Incident on Britannia

[manonabike]

I've seen drink fuelled misbehaviour and rowdiness and on one occasion some pushing and shoving but I do fear that with 'all you can drink' packages and the cheap deals verses foreign holidays given the current exchange rate that the demographic who are likely to 'kick-off' will increase.
it does seem to be hyped up by the tabloids compared to the reports coming from passengers actually on board but still not good reading.

[crompton21]

15 or so years ago, our first cruise on Oriana was slightly marred by an “older” gentlemen getting slowly drunk on his favourite malt and then becoming louder and eventually verbally abusing people around him.  The following evening he would be full of apologies at the start and then repeat the whole process, night after night.

As has been said on here many times, that cruise was a lot dearer and with a more mature passenger profile than what you now see when cruising.

The behaviour of that gentleman was still the worst that I have experienced on a cruise.

 

Keeping some perspective on this event may not go amiss.....

 

 

[zoe sproodle]

While not detracting from the seriousness of this incident, what has wound me up is the inaccuracies in the reporting. We all know that the sail away would have been that afternoon and that it probably would have been a formal night at that stage in the cruise.  What the majority of people reading the reports won't know is that they are not the same event as seems to have been implied. If we know these facts are slightly blurred then I'm not sure how to trust the accuracy of the rest of the details.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Just been reading about it the BBC news site.  How disgusting.  This is going to start happening more and more on the huge ships I fear.

It is worrying and drinks packages will encourage heavy drinking where people want to get their money's worth.

[jeanlyon]

I don't think you can compare somebody getting drunk and being noisy like in the post about the old gentleman and his whisky.  He was not violent, even if he was annoying.  If the sailaway was on the same night which it sounds like and the folk had been drinking heavily at the Sailaway and then again at dinner, that might explain how it got to this stage?

[majortom10]

Think there is a lot of misinformation and ideas of what caused this  incident i.e. Sailaway and patriotism when nobody has a clear or factual idea. Fail to see how a sailaway party leaving Bergen and flag waving , playing patriotic music can cause a fight in the early hours of the morning a considerable time later. Alcohol might of been a factor but this can happen on any cruise line, any ship and has little to do whether the ship is huge or not.

Just to prove a point and to dispel ideas of lowering of standards of certain cruise lines or those that cruise on them or size of ship on one of our first cruises on QE2 in the late 1990s a fight ensued where a member of the public thumped a waiter at lunchtime in Lido buffet restaurant and security was called and the man was taken away. 

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Just been reading about it the BBC news site.  How disgusting.  This is going to start happening more and more on the huge ships I fear.

Fail to see that size of ship has anything to do with it. Sailaway parties are held on all P&O ships and alcohol is consumed by some, just think you are showing bias of not liking larger ships when it could happen on any ship whatever the size.

[crompton21]

3 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I don't think you can compare somebody getting drunk and being noisy like in the post about the old gentleman and his whisky.  He was not violent, even if he was annoying.  If the sailaway was on the same night which it sounds like and the folk had been drinking heavily at the Sailaway and then again at dinner, that might explain how it got to this stage?

 

Verbally abusing people is not being noisy, to some it can be a distressing and painful experience that is not easily forgotten.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, daiB said:

 

The “Clown” is a “Red Herring” from what I read there was a group who were drunk and loud and swearing. Someone objected and a fight ensured.

 

I have gleaned that from many comments on a range of FB groups. Fights due to alcohol consumption are not new and happen on all cruise lines and have happened on P&O over a long period of time.

 

Of course they get more attention because of social media.

 

Personally  I have never seen a fight on a ship or spoken to anyone who has, on any line.

I have seen a few drunks and most have not been lately.

Like you I fortunately have never witnessed fights on board but we normally go to bed after the show in the theatre and it seems like this instance which was 2am trouble flares up later.

Maybe a curfew of 12pm would be a good idea.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

I see you have fallen for the pathetic reporting of this ‘fight’. It happened at 0200 and had nothing to do with the sailaway at all.

Shocking sensationalist journalism.

I totally agree.

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Does actually depend on which ship.  I have sailed out of Southampton on all my cruises, Oriana, Aurora, Arcadia, Adonia.  never had any boorish behaviour at all.  BUT it's a different group of people in the main.

What nonsense, you have admitted you dont like sailaway parties and think they are awful so you have never attended one on Oriana, Aurora, Arcadia or Adonia so you do not know if there was any misbehaving or drunken behaviour and many things happen on cruise ships that are not widely known by those on the same ship.

[Tom Baker]

Anyone who has cruised with P&O knows the sailaway happened at least 8 hrs before the incident. Clown costume guy is inconsequential and incidents do happen after midnight anywhere.

 

Totally irrelevant and innocuous events tied together by a gutter journalist seeking publicity and getting paid for a story while on holiday, blown out of all proportion and picked up by rolling news. The press in their entirity have just proven to me that you can't believe anything they write anymore.

[peteukmcr]

Well, can't wait to be stuck on Britannia in the Atlantic on the crossing from Barbados in 2020 if this is the behaviour displayed by my fellow sailors. 

 

31 cruises over 15 year with 7 lines, many with beverage packages and I have yet to see, experience or read reports of instances of this nature in the national press.

 

I see some are trying to make a connection between the drinks packages now available on P&O and this behaviour. I seem to remember that when they were introduced most people commented that they were not worthwhile as the prices for alcohol on P&O are far more reasonable than on other cruise lines. So that wouldn't appear to be an excuse, more likely the relatively low cost of alcohol on P&O. Whatever the catalyst, the behaviour is appalling.

 

As P&O is marketed as a 'British' cruise line and aimed primarily at the British market it is a disgraceful example of the behaviour of a few people from this country.

