“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.

Your Cruise Wardrobe

Having a good and versitile wardrobe is essential in making a good cruise into a fantastic cruise.  Everyone has their own idea of what makes a good wardrobe and for me it is having a good selection of formal gowns, cocktail dresses, evening casual, day wear and beachwear to choose from.  It should include classic, timeless designs that can be worn again and again.  It has taken us around eight years to create and grow our cruise wardrobe and it does include several formal gowns from our first cruise which we still used to this day. 

New bag for 2016 cruise

Our wardrobe also includes a large selection of evening bags and on a 14-day cruise I will normally take 3-5 while Karen takes 1-2 staple bags.  When it comes to bags there is no right or wrong but what just suits you.  
Shoes is something that you need to think about.  For evening wear we usually have 2-3 pairs each.  When it comes to day wear I would suggest you consider what activities you are planning on doing.  If you are going to do a lot of walking off ship I would suggest you wear an old pair of comfy shoes, sandals or trainers that you know are not going to give you blisters.  
It is now just under 8 weeks until our next cruise and having a cruise rail or wardrobe makes life so much easier.  By this time you should know how many formal nights your cruise will have and on a 14 night cruise and there will typically be 4 formal and 10 evening casual.  One of the formal nights is always a black and white night.  Many ladies typically have a black dress and use white accessories such as a handbag, jacket, shoes or gloves.  Formal attire for men it is a penquin suit (tuxedo), dress uniform or national dress.  
For me the dressing up is a something I enjoy doing and look forward to the formal nights.  If you do not want to adhere to the ships dress codes you will not normally be allowed to dine in the restaurants and will have to eat in the self-service food courts.  There are several cruise lines that have abolish formal dress code and they are:  

• Azmara Club Cruises  

• NCL

• Oceania Cruises  

• Windstar Cruises 

Everyone has their own idea of what is an appropriate dress for evening casual and when I have been asked my advice is to wear an outfit that you feel comfortable in, having eating room is essential.  Wear an outfit that you would normally wear if you were going to a nice restaurant that would be my advice to first time cruisers.  
What clothes you pack are often defined by the type of cruise and destinations you will be visiting.  Sunny destinations like the Caribbean you will pack more beachwear and somewhere like the Baltic you may pack more day wear.  My advice would be that if you are cruising during the summer months I would take a mix of both because there are sea days on whatever cruise you choose.  Also be aware of what clothes are approprate when visiting different countries.  Shorts and skimpy tops may not be appropriate when visiting religious sites.
When we started cruising we didn't know what a cruise wardrobe was but it is something that you quickly pick up especially if you intend to continue cruising.  It does take time to built up your wardrobe but once you started it does become an invaluable asset.  It is not just the dresses or suits but it is also the accessories that can embellish your outfits. 

Just stepped up gear!

Today I feel as if we have stepped up a gear in preparation for our cruise A615. Most of the important information is already in the online cruise peronaliser but there was just one or two things that we have to complete before P&O will issue our E-tickets in approximately five weeks time.
Travel insurance details was one thing we had to input, although we had purchased it many weeks ago it always seems to be the last piece of document details that we actually put on.  It could possibly be because P&O ask for a telephone number and from what we can see there could be three so we have plumped for a main number.
I don't know about you but I create a folder for every cruise that we go on.  I print off every piece of paperwork that relates to the current cruise and that includes the travel insurance documents, booking confirmation, Maps, port information, E-tickets plus much more.  I believe you can never have enough information.

Epicurean Restaurant on Azura

The other thing that we wanted to do in advance was to reserve a table for dinner in Azura's Epicurean Restaurant, as this reataurant is popular it is best to make a reservation before your cruise.  We usually like to book a table mid-cruise so for us that is 11th June.  However, that night there is a Euro 2016 football match between England v Russia and as we will be leaving St Peterburg that night we assume that the match will be shown on board; I will be suprised if it isn't.  Because we want to see the match we were sitting last night working out the time difference between England and Russia as +3 hours which means that we have plenty of time to have dinner before kick-off which we have worked out as 11pm (Russian time).  There is a additional surcharge of £28.00pp which is well worth it and they apply your teir discount on top which does make it even less.  We have dined in the Epicurean Restaurant on board Britannia and it was amazing.  The one to one attention and the food ideas and the way your food is presented makes the surcharge well worth it and I would highly recommend it.
The other thing we wanted to do is look for an excursion that let us do our own thing and we found one in Copenhagen which is "free time in three sites".  I think it is self explanatory and we booked that as well.  I'm not sure what else we may book we will do some more research first I think before deciding. 

