Arvia - Impressions from Maiden

[sandancer]

11 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

You have to pay when you book (unless it’s changed now some restaurants are pay per item), so you can’t use OBC but any loyalty discount will be applied. 

That’s ok. We are mainly interested in Sindhu and Epicurean. The others we’ll book onboard. 

[Selbourne]

Sad to hear that the problems on Arvia have not been solved, in spite of assurances by Paul Ludlow that they would be. Is Iona still having problems as well? I hope that all the extra cost restaurants are open, fully staffed and with all menu items when we are on Iona in August. I can see us using them every night and avoiding the MDR, other than for breakfast and possibly lunch (unless someone tells me that they are problematic as well)!

[terrierjohn]

38 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Assuming its the same for the other MDR a corridor leading to a corridor suggests they were anticipating they need a large queue area.  

 

Anyone who's sailed on Iona come across this "corridor" queuing area? I'm racking my brains and can't think of anything like it on the rest of the fleet.

Very similar to the lower floor access to the theatre on the 2 Grand class ships, and although longer and a bit  narrower its not very different to the 2 mid ship MDRs on the same ships.

[purplesea]

43 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Assuming its the same for the other MDR a corridor leading to a corridor suggests they were anticipating they need a large queue area.  

 

Anyone who's sailed on Iona come across this "corridor" queuing area? I'm racking my brains and can't think of anything like it on the rest of the fleet.

We were on Iona last January and there was no queuing that we saw but Iona has 4 MDR and Arvia has (I believe) 2, maybe that is the problem?

[UKsatcom]

1 hour ago, devonuk said:

Booked on the left walk ins on the right… the queue at one stage reached the length of this particular corridor. No drinks or chairs offered, very hot and claustrophobic and this led to arguments between guest unfortunately 😳

 

 

 

 

 

The image below is taken from one of the news paper reports 

Credit.....

P&O Cruises passengers left livid after dream cruise 'ruined' by Christmas Day 'disaster' | UK | News | Express.co.uk

 

On the left are the toilets half way down the "first" corridor , the queue itself stretched back to the atrium.

You can see how packed in we were. 

I estimate that at that time there  were well over 1000 in the queue  waiting more than 90 minutes in sweltering conditions.

 

A health and safety nightmare !

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

Given that the incidence of a certain highly infectious disease was around 1 in 20 last week, queueing like this in confined spaces like this looks like utter, cavalier, madness.
 

I suspect certain firms of solicitors will be licking their lips with anticipation.

[Selbourne]

39 minutes ago, UKsatcom said:

 

 

 

The image below is taken from one of the news paper reports 

Credit.....

P&O Cruises passengers left livid after dream cruise 'ruined' by Christmas Day 'disaster' | UK | News | Express.co.uk

 

On the left are the toilets half way down the "first" corridor , the queue itself stretched back to the atrium.

You can see how packed in we were. 

I estimate that at that time there  were well over 1000 in the queue  waiting more than 90 minutes in sweltering conditions.

 

A health and safety nightmare !

 

 

Well, at least we know from the P&O President that 99.99% of the passengers in that photo had an absolutely fantastic cruise and experienced no problems whatsoever 🤔

[FamilyCruiserUK]

I feel for all the people on the maiden cruise who spent £££££ on what should have been an amazing experience. Lets hope P&O iron out all the issues. Seemed to be lots of frustration from the passengers and staff and bucket loads of stress for all. There is for some reason lots of labour shortages everywhere. Our Brilliance cruise last Aug the MDR staff were new and largely untrained. For us it was a shambles, long waits for food and drinks, missing food orders and the poor waiters running around like mad. 

 

I just really hope P&O get a grip and sort out the issues and fast. 

 

Also i noted the way staff spoke to people, whilst for 99% of the people they speak too dont deserve it i have heard and seen how some passengers speak terrible to the staff. So whilst staff should maintain their cool i get that they must have been under tremendous stress as well.

 

Again not what the people on the cruise deserved.

