ARIA & EDEN problems - answers from P&O - Your thoughts?

I managed to speak to the Corporate Communication Manager of Carnival Australia (the phone number is on P&O site under media enquiries) asking for comments re Aria & Eden problems, for publication in this forum. I have been asked to submit specific questions via e-mail, which I did.

I have just received the reply which I quote (with personal details omitted)

YOUR THOUGHTS??

"Thanks again for your email. To confirm, we do keep an eye on social media but as a cruise operator we couldn't be closer to our customer since they sail with us in their many thousands and our ships become their holiday home during their cruise with a rapport that develops between guests and crew alike. In that sense, we are probably closer to our customer than most other businesses. We obviously strive for perfection in terms of delivering guest services. Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden are wonderful additions to our fleet with features that will make them very popular with Australian travellers.

Based on my own observation, any service delivery issues onboard Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden following their introduction to the fleet were relatively short lived and effectively addressed.

All tables in the Waterfront restaurants are used. Reservations can be made on boarding for Salt Grill, Angelo's and Dragon Lady and 5pm reservations are also available in Waterfront to enable guests to catch the early show with open seating available for the remainder of the evening. It is also possible to make reservations for specialty restaurants on the day of departure.

We haven't applied a charge for Angelo's or Dragon Lady restaurants on any cruise as our desire has been to showcase these restaurants. P&OEdge is due to be extended to Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden in January but its introduction following appropriately rigorous system testing could happen earlier.

Finally, I did watch a YouTube video on one of the links you provided. I have been a journalist for the best part and of 50 years in newspapers, television and radio and a Walkley Award winner. I only mention that to preface that I was disturbed to see in the clip that our onboard staff were being videotaped in some cases without their knowledge or with a camera placed to one side on the reception desk, which was switched off only after a staff member quite reasonably objected to being filmed. Speaking as a journalist for whom ethics are important, I find such behaviour unacceptable. Our onboard staff are hard working people and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and we will always stand up for them in this regard. Regards"

Seems pretty consistent with what we've also said here. :-)

Personally I think they have the right to enforce the deletion of the you tube clip given their staff did not give permission to be filmed. I hope they set that in motion and teach the little upstart a lesson in "journalism".

My thoughts are that none of this needed to happen.

The over reaction of some on board, the videos, and even the emails. The shake down cruises always have issues.

P&O will get their act into gear if they haven't already. My advice is to read the reviews over the next couple of cruises and if the issues persist, cancel your P&O cruise.

My thoughts are that none of this needed to happen.

The over reaction of some on board, the videos, and even the emails. The shake down cruises always have issues.

 

P&O will get their act into gear if they haven't already. My advice is to read the reviews over the next couple of cruises and if the issues persist, cancel your P&O cruise.

Maybe the problem could be that inexperienced cruisers didn't realise these cruises would be 'shake down' cruises. There are often issues on a new ship (or one new to a particular cruise line).

We were on the inaugural cruise on the Pacific Jewel. There weren't any real problems, but P&O have brought a lot of stewards etc. from the other ships and integrated them. :)

I think the conduct of some people (covertly recording staff, etc) is disgusting. Who the hell do they think they are!? A Current Affair!? No wonder this forum has such a bad name! [emoji35]

Why do you have such beef with P&O, Cyrix400? There are several threads that have been started by you, all covering the same topic. It's starting to look like a tabloid beat-up!

I haven't replied because as stated , we have all said our views (basically very positive) on a number of threads already.

I just want to say that I have used my credit from P&O and booked another cruise on Eden. A four night, but it didn't seem long enough so I booked the following cruise as well - another 4 night. This is for March next year, so I'll report back again. And I'm excited to be cruising again so soon. I didn't think I would be next year with different family things happening.

Plus I'm expecting it to be as relaxing as the inaugural one was :)

I think the conduct of some people (covertly recording staff, etc) is disgusting. Who the hell do they think they are!? A Current Affair!? No wonder this forum has such a bad name! [emoji35]

 

Why do you have such beef with P&O, Cyrix400? There are several threads that have been started by you, all covering the same topic. It's starting to look like a tabloid beat-up!

I try to keep an open mind about P&O as I have never travelled with them - and I was only bringing to your attention what others have said - on CruiseCritic reviews and youtube -and that was very worrying for me.

