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Arvia - Impressions from Maiden

No pager thank you

By No pager thank you,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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kalos

kalos

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Unlikely that these unauthorised debits are a deliberate fraud by P&O - but quite possible that they’re the result of some kind of employee fraud. How far would you trust their IT systems to identify it?!

If it was down to wrong doing, hopefully the cameras around the point of sale till/point

could be matched to time of transaction that should be recorded .

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Snow Hill

Snow Hill

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

Thanks for the feedback.

Bearing in mind there are relatively few reading this thread the response suggests this is a common issue. How many returning passengers neglect to check their accounts I wonder ?

 

As for the fridge/mini bar , well they can't pull that one as it was empty .

 

Random illegitimate charges like this could bring in quite a healthy revenue if gone unnoticed.

With the help of my bank, a receipt from a restaurant in Venice and mobile phone usage we were able to get the £50 back as it proved we were not on board at the time the transaction took place. 

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UKsatcom

UKsatcom

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

With the help of my bank, a receipt from a restaurant in Venice and mobile phone usage we were able to get the £50 back as it proved we were not on board at the time the transaction took place. 

That's a lot of work you had to do Snow Hill to get your refund.

😒

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Selbourne "Live from...." Rare

Selbourne

Posted
Posted

This happened to us once. When I called they said it was the mini bar, which we never use. I put it down to steward error. It was refunded, but I wonder how many people don’t bother chasing it or give up trying to get through to resolve the issue. Nice little earner (or perhaps not so little) 🤔

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majortom10

majortom10

Posted
Posted

Ghost charges applied to people' accounts whilst on board or more often after they have disembarked is a regular occurrence and been happening for some time both on P&O and Cunard. Personally think that because it is happening on an all too regular basis that it is more than a genuine mistake. It happened to me twice on Cunard whilst on board one for an expensive bottle of wine, not easy to get refund and secondly a room service meal at 1am in the morning of steak and chips which was refunded without question.

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Adawn47

Adawn47

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

Random illegitimate charges like this could bring in quite a healthy revenue if gone unnoticed.

That has happened to us a couple of times too. One the old chestnut, mini bar items, and the other was a telephone call made before we had even boarded. I questioned both, and was refunded immediately.

You would have thought that the number of times this has happened to people over the years that something would have been done about it by now, However, if it makes extra revevue  because some don't notice or bother to ask for a small refund then.........................

Avril

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Waju

Waju

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Waju said:

I've just been reading an email from a cruise blogger about this cruise - am I allowed to add a link or copy and paste what she had to say about this cruise?

I think it'll be OK as I haven't mentioned where its from!

 

It feels like forever since I last emailed you!

I haven’t been in touch because I spent Christmas and New year on the maiden voyage of P&O Cruises’ new ship Arvia.

 

You may have seen this cruise in the news…

The headlines were along the lines of

“Furious P&O passengers claim cruise was so bad it totally ruined their Christmas”

 

So, was this cruise as bad as was claimed?

 

Well, truth is that the papers do quite enjoy to use the ‘ruined Christmas’ headline to get people to click!

 

Some examples from this Christmas include:

 

Sometimes, it doesn't take a whole lot to ruin someone's Christmas.

 

So, when a couple of angry passengers onboard Arvia decided to contact the press, of course they jumped on the story.

 

What a great headline that the UK's newest and biggest cruise ship as ruined Christmas - 

That's exactly the thing that the 'cruise haters who have never cruised' would love to read!

 

But honestly... 

Yes, there were some organisation issues that meant that we had to queue for our Christmas dinner.

Yes, there were some IT issues which meant that the wifi didn’t work.

But those are my only complaints.

Everything else was wonderful!

 

These are common pitfalls that you get with a maiden voyage - and one reason why I would never usually book a maiden voyage myself!

This cruise wasn’t actually meant to be a maiden voyage,

It became one when the original maiden was cancelled due to the supply chain issues that are affecting the world right now.

P&O Cruises wouldn’t have planned a maiden voyage for Christmas.

The mix of maiden voyage teething problems and high expectations for Christmas made for the perfect storm!

