Maleth confirms end of P&O partnership

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Ardennais said:

We found our standard balcony cabin on Ventura very comfortable when we did a 35 night cruise. Our standard balcony cabin on Iona was light and airy, but very cramped - very little room at the foot of the bed and very difficult to use the wardrobe as it opened towards my side of the bed. No drawers or a proper bedside cabinet either. I don’t think a long cruise would be as comfortable on Iona. 

I could relate my big toe story on Iona, but I seldom mention it.🤣

[Pasty feet]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

I could relate my big toe story on Iona, but I seldom mention it.🤣

 

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

I could relate my big toe story on Iona, but I seldom mention it.🤣

Ha ha the mind boggles. Well done. 

[GSPG]

We were thinking of doing the Caribbean fly cruise with P&O, but with this change I very much doubt it now.

 

We are all aware of cut backs, and not just by P&O, but I would hope/expect better in this case.

There’s only so much you can take away before more customers say no.

[Megabear2]

16 minutes ago, GSPG said:

We were thinking of doing the Caribbean fly cruise with P&O, but with this change I very much doubt it now.

 

We are all aware of cut backs, and not just by P&O, but I would hope/expect better in this case.

There’s only so much you can take away before more customers say no.

There are 70% of this year's cruises using the TUI flights and now that the flight schedule is known P&O or your travel agent will be able to tell you which flight/airline you would be on enabling you to choose a cruise which isn't operated by Maleth.  These flights are operating from November until the end of March only at present.

[Interestedcruisefan]

26 minutes ago, GSPG said:

We were thinking of doing the Caribbean fly cruise with P&O, but with this change I very much doubt it now.

 

We are all aware of cut backs, and not just by P&O, but I would hope/expect better in this case.

There’s only so much you can take away before more customers say no.

It's not cutbacks or taking something away though?

 

It's purely availability of planes?

[Interestedcruisefan]

9 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

There are 70% of this year's cruises using the TUI flights and now that the flight schedule is known P&O or your travel agent will be able to tell you which flight/airline you would be on enabling you to choose a cruise which isn't operated by Maleth.  These flights are operating from November until the end of March only at present.

This being the case theres no reason anybody who wants PE cant still book on the flights that offer it

 

Majority booking won't even be aware anything has changed and won't be impacted as theyve never asked for PE in the first place

 

PE is only 15 per cent approx of the plane isn't it?

Edited September 26, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

57 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

This being the case theres no reason anybody who wants PE cant still book on the flights that offer it

 

Majority booking won't even be aware anything has changed and won't be impacted as theyve never asked for PE in the first place

 

PE is only 15 per cent approx of the plane isn't it?

That's the problem, in all the talk in the press and online everyone is missing the point it's a percentage of around 30% and mainly affecting Arvia from Manchester. It's only 1 in 4 Gatwick flights and no Birmingham, Cardiff or Glasgow ones affected.  It is extremely unusual for there to be any PE available on any flight at this stage of the booking process as those seats are normally snapped up way before the Caribbean season starts. I bought the last two available PE seats on any flight from anywhere for last Christmas in mid August last year and the agent I was using for that booking was astonished they remained.  

 

This is the reason I say it's a planning/overflow problem from Arvia coming on stream. I'll happily bet my bottom dollar we may see the same again next year and hopefully by 2025 it will have eased back to one operator (not guessing which one mind!)

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Was looking at a new year Caribbean cruise with P&O. As our nearest airport is Manchester will probably now wait and see what others think of the flights before booking.

interesting video:

 

[kalos]

10 hours ago, zap99 said:

I could relate my big toe story on Iona, but I seldom mention it.🤣

 

9 hours ago, Pasty feet said:

 

Ha ha the mind boggles. Well done. 

Boggles the word .. Zapp mentions his big toe (dunt want to talk about it )

 

What happens next he gets a reply off Pasty feet 🤔😉

 

I'm sure there's a treatment for ... 

[Megabear2]

18 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Was looking at a new year Caribbean cruise with P&O. As our nearest airport is Manchester will probably now wait and see what others think of the flights before booking.

interesting video:

 

Crumbs. Do people actually watch this rather annoying man on a weekly basis?

 

Joking apart, he hasn't actually said what he expects P&O to do if the "normal" airlines won't charter them a plane.  It would appear all he's saying is he wants to pay less than anyone else - he mentions Birmingham flights for instance.  Well since I started taking these cruises some 11 years ago Birmingham always has a premium of £100 per passenger as does Cardiff and Glasgow.  Therefore he is paying less to start with plus, of course, TUI are a Birmingham based airline.  He assumes rather a lot on the food, drinks service as well but he doesn't really know.  The provision of these items will be a contract provided by P&O, ie a food and beverage supplier chosen by them to service the aircraft.  For instance the TUI service on the P&O charter flights is not the service TUI offer on their own non chartered services.  The offering is what P&O contracts for and offers; there's no reason they will not be using these same suppliers with the same offering on these aircraft.  "In cabin service" is totally different to the inflight entertainment and if the same quality offering is being made available it isn't a fib to state the same in cabin service on these flights.

