Maleth confirms end of P&O partnership

[jeanlyon]

3 hours ago, Glitterati said:

I doubt it. it will depend on where the catering has come from. Ie Gatwick/Manchester. Could use different caterers. I’ve seen some people receive trays with a meal, crackers, cheese and a pudding, and others with a foil takeout tray of food and a flapjack. 

Have you tried BA food recently!  My friends said it was minimal and awful.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

It should be, but it doesn't appear to be. Reports of different levels of service on the flights - some got more than one drink whereas others only one; some passengers have said the meal was fine, others have said not and inedible; and one passenger has said there was no vegetarian option for them. 

 

They seem to be rather tame1st World problems, IMO.

[CarlaMarie]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

They seem to be rather tame1st World problems, IMO.

 

I don't think many passengers will have looked negatively on these things if they were the only negatives to their flights or cruise.  Like @Presto2 says, I expect many passengers who were not expecting to be flying out on a Maleth flight when booking their cruise, and then subsequently hadn't got their preferred seating arrangement, would have boarded with some trepidation and feelings of disappointment. This can easily affect the perception of a flight. When you add to that the plane going technical (plus the confusion/mismanagement that came with it) and the turbulence incident, then I am not surprised passengers have reported any negative, including those relating to leaking toilets and food. No matter how slight or big we perceive them to be, they are issues which passengers faced. 

 

Hopefully things will improve and be more consistent! 

[Pandamonia]

I flew on the Dreamliner and to be honest they aren’t that comfortable and we had extra leg room. The entertainment isn’t much cop either and the food was typical plane food crap. 
 

a good iPhone max with a battery bank you can download movies on Netflix and Disney and Amazon for offline viewing. As well as games. Air pod pros have noise cancelling making the the flight noise much less. as for the food a boots meal deal is much more enjoyable than anything they serve from my experience. 
 

get a good travel cushion and a black out eye mask and ear plugs and try and sleep whole way then as long as I don’t get delayed I couldn’t care less what plane I was on. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Have you tried BA food recently!  My friends said it was minimal and awful.

 

I try to avoid BA where possible as the last flight I did wasn’t great. I use a Virgin credit card to collect air miles to help with flights to Miami for cruises!! Virgin food has been good recently. 
 

Even Tui food isn’t fantastic. The main I had last time was nice, but I had to laugh at the afternoon tea. They provided a ‘spork’ to cut/spread jam and cream on the scone and it just crumbled onto my tray table! Although latest reports is they have gone away with the afternoon tea (and the spork)

 

I think unless you are flying business, the product is pretty similar across the board. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Glitterati

[Sussexboy]

I used to fly regularly with BA for work travel pre pandemic and retirement. It was going downhill then. We flew to Bucharest back in June to use up our avios points. Going out business class was nice, coming back cattle class was more akin to Ryanair. 

[cheshire]

3 hours ago, laslomas said:

 

Yes, those were the days. Flying was definitely part of the holiday - not just the means to get there. I used to love the well prepared meals, with a choice too, accompanied by hot rolls straight from the oven. And the hot towels handed out after to clean and freshen up. I am not sure when it changed, but I used to look forward to the meal service.

You get that still. With Tui premium.  Ok not BA CLUB or FIRST but the supplement is worth every penny

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

Sounds absolutely dreadful. Hope everyone claims against the airline for travel delay compensation.

[Interestedcruisefan]

11 hours ago, OhnonotMALETH said:

 

This looks like a P and O customer service issue much more than an airline issue IMO?

 

Once a flight is delayed surely it's P and O who have to step in and sort accommodation?

 

Am I wrong?

Edited January 1 by Interestedcruisefan

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

4 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

This looks like a P and O customer service issue much more than an airline issue IMO?

 

Once a flight is delayed surely it's P and O who have to step in and sort accommodation?

 

Am I wrong?

It is Maleth who are liable but clearly P&O must have been aware as to what was going on.

Passenger rights : https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/delays/

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

It is Maleth who are liable but clearly P&O must have been aware as to what was going on.

Passenger rights : https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/delays/

I would be having my arguments with P and O.

Wouldn't even expect to be taken to the airport to have to speak  with the airline??

[CarlaMarie]

31 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would be having my arguments with P and O.

Wouldn't even expect to be taken to the airport to have to speak  with the airline??

 

I agree. As the passengers suspected something was amiss and knew that the plane wasn't taking off as scheduled, then P&O must have been aware. 

 

The cruise and travel blogger has since said they are going to take this further now they are home. He has been receiving messages from other passengers sharing their experiences. One in particular has shared with him how they had no means of getting mobility impaired passengers onto the plane - so they took them back to the terminal building and brought them on via a catering truck. 

[jeanlyon]

11 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

I agree. As the passengers suspected something was amiss and knew that the plane wasn't taking off as scheduled, then P&O must have been aware. 

