Holidaymakers on a P&O cruise have claimed the company ruined their Christmas during what they termed a "disastrous stay" aboard The Arvia on its maiden voyage. The captain was forced to apologise for numerous issues during the trip, including long waits to be served food, bad wi-fi reception and booking errors.
The Arvia was promoted as the “latest evolution in the P&O Cruises experience” but the captain had to say sorry, and blamed “IT and connectivity issues”. This apology left passengers underwhelmed, according to an article in the Express. One couple, Lynne and Richard Wheatley, from Boston, Lincs, who paid £5,300 for a two-week voyage, were angered when they found the table they had booked for Christmas dinner already occupied.
Mrs Wheatley told the Times: “We waited two and a half hours — and the food was awful. We were in a restaurant with no tablecloths — it was more like your kitchen table. I spoke to one couple who got sat down at 11pm. Don’t get me wrong, the ship is beautiful [but] it’s a shame because it’s ruined Christmas for a lot of people.”
Other customers felt the maiden voyage came too soon, with basics such as wi-fi poorly set up. Gwyndaf Jones, 57, from North Wales, said: “The wi-fi is non-existent. It’s the worst I’ve experienced at sea. I can’t even get my emails, let alone stream, as they promise.” He added that "in hindsight, they were not ready to sail”.
Dominik Scott, a teacher from Wales, runs with his partner Tom Hughes-Lewis a Youtube channel where he reviews cruises. He said while he had no problems, he was aware that others were not having a good time. He said: “We tend not to book maiden voyages because there are always teething problems.
"On Christmas Day we were quite lucky. Other people’s day was an absolute disaster. We didn’t experience anything half as bad. People like to stop and talk to us because they recognise us from YouTube and a lot of people aren’t very happy.”
Another holidaymaker on the Christmas voyage complained on social media: "Huge queue at reception 24/7. Don't buy the wi-fi package, the worst I've experienced at sea."
However, others were sympathetic to the company and the ship's "teething problems". One, using the account name @Doug362 on Twitter, said: "You will always find people on cruise holidays looking to complain and get compensation for the tiniest of things that, back on dry land, they wouldn't even think about. #somepeopleareneverhappy #alwaysoutforcompensation"
A spokesman for P&O Cruises told the Times: “We are so sorry for those guests affected by the IT and connectivity issues on Arvia’s current cruise, which caused dining issues and restaurant delays for a proportion of guests on Christmas Day.
"This service was certainly not up to our usual high standards and we wholeheartedly apologise.”
One of Arvia's main attractions is the Sky Dome pool, which has a retractable roof, an infinity pool and obstacle course.
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