Princess React To British Uproar over Tea and Coffee

We Brits are known for our love of a nice cuppa, especially first thing in the morning. Lots of us need that steamy hot brew to kickstart us and prepare us for the day ahead. Many of my customers are taken aback when they cruise with a company that does not provide tea & coffee making facilities in the cabins.

In reality most cruise lines don’t provide these facilities and most other nationalities don’t expect them in the cabins. There are 5 cruise lines that are marketed predominantly to British cruisers. They are P&O, Cunard, Marella, Fred Olsen & Cruise & Maritime. You will find that all cabins with these cruise lines come equipped with the necessaries to make yourself a brew in the comfort of your own cabin.

A couple of weeks ago Princess Cruises announced that from next Summer they would be supplying kettles in all staterooms, but only on ships that are sailing on round-trip itineraries from the UK. The move has come from feedback given on the customer service questionnaires that are filled in at the end of the cruise. So it’s not a waste of time filling these in. Sometimes your views do get heard and acted upon. It’s nice to see action being taken to make our cruise experience just that little bit better.

Princess are not the first cruise line to do this. Both Royal Caribbean & Celebrity dust off the kettles each Summer and place them in all cabins on ships that sail out of the UK. I’m not too sure what they do with them at the end of the season when the ships head back across the pond? Perhaps they are all stacked up in a warehouse somewhere in Southampton ready for the following year.

Last year it was announced that MSC’s Magnifica, based in Southampton this Summer would be making changes to cater for the UK market. They conducted a lot of research which ultimately meant the introduction of (amongst other things) Yorkshire tea, Marmite, Colmans mustard & roast dinners as well as Cider and bitter in the bars. They even went as far as to advertise a job for a tea and cake tester to ensure things were served in the proper way – now who wouldn’t like that job?

I applaud Princess for making this change and know that my customers sailing from the UK with them next year will appreciate the move. Well Done!