Megabear2

Well I'm still here! Someone is apparently on their way, but I'm none the wiser where I'm going. Much as I appreciate its tempting I'd be glad if this doesn't turn in to a why are we cruising with P&O thread. It's bad enough it's taken the turn it did with me, it's meant to be a happy thread! In my case after my last three cruises on P&O and Princess it should probably be why are you cruising on anything to do with Carnival, but then I remember my much loved Queens and think I'll just have to become more selective - warts and all with duck a'lorange and caviar if they put it on the menu as mentioned elsewhere.

Very well put. However it's not just putting it right but how the hell they got to a point where around 100 cabins are clearly not soundproofed properly and head office expects the poor front desk staff to handle the situation. It may well be 200 people out of 6,000 who are upset and inconvenienced on each cruise but those poor people are getting the flack day in day out on every sailing. If it's a known problem and broken, cut your losses and don't sell the affected cabins until you can rectify the issue would surely be the sensible choice. As you've probably guessed I'm still waiting, sitting here surrounded by packed bags.

I'm beginning to wonder why I am! This is an experience I'd never wish on my worst enemy to be honest. I was due on Iona on 3 June, I'm not now. I asked my husband to get it cancelled for me, thankfully used my friend who's a travel agent so he did it easily this afternoon. I had a saver balcony booked and I'd rather lose the money than go through this again. Same type of ship, might not have the same problems but my sanity says it would be a very bad choice just in case. I'm keeping the Arcadia trip to Canada for now, I've only paid a small deposit so would be able to cancel before final balance in June. Really depends on how they rectify this and treat me on my return and that will sway my decision. Not going to book the North Cape trip now, much as I wanted to. I'm just so, so glad I cancelled the Arvia Christmas cruise we had booked when we came home from Britannia at Christmas just gone. My husband would never have recovered if he'd been subjected to this.

I emailed Paul Ludlow's office and my contact 45 minutes ago. I've just been told to pack, at 5.30pm they'll know what's happening. No idea myself. Anyway I now have an even senior guy looking after me who tells me he's waiting for instructions from HO and top management onboard. Meantime he has cancelled my 6.00pm dinner reservation at Green & Co and moved it to 7.15pm as he is confident I'm going somewhere around 6.00pm. Just been sitting in the little side room with four others all making complaints rather loudly including two gents who are in a full suite and have no amenities (whatever they are) and have been told all select restaurants are fully booked for the entire voyage. Another lady has some sort of Deck 8 forward suite thing and has had kids standing on chairs staring in at her! While I was queuing to hand in my questionnaire and to meet the guy who called me the man in front posted his questionnaire and said to me "they won't be very happy with that". I feel sorry for the staff.

Well I'm back on-board .... not sure whether to laugh or cry now! Message at 14.28 - the cabin we were sourcing for you is no longer available. We wanted to update you and will continue to try to monitor the situation with noise. At present we are trying to source a solution. And then the attached was outside the door. How rude do you think I can be when completing it ...

Bless you. Thank you for your understanding, it's always easier to deal with these things when you're not on your own. The annoying thing is the ship itself is good and I'm certain if you aren't one of the hundred or so people in the dud cabins you'd have a lovely holiday. What's exacerbating it for me is all the promises of meetings, moving etc when no one turns up. I'm sure they don't mean to be unkind but the truth is the ship is full and if your one of the unlucky ones they can't help you no matter how much they might wish to. Any way the good news is there's a 17.40 flight to LHR from Palma on Friday with decent availability for £168 and if they don't sort me when I go back my husband's booking me on.

Never mind Italy, my husband is looking at flights from Palma for me as we speak. I'm ashore as no call was received, the sun's come out and I'm.seriously not wanting to get back on. At least I enjoyed a glass of wine and an ice cream to cheer me up.

