Dress Code/Artemis/Never Again

[qm2lover]

We returned from a wonderful cruise on Artemis last week. We had read all the negative reports, but went with an open mind. We loved the ship! So perhaps the bathroom was not brand new, but it was fine. And yes we could probably see all the other problems mentioned by people if we looked hard enough, but they certainly did not adversely impact our holiday. Even the wake up call system which failed to wake you up on the correct morning, but could not then be cancelled for the following days did not ruin our holiday! We returned to Southampton with gusts up to Force 9 and Artemis handled well. We have been on every other ship in the fleet and tried Princess and RCL, so we had plenty to compare Artemis with.

So why will we never cruise on her again?

We found the dinning room unbearably hot. Every dinner was totally spoilt for us by the suffocating heat. We felt ill and claustrophobic in the heat. Each evening meal was a torment and something to be dreaded and not looked forward to. The men on our table removed their jackets and ties within minutes of entering the restaurant and they were certainly not the only ones – many men were sat at tables with their braces on view! We ladies had to remove thin tiny evening jackets, part of our outfits, as we sat there and glowed. Men on the tables around us were getting more and more red faced and wiping their faces and necks with their serviettes. Sweating men is not a pretty sight, especially when trying to eat your meal. Even the casual nights became a nightmare and the situation appeared to worsen as the cruise progressed. Yes, we did complain. To the Section Waiter, the Restaurant Manager, and Reception and informally at a cocktail party to the officer in charge of the air conditioning and at the Gold lunch to the engineering officer hosting our table.

So much for the dress code when it is impossible to wear formal attire because of the unnecessary heat in the restaurant. My sympathies go to the staff who have to work in such oppressive conditions. We were more affected by the heat in the restaurant than by the gales we went through! This was a Baltic cruise and we did not have hot weather. I think the food was really good on Artemis, but we did not enjoy it. The whole dinning experience, the atmosphere, the ambience is a major part of a P&O Cruise, but for us (and I should imagine many others) it was totally ruined.

We were told it a well known, on-going problem that came with the ship two years ago and had not been rectified. From comments from staff associated with the restaurant it seems that the problem was getting worse and was worse on this cruise, and that some days were worse than others. We also gleaned that there had been many many complaints and that we were certainly not the only ones to complain on this cruise.

Apparently, it is not an air con system, but an air cooling system. It takes in air from the outside and redistributes it - I think, I am not technically minded. So as the weather on this cruise was relatively cool I cannot understand why the dinning room was just so hot.

We were on second sitting which could explain why the room was so hot without adequate conditioning/cooling. The temperature in the Horizon Lounge was cold in comparison with the restaurant. I have accumulated a large supply of evening jackets, stoles, wraps, scarves, pashminas etc. which I can wear to protect myself from any cold blasts of air, but on this cruise I had very little left that I could take off!!

It was suggested that this problem might be looked into at the refit later this year. But that is too late for us to benefit. Which is a great shame as we loved the ship – bathrooms and vibrations and all – and apart from our experiences with the heat in the restaurant we would certainly have cruised on her again.

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