Influencer Emma Metzger slams P & O cruises after ‘abysmal’ experience

A popular cruise line has apologised after a Brisbane influencer labelled her recent holiday as ‘abysmal’, calling out inedible food, disinterested staff and cancelled on-board activities.

A Brisbane influencer known for her quirky Tik-Tok rants has labelled her recent holiday on a P & O cruise as “abysmal”.

Emma Metzger, known as ‘Emmatheg0at’ to her more than 200,000 followers, said she wished she hadn’t gone on the eight-night Pacific Islands cruise on the P & O ship Encounter.

The 28-year-old said she was a frequent cruiser and described her first P & O experience as “absolutely awful” with inedible food, disinterested staff and cancelled on-board activities.

“This food genuinely, I’m not even joking, most of the meals were inedible,” Mrs Metzger said.

Emma Metzger and her husband Mark.

“I’ve never had that cliche experience of spitting food out into my napkin but I did, that’s how bad it was.

“I could talk forever about how bad the food was, two of the three dining rooms that you go to were horrific.”

Mrs Metzger said she had experienced “nothing but luxury” on Princess Cruises in the past.

“It was really understaffed so there was like, one bartender on at each bar, so you wait 20 minutes for a drink, whereas on Princess Cruises you have an app and your drink will just come to you and find you wherever you are,” Mrs Metzger said.

“I do understand that P O is supposed to be the cheaper option but we looked at how much we spent on the last Princess cruise, which was like three days longer, and what we spent on this one, it was not actually that different. Maybe a $500 difference.

“The experience is worlds apart,” she said.

Mrs Metzger said she did not experience luxury.

Mrs Metzger queried whether the decline in service was because of the upcoming merger in March 2025 of P & O and Carnival cruises.

“The staff acted like they really didn’t care, potentially this because they’re losing their jobs with the new takeover,” Mrs Metzger said.

“Half of the activities didn’t happen, like we’d go to them and they just weren’t on,” she said.

She and her husband purchased the premium drinks package but were declined a Long Island Iced Tea and were asked to pay extra to watch on-board entertainment.

“It sounds silly but on Princess Cruises they’ll come in and clean your room in the morning and do a turn down service in the afternoon, it just makes you feel like that little bit more special, whereas they like come in and they half ass clean your room one time on P & O,” Mrs Metzger said.

“The point of a cruise is to have that luxury experience.

Mrs Metzger pushed for her followers not to write off cruising if this was their first experience.

“They charge you for Wi-Fi … You have to pay extra for their sh--ty little on-board shows like that is such a joke,” she said.

Mrs Metzger told her followers not to write off cruising if this was their first experience.

“I guess my take home message is, this is just P O and is not reflective of cruising in general,” Mrs Metzger said.

“So if you’ve just been on this one and think that people recommending cruises are crazy that’s not true,” she said.

A P & O spokesperson said that their enthusiastic and passionate crew worked hard to deliver amazing holidays for each and every guest, on every voyage.

“Our kitchens prepare meals for 3000 guests every day, and we are sorry if this guest feels her dining experience fell short of her expectations,” they said.

“The vast majority of P & O crew have accepted roles with Carnival Cruise Line into the future and are looking forward to continuing to see our beloved Aussie guests on-board our ships.”