Pacific Aria & Eden - Terrible first reviews - Why?

[Cyrix400]

Hi everyone

 

What do you think is going on with the Pacific Aria and Eden - judging by first reviews posted? Are they still serious teething problems - or is it something much more serious: like professional misjudgment, misleading advertising or ongoing communication breakdown?

 

I e-mailed P&O att Public Relations, with a link to cruisecritic reviews about their 'new' ships - and pointed out my extreme disappointment so far, and a hope that some of the things can be fixed by my Jan 28 four day cruise. This would me my first cruise on P&O Aust, after a few on Celebrity Solstice, RCCL Radiance and P&O UK Aurora - I have a good deal of goodwill towards P&O - but is it misplaced?

 

If the reviews so far are indeed objective, it almost reached the stage where one could try to seek some financial redress after the cruise (refund of some moneys) by starting a test case in the NSW Civil and Admin Tribunal (and only $5 for those on a pension for filing fee),

 

What do you think?

[Chenin]

I'm horrified with what I have been reading and was thinking about writing to P & O.

Luckily we don't sail until 24 May 2016, so hopefully if these are just teething issues, they will be sorted by then.

 

I hope so, this will be our first cruise - so many people have said we would love to cruise. If we end up with a debacle like the people writing reviews, my husband will never cruise again!!!

 

P & O need to do some serious work apparently!!!

 

Can experienced cruisers give some insight regarding this???

 

Thanks

[Aus Traveller]

I think everyone has to expect some teething problems with a new ship. Here, P&O have two new ships at the same time. They would have needed a lot of new staff and all of the staff would have been new to that ship and also working with each other.

 

I am confident that within a couple of months at the outside everything will be running smoothly.:)

 

Go on your cruise with a positive frame of mind and don't look for problems. :)

[GUT2407]

I think everyone has to expect some teething problems with a new ship. Here, P&O have two new ships at the same time. They would have needed a lot of new staff and all of the staff would have been new to that ship and also working with each other.

 

I am confident that within a couple of months at the outside everything will be running smoothly.:)

 

Go on your cruise with a positive frame of mind and don't look for problems. :)

 

 

New to P&O maybe, but surely they took up a lot that had been on the old HAL ships.

 

But surely they would have deployed a mix of staff, new old and experienced with other lines across the fleet.

 

To be frank I have always found P&O Aus a big disappointment, in fact DW says "Never again" unless there is a very good reason such as friends or family going but even then we'd try and get them to cruise with another line.

 

I found the whole experience way below what I am looking for in a cruise.

[Aus Traveller]

New to P&O maybe, but surely they took up a lot that had been on the old HAL ships.

 

But surely they would have deployed a mix of staff, new old and experienced with other lines across the fleet.

 

To be frank I have always found P&O Aus a big disappointment, in fact DW says "Never again" unless there is a very good reason such as friends or family going but even then we'd try and get them to cruise with another line.

 

I found the whole experience way below what I am looking for in a cruise.

From what I heard, they did not keep any of the HAL crew. I think the crew stay with the line they have their contract with (e.g. Princess, HAL or P&O) although the lines have the same owner. When we were on a recent cruise we were told that only a handful of senior officers would stay with each ship for the hand-over.

[ozziepost]

Our first cruise was on the Jewel which we really enjoyed and have done a number of cruises on other ships in the P&O fleet including two more on the Jewel with mixed results.

 

We are doing one on the Aria in a few weeks time initially to use up a FCD I expect this will be our last trip with P&O as we intend focusing on doing more cruises with Princess.

 

In view of the negative comments about both the Aria and the Eden will keep an open mind when we go on board.

[Kamloops50]

I have that negative reviews are more like than good reviews.

I've even found bad reviews on cruises that we found great . A lot depends on the expectations of the passengers on board.

[chiefbaldeagle]

Are one of these ships still being planned to be home based in Adelaide?

[Aus Traveller]

Our first cruise was on the Jewel which we really enjoyed and have done a number of cruises on other ships in the P&O fleet including two more on the Jewel with mixed results.

 

We are doing one on the Aria in a few weeks time initially to use up a FCD I expect this will be our last trip with P&O as we intend focusing on doing more cruises with Princess.

 

In view of the negative comments about both the Aria and the Eden will keep an open mind when we go on board.

When the Jewel first came to Australia there were a lot of new crew. We were on the inaugural cruise and were told that they brought some crew from each of the other P&O ships to help the new crew find their feet quickly.

 

On this occasion, with two new ships, it would be more difficult. :)

[Thorpe]

I was on the Eden's first cruise and I didn't haven't a single problem. I knew it was the inaugural cruise and noticed that each day things got better as crew found their way around.

The spa team was a mix of brand new staff , P&O and HAL who stayed on.

I think the folks who expected a perfect cruise are the ones writing negative reviews. I'm at fault for not writing a review at all, it would be positive.

It was my first cruise on P&O and was very impressed under the circumstances. The ship looked lovely, the food I ate was really nice. I ate everywhere except Salt.

Whilst one or dishes could have been hotter, this issue was being addressed. They weren't inedible but there was always the option of getting something else. There was plenty available.

I haven't read the reviews but happy to answer specific worries if I can.

My only gripe would be that I wish The Eden was doing longer cruises over 9 days in length from Sydney or Melbourne then I'd book again without hesitation.

[MicCanberra]

Hi everyone

 

What do you think is going on with the Pacific Aria and Eden - judging by first reviews posted? Are they still serious teething problems - or is it something much more serious: like professional misjudgment, misleading advertising or ongoing communication breakdown?

