Arvia - Impressions from Maiden

[Megabear2]

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/po-cruises-boss-insists-vast-majority-enjoyed-arvia-debut

 

Apparently it's not all bad ....

[Snow Hill]

14 hours ago, Cristaltips said:

Have you seen the recent Feefo reviews? They’re pretty poor. Hopefully P&O will take notice - or will they? Who knows? 

As are those on TP. 

[No pager thank you]

14 hours ago, Cristaltips said:

Have you seen the recent Feefo reviews? They’re pretty poor. Hopefully P&O will take notice - or will they? Who knows? 

Thank you for this, I have had a look.  The reviews on there are poor, reading the first 20 or so, the ships with the worst comments appear to be Iona and Arcadia.

 

If I understand it correctly, this website works by the company offering a link to provide responses, therefore the feedback can be assumed to be genuine, which is sometimes the criticism made of others like TA or TP (not sure if I can give the name of the websites on here).  It's probably also indicative of broader customer sentiment as on there you can give a simple, friendly 5* review if you have had a great time for example. 

 

On this basis, there are more than 20,000 reviews shown.  P&O have a tracker on their website which showed the net rating at around 4 or more out of 5.  Now it is 3.7.  That's quite a drop in customer sentiment and, in my view, goes to show that customer perception, including some newer customers who use social media, is going in the wrong direction.

 

Also note that we haven't received a feedback request from P&O, which is why no Arvia ones are shown yet.  Like another poster, I also joined a sailing specific group via another FB, the feedback on there was mixed.  In fairness a lot of first time/newer cruisers on there who were happy enough.

 

[No pager thank you]

8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/po-cruises-boss-insists-vast-majority-enjoyed-arvia-debut

 

Apparently it's not all bad ....

Thank you Megabear, not your fault of course, but that makes me really 😡 

 

In my view, these remarks are from a different planet, particularly when the Captain said in an all passenger address, at the end of the cruise, that the company would need to "learn from the experience," and that it is "the customers which ensure the success of the company."  This was separate to the well publicised apology and the letter from the Guest Services sent to all passengers acknowledging the failings and sending £150 per passenger (£300 as a result per cabin).

 

I can also say that the Executive made no attempt, whatsoever, to gauge actual passenger feedback.  He knows full well that 99.9% of people did not have a great time. 

 

Just a shame that a respected journalist didn't challenge him with evidence - at the end of the day his job exists due to the success of Arvia and equivalent, so I can understand why chooses to offer this point of view. 

 

Poor culture starts from the top down.

[Megabear2]

5 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Thank you for this, I have had a look.  The reviews on there are poor, reading the first 20 or so, the ships with the worst comments appear to be Iona and Arcadia.

 

If I understand it correctly, this website works by the company offering a link to provide responses, therefore the feedback can be assumed to be genuine, which is sometimes the criticism made of others like TA or TP (not sure if I can give the name of the websites on here).  It's probably also indicative of broader customer sentiment as on there you can give a simple, friendly 5* review if you have had a great time for example. 

 

On this basis, there are more than 20,000 reviews shown.  P&O have a tracker on their website which showed the net rating at around 4 or more out of 5.  Now it is 3.7.  That's quite a drop in customer sentiment and, in my view, goes to show that customer perception, including some newer customers who use social media, is going in the wrong direction.

 

Also note that we haven't received a feedback request from P&O, which is why no Arvia ones are shown yet.  Like another poster, I also joined a sailing specific group via another FB, the feedback on there was mixed.  In fairness a lot of first time/newer cruisers on there who were happy enough.

 

You are correct in how Feefo works.  I received my request 2 days after my return and you have a time limit of, if I recall correctly,  7 days.  Sadly on this occasion I only scored 3* as my experience had deteriorated so much since my last one.  I would add this was my 7th post pandemic cruise so I've only rated it based on my experiences since restart.

 

Actually if you'd looked at Feefo earlier in the year around April/May the scores were even lower than now based on the onshore customer service offering.  The actual cruises actually weren't scoring too badly but the ships were of course only half full.

[wowzz]

MB - you obviously have had a lot of dealings with P&O over the last year.

Do you have any idea if anyone at P&O monitors these pages ?

I'm obviously excluding Moley.

[No pager thank you]

9 hours ago, Britboys said:

So sorry to hear you had such a disappointing cruise - especially as it was the Maiden and over Christmas and New Year.

