Bazrat

I for some unknown reason kept walking past Ben and David on our last TA,to say there appearance off camera is to say the least miserable, and after watching the video about the cruise and there last comment, they was happy to leave the ship and get a salad completely lost me.

29 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Yeah those lads attitudes not my cup of tea, Emma has done some good informative blogs without filming everwhere and anyone. 

Emma says like it is, she got an awful lot of abuse when she criticised virgin cruises

After our last cruise on Arvia the amount of people wandering around filming was simply ridiculous, there wasn’t one part of the ship we’re you did not encounter them, I know some might want to film there experience onboard but the majority are the ones trying to earn a living from it, it seams to have gotten worse.

Depends if they have got a special offer on, because normally cheaper onshore duty free shops, also depends what part of the world your in.

Just sat through a video headlined school dinner's, they went to the mdr and had a meal of pie and mash, the crime of p&o was to put a scope of mash on the plate so they called it a school dinner, yes the mash should have been tastily arranged not to offend anyone.

Booking a cruise wether it's early late middle is entirely down to your own personal circumstances, we book early so we know everything is sorted, others prefer to book late to get that bargain if there is one. There's no-one on here can say with any authority which is the best choice.

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes I completely understand that. Neither did I until retirement, hence why we always used to book at launch. Obviously booking at launch gives the satisfaction of having secured your first choice and being able to look forward to it over a prolonged period. Usually it also has the added benefit of being the best time to book, price wise, which was another reason why we always did it. It was a pleasant, but unexpected, surprise that we managed to nab two cruises at short notice at bargain prices. No idea if we will be as lucky again, but booking over 2 years out is no longer sensible for us given my wife’s health, so it’s a chance we’ll take. In the end, we all have to do what’s best for our circumstances. As we often say, there’s no right or wrong answer. 

The thought of retiring and booking holidays as and when we wished, have been tempered by the fact the government changed the retirement ages of women, being 5 years older then my beloved I will be 72 before she can retire so by 2030 the worlds our oyster.

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Exactly. No lottery at all in our case. On both occasions that we booked after balance due date we were told the cabin numbers prior to paying, and they were cabins that we would have chosen had we booked on launch day at a much greater cost!

That obviously works if you have flexibility in what time you can take your holidays, alas I have not got that flexibility 

18 minutes ago, daiB said:

As we have discussed before that is not my experience. I have still not found a cruise cheaper than I got it for on day one. Possibly you were lucky with yours because of the cost of living crisis and people dropping out late in the day. I am very happy with the prices I have  got for our summer 26 cruises.

Totally agree with your comments, we book in advance because we want to be on a specific deck cabin and location, if you wait till after balance due it is a lottery what you get but each there own.

We mostly book onboard, last year we got £680 which I don't care what anyone say's we thought was good, this year we get £500 but the holiday is slightly cheaper because they was running a special offer, the flights are now more expensive for premium. 

1 hour ago, carlanthony24 said:

How would it be a cutback if it’s not finished?  You would think P&O would want it back up ASAP I presume it makes them a lot of money.

Alas my sarcasm at the great and good eluded you my apologies, but I was referring to most threads on here usually degenerate into cutbacks on p&o.

9 hours ago, emam said:

I have heard the casino will be closed on her first cruise (Sunday?) As it's not finished. 

That would be a deal breaker for some on here, obviously more cutbacks from p&o

29 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

You must be special.
 

We have had none and neither have any of our travelling companions.

We had one after spending most of Friday trying to get through to customer services, I actually thought someone was pulling my leg.

7 hours ago, emam said:

Borrowed from another site from I think Gemma.

 

I hope there’s water underneath when we are on her to the Caribbean 

22 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Surely listening to feedback is part of good customer service and part of a managers role?

 

anyway each to their own.

That is correct ask the question then pass it on

But like you say each to their own

2 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Like you I give feedback, good or bad while onboard but not in response to the Ents manager in the theatre. I don’t think I have ver seen anyone stand up and say “no”.

 

Sometimes immediate feedback is simply ignored anyway making it a complete waste of breathe.