[Selbourne]

I sincerely hope that the grown ups at Carnival and, in particular, Cunard are reading all the adverse PR about Arvia’s early weeks (rather than the spin being fed to them by the P&O President) and making sure that there’s no repeat on other new ship launches. We are booked on the second cruise of Cunards new ship Queen Anne 🫣

[alpha whiskey]

5 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Sad to hear that the problems on Arvia have not been solved, in spite of assurances by Paul Ludlow that they would be. Is Iona still having problems as well? I hope that all the extra cost restaurants are open, fully staffed and with all menu items when we are on Iona in August. I can see us using them every night and avoiding the MDR, other than for breakfast and possibly lunch (unless someone tells me that they are problematic as well)!

No problems for us on Iona for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

We dine 6/6.30 pm 

Service in all bars very swift too 👍

Edited January 10, 2023 by alpha whiskey

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, alpha whiskey said:

No problems for us on Iona for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

We dine 6/6.30 pm 

Service in all bars very swift too 👍

Many thanks. We tend to dine later - around 8.30pm. From what you’ve heard, is it still OK then?

[UKsatcom]

10 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Given that the incidence of a certain highly infectious disease was around 1 in 20 last week, queueing like this in confined spaces like this looks like utter, cavalier, madness.
 

I suspect certain firms of solicitors will be licking their lips with anticipation.

 

COVID spreads to 89 cruise ships, prompting CDC investigations - BNN Bloomberg

I wonder how pictures of queues like this relate to warnings about the cruise industry expressed just a couple of weeks ago.

From the article.....

“Health and safety is the cruise industry’s highest priority,” said Bari Golin-Blaugrund, a spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association trade group, in an email.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by UKsatcom
insert "of queues"

[alpha whiskey]

8 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Many thanks. We tend to dine later - around 8.30pm. From what you’ve heard, is it still OK then?

Can't say for sure, but after leaving the dining room there have been no big queues from people waiting to enter.

The service has been very good in all venues.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

Can't say for sure, but after leaving the dining room there have been no big queues from people waiting to enter.

The service has been very good in all venues.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. We are on Iona in the August school holidays when passenger numbers will be significantly greater, but if the core procedures are working correctly then they should be able to cope as the numbers crank up. 

[Britboys]

13 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I sincerely hope that the grown ups at Carnival and, in particular, Cunard are reading all the adverse PR about Arvia’s early weeks (rather than the spin being fed to them by the P&O President) and making sure that there’s no repeat on other new ship launches. We are booked on the second cruise of Cunards new ship Queen Anne 🫣

I'm sure you will be fine. Queen Anne and Arvia really are chalk & cheese.

[Selbourne]

7 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I'm sure you will be fine. Queen Anne and Arvia really are chalk & cheese.

Thanks Andrew. I’m very relieved that we’ve booked Britannia Club, which means that we have a personal table for our exclusive use for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in a (smaller) dedicated dining room, which we can use at whatever time we like with no need to book, so we shouldn’t have any queues 🤞
 

Looking at some of the comments on the Cunard board, some seem to be fearing that Queen Anne is going to be an Arvia / Iona, but she’s actually Ventura size so hopefully, as you say, chalk and cheese!

[zap99]

16 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

 

 

 

The image below is taken from one of the news paper reports 

Credit.....

P&O Cruises passengers left livid after dream cruise 'ruined' by Christmas Day 'disaster' | UK | News | Express.co.uk

 

On the left are the toilets half way down the "first" corridor , the queue itself stretched back to the atrium.

You can see how packed in we were. 

I estimate that at that time there  were well over 1000 in the queue  waiting more than 90 minutes in sweltering conditions.

 

A health and safety nightmare !

 

 

The poor bloke in the front had a shirt that fitted him when he joined the queue.🤣

[UKsatcom]

CHECK YOUR CARD ACCOUNT

 

Whilst on the subject of  Arvia , could I suggest that returning passengers check the card account connected to their Onboard Account.

 

A number of passengers , me included , report having their debit/credit charged with amounts around £10 relating to transaction[s]  on Jan 7th , the day after we disembarked.