 

What is important to you when looking for a cruise

What do you look for when booking your next cruise is a question I have been asked on many occasions and my answer has changed since our first cruise in 2008.
In 2007 I had been medically retired from the Civil Service and unable to fly I was looking for an alternative holiday and to take a cruise was the obvious choice.  We always took our main holiday in the autumn or winter and nearly always to the Canary Islands and so that was our starting point.

Overlooking Funchal, Madeira. 1st December 2008

At this time I had only really heard of P&O, Cunard, RCI and NCL.  I started with the cruise line I knew the most about and that was P&O and looked through their brochure and found a cruise that ticked the boxes, "Canaries Carousel" a 13 night cruise stopping at 7 ports.  For this cruise we had booked an oceanview cabin.
Cruising isn't for everybody and it is often described as being "marmite"; you either love it or hate it and I think that is true.  I always say that on our first cruise we struck gold because at dinner we were seated with a lovely lady called Jean and she was a seasoned cruiser of over 200+ cruises and during our time on board we learnt so much from her and we will be forever grateful.  As she said everyone has to take their first cruise and now we are the ones being asked questions by first time cruisers.
For us the destination isn't always as important as the ship.  We do have our favourite ships and for us that is P&O's Azura (2010 & 2016) and RCI's Independance of the Seas (2013 & 2014).  Every ship is different for instance P&O's Aurora was a lovely ship and not

Floral display in Aurora's Atrium

too big either and although it is a familiy ship we felt it suited the older traveller.  Azura and Ventura (2011) are sister ships and are much bigger with a livelier atmosphere and are much more suited to the younger cruiser and family market.  Britannia is an even bigger ship and for me she just did not have that "wow" factor and is 4 star at best.  Whoever said she is 5 star has never stayed in 5 star hotels; I have.  It felt as if we were in a shopping mall and not a very good one.  Especially when the Micheal Kors sales representative said they liked my fake Micheal Kors watch, my watch is 100% genuine and I told him so.
One other ship that stole my heart was RCI's independance of the Sea. Her crew were the friendliest I have come across and nothing was too much trouble.
Some passengers like or are supersticious and like to stay in the same cabin whenever possible.  For us this will be the third time we have stayed in cabin E225, which is graded as an obstructed outside but you actually can see a lot as the life boat only comes a quarter up the window.  We have had balcony cabins in the past and like most people we are hardly in there just for sleeping and changing for dinner.  We learnt early on that regular or seasoned cruisers tend to go for the cheaper or inside cabins so that they can do more cruises and only on special occasions do they splash out.  For us the type of ship plays a part, some people prefer adult only while others like us like family ships.

The Retreat on Azura

However, we do like adult only spaces such as The Retreat on Azura and Ventura but I still like to hear the laughter of kiddies having fun.  I have to say that the childrens clubs do a fantastic job as the children are never a nuisence.  We have not done an adult only ship yet because I think they would be too stuffy for my liking.  I maybe in my early 50's but I am very much young at heart.
The ships facilities can play a big part when choosing your next cruise. For us it is having an adult only space with a swimming pool.  Having a spa with treatments.  Having a wide choice of live music and entertainment is a must.  We like fine cuisine and look for a good selection of speciality restaurants.  On Ventura we have eaten in The White Room and on Britannia we dined in the Epicurean (amazing!).  We like to go to the casino after a show and play Roulette or go for a walk around the promenade.

Promenade Deck

Britannia was the first ship that we have sailed on that does not have what I call a proper promenade deck.  Her deck was on the top of the ship on deck 18 (sports deck) and it does not work at all.  It doesn't matter if it is a beautiful sunny day it is always breezy and there is no shelter from the elements.  I think we only went up a couple of times just for a stroll but it wasn't very pleasant.  Promenade decks are meant to be places where you can take a pew and simply just sit back and watch the world go by or read a book, have a glass of wine or just have a good old fashioned cup of tea!  When we were on Britannia I think other passengers missed this feature as I heard a lot of chatter about it.

Dining options have changed since our first cruise on Aurora where we had two options club dining and select dining to choose from.  Club dining has two sittings 6:30pm or 8:30pm and you dine with the same passengers every night while select dining is where you book speciality restaurants and pay a small surcharge for doing so.  Ships also offer a buffet style restaurant which is open all day and late into the early hours.  In 2010 we saw the introduction of freedom dining which gives you more flexibility when you wish to eat and is included in the price of your cruise.  Over the last six years we have seen this option become more and more popular and we actually chose to try freedom dining for the first time last year on Britannia and thoroughly enjoyed it so much that we have chosen to do it on our next cruise in June.
One thing that we really enjoy is the formal nights and love dressing up, but not everyone feels the same.  When we first started cruising there were three dress codes, formal, semi-formal and smart casual but in recent years most ships just have two, formal and evening casual.  There are cruise lines that don't adhere to any dress codes and thats ok it you like that kind of cruise but I don't.

