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You also have to go through a similar process to book your place in Headliners each evening....although so far only nine "turns" are listed , two of which appear unbookable because the "app" is broken. Progress ! ?????? BTW if you havn't given up the will to live after all this , your booking plan should look something like this.

For anyone joining Arvia on April 2nd , booking for dining is now open. If you want to spend 2-3 hours of your life , which you'll never get back ,"Freedom" dining in the MDRs has now been split into multiple time slots and you need to book each evening meal , day by day. That's fourteen individual attempts to use the booking page , each one taking 4-5 minutes to complete as the page can be quite slow to update your input. At least they appear to have taken onboard the suggestions made during the Xmas debacle to get folk into the MDR as quickly and efficiently as possible. Good luck !

Exactly

Yes the app only bgives two options[all the way through the cruise] Most of the time , trying to book the "first" sitting produced a fully booked or not available response even though the dining room was half empty. Total shambles... and yes I did use the app to destruction.I help create and test software so I know when something is not fit for purpose . I would say its in the "BETA" stage at present , at best.

This was one of the reasons given by the Hotel Manager when we were interviewed. So , if that is the answer , why not switch back to four. He explained that not everyone realised that the Olive [grove] and diner were free. However not everyone wants to sit in Black Tie in a diner , or any other time for that matter and the Olive Grove menu isn't to everyon'es taste Switching back to Four MDRs would go a long way to easing the situation. Finally Arvia is advertised as Freedom dining only....where is thefreedom when there are two fixed dining times on the app ???

I am sure the dining issue will rage on and on. Meanwhile a few pages back I mentioned "erroneous" charges to registered credit/debit cards post disembarkation. A few of you responded and it was obvious this had been happening , unnoticed , for some time and with other carriers. After requesting a refund post Arvia cruise I had the opportunity to bring it up with senior management The matter is to be investigated. Meanwhile.....did anyone else get this email from P&O this morning? . You may have noticed that an additional charge has been made against the credit/debit card used for payment of your on board account, following your cruise on board Arvia. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and would like to assure you that any incorrect charges have been refunded and will be credited to your card, if you have any questions please contact your card provider. Once again, we do apologise for any confusion caused. Kind regards, P&O Cruises Not had one of these before and suspect could be as a result of my discussion . Check you accounts ..... look for that extra unaccountable charge and please let me know if you find one.

Sounds to me as if this is endemic within the industry.

Here's an interesting snippet.... I was charged 4% of my overall spends. Anyone else get that figure?

Just as a matter of interest , is it always the primary card that is hit?

That's a lot of work you had to do Snow Hill to get your refund. 😒

The entry on my account gives scant detail other than "ARVIA ON 07 JAN BCC" I would like to see a forensic examination of the post disembarkation accounts for the ship. Could make very interesting reading.

From a FEEFO report... After disembarking the ship our on board account was a £0 balance. There was still £7.85 on board credit showing. We did spend £10.00 in the casino but this balance was paid at reception straight away. When I checked our bank account we saw a debit of £20.13 had been taken out of our account to Arvia.

Thanks for the feedback. Bearing in mind there are relatively few reading this thread the response suggests this is a common issue. How many returning passengers neglect to check their accounts I wonder ? As for the fridge/mini bar , well they can't pull that one as it was empty . Random illegitimate charges like this could bring in quite a healthy revenue if gone unnoticed.

CHECK YOUR CARD ACCOUNT Whilst on the subject of Arvia , could I suggest that returning passengers check the card account connected to their Onboard Account. A number of passengers , me included , report having their debit/credit charged with amounts around £10 relating to transaction[s] on Jan 7th , the day after we disembarked. I challenged P&O on the basis of a fraudulent transaction and gave them 24 hours to respond , requesting a copy of the receipt for whatever it was I was supposed to have purchased [my onboard account was left in credit] This morning they got back to me , apparently it was a "mistake" and my card would be credited in due course. How strange ! So please do check for any "mistaken" transactions on your card account. It may seem a trivial amount individually , but multiply that by 100s even thousands ....... !!!!!!! Not the first time this has happened , pre covid we had a similar issue. On that occassion they claimed we had made a purchase at a time we were actually on the bus home 😑

COVID spreads to 89 cruise ships, prompting CDC investigations - BNN Bloomberg I wonder how pictures of queues like this relate to warnings about the cruise industry expressed just a couple of weeks ago. From the article..... “Health and safety is the cruise industry’s highest priority,” said Bari Golin-Blaugrund, a spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association trade group, in an email.

The image below is taken from one of the news paper reports Credit..... P&O Cruises passengers left livid after dream cruise 'ruined' by Christmas Day 'disaster' | UK | News | Express.co.uk On the left are the toilets half way down the "first" corridor , the queue itself stretched back to the atrium. You can see how packed in we were. I estimate that at that time there were well over 1000 in the queue waiting more than 90 minutes in sweltering conditions. A health and safety nightmare !

Thanks for getting back re dining. Again I'm really sorry this has not been resolved for you. I know there are a number of your fellow passengers who were on the maiden voyage [they stayed on] Talked to a number of those myself. They were dreading their second leg and it looks like their fears were well founded.😒

So did I , but they carried that idea right through our cruise , we had to book each meal using "My Holiday" Our pre departure Xmas and NYE preferences were ignored. Hence the two queues , prebooked and walk-ins , up to four deep stretching to infinity and beyond!

I think I can help with the Math[s] Myself and my wife , the couple who followed us in to see Sharma and Maria , two more who saw the finance manager , one who was desperate to leave the ship by the time we got to Madiera [but couldn't] plus the dozens more I personally spoke to. I don't deal in tittle tattle or hearsay , with a background in finance , investigative journalism , forensics , TV and documentary making , I like to deal in facts. Ooops looks like I may have blown Mr Ludlow's comments out of the water.

