Maleth confirms end of P&O partnership

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Very sensible not to get involved!  The flight left a short time ago scheduled to arrive around 1.00am and depart 3.00am so you may well be right about sitting at the airport for a while.

 

Will this impact your scheduled departure or did they not say anything?

 

 

We are next week from Barbados to Manchester

 

So who knows what happens then!!

[carlanthony24]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

I believe some TAs have had so many complaints that they are actively encouraging passengers not to took until the airline is known.

 

 

What I find amazing is some passengers saying, based on our experience 4 weeks ago,  don’t leave the hotel / ship as you’re be dumped overnight at the airport. The flight is due to leave in 90 minutes / 3am on the return. Listen to Facebook and you’d miss your flight!

That was happening today people saying its cancelled others saying its not. I was like just go to the airport its saying its departing.

[Megabear2]

9 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

We are next week from Barbados to Manchester

 

So who knows what happens then!!

I'm sure you'll find a four leaf clover before then!  The pattern does appear to be mainly the Antigua flight being jinxed.  The Gatwick to Antigua flight seems to be doing okay most weeks and apart from a few minor delays they were picking up.  Looking at the flight history of the three aircraft there seems to be one which goes technical far more than the other two.  

 

Have they said anything about sailing time and if the delay will cause port schedule to be okay?  You seem to have seadays tomorrow.

Edited February 24 by Megabear2

[Interestedcruisefan]

13 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm sure you'll find a four leaf clover before then!  The pattern does appear to be mainly the Antigua flight being jinxed.  The Gatwick to Antigua flight seems to be doing okay most weeks and apart from a few minor delays they were picking up.  Looking at the flight history of the three aircraft there seems to be one which goes technical far more than the other two.  

 

Have they said anything about sailing time and if the delay will cause port schedule to be okay?  You seem to have seadays tomorrow.

When we left the ship this morning it was still saying be back by 8pm 

 

Not mentioned anything since

 

We had a great day today jet skiing in Antigua

 

Definitely our favourite island. Stunning.

 

Had to book the Jetski through the ship as they book all the slots 

 

I booked direct last year 

 

Almost double the price now through the ship and less time on the Jetski!

 

Still amazing though

 

Having a great holiday. 710 at 7pm followed by Epicurean at 8pm tonight 

 

As you know we make the most of the big ships. But we can also see the attraction of smaller ships in comparison as well now

 

Green and co was a great meal earlier on last week

 

 

Edited February 24 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

When we left the ship this morning it was still saying be back by 8pm 

 

Not mentioned anything since

 

We had a great day today jet skiing in Antigua

 

Definitely our favourite island. Stunning.

 

Had to book the Jetski through the ship as they book all the slots 

 

I booked direct last year 

 

Almost double the price now through the ship and less time on the Jetski!

 

Still amazing though

 

Having a great holiday. 710 at 7pm followed by Epicurean at 8pm tonight 

 

As you know we make the most of the big ships. But we can also see the attraction of smaller ships in comparison as well now

 

Green and co was a great meal earlier on last week

 

 

Glad it's living up to expectations.  Hopefully you'll not be delayed and if late make up the time.

 

Yes, we noticed excursions very much taken by the cruise lines  probably guaranteed income for the operators.  Definitely noticed far less private tours and a lot were charging comparable to the ship.

 

I booked for Christmas yesterday and can't believe excursions are already on sale.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Yorkie69 said:

I for one have booked with another cruise line for next years Caribbean cruise after the mess of the flight out with Maleth this year and the previous concerns I raised with P&O when we were told Maleth would be the operator. I was told that the same “fantastic” service would be provided and that was well off what we actually got. I have had four P&O cruises and all were fantastic but I wouldn’t risk another fly cruise with them without knowing exactly who the operator was. As P&O couldn’t confirm when I was on the last cruise early this month (I normally book when onboard) I decided to avoid the gamble and book with Celebrity instead and fly with BA. I would think I am not the only one who has avoided booking with P&O due to this so I would state the brand has been affected and some confidence has been lost.

That must have cost you a lot more per diem than P&O, and you will be flying with one of the worst long haul carriers, according to todays paper.

[doog442]

5 hours ago, molecrochip said:

When the bad option is the only option, you take the bad option??? Turns out the bad option was shockingly appalling. Maleth were not ready.

