Will P&O attract enough new customers

[kaymar]

Yes, but you're just so lucky, Jan. According to the OP, the whole P&O package has apparently been designed specifically to suit you, now that you have reached an age where you need different food and entertainment from youngsters in their 50s.

Oh, by the way, so have I.

[JohnTheDog]

The shows do seem less spectacular but as someone said when you have seen them a few times, remember the same shows are on all the P&O ships, mind you every now & again we are surprised...like the riverdance one on Azura. That was wonderful. P&O's shows have been VASTLY better that anything I saw on Cunard.

[Dark Knight]

Genteel would be appropriate
rather than lively and dynamic, so if yoy want genteel of you go
if you want lively and modern go elsewhere

[Admiral of the Humber]

We've cruised every year with P&O since 2004 and will be cruising on Aurora this summer. However, we've decided that next year we'll have a land based package holiday. We love P&O to bits but they are a bit "safe" and we think it's time for a change. I will definitely cruise again but P&O might not be our automatic choice.

[Dark Knight]

WHAT !!!
never
my world has been shaken, AOTH doing something else but a cruise nay nay and thrice nay

that means I will not know where you could pop up and you may end up near us on a holiday, yea Gads, no

just so we avoid this we are going to New York next year

[Admiral of the Humber]

It will be odd not cruising next year Darknightie but we would like to holiday with some good friends of ours and unfortunately the cost of a cruising holiday during the school holidays is outside their budget. I'd like to keep my toe in the water with a short cruise during 2014 but it's not going to happen with P&O if we have to drive all the way down to Southampton to do so.

Rob

[Dark Knight]

AOTH
try a thomson's one, they go from Newcastle ?
admitted it is not the same as PandO but they get good reviews and have a loyal customer base

[bassman67]

I went on my first cruise in 1999 and was hooked. It was a "cruise and stay" around the Balearics with Airtours and the "cruise" part was orders of magnitude better than the "stay" component in Alcudia. Next year we tried 2 weeks in the Caribbean with the same company and decided that this was our kind of holiday. After all, we say to our friends, we have a comfortable cabin(hotel room) that travels with us and we can vist several countries without luggage problems. Additionally, we can enjoy excellent food every day and get dressed up on several nights and visit the theatre after dinner - all at no extra charge! We've been cruising with P&O since 2001 and apart from trying RCL in 2002, we've stuck with them because they deliver the experience we expect. Age doesn't enter into it really, we'll be too old when we can't get travel insurance anymore!

[Jan Rosser]

I went on my first cruise in 1999 and was hooked. It was a "cruise and stay" around the Balearics with Airtours and the "cruise" part was orders of magnitude better than the "stay" component in Alcudia. Next year we tried 2 weeks in the Caribbean with the same company and decided that this was our kind of holiday. After all, we say to our friends, we have a comfortable cabin(hotel room) that travels with us and we can vist several countries without luggage problems. Additionally, we can enjoy excellent food every day and get dressed up on several nights and visit the theatre after dinner - all at no extra charge! We've been cruising with P&O since 2001 and apart from trying RCL in 2002, we've stuck with them because they deliver the experience we expect. Age doesn't enter into it really, we'll be too old when we can't get travel insurance anymore!

Gosh Bassman67 everything you've done is a mirror image of my experience of cruising even the year you first cruised with P&O. I have tried Thomson, RCI (never again), Celebrity, Princess and Costa but have done the majority of cruises with P&O. My circumstances changed six years ago when my husband passed away but I am lucky enough to still travel with our close friends although in April I'm going on my own again. It is such a safe way to travel on your own with so much to do - I love it! As you say when they won't insure me I'll stop but hopefully that's a long way off - I certainly don't feel 65 and my kids tell me don't act it either!

[Mervyn and Trish]

We are over 60 but certainly don't consider ourselves fuddy duddy. However, if not liking Karaoke, or comedians whose very fourth word is f*#*, or getting drunk, vomitting on deck and staying in bed with a hangover until 5pm, or cramming in burger and chips five times a day, makes us fuddy duddy in others' view, so be it.

My view is simple. There are a lot of cruise lines out there offering different experiences. P&O have seven ships, soon to be eight, and offer a range of variations within that fleet, and continue to be voted Britains favourite cruise line. They have no need, at present to follow like a sheep, and copy others. They might not be 5 star, and might not suit everyone, but in the UK they are the market leader, not the underdog.

Hopefully they will continue to offer a product we and many many others enjoy for the forseeable future. Yes the over 60s will die off, but hopefully for us, not anytime soon. And, surprise, surprise, by the time we have gone their will be a new lot of over 60s. Over time P&O may need to evolve to suit the new age oldies, but I see no need for rush. If they do indeed, have a niche over 60s market why not hang onto it? It would be suicide it every cruise line converged to compete for the same people. Evolution should be the way, not revolution, and that in my view is what P&O are doing very successfully, attracting some new customers while not alienating all their present client base.

