Today Tonight thrown off Peach Sunset cruise

[keepcruising]

As I tell everyone that asks me about the cruises, 'is it like they show on TT?' I have taken my kids and Hubby on all but 2 (now) of the cruises I have done. Do you really think I would expose my kids to that sort of behaviour. Sure you might be able to find a bit of what they say is going on, but that's only if you go looking for it, and you are more likely to come accross it here on land then on the ships.

TT just have a brilliant way of manipulating their footage and reporting to show what they want, not the facts.

[Skyrules]

P&O Statement re Today Tonight's article;

 

As has been widely reported, P&O Cruises disembarked a Today Tonight film crew from Pacific Star in Vila on Sunday, October 29 2006.

 

The Today Tonight crew was filming our passengers with secret cameras. We view this as a gross invasion of our passengers’ privacy. It detracted from our passengers’ ability to enjoy their holiday and the TV crew continued to film, despite direct requests from the ship’s Captain to stop. Footage from our CCTV coverage, which we now have throughout our ships, shows passengers applauding the Captain’s announcement that the TV crew had been put off the ship.

 

P&O Cruises understands the public interest in our cruise holidays, and what we are doing to enhance passenger welfare and prevent excessive behaviour by a small minority of our passengers. We consider reasonable requests by media who identify themselves and seek permission from our shore side administration and also from our passengers to film or conduct interviews onboard. We do not accept the use of secret cameras, misrepresentations, unfounded allegations and the selective tactics employed by Today Tonight provide a fair representation of our cruises or our passengers and we will always act to protect the privacy of the families who holiday with us.

 

A 14-year-old girl travelling with the TV crew was identified to the Captain as the niece of the principal of the group, Mr Colin Chapman. Today Tonight alleges the 14-year-old was served alcohol in the ship’s nightclub. We are very concerned about this allegation. On Thursday October 26, our security and bar staff intervened to stop Mr Chapman from providing the young girl with an alcoholic drink, which he had purchased in one of the ship’s lounges. Mr Chapman’s conduct was the subject of an official warning from the Captain the next morning. At that meeting Mr Chapman apologised to the Captain for what he said was a misunderstanding.

 

We take our responsibilities on responsible service of alcohol, including the prohibition on service of alcohol to minors, very seriously. On boarding, passengers under 18 years of age are issued with a coloured identity swipe card which identifies the card holder as being under 18 and electronically blocks any attempt to buy alcoholic drinks. The electronic bar records for the cruise establish the 14-year-old did not buy any alcoholic drinks at any time.

 

Furthermore, on the first night of the cruise, in response to inquiries from the 14-year-old as to what activities she could participate in, she was twice advised by a security officer that she could not access the nightclub because she was under-age. This occurred in the company of Mr Chapman on one occasion. The 14-year-old was also refused entry to the nightclub on the same night when she attempted to enter with Mr Chapman.

 

Neither Mr Chapman nor the other members of the film crew brought any of these allegations to the attention of the Captain or Staff Captain even though they met formally with them on two occasions.

 

[Skyrules]

Re the P&O Statement....

 

Ironically, the security measures that they were so keen to see put in place, eg the security camera's, have caught them out.

[cheznandy]

Thats great! So when Chapman said the 14yr old was offered an alcoholic drink in the report it was him offering it to her, and he got caught!! Sucked in!!

[Star-Man]

Know i really hope that A Current Affair takes the story and runs with it. They could do quite a bit of damage to Today Tonight if they do.

 

And cant Mr Chapman be charged with providing alcohol to a minor or something like that? Given it was caught on tape.

[cheznandy]

Absolutley, if PO wanted to they could produce those tapes as evidence to police and let them investigate. While they are doing that they can investigate the Breaches of privacy to holiday makers!!

[Star-Man]

If it went to the police then that mr Chapman would be in a bit of hot water. From memory he was found guilty of fraud back in 2001 (i think) after he did something for a story.

[aussiedisneyfan]

Well I finally go around to emailing the feedback form. What a crappy form. Here is my response. Has anyone heard back from Channel 7? I won't hold my breath.

 

"I watched with disgust your biased and selective reporting on the activities of the Pacific Star cruise. I was onboard for that particular cruise and did not witness any of the alleged incidents. I regularly cruise with my family on both Australian and overseas cruiseships and certainly would not be subjecting my child to the sort of behaviour your are suggesting regularly occurs.

You showed archive footage of an old cruise and also the infamous bar sliding from Ma Bakers in Vila which you did not declare, obviously hoping that people would believe that it was happening onboard.

It was also stated that P&O had an issue with your covert filming of passengers but the program had had no complaints. Well here is mine. I had no knowledge of your team being aboard the ship prior to the captains announcement that you had been removed. You also filmed me without my knowledge or permission and aired it on national television. I am not impressed with your tactics or your ethics."

[howsthis]

Good on you ADF, well done, I wish all the passengers on that cruise would do the same.

[Matre]

Good on you ADF. I would not be happy about it either. I posted my complaint to them above, but as yet I have not heard back nor do I expect to. I think they would only bother if you have a biff about someone or something. Trashy program based on deception. I hope you hear back from them at least, since you were one of the passengers who's privacy was breached.

 

Will you be doing a report on your much welcomed cruise ADF??? Hope so.:cool:

[chaz cruiser]

Will you be doing a report on your much welcomed cruise ADF??? Hope so.:cool:

 

Yes please, we are still waiting for some info on exactly what happened!! How was the rest of your cruise? Hope you girls played up just enough and had a blast.

