Pacific ARIA & EDEN Woes - some real ANSWERS from P&O - Your views??

[Cyrix400]

LONGISH BUT INFORMATIVE READ – YOUR THOUGHTS?? My latest email to and reply from P&O below. In addition, after previously writing direct to the President P&O Aust, I have recently received a very courteous phone call from his personal assistant who was quite frank in his discussions with me and made these additional and interesting points which I make available for CC members:

 

1. About 70% (!) of crew are on their first contract .

2. P&O is recruiting additional 400 (!!) crew for these two ships – with majority going to food and service depts.

3. Yes, current limited service capacity means that not all tables in the restaurants can be utilised (previous source of frustration to many)

4. The issues with lukewarm food were caused by past problems with the new kitchen (since mostly resolved)

5. Yes, the modern reconfigured Pantry (food court eatery) reduced seating there

6. To minimise future problems and to quickly identity any issues with the few available public toilets being out of order - they are considering placing an attendant in the bathrooms during busy time (great idea, similar to Celebrity)

7. More staff put on the restaurant reservation phone line to make it easier to make booking and to prevent non-answered calls.

8. The ships keep daily log of issues & complaints, which are sent to HO every day.

9. A senior guest relation person from HO is sent on each voyage to be available at the guest relations desk and to keep tabs on the issues and to resolve problems.

10. Aria and Eden should reach the standard of the other 3 P&O ships in the next 12 to 16 weeks (4 months)

 

So it seems that P&O is taking real action to resolve the many and most unfortunate issues. And although I have been critical in the past I am now somewhat IMPRESSED with their frank acknowledgement of issues and the apparent willingness to fix it.

Let’s just hope that when the new Pacific Explorer comes to service in 2017 she will be adequately resourced from the beginning and that the extent of the current problems will NOT be repeated.

 

 

EMAIL TO P&O

 

Corporate Communication Manager, Carnival Australia

RE: Pacific Aria & Eden Problems

"A number of my friends and I, all active cruisers and members of the cruise community cruisecritic.com, would appreciate P&O’s updated response re Aria and Eden, for posting on cruisecritic.com forum.

We consider ourselves to be fair minded and experienced cruisers on a variety of ships. We have a great deal of goodwill towards P&O Aust for attempting to introduce a more modern, boutique hotel-like style of cruising on Aria and Eden.

 

You can understand our serious concerns that after some 8 weeks of operation the ‘new’ Aria and Eden continue to receive much worse reviews that the more established Dawn, Jewel and Pearl - and with much greater ‘terrible’ (1 star) and ‘poor’(2 starts) ratings than the other 3 P&O Aust ships.

 

(You will notice that between 45% to 51% of cruisecritic.com reviewers ‘love’ the older Dawn, Jewel and Pearl – but so far only 16% love Aria and only 23% ‘love’ Eden. Also 20 out of 43 Aria reviewers rated is as ‘terrible’ (46%) and 13 people rated it as ‘poor’ (30%). The breakdown for Eden is similar: 54% (19 out of 35 reviews) rated is as ‘terrible’ and 17% (6 reviews) rated it as ‘poor’).

 

I am sure that you would also agree that the headlines titles chosen by the cruisecritic.com reviewers would tend to discourage a large number of potential cruisers from going on these ships. The headings for 1 star reviews for Aria include: ‘Very disappointing; Mayday, Mayday let us off; Poseidon Adventure – 10 issues; If it was a car it would be ordered off the road; Cruise from Hell; Don’t book it; Don’t go for service; Avoid this ship- not worth the money; Never again; ARIA stands for Atrocious; Disenchanted’.

 

The selection of 1 star review headings for Eden include: ‘Hell on Earth; Well below expectations, One star too many; False & misleading advertising; State of Decay; Never again; The Faulty Towers of Cruises; Absolute waste of money, effort and time; Never again P&O; Not up to standard; Don’t believe the advertising; A new low in hospitality standards’.

 

Although the reviews can only reflect the personal opinions of some reviewers, one cannot avoid the conclusion that they reveal a disturbing and systemic pattern which is difficult to ignore - particularly when compared with much better reviews, comments and ratings for Pacific Dawn, Jewel and Pearl.

In light of the above, and after carefully analysing the comments in each of the reviews, I would appreciate P&O Aust response to the following matters, for posting on cruisecritic.com forum.

 

1. -- Is it correct that there is only a small proportion of experienced staff on Aria and Eden – and that over 50% are on their first contract?

 

--. What is the total crew number on Aria and Eden – and what is the number who can be considered as having previous cruise ship experience?

 

--Is P&O satisfied that the staffing is adequate and that the majority of customer service staff have been trained to the required level?

 

3. -- What action, if any, is going to be taken to prevent future rain water damage of suites, some other cabins and public areas (water buckets in public areas, sections roped off, seals and external door eroded, vent ducks and pipes at the forward end of Deck 6 Promenade caused growing algae and mould)?

