P&O Cruises | Updates from Paul Ludlow

I go on holiday with myself… fortunately I like myself. I am not a fan of the pricing for single travellers on P&O. Often the single cabins, where offered, are small and priced similarly to or even more than a single occupancy double cabin – supply and demand dictates that there are more double cabins. In my case, the double cabin may only have one occupant but the discount over two occupants is small, so you are paying for an invisible friend. I usually have a spare seat next to me at dinning on large tables and introduce the empty chair to other dinners as my invisible friend who has not been well, a shadow of their former self. Despite this, the sometimes attractively advertised onboard spend or even "Double Onboard spend" is halved for a single occupant. Given that I am paying for my invisible friend, then I would expect to get their onboard spend. The onboard spend should be "per cabin" regardless of the number of occupants, in my opinion. Compared to my trip on P&O Britannia in 2018, I noticed a marked reduction in service and food on my latest cruise on P&O IONA last year. I am thinking about another cruise before the end of the year, but I am wary of P&O now. On their website I have to spend hours going through each cruise to calculate a price for a single traveller while trying to factor in different amounts of onboard spend, cabin type and location, ports visited and when they sail to avoid school holidays. When I eventually find one I like, at a price I can afford (given that I am paying nearly the same as much as a couple), I have to then add transport costs, insurance, excursions and onboard WiFi. P&O don't tell you what the excursions are or how much they cost until you have booked the whole cruise. I don't drink a lot, I like a glass with my meal and perhaps an occasional cocktail, but the drinks packages are insane with crazy rules – like, who can drink 15 alcoholic drinks a day ? and still remember they went on a cruise ?. As a pensioner, I have a budget for holidays and after comparing options from the analysis I do, 9 out of 10 P&O cruises are just too expensive for me. If I were a real couple then I have to admit that they are reasonable and represent good value. I would like to see on P&O cruises; no single supplements for cruises outside the the school holiday periods, a moderate drinkers drinks package at a reasonable price, free WiFi, notice of excursions and prices before the cruise is booked, onboard spend to be per cabin regardless of occupancy numbers, automatic compensation if ports are missed from the itinerary.

Can the cabin fridges be stocked with beer and soft drinks and water as they were in 2019

The food and staff change was horrific in a space of one year. We will never cruise with you again after spending 30 years with you. The standards have continually dropped over the years.