“This Is the life”

As consumers we believe in the dream or product that a corporation or company are selling us. No matter what media platform we use we are bombarded with images both visual and verbal and often they are hard to ignore.

I consider myself a loyal customer of P&O for a considerable time.  They first appealed to me because they sold themselves as being a British tradition in cruising that catered for all the family and in the main they do, I had up until 2016 been satisfied with the service I had received.

Their advertising slogan “This Is the life” is inviting and before you know it you have been drawn in to the dream.  In August 2016, I was looking for a cruise that ticked all my boxes and I found one on Ventura (N729).  The cruise was only twelve nights and I was looking to extend it to a fortnight.  The previous cruise (N728) was described as a two-night mini break and I thought this was perfect, I booked the back to back cruises and thought no more of it.  As the months and weeks past my excitement grew.  These two cruises were extra special because it was my best friend’s birthday while on board ship and I had planned a variety of surprises for her to celebrate her day.

I am an infrequent visitor to several cruise forums and I saw nothing to alert me that something might be amiss.  The only comments I found were that Ventura looked dated and in need of a refit.

Embarkation was efficient and quick taking around thirty minutes from car to ship.  Lunch was fine, and our cabin was clean.  I saw no issues with the décor.  We spent the next couple of hours unpacking and settling in and did not leave the cabin until the muster drill.  It was at this drill that my friend and I noticed passengers bringing alcohol and filled glasses into muster station along with their life jackets; I was horrified!  I know many passengers find the drill boring, but it is important as it could one day save your life.  It was after the drill that I realised what N728 was, it was full of hen and stag parties.  The lifts smelt like a brewery and I was verbally abused in the lift, being called a spastic.

Back in my cabin my friend and I prepared for sail away and tried to make the best of a bad situation, looking forward to N729.  Dinner that night was smart casual, but you would never have thought that with the variety of novelty sailor costumes and bride’s veils worn in the restaurants.  Their behaviour was not only loud but extremely rude to the waiting staff; this was not the P&O that I had come to love and respect.  That evening we went to the Headliners show “Paradise City” after dinner and then to bed.  This is unusual behaviour for us as we like a cocktail before heading to the casino. 

The next day we were in Zeebrugge and for a while some normality on board.  That night was worse with large groups of people moving from one bar to another and all inebriated and swearing if you didn’t move out of their way.  That was a formal night and again many were inappropriately dressed, but no one refused them entry into the restaurants, regular cruisers will know that after 6pm the ship reverts to a dress code.  After dinner we went and saw an Adele tribute act and she was fantastic.  Shame a group of drunk hens got up and left half way through her act; they must have needed a top up of alcohol.

The following morning thankfully, they all disembarked, and piece rained once more.  Being only a handful of transition passengers left on board I took my chance and spoke with reception about the two-day mini break.  The officers referred to it as a “party cruise”, while other crew refer to them as a “booze cruise” and that explains why no duty-free alcohol was sold on board.  For other passengers like myself and the young families on board I felt sorry, this is not the standard we expect from P&O.  But when they offer a suite at only £329 what do you expect.

I was young once and like everyone to have fun but many of the under 25’s were binge drinking and had no consideration for their fellow passengers.  I am just thankful that an emergency never happened, many couldn’t walk straight so how would they find their muster station.  The people who really suffered were the bar staff, waiters and reception they seemed to work double hard and were often spoken to rudely.

A few days after we returned I contacted P&O to discuss N728 and several other issues that had arisen during N729.  The lady I spoke with was very helpful and let me off load.  From the conversation it appears they have had many complaints about two and three-night mini breaks and in response P&O have a new code of conduct which comes into being on 1^st January 2018.  I was offered £50pp on board spend on my next cruise, which I excepted.

I was not looking for any compensation, but it was a gesture of good will from them.  People have said I should have pushed for more, but it wasn’t about the money.  P&O have lost far more than me in reputation alone.  This is their 180^th year in service and I personally thought they would never have stooped so low as to want to be associated with hens and stags.  I knew of several couples who were using it as a taster to cruise and from their own experience vowed never to return.  Back on dry land I have a couple of friends who were considering booking a two-night mini break as a taster but have decided not to book after hearing our experience.  I hope that P&O do in force their new code of conduct for everyone sake.