 

Seeing @carlanthony24like this post is a bit of an oxymoron as he suggested it was regular and normal.

 

🤣

 

14 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That must have cost you a lot more per diem than P&O, and you will be flying with one of the worst long haul carriers, according to todays paper.

 

If you've done regular Caribbean flights with BA you'd know the press were talking out of their arris. 

 

[Yorkie69]

37 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That must have cost you a lot more per diem than P&O, and you will be flying with one of the worst long haul carriers, according to todays paper.

I can guarantee premium economy seats with BA and have status with them too. Believe me, BA is miles ahead of Maleth and I know that they can rebook if anything did go wrong as they have options of other aircraft and/or airlines. In regard to price, you are correct it is more but I would rather pay the extra and be happy that I know who is providing the flights compared to what we received this year with Maleth. 

Edited February 24 by Yorkie69
Correction

[carlanthony24]

25 minutes ago, doog442 said:

 

Seeing @carlanthony24like this post is a bit of an oxymoron as he suggested it was regular and normal.

 

🤣

 

 

If you've done regular Caribbean flights with BA you'd know the press were talking out of their arris. 

 

But it is normal when you have very little carriers to fall back on. Hence why I say if you get TUI regardless of summer or winter you will potentially end up on a wet lease. We have even seen it this year. TUI did not have a plane to send to Barbados I believe and used Norse. 😄 Well we all know what happens when BA have IT problems all I say is good luck and well the app you can not always access when IT is working.

Edited February 24 by carlanthony24

[Megabear2]

Not wishing to get into personal slanging matches here but can we try to be a little more positive about this now that it is nearly over?  Opinions are just that, we all have them and don't like to be contradicted.  At the moment, yet again, there are around 500 people who have been in their version of a day of personal hell trying to get to/from Arvia.  No amount of debate on the merits of airlines and their reliability on a day to day basis will change anything.

 

Going forward P&O have accepted publicly Maleth has been a mistake and are looking to improve for next year.  Rather than continuing to discuss and point out what can and does go wrong in the airline industry it would seem better to start looking for positives.

 

Carlanthony you do indeed have great first hand knowledge of the airline industry but now may perhaps be the time to offer some positives rather than the Fraser like "We"re all doomed"!

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 hours ago, Yorkie69 said:

I can guarantee premium economy seats with BA and have status with them too. Believe me, BA is miles ahead of Maleth and I know that they can rebook if anything did go wrong as they have options of other aircraft and/or airlines. In regard to price, you are correct it is more but I would rather pay the extra and be happy that I know who is providing the flights compared to what we received this year with Maleth. 

Well not only are you paying more for the holiday you are having to pay premium economy to get a comfortable seat?

 

Honestly after recent flights with Tui and Virgin where I had so little legspace in standard and even worse the people in front of me fully reclined their seats to seemingly end up on my lap I was starting to think I needed to pay premium just to get a comfortable journey

 

On Maleth Airbus I was shocked by how much leg room I had

 

I'm just under 6ft. Could stretch my legs fully out and still be 2 or 3 inches from the seat ahead of me. 

 

You get nowhere near that legroom on BA in standard? Which was also uncomfortable and uninspiring when we flew with them recently?

 

Also maleth airbus the seats don't recline anywhere near as severely as on the current planes so it doesn't feel like passenger in front of you is impacting you badly when they recline

 

I wish we could get same legroom and some type of seating every time we fly

 

Far less people would feel the need to consider premium seats to get more space

 

I think modern planes have conned us into taking lack of legroom as acceptable and forced way more people to start requiring premium seats or extra legroom seats

 

Sorry the photos are poor and sorry you have to see my legs!

 

But I've never had so much space between my legs and the seat in front for years as I did on Maleth last week

 

The second image I my legs extended. I couldn't get close to the seat in front of me

 

Also didn't feel guilty reclining my own seat like I do on current planes as it doesn't impact the passenger behind like it does on the dreamliners which ridiculously impact those behind

 

Most comfortable long haul flight I can remember in standard seats

 

Staff were also far more laughing and joking and personable than we experienced on Tui and Virgin. Where although we had no complaints with staff the personality seems to have been taken away from them. And it's all robotic. 

 

I had to check on Maleth as I genuinely thought we might have been given extra legroom seats by mistake 

 

But they were definitely the standard seats everyone had

 

Could never stretch out like that on Tui, Virgin or BA? Without the seat in front being in the way?