 

4. -- Has the past problems with a number of lifts not working and some public toilets not working been fully addressed by now?

 

5. -- In view of the number of complaints voiced, does P&O accept as legitimate some comments regarding the low standard of food, its limited variety, and its inconsistent service at the right temperature (hot food not hot, croissants served from the fridge and not warmed up etc, some mouldy sandwiches)

 

6. -- Has the past difficulties with making phone restaurant bookings (phone not answered during the day ) been resolved now?

 

7. And finally – when would P&O expect the currently very low cruisecritic.com ratings for Aria & Eden to begin to improve – and to reach the satisfaction level similar to that of Pacific Dawn, Jewel and Pearl (as noted above).

Thank you in advance for your comprehensive reply".

 

-----------------

 

REPLY FROM P&O

"I wanted to reply to your recent emails. Happy to respond and also happy to note that our recent experience again confirms what an open minded people Australians are. They're not ones to be swayed by the views of others especially when negative commentary is particularly strident, even over the top in some cases. They say, yes we've heard all that but let’s make up our own minds based on our own experience and that's what we now see happening.

 

In fact, I was particularly taken with a Facebook post on our site from Rebecca who said, as only a direct speaking Aussie can, ‘stuff all the negative feedback’, she’d just had a fabulous time on Pacific Eden and wanted everyone to know it. So notwithstanding your analysis of Cruise Critic posts, it is pretty clear from our feedback that sentiment on the Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria experience has shifted and it won't be long before these ships are held in the same esteem as the other P&O Cruises ships that have earned their reputations over time.

 

The change in sentiment reflects the big effort that has been made to support the onboard teams on Aria and Eden during the settling in period. We have acknowledged service delivery issues during this early period but I also think people inherently know that P&O Cruises has been around for more than 80 years and is far from being a novice when it comes to getting service delivery right and proactively addressing issues where they exist.

 

You asked a number of questions about crewing arrangements which I'm going to address in general terms by saying that our people are well trained with the right blend of experience and personal commitment to look after our guests. The growing trend of positive sentiment about Aria and Eden is testament to their efforts to address any issues.

 

In relation to Pacific Aria’s recent experience with a monsoonal downpour off Queensland – by any measure, it was a freak weather event with around 200mm of rain falling within a matter of hours. To put the event in context, New South Wales has just experienced significant flash flooding and disruption from a not dissimilar deluge associated with a severe coastal low weather system. The Pacific Aria team did a fabulous job in cleaning up public areas of the ship by the time passengers were up and about in the morning and we did everything possible to assist guests whose cabins were affected by rainwater. A freakish weather event to be sure but, as we always do, we will be looking in this case at ways to further improve drainage systems onboard although it's unlikely such an exceptional downpour is likely to be experienced again any time soon.

 

Our overall position on Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria is that they are wonderful additions to the P&O Cruises fleet and, just as we have done down the years, we put our faith in the goodwill and fairness of the Australian people who we have pledged to offer the best possible product. We don't dismiss constructive criticism -- listening is a way to improve the guest experience -- but it is also a fact that the many people who have loved the onboard experience are now also having their say. We are also experiencing a similarly positive response in bookings across the P&O Cruises fleet in the current sale period".

[Cyrix400]

Sorry but I still can't get over how much time you're spending on this when you haven't even cruised on the ships. You've already got threads running about this, it could just go in there. That's my thoughts.

Yes, you might be right, in retrospect - but in fairness to P&O, I wanted to highlight THEIR side of the story - so the emphasis here is on highlighting THEIR current answers. And I am going on Eden on 28 Jan - that why I am very concerned (and there may be some others about to embark).

[icat2000]

I think its a pretty good response from PO Australia. It clearly shows they are aware of the problems and making steps to address the issues.

 

I believe they had a bit of a bad luck, some of their own making and some which was completely out of their own control and could have happened on any cruiseline.

 

I think the key to any company is how they respond to an incident and how they move forward from it.

[irukandjisting]

We had a lovely cruise on 7 Dec Eden

 

Cabin and staff were great

 

Food was the usual Bain Marie hot warm n cold, same as any BM meal

 

Just a mention - no CHEESE selection whatsoever - for a daily cheese person it was missed and mentioned by many on board

 

I didn't look for any faults but we did not notice anything amiss or exceptional to the many cruises we have been on

 

No complaints here... :)

[pkwessel]

Cyrix400,

 

I'll be looking forward to your review on your return, as we are on her in April

[MicCanberra]

CYRIX400,

Thanks for posting the responses from P&O. I do hope that you are now satisfied and can now thoroughly enjoy the build up to your cruise. I hope you have a wonderful time and spend it looking for a good time rather than faults. I look forward to your review.

cheers Mic.:D

[Murgat]

We had a lovely cruise on 7 Dec Eden

 

 

Just a mention - no CHEESE selection whatsoever - for a daily cheese person it was missed and mentioned by many on board

 

.. :)

 

I did a three week land tour of China 20 years ago and several guests complained of cheese deprivation syndrome. Rarely on a cruise ship have I been served cheese as a dinner course at the optimum temperature. I do like to be offered ham and cheese slices for breakfast and always remember to ASK for smoked salmon. It may not be on offer but is usually available. Ask nicely.