So it sounds like the Library-in-Anderson's from Iona hasn't crossed over to Arvia then?

Did they do anything special to mark the Maiden or are they leaving all the glam and razzamatazz for the Barbados naming ceremony?

Hello there, thanks for your note...

 

Yes the equivalent area mainly contains a small selection of board games, and a few reference books for show, which are not supposed to be taken away.  There is no Library provision and the computer terminals have gone the same way.

 

All glam left for Barbados I think.  We received a Rum and Soda and a bauble for Christmas (which was a good touch), and at the end of the cruise we received a commemorative small print in a box.  No ceremony and we departed late, due to issues with Embarkation.  A few of the ports did ceremonial waterjets for Maiden calls and there was a moment where Iona and Arvia opportunistically met one another for a sail by.

 

Personally, to us the drawing looked like a child's one, but that's just our taste.  This was labelled as Maiden Season, of which there is a whole range of items in the shop, so fellow Arvia guests will probably get a copy. 

 

In summary, the traditional gift for a Maiden, for example we have a nice teapot and glassware from an earlier one, has been replaced by an opportunity to buy your own.  A few passengers were flogging these on ebay, for a profit, which made me chuckle.  In fairness, we never booked the Maiden, this became the Maiden due to the issues at the yard, so this didn't bother us too much.

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

We received a Rum and Soda and a bauble for Christmas (which was a good touch),

That was fleet wide -  we received that too.  Last year it was Iona gin and Fevertree tonic plus a slate star.

 

The cynic in me says it was a cheap way of looking generous by using their own product!

 

As a gin drinker I always request Fevertree but on Britannia this was only available in the Crows Nest and everywhere else we were presented with a large can of Canada Dry tonic.  I wasn't sure if it was a ploy to sell more gin as no one wanted to waste the large  can contents!

Edited January 7, 2023 by Megabear2

[No pager thank you]

9 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That was fleet wide -  we received that too.  Last year it was Iona gin and Fevertree tonic plus a slate star.

 

The cynic in me says it was a cheap way of looking generous by using their own product!

 

As a gin drinker I always request Fevertree but on Britannia this was only available in the Crows Nest and everywhere else we were presented with a large can of Canada Dry tonic.  I wasn't sure if it was a ploy to sell more gin as no one wanted to waste the large  can contents!

All I can say on that matter is the "The Tidal Rum" should be tossed out to sea, we have re-gifted ours!

[Megabear2]

17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

MB - you obviously have had a lot of dealings with P&O over the last year.

Do you have any idea if anyone at P&O monitors these pages ?

I'm obviously excluding Moley.

I believe not.  On occasion I pointed and directed my contacts to certain areas of the boards, including comments on other non P&O forums for comparison.  I'm aware that one contact does lurk in an unofficial capacity and also interestingly after I drew their attention to the boards existence, a reporter from the local Southampton newspaper and BBC Solent.

 

P&O appear to rely on their own social media and it is of course full of happy cruisers. The CC boards are not unfortunately very well supported and new joiners tend to not stick around for too long once they've cruised so I guess it's not surprising they aren't considered so important in the pantheon of things.

[Megabear2]

6 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

All I can say on that matter is the "The Tidal Rum" should be tossed out to sea, we have re-gifted ours!

The bottle makes a good diffuser for scenting your room!  Having "disposed" of the rum in an appropriate place I filled them with some nice John Lewis oils and sticks!

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I believe not.  On occasion I pointed and directed my contacts to certain areas of the boards, including comments on other non P&O forums for comparison.  I'm aware that one contact does lurk in an unofficial capacity and also interestingly after I drew their attention to the boards existence, a reporter from the local Southampton newspaper and BBC Solent.

 

P&O appear to rely on their own social media and it is of course full of happy cruisers. The CC boards are not unfortunately very well supported and new joiners tend to not stick around for too long once they've cruised so I guess it's not surprising they aren't considered so important in the pantheon of things.

Shame really.

I know Princess monitors YouTube videos,  as the bloggers often get feedback from Princess management.

By using SM effectively, companies can show that they are listening, care about their customers,  and turn negatives into positives. P&O obviously do not have that mindset.

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Shame really.

I know Princess monitors YouTube videos,  as the bloggers often get feedback from Princess management.

