Have you seen our new all-inclusive packages?

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Have you seen our new all-inclusive packages? Make your next holiday feel even more effortless with drinks, Wi-Fi and speciality dining credit

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[Cheshire Cruiser]

Yes, I've seen them and in fairness they do seem to be better value than the previous ones. Does this mean the new breed of cruiser will not need to drink as much to get full value, probably not.
The downside is you need to cruise with P&O to use them so that rules me out! But good luck to those who remain faithful to the diluted brand.

[oldbluefox]

It seems they are trying all sorts of incentives to attract customers. I don’t disagree with that but maybe they should be looking first of all at looking at the base price and what they are offering. P&O are not alone in cutting back. We have noticed it in all sectors but the downside of this is that eventually customers will be attracted to those who may or even not charge more but offer a better service. P&O have nailed their flag towards the younger generation and families but insodoing have alienated many of those who preferred the more traditional cruise which P&O used to offer.

[david63]

P&O have nailed their flag towards the younger generation and families but insodoing have alienated many of those who preferred the more traditional cruise which P&O used to offer.

I'm not sure that it is quite that simple, I think that it is a realignment of brands.

Carnival have three main brands operating out of Southampton together with a few cruises by other brands.

The three are:

P&O - which has become the "bargain basement" brand aimed at attracting the new and/or younger cruiser.
Princess - which a step up from P&O but is, to a large extent, aimed at more of an American demographic.
Cunard - which is now probably the replacement for the long time P&O traditional passenger.

The problem is that this realignment has not been managed very well (actually it has not been managed at all) and what they are now trying to do is play catch up.

[Cheshire Cruiser]

Carnival now also have a presence sailing from Dover with Holland America and, for fairly short seasons, both Seabourne and Carnival. Also of course Saga. Whilst the first three may not directly compete with their Southampton based brands, and again perhaps have a strong American presence, for some UK passengers Dover may be a more atractive departure port than Southampton.

We have migrated from P&O to Cunard (cruises booked in 2026 and 2027) and Fred Olsen, conveniently for us, from Liverpool also booked for 2026 and 2027, and back at Southampton we also have one with Princess in 2027.

[towny44]

A friend of ours, also on the same cruise as us, but a ligurian peninsular member, said the captain said not to expect any new ships for the foreseeable future. However there is no intention to sell or transfer any of the current fleet, and some will have expensive refurbs, whatever that may mean.

[david63]

A friend of ours, also on the same cruise as us, but a ligurian peninsular member, said the captain said not to expect any new ships for the foreseeable future. However there is no intention to sell or transfer any of the current fleet, and some will have expensive refurbs, whatever that may mean.

As has been proven in the past P&O captains do not always know what is going on, or if they do then they are allowed to say anything. It also depends on how "foreseeable future" is defined.

Carnival Corp have five ships currently on order for delivery up to 2033 that have not been allocated to any brand amongst which are two "medium sized" ships which by today's standards I would say are Iona/Arvia size. (https://cruisefever.net/carnival-corpor ... -pipeline/)

I also think that there may be other changes afoot that may influence the direction that P&O, and Cunard, may be going. My guess is that Carnival UK will be merged into Carnival Corp within the next five to ten years - P&O Australia has gone that way and the signs are that Costa will be going that way also.

[towny44]

A friend of ours, also on the same cruise as us, but a ligurian peninsular member, said the captain said not to expect any new ships for the foreseeable future. However there is no intention to sell or transfer any of the current fleet, and some will have expensive refurbs, whatever that may mean.

As has been proven in the past P&O captains do not always know what is going on, or if they do then they are allowed to say anything. It also depends on how "foreseeable future" is defined.

Carnival Corp have five ships currently on order for delivery up to 2033 that have not been allocated to any brand amongst which are two "medium sized" ships which by today's standards I would say are Iona/Arvia size. (https://cruisefever.net/carnival-corpor ... -pipeline/)

I also think that there may be other changes afoot that may influence the direction that P&O, and Cunard, may be going. My guess is that Carnival UK will be merged into Carnival Corp within the next five to ten years - P&O Australia has gone that way and the signs are that Costa will be going that way also.

I wonder if the Aussies have noticed any difference in their cruise experience since Carnival made these changes?