 

Whether the news reports have been sensationalised or not, the incident happened, the police are involved, and the cruise line's image has been tarnished. 

 

Spare a thought for the staff caught up in this, those that had to try and calm the situation and then clear up afterwards. They will be in a state of shock and don't deserve to be subjected to this from people they attend to on a daily basis.

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by peteukmcr

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Agree Dai.

Me too.

 

[Velvetwater]

 

Came here to see if there is any news on what happened. Although I have to say a fight on a cruise ship seems to happen on most mainstream lines.

 

Regardless of the how/why the fight started those awful sailaway traditions are dated and not needed. Amongst other reasons, they are they reason we won't sail with UK P&O. Take a leaf from Carnival and NCL's book and just have a party with normal music and some streamers etc.

 

P&O Oz do not do anything patriotic. We had a great cruise with them last year. They are much cheaper than UK P&O btw.

[peteukmcr]

33 minutes ago, Tillylovesseabourn said:

Why? Just stating the facts. Generally in life you get what you pay for. Lines who advertise based on low pricing are going to attract this. 

I disagree, the prices on P&O are no lower than those on some Royal Caribbean, MSC, Princess, or Celebrity (excluding the prices for the new ships, of which Britannia can no longer be classed as new) and I've yet to witness nor read reports of situations such as this on those cruise lines on the main news channels.

Edited July 27, 2019 by peteukmcr

[Tillylovesseabourn]

4 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

I disagree, the prices on P&O are no lower than those on some Royal Caribbean, MSC, Princess, or Celebrity (excluding the prices for the new ships, of which Britannia can no longer be classed a new) and I've yet to witness nor read reports of situations such as this on the main news channels.

Must just be those attracted to P&O then! Also a perfect storm, pricing low and due to the marketing, think Ant and Dec show etc, Brittania has been marketed as a party boat, a certain social demographic as I and others have said previously.

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by Tillylovesseabourn

[peteukmcr]

2 hours ago, daiB said:

I see you have fallen for the pathetic reporting of this ‘fight’. It happened at 0200 and had nothing to do with the sailaway at all.

Shocking sensationalist journalism.

Whether it is sensationalist journalism or not, the incident took place which in itself is appalling and a bad reflection on a cruise line which prides itself of being 'British' and goes out of its way to attract British clientele and is supported largely by those from the UK in huge numbers as many dislike cruise lines from other countries.

[grapau27]

49 minutes ago, mickrory said:

Dai is correct there are no sailaway parties at 2am in the buffet.

It's a few idiots drinking on empty heads. I've never witnessed a fight or even aggressive behaviour on 30odd cruises I've been on.

I agree,50 cruises for us and we have never seen any trouble but we are usually in bed by midnight.

[crompton21]

“🤡🤡🤡🤡The violence was horrific! Several  custard tarts smashed in guests' faces and then squirted in the eye by a flower and the IT crowd retaliated going straight for the juggler”

 

found the above on Twitter, made me smile....

Edited July 27, 2019 by crompton21

[daiB]

9 minutes ago, peteukmcr said:

Whether it is sensationalist journalism or not, the incident took place which in itself is appalling and a bad reflection on a cruise line which prides itself of being 'British' and goes out of its way to attract British clientele and is supported largely by those from the UK in huge numbers as many dislike cruise lines from other countries.

I have never said the incident did not take place or that it was not disgraceful. My concern is the appalling standard of reporting by the gutter  press which is then taken as gospel and repeated over and over. On other forums we are now seeing from people on the ship and one who was there. The Clown was seen the previous night and was part of an 80’s fancy dress party and was in fact someone dressed as Beetlejuice from the 80’s film. 

 

But you know what they say never lets facts get in the way of a good story

[Monorail Orange]

I'm glad I stopped by here to get a better explaination of this story. Sad to say that a lot will just see the "mass brawl on cruise ship" headline and not get the true detail.

 

That being said, its shocking to hear of such incidents occuring. And as some have already pointed out, we have the booze (and the lack of knowing ones limits) to thank for it.

[daiB]

20 minutes ago, Tillylovesseabourn said:

Must just be those attracted to P&O then! Also a perfect storm, pricing low and due to the marketing, think Ant and Dec show etc, Brittania has been marketed as a party boat, a certain social demographic as I and others have said previously.

 

Ah lower prices are the cause! Funny that as there is a long thread on another forum complaining about P&O’s high and rising prices.

 

The fault is all down to the idiots who drank too much and were loud and objectionable. BTW this was the first cruise of the school holidays and prices would have been way up. 

[hansol1966]

Whatever happened will have been recorded on the ships I assume comprehensive cctv system covering all areas of the ship. With it occurring at 2.00am with fewer people up I’m sure it wouldn’t take to much to recognise who were part of the fight. I hope P@O give all assistance to the Southampton Police...cctv...names..addresses...statements...witnesses. etc. These people should be taken to court and tried. Carnival and hopefully all cruise lines for life...There should be a cruise line blacklist for people to be denied booking if they are involved in a serious enough incident..we live in hope.

[picsa]

Alcohol, big ships, patriotism, all irrelevant, it is just people being aggressive morons which is more common these days.

 

I have seen a punch up on Oriana at 11am in the morning over a comment made about reserving seats for a lecture - no alcohol, small, ship, and a (dull) subject. Just two 'peacock' middle class, middle aged men, one making a snide remark, the other taking umbrage, and off we go.

 

It happens everywhere. A few weeks ago in the cinema watching Yesterday, another two middle class, middle aged men get into an argument with pushing and shoving in the middle of the film when one asks the other (quite strongly) to stop talking.

 

The best you can hope for is it ends up like this with a few cuts and bruises. The worst you end up like Lee Pomeroy who chose not to walk away from an argument.