[The_Big_M]

I think it's a good response but not really anything unexpected, as said before.

 

Of course they pay attention to feedback, and of course they're trying to resolve any issues.

 

As for details being asked for, like "no of first time contracts" I don't think that is very useful nor something that I would expect them to share, and there are a whole raft of other factors that come into it. Further, even that metric could be determined a number of different ways, so doesn't mean much. Other questions are also not reasonable to ask, as things happen constantly e.g. What is "4. -- Has the past problems with a number of lifts not working and some public toilets not working been fully addressed by now?" supposed to mean or be answered? It doesn't give a specific quantity, time frame, and even refers to different equipment, so who knows what you're referring to. And even if they were to answer "Yes" that doesn't mean no lift or toilet will ever fail again so not something they can reasonably answer, so it's not a good or useful question to ask.

[Royalty X]

Sorry but I still can't get over how much time you're spending on this when you haven't even cruised on the ships. You've already got threads running about this, it could just go in there. That's my thoughts.

 

I completely agree __hellyes. I don't know if Cyrix400 just has a lot of spare time on his/her hands or if he/she enjoys beating a dead horse. Hopefully this response from P&O is enough to stop this ridiculous witch hunt.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Royalty X

[Russell21]

I completely agree __hellyes. I don't know if Cyrix400 just has a lot of spare time on his/her hands or if he/she enjoys beating a dead horse. Hopefully this response from P&O is enough to stop this ridiculous witch hunt.

 

I don't believe it is a witch hunt, it is work like this has been that keeps the Cruise Lines on their toes. No adverse feedback then they start to squeeze a little harder. Good feedback lets them know they are doing the right thing.

[Royalty X]

I don't believe it is a witch hunt, it is work like this has been that keeps the Cruise Lines on their toes. No adverse feedback then they start to squeeze a little harder. Good feedback lets them know they are doing the right thing.

This is beyond giving feedback! Cyrix400 hasn't sailed on either of the new ships but has started several threads taking great delight in pointing out nothing but negatives and ignoring any positives. Why would you contact the president of a cruise line with feedback if you haven't sailed on the ships in question? He doesn't work for CC.

[MicCanberra]

This is beyond giving feedback! Cyrix400 hasn't sailed on either of the new ships but has started several threads taking great delight in pointing out nothing but negatives and ignoring any positives. Why would you contact the president of a cruise line with feedback if you haven't sailed on the ships in question? He doesn't work for CC.

 

I tend to agree, feedback is important, it just tends to occur after an event.

 

That said, perhaps they should have just cancelled their trip until the new ships have reached the level of satisfaction of passengers that meets their standards.

[icat2000]

Personally, I think they are a wannabe something in the cruising industry or reporting about it. I thought they were a little OTT in their approach for someone who was yet to cruise with that line. I'm sure there is some sort of agenda here (oops cynic inside me) :)

 

They already said they are a journalist of some kind? Though I guess anyone these days who can string some words together can be a journalist *cough* blogger etc. :D

Edited January 14, 2016 by icat2000

[Cyrix400]

Yep. It's one thing to do some research before going on a ship but emailing the president with a list of demanding questions and second hand information, I just can't fathom.

Just to clarify a few points:

 

1. I did not write to the newly appointed president of P&O Aust with ANY questions. I wrote firstly to congratulate him on his promotion and his past personal involvement with the design of public areas of Aria and Eden. But I also pointed out that his new guest experience manager will be quite busy with sorting out the teething problems of these ships, as evidenced in the reviews on this site. I also expressed the hope that some improvements will take place prior to my Jan 28 cruise.

 

2. I cannot see ANY problems in writing to the Corporate Communication Manager of the cruise line, and seeking some answers for this forum to a number of specific and searching questions - after looking carefully at and summarising the issues raised in many very negative reviews of Aria and Eden. And that what I did.

 

3. Now we all know that the reviews are only very subjective - it's only the experience as perceived by the reviewer - but reviews tend to show patterns. Also the reviews are the only thing we can go on, when deciding what to expect on a particular ship and what was the experience of others.

 

4. The benefits of getting now some answers and information from P&O Aust are twofold. Firstly, the people who have booked their cruises now know that P&O is serious in working hard to minimise/ resolve many problems/ issues. Secondly, for those considering booking on Aria & Eden in the future, they now know that things should significantly improve in the next six months (particularly with extra staffing).

