“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.

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.

Poor Customer Service P&O!

Following on from my previous post about P&O's customer service I actually had a 4th person call me and I will refer to her as Clare (not her real name) who introduced herself as a disability adviser.  From the off she spoke to me with contempt, launching into the fact that The Cookery Club does have a lowered workstation and not giving me the chance to explain that all I had to go on was a couple of CGI's and incorrect information given to me by P&O which I believed to be correct at the time.  This information was given over the phone and in person.

When Clare had stopped to draw breath I asked her why it had took two months and 4 people, who were two customer services executives, one director and one disability adviser before I was informed that there was a lower counter in The Cookery Club.  I also told her that my letters were about accommodation floors, lack of or incorrect information, gangways and disembarkation.

I had said that customer service was poor at the best of times and very frustrating if you have a disability question as you are often put on hold for a period of time and when the person does eventually come back they often don't have an answer.  When I first cruised with P&O in 2008 there was a dedicated team that you could speak to.  This was when Clare told me that when P&O restructured they decided that they did not want a disability team that the passengers could speak to, but she could not expand on their reasoning behind this ridiculous decision. Although she is supposed to be a disability adviser she does not deal with a lot of queries but the admin side of things.
 
Our conversation eventually got back to Britannia and The Cookery Club and she offered to send me some photographs she had taken to show this workstation and I immediately said that I would like to see them and she also said she would email them to me along with her contact details so that I could contact if I had anymore questions and we left it there. 

You could guess what happened next, nothing! So once again I found myself chasing her up by having to email one of my other contacts.  Clare eventually emailed me back in what I consider a rude manner saying that because I am not sailing on Britannia again she assumed I didn't need to see these photographs.  She just doesn't understand what disability awareness is.  I did reply but by this time I was starting to loose the will to live and with the reply I sent I didn't expect to hear from her again.

It was on 31st July and Clare called me I didn't really want to talk to Clare as we would only go over old ground and speaking to her wasn't going to achieve anything but the polite person I am I agreed to speak with her.  The conversation was just a carbon copy of our previous conversation.  I know I probably won't get anything improved but I think I am entitled to a letter of apology.

Great Cruise P&O - But improvements need to be made!!

After we returned from our recent P&O cruise I felt that somethings on board could be improved so I wrote a quite lengthy email to their customer service.  The main issues were:  

•  Not enough room in the accommodation corridors to manoeuvre a wheelchair or walker around housekeeping trolleys without scrapping wheels along walls or damaging your knuckles.  To ask a cabin steward to move his trolley into an alcove was like talking to a brick wall, apart from one or two that were extremely helpful. 
• Lack of information for passengers who had registered a disability with regard to gangways at ports, emergency procedures and access to the sports deck via a lift on deck 17.  
• The Cookery Club is not accessible to anyone who is disabled as they do not have an adapted workspace.     

When you contact P&O customer service you have to give them up to 28 days to reply and I just knew that they would take that time to get back to me especially as I had requested that I spoke with someone.  As I foretold their customer service contacted me on 27th day.  The chap that I spoke with was very polite and we discussed my issues to which he has given me proposals of how the issues will be tackled.  
The issue of cabin stewards not manoeuvring their housekeeping trolleys so that people can pass is going to be addressed by giving the stewards some awareness training.  I was a bit astounded to be told they are the only crew members who do not receive this.  Being as they are the ones who have day to day contact with passengers I found this a bit odd? 
Lack of information for passengers who have registered a disability will be looked into and the proposal is that P&O will produce a pre-cruise information pack for passengers.  
The issues with The Cookery Club were still being looked into so this was not really discussed but was happy to leave that there for the moment.  
The main surprise was that as the call was ending the chap said that he would like to give me some on board credit which would be added to my next cruise and I accepted the £100 credit.  I was promised that a confirmation email would be sent detailing our conversation and I was more than happy to leave it there. That was on 16th June and by the 20th June I had still not received a confirmation email and so I sent an email asking in a polite but firm manner for confirmation of the OBC offer and details of what we had discussed.  I did receive an email on the 26th June as promised and some more information regarding TheT

The Cookery Club

Cookery Club, my comments and concerns have been passed onto the Disability and Mobility Management Team for further investigation as P&O who are fully committed to providing all their passengers with equal facilities and opportunities.  The email states that they will be able to take action with regard to this.  
On so many occasions I am told something will change and it never does, but with this I am determined to get it changed.  I have the chaps direct email and will be contacting him again shortly if I don't receive an undate.  For far too long disabled people have been happy with their lot but I am not and I will continue to fight for equality.

Partially Adapted Cabins

I have CP with a left side hemiplegia and I am a partial wheelchair user. When I have stayed in hotels or when I did a cruise on Independence of the Seas I have had a fully accessible

Wet room on cruise ship

accommodation because I require the use of a wet room.  Because of the nature of my disability I cannot use a bath.  
I have often wondered why I have rarely found accommodation that is partially adapted for people like myself who do not require the extra room needed to manouvre a wheelchair but need the facilities of a wet room.  
I believe that if cruise lines put a few of these cabins on each of their ships it would be a welcomed addition.  It was by pure chance that I have discovered that P&O's Arcadia has 12 partially adapted cabins and they are:  

C1, C2, C194, C203, E95, E96, G11, G12, G74, G81, G82 & G100.  

Again I have to wonder why someone like P&O did not consider putting a few partially adapted cabins on Britannia.  I have to ask the question again who do companies like P&O consult when it come to deciding what is required when it comes to adaptions for passengers with disabilities.  I assume that they may ask OT's (Occupational Therapists).  
I have had dealings with OT's over many years and have found some to be excellent while others are complete rubbish.  I believe the best people that they could consult would be disabled people because we can often find something that an able bodied person may miss.  


 

Mum's Final Journey

As you may know my mum Muriel passed away in September 2014 after a short illness.  It was decided after the funeral to divide her ashes so that some were buried with my Dads ashes in her local

Mum at The Connaught Hotel 2013

churchyard and the rest I have taken back with me to Norfolk.  
Mum was born and raised near the coast and my family has a strong connection with the RNLI.  When Mum stayed with me she was at her happiest sitting watching the sea.  Then from nowhere it came to me to see if it was possible to have ashes scattered at sea while on the cruise ship.  Mum loved travel, she loved the sea and she loved to hear about our cruises so it seemed perfect.  I had read that it was possible to scatter ashes with P&O but it was at the discretion of the captain.  I thought the best person to ask to contact P&O was our cruise agent Susan and got onto it straight away.  At first they were very positive about helping me and after a week or so later they didn't seem so keen giving the excuse the Captain Brown was too busy with Britannia to give an answer.  At this point I was feeling very down as it felt it was the right thing to do with her ashes.  My agent said she would tackle someone while

Captain Pembridge

visiting the ship this week.  That raised my hopes.  This morning I received a letter from P&O to say that the alternate captain on Britannia Captain David Pembridge had confirmed that he is willing to assist me onboard during the scattering of the ashes and that I will receive a copy of the details of the service shortly.  They have also said that a member of the team will be available at the cruise terminal to assist us through the embarkation procedures.   Suddenly I feel a whole weight has lifted off my shoulders.  I just need to get a copy of the cremation certificate to show the ship.  They have even asked what date I want to do the scattering and I have said while the ship is in the Canary Islands.
I feel at last her journey is finally coming to an end and she would be more than happy with my choices.