 

Edited February 25 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Well not only are you paying more for the holiday you are having to pay premium economy to get a comfortable seat?

 

Honestly after recent flights with Tui and Virgin where I had so little legspace in standard and even worse the people in front of me fully reclined their seats to seemingly end up on my lap I was starting to think I needed to pay premium just to get a comfortable journey

 

On Maleth Airbus I was shocked by how much leg room I had

 

I'm just under 6ft. Could stretch my legs fully out and still be 2 or 3 inches from the seat ahead of me. 

 

You get nowhere near that legroom on BA in standard? Which was also uncomfortable and uninspiring when we flew with them recently?

 

Also maleth airbus the seats don't recline anywhere near as severely as on the current planes so it doesn't feel like passenger in front of you is impacting you badly when they recline

 

I wish we could get same legroom and some type of seating every time we fly

 

Far less people would feel the need to consider premium seats to get more space

 

I think modern planes have conned us into taking lack of legroom as acceptable and forced way more people to start requiring premium seats or extra legroom seats

 

Sorry the photos are poor and sorry you have to see my legs!

 

But I've never had so much space between my legs and the seat in front for years as I did on Maleth last week

 

The second image I my legs extended. I couldn't get close to the seat in front of me

 

Also didn't feel guilty reclining my own seat like I do on current planes as it doesn't impact the passenger behind like it does on the dreamliners which ridiculously impact those behind

 

 

Legroom on that particular plane does look good. Will be interested to see if the plane home is the same, perhaps a couple of more photos if you've time.  It seems these planes don't just turn around, the Manchester arrival seems to be the Gatwick departure at Bridgetown on occasion.

 

Of course these aircraft being older have the layout from back 20 years ago and at least two of them were from Middle Eastern airlines who as I understand it tried to be market leaders in passenger comfort to get a foothold in the market. On the TA "complaint" rant I've seen people complaining some of the seating signs are still in Arabic though as they are in English as well can't see the relevance.

 

You are right about the passengers being sold a dummy over newer aircraft, many airlines chose to stick extra seats in - I believe BA and Virgin were big offenders which may be why you noticed it.  To accomplish this use of every bit of space manufacturers also had to become very innovative on size of seats (new ones seem narrower) and padding etc had to change as well.  I find the new A350 most uncomfortable but others love them.  Airlines also wanted to make the aircraft lighter for fuel economy.  All this adds up to a less comfortable ride.

 

As you'll have read the Maleth contract is no more from the end of March so it's going to be back to TUI and another as yet unknown company.  I doubt P&O will risk more upheaval so will be interesting to see who they get.  I can confirm I booked on Friday for Christmas December 2024 and the flight was confirmed at point of sale and is in my cruise personaliser immediately.  I believe Presto2 also had that experience.  It will be interesting to hear from others, particularly those booking  Arvia to Antigua if they have had the same experience.

[Yorkie69]

11 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Well not only are you paying more for the holiday you are having to pay premium economy to get a comfortable seat?

 

Honestly after recent flights with Tui and Virgin where I had so little legspace in standard and even worse the people in front of me fully reclined their seats to seemingly end up on my lap I was starting to think I needed to pay premium just to get a comfortable journey

 

On Maleth Airbus I was shocked by how much leg room I had

 

I'm just under 6ft. Could stretch my legs fully out and still be 2 or 3 inches from the seat ahead of me. 

 

You get nowhere near that legroom on BA in standard? Which was also uncomfortable and uninspiring when we flew with them recently?

 

Also maleth airbus the seats don't recline anywhere near as severely as on the current planes so it doesn't feel like passenger in front of you is impacting you badly when they recline

 

I wish we could get same legroom and some type of seating every time we fly

 

Far less people would feel the need to consider premium seats to get more space

 

I think modern planes have conned us into taking lack of legroom as acceptable and forced way more people to start requiring premium seats or extra legroom seats

 

Sorry the photos are poor and sorry you have to see my legs!

 

But I've never had so much space between my legs and the seat in front for years as I did on Maleth last week

 

The second image I my legs extended. I couldn't get close to the seat in front of me

 

Also didn't feel guilty reclining my own seat like I do on current planes as it doesn't impact the passenger behind like it does on the dreamliners which ridiculously impact those behind

 

Most comfortable long haul flight I can remember in standard seats

 

Staff were also far more laughing and joking and personable than we experienced on Tui and Virgin. Where although we had no complaints with staff the personality seems to have been taken away from them. And it's all robotic. 

