Furious moment influencer unleashes a scathing critique on P&O after setting sail on the cruise from hell
A popular influencer criticized a popular cruise line for its “terrible” service and “inedible” food during a recent trip.
Emma Metzger, 28, from Brisbane, shared a video of her eight-day trip to the Pacific Islands with her husband aboard the P&O ship Pacific Encounter.
She described her first HR experience as ‘absolutely terrible’.
Terrible food, disinterested staff and canceled onboard activities defined the trip, she told her 200,000 followers in a TikTok video.
Ms Metzger admitted that P&O was the cheapest option when researching the different cruise lines, but did not expect this to be ‘a world apart’ from previous experiences with Princess Cruises.
“It was really understaffed, so there was a bartender at every bar, so you wait 20 minutes for a drink, whereas with Princess Cruises you have an app and your drink just comes to you and finds you wherever you are,” said them.
‘I understand that P&O should be the cheaper option, but we looked at how much we spent on the last Princess cruise, which was about three days longer, and what we spent on this one wasn’t actually all that different . Maybe a $500 difference.
‘The experience is a world of difference.’
Emma Metzger, 28, recently had a terrible experience during an eight-day trip on the P&O cruise ship Encounter
Ms Metzger from Brisbane said the ship’s staff were unenthusiastic and onboard activities were lackluster (photo, stock image)
Mrs. Metzger claimed the food was so bad she had to spit it out.
“Really, I’m not kidding, most of the meals were inedible,” Ms. Metzger said.
‘I’ve never had that cliché experience of spitting food into my napkin, but I did, it was that bad.
“I could talk forever about how bad the food was, two out of the three dining rooms you go to were terrible.”
During the trip, Ms. Metzger asked the HR staff whether their services had been affected by the upcoming merger.
She claimed she “didn’t really care” about her questions.
“This may be because they are losing their jobs due to the new takeover,” she said.
The company will join forces with Carnival Cruises in March, when the P&O brand is retired and the ships are integrated into Carnival’s existing fleet.
Despite asking staff why the service was apparently so poor, Ms Metzger said she still received indifferent responses (stock photo from P&O Pacific Encounter)
Ms Metzger also claimed that at least half of the onboard events were canceled without informing passengers.
“We went to them and they just weren’t working,” she added.
When ordering drinks, the couple encountered similar disappointments when her husband was denied a Long Island Iced Tea.
Ms Metzger claimed she felt unappreciated as a passenger when she decried the ‘half a**’ attitude of HR staff.
“The point of a cruise is to have that luxury experience,” she said.
However, despite her experience, Ms Metzger stressed that her criticism was only of HR and was ‘not reflective of cruising in general’.
“So if you’ve just been here and think people who recommend cruises are crazy, that’s not true,” she added.
A P&O spokesperson said staff have done everything they can to ensure every passenger has a unique and special experience.
“Our kitchens prepare meals for 3,000 guests every day, and we are sorry if this guest felt her dining experience did not meet her expectations,” the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
“The vast majority of the P&O crew have accepted future positions with Carnival Cruise Line and look forward to continuing to see our beloved Australian guests onboard our ships.”