 

We stopped at the desk to speak to the Maitre,d to give very positive feedback about our waiters in fixed dining (having been moved from freedom days before as it was nothing but long waits) and she all but ignored us. We gave the names I suspect they went in one ear and put the other.
 

I used to give feedback on the survey post cruise but I haven’t had one of them since before the pandemic. Do they still do them?

I prefer to give benefit of doubt to whoever asks me my opinion, because I would have no idea if they have been asked to collect feedback.

P&O are good value for money and in our opinion we have had many enjoyable cruises with them, as for the British vide that happens to be the people they are aiming for I would have thought 

14 minutes ago, zap99 said:

When they ask...Are you having a good time..you could stand up with your list...well bazza, water was only cold this morning,  3 lifts were out of order  toast was like cardboard....etc. He might not ask again.

That would be my reply, if I have a problem I would tell them not wait to post on here.

14 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't mind the ents manager asking us if we have had an enjoyable day ashore in wherever, but dislike them asking if we are having a good time on board, and mostly on recent cruises they don't.

So you dislike giving feedback if asked the question are you having a good time, I prefer to give feedback at the time but each there own.

2 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Yeah, we definitely need more sophisticated entertainment like Princess, who's daytime schedule includes making paper aeroplanes and throwing them about the atrium... 😂

There is enough to do on these ships to avoid the Butlins brigade, I have never heard the cocktail pianist in the Crows Nest shout 'are you having a good time'... 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

You do realise that we never hear those things, because we go on the more sophisticated p&o cruises away from the mob 

I am glad I sail on p&o because as a child I never went to a holiday camp, so I haven't missed out now 🤣🤣🤣.

23 hours ago, davecttr said:

I checked Fred cruises to Norway etc for Jun/July/August 2025 and there are no arctic offers. The most interesting is a 12 nighter from Dover in July costing £3199 for an inside single cabin on a lower deck. Dover is attractive as it is about 40 miles from home so a hotel stay not needed. The price is high though. 

 

P&O hav a 16 night Arcadia cruise from southampton to Iceland at £2499 for a inside single on the whale watching deck. £156 pn v £266 per night, no contest even with the additional cost of getting to Southampton. Fred have no cruises to Svalbard etc next year either.

What about the turn down service on Fred and the choccy on the pillow, didn't that persuade you

Booked our meal at ocean grill on Arcadia which for us it was a minor miracle.

On 4/13/2024 at 11:34 PM, GSPG said:

I believe there was at the time.

 

On our last night before we docked back at Southampton, we bumped into a senior officer along our cabin corridor and we had quite a chat.

 

He was aware of the problems and said 1,000 kids were expected the following week.
I said there was just no security presence about, nothing to make those ‘playing up’ think about getting into trouble with their behaviour, and that they were being watched.

 

If it’s not an issue this summer that’s a great thing!

I was on a TA last year and a pair of bloggers was on there, they complained about everything food décor atmosphere you name it they complained about it, strangely enough there must have been a dozen other bloggers on there who had a completely different view of the holiday, just put a search in for TA in October 2023 on Arvia.

45 minutes ago, GSPG said:

We were on Arvia on July 9th last year for two weeks in the Med. We expected kids, but thinking the schools wouldn’t have broken up then did not think there would be too many.

 

There were 800 as the schools had already broken up in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and there were those who had left school early because of exams, college or Uni.

 

The truth was there was not enough to do for the kids. Towards the end of the first week we noticed they were forming groups of up to twenty, and hanging out in an area next to Sindhu, and in the buffet after midnight.

 

As time went on, lifts were being littered with food, drinks were being left in corridors, there were set two’s between parents and altercations around the pools as some families were ‘camped out’ around these and were intimidating other guests.

Families had parents who were drunk most of the time, and the kids were just allowed to get on and do what they wanted to do. There was no security, they had the run of the ship.

 

If things don’t look too good and anything like above, if your wallet of purse permits once you are onboard, my advice would be book the retreat if you can.

 

Instead of buffets, use waiter served dining.

 

Forget the pools. Too small for the amount of people.

 

 

It sounds horrendous I am surprised this board isn’t inundated with people who was on that cruise, complaining about all the problems what you posted about.