2001.

We like the product, but on many cruises I've been one of the youngest, with the average age in the late 60's. However, in recent years I've noticed a lowering of the average age on board. On many of our recent cruises the average age is around 57 (Ventura Oceana and Azura). I always make a point of asking if I get talking to an officer !

I understand what you are saying about the food, it seems there is always a roast meat and two veg type meal in the MDR, but there are always other more interesting things available.

The entertainment on Ventura and Azura is aimed at a slightly lower age group I feel, with tribute acts to 80's artists, but on some of the other ships, the comedians think that all the passengers are over 75.

Not that there's anything wrong with being over 75, but I don't want to sit through another performance where all the cultural refererences are before my time, and even before my husband's time!

I'll stay with P & O as a lot of it is about being on a ship, seeing new ports and relaxing with my Kindle, but I do hope that things gradually change to reflect te lowering of the average age that I've seen on cruises

[lioness]

I'm not sure why anybody needs to stay loyal to a brand at all. For us - we are 65 and 74, but consider ourselves fit, healthy, love to dance, stay up late etc.

Having said that, we do not like the big ships - Azura was something we tried and did not like at all. Having recently tried Fred O, we actually preferred it to P&O. The food was excellent - not sure what food oldies eat compared to young'uns??!! I love fish and shellfish, there was always something like that to choose, and there was always the standard beef, chicken if you didn't like the menu.

I think that in general, folk come to cruising late in life - of course not always, but quite often. So people will normally be 50 or over when they start cruising. AGAIN, there are always exceptions.

The big ships with all the extra things will appeal to younger people. The smaller ships seem to appeal to the older generation.

We have done 4 P&O - 2 Artemis, one Azura, one Arcadia. this year we are on Oriana, but I suspect we will be back to Fred the year after.

Jean

[JohnTheDog]

Why do people seem to think that older people are a different species, they don't suddenly turn into someone else at some point in life, they still think the same, feel the same person inside, suddenly feel the need to listen to palm court orchestra music or go to tea dances...The fact we cruise now has nothing to do with age, it was something we always fancied doing but were unsure of.

[Silver_Shiney]

Dancing Queen do you come on here to make a fool of yourself.

What a very silly post. " your needs or tastes"
You don't want meat and two veg you must want Italian food.

Cunard ha ha

In what way did DQ make a fool of herself? She's explained her point clearly and rationally, and has NOT been in any way derogatory to you.

Your surname isn't Kane, by any chance?

[JohnTheDog]

All sounding rather familiar to me..

[jamfan59]

John this was never supposed to be about age as such. I actually thought the heading was about P&O attracting new customers.

I am over 50 and I am sure that I have more in common with somebody of 70 than somebody of 30.

If suespud thinks my post was rude I am sorry. If people think Dancing Queens condescending post about Costa and Cunard was right good luck.

I think this site is a work of art and I hope it gets to thrive.

I thank some of the excellent posters from old P&O forum. I am sure I will carry on cruising but not with P&O for a while.

I think the standard of posts at the moment is poor and see no point in continuing to post if I can't get a sensible answer.

Please feel free to post but do not address them to me because there is no way I will log on again. The link to this site will be deleted the second I post.

Bye

[Delboy]

Please feel free to post but do not address them to me because there is no way I will log on again. The link to this site will be deleted the second I post.

Bye

It's 22:39 and the links still there, so

Often it's not what is written, but how it is read, personally I think there have been some sensible replies and also some tongue in cheek, maybe if you lighten up a little it would help.

Now this maybe me reading it wrongly, but surely somebody would not cruise for a while with a company, because of replies they received on a forum.!

I am sure P&O will do what ever they feel they need to, in order to continue to attract existing customers back, as well as attracting new users.

[JohnTheDog]

People equate what they read & who they meet on these sites with what a cruise may be like. As I said all sounding sadly familiar.

[towny44]

I quite like the P&O offering but since I am 69 today, and if P&O do only cater for the over 60's, then I guess I am not really in a postion to know what will attract a younger clientele.
On the points raised by the OP.
We enjoyed the food on our last 2 cruises, although we did think that the food on our Celebrity cruise was better.
But we also thought that the P&O entertainment was better than X.
The service on both was excellent, but possibly our vote would go with Celebrity. It is a while since we sailed with Princess, but I would categorise them as very similar to P&O and X.
However for those of a younger age there is RCCL or Carnival both of which cater for people wanting lots of activities and with young families, and both also sail from the UK. But having sailed with our son and young grandson I have to say that P&O offer a very good childrens club and creche facilities for families.
So to sum up, yes I think P&O will continue to attract new customers, because the golden age of pensions still has a few more years to run; and most of these pensioners have younger families who they will introduce to cruising.
I doubt that they will make any step changes from their current format, but I expect that there will be evolutionary changes to ensure they maintain reasonably full ships.