[CaroleF]

We are over 60 too - seems dreadful but there it is! One thing that has always struck me about being on a P&O cruise is that my experience of a particularl cruise may be completely different from someone on the same cruise. We go to some shows but not all, we never go to Karaoke, occasionally go to Sailaways, never have a lounger around the pool, go to Select Dining venues at least once during a fortnight's cruise, very rarely go to the buffet - but someone else may do all the things we don't do and have a fantastic time. What I'm trying to say - not very clearly I admit - is that there seems to be a lot of things happening onboard that may appeal to people of different ages. I know a cruiseline would find it difficult to be all things to all people but one of the things about P&O that has always impressed me is the choice on offer - not just the choice of different ships, but what is happening on board.

P&O certainly attract younger people with families because their children's clubs are so good. Whether those people will carry on cruising with P&O when the children are teenagers I don't know - maybe they might gravitate to RCI - we wouldn't like them at all. I think as long as P&O continue to offer a mainly British cruise experience and offer choices of things onboard they will attract new customers. Several of our friends - some much younger than us - have sailed with P&O after hearing about our experiences. Admittedly things are difficult now with the recession and I suppose this new Vantage/Getaway system is one way P&O deal with this.

Carole

[Cardinal3]

We are in the late 50 early 60 category and pick cruises based primarily on itinerary. P+O are a safe option, British style and arguably lacking cutting edge. I don't think the customer base will get any smaller as people are living longer- the question as some have said is whether the new retirees will be able to afford to travel in the same way as our generation.

We were on the Adonia 18 months back to the Black Sea and the average age was around the 70 mark, and quizzes were the order of the day. I have found the entertainment rather repetitive lately with the likes of talks by ego trippers (Edwina Currie) turning up on several ships, and -called comedians ( Ed Stewpot Stewart) apparently immune from the chop and eminently missable.

Sometimes I feel P+O could have more of a learning feel to their talks on sea days, such as an interesting guy who knew a lot about archeological digs on one cruise, yet when we went to Egypt and Israel in November there was a lack of interesting talks about these important places. If intinerary matters than perhaps thats where talks should focus.

That leads me to my final point and that is about itineraries. I do wonder whether people will get bored seeing the same old ports year in year out and will run out of places to visit where they havent been before. We are off to the Baltics this year, and other half going to the Canaries where we have been. We are running out of options. P+O will need to seek out alternatives ports to keep the up the interest.

[lioness]

Problem is that with the bigger ships, the choice of ports is limited. With small ships, there are all sorts of new places for them to go into. If you check Adonia's ports and possibly some of Fred Olsen's - they are much more interesting that the usual P&O ports. Simply smaller ships.

[oldbluefox]

I think this year's itineraries have been particularly disappointing. So many cruises are doing the same trips to the same ports so it is easy to feel you have been 'cruised out'. Much as I love the cruise to Venice I am becoming a little weary of Dubrovnik and Corfu. Surely there are other ports along the coast on the way to and from Venice. One year we stopped at Split which was absolutely delightful but this year there were hardly any stopping there.
I don't buy into this idea that as pensioners get older P&O will have to amend their entertainment to accommodate younger audiences. The fact is that as one lot of pensioners age another wave of pensioners will take their place. My ideas of an enjoyable day or night out has changed considerably over the years but I feel fortunate that there is a niche in the market which fulfils my idea of a good holiday. As has already been said there are plenty of things on P&O which do not appeal to me. However there is plenty which I do enjoy even if it's just sitting out on deck listening to music on my iPod. Because of the variety of entertainment and cruising experiences which P&O provide I see no reason why P&O will not attract new customers. Many young people enjoy the experience of dressing up, something they may not have come across in ordinary everyday life. For anybody who doesn't enjoy this aspect of cruising life, there are plenty of other lines to choose from.
Please P&O sort out your itineraries.

[Manoverboard]

New cruisers will no doubt be happy with Livorno and chums, experience of something new will be the driver for some ... including us.

Adonia or even smaller is the way to go if you require different itineraries, P&O ships are far too big to get into many of the unusual Ports ... and yes there are a number of superb alternatives to Dubrovnik and Corfu.

[Cardinal3]

It's inevitable that the adults only and out of season trips will attract the oldest clientele and the sea day entertainment on board seems to me to be geared to the pre war birthers . We are 60 and find it makes us feel more than our age! It would be good if P+O could kick out the likes of Edwina Currie who seems to turn up far too often and is frankly an ego tripper and come up with people who can talk about more modern stuff- even a current politician would have more relevance- I don't frankly care which lot he/she is in. We recently went on a trip on the Oriana to the middle east and there was nothing by way of talks about the fascinating history of the places we were visiting, port talks excepted of course. Comedians are only so by the way they are able to convince P+O they are any good and most aren't. Stu (crush a grape) Francis was the worst of the worst for us.