That was why I was seeking the views of experienced cruisers on that topic. And that is why, if fairness to P&O, I have sought the comment from their senior communication manager to get their side of the story. I tried to be fair and included this e-mail in full for your information. It now seems at least that that P&O are really taking notice and are trying to fix things.

I try to keep an open mind about P&O as I have never travelled with them - and I was only bringing to your attention what others have said - on CruiseCritic reviews and youtube -and that was very worrying for me.

 

That was why I was seeking the views of experienced cruisers on that topic. And that is why, if fairness to P&O, I have sought the comment from their senior communication manager to get their side of the story. I tried to be fair and included this e-mail in full for your information. It now seems at least that that P&O are really taking notice and are trying to fix things.

how can you make a comment about a cruise line when you havent cruised with them

I guess only time will tell if the problems persist. Give it a few more weeks?

I think the conduct of some people (covertly recording staff, etc) is disgusting. Who the hell do they think they are!? A Current Affair!? No wonder this forum has such a bad name! [emoji35]

 

Why do you have such beef with P&O, Cyrix400? There are several threads that have been started by you, all covering the same topic. It's starting to look like a tabloid beat-up!

Well said Royalty X!

Something odd going on here.

I think the conduct of some people (covertly recording staff, etc) is disgusting. Who the hell do they think they are!? A Current Affair!? No wonder this forum has such a bad name! [emoji35]

 

Why do you have such beef with P&O, Cyrix400? There are several threads that have been started by you, all covering the same topic. It's starting to look like a tabloid beat-up!

Even when current affairs dies it it's disgusting.

I haven't replied because as stated , we have all said our views (basically very positive) on a number of threads already.

 

I just want to say that I have used my credit from P&O and booked another cruise on Eden. A four night, but it didn't seem long enough so I booked the following cruise as well - another 4 night. This is for March next year, so I'll report back again. And I'm excited to be cruising again so soon. I didn't think I would be next year with different family things happening.

 

Plus I'm expecting it to be as relaxing as the inaugural one was :)

Good one.:D

I try to keep an open mind about P&O as I have never travelled with them - and I was only bringing to your attention what others have said - on CruiseCritic reviews and youtube -and that was very worrying for me.

 

That was why I was seeking the views of experienced cruisers on that topic. And that is why, if fairness to P&O, I have sought the comment from their senior communication manager to get their side of the story. I tried to be fair and included this e-mail in full for your information. It now seems at least that that P&O are really taking notice and are trying to fix things.

Of course P&O are taking notice. I do not know why anyone would have thought otherwise. The company and its staff are very experienced and I am confident everything will be sorted out very quickly.:)

Agree. Some are on a major witchhunt for P&O right now, especially prevalent in some Facebook groups. I see no catastrophic issues that came out of the inaugural sailings. Nothing that any other ship new to a line or out of a dry dock might experience.

 

I didn't overly enjoy my recent trip on the Jewel, I mentioned it in a few relevant threads and moved on. Out of respect for those who do enjoy the line or that are booked on it for future, it doesn't need to be thrashed to death. Nor does it need dramatic protests to senior management. They are very well on the pulse of everything said about them online - as per every other major corporation.

 

Cyrix - am I reading correctly that you have not even sailed on P&O?!?!?! Why then are you so strongly petitioning management about issues you have only read about?!?! Surely I must be missing something here.

I have my first P&O Aust cruise on Eden in 6 weeks - they seem to have great hardware (ships) but according to a number of first reviews/ posts the service and the food still need quite a bit of work.

So on the basis of what people who have sailed Eden/Aria said already - and in light of the so-called 'review' on youtube - I thought it may be a good idea to get a formal response from P&O media people - for everybody on this forum to see. This is the media people job, after all.

I think that P&O Aust have a great chance with their boutique design ships (Celebrity lite decor?) to go a little bit upmarket - and in due course hopefully to attract better reviews. They have done something different and deserve to succeed and to diversify their client base.

And of course, I can only form my view about my own Eden experience after the cruise.

I enjoyed my first cruise with P&O which happened to be the Eden's first as well. If I had of believed even half of the reviews and opinions I'd read I would never have set foot on a P&O ship.

I'm glad I did because they were great and even exceeded my expectations. In fact every cruise line I've been on has been fine, different but perfectly satisfactory.

