gary_w

4 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

Same here. Unfortunately we had many gripes about our recent cruise on Ventura, 35 night to Caribbean, Mexico and US. Cuise was 2nd March to 6th April. On returning home I wrote a three page letter to P&O. Having not received a reply up until today my wife phone customer services. The guy was very helpful and gave us a reference for the complaint logged. He went into some detail which my wife said he could just have said "It's being dealt with"  and left it at that. I suppose the proof of the pudding will be the ultimate outcome. So I will not pass judgement just yet. 

My email was sent on 5th April and they called back on the 26th so it's looking at about a 21 day turn around

Following the issues we had on K307 Arvia (the thread is long), I emailed P&O with a grumpy-gram about it and did not hear anything back, but today I got a phone call.

The experience was probably the best one I've ever had with customer service.  She did not try to tell me I was wrong and it didn't happen, she did not try to tell me I was the only one with a problem, she did not say the cruise had no problems.  She acknowledged the frustration, agreed that things were poorly done and needed to be resolved and explained that she is taking lists of issues back to the ships to ensure something gets done about it (I don't know if it will).

If I could name-drop her for a gold star I would but I don't know her name so I'll be positive that it is all P&O people.

This is the second time I had to deal with customer service-facing roles at P&O, the other is about me forgetting to organise parking and I have to say, dealing with these people is a pleasure.

I'm still not thrilled about how our cruise went but I do get the feeling that the people working at P&O care so a big thumbs up to them, and I hope that translates into the P&O wing of the megacorp that is Carnival making things better.

7 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

Queues everywhere!!

 

When he was actually talking about virtual queues. 

 

Very misleading - vague was being polite tbh

 

I started writing my cruise history then had to stop myself Megabear

 

I don't have to answer questions like that on your request. I didnt do a review on my previous cruises. I could but certainly not on demand from you in a patronising way.

 

If I thought you were being friendly about it I would. But you arent. So I'm not answering you.

 

 

I know this thread got long and the patience to read it is minimised so I will summarise again.  

The physical queues for dining rooms, buffet, shows were insane as we started.  They are moving now to old fashioned waiting queues with people on virtual queues getting ignored still.

Nothing misleading here, I just say it as I see it.

The point of the post was to give a heads up to those who haven't had a cruise like this, so they know what to expect.  

I don't like the system but it works for some.  Personally I feel dropping thousands of pounds onto a holiday that it should be good for everyone not just those that fit the mould du jour,  especially if there are things you know ahead of time that can help.

35 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Never encountered that problem when we have  cruised with our kids  before on P and O, Carnival and RCL. And we've always cruised Xmas/New Year or August school holidays before 

 

Just joined them on first day and barely saw them again!!

 

But maybe need others to confirm exactly what the kids club issues are on Arvia. Gary's being a bit vague tbh

Sorry, I don't have kids, I just talk to parents, perhaps if there is a parent on this cruise on this thread they can help?

I'd forgotten the Quays, nice idea, not enough seating around there, so you have to physically queue for food then physically queue for seats.  You quickly learn to not try and traverse that deck between 11:30 and 3

WRT to the Virtual Queue debate I don't have an issue with it in principle, however.....

On a busy night I went to try to be seated and after a physical cue of 25 minutes, was told no, you have to have a buzzer.  At the same time, my wife put us in the virtual queue.  

We came back 20 minutes later and joined someone else who had half their party cancel but were in the line behind us earlier. I didn't turn in the buzzer or take us out of the virtual queue.

The buzzer went off as we had dessert and the virtual queue never ever paged us to say we had a seat, after losing at the casino we were still 15 people to go.  So the queues are just a way of getting people away from the doors not actually seating anyone IMHO.

The original post was about physical queues for everything, the follow up sees the physical queues diminishing and the virtual queues failing.

25 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Where exactly are the queues on board Gary?

 

You've kind of lost me with your last post?

 

 

 

They are all over, MDR yesterday was down to a good old fashioned dine anytime type wait (15-20 minutes) but we were listening to people in Broadies complaining that they'd been on virtual queues for an hour for some of the other places.  The show has a queue if they are checking bookings.  It is one line for the booked, one line for the just walking up.  If they can't be bothered to check it is walk right in.

To be fair, the queues are easing as we continue to travel but I think that is more to do with the passengers making do than the ship accommodating.  

Wow, a day at sea and this topic has blown up! (I'm not sure anyone on the original subject will still be reading by this point)

A quick bit of clarity, this isn't just about the Main Dining Room although that is the focal point.  On this ship, this cruise, it is everything with a queue.

I've also learnt a few things

• Talking to families with small kids, they are very happy because while they turn away couples, they "can fit in" the family and kids which is frustrating.
• Talking to other families though the problem is extending to the kids club, there are 1000+ kids and 400 places in kids club.  It is a lottery to the parents if they have the evening to themselves so they may or may not use their booking, compounding the problem.
• We've spoken to one couple that said "this ship is full of people complaining", but we've spoken to 8 couples in the last day or so that said this is their first cruise and with queues like this they won't do it again.  We've been telling them, chalk this up as a bad one and try again.