A very good day to you all. The farce continues!! Pleased to say I've had 10 hours sleep only interrupted intermittently by the neighbouring cabins flushing their lavatories, banging their doors at 2.00am and then the scrapping of chair arrangements above my head. Despite all this the total exhaustion and stress meant I was able to drop off again very quickly. I did eat my dinner in Olive Grove which took 1 1/2 hours for three courses so I trundled up to the temporary room at 8.00pm to retire. Big problem. Despite my having previously in the room the card wouldn't operate the door. No one around, like the Marie Celeste so took 10 minutes wandering around before finding a staff member who accompanied me back to the room. Its double locked he says, not for occupation! Ahh but I've already been in there I say, my bag is inside. Can't help that, it's double locked. Well I'm sorry but I'm not going all the way back down from deck 15 to deck 7 reception to join a queue, can you please call them to confirm I can go in there? Okay, off he disappeared and 5 minutes later back with a master card to open the door, a magic click and apparently the double lock is off. Simples ... okay time for bed it's now approaching 9.00pm but what the heck the bed looks good. Into the bathroom for the loo, tooth clean quick freshen up and into pjs. Major problem as I reach for the toilet roll ... there isn't one, in fact on looking around there's absolutely nothing at all in this bathroom. So there I am waddling into the main room searching cupboards to find nothing, zilch except loads of pillows. Throw my clothes back on, take the lift back down, go to my old cabin (this by now was vibrating to the sounds of Pulse gold) and raid it for a towel and lavatory roll. So apologies to any guests reading this who saw the strange woman in a state of cross dress with pyjama bottoms and a sparkly evening top wandering around with two towels and a loo roll. As I say I did then manage to go to bed. I woke too late for breakfast as I had an appointment with the reception manager for the next discussion. Presented myself at 9.30 as instructed, asked for the lady by name as instructed. Who said you should ask for her? She did here's the note she gave me. She's not available. Why not, she made the appointment? There's crew exercises for the next 1 1/2 hours, come back at 3.00pm when she's next on duty. NO! She made the appointment not me I want it dealt with, I'm on holiday and this is now farcical and extremely distressing. I'm sorry madam she's not here. Okay is no once in charge or looking after your guests? Please go to the room where you met with her yesterday, someone will come. How long will they be? Can't say, please wait there. I suddenly hear another conversation from down the end from a man who was demanding another cabin as he can't sleep in his and 48 hours with such a noise is intolerable. So now there's two of us waiting, blocking reception. My lady returns go to the small waiting area, someone will be there in 5 minutes. I go as instructed and sit down. It all gets too much and embarrassingly I end up in floods of tears. 5 minutes pass and I'm tapped on the shoulder by a lady in a white suit. I'm taking over she says, we do have another room for you, it's on deck 4 at the inside grade you booked as there's no other rooms anywhere at all. Once you feel better I'll take you there to show you it. This lady was very nice, understanding. After 10 minutes I felt able to go with her. Down we go, she has key in hand. Get to deck 4, she knocks on the door to the room, waits a couple of seconds and enters ... to find a load of gentleman's clothing and a voice from the bathroom calling hello? We back out quickly and stand in the corridor, she gets on the radio com, are you sure this is the right room it's occupied by a contractor! Lots of crackling. At this point I became very dizzy lent against the back wall and promptly fainted. Came round a minute later to find her and two very kind passengers above me. It's such fun all this, now I'm having anxiety attacks to add to the situation. Anyway after 10 minutes looking a bit like Bambi I'm back on my feet and following my lady back to the room next to reception on Deck 7. On arrival she tells me there's been a mistake - you don't say - and they aren't sure which room I'm being given. We sit and wait and have a chat to pass the time. Transpires she has just come off Arcadia and only wanted to work on small ships. How on earth did you get on here then? They're very short of staff and needed an experienced people focused staff member. Well in fairness she is very nice, friendly and understands mental health issues and stress as she's suffered herself over the years. Sounds the ideal candidate for the job, but apparently it's not such a nice place to be if you actually care about the people because there's very little she can do to alleviate their problems. That sadly is from the person tasked with helping. Meantime I've been sent back to my room to await a call for what happens next. We've agreed if the call doesnt come by noon I'm going to go ashore - it's all onboard by 4.30pm. I'm apparently to pack my cases - I'm doing this very slowly with no enthusiasm as I write. To be truthful I just want to go home now, this isn't a holiday, it's a round of cancelled appointments, arguments, tears and stress.

