Penny pinching

[Wa sss]

I wouldn’t say that we are seasoned pros, however, we are currently on our 4th cruise and we noticed immediately that our current cruise operator appears to be penny pinching. Little things initially, no complimentary slippers, shower caps, tea/coffee/milk in cabin, no complimentary chocolate on pillows or on leaving the restaurant, buffet restaurant configured in away so as you can only help yourself to a very limited number of items, no alternatives to milk offered,( such as soya,almond, oat). Today, day2 of our cruise, a memo arrived at our door to tell us that at four of the ports which we shall visit, the shuttle bus will not be complimentary. We also noticed that upon arrival, there was no toilet brush and a part depleted toilet roll.We have previously cruised with Saga, Celebrity and Princess and we are currently cruising with Holland America. All of the observations we have made came as a surprise since we hadn’t encountered any issues previously other than with Saga, the internet access was very restrictive and this was possibly simply because we use YouTube a lot and Saga had a blocking policy.The overall standards of hygiene and service do not appear to have been overly compromised. My wife has just price checked a few shop items and has noted that where on other journeys, prices of cosmetics were generally favourable or comparable, here we find prices to be higher than she can source at home. We wondered whether our observations have quickly become the industry norm or if Holland America are just being a bit more sharp than most.

[Onelife]

Hi Wassssss, When I started reading your post I thought “here we go again, “Ambassador” cut backs again” (sorry Foxy, it was just too good an opportunity ) but then realised you were talking about another cruise line. Seeing that you are new to the forum, welcome btw, you’ll find several posts regarding cut backs, primarily those concerning P&O.

[Stephen]

Simple answer, don't travel with them again. Thats what we have done with P&O.

[Mervyn and Trish]

The answer is to look at the prices compared to years ago. Cruising on the mainstream lines is incredibly cheap these days. Something has to give.

[oldbluefox]

I always thought change should be for the better. It seems to me many cruise lines are dumbing down in order to fill their huge ships with a different clientele.
I would rather pay that little bit extra for quality than accept a Poundland offering where all the niceties have been pared away.
After a few disappointing cruises we also have deserted P&O but don’t tell OL

[poole boy]

merv trish can not agree with you on this as our next cruise on Aurora is over £8000 for both of us and we could not find a day out for under £100 and some were over £250 each. for 16 nights around the uk not what I would call value for money but probably ok for you rich people

[Stephen]

I always thought change should be for the better. It seems to me many cruise lines are dumbing down in order to fill their huge ships with a different clientele.
I would rather pay that little bit extra for quality than accept a Poundland offering where all the niceties have been pared away.
After a few disappointing cruises we also have deserted P&O but don’t tell OL

Yep, same here Foxy. A shame P&O didn't get the same message.

[Onelife]

I’m trying to stay positive about P&O as we booked our 19 day cruise (Only 58 weeks to go) before some members on this forum have given their not so flattering opinions about P&O. I have no reason to doubt their experiences with P&O as the cutbacks were noticed by us when we last cruised with P&O some 10 years ago ... .It obviously continued. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is for many a choice of cruising regularly or skipping a couple of cruises for that better upmarket cruise or changing to a cruise line which is trying to be competitive until such time that they start making their own cut backs.The fact remains that most cruisers “new, and not so old” won’t be bothered about what their grandparents once enjoyed,, times change so make the best of what you can afford…many do sailing with P&O.

I love the brand

[barney]

I’m trying to stay positive about P&O as we booked our 19 day cruise (Only 58 weeks to go) before some members on this forum have given their not so flattering opinions about P&O. I have no reason to doubt their experiences with P&O as the cutbacks were noticed by us when we last cruised with P&O some 10 years ago ... .It obviously continued. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is for many a choice of cruising regularly or skipping a couple of cruises for that better upmarket cruise or changing to a cruise line which is trying to be competitive until such time that they start making their own cut backs.The fact remains that most cruisers “new, and not so old” won’t be bothered about what their grandparents once enjoyed,, times change so make the best of what you can afford…many do sailing with P&O.

I love the brand

I agree OL.

We've cruised Royal Carib, Ambassador and usually P&O.
The offering is miles away from what we used to get, but we accept that times have changed.
Our last four cruises have all been on Azura.
If you believe some sites like cruise critic, you'd think it's a floating rust tub, serving up pigswill.
From our perspective, we've enjoyed every single one.
We have one more booked for next year, (fly/cruise Azura) in the Med.
Then, that's probably us finished with cruise holidays, at least for a while.
It's extremely good value, but we've pretty much done everything that appeals.

We have a tour of Andalusia booked for June.
We'll see how that goes and if successful, book more of these types of holiday.

We had a few years when we really didn't fancy flying but now we've just accepted it for what it is and while not embracing it, certainly tolerating it.