 

I had to check on Maleth as I genuinely thought we might have been given extra legroom seats by mistake 

 

But they were definitely the standard seats everyone had

 

Could never stretch out like that on Tui, Virgin or BA? Without the seat in front being in the way?

 

We were booked premium economy on the flights with P&O for the last cruise until this was removed when we were told Maleth were the operator and they don’t have premium seating.  Fortunately we can afford the upgrade so leg room in economy isn’t an issue. What is an issue to us is the fact that there appeared to be no back up if Maleth planes went tech and then there was little to no warning of the issues ie left by Maleth (and P&O) to turn up almost 10 hours before a flight they both new had been put back from 09:30 until 15:50. That is just unacceptable and is enough for me (and others) to consider a different cruise and/or airline. We travel with BA and partners a lot and the IT is awful but we have always been informed of any changes or had new flights organised if any issues have arisen. I’m afraid you see how good or bad a company is when things go wrong and the Maleth flights (especially going out) have led to me looking at other company’s who have confirmed and better scheduling. 

[Megabear2]

31 minutes ago, Yorkie69 said:

What is an issue to us is the fact that there appeared to be no back up if Maleth planes went tech

I notice Moleybsaid the spare plane should come in after "X" hours. Although we will never know I'd be interested to know exactly what Maleth and P&O considered a reasonable time.  Certainly in December 2022 we had 4 hours with TUI so assumedly that was considered okay, although not by us!

[Yorkie69]

Just now, Megabear2 said:

I notice Moleybsaid the spare plane should come in after "X" hours. Although we will never know I'd be interested to know exactly what Maleth and P&O considered a reasonable time.  Certainly in December 2022 we had 4 hours with TUI so assumedly that was considered okay, although not by us!

I don’t suppose we will ever know but there was a 19 hour delay from Antigua to Gatwick over the New Year although that was down to the flight crew hours. 

[Megabear2]

That was also when one plane was out of action so only two available.  The "freak" incident seems to have destroyed the back up plan if it even existed. 

[carlanthony24]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

 

 

Carlanthony you do indeed have great first hand knowledge of the airline industry but now may perhaps be the time to offer some positives rather than the Fraser like "We"re all doomed"!

I’m happy has long as the other person can actually get the facts rights and read what I put correctly.

[Megabear2]

14 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

I’m happy has long as the other person can actually get the facts rights and read what I put correctly.

As I said I'm not interested in getting involved in any slanging matches no matter who said what.  I was hoping for some positivety for what next Caribbean season may hold.  Unfortunately here and elsewhere the Maleth situation has deteriorated into a what can go wrong on every airline thread no doubt unintentionally but that's how it's reading. 

 

The TA thread (which you are also on so must read) has taken a turn for p... taking of P&O passengers, that's just unfair.  Can we not at least try here to give some positive ideas of what those who book for next year might expect.  

 

I for instance I no nothing about Norse so what are they likely to be bringing to the table?  I also fly BA and am fully aware of their shortcomings but as someone booked on several BA flights this year I really don't welcome lots of comments on their frailty in the IT department or need reminding of it.

Edited February 25 by Megabear2

[cruising.mark.uk]

Without descending into the realms of pure speculation and doom-mongering, I suspect that the most that can be said about next year and beyond is that passengers will continue to be vulnerable to all of the trials and tribulations associated with air travel in the post-Covid era.  Maleth's performance on this charter may have been worse than average, but none of the charter airlines are immune from the type of problems that were encountered over this season (with their flights and those of TUI).  And neither are scheduled airlines.  It seems to me that those who wish to take fly cruises should be prepared for a painful experience.  Anything better than that will be a bonus.  That is the approach I take to every flight I take these days, not only charters to fly cruises - what I remember from years ago as a fairly enjoyable way to start and finish a holiday is very rarely that these days, whatever airline / class I fly.  Such is life.

 

Of course, how airlines deal with the problems that inevitably occur can go a long way to ameliorate the pain and distress of the experience.  And, it appears that Maleth have not covered themselves in glory in that respect.  Hopefully, their successors might prove more adept at addressing issues, even if they too are unable to deliver the perfect experience on every flight.

