P&O using Thomas Cooks A 330 aircraft

[Bar-fly]

We flew to Barbados on Thomas Cooks "cattle truck" A 330 and if I book another P&O fly cruise I will first want to know who's aircraft has been hired because if its Thomas Cooks A 330 I will not be going.

We flew out to join Arcadia, it was the cruise where we had to wait for passengers delayed due to American missile tests.

The Arcadia is more impressive outside than it is in, I found that the air conditioning on the ship was to cold and set more for the comfort of the workers than the passengers, and the aircon in the cabin could not be turned a little warmer or off; and so we had to listen to the noisy fan put out cool air all night.

The food in the Meridian restaurant was also on the cool side and not as good or as well presented as the food on the Oriana.

The Belverdere was a canteen which did not have much fresh fruit etc, and was overcrowded as we had to first find seats and then take turns to go for food, the waiters in this area were not to helpful and only the Filipinos had a smile for us, and on this ship the officers are also aloof and don't mix with the Passengers.

The ports and stops on the way to New Orleans were not very good but thats ok, now I know where not to go to again.

We found the entertainment on the ship quite good, and the Arcadia dancers were excellent, although for a new ship Arcadia is a poor design with lots of pillars in the theatre to spoil the view.

This ship IS NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE as the "AWOL" Adonia for service style or smile, and I for one would need a lot of tempting to sail with her again.

Ps I wonder if anybody from P&O read these reports.

[cruisebore]

Hi Fellow Craft

 

The "choice" on these charter flights is between Thomsonfly 767 2-4-2

Thos Cook and Monarch A333 with 28 more seats in it than the Thomas Cook aircraft. So it looks as though you won't be going again in a hurry ;)

unless of course you upgrade to premium.

We were on the cruise following yours. Our arrival in Nola was met with temperatures of 4C . Did not have a problem with the air con. just adjusted the thermostat in the cabin. Fan noise could not be heard above the wife's snoring.

Ship was a massive disappointment, cheap and nasty was how one person described the public rooms, Utility another. Dark and dingy comes to mind.

Definitely fitted out on the cheap:(

Having said all that the cabins were spacious and comfortable, the bath a real bonus for the wife. Pity the walls were not a little lighter, it would have made the whole appearance lighter and more welcoming. Balcony capacious with super loungers.

We only used the Belvedere on a few occasions preferring the ambiance and generally good company to be found in the restaurant at lunch. Breakfast was always taken in the cabin, could not trust myself with all that sausage and bacon.

 

Happy sailings

 

S&F Cruisebore

[Brian Raine]

Fellowcraft Fully concur with your comments re aircraft, cattle would not be transported like that. This a/c take 309 passengers in Thomas Cooks configuration, schedule carriers carry about 245.Our flight on 27Dec was to Acapulco via Dominican Republic 16 hours of HELL,refuelling took 2 1/2 hours and we were not allowed of the plane. 3 ladies were taken ill and had to be laid out in the food area of the plane, so breakfast!!!! was delayed until 2 hours before landing and was a Tortilla and a muffin.Many other passengers were complaining bitterly about the flight and many were going to give P&O an asbestos letter on their return, mine was in the post today.Other flights where they had to refuel on the ground were allowed off the aircraft and were fed and watered.

The ships food shows signs of CARNIVALS "rationalisation" policy, little choice and not much of it.The Belevedere was never designed for "seadays" hence it was like a bun fight most times.The only saving grace was the tea availability 24 hours, with spoons (Princess use wooden lollipop sticks)

The Meridan was adequate at evening dinner time, our table companions(first time cruisers) were happy with the meals and service, as were we.

The female singers endeavoured to deafen everyone in the theatre, I'm deaf but I had to remove my hearing aids because of the excessive feedback( the boys in the control room must be colour blind not to see the RED readings on the volume controls) As you said the officers were conspicuous by their absence, we only saw the captain ( promoted to Commadore during the voyage) on the first formal night, New Years eve.

All in all the cruise was adeqate but the service/food/entertainment quality has definately declined,m saying that thought it is still better than Costa(thats another story)

P&O have lost another customer after this debacle.

[Bar-fly]

Hi Brian

I too sent a mail to P&O but as yet no reply, You are right in thinking there are cost cuts going on I saw it to.

Pity about your shows, ours were excellent with the Arcadia theatre company and a fantastic mind reader that we have seen before. Our cabin was nice and the balcony was handy at times, although yourself and "Cruisebore" have summed the ship up just about right, "ADEQUATE"

[jamie lee]

We have just returned from the "Tropical Delights" cruise on Arcadia. This was our first cruise and we will not be rushing to go again.

We arrived at Manchester airport just over 4 hours before our flight because you could not pre-book seats and we wanted to be sure we could sit together. We queued for more than an hour to check in.