 

Last year's debacle with Wamos planes being swapped in last minute for TUI aircraft the food and drink service really was diabolical but that was a TUI swap not P&O. There is absolutely no reason to assume P&O are not organising for these planes to be fully loaded with amenities such as food and drink, snacks etc.

 

So my question to Jamie would be would you rather they cancel you?

[pennib]

Just watched the video. We are on a flight from Manchester to Barbados on Friday 15 December to board the Britannia. We booked and paid for PE and have also booked our PE seats and paid for them. However, on checking with some friends who are also on the same cruise, same departure date and flying from Manchester on the same day as us but they are not in PE, They asked me if we are on TOM 238 at 11.00. We aren’t as we re on TOM124 at 11.35. Given that someone noted a few days ago that one of the flights from Manchester on that date was being operated with a Maleth Aero plane, and aware from past experience that the outbound TOM number has a bearing on the inbound TOM number (239) and smelling a large rat I  went into investigation mode. 

 

I have looked at Maleth site this morning and as someone else mentioned, they are an aircraft leasing outfit. They describe the planes they have and provide pictures of the seating arrangements. It is clear that some of their wide bodied planes have business and economy seating and also have inflight entertainment screens while other planes in their repertoire have clearly economy only seating 3-3-3 (or 3-4-3?) but I was  unclear what the in flight entertainment situation is.

 

I think that our outbound flight is going to be on a Maleth plane. We have not had any contact from P&O as others have so we are trying to keep an open mind. We have paid over £800 for our PE seats extra to the amount charged for the cruise. So I would not be satisfied with an extra £75  OBC as compensation!! Has anyone else got any further info? BTW, the Maleth site indicated they are taking delivery of a new plane in October. 

[Megabear2]

9 minutes ago, pennib said:

Just watched the video. We are on a flight from Manchester to Barbados on Friday 15 December to board the Britannia. We booked and paid for PE and have also booked our PE seats and paid for them. However, on checking with some friends who are also on the same cruise, same departure date and flying from Manchester on the same day as us but they are not in PE, They asked me if we are on TOM 238 at 11.00. We aren’t as we re on TOM124 at 11.35. Given that someone noted a few days ago that one of the flights from Manchester on that date was being operated with a Maleth Aero plane, and aware from past experience that the outbound TOM number has a bearing on the inbound TOM number (239) and smelling a large rat I  went into investigation mode. 

 

I have looked at Maleth site this morning and as someone else mentioned, they are an aircraft leasing outfit. They describe the planes they have and provide pictures of the seating arrangements. It is clear that some of their wide bodied planes have business and economy seating and also have inflight entertainment screens while other planes in their repertoire have clearly economy only seating 3-3-3 (or 3-4-3?) but I was  unclear what the in flight entertainment situation is.

 

I think that our outbound flight is going to be on a Maleth plane. We have not had any contact from P&O as others have so we are trying to keep an open mind. We have paid over £800 for our PE seats extra to the amount charged for the cruise. So I would not be satisfied with an extra £75  OBC as compensation!! Has anyone else got any further info? BTW, the Maleth site indicated they are taking delivery of a new plane in October. 

Maleth planes do not have a TOM prefix code.  If you look further back in this thread and on the videos they are prefixed MLT.  This is not a code share or a Wamos swap like last year - those flights did have the TOM prefix because they were TUI in disguise so to speak - the flight crew were apparently TUI on those planes.

 

Your flight opened for check in, you've selected and booked seats both ways so you are on a TUI flight.  There are according to the list mainly Arvia passengers on Maleth, you are Britannia.  Unless someone tells you differently I don't think you need to worry at this stage.  Remember 70% of all the flights are TUI.

[snaefell]

Looking at this from a different perspective maybe we should be applauding P&O not slaughtering them.

Reading this thread it seems in the past people have turned up at the airport & had bad experiences due to the aircraft they end up on is not what they expected if one turns up at all,maybe we should give P&O credit for trying to avoid that happening again by making sure enough aircraft are in place to carry all the extra passengers expected due to the larger vessels.

Also maybe people are mistaken in expecting things to have returned to normal after Covid,that could take some time if it happens at all! 

[kevboy]

Having eventually come to terms with Maleth Aero being my transport for my Christmas cruise to Caribbean, I am now informed that pre booking of seats is not possible. I must check with Maleth for baggage allowance and seat pre booking if it exists, This is turning out to be a total disaster. Maleth`s website doesn`t tell me anything. So, can anyone enlighten me on just what the baggage allowance is and what the seat configuration is on their  A330 aircraft since they seem to be unsure themselves.  Quickly losing the will to live so any advice gratefully accepted. I am assured that I will be fed during the 8 hour flight but no mention of any bar service. Maybe this gets cancelled next.  Bah Humbug !

kev

[Eglesbrech]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

So my question to Jamie would be would you rather they cancel you?

I don’t know what Jamie would rather have but those further up this thread who have apparently lost their deposits because they choose not to go because of the changes would probably prefer that?