On that subject, we now done the new EU, EES system three times on entry.
The theory is that you do it once and it lasts three years.
It's clearly not fit for purpose and it's quite comforting to know that their politicians are equally as incompetent as ours.
We fly into Malaga in June and fully expect to do it all over again, then again in Lanzarote in November

[Portsmouth]

Onelife, you have the right attitude.....be positive & you'll have a great time onboard
It doesn't bother me one bit about not having a tiny square of chocolate on my pillow in the evening

I kind of wonder if those who state they will never cruise with P&O again....
if they won a free cruise with a balcony stateroom or suite. would they turn it down ??
Apart from David who made his position clear a while back....I have a sneaky feeling others might decide to give P&O another go
Come on tell me I'm wrong

[Stephen]

Now come on Portsmouth, if it is s freebie who’s going to turn it down, i’m certainly not providing its a suite, mid-ships with a full drinks package and internet. I’m not fussy

[Cheshire Cruiser]

With hindsight we should have abandoned P&O after observing further declines in 'what you get' on each of two cruises in 2023 - on reflection the decline perhaps started around 2018 and has gathered pace year by year.
But we had 2024 and 2025 already booked - we always book around launch time as Select Fares are cheapest then - and were reluctant to forfeit our deposits. But inevitably even more cutbacks were evident cruise by cruise. Now some of these are quite petty, literally 'penny pinching' cumulatively saving perhaps £10 per passenger per cruise, a minimal cost I imagine most would be willing to pay, but others are more significant and degrade the cruising experience which used to be so good.
Having already sampled three other cruise lines on short cruises in 2024 and early 2025 we did go on Aurora in 2025 (less than £5k for two in a balcony cabin for 18 nights) knowing it would be our last cruise with P&O - and no we would not even accept a free cruise from P&O as we would be conscious of all the things you no longer get. I compiled a list of 'things you no longer get on a P&O cruise', over forty of them!
Those who did not cruise with P&O in the better years do in the main seem to like what they get (although our neighbour new to P&O in 2022 has already given up on them and another friend is already wondering whether or not to go back), so good luck to them (if for them it ain't broke no need to fix it) but we have chosen to take our trade to where we get the traditional cruise experience rather than the bargain basement offering now beng provided by P&O. Yes some of our other cruises already taken and already booked for 2026 and 2027 are more expensive than P&O but Cunard in both 2024 and 2027 are in line with P&O current launch price levels despite neither being booked at launch.
Having said all that I am surprised Holland America are now noticeably cutting back (and not even discretely in the way P&O started theirs), as I thought despite Carnival influence they might be relatively immune from significant cuts.

[Mervyn and Trish]

merv trish can not agree with you on this as our next cruise on Aurora is over £8000 for both of us and we could not find a day out for under £100 and some were over £250 each. for 16 nights around the uk not what I would call value for money but probably ok for you rich people

All I can say is you were robbed. Our P&O cruise in a deluxe balcony cabin on Iona 4 years ago cost less per person per night in actual pounds than our first in an outside cabin (no balcony) on Oriana in 1999. Despite more than 70% inflation over the period.

[Cheshire Cruiser]

merv trish can not agree with you on this as our next cruise on Aurora is over £8000 for both of us and we could not find a day out for under £100 and some were over £250 each. for 16 nights around the uk not what I would call value for money but probably ok for you rich people

It was you quoting £8k (£250 pppn) for 16 nights on Aurora which prompted me to quote in my post what we paid for 18 nights on Aurora in June 2025 having booked during launch in April 2023. Ours came out at £136 per person per night, which, plus or minus 10%, is typical of what we were paying for a balcony cabin booked at launch the across the prevous 15 plus years, i.e. prices pretty static, although a couple of times we did drop well below that much more recently on Iona and Ventura. Even in 2016 for 24 nights to USA and Canada on Arcadia in a deluxe balcony we only paid £6406 for two (£133.46 pppn).

In our experience over many years Aurora cruises typically book up quickly and the price rises with demand and I always made a point a few months prior to sail date of checking the select fare which by then was typically around double our price albeit with a little extra on board credit as a sweetener. I have to imagine you have either booked many months after the launch period (which does always offer a 10% reduction) or if you did book earlier, are in a fairly high cabin grade.

[Onelife]

Hi poole boy, what I do know is that Sir Merv’s country estate isn’t as big as mine…hope that helps you feel better.

I don’t know how this compares for value, but our last cruise on Aurora 2015 (18 nights, balcony cabin) was about 5k. Our next Cruise on Aurora 2027 (19 nights, Deluxe balcony cabin) comes in at £8k give or take a few quid. We did book early and having looked several months later the same package was closer to £10k so a good deal in that sense. Looking yesterday this cruise is now nearly fully booked…I think the word got out that I was on this cruise.

I was a bit shocked to hear that excursions were anything from £100 to £250 ... .Ah well, let's hope they’ve got plenty of onboard activities, I would hate the thought of my wife getting bored while I’m out enjoying myself.

