Bon Voyage Packages

Has anyone bought any of the above, are they worth it?

I have.....and it went horribly wrong.

I will start by saying that P & O have dealt with my complaint since we have been home very well, but none the less the whole package - which was meant to be a lovely surprise - was ruined.

I ordered a "welcome on board " package - flowers, champagne and chocolates for our travelling companions.

On arrival, the flowers were in the cabin with a scruffy handwritten note saying "welcome C82" (the cabin number). No champagne, no chocolates, no note from me. The flowers looked like they had been on board for a fortnight. I complained to reception. The flowers were subsequently removed whilst our friends were at muster drill and replaced about An hour later. They were definitely fresher but the arrangement was amateurish. Still no note. The champagne then arrived about half an hour later, in a bottle bag, with my note at the bottom of the bag and was not seen by the recipients. Bag put in bin. Champagne not cold, and no wine or champagne glasses in the cabin. Finally the chocolate truffles arrived on a plain white dinner plate with a plastic dome food cover over them.

So....no "package" and no proper welcome on board as I had been advised by P &O landslide when I booked it that the whole package would be in the cabin on boarding.

Reception advised me that there had been a problem as the ship had run out of champagne...( er.....I can't believe that!).. And that chocolates were no longer presented in a box (as I had been led to believe.) I asked how the plate of chocolates was supposed to fit in the fridge....and how they were supposed to drink the warm champagne.... I won't bore you any more with their answers.

The staff on board would not do anything about my complaint other than log it with p & o Southampton landside.

So....another ship may do it better, but I personally would never buy a package like that again. Fortunately I was also onboard to witness the disaster, but I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been as they would not have even known that the gift was from me!

What a let down Mysticalmother, which ship was this by the way?

Rick.

I have.....and it went horribly wrong.

 

 

 

I will start by saying that P & O have dealt with my complaint since we have been home very well, but none the less the whole package - which was meant to be a lovely surprise - was ruined.

 

I ordered a "welcome on board " package - flowers, champagne and chocolates for our travelling companions.

 

On arrival, the flowers were in the cabin with a scruffy handwritten note saying "welcome C82" (the cabin number). No champagne, no chocolates, no note from me. The flowers looked like they had been on board for a fortnight. I complained to reception. The flowers were subsequently removed whilst our friends were at muster drill and replaced about An hour later. They were definitely fresher but the arrangement was amateurish. Still no note. The champagne then arrived about half an hour later, in a bottle bag, with my note at the bottom of the bag and was not seen by the recipients. Bag put in bin. Champagne not cold, and no wine or champagne glasses in the cabin. Finally the chocolate truffles arrived on a plain white dinner plate with a plastic dome food cover over them.

 

So....no "package" and no proper welcome on board as I had been advised by P &O landslide when I booked it that the whole package would be in the cabin on boarding.

 

Reception advised me that there had been a problem as the ship had run out of champagne...( er.....I can't believe that!).. And that chocolates were no longer presented in a box (as I had been led to believe.) I asked how the plate of chocolates was supposed to fit in the fridge....and how they were supposed to drink the warm champagne.... I won't bore you any more with their answers.

 

 

 

The staff on board would not do anything about my complaint other than log it with p & o Southampton landside.

 

So....another ship may do it better, but I personally would never buy a package like that again. Fortunately I was also onboard to witness the disaster, but I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't been as they would not have even known that the gift was from me!

That's quite shocking those packages aren't cheap, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the feedback

This was on Arcadia in July.

I was really quite upset by it at the time - we had been fortunate to be upgraded to a mini suite and our friends had not, so I felt a bit bad anyway. The package for our friends was meant to go a (small ) way to alleviate their disappointment that they hadn't been upgraded as well and really backfired. And I was disappointed that the onboard crew couldn't (or wouldn't) do anything really to compensate either of us at the time.

I have to say that apart from this , we did have a lovely cruise!

Thanks for the heads-up on this, mystical mother. That must have been very disappointing and I would have been very upset about it too - not just the disappointment that it had happened, but that no one on board tried in any way to make it better. As Florry says, these packages do not come cheap. :(

We had a similar package on a cruise on Adonia, and it was great. The flowers, and there were a lot of them, were arranged beautifully, the champagne was waiting on ice and the chocolates, I think, were in a box. Maybe the OP was just unlucky on that occasion, and I agree that must have been a great disappointment. It's a shame the reception people do not seem to realise how important it is to their business that complaints must be sensitively handled.

Again thank you for the comments. A friend of ours was looking at the cruise info we were sent and thought we should get it, not sure myself

The champagne breakfast looked like regular free room service with champagne to me. One thing we do get is strawberries dipped in chocolate on the captains formal, I think that's about £5.

The champagne breakfast looked like regular free room service with champagne to me. One thing we do get is strawberries dipped in chocolate on the captains formal, I think that's about £5.

We have had the champagne breakfast and it is exactly as you said, the regular free room service breakfast. What you are paying for is the champagne, the champagne was a half bottle of Lanson Black label. I would never buy it again!!! It just wasn`t worth the cost.

Regards to all

P&W

I bought the welcome on board package for my partner on our Britannia cruise in July. She loved it, the flowers were great and lasted all cruise nearly, the champagne and chocs were very nice and the card with the message on was nicely presented. It wasn't cheap but it was worth every penny! :D

Peter