 

I e-mailed P&O att Public Relations, with a link to cruisecritic reviews about their 'new' ships - and pointed out my extreme disappointment so far, and a hope that some of the things can be fixed by my Jan 28 four day cruise. This would me my first cruise on P&O Aust, after a few on Celebrity Solstice, RCCL Radiance and P&O UK Aurora - I have a good deal of goodwill towards P&O - but is it misplaced?

 

If the reviews so far are indeed objective, it almost reached the stage where one could try to seek some financial redress after the cruise (refund of some moneys) by starting a test case in the NSW Civil and Admin Tribunal (and only $5 for those on a pension for filing fee),

 

What do you think?

 

Welcome to cruise critic. I was on the inaugural cruise for the Aria.

I think that people have expected too much right from the beginning. New ships (to P&O) and new crew need to time to settle and get their processes right. The first cruises were "shakedown cruises" and there was marked improvements through out the cruise as they worked better and quicker and resolved some of the issues. Give them time, I am sure they will be ready for you for your cruise.:D

[MicCanberra]

From what I heard, they did not keep any of the HAL crew. I think the crew stay with the line they have their contract with (e.g. Princess, HAL or P&O) although the lines have the same owner. When we were on a recent cruise we were told that only a handful of senior officers would stay with each ship for the hand-over.

 

All the crew were new to the Aria as they came from other ships or they were part of the 60% that were new to P&O cruises.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I think they did very well from the sounds of it. I have read that on some inaugural cruises , workmen are still finishing work and trying to get things operational.

[MicCanberra]

I have that negative reviews are more like than good reviews.

I've even found bad reviews on cruises that we found great . A lot depends on the expectations of the passengers on board.

 

Exactly, when you think of how many people actually write a review, then of those that do write one, you get all the people with an axe to grind.

[MicCanberra]

I think they did very well from the sounds of it. I have read that on some inaugural cruises , workmen are still finishing work and trying to get things operational.

 

They were also understaffed as not everyone was on board as yet.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

When we were on Statendam I seem to remember that food was brought up to the upper level of the restaurant via an escalator.

With the new dining set up being split into separate areas does that still happen?

Does it work?

[happysnapper]

Unfortunately, being human, we hone in on negativity. I remember doing research on a hotel and out of 20 reviews only 1 was negative and that was the focus of my attention. Hello! Also when everything goes well we don't tend to write about it. P&O is not my style of cruising but give the new ships time to prove themselves, then perhaps make comment.

[Cyrix400]

Welcome to cruise critic. I was on the inaugural cruise for the Aria.

I think that people have expected too much right from the beginning. New ships (to P&O) and new crew need to time to settle and get their processes right. The first cruises were "shakedown cruises" and there was marked improvements through out the cruise as they worked better and quicker and resolved some of the issues. Give them time, I am sure they will be ready for you for your cruise.:D

Thanks MicCanberra for your experienced view point on this. And thanks also to Thorpe for your previous commentscomments.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks MicCanberra for your experienced view point on this. And thanks also to Thorpe for your previous commentscomments.

 

No worries, BTW, my wife has a review pending, firstly they hadn't amended the forum so that Aria reviews could be included and they also seem to take a while to get published.:D

[Aus Traveller]

All the crew were new to the Aria as they came from other ships or they were part of the 60% that were new to P&O cruises.

I didn't know the figures for this cruise, but it is exactly the point I was making. A lot of that 60% would have been on their first-ever contract with any cruiseline.

[Royalty X]

I thought they did very well on the Eden shakedown. I had a great time. People tend to write bad reviews as a means of venting their frustration at something. Positive reviews are usually not as prevalent because those people are too busy booking their next cruises to write positive reviews. Take all negative reviews with a grain of salt.

[MicCanberra]

I thought they did very well on the Eden shakedown. I had a great time. People tend to write bad reviews as a means of venting their frustration at something. Positive reviews are usually not as prevalent because those people are too busy booking their next cruises to write positive reviews. Take all negative reviews with a grain of salt.

 

Agree, and I would extend that to all reviews.

[MicCanberra]

I didn't know the figures for this cruise, but it is exactly the point I was making. A lot of that 60% would have been on their first-ever contract with any cruiseline.

 

That is what I was told.:D

[Gnomey]

I tend to agree quite a lot with Gut's comments on page 1. I have not done a review of the Eden cruise because I would have a long list of negative comments and I really don't think that is fair on the Eden's crew. We still enjoyed our Eden trip and the ship is really lovely, a pleasure to travel on. Did it deserve the 1 star ratings, not in my opinion. Do things need to improve, in general - yes. Do I think things will improve - yes. Did we receive "compensation" - yes and without agitation to P&O, it was just provided by the management. Eden had quite a few members of staff who were experienced and "did well", it also has a lot who were not the best and maybe lacked training.

It will be important to not expect a top flight 5 shining stars experience. If you have a good attitude and don't mind the odd "bugger" moment you will love a cruise on Eden. She is not a large ship and still carries around 1,500 people. All these people spread out over the ship really well and it seems like you are only sharing Eden with several hundred "cruislings". It has a most spacious "walkaround" deck to do full circuits on. The Oasis is huge and very pleasant. The main pool with retractable roof is delightful and I found quiet places for a drink quite easily as sound doesn't seem to travel far below decks.

I am quite happy to answer any other particular questions you might have on Eden. In closing I will say that we'll probably sail again on her using our cruise credit as she is much nicer than her sisters.

 

Steve.

[The_Big_M]

Can any of the naysayers point me to a new mainstream ship launch which didn't have a bunch of negative reviews?

 

Every time there's a new ship there are issues to work through, and people who wanted to go on the new ship because they expect new to be synonymous with perfect get disappointed.