Beautiful looking ship - bad reviews

[MMDown Under]

Saw Pacific Aria up close at Portside yesterday.

 

It is a beautiful looking ship externally, the kind of ship I like to cruise on. It looks a perfect size for cruising our smaller ports and South Pacific.

 

Yet, it gets bad reviews.

 

Why?

 

Management?

Lack of internal maintenance?

Food?

Service?

Itineraries?

[tuckysxr]

was on Aria last April - could not fault it in any way or form, in fact it is one of our favourite ships for layout of public areas and size.

Can only suggest people with complaints post instead of asking for rectification on the ship

 

not enough to eat ask for more

steak not to your liking order another one etc etc

[MMDown Under]

was on Aria last April - could not fault it in any way or form, in fact it is one of our favourite ships for layout of public areas and size.

Can only suggest people with complaints post instead of asking for rectification on the ship

 

not enough to eat ask for more

steak not to your liking order another one etc etc

 

Thank you for your comments.

 

I see you are cruising on her again this month, so you must have enjoyed your April cruise.

[The_Big_M]

Also sailed on Aria in April last year.

 

Really liked the ship, and had the best speciality restaurants onboard any mainstream ship imo.

 

That said, wasn't a fan of the buffet at all. It was one of the most attractive, and service was good, but the problem was food quality and variety.

 

Activities on board were good, though entertainment wasn't.

 

All in all, a mixed bag. I'd sail her again if conditions were right.

[windsor26]

Thoroughly enjoyed the Aria obviously not Princess but still excellent

[sweetp12]

While I haven't sailed on her there seemed to be real issues when she first sailed. P& O introduced two new ships within a short time frame so the crew were generally very inexperienced. This lead to them not coping and a ripple effect across the ship.

 

However they have been operating long enough now for the inexperience to be rectified and problems ironed out.

 

I also think the expectations are a bit out of whack - many people thought they would be bigger and newer than they are.

 

P&O seems to get a bad name who expect a five star experience on a two star budget and these ships even more so.

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

We cruised on her in March on the Bounty Adventure last year and are going again in 3 weeks to PNG. I enjoyed it very much especially the food.

 

This will be our 14th P & O cruise after having been on the Sun, the Dawn and the Jewel. As well as the Carnival Spirit. We normally only pay about $1000 each which is really good for considering you are getting 14 nights accomodation and 3 meals a day, try doing that in anywhere in Australia.

 

I read the reviews regularly and sometimes wonder if I was on the same ship as them, yes things go wrong, but can normally be resolved if handled in a courteous manner. The way I here some people complain no wonder their problems aren't fixed.

 

My 16 year old daughter is in a wheelchair and all the staff treat her so well. The room stewards are always excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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