My temporary accommodation is twice the size of my own one. Very quiet too, well until Captain Camby blared into the room. Clearly a lot of difference in size of small and large balcony cabins! I do now have a very nice letter telling me how they will support me through my confinement... La Coruna on time tomorrow around 11 degrees early morning warming in the afternoon to 22 degrees. Hopefully I can get off for a while once the situation is sorted

I'm told she's fully aware of the "P" and it does actually hold some sway in that I'm a personal contact of someone in high places in head office - something I didn't know so I've learned something new today if nothing else! I assume it must be from my days of fighting the good fight on insurance and offloading but no doubt will never know! Hopefully the 100 people aren't all complaining on this particular voyage, as someone else has already gotten the spares! Anyway you are right about entertainers, she did mention those as bring a solution. Chesney Hawkes and his entourage get off tomorrow but I doubt international superstar rooms will.go to little old me. We shall see. Having spoken to.home if it's not sorted by La Spezia week yesterday I'm going to ask to leave the ship as we have Italian contacts who will look after me and I can also get the train into Austria where I have friends and Munich with its multiple flights is very close by. This is certainly an adventure. Ironically I actually quite like the ship, have met some nice people already and if I can only get some sleep would be quite content. Despite the sleep deprivation it's better than the assault on Britannia at Christmas! Off to track down.my overnight room now with my trusty small bag - good job they found it - then dinner in the police Grove at 6.15 followed hope7by bed.

Thank you. I actually booked direct with P&O on this occasion so can't blame anyone else, much as I'd love to!

I rarely have OBC when I'm travelling alone, but apart from that I would have to pay for all that and a lot more if I was on a land based holiday. I budget for these things as I want/need them. Certainly if I was travelling in the States I'd most likely get charged a "resort fee" even at the.most basic hotels. The only "luxury" amongst that lot is my Wi-Fi. Again travelling alone I budget for excursions mainly for safety reasons. If I book.begore going the prices are lower and I get my discount. I drink very little so my dining and excursions are my luxury. I can't see the point of scrimping to use OBC and missing something I really like or want to do.

I think fly cruises are always better handled at embarkation though regardless of line. The passengers are.normally "controlled" if that's the right word by plane and transfer arrivals. Boarding in a home port such as Southampton people naturally do their own thing particularly because of pressures from external sources such as traffic.

Well it's not gone very well I'm afraid. Heard nothing so went to reception where I was told nothing can be done as there's no free cabins. The guy who came earlier is apparently "watching the situation"! This I'm afraid led to Megabear meltdown not helped when a man turned up next to me to hand in his keys for his change of cabin due to noise issues. He told me quite openly he and his wife came down in their nightclothes at 12.30pm to complain about the situation. Ironically she has an identical hearing/ear problem as me. He was deck 9 above the club as well. Earlier on deck I spoke to a lovely couple on their first cruise celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They had noise until 2.00am in their deck 5 midship inside as well. I was then taken to an area away from reception by the person in charge of the reception/cabin allocation where we had a very frank discussion about noise issues as a whole across the ship and apparently there are literally a hundred or so cabins in various places and of all grades where complaints have been received at some point from passengers. Having been told nothing can be done unless someone gets off I explained that because of my mental health issues if I remain sleep deprived I would be at risk of an episode. After this discussion the lady left to speak to someone else and also at my suggestion try to at least find me somewhere to rest tonight. As a very special concession I have been given a room elsewhere to sleep in tonight, I understand it's a one off due to my situation. It's actually a crew isolation cabin and I can only have it tonight. I'm told to have breakfast tomorrow and go to see her at around 9.15 after the ship is docked and the manifesto of passengers is amended. Apparently we will get a proper solution tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. Meantime my port time looks like it's going out of the window while it's all dealt with. I'm too tired and fed up to even care now, in fact I'd happily get off the way I feel at present. I made a number of points about being upgraded when I'd said no, about the whole process of allocating known noisy cabins to people who have files marked as vulnerable and also the lie I'd get moved, the no show of the drvk supervisors and my partially wasted day. Apparently these are all valid complaints but nothing to do with the ship! To compound everything the wonderful app is down ship wide and hosts of people have lost all.of their bookings. I'll bet you evens mine will be one of them!