Our cabin on Britannia

people who have never cruised often have a preconceived idea of the type of person who goes cruising.  They often assume that we are wealthy or upper class and that is very far from the real truth.  That was the case many years ago when ships had classes but that is not the case with modern cruising.  I often tell people that the accommodation side is very much like a modern hotel where you can have anything from a standard room (inside cabin) upto a suite with many grades in between and at dinner (freedom and club) your table companions can be anyone on the cruise.  It can make for interesting conversations. 
There is so much I could say about what I look for in a cruise but everyone of us is different and we all want different things.  For me it is to have a fabulous holiday going somewhere warm or of interest without having to fly.  Cruises are all inclusive (apart from drinks), the food is usually a extremely high standard, it is safe for children and everyone can do as much as they want or as little.  All cruise lines have extremely good sites and can answer most questions you may have, but like everything you won't know if you like it unless you give it a go.

Someone has flicked on the cruise switch

Last July we booked our latest cruise to the Baltic which we are taking in June and at that time it was too early to get excited.  However, it is as if someone has flicked on a switch and turned the excitement on for us.  Our cruise is just over three months away and there is still a huge amount to do. 

Cabin E225

Being disabled means that most standard excursions are not suitable for me for one reason or another.  On this cruise we will be visiting St Petersburg for two days and because you require a tourist visa most people do the ships excursions because your visa is included in the price.  Unfortunately there wasn't any suitable standard excursions and we were considering getting our own tourist visas for Russia but after reading about some problems for tourists we have decided against it.  At this point I was feeling fairly low because it was looking as if we would have to rely on doing accessible excursions which are hugely overpriced in my opinion and very limited to usually one or two per visiting port.  Over the weekend while talking with our broker the topic of excursions came up and telling her how disappointed we were at not seeing St Petersburg the way we had hoped she suggested that we look at private tour companies.
There are many companies that specialise in providing private and tailored tours.  After doing a considerable amount of research we have decided to go with Guide Guru.  At the moment we are in the process of sorting an itinerary for a one day tour which will include French Painting of 19th and 20th Century  (which none of the P&O excursions do) at The Hermitage The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood, St Issac's Cathedral, a city tour and of course no trip will be complete without shopping! The cost is very reasonable considering it is a one to one tour experience for just us.  It also means that I can do things at my pace.  I find it rather odd that the standard excursions have been bookable for some months but the accessible excursions are not released until tomorrow (10th March).  I can't believe it is because they are harder to organise or this only happens with tours to the Baltic because this is the same with every cruise we have done with P&O.  We have of course looked at the other ports that we are visiting but have not decided anything yet.  We may do our own thing but then again we may do an excursion we will have to wait and see.
This will be the third time that we have stayed in cabin E225

and knowing where everything thing is means that we will settle in that much quicker.  I am so excited by this and I see Azura as an old friend who I have made such wonderful memories with.  It is funny that it takes weeks to pack but minutes (hour) to unpack.
It is so hard to explain to someone who has never cruised the advantages of doing so and the fact that your holiday starts the moment you step onto the ship and not spending the first and last day of your holiday sitting around in airports or flying.  
For our friends it must seem confusing and exhausting the amount of enthusiasm and excitement that we build up prior to a cruise.  I have been nicknamed "list queen" because that is how I organise us for a cruise.  By the time we get to d-day I will have produce a list for virtually everything we take.
One other important thing that I do is to take a file which has every piece of paperwork relating to the cruise.  I also have passports and photocopies, maps and port information, pre-paid dinner receipts, Prescription form and letter, useful phone numbers, travel insurances and deck plans of Azura and there is probably something I have forgotten.  
Last May we sailed on Britannia for a 14 night Canaries cruise which was lovely but the ship was missing the wow factor and the one thing that really spoilt it for me was that there is no promenade deck.  We love to take a stroll around the promenade deck after dinner and have a drink and it just didn't feel right, we had a balcony but that wasn't the same.  On Britannia the Promenade was at the top on the Sports Deck, which was not undercover and could be windy at times; it wasn't what I would call a promenade.
So for the foreseeable future I will be compiling my lists and start to prepare for our cruise on Azura.