My idea is to go with an open mind and relax and enjoy. It's the cruise company's business to make us happy not miserable. We can only do that to ourselves. (Mostly [emoji3])

But I don't stress about the unknown before I go because there can be a lot of uncontrollable things on a cruise......Mother Nature being one. And Human nature being another [emoji3]

It now seems at least that that P&O are really taking notice and are trying to fix things.

I've never seen anything to suggest they weren't doing that from the beginning!

Why would they _not_ try to fix things?

But it's pretty common knowledge, for anyone researching ships as you seem to be, that initial cruises have issues so there's nothing surprising about that either.

I've never seen anything to suggest they weren't doing that from the beginning!

 

Why would they _not_ try to fix things?

 

But it's pretty common knowledge, for anyone researching ships as you seem to be, that initial cruises have issues so there's nothing surprising about that either.

Seems crazy doesn't it.

That anyone thinks any line doesn't try and fix ANY problems they might have.

Any business for that matter.

I always believe a cruiseline when introducing new ships to their brand, new concepts, new ideas, need about six months to settle in.

Even the brand spanking new ones have issues. The Quantum of the Seas had some major problems on their first cruise but I think its settled down now. Same with the Royal Princess, go back and read some of the earlier threads about that when it first came out.

Sometimes on the first cruises on these ships people expectations have been over-hyped. Some of it is due to the cruiseline hyping it up, coupled with really inflated pricing for ingural cruises. When things don't go to plan and people have paid top dollar then the compliants come flying out and the believe they have been ripped off.

I reckon they should offer baragin basement prices for shake down cruises. That way the expectations are keep in checked because people got the cruise at a steal :D

I always believe a cruiseline when introducing new ships to their brand, new concepts, new ideas, need about six months to settle in.

 

Even the brand spanking new ones have issues. The Quantum of the Seas had some major problems on their first cruise but I think its settled down now. Same with the Royal Princess, go back and read some of the earlier threads about that when it first came out.

 

Sometimes on the first cruises on these ships people expectations have been over-hyped. Some of it is due to the cruiseline hyping it up, coupled with really inflated pricing for ingural cruises. When things don't go to plan and people have paid top dollar then the compliants come flying out and the believe they have been ripped off.

 

I reckon they should offer baragin basement prices for shake down cruises. That way the expectations are keep in checked because people got the cruise at a steal :D

Good points and the pricing could be cheaper but it is a case of supply and demand, people want to be on the first cruises. What they should do is come with disclaimers so that people are fully aware that they will have issues and that some of these may affect their cruise adversely.

Good points and the pricing could be cheaper but it is a case of supply and demand, people want to be on the first cruises. What they should do is come with disclaimers so that people are fully aware that they will have issues and that some of these may affect their cruise adversely.

I'd agree with that... it's just nature that nobody likes to suggest things will be bad/may not be perfect. There'd be people complaining if they did that too, I'm sure.

For price though, new ships are already in demand so reducing the price would just make even more demand as people rush for the bargains AND on a new ship to brag about. And in the end, people would still complain that x wasn't perfect, and y wasn't good enough for a new ship, even with a disclaimer up front.

To give a relevant example, MSC still gets a fair number of people complaining about different elements even though they acknowledge the prices are often lower (not that they are related, but it doesn't do anything to dissuade them.) Then you get the backhanded remarks like 'I'd rather pay more for a better experience' which you'd also get here. Which literally can be a fair opinion, but isn't realistic, as it's not as though the staff would be working less hard because they know the price you paid for the ticket!

In some ways, I feel if the cruiseline had a disclaimer about possible faults on an inaugural cruise, many people would go out of their way looking for problems. They can't win. :)

We were on Aria's first proper cruise 30 November for 7 nights from Brisbane to Hamilton Island, overnight in Cairns then out to Willis Island and back to Brisbane.

I've seen a couple of reviews and yes there were a few hiccups but it was the first cruise and the crew were doing their best to iron the wrinkles out.

Some of the reviews sounded as if they were on a completely different cruise to us.

People are quick to criticize but slow to praise aren't they.

People do seem to find it easier to criticise especially when it comes to reviews.

I don't take any notice of people's reviews - prefer to make my own decisions. I have not been disappointed with any of my cruises and can hardly wait for the next whichever ship I'm on. :)