Dear P&O Cruises, I’m disappointed and saddened to write this email following my mini-cruise to Amsterdam on Ventura departing Southampton 5 July 2022. I had fond memories of cruising with you as a child and I wanted to show my partner what he was missing; so, we planned a mini cruise with you to replace our cancelled sailing on QM2 to Hamburg earlier in the year. Our aim was to try you guys out as a taster with a view to booking Iona or Arvia for next year as we love the look of these ships. For the reasons I’ll set out in this email I very much fear this will be out first and last cruise with you. I will admit that you excelled in some areas and its only fair to highlight them too. Arriving at ocean terminal was easy and the terminal team did a great job of getting us from curb to ship in around 30 mins. It was easy to check-in at the muster stations and your muster video was easy to watch and understand. Our cabin, B225, was perfectly sized and we love the walk-in wardrobe design that you inherited from your sister line Princess. However, our cabin is where we ran into the first issue. Our toilet wouldn’t flush. No problem it was fixed whilst we were at sail away. However, on the second occasion we waited over 4 hours for it to be fixed in the morning, when it’s not ideal to locate a public toilet just as you wake up. Your reception staff informed me when I rang several times the engineer had already visited me. This was either a lie, or he attempted to fix it from outside our room, without checking if they’d fixed the problem. On the day we were due to check out the toilet refused to flush for a third time, thankfully after we finished getting ready to leave. Our steward was friendly, however when we asked for a different pillow he said, “I’ll see what I can do”. When he returned, he informed us they had all gone “because it was a ‘booze cruise’”. We’re still confused as to why this impacted the supply of pillows onboard, but we were more annoyed when one was found only after escalation with the reception team. ‘Booze cruise’ was a favourite ‘buzz word’ with your crew, used as excuses for not offering services or trying to force shots on you to get you drunk... as it was a “booze cruise”. The shop was also actively selling bottles of duty-free alcohol telling customers they could take them now and drink them throughout the cruise. People were sipping on full sized bottles of Gin and Vodka round the pool... If we knew the target audience was stag and hen do’s wishing to get drunk, we wouldn’t have booked. Your crew must have be used to customers brining their own alcohol onboard. We ordered a bottle of wine from the glass house to drink at the aft pool area. When we asked for pool safe plastic glasses and an ice bucket we were asked if our wine came from Tesco !? Your Covid prevention measures in your cabins fell a little bit short. On our final day we noticed that the steward had placed the next sailing’s customers bedding in our room the night before we departed. Not only did it make the clean and secure stickers you attach to the door before we entered void, but they were also jammed in front of our life jackets, which we didn’t feel was safety focused either. The biggest shock we got was when we got home to find someone else’s underwear (we’re both male, it was female) bundled in with our dirty washing, from where we’d stored it in the cupboard. This again shows you’re cutting corners when you promote that every room has been checked and sanitised prior to the next customer. Generally, the ship was a mess. Empty glasses, plates, paper napkins wet towels, spilt drinks and left-over food were left all over the open decks for long periods. The ship felt understaffed or lacking in care. Sail away was a bit confusing, your Horizons paper mentioned a live sail away party, that we couldn’t locate. The horizon paper was often inaccurate using the wrong sailing dates and dress codes on the wrong nights. We ended up at the main pool with the DJ, the music was mixed, so everyone enjoyed it. Everything was great, until our departure was pushed back as we waited for Arcadia to depart before us. This isn’t an issue, these things happen. What could have been avoided was the DJ simply shutting his laptop, waking off, before we departed with no explanation e.g. “as the departure is delayed as per the programme I’ll be moving to x location”. Alternatively, the schedule could have been shuffled and he could have played on ? We were left along with other passengers in silence leaving port, with little to no atmosphere - what happened to the great British Sailaway ? We left the lido deck as I wanted to see the sail away from the bow of the ship, something you normally can’t do. When we got to the set of steps there was a no entry sign. I asked a crew member that informed me it would be closed for the cruise, with no explanation. I later noticed the Epicurean would also be closed – neither public area were advertised as being unavailable prior to the cruise. We were most disappointed about the bow as it’s so unique to Ventura and Azura. Dinner each evening was uneventful, and your food was on par with most cruise lines. We found the service a bit chaotic and the staff were transactional, putting things in front of you and walking straight away. If you wanted to adapt the meal it simply wasn’t possible, you got what you got. If you notified the servers that something was missing or not right, it was treated as an inconvenience with eye rolls. We found your My Holiday queue system worked well and we managed to eat within 30 mins of when we wanted to. It allowed us to relax in other areas and plan our time rather than a physical queue. Your buffet had a sectioned off area so the crew could eat safely, it makes sense. What your crew do need to remember as we can still hear them, their conversations (including about customers) and loud shouting and whooping that interrupted us and customers seated near them. We also found it unprofessional to see crew members smoking in public areas on the promenade deck. The most noticeable disappointment was the attitude of your staff on board. The only exception to this was in Metropolis and The Glass House. We would go as far to say Ventura is the most unfriendly ship we have ever been on. There was no warm welcome when we stepped onboard, and crew didn’t say hello or acknowledge you when you passed them throughout the whole sailing. When you tried to smile or say hello to them, the gesture wasn’t returned and eye contact was often avoided. Every effort should be made to ensure you’re enjoying your holiday, the crew didn’t seem to understand we were on holiday. Even though you’ve tried hard to emphasise you’re not related to the ferry company, at times if felt like a Dover to Calais sailing. The Captain, Cruise Director and senior staff’s lack of presence around the ship was also noticed by us, as well as fellow passengers. Normally you would see the hotel director or F&B director walking about ensuring that everything was running smoothly, on this sailing it wasn’t the case. Your crew simply aren’t empowered to make a difference in the moment. They all have ipad type devices, if there isn’t a button to fit your request, they can’t fulfil it. E.g. I asked for a Manhattan cocktail, you had all the ingredients, but no way to charge me – so it couldn’t be done. If you want to change or remove something from a meal in the restaurant, it couldn’t be done. I’m unsure if it’s the iPad, rules or unwillingness, but it’s destroyed any personal touch you can offer your customers. It was joked with other customers on more than one occasion that the crew’s favourite answer was ‘no’. Feedback isn’t taken onboard, firstly there isn’t any way to write or give feedback on the ship and when you mention an issue to your reception team it was shrugged off. When you asked them questions answers seemed to be off the top of their head e.g. why areas of the ship we closed. In summary our experience left us underwhelmed and disappointed. We so badly wanted to enjoy a British cruise that mixed your classic roots and traditions with modern Britain we live in today. You didn’t reflect a professional company offering a holiday that showed you cared about your customers. You didn’t appear to value, us, other customers or ensured we made the most out of our holiday that we entrusted you with. I look forward to hearing your response to each point and convincing us we should try P&O cruises again... Thank you, Tom + Scott