 

To counter any disappointment, P&O Cruises gave us £150 per person of onboard credit.

This massive gesture must have set them back over £750,000 at a time when they’re not exactly rolling in cash.

They also threw the best New Year’s Eve party I’ve EVER been to,

So yes, I’m a very happy customer!

(And no, I don't get paid to say that!)

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Megabear2 "Live from...." Rare

Megabear2

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Waju said:

I think it'll be OK as I haven't mentioned where its from!

 

It feels like forever since I last emailed you!

I haven’t been in touch because I spent Christmas and New year on the maiden voyage of P&O Cruises’ new ship Arvia.

 

You may have seen this cruise in the news…

The headlines were along the lines of

“Furious P&O passengers claim cruise was so bad it totally ruined their Christmas”

 

So, was this cruise as bad as was claimed?

 

Well, truth is that the papers do quite enjoy to use the ‘ruined Christmas’ headline to get people to click!

 

Some examples from this Christmas include:

 

Sometimes, it doesn't take a whole lot to ruin someone's Christmas.

 

So, when a couple of angry passengers onboard Arvia decided to contact the press, of course they jumped on the story.

 

What a great headline that the UK's newest and biggest cruise ship as ruined Christmas - 

That's exactly the thing that the 'cruise haters who have never cruised' would love to read!

 

But honestly... 

Yes, there were some organisation issues that meant that we had to queue for our Christmas dinner.

Yes, there were some IT issues which meant that the wifi didn’t work.

But those are my only complaints.

Everything else was wonderful!

 

These are common pitfalls that you get with a maiden voyage - and one reason why I would never usually book a maiden voyage myself!

This cruise wasn’t actually meant to be a maiden voyage,

It became one when the original maiden was cancelled due to the supply chain issues that are affecting the world right now.

P&O Cruises wouldn’t have planned a maiden voyage for Christmas.

The mix of maiden voyage teething problems and high expectations for Christmas made for the perfect storm!

 

To counter any disappointment, P&O Cruises gave us £150 per person of onboard credit.

This massive gesture must have set them back over £750,000 at a time when they’re not exactly rolling in cash.

They also threw the best New Year’s Eve party I’ve EVER been to,

So yes, I’m a very happy customer!

(And no, I don't get paid to say that!)

"£150pp is a massive gesture" - hmmm 

 

Reading the comments of our correspondents they didn't seem too pleased with it.

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zap99

zap99

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

"£150pp is a massive gesture" - hmmm 

 

Reading the comments of our correspondents they didn't seem too pleased with it.

The reviewer seemed quite happy. Must be wrong, as others have said ' armageddon '. Folk jumping overboard, claim form In hand.

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yorkshirephil

yorkshirephil

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

"£150pp is a massive gesture" - hmmm 

 

Reading the comments of our correspondents they didn't seem too pleased with it.

Maybe they should have given £150,000 to each of the five people (allegedly of course) who didn't have a good time

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Megabear2 "Live from...." Rare

Megabear2

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Waju said:

Without going back and re-reading the thread, has anyone said their experience on this cruise was OK?

Not on here and reviews a bit dodgy on current one..

 

Nevertheless it does need some perspective as it was a full ship, Christmas and many had paid full price on select fares before it became the maiden.

 

Mind you I'm thinking of chancing it as I've got an astonishingly cheap offer into my inbox this morning for late February and yet more extracOBC offers arrived by post if I cruise before April.

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Snow Hill

Snow Hill

Posted
Posted

I have an opinion that many of these cruise bloggers or influencers as many like to be termed always write a positive review regardless of what happens onboard. More and more people bloggers, YouTubers and instagrammers of all types are being paid by organisations to influence others. The question that needs to be asked is did the blogger receive a special deal for this cruise from P&O, thus influencing what was written? 
 

Many earn thousands from subscriptions to their channels or blogs, so anything they say needs to be taken with a bucketful of salt. 