[Stephen]

Hi poole boy, what I do know is that Sir Merv’s country estate isn’t as big as mine…hope that helps you feel better.

I don’t know how this compares for value, but our last cruise on Aurora 2015 (18 nights, balcony cabin) was about 5k. Our next Cruise on Aurora 2027 (19 nights, Deluxe balcony cabin) comes in at £8k give or take a few quid. We did book early and having looked several months later the same package was closer to £10k so a good deal in that sense. Looking yesterday this cruise is now nearly fully booked…I think the word got out that I was on this cruise.

I was a bit shocked to hear that excursions were anything from £100 to £250 ... .Ah well, let's hope they’ve got plenty of onboard activities, I would hate the thought of my wife getting bored while I’m out enjoying myself.

Give them time. They haven’t paid the balance yet

[Onelife]

Hi poole boy, what I do know is that Sir Merv’s country estate isn’t as big as mine…hope that helps you feel better.

I don’t know how this compares for value, but our last cruise on Aurora 2015 (18 nights, balcony cabin) was about 5k. Our next Cruise on Aurora 2027 (19 nights, Deluxe balcony cabin) comes in at £8k give or take a few quid. We did book early and having looked several months later the same package was closer to £10k so a good deal in that sense. Looking yesterday this cruise is now nearly fully booked…I think the word got out that I was on this cruise.

I was a bit shocked to hear that excursions were anything from £100 to £250 ... .Ah well, let's hope they’ve got plenty of onboard activities, I would hate the thought of my wife getting bored while I’m out enjoying myself.

Give them time. They haven’t paid the balance yet

I was trying to build myself up…you clearly don’t know what it’s like to have people avoid you

[barney]

The funny thing with cruising is that it doesn't seem to matter which cruise line you check, there is someone saying that "it's not like it was."

Our best friends have had numerous cruises with Saga, always in a suite, but have now binned them.
Guess what?
It's not like it was, apparently.
They have migrated to Explora and Regent.

I often watch Gary Bembridge on YouTube who specialises in the Ultra Luxury end of the market.
He often says the same.

I'd say that on YouTube, there isn't a single cruise line that doesn't get criticism in one way or another.

The same thing applies to land holidays.
We recently stayed in the Dreams 5* in Lanzarote and loved everything bar the food selection.
Not a patch on cruise lines in our opinion.

Having said that, we still had a lovely time and just ate out quite a lot.

[Stephen]

Your absolutely right barney, It's human nature.
Thank goodness we have choice. You think a product or service has gone down hill you try somewhere different. Similar to restaurants or any other eatery.

[Onelife]

I was reading something the other day about declining customer satisfaction…It was saying that two thirds of the major cruise lines have seen a decline in customer satisfaction/ expectation. I suppose the best one can hope for is consistency and it appears some cruise lines such as Ambassador appear to be holding their own in this instance.

[barney]

We both felt very comfortable on Ambassador Ambition.
Luxurious? Definitely not.
Enjoyable? Definitely.
We had to slum it in a window cabin as all the balconies were sold out.
Although we did miss the balcony, we still had a great time.
Just spent more time up on deck.
We liked the standard of food and the service was excellent.

[Onelife]

With luxurious as a starting point, how would you compare, let’s say Aurora to a similar sized ship with Ambassador…the reason I ask Barney is that I was seriously considering Ambassador but looking at numerous pictures/videos I felt Aurora offered more in that area?

[barney]

Starting point is that both ships are pretty old, but in good condition inside.
Our best cruise ever was on Aurora so I suppose I’m a little biased.
We primarily booked Ambition because it was in and out of Bristol and literally every port was new to us.
The only thing that I wasn’t so keen on was the fixed dining.
We opted for a table for four and fortunately the other couple were fine, but we definitely prefer eating with just the two of us.
We took the drinks package on Ambassador because they had a half price deal on, and after deduction of the fixed gratuity which is included in the package, it only worked out to £18 a day each.
I didn’t drink anymore than normal mainly because I usually drink a lot anyway.
Mrs B had a few cocktails but generally doesn’t drink much.
The entertainment on Ambition was much lower key but very enjoyable, particularly the small plays that were put on around the bars. Great fun.
To be honest OL, I’d have no qualms booking either if I was looking for a cruise.
We’ve done the monster ships and I don’t think we will go on them again, although we enjoyed at the time.

We are currently discussing Riviera Yacht cruise around Croatia. About 35 to 40 passengers. We’ve been impressed with Riviera.

[Mervyn and Trish]

We recently stayed in the Dreams 5* in Lanzarote and loved everything bar the food selection.
Not a patch on cruise lines in our opinion.

Having said that, we still had a lovely time and just ate out quite a lot.

Someone I once worked with went on an all inclusive holiday to a resort in Egypt.

When she got back she said the food was awful, it was all foreign stuff. So they went out to eat every day.... at McDonald's!

[Stephen]

You just cant please some people