The latest from Carol

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to write; it seems the weekend has seen quite a lot of discussion. I will try to respond to as many comments as I can, so let’s get started!

One of the subjects raised by Nia and Jonathan was P&O Cruises refusal to allow babies under six months to travel. Rather than for insurance purposes, this policy was determined first and foremost to ensure the safety of our child passengers.

We do have excellent medical centres on board but they are not equipped to provide medical care for very young babies. We do not carry paediatricians, nor do we have the specialised equipment, drugs and supplies that small babies may need. In addition, many of the ports we visit do not have specialist paediatric facilities to hand and often speed is of the essence in treating ill babies successfully as they can deteriorate extremely quickly as I’m sure you’re aware. We are sorry if this has caused disappointment amongst passengers with young children but our intention is to act in everyone’s best interests.

On a related subject there was an anonymous post asking why infants must be booked into a 3 or 4 berth stateroom. For health and safety reasons, we have limits as to how many passengers can occupy specific areas of the ship and this is to comply with these regulations.

Laura, you asked why newer ships are installed with showers and not baths. A lot of our research shows more people moving toward having showers than baths, therefore more cabins are created with showers. It is also worth noting that showers take up less space giving more room for other facilities within the cabin.

John, thanks very much for pointing out a link was not working on the website. The page should now be working – if anyone would like to brush up on P&O Cruises’ heritage, the information can now be found at www.pocruises.com/heritage

Another popular area of debate is The Portunus Club benefits. We are in the process of looking at the benefits of the scheme but we have not made any specific decisions as yet. Therefore your comments are very timely and much appreciated. It’s been really interesting to hear your thoughts on what benefits you would value most and I can assure you that your views will be added to other feedback we’ve received for consideration.

Jonathan, one of your queries related to whether Ocean Village passengers are being targeted with Ventura. Clearly Ocean Village offers a very different cruise experience from P&O Cruises. That said, with Ocean Village ceasing to offer cruises this autumn, passengers will naturally be seeking alternatives. Several of our ships have facilities and itineraries that may well appeal to someone seeking a more relaxed, child-friendly environment on board so it probably stands to reason that some of our ships will be considered by Ocean Village passengers along with other operators’ ships.

You also enquired why more of Ventura’s funnel had been painted. We were concerned that the buff colour on Ventura’s funnel, when seen from the front or behind, could not be seen, making Ventura difficult to identify as a P&O Cruises ship. Therefore more of her funnel was painted. Once this had been done, opinions were divided - some liked the look of it and others didn’t, so Azura’s funnel has not received this extra treatment.

Another common theme amongst the posts was the matter of itinerary planning. As you can imagine this is a very considered, complex process and we have a specific department that plans our itineraries. I will pass all of your comments (and wishes for specific itineraries) on so that they may be used for reference in future programme planning.

To Alan who responded to my reply on itinerary planning, I am sorry that I did not respond to your point fully - we do try to take into account demand from all areas of Britain. In 2010 we offer the choice of 14 cruises in the Scottish school holidays, and by region there is a good variation across Central Med cruises (4), Western Med (4), Cruise Breaks (2), Short Fjords (2) and Baltic (2) but clearly we aren't able to accommodate everyone’s needs. We will consider your point again when looking at next year's itineraries.

Thelma, you asked whether we will be repeating the Alaska cruise in 2012. We haven’t finalised our 2012 itineraries beyond April at this point, we will be looking at these over the next few months.

Mr and Mrs Smith, I am really sorry to hear you had such a difficult experience trying to book your 2010 World Cruise. Please could you get in touch separately because I’d like to respond to you personally to gain a better understanding of what happened. You can address correspondence to me at Carnival House, 100 Harbour Parade, Southampton SO15 1ST.

Once again thanks for posting and I hope to catch up with you again later in the week.

Kind regards,
Carol