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Dermotsgirl

Dermotsgirl

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Snow Hill said:

I have an opinion that many of these cruise bloggers or influencers as many like to be termed always write a positive review regardless of what happens onboard. More and more people bloggers, YouTubers and instagrammers of all types are being paid by organisations to influence others. The question that needs to be asked is did the blogger receive a special deal for this cruise from P&O, thus influencing what was written? 
 

Many earn thousands from subscriptions to their channels or blogs, so anything they say needs to be taken with a bucketful of salt. 

Also, the bloggers want to attract readers, and most people seem to want to read positive reports. So, to an extent, they write what they think their audience wants 

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Harry Peterson

Harry Peterson

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Snow Hill said:

I have an opinion that many of these cruise bloggers or influencers as many like to be termed always write a positive review regardless of what happens onboard. More and more people bloggers, YouTubers and instagrammers of all types are being paid by organisations to influence others. The question that needs to be asked is did the blogger receive a special deal for this cruise from P&O, thus influencing what was written? 
 

Many earn thousands from subscriptions to their channels or blogs, so anything they say needs to be taken with a bucketful of salt. 

I’m sure you’re right.

 

But that glowing review ends with these words: “And no, I don't get paid to say that!”

 

So it must be genuine. 😗

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Amelia Noylam

Amelia Noylam

Posted
Posted
On 1/12/2023 at 3:06 PM, Waju said:

I think it'll be OK as I haven't mentioned where its from!

 

It feels like forever since I last emailed you!

I haven’t been in touch because I spent Christmas and New year on the maiden voyage of P&O Cruises’ new ship Arvia.

 

You may have seen this cruise in the news…

The headlines were along the lines of

“Furious P&O passengers claim cruise was so bad it totally ruined their Christmas”

 

So, was this cruise as bad as was claimed?

 

Well, truth is that the papers do quite enjoy to use the ‘ruined Christmas’ headline to get people to click!

 

Some examples from this Christmas include:

 

Sometimes, it doesn't take a whole lot to ruin someone's Christmas.

 

So, when a couple of angry passengers onboard Arvia decided to contact the press, of course they jumped on the story.

 

What a great headline that the UK's newest and biggest cruise ship as ruined Christmas - 

That's exactly the thing that the 'cruise haters who have never cruised' would love to read!

 

But honestly... 

Yes, there were some organisation issues that meant that we had to queue for our Christmas dinner.

Yes, there were some IT issues which meant that the wifi didn’t work.

But those are my only complaints.

Everything else was wonderful!

 

These are common pitfalls that you get with a maiden voyage - and one reason why I would never usually book a maiden voyage myself!

This cruise wasn’t actually meant to be a maiden voyage,

It became one when the original maiden was cancelled due to the supply chain issues that are affecting the world right now.

P&O Cruises wouldn’t have planned a maiden voyage for Christmas.

The mix of maiden voyage teething problems and high expectations for Christmas made for the perfect storm!

 

To counter any disappointment, P&O Cruises gave us £150 per person of onboard credit.

This massive gesture must have set them back over £750,000 at a time when they’re not exactly rolling in cash.

They also threw the best New Year’s Eve party I’ve EVER been to,

So yes, I’m a very happy customer!

(And no, I don't get paid to say that!)

This is the only site with the same moaners, so thank you for an excellent review

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Eglesbrech "Live from...." Rare

Eglesbrech

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Amelia Noylam said:

This is the only site with the same moaners, so thank you for an excellent review

Moaners or people with who have had a bad experience?

 

There seems to be a spectrum of feelings about this sailing from the shiny happy, all is perfect through the good and bad bits, to dreadful. All these opinions are represented across various parts of social media.

 

A bit unfair to call people moaners surely when their experience is their experience?

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Dermotsgirl

Dermotsgirl

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Moaners or people with who have had a bad experience?

 

There seems to be a spectrum of feelings about this sailing from the shiny happy, all is perfect through the good and bad bits, to dreadful. All these opinions are represented across various parts of social media.

 

A bit unfair to call people moaners surely when their experience is their experience?

This seems to be a social media thing.

 

If someone has a good cruise and reviews it, they are thanked and congratulated.

 

If they have a poor experience or some problems and report on it, their review is dismissed as ‘moaning’ 

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