Review
5
UK Coastal Cruise 1 August 2021
From getting out of the taxi at 12.40 to getting on board, it took 1 hour 25 mins. Your cruise card will be at your room, and you need the number on this to access the so called app. We had pre booked all main theatre shows prior to boarding, you get a seat number when booking but you are told to sit where you like at the entrance to the theatre, one night we asked at the door if we could go in earlier show and this was not a problem, so we cancelled our later booking.
We used an old tablet to book our evening meals, we watched the numbers in the queue and booked accordingly, suggest booking the Meridian as this opens later at 18.00. We booked when there was about 30 in the queue which was always at approx 18.20 and we were at our table before 19.00 with the added benefit of a free glass of wine if you are seated by 19.00. Food there 5 choices of all 3 courses, all food was nice and hot, and if you want 2 dinners etc just ask, never a problem, we ate in 4 different areas of the Meridian and all the staff were excellent. We never had to queue in the buffet, where again the food was always hot, probably the hottest breakfast I had on a cruise ship, we have taken approx 13 cruises. The deserts were very good in the Horizon. In our opinion the food on this P&O cruise was better then previous cruises.
The entertainment was good, we really enjoyed the 3 shows that Pulse put on, Headliners Circus show was very good especially the last 15 mins, their first show was ok but the singers did seem to try and out sing each other at times, suggest more solo numbers. Elton John was very good and deserved a second show on the main stage. If you have been on a cruise before you would have known that Rudi West had a very tired and old act with no new material, well at least for the 15 mins that we watched before leaving. We saw the Trawlermen for 20 mins and they seemed quite good.
The bridge gave us regular updates of what part of the coast we going along, would have been nicer to get a bit closer to land, but that must be a reason for staying so far out. Drinks were a reasonable price 500ml bottle of Thatchers Gold Cider was £4.95, cocktails were between £7/8.00.
Just to mention our tablet worked in our room on deck 12, in the Crows Nest and in Java which was near the atrium. We also had an old phone and this worked ok but not as good as the tablet.
Very good and sizable shower.
All the staff we met were all friendly and spoke. We would recommend P&O, and would use again if the price was right.