 

So - don't you think that this information is helpful to all as it clears the air somewhat? I certainly do.

[ariomD]

We're booked on the Pacific Eden in May and tbh I am very pleased to have seen this thread and the info from P&O.

[MicCanberra]

We're booked on the Pacific Eden in May and tbh I am very pleased to have seen this thread and the info from P&O.

 

Welcome to Cruise critic and enjoy your cruise.:D

[catchique]

We had a lovely cruise on 7 Dec Eden

 

Cabin and staff were great

 

Food was the usual Bain Marie hot warm n cold, same as any BM meal

 

Just a mention - no CHEESE selection whatsoever - for a daily cheese person it was missed and mentioned by many on board

 

I didn't look for any faults but we did not notice anything amiss or exceptional to the many cruises we have been on

 

No complaints here... :)

 

Cheese and crackers were hidden under the counter at the dessert stand in the Pantry ...there's no signage and it's only handed out only upon request and in the smallest of portions .. it's the best kept secret on board!

[catchique]

I find all this very interesting and it will be surprising if P&O really can turn this around however if they really want to do an exercise in PR then perhaps they should consider those of us who have already endured the issues which they clearly accept responsibility for. They claim to have over 80yrs of experience so how did they get this so wrong..I believe it was due to both rushing the ship into service and way too much penny pinching which was so obvious throughout the cruise. With that much experience you can't tell me they didn't know how many staff were required nor the issues that would come when they were not only understaffed but insufficiently trained. This was a failed experiment in saving $$ and we've obviously been their guinea pigs! If I could say it was a cheap cruise and we got what we paid for well then ... but this wasn't a cheap cruise at all and was meant to be a relaxing and de-stressing holiday after a very difficult year.

 

I have just returned from Eden's New Years cruise on the 9/1/16. I've sailed 9 times with various lines and enjoyed them all...Out of those this was my 5th with P&O. While that in no way makes me an expert I believe it does give me a good basis with which to say that this cruise really just didn't cut it and was no where near the standard we have previously experienced on any P&O ship.

 

I note in P&O's reply they actually read the Facebook posts so perhaps that's where reviewers should also be posting.

[MicCanberra]

Don't worry, they know about CC as well, and would be reading these threads.

[Cyrix400]

Don't worry, they know about CC as well, and would be reading these threads.

Yes, and just to make sure (in case they are too busy with everything that is going on) - I brought to the attention of the P&O Communication team the other day that over 1,000 people saw this particular thread.

[strathnaver]

Sorry but I still can't get over how much time you're spending on this when you haven't even cruised on the ships. You've already got threads running about this, it could just go in there. That's my thoughts.

This x 1000000!

 

Cyrix400, don't represent me in the "number of my friends and I, all active cruisers and members of the cruise community cruisecritic.com, would appreciate P&O’s updated response". I think they've been very decent replies to you in the circumstances.

I've viewed your other threads with something between disbelief and disdain and thought if i was P&O Aust I'd probably have cancelled your booking by now, citing the probability of not having a product suitable for someone of your hypercritical nature.

 

My qualification in finally chiming into your thread, is that I've experienced and thoroughly enjoyed Aria, despite obviously some teething problems early in her P&O Aust life and I am very much looking forward to my cruise on Eden later in the year.

[The_Big_M]

Yes, and just to make sure (in case they are too busy with everything that is going on) - I brought to the attention of the P&O Communication team the other day that over 1,000 people saw this particular thread.

 

Again, I find it odd that your assumption seems to be that they don't monitor feedback. Or are too busy... why's that? Because they're replying to irrelevant questions?

 

Now you're telling them how to do their job... :rolleyes:

[MicCanberra]

P&O would literally have an entire team dedicated to reading all mentions of their key terms on the entire internet. Rest assured, they've seen it.

 

Agreed.

The various cruise lines know about CC members and what they may need or want prior to them boarding their ships.;)

[Cyrix400]

Agreed.

The various cruise lines know about CC members and what they may need or want prior to them boarding their ships.;)

But realistically, why CC members may be often be experienced cruisers, let's not forget that that CC is only a very SMALL part of social media - Facebook, Twitter etc are much more important and generally more influential these days.

 

In any case P&O Aust is doing OK - their latest media release talks about some 64% increase in bookings so far this January, compared to their last year sale.

[MicCanberra]

But realistically, why CC members may be often be experienced cruisers, let's not forget that that CC is only a very SMALL part of social media - Facebook, Twitter etc are much more important and generally more influential these days.

 

In any case P&O Aust is doing OK - their latest media release talks about some 64% increase in bookings so far this January, compared to their last year sale.

 

Trust, me hey will be monitoring FB and twttersphere as well.