Perhaps something with an educational bent could be good. There was a guy on a cruise to Greece etc who gave loads of talks on aspects of the archeological discoveries and were all well attended. We had someone give a talk on tax not so long back which was pretty unusual and interested quite a few people. A couple of years back we had a series of talks by an ex Man U football manager which was very popular. People can relate to sports heroes - what about our Olympians, or lower league football managers? They all have great stories to tell.

[Capt Black]

Well they managed to attract at least one new customer yesterday - my mum!

She booked her first PandO cruise, based purely on itinery. Unfortunately the prices for single travellers are rather high compared to the land trips she normally does, so will have to wait and see whether mum books again.

[noddy10]

Personally I think they are alienating their past passengers by the remarks on here and facebook especially and a lot are seeking other cruise lines. They have been I think too arrogant in thinking that they are the number 1 cruise line from Southampton and people want British tastes when things are changing and they are not moving with the competition now available from Southampton. So short term they might fill ships with silly cheap Getaway prices but long term will they stay with P&O or cruising in general in the future when hopefully financially better times come for everyone and inevitably there will be fewer Getaway's and cruising prices will increase. P&O seem to be struggling to fill Azura/Ventura now so what will happen in 2015 with the new bigger ship comes into operation.

[daib GC]

Personally I think they are alienating their past passengers by the remarks on here and facebook especially and a lot are seeking other cruise lines. They have been I think too arrogant in thinking that they are the number 1 cruise line from Southampton and people want British tastes when things are changing and they are not moving with the competition now available from Southampton. So short term they might fill ships with silly cheap Getaway prices but long term will they stay with P&O or cruising in general in the future when hopefully financially better times come for everyone and inevitably there will be fewer Getaway's and cruising prices will increase. P&O seem to be struggling to fill Azura/Ventura now so what will happen in 2015 with the new bigger ship comes into operation.

I love the assertion that P&O will be or are struggling to fill the big ships! How do you know? Late deals, whatever they are called have been around for 10 or more years that I know of and I read the same things about Arcadia and that no one liked her and she would leave the fleet.

The discounting is no different to any other line. Have you ever looked at "Vacations to go" the discounts are huge but not for P&O cruises.

Another irritation is the constant cry about the cruise itineraries being boring, always the same. Well with 7 ships all going to different places each cruise they are considerably better than the other lines which do the same cruises time after time after time. What is boring is what Ventura is doing yo yo cruises in and out of Venice. I suspect however that if Ventura works then P&O will have gained a lot of new cruisers and that the home based ships will fill up easier. Meaning fewer getaway fares. I am looking forward to the moans about not being able to get a cruise because they are full and no getaways are being offered.


Gan Canny



Dai

[noddy10]

Sorry diab but unless they get rid of at least one ship I dont think they will be able to fill 18000 approx spaces week in week out even if they base one in the Med every year. There is now more choice than ever sailing from UK i.e Southampton, Dover and Harwich with RCI, Celebrity, Princess, Cunard, FO and Holland America.

[daib GC]

Sorry diab but unless they get rid of at least one ship I dont think they will be able to fill 18000 approx spaces week in week out even if they base one in the Med every year. There is now more choice than ever sailing from UK i.e Southampton, Dover and Harwich with RCI, Celebrity, Princess, Cunard, FO and Holland America.

And more people are cruising. A key factor is the state of the £ to the € as it gets worse for us then cruising becomes more desirable as most of the costs are in £'s.

If they were concerned about opposition when why the hell are they putting Ventura into an already overcrowded Med. and from Venice where cruise ships could be banned before long.


Gan Canny


Dai

[noddy10]

Cruise ships will never be banned from Venice just will not be allowed to cruise past St Marks Sq.

[daib GC]

Cruise ships will never be banned from Venice just will not be allowed to cruise past St Marks Sq.

Then they cannot get to the cruise terminal any other way.


Dai

[Dark Knight]

Dia

ships are being banned from cruising down the central canal and a new lagoon is being built to accomodate them and a new terminal is being built as well
I know this to be correct as I know the company who have the contract to build the new pontoons

fact

[noddy10]

daib GC they are on about building a new access channel so that cruise ships can get to the cruise terminal without going past St Marks Sq. It has been a hot topic for a number of years because of the size of the ships and the swell doing damage to buildings. I think it is more vociferous now and might happen that by the end of next summer cruise ships will be banned from travelling the way they do at the moment.