Photos from P&O Cruises's post

[Official Autopost]

Treat yourself to some retail therapy

Be inspired by top brands such as Clinique, Estée Lauder, Marc Jacobs and Hugo Boss, and pick up exclusive items you won’t find in other shops.

If you’d like a second opinion, our on-board specialists in fine jewellery, watches and beauty are on hand for a free one-on-one consultation

Enjoy duty-free shopping and amazing prices on board









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[david63]

Treat yourself to some retail therapy

No chance at those prices

[Onelife]

I bet Stephen would like one of those clutch bags

[oldbluefox]

How long till they have Poundshopper and Primani onboard?

[Onelife]

How long till they have Poundshopper and Primani onboard?

Reading through some of the recent forum posts about passenger type..not long I suspect.

[oldbluefox]

It seems to me that is now P&O’s target audience hence the stripping away of all the little details which made cruising with them something special.
I have now sold all of my P&O shares which is actually rather sad bearing in mind all the lovely cruises we have enjoyed with them but they no longer provide what we hope for.

[towny44]

Without having been on a recent cruise yourself, you're relying on second hand reviewers, which might not be how you would judge the cruise.

[Portsmouth]

How long till they have Poundshopper and Primani onboard?

I'm guessing that was tongue in cheek OBF
Can't see that happening.....onboard shops I think, just love it that on the last night of their cruise, some people realise it's their last chance to spend the rest of their onboard credit.....use it or lose it.

[Cheshire Cruiser]

I have now sold all of my P&O shares which is actually rather sad bearing in mind all the lovely cruises we have enjoyed with them but they no longer provide what we hope for.

I too will be selling my shares in the near future but am holding off for now due to:
1. I have just applied for my On Board Credit for an April cruise on Cunard and
2. at the end of Feb they will be paying a dividend for the first time since March 2020, although admittedly more modest than the near £40 quarterly dividend at hat time.
Shares are currently trading a bit above the price I paid for them in 2011, and over the years I have already recovered the full cost of my initial outlay in the form of dividends and on board credit (mainly just one cruise per year, occasionally two), so, unless it drops significantly in the coming weeks (which granted it might) I will have more than doubled my investment. Thank you P&O/Carnival but goodbye P&O, thanks for the good times.

[oldbluefox]

Without having been on a recent cruise yourself, you're relying on second hand reviewers, which might not be how you would judge the cruise.

Having cruised with P&O every year until recently the last being only just 18 months ago I think I speak from experience. Over the years I have witnessed a decline in what P&O are offering and behaviour from passengers which I found quite shocking, some of which I have described on this forum. I’m afraid P&O no longer provide the cruise experience I am hoping for. I appreciate some may be happy with P&O but our last experience on Arvia was the final straw.

[david63]

Without having been on a recent cruise yourself, you're relying on second hand reviewers, which might not be how you would judge the cruise.

I can fully agree that things may have changed since our last P&O cruise and basically we still like the product but having experienced other cruise lines the main thing that puts us off P&O is the way in which they handle dining arrangements. OK I accept that when cruising these days we are cruising "top end" which is handled significantly better on other lines than P&O.

With other cruise lines we can go into dinner (or any other meal for that matter) at whatever time we want and have a table for two and be treated as a table for two. Our experience with P&O's Freedom Dining is that 9 times out of 10 you either have to share a table or have a pager and wait and tables are arranged in such a way that there are several tables for two which are all treated as on big table with orders and meals all being dealt with at the same time. I know other have had different experiences, but that was ours when we tried it once.

The other downside with P&O is that their non fly cruises are out of Southampton and I have had enough of driving down there as the traffic is only getting worse (the coach pickup points are a no go for us)

[Onelife]

I would just like to put on record that I love the P&O Brand …so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m upgraded from a deluxe balcony cabin to a suite over the coming days.

Only 65 weeks to go…

[Cheshire Cruiser]

Without having been on a recent cruise yourself, you're relying on second hand reviewers, which might not be how you would judge the cruise.

Having cruised with P&O every year until recently the last being only just 18 months ago I think I speak from experience. Over the years I have witnessed a decline in what P&O are offering and behaviour from passengers which I found quite shocking, some of which I have described on this forum. I’m afraid P&O no longer provide the cruise experience I am hoping for. I appreciate some may be happy with P&O but our last experience on Arvia was the final straw.

