CarlaMarie

I don't think personal comments such as these should be brought into this conversation. A passengers experience was reported when communication between Maleth, P&O and their passengers appears to have broken down, and that is all that should be discussed. His is not the only report stating similar.

The menus look very nice so far. Will you be booking speciality dining as well?

@mrsgoggins Have a wonderful time, and thank you for sharing your cruise with us. The food looks lovely and nicely presented too.

@terrierjohn @Selbourne Here is the link for the bed heights which I found listed on the 'Accessible Cabins and Ship access' page. https://www.pocruises.com/accessibility/life-onboard/accessible-cabins-and-ship-access

For @Selbourne and others who have mentioned about bed heights. I wouldn't have thought there would be differences amongst the ships.

@Selbourne I am sorry to hear that the cruise has not got off to the best of starts. There is nothing worse than a bad embarkation day. I am really surprised at your priority embarkation lunch because on Aurora's 4 night in December the priority lunch was the set menu. I would have expected you to have had the same. However, I wonder if the number of priority boarders on your cruise is so high that they thought a buffet would keep the dining room flowing a bit quicker? As others have said, I do hope everything goes smoothly from now on for you. We watched your departure last night and the fireworks looked wonderful. So pleased the weather was on your side!

Her departure with fireworks is live very shortly https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xdkIaWoi1es

Thank you for the explanation and an update on your enquiries, it is very much appreciated. As the passengers seemed to have already worked it out and read it online, then surely Maleth should have informed P&O directly that the plane wasn't likely to take off until at least 7am? Or should someone at P&O have checked considering it was an already delayed departure?

Oh gosh! At least you have peace of mind now! I do understand the confusion and concerns it causes when you get mixed information. Do let us know how your cruise goes, we would all enjoy hearing about it.

If you do get a chance, do listen to Jamie's vlog (can be found on YouTube). To be fair to him he wasn't complaining about either plane journey or the cruise itself, but was more disappointed in P&O's handling of the situation. From what he has said, and from what others have also posted - passengers seemed to be well aware that the plane was not taking off as scheduled (due to the events the day before with the Maleth flight), and furthermore seemed to know that the crew would need rest (suggesting they knew Maleth were short of crew). Yet P&O assured them the plane was taking off as planned and took them to the airport at about 1am. That is the issue. The lack of transparency has made it all very difficult to understand. He did reiterate that he felt completely safe on the flights (albeit, P&O would be well aware that the Maleth offering in terms of facilities, fittings and comfort is less than you would be expecting) and that the cabin crew were fantastic. He also added that some passengers were overcome with hysteria and concerns (fed by the turbulence incident, and social media discussions about the safety of Maleth which have been misleading), especially families, when there was a valve fault that needed fixing and they couldn't take off. Some passengers decided to get off the plane as they had just had enough by that point , which he completely understood (even though it delayed departure again as their luggage had to be located and removed).

Have a wonderful time!

So pleased you got the confirmation you wanted before sailing. Have a wonderful time!

You can understand Jamie's view that to him, and I imagine many others, the compensation doesn't make up for the lack of transparency, honesty and communication.

@amurray88 You can still purchase the drinks package onboard and I am sure reception will know not to charge your baby for one. They will understand the glitches with the computer system.

I agree. As the passengers suspected something was amiss and knew that the plane wasn't taking off as scheduled, then P&O must have been aware. The cruise and travel blogger has since said they are going to take this further now they are home. He has been receiving messages from other passengers sharing their experiences. One in particular has shared with him how they had no means of getting mobility impaired passengers onto the plane - so they took them back to the terminal building and brought them on via a catering truck.

Here is the alcohol policy on the website. As others have said it is 1 litre per passenger, which can only be consumed in your cabin. https://www.pocruises.com/essential-information/code-of-conduct#alcohol-policy

That will be a wonderful start to your cruise! It looks like the weather should start to clear by Wednesday evening, so fingers crossed your fireworks go ahead as planned. Wishing you and Mrs Selbourne an amazing time. Cannot wait to hear all about it!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

@Selbourne Southampton VTS still has you down as a 1800 departure, whereas Ventura is now departing at 2000.

I don't think many passengers will have looked negatively on these things if they were the only negatives to their flights or cruise. Like @Presto2 says, I expect many passengers who were not expecting to be flying out on a Maleth flight when booking their cruise, and then subsequently hadn't got their preferred seating arrangement, would have boarded with some trepidation and feelings of disappointment. This can easily affect the perception of a flight. When you add to that the plane going technical (plus the confusion/mismanagement that came with it) and the turbulence incident, then I am not surprised passengers have reported any negative, including those relating to leaking toilets and food. No matter how slight or big we perceive them to be, they are issues which passengers faced. Hopefully things will improve and be more consistent!

It should be, but it doesn't appear to be. Reports of different levels of service on the flights - some got more than one drink whereas others only one; some passengers have said the meal was fine, others have said not and inedible; and one passenger has said there was no vegetarian option for them.

I am not sure how accurate this is, but I did read yesterday that the plane which was diverted to Bermuda has suffered significant damage and is still there.

The Aurora cruise was a 4 day. As expected, younger passengers were sailing on her. Normally groups on short cruises keep themselves to themselves. After dinner you will see them in the bars etc... and yes they may have been drinking more but it is harmless and generally they are still very respectful. Very rarely did their behaviour have an impact on other passengers (and we have done several 2 - 5 nighters). What occurred this time was different. This is passengers being deliberately disruptive and not being considerate of other passengers. Turning up very late to the theatre, heckling, shouting, repeatedly standing up.... This type of behaviour is unfortunately spreading, and Arvia has had her fair share too (the Gareth Gates incident for example and inappropriate homophobic slurs being directed at other passengers).

My parents mentioned drunken behaviour on Aurora as well. They were heckling in the theatre and being generally disruptive. It does seem to be on the rise, and more so on the Caribbean cruises.

I would be very surprised if the deck plans were that wrong. Many families will have stayed in these cabins before, as well as couples, so P&O would have had to update the deck plan by now if the beds were fixed. On YouTube there are videos showing Ventura's cabin E507. This is the same cabin type as your E421 on Azura. The videos show the cabin in both a twin and double configuration. The fixed twin bed cabins only accommodate two passengers, and are located on deck 5.