Really sorry to hear this , they promised everything would be sorted ......obviously not. They need to scrap those two dinner sittings and the app for now and get back to "real" freedom dining. When talking to the Hotel manager we suggested this and also said they should get folks into the dinning rooms without having to check in at the two desks [ obviously a system to expose those pirates who had boarded mid Atlantic to get a free meal ] Sounds like you have already encountered the Covid incubating corridor. Take care , try to enjoy at least something of the cruise

The only thing that has been knocked out of the park is Ludlow's credibility.

😉 Well , they know how to find me !

Not a pleasant experience! First things first. We did not book a maiden voyage. The first trip of any ship is usually prone to issues. So we intentionally booked Arvia's second outing. Unfortunately , we ended up , by default on the first outing , which I should add , the departure of which was spectacularly underwhelming. The vessel is a fantastic piece of engineering , but I suspect set sail , still not fit for purpose. From the outset is was obvious there were going to be problems with the "My Holiday" app. Many guests didn't have smart phones or tablets etc , those that did found the software very hit and miss. As someone who helps to develop software the key is not to roll it out until it has been tested to destruction. P&O take note ! As we were at sea until Dec 27th it was not possible to email until three days after departure [ onboard wifi at something like £28 a day was a joke] Consequently , on the 27th I emailed the Executive with our concerns. At that point we had been through the Christmas day debacle. Facts...... All our pre departure reservation requests had been overwritten. Dining times had been changed and "Freedom" dining abandoned. The first dining experience on the 24th was chaotic. Christmas dinner itself , on the 25th started with a queue which extended over half the length of the ship along a narrow corridor. Some of us stood in that covid incubator for well over 90 minutes. Bear in mind many were elderly , disabled or simply flustered by the predicament they were in. The main part of the queue was above the kitchens. Guests we cheek by jowl. Some [witnessed ]collapsed. Many felt faint. This in itself was a health and safety hazard*. Had a fire broken out on the deck below , there would have been carnage. [On a later occassion guests were subject to verbal abuse by fellow travellers , which resulted in physical violence , all caused by the frustration of the situation] But...back to Christmas night. The Meridian dining staff were overwhelmed. Food was poor quality , undercooked and cold by the time we were served . We eventually finished our meal well past 2300hrs. Some , interviewed first hand , missed out completely as they were turned away from the dining room. Restaurant staff cannot be blamed , they did their best under extreme circumstances. This was all down to management failures. Was the Captian aware * .... I doubt it. He was conspicuous by his absence. Now , correct me if I am wrong , but P&O protocol , explained before departure , was that their new dining system was introduced as a "post covid" change to give guests peace of mind. Really ? All of this was discussed with reception onboard and I also requested that the Captain be brought down to see for himself when I spoke to two senior members of staff who made a very brief appearance in the congested corridor .... before they made a rather hasty exit. So , by the 27th the first of my emails was sent direct to the Executive [ this was received and read by at least five members of the shore based team . names can be provided] Now lets get this into perspective. The world is in a terrible state , people are starving , living in war torn countries and our own ex servicemen and women are dumped on the streets whilst thousands of channel crossers get four star hotel accomodation . For those of us lucky enough to have a holiday , there but by the Grace of God etc. This doesn't mean however guests can be treated like cattle. The My Holiday app and dining arrangements were nothing short of disaster. My wife and I were called in to speak to Hotel Manager Sharma Daljit and his colleague. Extremely pleasant members of senior staff [I also wanted the Captain to be present , but that request was declined] Sharma was quite honest , holding up his hands in dismay and asking "How can we put this right!"? We discussed at length our thoughts , coming to some conclusions about what had gone wrong and , the way forward.....But nothing changed whilst we were aboard. All this set the tone for the rest of the cruise. More emails to the Executive , more issues voiced by guests. Yes , Captain Camby did make a formal apology via an all points broadcast. How sincere that was is a matter of opinion.....but it didn't really change anything. The reception staff were completely inept , unable to handle the most simple requests and on occassion , rather rude. We witnessed two elderly guests being turned away from Headliners as they had no access to My Holiday and had been unable to book. As they departed , two members of staff were seen to laugh and riducule the two behind their backs. This was unacceptable. They offered them no help whatsoever. We would have gladly given up our seats had we had the opportunity. As an aside , on the penultimate evening , in the cabin above us , between midnight and three am , an almighty argument broke out between a couple with furniture being smashed , doors being kicked and foul language . exchanged [ Not for the first time]. Reception were advised , but it was two hours before security arrested one those involved. Of course this can happen on any cruise , however it was not dealt with quickly enough. These are the facts , not hearsay . There are many other issues that could be mentioned and I'm sure others who were aboard will expand. This should not however become a whingefest! P&O should read through these comments and then look at Paul Ludlow's media release and ask him , Were you there ? Which planet are you on? and Who are you trying to kid? If need be it is important to make your thoughts known whilst on the cruise itself , then follow up with written comments to the Executive . Ultimately you need a case reference from P&O Guest Support to ensure that your comments are noted. Finally I would like to leave you with the public comment made by a senior member of staff on the morning of disembarkation in Headliners Theatre..... "When you are at the bottom , there is only one way to go" That's quite an admission , but full marks for honesty .... Mr Ludlow please note. Good luck to those presently on Arvia. We are back later in the year. Will things have improved ? I hope so !

Yes saw that......just wonder how long he will keep his job !

No Pager Thank you , appreciate your feedback.. We were on that cruise too and I will be adding our comments shortly. It is important that those who were aboard make their factual reports as accurate as possible. Will P&O respond...well let's see