molecrochip

Afternoon tea not being available has been the result of a shortage of pastry chefs and stretching the available waiters to their limit. As these issues resolve, its possible to reintroduce. Its being done slowly but I do expect it to improve. I believe we will see afternoon tea on Iona and Arvia sea days eventually by not for now.

This is at the moment. I think there is a longer term plan to try and get afternoon tea back onboard these ships on sea days but they need to sort staffing out first.

Make sure you bookings are all linked. Give P&O or your travel agent a call if necessary. You might manage a 10 and 3 x 4, or something similar. As you have a set dining time, your chances are better however go speak with the maître dee around 2/3pm on embarkation day. I once had a similar group and we had about four tables all along one side next to the window... 6, 4, 4, 6, 4.... not ideal but the whole section was the same waiters - so we swapped tables each night within our group and no one was upset. Dining table allocation is still done by hand and the restaurant managers do look at the numbers in your bookings and try to allocate together. Failing all of that, I've known a large group who are prepared to dine at 6:30 be offered a section of the freedom dining restaurant... with the restaurant knowing it will be ready for new diners by 8:30.

I believe it correct that P&O don't include Argentina on their travels due to perceived diplomatic issues. They have been cases of British ships being detained in Argentina at times of friction since 1982. P&O have not been designated a budget line. They remain the cruise line dedicated to British passengers. People spend a lot of time believing that everything is run out of Miami and that couldn't be further from the truth. The Southampton based brands have a massive amount of autonomy as do the European brands - as they know their markets best. Certain things like ship acquisitions and disposals, environmental policy etc may be dealt with centrally but that covers the brands worldwide. I would say everything on the hotel side including pricing is decided in Southampton. There is no doubt that P&O is operating below-standard at present. It is a massive mix of issues. New staff/short staff, Brexit and Supply issues being the main ones. There is a lot of work going on to improvement things and sort it out.... but it will take time.

It’s is a library, just with not many books at present!

Not sure, but am lead to believe it cruises with 6 consecutive sea days.

All the cruises except K305C involve transatlantic crossings where, if someone went downhill, it would take a long time to get them land based help. I don’t know for sure but suggest the other cruise is included to try and minimise the risk of Covid being brought to the ship one week before said transatlantic cruise.

Clearly someone messed up. P&O clearly thought they had the planes / charters, and Tui clearly thought they will still in Summer schedules. Its not clear who was at fault.

If you don't want to use your phone, you can still call the My Holiday Experience line (reception) and they will book restaurants, shows etc in advance. If you want to do it on the night, approach the podium or entertainment venue and someone should be on the door with a tablet to assist you. Finally, across days one and two, there are extra pop-up podiums around the atriums and photoshops where people can assist

Its not a problem because the short haul charters go to Malta in the Summer and Tenerife in the Winter - so a year round charters. The days may change slightly but they are still regular. Yes - it is the new transatlantic and will carry passengers. Unusually, because of the way the dates fall this year, the first Barbados change over weekend still falls in the Summer airline schedules rather than the Winter one. This problem is caused by Tui's long haul aircraft already being allocated to other routes on the last weekend of the airline's Summer schedule. Throughout the Winter schedule Tui largely doesn't fly long haul on Fridays and Saturdays as its aircraft are all allocated to P&O's Caribbean charters. As for general capacity, P&O have struggled since Thomas Cook fell away. Thomas Cook used to hire 3 A330s from the British Government to increase their fleet size, when they were not flying for UK Gov. They often turned up on P&O charters but since Thomas Cook went, they've not been so available/ Virgin is a good option but in the Pandemic they retired their remaining B747s and their A332s. They have therefore had a tight aircraft plan of late which has meant not many spare planes. They are slowly receiving more A351s and A339s and this is creating availability - it just means its being done at shorter notice than is ideal.

Arvia’s first turnaround in Barbados in the Winter 23/24 season was due to be Friday & Saturday of the clock change weekend. This is still on Summer aircraft scheduled and Tui can’t provide the long haul aircraft. Don’t know whether P&O or Tui at fault in the planning but it’s just come to light, and no alternative carriers were available that could handle the whole ship.

Since Brexit/Ukraine they are no employing as many Eastern Europeans/Russians.

Deck 15 balcony - suggest you get your TA to ask for Retreat access due to the issues. This should make up for the lack of deck space. I know its not ideal but better than nothing.

P&O didn't sack any staff during the pandemic. Those from Southampton were made redundant through the proper channels, staff consultations, notice periods paid etc. Those from Asia et al who were on ship contracts were paid their contracts. The problem with furlough for the UK, was that it was always clear that it was going to take 18 months to fully restart once Covid was lifted. Furlough was never going to cover that. The actions taken were in consultation with UK Gov and were painful for all involved. A lot of people have returned to the organisation however the call centre is suffering from the general people shortage for lower skilled & lower professional jobs. As for P&O Ferries, they broke the law, took the chance and got away with it but arguing that they woudl have ceased to exist otherwise. Finally, I know of a least a couple of people who have worked their way up the ranks and taken on 'officer' roles on the hotel side of the crew. They are paid the same as a UK person undertaking the role would be. Its also worth noting that the historical pay scales have been set around a low base plus performance related share of the services charges. Now P&O have moved away from service charges, there is still an element of performance related pay but the expected take home is more certain and higher.