Hate to say this, but I actually had done just that before leaving home. All my entertainment booked, Wi-Fi in place, transport checked off, dining booked. In fact a bit too regimented for me, no thrill factor. Ahh but hang on, that's probably what the room with added percussion was for! What's not to like? I've got a chair in the sun, drink in hand watching the ocean, and believe it or not its quiet and restful. Someone else is doing the driving, cooking, cleaning, washing up as well. Can't beat it really.

Friends of Bill W meeting today on Arvia wasn't well attended when I looked so don't think AA has the message.

Well I'm moving! No idea where to, I'm to be given suggestions later today. I'm promised it will be quiet which is all I care about! I'm going out now and apparently will have a message from reception on my return. A big relief, I don't mind if I go back inside or where as long as I can sleep.

No I wasn't asked and when I booked there was no choice about upgrading because all cabins were guarantee in an area rather than being able to pick. I've just returned after eating - I couldn't wait for the guy any longer - and apparently he is returning in 15 minutes as he'd missed me. Interestingly when I first went out my steward was outside and asked if I'd slept well - I think the bags under the eyes and red eye probably told the sorry tale. Anyway started chatting and he told me every cruise without fail someone in this little bank of cabins makes a complaint they can't sleep properly for noise issues. Away from the complaint I joined a queue for the Diner brunch as no virtual queue in place. Waited 10 minutes and then in to a very nice table next to the window. Service was very good and the food was hot and tasty. Definitely a good choice if you miss breakfast elsewhere. Talking to a couple sitting next to me they told me that all entertainment this evening is fully booked and has been so most of the.morning. Checking The app they are correct, only the escape room thing has availability. The good news is my Wi-Fi and app are working splendidly and my phone thinks I'm in France and has connected via my EE free roaming. So now I wait, I hope Godot is coming soon.

Yes and also avoid middle deck 5 as under 710 Club where there's a show starting 12.15am every night so I was advised which was why I booked forward originally.

No, the joys of an upgrade from inside to balcony. I had booked a select inside but couldn't choose a cabin only area. I chose front, they moved me to aft small balcony. I could not change it back when I found out where it was as the ship is purportedly full. We shall see, I'm awaiting my visitor who's on his way apparently.

Thanks for letting me know about the mix and match, I will definitely give it a go. Hope your body clock adjusts to normal quickly. The clocks changed last night so it's now 7.30am on here and I'm fit for nothing after 4 hours or so sleep. At 1.15am ship time I conceded defeat and rang reception to ask when the music would stop and was told another 30 minutes. I was surprised the phone was answered so quickly. Anyway the outcome was a very surprising would you like another room and the deck supervisor is now visiting me at 9.00am to discuss options. This will be an interesting one, I must confess I was extremely surprised at how quickly this was offered and the sceptic in me says they know certain rooms are likely to usher in a complaint (apparently I've made one although I never actually used the word). Unfortunately I am almost deaf in my left ear and my right ear over compensates as a result. I also get regular infections in my ear so try to avoid putting anything in it to prevent flare ups. The side effect of the bad ear is that although I cannot hear normal levels low and high pitch sounds are acutely exacerbated and the thump and grind of the drum and bass guitar I experienced last night were such that even with my head good ear down deep in the pillow the sound was vibrating and reverberated through my left ear. I was quite surprised how loud the noise was, rarely can I not obliterate noise by turning my deaf ear up. Anyways I'll keep the deck 15 information in mind in case they try to move me there. I must confess I'm.absolutely shattered so hope they person is on time as I'm planning to try to get some more sleep when they've gone. Apart from the tiredness it's ironically super quiet this morning with no noise anywhere from my neighbours. In light of my unexpected visitor being due I'm going to try for breakfast brunch at 6th Street Diner at when it opens at 10.00am, assuming of course I'm not trundling around the ship with bags and a suitcase! Apart from that all is good, the Horizon looks full of things to do and I'm planning to visit the spa later to arrange a couple of treats.