They now let you wait for a table in the MDR if you want to

• It's 50/50 whether there is anyone checking you in at shows anymore because they aren't full,  Broadies and the clubhouse that both have entertainment but no booking are always full and hopping.  My impression is people are boycotting the shows in favour of venues that they didn't have to book and where you can put your glass down. (No cupholders any more in the main theatre 😞 )

I hope this helps.  

I will repeat, book early, book often

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Whilst I don’t have a problem with the big ships, I’ve read enough consistent reviews of Arvia now to know that she is best avoided during peak periods, especially if you want to dine in an MDR. The removal of the two additional smaller MDRs that Iona has in favour of extra speciality restaurants has caused a major capacity problem on Arvia, which is further compounded by the reservation system which is leaving tables empty for periods of time. I know that many like the ‘app’ system, but I can’t help but feel that we didn’t get all these reports when Freedom Dining operated as it should (ie first come, first served). Yes, you had to take a pager at peak times, but people weren't giving up and using the buffet in desperation. I am also at a complete loss as to why P&O are persisting with a booking system for the theatre. Once again, trying to solve a problem that never existed!

It doesn't seem to be about the speciality restaurants as the Olive Garden and 6th street diner are equally unattainable because of the queuing.  I think the seats numbers are the same, they just can't turn them over fast enough.

I agree first come first served seemed to work in my opinion

19 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Hoope it is better next week  but I nipped in to Cruise personaliser  and booked 6 restaurants on the dates I wanted, 2x Olive Grove, 2x Beach House, plus Green & Co and 6th Street Diner. Not bothered about the theatre.

The shows are pretty good when you can get in

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

P&O now release the seats not occupied at between 5 and 10 minutes to go rather than at the start of the show. It’s an improvement.

 

I’d personally scrap the booking functions on the app!

 

Arvia will also be suffering from the first year syndrome where (statistically) older, longer standing cruisers must go and experience a new ship in its first year, even though they’ve already decided that they will hate it, it’s not for them etc.

 

This is not Arvia’s target audience but they are of course welcome on board. Iona proved that once this first year was out the way and those who sail tend to fit the predicted nature of dining more accurately - i.e. they are not looking for formal dining every night.

I agree that tech and the older generations won't get on which is a hurdle, but as an IT guy and developer, I'm about as savvy as they come with tech.

It seems to me that someone decided on a workflow system for the app without actually going on the cruise.  In theory it is right, but in practice it doesn't work, the workflow needs tweaking.

I was told the reason for the delay with food is that when they call someone off the virtual queue, they have 15 minutes to arrive before the next person is called.  That leaves tables unoccupied for 30-45 minutes when 2 parties choose not to come.  I'm told they are now calling you down when dessert is served so that they at least chop out one of the 15 minutes of empty seating.

Just now, molecrochip said:

Always good to get real feedback. I was talking to someone yesterday who is on Iona this week - they are not facing the same problems so clearly the dining room provision is a big issue at school holiday times.

 

The entertainment booking in an app - some love it, some loath it.

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. 

After we sailed there were no available bookings for entertainment for any shows with the exceptions of a few 10:30 ones.  But waiting in the overflow line I've now learnt to look for cancelled bookings. 

Another top tip:  5 minutes before the show you couldn't book, try and book again, that is when the availability seems to appear as other people decide not to go.

I thought I'd post a heads-up here about this cruise, some things I wish I'd known before I came on the cruise and some of the frustrations on board. We've been cruising for 20+ years so normally we get in the swing of it pretty quickly, but not so with this cruise.

On this cruise, the ship is at capacity, it is Easter and the ship just can not cope.

• Boarding took over 3 hours, with 2 of those spent standing outside.
• Everything on this cruise is "Book it on the app", including the included dining and entertainment.  The savvy people booked everything as they boarded or before, leaving everyone else stuck.  I got told by a head waiter that they can seat 800 at a time in the main dining restaurants, but because of the computer system for cancellations the restaurants are sitting half empty.
• A wait at the restaurants if you haven't booked is averaging 1 or 2 hours depending on the time of day
• Guest services are swamped with people complaining
• People were cramming the buffet in their Tuxedos as it is the only place they can eat on formal night

So for those who didn't know, here are some tips.

• Be one of those people that booked everything early
• Don't expect to have a casual time dropping into events, everything is on an iPad and as they say "If your name isn't on the list, you aren't getting in"
• The front-of-house staff for the restaurants are trying their hardest to cope but even they are losing their temper too
• Don't expect assistance from guest services
• Enjoy the buffet

One of the jokes going around is that this P&O cruise is one of the best advertisements for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean that they didn't have to pay for.

On the other hand, they are doing very well at loading and unloading when in port so despite its size this ship works well at its destination, just not while you are at sea.

I hope this helps those who didn't realise that the ship was entirely app based.