[terrierjohn]

33 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

As I said I'm not interested in getting involved in any slanging matches no matter who said what.  I was hoping for some positivety for what next Caribbean season may hold.  Unfortunately here and elsewhere the Maleth situation has deteriorated into a what can go wrong on every airline thread no doubt unintentionally but that's how it's reading. 

 

The TA thread (which you are also on so must read) has taken a turn for p... taking of P&O passengers, that's just unfair.  Can we not at least try here to give some positive ideas of what those who book for next year might expect.  

 

I for instance I no nothing about Norse so what are they likely to be bringing to the table?  I also fly BA and am fully aware of their shortcomings but as someone booked on several BA flights this year I really don't welcome lots of comments on their frailty in the IT department or need reminding of it.

Let's be fair MB, quite a lot of us on this forum have given up on long haul flights over the years, simply because we experienced so many delays, lost luggage and diversions that totally spoilt the enjoyment of our holidays.

There may well have been mitigating circumstances to some of these problems, but if the comments about the Maleth problems and many others over the the years since we stopped flying are only half true, then the airline industry really does need to make major improvements to its customer service.

[Megabear2]

24 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Let's be fair MB, quite a lot of us on this forum have given up on long haul flights over the years, simply because we experienced so many delays, lost luggage and diversions that totally spoilt the enjoyment of our holidays.

There may well have been mitigating circumstances to some of these problems, but if the comments about the Maleth problems and many others over the the years since we stopped flying are only half true, then the airline industry really does need to make major improvements to its customer service.

I don't disagree airlines have plenty to improve but they are what they are and most people are fully aware of their failings. As to choosing not to fly that's a personal choice just the same as what class you fly.  A lot of posters on here who choose not to fly have other reasons apart from airline customer service. Thousands of flights take off every day, overall very few have major problems.  Those who choose to continue to fly do so because they are happy, they deserve the respect not to be told constantly that every airline they may choose to fly with will let them down, they probably board with everything crossed anyway.

 

The Maleth situation appears to me being them getting over confident when taking the contract and appearing naive about the need for reliability and punctuality with a ship on a tight schedule.  That's not a general airline problem that's over promising and under performing by one organisation who clearly are totally unsuited to the job requirements and tried the best they could but sometimes failing rather spectacularly.

 

If as Moley says they were the last resort, no doubt P&O will think twice before getting into such a situation again.

 

 

Edited February 25 by Megabear2

[molecrochip]

34 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The Maleth situation appears to me being them getting over confident when taking the contract and appearing naive about the need for reliability and punctuality with a ship on a tight schedule.  That's not a general airline problem that's over promising and under performing by one organisation who clearly are totally unsuited to the job requirements and tried the best they could but sometimes failing rather spectacularly.

 

If as Moley says they were the last resort, no doubt P&O will think twice before getting into such a situation again.

I dont think P&O thought they would be this bad. New operator - yes, small fleet - yes, but not an intensively used fleet. I think expectation was reliability would be good as P&O were essentially one of only 2 passenger customers. Not having sufficient cabin crew was shameful.

 

Skip forward a year, BA and Virgin have received new aircraft which could be used for a charter. Norse also have cut back their route network but still have the 787s.

 

Lets wait and see.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

The return flight arrived back at Manchester this afternoon at 15:15 instead of 05:25. 
 

[carlanthony24]

5 minutes ago, doog442 said:

 

The other person lol ( me obviously)

 

Why you continue to defend this pile of trash is beyond me but hey ho.🤥 

 

 

Not defending but the choice of having a holiday with a sub par airline or a cancelled cruise I know what I prefer. Like it has been discussed by others P&O did the best option they could. 🙂

Edited February 25 by carlanthony24

[doog442]

6 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Not defending but the choice of having a holiday with a sub par airline or a cancelled cruise I know what I prefer. Like it has been discussed by others P&O did the best option they could. 🙂

 

Have you spoken to people ? I was on Arvia after the LGW delay, those on the 7 day cruise said they wouldn't do it again. Likewise those delayed today didn't get to bed until silly o'clock this morning then had to unpack even later - I doubt they had any sleep last night. Maleth as a dirty word dominated the cruise.

 

There's hyperbole and then there's reality. That's why they've been binned off. Keep defending it as normal and expected.