Again we queued for more than an hour to get a drink from the bar - the staff said they had not been made aware there would be so many passengers!!!

The flight to Acapulco was the worst we have ever experienced. I am sure that fellow passengers will recognise the Manchester "flight from hell" as it was referred to on board ship. My husband was amongst at least 7 passengers who fainted on the plane and needed oxygen. In fact we ran out of oxygen by the time we reached the Dominican Republic and had to borrow some from another airline before we could take off again.

The crew on board were very good at the time he was taken ill but when the crew changed at the Domincan Republic no crew member even came to ask if he was OK. When we landed at Acapulco we had to queue for a further hour to get through passport control. It was a terrible start to our holiday as my husband still felt very ill.

The whole holiday was tinged with a dread of the return flight.

P & O must sort this out urgently before passengers will regain confidence in future travel arrangements.

The cruise was OK, the ship did not wow us but we had nothing to compare it to. The food was fine in the restaurant but there were too many people jostling for seats in the self service one. Most seasoned cruisers expressed disappointment to us with Arcadia, preferring Oceana and Oriana.

I would urge future travellers to make their own way to the ship if they can afford it.

[Globaliser]

My husband was amongst at least 7 passengers who fainted on the plane and needed oxygen. In fact we ran out of oxygen by the time we reached the Dominican Republic and had to borrow some from another airline before we could take off again.

Do you know why people were fainting on the aircraft? If that many people were taken ill, I'm wondering whether this is something that the aviation regulator ought to know about.

[Sparkle 123]

Hi

We were on the previous Arcadia cruise and people were fainting on our Thomas Cook flight out of Gatwick to Barbados.I think what contibuted to this was having to stand in a queue for 2 hours to get through airport security ( obviously beyond P&O's control) followed by waiting 4 hours for the meal to be served on the aircraft as the stewards were so busy serving drinks because everyone was so fed up they almost drank the bar dry! My husband and I are in our late 30's early 40's and found it very hard going so can only sympathise with the older passegers having to endure this epic. Our one consolation was we didn't have to refuel on the way back from Acapulco as some of the other flights did.

I do agree that P& O needs to sort out something better for the flights and until they let you book cruise only for a reduced price and let you have the option of arranging your own flights then we shall be sticking with Celebrity for the long haul cruises.

[Sparkle 123]

Hi

We were on the previous Arcadia cruise and people were fainting on our Thomas Cook flight out of Gatwick to Barbados.I think what contibuted to this was having to stand in a queue for 2 hours to get through airport security ( obviously beyond P&O's control) followed by waiting 4 hours for the meal to be served on the aircraft as the stewards were so busy serving drinks because everyone was so fed up they almost drank the bar dry! My husband and I are in our late 30's early 40's and found it very hard going so can only sympathise with the older passegers having to endure this epic. Our one consolation was we didn't have to refuel on the way back from Acapulco as some of the other flights did.

I do agree that P& O needs to sort out something better for the flights and until they let you book cruise only for a reduced price and let you have the option of arranging your own flights then we shall be sticking with Celebrity for the long haul cruises.

[Sparkle 123]

Sorry about the double posts, the boards are acting up today!!

[luv2cruzuk]

Our flight out to Miami with Princess Cruises is on a Thomson flight.... honestly, it's not good enough is it... I would have expected it, if I had booked a Thomson Cruise... (I never would)

 

P&O and Princess (all the same anyway) really need to get their act together... it's really put a downer on the cruise and I am very apprehensive about going now... just because of this flight. :mad:

 

Regards,

[Brian Raine]

jaimie lee We were on one flight from hell ex manchester 27 Dec flt no TCX40 (torture ,constriction and xecuriciating). My letter to P&O is asbestos and will go tomorrow(PC has been down ) . Should all of the complainants write to P&O they will get a shock ,400 people cannot be wrong. We have used Fred Olsen's charter flights , they were superb, if 1 cruise linecan do it why not the big boys as well.

[mancunian]

Brian We are cruising on Arcadia at the end of the year out of Manchester to Barbados. Can I ask whether you were on a Thomson, Thomas Cook or Monarch flights?

Many thanks

[Brian Raine]

mancunian sorry about the dely the boards were playing up.

We were on Thomas Cook, AB330 capacity 309, schedule put 245 on them , so you see the difference. There are 49 "premium"seats up front but they are expensive, I heards so one paid an extra £600 for them.

[Brian Raine]

mancunian sorry about the dely the boards were playing up.

We were on Thomas Cook, AB330 capacity 309, schedule put 245 on them , so you see the difference. There are 49 "premium"seats up front but they are expensive, I heards so one paid an extra £600 for them.

[Brian Raine]

mancunian sorry about the dely the boards were playing up.

