P&O Cruises - Oriana Ship Cruise Reviews

Thursday 9th Feb 2012

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Pando Cruises

Oriana

Nice Ship, Shame About The Crew

Nice Ship, shame about the Crew	1 of 1 people found this review informative

Reviewed By: Bryant, SWINDON on 3rd Sep 2010
Cruise Line: P&O Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Oriana	Sailed: August, 2010
Destination: Northern Europe	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Inside

After over 20 cruises, we eventually got round to trying P&O on a 7 night cruise to the North of Spain, West of France and Guernsey. This ship is now 15 years old and starting to look a bit tired in places, but overall a comfortable spacious ship with plenty of external deck space with sunbeds or chairs for everybody to enjoy the sun. The public lounges and theatre were well appointed although the theatre in particular was bulging at the seams on some nights. We had an inside cabin on A deck (deck 11) which had adequate space, although there was no room to stow both suitcases so one of the was in the middle of the cabin all cruise. The electric socket was of the british 3 square pin variety but only 1 was provided. There was a fridge with some complimentary mineral water and a tray of sweets and a flower on the cabin table and these touches were appreciated. There were very few coathangers on arrival (4) but more were supplied after a note was left for the steward. We dined in the Oriental Restaurant at the aft of the ship which has windows on 3 sides giving pleasant sea views. Not so pleasant was the severe vibration which periodically emanated from the engine, at one point plates were seen to be jumping off the table because of this. We had a table for 8 and got on well with our table companions. The onboard prices were very reasonable, £2.70 for a pint of Boddingtons, £7,80 for a half litre carafe of house wine and photographs from under£6. The ports of call were well selected and the weather was glorious. Of particular note is that P&O provided complimentary shuttle buses from ports into town at a number of stops. This isn't allways the case nowadays and I applaud them for it. The biggest surprise was at Le Verdun where the shuttle bus took us to the town of Soulec Sur Mer, which we thought was a delightful little seaside town with large sandy beaches, well worth the visit. From Guernsey, we had the opportunity to visit Sark and thoroughly enjoyed this island. The lack of road traffic made walking very pleasant and this was niceley complemented by a pint of London Pride for £1.95. As you will have gathered from the title, there was a downside to this cruise and that was the crew. As an experienced cruiser with over nine different cruise lines , I have never before found the crew to be anything other than friendly. That is not something that you could accuse this crew of. Like Harper of East Ardesley, I found them to be surly unsmiling and have never heard of the words "please" and "thank you". On the last evening I was astounded by the downright rudeness of one of the waiters in the Lords Tavern. The picture was not much better elsewhere, our cabin steward failed to introduce himself, and when we did meet him barely spoke to us and certainly didn't acknowledge us by name. In the Oriental Restaurant, our main waiter didn't smile all weekand would totally ignore requests if he couldn't be bothered. The Assistant Waiter, Rosario and Wine Waiter , Vince were , however , much better and more to the standard experienced on other cruise lines. On the basis of this experience, P&O have a big problem with the crew on this ship, which they need to address as soon as they can. If it was not for the crew I would have rated this ship as 5 stars. The low score reflects the importance of this aspect of the cruising experince and the influence it has on ones holiday enjoyment
Quality of Food
We ate in the Conservatory for Breakfast and Lunch and the Oriental Restaurant for Dinner. The food was very good but the service wasn't
Entertainment
The shows were top class, some of the best I've seen afloat
Shore Excursions
We did shore excursions at Bilbao to Guernica which was ok but the guide talked too much. We also went to Sark from Guernsey. Our excursion in Brest was cancelled by the ship
Staff
Apart from the 2 individuals named above, the staff were surly , rude and unfriendly. I was very surprised how poor they are.
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
Some good quizes and the after dinner talk by John Taylor was excellent
Cabins
insufficient room to stow both cases but otherwise ok
Overall Rating

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Comment by bennett, butlers marston (13 Feb 11 16:07) about this REVIEW

the staff were excellent you need to go to specsavers

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Opinion: Agree Comment by Abbott, Chesterfield (09 Sep 10 07:34) about this REVIEW

I fully agree with the review. (We must have been in the same section of the restaurant). Our cabin steward was excellent, and the tours were thoroughly enjoyed as well, again with the reviewer our trip in Brest was cancelled, but we cought the train and went to the same destination (less cost). We felt that the standard of food was not up to its usual quality (one potato (roast)) for example, however Gary Rhodes was/is not to be missed, a wonderful meal, if you can book on board GO £90.00 for 4 persons (including a wonderful bottle of wine and after dinner drinks) I will saviour this for a long time. Oriana is a classic ship and we all liked the open end to this ship something that is lacking on the newer larger ones. A good holiday

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Opinion: Agree Comment by Latham, London (08 Sep 10 01:03) about this REVIEW

You're totally right. This was my 5th cruise on board Oriana, my last having been in 2005. In the 5 years I've been away, the formerly flawless and cheerful crew seem to have been replaced by a workforce who are far less willing ot put themselves out to help the customers. P&O has gone a bit downhill, and needs to address this problem. The increasing 'Carnival Cruises' influence is not a good thing at all.

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Nima, Bath (04 Sep 10 22:01) about this REVIEW

Bryant, Swindon must have just got unlucky because we were on the Oriana on the previous cruise (15th-27th August) and had the most friendly waiters we could have asked for and a polite and friendly cabin steward. Mind you, we always make an effort to chat to the staff..........

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Comment by Bryant, SWINDON (04 Sep 10 23:38) about a COMMENT by Nima (04 Sep 10 22:01)

Like you, we allways try to be friendly to the staff and have never before encountered a crew like this. It was as though they weren't interested in the passengers. I am particularly surprised, given that this was a P&O ship and have now drafted a letter to P&O advising them of my experiences. I have noticed that other reviews on this site have indicated problems with the crew

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Comment by Bryant, SWINDON (07 Oct 10 11:52) about a COMMENT by Bryant (04 Sep 10 23:38)

I have now recieved a reply from P&O. Whilst it would be wrong to divulge the contents of personal correspondence on a forum such as this, I would state that I am very satisfied with their response. They do seem to be taking the issues I raised very seriously

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by Jones, Swansea (04 Sep 10 19:20) about this REVIEW

There is room to stow even huge suitcases - under the bed/s. We managed to get our enormous expanding cases under the bed. If you couldn't manage that, then several people asked their cabin steward to stow them elsewhere. They were more than happy to oblige. Indeed on the cruise before the one you have reviewed, the staff were all obliging, happy and willing to help. What a strange contrast between one cruise and the next.

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Comment by Bryant, SWINDON (04 Sep 10 23:31) about a COMMENT by Jones (04 Sep 10 19:20)

Unfortunately my hard shell cases wouldn't fit under the bed, but we managed to stow one in the wardrobe. If the Cabin Steward had been communicative, I would have asked his advice. As this was only a week cruise we lived with it.

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Comment by macro, Reading (05 Sep 10 05:22) about a COMMENT by Bryant (04 Sep 10 23:31)

I also have a problem with the hard shelled cases - this is resolved by stowing them under the bed OPENED OUT. Hope that helps in future. If not they can be stowed elsewhere on the ship by the cabin steward.

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Comment by Reed, Skegness (03 Sep 10 19:44) about this REVIEW

I am amazed at your comments about staff because I have always found all the staff very keen to impress. I have always assumed that it is their desire to get tips that has caused this. Perhaps they have come to realize that Brits are generally a tight lot and won't give a good tip whatever the service!!

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