It did have a label thankfully and was here when I got back a short time ago with a nice little note apologising for it's delay which was a nice surprise. Been a good evening wandering around. I had the theatre at 8.30pm for Rock On! which I thoroughly enjoyed. The queue formed at 8.00pm, stretching back a long way. I wandered in around 8.15pm and got a nice central seat, had to give cabin number on entry. The show was apparently full but I had no one sitting next to me and there were quite a few spare seats when I looked around. People seemed reluctant to fill every seat in a row leaving odd seats as gaps. I thought that was quite poor but there you go. The show was very good, loud with special effects which were extremely impressive. Earlier I sat in the atrium area and watched the acrobatic show. It was impossible to get a drink at that point, I waited 30 minutes before giving up when the ladies finished on their trapeze. I was very uncomfortable with the act as they had no safety harness and as someone not keen on heights I found it rather scary. I ate in the Quays, the black bean thingie very pleasant. A roaring trade in Yorkshire puds was occurring and it was quite busy. Wandering round after I encountered the Meridian restaurant dining queue which was quite long. A quick look at the app showed 75 people in the virtual queue at 7.55pm and 63 for Zenith. I'm very glad I booked all my meals etc in advance, I wouldn't be happy with the queues. After the show I sat in the Amber Lounge having a drink and chatted to another solo traveller, a lady who'd come by coach from the Wirral. She confirmed they arrived at 1.30pm and were held for an hour at the Queen Elizabeth Terminal. Apparently blue numbers were issued to them and this bypassed the queues outside the terminal. She was using the app nothing booked before boarding and it had taken an hour for her to be called to Zenith at 7.00pm after entering the queue at 6.00pm - she didn't realise dining started at 5.30pm on this ship. Overall been a pleasant first day, I'm now attempting to try to sleep.but the bass from below is very loud! Soundproofing clearly isn't Arvia's strong point. I have a feeling I'm not going to be very happy with the noise, but will give it a try and see what time it ends. The clocks go forward tonight so it could be 2.00am or later apparently. Apart from the noise issues the room is clean and tidy. I can confirm I have glasses in the bathroom and a pile of sanitary bags. On investigation the under bed box has 4 more glasses and nothing else. My cabin steward tells me there is no conditioner or body lotion available - I didn't actually ask but clearly others had. Tomorrow is meant to be a pleasant day sea and weather wise.

Need my charger for the app though, typically hardly any charge left as I've been telling the world where I've been! I'm sure it will get here eventually, just annoying they took it off my case before I could. It's always the little things you miss when they aren't there.

We are sailing at 6.00pm apparently. My steward has brought ice and biscuits but my small bag is currently lost!! That means no toiletries, no kindle, no books and no electrical chargers amongst other essential items! There's something about me and small bags with luggage... Been for a scout around but only on deck 16 where I saw the lesser spotted football shirts of Aston Villa and Tottenham encouraging their offspring to splash the water put of the infinity pool. Hopefully the trough will do it's job. Apart from panicking about my bag I've settled in and unpacked. The wardrobe seemed quite compact, but I never travel without the kitchen sink so it might be me. Definitely wouldn't be anywhere for my OH or a travelling companion to put stuff on the shelves though. I've successfully gotten lost on two occasions so am about to venture into the big wide world of decks 6, 7 and 8 ... it may be sometime before I return.

Collected and on-board in room by 3.40pm. Still.big queues outside when I boarded. Assistance man told me today had been a "good one", not sure what a bad one will be like!! Cabin found and very pleased with it although it does seem small after Britannia and QM2. Have 2 pairs of slippers, a sail away drink voucher and a letter saying no cocktail parties (although I have another one telling me I'll get an invite)! My WiFi logged straight in, no huffing about at reception like on Britannia and so far seems quite responsive. Ship looks like it's already very busy big queues for the lifts, glad I could use the stairs as the baggage guys took my small bag as well as my case. General observation from boarding queue: much younger demographic than I normally see at this time of year. Lots of babies, all very friendly and smiling. I liked the boarding gates being divided by muster station, straight on checked in and free to wander. Very impressive. App is behaving so far - would it dare not to with me! My tea/coffee drawer is broken, pulled it out, everything fell on the floor and it wouldn't go back in. Took me ages to get it back in. Big news: NO BISCUITS .... Please send those hobnobs urgently. Off for a wander and to find a g&t to recover from the trauma of this situation!