 

The cruise and travel blogger has since said they are going to take this further now they are home. He has been receiving messages from other passengers sharing their experiences. One in particular has shared with him how they had no means of getting mobility impaired passengers onto the plane - so they took them back to the terminal building and brought them on via a catering truck. 

But again that's the fault of the airport not the airline.  The ground take care of how to get disabled pax onto the flights.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

50 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I would be having my arguments with P and O.

Wouldn't even expect to be taken to the airport to have to speak  with the airline??

P&O should really have taken passengers to local hotels ( if any available) rather than dumping them at the airport. It looks like some passengers were kept on board but that impacted on those on board as the sailing was then delayed and a port cancelled. 

[jake 26]

It seems that P&O have made a total mess of this in the planning for the 23/24  Caribbean season with ship passenger capacity in excess of 8,000. Surely the logistics of transporting 4,000 people weekly to and from the Caribbean on an 8/9 hour flight must have been high on the 'most important' agenda, factoring in contingency for delays and technical issues. It appears that the transportation planning was more likely a side issue.

I may be wrong but I can't think of any other cruise line who operate large capacity Caribbean cruises, like Arvia and Britannia are doing, who charter aircraft to fly pax on a 17 hour round trip to join and leave the ship. Most of the ships in the Caribbean are ex US, and thus many flights are internal US scheduled. 

I feel sorry for the staff of Maleth because they are probably doing their best, but on a hiding to nothing because P&O have put them in an invidious position where they are the scapegoats for any shortfall of expectations, or any technical failures.

P&O need to sort themselves out very quickly.

[terrierjohn]

30 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

It seems that P&O have made a total mess of this in the planning for the 23/24  Caribbean season with ship passenger capacity in excess of 8,000. Surely the logistics of transporting 4,000 people weekly to and from the Caribbean on an 8/9 hour flight must have been high on the 'most important' agenda, factoring in contingency for delays and technical issues. It appears that the transportation planning was more likely a side issue.

I may be wrong but I can't think of any other cruise line who operate large capacity Caribbean cruises, like Arvia and Britannia are doing, who charter aircraft to fly pax on a 17 hour round trip to join and leave the ship. Most of the ships in the Caribbean are ex US, and thus many flights are internal US scheduled. 

I feel sorry for the staff of Maleth because they are probably doing their best, but on a hiding to nothing because P&O have put them in an invidious position where they are the scapegoats for any shortfall of expectations, or any technical failures.

P&O need to sort themselves out very quickly.

You seem to forget that airline capacity was drastically reduced during covid, and all airlines are struggling to cope with the current demand, and P&O's planned increased capacity was all pre covid. Following the demise of Thomas Cook, P&O were mainly using TUI, with Virgin picking up the slack, however both of those airlines are struggling to meet their own increased demand, as a result P&O had to find an alternative at relatively short notice. Rather than criticising them you ought to be grateful that they succeeded, rather than cancelling a slew of bookings.

I am sure that neither P&O or Maleth intentionally created the problems they have encountered, but hopefully the rest of this winter Caribbean season will now run more smoothly.

[carlanthony24]

Like Jamie said he should of booked BA but I guess it wouldn't make for a very good video for views and monetisation. 

Edited January 1 by carlanthony24

[suepugh]

That’s a rude and uncalled for comment

[jake 26]

7 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You seem to forget that airline capacity was drastically reduced during covid, and all airlines are struggling to cope with the current demand, and P&O's planned increased capacity was all pre covid. Following the demise of Thomas Cook, P&O were mainly using TUI, with Virgin picking up the slack, however both of those airlines are struggling to meet their own increased demand, as a result P&O had to find an alternative at relatively short notice. Rather than criticising them you ought to be grateful that they succeeded, rather than cancelling a slew of bookings.

I am sure that neither P&O or Maleth intentionally created the problems they have encountered, but hopefully the rest of this winter Caribbean season will now run more smoothly.

Judging by the delays and dissatisfaction being aired on different sites I can't agree they have successfully addressed the problems, I can only see it snowballing, and the poor Maleth staff will suffer more undeserved vitriol because of bad P&O planning.(easy to blame covid).

They have increasingly relied on TUI (Cook's demise was way before covid), but by vastly increasing cruise capacity with Arvia there was no way that TUI could supply sufficient long haul flights, so it should have been recognised early as a major factor that additional flight capacity was needed.

I'm not sure that I should be grateful as I am not affected,  but if I was one of those who are affected I wouldn't be patting P&O on the back as you suggest.

Having had many P&O cruises worldwide over the past 20+ years I have always recognised them as a good reliable organisation, but in this instance they are certainly not living up to that.