We were on Thomas Cook, AB330 capacity 309, schedule put 245 on them , so you see the difference. There are 49 "premium"seats up front but they are expensive, I heards so one paid an extra £600 for them.

[cruisebore]

Mancunian

You can see the Thos Cook seat plan here http://www.thomascookairlines.co.uk/Boeing_A330.htm

 

In November we flew with them in cattle class to join Arcadia in New Orleans

Not especially pleasant.

There was also a Thomson flight later that morning.

It appears from our experiences that the early bookers get the earlier flight.

 

Regards

Cb

[Bar-fly]

Hi again all

 

Just a word of encouragement for luv2cruzuk, after our Thomas Cook cattle class flight to Barbados we returned from New Orleans on a Thomson Boeing 767 which was a far better flight although even they had no bottles of duty free scotch or vodka on board!!!

We also flew out to Gran Canaria to join Thomson Celebration in April? I think it was, the ship itself is a little austere but the shows were very good and the food was equaly as good as the P&O ships and the breakfast's on Thomson Celebration were far better than any of the P&O ships that I have sailed on, and the crew were most attentive and always had a word and a smile for the passengers.

I also think you will like Princess cruises, we have sailed on Sun Princess which is my favourite class of ship, and everything was excellent, we are now booked on Sea Princess which I have sailed on before as she was the P&O Adonia a ship which was everything that P&O should be, and a ship to be proud of.

And Jamie Lee don't be put off by your first cruise there are lots of nice ships, and I will join abbafan in recommending Celebrity Cruises and in particular the lovely Millenium.

[sea-shell2]

Well, we flew out to join Arcadia December 05 for their New Year cruise, and it looks like nothing has changed. We flew Thomsonfly via Nova Scotia, 15 hours of cramped flying, boiling hot front of plane, freezing at the back, passengers fainting (at least 3 that I heard of).

I did write to complain as it was really bad, and I'm not a large person, but I did feel sorry for those who were squeezed into the tiny seats - can't have been pleasant.

Looks like P&O have done absolutely nothing about this, so not good on their part.

There was a cruise travel agent on board, who had chosen to board in Barbados and fly out of Barbados (4 weeks on board, not bad...) as she couldn't bear the flight to Acapulco.

Need we say more!

Sea-shell

[mancunian]

Brian and Cruisebore. Thanks very much for your replies. Not very encouraging - I guess I was hoping for Thomson as the least evil of the three. However if Cruisebore's experience is anything to go by we will be on Thomas Cook as we booked this cruise on the very first day it went on the market. Have always hated the idea of sailing out of Southampton to distant parts but possibly this experience may well change my mind.

 

Our experience of long haul cruises has been with Orient who fly you scheduled from your local airport, and Swan Hellenic who charter from Heathrow or Gatwick on either Virgin or BA - both carriers using long distance type planes. If anything I prefer the idea of the flight from Acapulco at night than a really long day flight to Barbados under these conditions but I might even be proved wrong on this one.

[Compo55]

Hi Angela,

 

It doesn't make for good reading does it! It looks as though we are on the first flight to Gatwick with Thomas Cook, but the flights leave after breakfast, so will be daytime as far as our body clocks are concerned, not night flights.

 

Never mind, lets hope the cruise is so good that it outweighs the bad flight.

 

Best wishes

 

Ian & Ellena

[mancunian]

No Ian it certainly does not. Perhaps after months of gloom about the prospect the actual event will be better than we hope - or there again perhaps not. I really do not understand with all the complaints - and this seems to be a longstanding thing - why they do not raise the prices a bit and use decent carriers.

[Taf]

We are flying out to Barbados for an Oceana cruise. We fly from East Midlands and I think it will be a Monach flight. Are they as bad? We enquired about extra legroom but were told they were fully booked. We cann`t even reserve seats together (7 people in our party, including kids). We booked this cruise Feb 06 for a Dec 07 departure!

[Compo55]

Brian,

 

Did you get any response from your letter to P&O about the flight problems?

 

Regards

 

Ian

[Bar-fly]

Hi Compo

 

I have had a response from P&O after I criticized the dreadful Thomas Cook Airbus A330 the representative for P&O says that this aircraft has a seat pitch of between 29 and 30 inches!!! " WHAT " !!! with 354 seats I am still laughing, they point out that there is a shortage of Wide-boddied charter aircraft and don't seem too concerned about using this A330 and; Quote "are happy with the service offered by Thomas Cook" and that passenger feedback about this aircraft has been good, they point out other flights are offered through the brochure at extra cost, basically P&O are saying if you don't like it, book your own flight.

[prospero]

We're flying Thomas Cook on Feb 9trh, from Manchester to New Orleans ... doesn't sound so good. Am trying to find out from them which aircraft they're sending us on.

Tony