 

Cheers,

Chaz:)

[aussiedisneyfan]

Sorry, have been lazy. Going to Sandra's for damper dip and wine tonight. Maybe we can do something up then.

[chaz cruiser]

Hi Jane,

 

What's a damper dip?

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[cheznandy]

Is it a cob loaf with the middle bread taken out and filled with dip?

[chaz cruiser]

Cool... Do you have a good recipe??

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[sweet_successes]

Cool... Do you have a good recipe??

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

 

HI Charmain

 

A damper (of cob loaf) dip is really easy - you need a packet of frozen spinach, a container of philadelphia cream cheese and a carton of sour cream. You need to slice the top off the cob loaf and hollow it out so that you have a cavity in the loaf. I like to bake the loaf for 10 minutes - but this is purely optional - Defrost the spinach and squeeze excess water out. Put in bowl and mix with cream cheese and sour cream. Then put the mixture into the hollowed out cob loaf and refridgerate. Use the bread you removed to dip into the dip. Some optional extras that you can add are: sweet chilli sauce, french onion soup mix (1 packet), chopped bacon - although I haven't tried adding them all at once!

 

I know a lot of people have different variations - this is just mine.

 

Cheers Rach

[AuzzieCruiser]

I love cob's.:D I haven't had one for soooo long. It is amazing how many people have never had one or heard of one.

[chaz cruiser]

Thanks guys! I have heard of cob loaves but not damper dips! I've also done a cob loaf with a savoury mince type filling. Just made up a savoury mince and then thickened it more. Was yummy!! Anyone else got any good recipes for these handy "take a plate" idea!

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[DucknChook]

How hilarious is this forum...now we are swapping recipies...:) Takes our mind off how we all have the cranky pants with TT hey.

[chaz cruiser]

Was anyone able to load the interview anywhere? I missed Today Tonight as it is on while I am at work & I didn't set the DVD right. We get two sets of news up here to TT is on early in the afternoon. I have checked youtube but there is nothing there.

 

Would like to see it though.

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

[Skyrules]

Well I finally go around to emailing the feedback form. What a crappy form. Here is my response. Has anyone heard back from Channel 7? I won't hold my breath.

 

"I watched with disgust your biased and selective reporting on the activities of the Pacific Star cruise. I was onboard for that particular cruise and did not witness any of the alleged incidents. I regularly cruise with my family on both Australian and overseas cruiseships and certainly would not be subjecting my child to the sort of behaviour your are suggesting regularly occurs.

 

You showed archive footage of an old cruise and also the infamous bar sliding from Ma Bakers in Vila which you did not declare, obviously hoping that people would believe that it was happening onboard.

 

It was also stated that P&O had an issue with your covert filming of passengers but the program had had no complaints. Well here is mine. I had no knowledge of your team being aboard the ship prior to the captains announcement that you had been removed. You also filmed me without my knowledge or permission and aired it on national television. I am not impressed with your tactics or your ethics."

 

Very well said. Will be interesting to see if you get any response.

 

Kym

[Skyrules]

Was anyone able to load the interview anywhere? I missed Today Tonight as it is on while I am at work & I didn't set the DVD right. We get two sets of news up here to TT is on early in the afternoon. I have checked youtube but there is nothing there.

 

Would like to see it though.

 

Cheers,

Charmain:)

 

I have it on DVD, but for some reason the computer won't recognise it, so I can't rip it off the dvd onto the computer. I think Star-man said he was going to have a go.

 

Any luck Sam??

 

 

Kym

[aussiedisneyfan]

If no one has any luck I can try to get the guys at work to rip my copy. I have a stb with hard drive but it stores it in .rec format. Will search the net on the weekend for instructions. Did anyone see the story tonight?

 

No luck with the cruise review, finished the wine and dip and then another friend turned up, maybe tomorrow.

 

Ditch the spinich, don't like it. Our recipe is basically the same: carton sour cream, 1/2 pack grated cheese, tub of philly, don't forget the garlic like Sandra did, and bacon. We then cook it for about half an hour in the hollowed out cob loaf.

[keepcruising]

Here is my 2 cents worth that I put on the site

 

After watching your story on Tuesday (7th Nov) night about the P&O cruise that you were removed from, not only was I disgusted and angry, but also violated.

 

You not only showed old footage of your previous attack on the company, but you also yet again showed footage of the bar in Vila - Ma Bakers making viewers assume that this is the behavior that occurs on the ship. You commented about the 14yr old receiving a drink, but you left out the part that Colin was the person giving it to her. Why was that?

 

I have cruised with P&O several times with my family and friends, and I certainly would not be subjecting my children, parents and friends to this sort of behavior.

 

Another major issue I have with your story is the fact that I appear in the footage you aired, and at no time was I asked, or did I give you permission to show me in your story.

 

You stated that when P&O removed you from the ship, to “protect their passengers privacy”, and “nobody complained to you”. Well how could any of us complain when you were there undercover? And the first we were aware of your presence was when it was announced that you had been removed. How do you explain the cheer that rang out around the ship when the captain announced your removal?

 

I think that you should not only review your companies ethics, but also the legalities of filming people unaware, and then showing the footage on national television.

Rest assured this is not the last you’ll hear from me about this.

 

 

For all of you who wanted to complain to the program, and get a responce, after a bit of homework i found this out.

 

You write to

Today Tonight

7 Network

PO Box 777

Pyrmont

NSW 2009.

 

This is the only way you will get any responce from them.

[Star-Man]

Thanks for the address keepcruising.

 

Ill do up a letter over the weekend and post it on monday. I have a feeling they will soon be flooded with angry letters, well more than they usually get.