By using SM effectively, companies can show that they are listening, care about their customers,  and turn negatives into positives. P&O obviously do not have that mindset.

I doubt they have enough staff being UK based.  Princess will I assume have the backing and resources down in Miami.  US residents in my experience are far more pro active in discussing their cruises, likes and dislikes etc.  People in the UK seem much happier to argue amongst themselves and thereby dilute the value of any points which are being made.  

 

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, itf said:

We’re booked in a suite in April and if it’s anything like this then they’ll never see any of my business again. Hopefully at least the epicurean for breakfast is competent!

 

[Bazrat]

We are going on Arvia in October with no views just hope we enjoy it like we have done on countless holidays, I know my views are against the majority on here, but after reading on another site that so many have had a good holiday over Christmas on her, obviously Christmas day aside, but they compensated them and made up for it on new years so at least they admitted there mistakes.

[Harry Peterson]

It is possible, of course, that the product is consistently good, or indeed bad, but that different customers have very different requirements and expectations of P&O. P&O likes to trade very much on its past reputation, and that might be another factor.

 

If it still suits some customers perfectly, that’s great. But for others it may not be the right ‘fit’ and they’ll probably be upgrading to something like Saga.

[Camberley]

14 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Lower-brow tone there going down that's very pretentious of you

Well I’m quite sure you will cope 🤣

[zoe sproodle]

Thanks for the reviews, hopefully things will be better for us on the return TA. Did anyone see BBC South Today last night? The ran quite an extensive article on Arvia prior to her departure, including some comments from a restaurant manager (I think) who said that they’d taken steps to improve. They then interviewed Paul Ludlow who managed to dodge the questions about the bad publicity very well and point out that everyone enjoyed new year and got some extra OBC.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/po-cruises-boss-insists-vast-majority-enjoyed-arvia-debut

 

Apparently it's not all bad ....

Mr Ludlow certainly isn't prone to hyperbole is he - the New Year Party was "the best of its kind, ever, on any ship"...🤣🤣🤣

[Dentist at Sea]

I am not really one for exaggeration or hyperbole and tend to see it as it is. Obviously post Covid things were bound to change in the cruising industry and we expected some changes and a decrease in service levels, however this cruise which certainly wasn't cheap really went far lower than acceptable levels of service.  These weren't niggles or upsets the problems were of fundamental system failures and lack of service staff training and experience.  I am afraid that when Arvia set sale on it's maiden voyage it certainly was not fit for purpose  P&O knew it as did the Captain 

D@C

Edited January 7, 2023 by Dentist at Sea

[Bazrat]

24 minutes ago, Camberley said:

Well I’m quite sure you will cope 🤣

Perfectly well thankyou 

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

People in the UK seem much happier to argue amongst themselves and thereby dilute the value of any points which are being made.  

Sorry for quoting myself but this thread is descending to be an excellent example!

[zap99]

13 hours ago, Bazrat said:

The op said he wanted to but didn’t I wanted to leave work today but didn’t, I just did a search cannot find the articles about the injury if you can put a link up, and I am a member of the Arvia other site forum and strangely members who was on that cruise Christmas aside had a good cruise, it’s not being defensive of p&o because I have no loyalty to any cruise line, I just like a balanced view.

Unfortunately exaggeration is a growing trend. Horrendous means fairly poor . People who have been in Horrendous situations, like a truck plowing into them on a smart motorway, know the difference. Cold potatoes might be mildly unpleasant,  but not Horrendous. IMHO.🤔

[yorkshirephil]

26 minutes ago, Dentist at Sea said:

 Obviously post Covid things were bound to change in the cruising industry and we expected some changes and a decrease in service levels, however this cruise which certainly wasn't cheap really went far lower than acceptable levels of service.  T

I agree, however I do think many companies have jumped on the band wagon and use covid as an excuse to cut services, sometimes you get fed up of hearing "because of covid your call may take longer than usual to answer". P&O were trialling cutting back on the turn down service pre covid, I would be surprised if they go back to evening turn down, plus I read that NCL were also planning to follow suit.

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, zap99 said:

Unfortunately exaggeration is a growing trend. Horrendous means fairly poor . People who have been in Horrendous situations, like a truck plowing into them on a smart motorway, know the difference. Cold potatoes might be mildly unpleasant,  but not Horrendous. IMHO.🤔

Totally agree! I can't stand how everything is awesome if it's good!