I challenged P&O on the basis of a fraudulent transaction and gave them 24 hours to respond , requesting a copy of the receipt for whatever it was I was supposed to have purchased

[my onboard account was left in credit]

 

This morning they got back to me , apparently it was a "mistake" and my card would be credited in due course.

 

How strange !

So please do check for any "mistaken" transactions on your  card account. It may seem a trivial amount individually  , but multiply that by 100s even thousands ....... !!!!!!!

 

Not the first time this has happened , pre covid we had a similar issue. On that occassion they claimed we had made a purchase at a time we were actually on the bus home 😑

 

 

 

[Trevor Fountain]

21 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

 

 

 

The image below is taken from one of the news paper reports 

Credit.....

P&O Cruises passengers left livid after dream cruise 'ruined' by Christmas Day 'disaster' | UK | News | Express.co.uk

 

On the left are the toilets half way down the "first" corridor , the queue itself stretched back to the atrium.

You can see how packed in we were. 

I estimate that at that time there  were well over 1000 in the queue  waiting more than 90 minutes in sweltering conditions.

 

A health and safety nightmare !

 

 

I think the newspaper got this one wrong. As I understand, this was arranged by Paul Ludlow for an upcoming p&o magazine. Look closely and you should be able to spot Paul. This is his version of Where's Wally.

[CarlaMarie]

4 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

CHECK YOUR CARD ACCOUNT

 

Whilst on the subject of  Arvia , could I suggest that returning passengers check the card account connected to their Onboard Account.

 

A number of passengers , me included , report having their debit/credit charged with amounts around £10 relating to transaction[s]  on Jan 7th , the day after we disembarked.

I challenged P&O on the basis of a fraudulent transaction and gave them 24 hours to respond , requesting a copy of the receipt for whatever it was I was supposed to have purchased

[my onboard account was left in credit]

 

This morning they got back to me , apparently it was a "mistake" and my card would be credited in due course.

 

How strange !

So please do check for any "mistaken" transactions on your  card account. It may seem a trivial amount individually  , but multiply that by 100s even thousands ....... !!!!!!!

 

Not the first time this has happened , pre covid we had a similar issue. On that occassion they claimed we had made a purchase at a time we were actually on the bus home 😑

 

 

 

 

If I recall rightly, didn't this happen once before and it was blamed on the mini bar even though passengers hadn't used it? This resulted in passengers requesting the mini bar be emptied by their steward upon arrival. 

[Snow Hill]

8 hours ago, UKsatcom said:

CHECK YOUR CARD ACCOUNT

 

Whilst on the subject of  Arvia , could I suggest that returning passengers check the card account connected to their Onboard Account.

 

A number of passengers , me included , report having their debit/credit charged with amounts around £10 relating to transaction[s]  on Jan 7th , the day after we disembarked.

I challenged P&O on the basis of a fraudulent transaction and gave them 24 hours to respond , requesting a copy of the receipt for whatever it was I was supposed to have purchased

[my onboard account was left in credit]

 

This morning they got back to me , apparently it was a "mistake" and my card would be credited in due course.

 

How strange !

So please do check for any "mistaken" transactions on your  card account. It may seem a trivial amount individually  , but multiply that by 100s even thousands ....... !!!!!!!

 

Not the first time this has happened , pre covid we had a similar issue. On that occassion they claimed we had made a purchase at a time we were actually on the bus home 😑

 

 

 

Has happened to us to twice, first time £25, the second time almost £50, the £25 was given back quickly, the £50 took a little longer. 

[UKsatcom]

5 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Has happened to us to twice, first time £25, the second time almost £50, the £25 was given back quickly, the £50 took a little longer. 

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.

[UKsatcom]

From a FEEFO report...

 

After disembarking the ship our on board account was a £0 balance. There was still £7.85 on board credit showing. We did spend £10.00 in the casino but this balance was paid at reception straight away. When I checked our bank account we saw a debit of £20.13 had been taken out of our account to Arvia.

[alun.jones.nl]

Just checked my credit card and we have also got an extra charge of 22 pounds on the 7th jan - will be asking them why!

[Harry Peterson]

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?!