[carlanthony24]

24 minutes ago, suepugh said:

That’s a rude and uncalled for comment

Its not intending to be rude but why do it. He said long ago he would prefer to book his own flight back, makes a post saying he wished he had booked BA while he had a chance. Most videos people do are for views etc. Yes you can say he wants to make people aware not like everyone already is but its clickbait speak. 

 

Just look at the thumbnails of his videos. Quite a few clickbait ones.

Edited January 1 by carlanthony24

[carlanthony24]

12 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

Judging by the delays and dissatisfaction being aired on different sites I can't agree they have successfully addressed the problems, I can only see it snowballing, and the poor Maleth staff will suffer more undeserved vitriol because of bad P&O planning.(easy to blame covid).

They have increasingly relied on TUI (Cook's demise was way before covid), but by vastly increasing cruise capacity with Arvia there was no way that TUI could supply sufficient long haul flights, so it should have been recognised early as a major factor that additional flight capacity was needed.

I'm not sure that I should be grateful as I am not affected,  but if I was one of those who are affected I wouldn't be patting P&O on the back as you suggest.

Having had many P&O cruises worldwide over the past 20+ years I have always recognised them as a good reliable organisation, but in this instance they are certainly not living up to that.

Delays is quite common over in the Caribbean you just need to look at TUI they have the same problem not has big but has been known to suffer. Thomas Cook did demise before covid but what you have to remember ships were not operating neither were flights, well skeleton flights were so they could keep slots during covid then the world opened up slowly, eventually this was bound to happen. They were lucky to get Virgin Atlantic last year things may have been different if the pandemic had never happened. TUI did not have enough aircrafts before the pandemic they had to wet lease Wamos and people were delayed 24hrs so crew could rest. People were moaning last year they were flying Virgin Atlantic instead of BA. Every year people moan about flights in someway shape or form.

Edited January 1 by carlanthony24

[jake 26]

51 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Delays is quite common over in the Caribbean you just need to look at TUI they have the same problem not has big but has been known to suffer. Thomas Cook did demise before covid but what you have to remember ships were not operating neither were flights, well skeleton flights were so they could keep slots during covid then the world opened up slowly, eventually this was bound to happen. They were lucky to get Virgin Atlantic last year things may have been different if the pandemic had never happened. TUI did not have enough aircrafts before the pandemic they had to wet lease Wamos and people were delayed 24hrs so crew could rest. People were moaning last year they were flying Virgin Atlantic instead of BA. Every year people moan about flights in someway shape or form.

Yes aircraft delays are common in the Caribbean during the season, but that is one of the factors that P&O would need to address when they dramatically increased their charter flight requirements when they added a ship with the passenger capacity of Arvia. It seems to me their flight planning department is nowhere capable, and yet it was always very good.

[carlanthony24]

Just now, jake 26 said:

Yes aircraft delays are common in the Caribbean during the season, but that is one of the factors that P&O would need to address when they dramatically increased their charter flight requirements when they added a ship with the passenger capacity of Arvia. It seems to me their flight planning department is nowhere capable, and yet it was always very good.

I feel like you are missing the point. How can P&O change what happens with airline delays? Delays are out of P&O's control. They need to address weather problems, technical problems how exactly can they do that. From what I understand the initial departure time was 4am but further delays occurred. People looking at Flightradar and Flightaware saw it had been pushed back. These sites are good but can wrong. Companies won't look at these sites they will wait for official confirmation instead. 

[Gettingwarmer]

8 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

Yes aircraft delays are common in the Caribbean during the season, but that is one of the factors that P&O would need to address when they dramatically increased their charter flight requirements when they added a ship with the passenger capacity of Arvia. It seems to me their flight planning department is nowhere capable, and yet it was always very good.

When they arranged the 2023 Arvia season several years ago there was sufficient planes flying. These were depleted during Covid and planes are now hard to find. They managed to find Maleth Aero to fill the void. Cruises are arranged long before flights become available  

[jake 26]

4 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

I feel like you are missing the point. How can P&O change what happens with airline delays? Delays are out of P&O's control. They need to address weather problems, technical problems how exactly can they do that. From what I understand the initial departure time was 4am but further delays occurred. People looking at Flightradar and Flightaware saw it had been pushed back. These sites are good but can wrong. Companies won't look at these sites they will wait for official confirmation instead. 

With respect I think it is you who is missing the point. P& O have considerably increased their need for more long haul charter flights by putting Arvia in the Caribbean with Britannia.

It seems that the flight structure they've put in place is inadequate in terms of contingency, as more flights means that the likelihood of the delays and technical problems affecting cruise passengers increases by the same margin. Delays and tech problems cause knock on delays. To deal with that contingency plans are needed which provide replacement aircraft,  as often happens with most airlines. P&O do not have those contingency plans it appears.

I fully accept P&O cannot control delays but they can put plans in place to mitigate them.