Yorkie69

I don’t suppose we will ever know but there was a 19 hour delay from Antigua to Gatwick over the New Year although that was down to the flight crew hours.

We were booked premium economy on the flights with P&O for the last cruise until this was removed when we were told Maleth were the operator and they don’t have premium seating. Fortunately we can afford the upgrade so leg room in economy isn’t an issue. What is an issue to us is the fact that there appeared to be no back up if Maleth planes went tech and then there was little to no warning of the issues ie left by Maleth (and P&O) to turn up almost 10 hours before a flight they both new had been put back from 09:30 until 15:50. That is just unacceptable and is enough for me (and others) to consider a different cruise and/or airline. We travel with BA and partners a lot and the IT is awful but we have always been informed of any changes or had new flights organised if any issues have arisen. I’m afraid you see how good or bad a company is when things go wrong and the Maleth flights (especially going out) have led to me looking at other company’s who have confirmed and better scheduling.

I can guarantee premium economy seats with BA and have status with them too. Believe me, BA is miles ahead of Maleth and I know that they can rebook if anything did go wrong as they have options of other aircraft and/or airlines. In regard to price, you are correct it is more but I would rather pay the extra and be happy that I know who is providing the flights compared to what we received this year with Maleth.

I for one have booked with another cruise line for next years Caribbean cruise after the mess of the flight out with Maleth this year and the previous concerns I raised with P&O when we were told Maleth would be the operator. I was told that the same “fantastic” service would be provided and that was well off what we actually got. I have had four P&O cruises and all were fantastic but I wouldn’t risk another fly cruise with them without knowing exactly who the operator was. As P&O couldn’t confirm when I was on the last cruise early this month (I normally book when onboard) I decided to avoid the gamble and book with Celebrity instead and fly with BA. I would think I am not the only one who has avoided booking with P&O due to this so I would state the brand has been affected and some confidence has been lost.

Just a further update on our return from Antigua overnight. The flight with Maleth Aero was supposed to be on time (17:30 local time) and aircraft arrived at 15:00. Unfortunately Antigua airport had 4 long haul flights and 2 inter Caribbean flights leaving from same gates area and the airport was absolutely crammed with well over 1000 people trying to get around the gate area when everyone was asked to go to gate. The LGW flight was indicated as gate 5 but when you got there the area was full with an American Airlines flight to Charlotte which wasn’t due to depart until 17:15 so no way we could board until this aircraft had boarded. In the end we were told we would have to wait for boarding of the Manchester Maleth flight, a Sunwings flight to Toronto and two Caribbean flights. We eventually started boarding just after 6pm but were then told that the luggage hadn’t been loaded and we were now having to wait for the relevant staff and equipment needed to load this luggage after BA and Virgin flights had their luggage loaded. These flights were schedule services and as there was only staff to load one plane at a time we would have to wait as were a charter. We then sat on the tarmac for almost two further hours until we departed just after 8pm and 2.5 hours late. We made up an hour so were only 1.5 hours late to arrive at Gatwick. Please note that the above overcrowding and delays were not Maleth’s fault and Antigua airport can clearly not cope with the amount of flights it currently has planned on Saturday afternoons when the Maleth flights are departing. In regard to the flight itself, unlike the outbound flight when the food was ok I’m afraid both the main meal and breakfast were inedible and there were scores of meals with no more than a mouthful eaten. The cruise was good but the Maleth issues on the outbound, P&O’s decision to not contact us before our outbound journey to advise of the huge delay and avoid customers having to spend 10 hours at Gatwick and the lack of any support or acknowledgment of the issues during the cruise has left a very a very sour taste in the mouth and will definitely see us booking elsewhere in future (Celebrity cruise booked for January 2025 instead of booking with P&O, which we had planned to book whilst on this cruise so we could benefit from the extra loyalty savings and onboard spend). Let’s see how Maleth manage the 7 hour delay payment when we send the claim in.

It is the lack of information from Maleth or P&O’s to ensure a 9+ hour wait in an airport could easily have been avoided.