Arvia was always due in St Lucia on 15th, and Barbados on 17/18th. The events are due to take place with the ship at Anchor within sight of the beach. I imagine the ship will be in position by lunchtime. Its about 100nm between the both. Therefore Arvia can leave St Lucia at 8pm and still be in position for midday on 16th by travelling at an average speed of less than 10 knots. (Given timings, and only one Marella ship in Bridgetown that day, it would even be possible for Arvia into Barbados for anyone getting off the ship for the festivities). Therefore it should not interrupt you holiday

The staff aren't exploited. Remember, they chose to take the job. Exploitation requires someone to be forced to do something. If you know the arguments then you know that the pay is better than local pay, the living conditions are generally better, the opportunity to see parts of the world for free, the training that enable them to go home to a great job after. As for hours, on an annualised basis, its fairly similar to a nurse working 4x12 hour shifts a week, they just cram their hours into about 8 or 9 months. Saga and Virgin do pay better for some roles but not all. As with any labour market, some pay more than others. Both lines were on par with the market pre pandemic. They both increased their pay to avoid staff shortages knowing it could nick staff from other lines. The bigger difference between Virgin & P&O is that more crew get their own solo ensuite cabin. But that's due to ship design and the fact that Virgin's ships are all of the modern design. Iona and Arvia have the same improved living arrangements but as there is no guarantee of which ship you are assigned to, especially for first contract staff who don't get to state a preference, you could equally end up on Aurora sharing a cabin for two, and a bathroom for 4.

Often it is not appropriate to explain why a cabin is out of use/changed. People blow simple reasons up to be major problems and then tell people and it just explodes. I was on an excursion once with a couple whilst their balcony door was repaired. By the end of this excursion, two other couples were off to check their balcony door, for the same problem and a third couple were straight off to reception to demand that someone 'senior' check it. All of them agreed that they should be entitled to compensation if they could find the same problem. The original problem - the door had been broken when the guest, by the own admission, tried to force the door to stay open! I don't doubt that Operational reasons cover a multitude of sins, and during Covid it was mismanaged, but operational changes are really in frequent. Maybe, cruise lines should follow the hotel example and just sell grades with actual cabin numbers allocated on arrival. As for the maidne... its funny... I'd say that from what i've read 'disaster' is a bit strong. There are some very balanced reviews out there which don't fall remotely into this category (except for maybe Christmas dinner). The problem with maidens is that ships are never 100% finished because in life a ship is never 100% perfect. There is always something that needs to be done. Those who travel on maidens regularly should know this and accordingly should factor that into their decision about whether to book the next one. Its the same as the first night of a theatre show - very rarely does it run 100% perfectly. Its a straight decision... first, or finished?

Youve all made some really valid points however a detailed reply will need to wait so that I do it justice. Just to say, most cruise lines have dropped their prices sligtly and then increased their add-ons. This is a great way of reducing price for newbies, but still broadly offering the same experience for cruise regulars. I would always suggest looking at your total cruise bill - upfront and onboard spent together. There are significant ongoing supply shortages - I've heard that the 330ml iconic Glass bottles of coke is one such shortage. P&O were actually serving 500ml plastic bottles for the same price. Giving away 50% extra for free, and having to deal with single use plastic is not in P&O's interest but it was an alternative product. There are also still significant staff shortages. The problem is sourcing new staff from Asia. A lot of them don't want to travel still. Peoples priorities change. The situation is slowly getting better however there is no playbook for returning all your crew home and then 18 months later starting from scratch again.

They are no supposed to - however this is not the first time I have heard them doing so for operational reasons. With no disrespect to @Rhuaridh, its frustrating as there are so few accessible cabins on these ships. In answer to your question, if you accept that cabin for an operational swap, they will then just show as no accessible suites available. So you should not get bumped again.

No outdoors breakfast in Epicurean on Iona.

Timing of fixes such as this just come down to when P&O can get the right parts and right people. It’s likely only now that they’ve confirmed when it can be done. It’s therefore unlucky that you’ve been moved. Make sure you’re happy with the replacement, the OBS, the refund etc. If breakfast in the Epicurean is important for you then push for this as they should be able to sort. But you may have to push.

I know people who have stayed in this cabin so understand what the issue is. It’s safe to still use the cabin but understand it’s not a 30 min fix hence the take out of use to fix.

Can confirm it’s a safety related matter. My understanding is the cabin has been removed from use to have rectification works undertaken.

Which of the two, port side 12112 or starboard 12111?

Can’t help then I’m afraid. Excursions aren’t really my expertise.