[Pasty feet]

That’s a very nice way to look at it. From our perspective there’s no PE and even though we would be refunded for that extra cost, the £150 extra OBC offer doesn’t compensate for lack of something important to us.   I bear no I’ll will, ships as large as Arvia are bound to cause logistical issues until everything settles. Of course it’s best to expect the unexpected.  We voted with our feet and will try elsewhere. 

[yorkshirephil]

This was posted on the thread relating to Maleth, the weight limit and hand luggage are discussed

Was looking at a new year Caribbean cruise with P&O. As our nearest airport is Manchester will probably now wait and see what others think of the flights before booking.

interesting video:

 

[Pasty feet]

Loss of deposit is preferable to lots of hassle 

[Megabear2]

5 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I don’t know what Jamie would rather have but those further up this thread who have apparently lost their deposits because they choose not to go because of the changes would probably prefer that?

That of course is a matter of personal choice.  However the passengers who are not cancelling would most likely be upset if their cruises were cancelled because P&O hadn't sourced those flights.  The main upset I've seen elsewhere appears to be that there is no premium economy.  That is at most 63 passengers per flight so approximately 237 others in economy.  Yes, all of the passengers will miss inflight entertainment but that's not guaranteed - there were a lot of TUI flights last year where the system was broken and unusable.

 

Disappointed no doubt they are but at the end of the day the decision is really do you want to go on the holiday and is that 8 hours on the plane the breaking point for you personally.  

 

Still no one has answered anywhere I can see, the question if P&O hadn't been able to source these aircraft what would you have expected them to do?  The other option would presumably have to be cancel all those people who were booked to sail, ie around 30% of their passengers.  No flight, no cruise unless of course Dumbo passes by and offers you a lift.

 

 

[Megabear2]

21 minutes ago, Pasty feet said:

That’s a very nice way to look at it. From our perspective there’s no PE and even though we would be refunded for that extra cost, the £150 extra OBC offer doesn’t compensate for lack of something important to us.   I bear no I’ll will, ships as large as Arvia are bound to cause logistical issues until everything settles. Of course it’s best to expect the unexpected.  We voted with our feet and will try elsewhere. 

I noticed you said you booked onboard.  I hope you don't mind me asking, but may I ask if that was a reduced deposit for doing so and as a matter of interest whether you paid the PE supplement upfront?  

[Eglesbrech]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That of course is a matter of personal choice

No really a choice though is it. More of an imposition.

[carlanthony24]

9 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That of course is a matter of personal choice.  However the passengers who are not cancelling would most likely be upset if their cruises were cancelled because P&O hadn't sourced those flights.  The main upset I've seen elsewhere appears to be that there is no premium economy.  That is at most 63 passengers per flight so approximately 237 others in economy.  Yes, all of the passengers will miss inflight entertainment but that's not guaranteed - there were a lot of TUI flights last year where the system was broken and unusable.

 

Disappointed no doubt they are but at the end of the day the decision is really do you want to go on the holiday and is that 8 hours on the plane the breaking point for you personally.  

 

Still no one has answered anywhere I can see, the question if P&O hadn't been able to source these aircraft what would you have expected them to do?  The other option would presumably have to be cancel all those people who were booked to sail, ie around 30% of their passengers.  No flight, no cruise unless of course Dumbo passes by and offers you a lift.

 

 

Cancelled cruise and I guess the ship would end up based out of Southampton for Winter.

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Cancelled cruise and I guess the ship would end up based out of Southampton for Winter.

Exactly, sounds like it would be the only other choice and that would be 5,000 very unhappy passengers for each cruise rather than a couple of plane loads.  Then listen to the screams.  

[Pasty feet]

6 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

That of course is a matter of personal choice.  However the passengers who are not cancelling would most likely be upset if their cruises were cancelled because P&O hadn't sourced those flights.  The main upset I've seen elsewhere appears to be that there is no premium economy.  That is at most 63 passengers per flight so approximately 237 others in economy.  Yes, all of the passengers will miss inflight entertainment but that's not guaranteed - there were a lot of TUI flights last year where the system was broken and unusable.

 

Disappointed no doubt they are but at the end of the day the decision is really do you want to go on the holiday and is that 8 hours on the plane the breaking point for you personally.  

 

Still no one has answered anywhere I can see, the question if P&O hadn't been able to source these aircraft what would you have expected them to do?  The other option would presumably have to be cancel all those people who were booked to sail, ie around 30% of their passengers.  No flight, no cruise unless of course Dumbo passes by and offers you a lift.

 

 

Speaking as one of the notional 63 and being extremely naive I would have expected P&O to have lined up flights with PE available before selling the cruises in question. We booked in June for next February, it beggars belief that passenger take up has surprised P & O to this extent. P & O offered to try to source Virgin for us, but I gather this also is not straightforward.  As previously stated, my sympathies lie entirely with people who have paid in full  on the basis of having PE, a minority they may very well be. Nobody with any sense would cancel purely because there’s no IFE. From past experience this is generally dire anyway. 

[Presto2]

We had an email this morning about our flights. Hubby's heart sank and then when he opened the document was relieved to read that we are still on the flight on our Cruise Personaliser via TUI Premium Charter. Phew