Apologies but a week into the cruise and this is the first time we have had any time with internet to update on how things planned out on our flight from Gatwick. As you know, we were 6.5 hours late to depart and arrived into Antigua 21:00. We were told on the plane by the pilot that the delay was indeed known by all parties the previous day as the plane needed maintenance in France and bad weather meant it had to put back the flight time.It was decided to not tell passengers and just ensure we were at the airport in case any time could be made up. It wasn’t and the plane was still in France at 1pm. We were told that a P and O rep would meet us at the airport and explain and apologies, they weren’t and the delay was not acknowledged by any staff on the ship, frustrating many of us. We went to reception on the first day to explain our frustration and was told the flight liaison officer would contact us. After a further two days and no one contacting us we again returned to reception to be advised that the flight liaison officer had left a message on our phone, they hadn’t. We again were told we would be contacted. On day five, with still no contact to discuss our flights we were told again we would be contacted that day but we refused to move until the manager responsible had come to see us. Ten minutes later we had our flight delay invoice/details. We have been given a free meal in the Epicurian too for the poor way the whole episode was dealt with. For balance, the cruise has been amazing so far and all the staff have been as excellent as ever. I do feel that the reception staff have been told to fob people off with regards to the flight issues as it seems most people complaining are getting similar statements around a manager contacting them but having to keep chasing up the issue. You can see the smile disappear whenever anyone says “Maleth Aero” at reception! One week left before the flight back and we just hope that the delay isn’t as severe. The flight itself was ok but the plane is poor. My seat had tape around the 1970’s orange valour head rest to keep it together! The cabin staff were very good and drinks and food were ok. I hope all those that are flying to the Caribbean don’t suffer with Maleth (the Flight liaison Officer stated the contract will not be renewed) as it was like flying a poor Ryanair flight long haul.

They’ll be lucky if it’s only four hours late as we are sat at Gatwick still and we’ll be upwards of 6 hours late departing out on that aircraft. The plane is yet to arrive here so expecting a further delay. I expect they’ll bus you all to airport anyway as we were told to turn up at Gatwick at 6am even though the flight was delayed until 15:00 at least!

Fingers crossed we’ll get there and P&O will manage the issue with those affected better than at present.

We have had nothing from either so far. Only one employee trying to manage some very upset people at check in.

Nothing said. The P and O employee at check in told me he had just been told of the delay when we were arriving. Maleth and P&O definitely knew this flight was never leaving on time earlier this week but it was on the Gatwick departures website last night that the flight was 15:00. I suspect nothing was sent to passengers as the airline and P&O have a contract with Swissport for check in staff at 06:00 and I would think it would cost to move the contracted hours of the check in staff or Swissport may have no resource if passengers turned up at midday. Instead we were all just expected to arrive before 06:30 and then spend the next 8.5 hours (if the delay doesn’t get any longer) in the airport.

Thanks for the reply Sussexboy. Although I agree that Maleth were probably the only option for flights this winter but we tried to cancel when P&O announced Maleth as the operator but we were told this wasn’t a possibility unless we lost our deposit. P & O had an option at that point to manage the expectations of the customer but instead forced those that had booked before Maleth was announced to lose their money or put up with the issues we all knew would likely happen with an airline with little or no resource when things went wrong. I would have preferred the option to cancel/move the cruise deposit but was told that this wasn’t going to happen, this leading to another customer who will now look at taking their business elsewhere.

Several small babies in the queue and the parents appeared livid. Flight was due to depart at 09:30 but we all knew there were issues when the flight stopped showing on Gatwick departures on Wednesday. The decision to use Maleth has backfired spectacularly on P & O and they must have lost so many loyal customers. The flight out of Antigua today is going to be heavily delayed also and the flight has been removed from the departure information for the airport in Antigua.

Arrived for our Maleth Aero flight from Gatwick to Antigua at 06:00 this morning to be told that the flight won’t take off until at least 15:00. The frustrating thing is the fact it is apparent P&O and Maleth were aware of possible delays prior to this morning as the flight had been removed from schedules before last Wednesday and was showing as departing at from 15:00 last night. Had either the cruise line or Maleth contacted passengers prior to this morning we could have all avoided getting up at 5am to get to Gatwick. We have been told we cannot go airside until 09:30 and that will only be allowed if the flight hasn’t been further delayed. We have been given a £20 voucher to get refreshments but I would have preferred to have stayed in my hotel bed until nearer the time of departure. It appears P & O haven’t learned from the poor souls who were dropped at Antigua airport and left overnight a few weeks ago despite knowing their flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until the following morning. Already decided that this will be our last P and O cruise (done 3 from Southampton in last 18 months) as we feel that we have been treat appallingly since we found out Maleth were to be used for our flight and we weren’t allowed to change airports or cancel. Our fears of major issues with this airline have now been confirmed! Let’s hope we get there sometime today but I am not at all confident! Apologies for the rant but there are 200+ irritated passengers at Gatwick check in and little help from P & O staff.