100% agree, on each of four cruises between July 2023 and June 2025 we have experienced stage by stage further declines in the standards of service offered by P&O and whilst passenger behaviour has not generally been such a big issue on Arcadia and Aurora (2014/15/16/17/18/19/22/23/24/25) it was issues of behaviour and service on Azura which caused us to move away from the bigger ships, and sadly when trying again on Iona in 2023 and Ventura in 2024 we again encountered these issues, particularly on Iona, plus widespread evidence of poor maintenance such as rust and corrosion on all recent cruises - even immediately post refit on Aurora last year! It is a shame because in areas such as Entertainment and Guest Speakers P&O remain very good, it is the overall cruise experience which has so sharply declined and we are now finding much better eperiences on other lines, restoring our faith in cruising.

[Ray B]

Let's not keep sweeping one big problem under the carpet, the type of cruiser attracted by cheap prices. My reference is to P&O, but other cruise lines do experience the minority of passengers who in my opinion just do not know how to behave, how to dress and how to converse without the use of foul language whilst on a cruise ship.. It makes others feel uncomfortable with the need to move away, and like some , find a 'better' cruise experience with other lines.
It's a very small number who can spoil it for many, not everyone comes in contact with them , but it's just one of the things along with service and food expectations that can tip the scales and send P&Os long time cruisers to look at another cruise line.

[CaroleF]

Reading David's reply just shows how different people want different things from their cruise. David wants to have a table for two just as if he were in a shoreside restaurant but for me I still like the original way things were on a cruise ship, Club Dining, sharing a table with the same people each evening. I know this is some people's idea of hell. I've done this since we first started cruising and find it a really sociable part of the cruise. When I was on Arcadia last June I was really surprised that I was still able to have a table of 8 Second Sitting and we had a full table, in fact the whole of the MDR was full. People abided by the dress code, the majority, I would say over 95% of men were wearing DJs. I know this is the 'old way' of cruising. I think it's now finding the cruise line that offers what you want and unfortunately for me it's not P&O any more! I do realise that if P&O were still to offer all the extras that I experienced back in 2005 their prices would have gone up and the company chose not to do that. I would happily pay more to have those standards back but not everyone can afford to pay that. So P&O now becomes the cruise line where they welcome families, lots of activities for children, probably before long all Freedom Dining and low prices.

As far as the shops are concerned when I was on Arcadia in June I bought some perfume and was a asked if I wanted a paper bag. As I was using a scooter I said yes as it meant I could hook it over the handle bars. I was told that would be 20p! That was for a small bag, 25p for medium, 30p for a large bag. That's one step too far. I then bought something from Pandora but there I was given a bag with the Pandora logo on the front, no charge. Times have certainly changed.

[Ray B]

I would just like to put on record that I love the P&O Brand …so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m upgraded from a deluxe balcony cabin to a suite over the coming days.

Only 65 weeks to go…

With your record on the Gee Gees, I wouldn't put a bet on it.

[david63]

David wants to have a table for two just as if he were in a shoreside restaurant

Just to put the record straight I/we want a table for two because due to medical reasons we find it more comfortable and not because we are anti social.

[oldbluefox]

I would like to think I’m pretty sociable and quite accustomed to meeting new people but nowadays, having come across some right miseries who didn’t want to speak and made it clear they wanted to be somewhere else I have decided I’m too old to make the effort and ask for a table for two or four thus reducing the chances of an uncomfortable meal.

[towny44]

I agree that if some of the behaviour described on these threads was happening on my cruises, then I would have to consider whether we wanted to continue sailing with P&O, but it doesn't. Now maybe that's because of the type of cruise we choose, 35 night round trip Caribbean cruises, and 14 night warm weather cruises outside of the main season, and of course we are relatively early birds when it comes to turning in, so perhaps we dont see some of the worst behaviour.
As regards the journey south, that's a benefit for us as we want warm weather itineraries, and the shorter the distance to the sun, the better.
Maybe some of you should consider the cruise options you are making, perhaps choosing itineraries that will not be popular with the yob element.