Baltic on P&O's Azura

Azura in Gran Canaria

I can't believe that this week sees the start of spring and it only seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas.  I can't believe that in just three months until we embark on our next cruise to the Baltic.  I am so excited as we are visiting countries that we have not been to before which include Russia, Estonia, Finland and Belguim.  We are also visiting Sweden, Norway and Denmark which I visited many years in my late teens; I think as an adult you appreciate things more so I looking forward to revisting these places.
For us going back on Azura is like visiting an old friend.  I think she is our favourite ship to date and we were able to book our usual cabin which makes it even more special.  I am looking forward to just being able to kick back and chill out for two weeks.
For me a round trip cruise is the perfect holiday, I am able to do as much as I want or do as little as I want.  The ship provides me with everything that I need and much more.  I can choose whether to get off the ship while in port or stay onboard and take advantage of the vast facilities while most passengers are ashore.
With every cruise we do it seems as if we take less to time to organise, prepare and pack.  I suppose in some ways it has become routine and I am not saying I mind at all.  The cruise in June is the first one we have done where we will be doing a lot more sightseeing.  It is unfortunate that the standard cruise excursions are not suitable for me as it seems most are done at some speed.  The accessible excursions are a lot more money and usually only a couple of hours and as we are in St Petersburg for two days it seems a shame to waste the time.  At the suggestion of our cruise agent we have looked around and found a company that does private tours called Guide Guru and the prices are very reasonable.  We are at present in communication with them to arrange something.  We both have places we want to visit and for me a must is the French Painting of 19th - 20th centuries at The Hermitage.
I am looking forward to a memorable cruise.

Latest Update from P&O

As you already know I have had a very challenging time of late with P&O.  I have been trying for three months to get some answers to questions that I had put to their customer service after returning from my cruise in May.  After three months and going nowhere and going through two Customer Service Executives, one Head of Marketing, one Disability Adviser and one Customer Services Manager I believe I have answers to most of my queries.

Last week I received a call to discuss for the umpteen time my comments and suggestions that I had sent in May and to say that I was extremely disappointed is an understatement to say the least.

The Retreat on Azura

Information Sheet 
I have been campaigning for an information sheet on each P&O ship to give to passengers that have registered a disability.  Information that I suggested should be included is the location of platform lifts (Azura & Ventura) and lifts on their other ships for use by disabled passengers, facilities and accessibility information could also be included.

I have been informed that P&O have no plans to create an information sheet for passengers now or in the future because they have invested millions into their on line help service and website.  I have voiced my own opinions on this as they have just assumed that all passengers have access to a computer.  I was told that a large number of passengers book their cruises through travel agents.  This being said I cannot understand their reasoning behind their decision.  For those passengers an on line help facility would not be of use so sending a hard copy to those passengers would be helpful.

It was also assumed by the manager that I was talking to that disabled lift location information was included in the ships cabin directory, I informed her that it was not the case.

"Full Time Wheelchair Users"
I had also noticed the wording "full time wheelchair users" being used when using certain facilities on board ships.  I pointed out that this discriminates between passengers who are part time wheelchair users and full time wheelchair users.  I explained that many part time users often have a disability or condition that may vary from day to day and therefore may require the use of a chair at anytime and stating that only "full time" users may use the spaces in the teatre is discriminating.  The Manager tried to tell me that it was done to deter mobility scooter users from using these spaces.  I pointed out that most venues have a policy where disabled spaces are for the use of wheelchair users and walking disabled only and clearly states no scooters.  She had no answer.

Front Line Disability Team
This team was disbanded when the company was restructured.  I was told that the company has invested in customer and online services which they are confident can answer any questions that may arise and have no plans to have a front line team.  Again, I do not know how they can say that when you are put on hold for some considerable time and only be told that they don't know the answer, no surprise there!

Our last cruise was booked through a cruise agent who passed everything on to P&O, which is normal.  A couple of days later I called P&O's customer service to request a disability questionnaire only to be told that I would have to go back to my cruise agent and ask them to request it my behalf and then P&O would sent it to my agent who would eventually pass it onto me.  Tell me how is that more effiicent?

The Cookery Club 
What can I say it took over 9 weeks and several people later who informed that The Cookery Club does have a lowered workspace.  My initial contact and equiry to P&O was based on computer images and information supplied to my cruise agent and myself over the phone and in personal by P&O staff.  At that time I believed it to be true.

During the last 14 weeks I have been in contact with a total of 5 people from P&O and my impression is that none of them had any idea of where to go to answer any questions I had and so when the customer services manager told me that given time they can answer any queries; I laughed.  What has annoyed me most is the promises that were made that I now know were a pack of lies.  Why lie to me?

I find it hard to believe that they feel producing fact sheets to send to passengers time comsuming.  It was made obvious to me that the disability adviser would rather not have direct contact with passengers and it seems to spend their time in the legal side, I doubt they even know what the Equality Act 2010 is about.  But I now have there email so if anyone has any questions or queries I will be more than happy to contact the adviser.