"Some improvements that you could make..."
Firstly it's quite ironic that you should ask me to review a sailing which never actually happened due to a broken engine on the Pride of York. However, I know these things happen and I'm not here to go on and on about what a shame/disaster it was we missed our trip home. However, I think you should hear some constructive feedback.
So:
1. Maintenance of the ship is clearly your responsibility and, although my wife and I were very grateful that it did not break down mid-sailing (otherwise things would have been a LOT worse), I think you should consider whether the ship has the correct maintenance schedule and/or whether it really is time it was sent to the great scrap heap in the sky and replaced with something a bit more modern. If nothing else the lovely crew, who are always charming and attentive, serving a wide variety of delicious food, deserve better.
2. When we arrived at the port, we were immediately told that the sailing was in doubt (which is good) and then subsequently (maybe 30 to 45 minutes later, it was confirmed that it would not sail. This was when things went a little astray as we had little or no information on what was going to happen next or what our options were. So, along with several other vehicles, we sat around and waited. Some while later, a very pleasant lady (by the name of Jo I believe) came down the cars and eventually got to us - advising that we could either drive to Dover (not an option at that time of the evening), switch to the sailing the following day or wait and hope to get on the Rotterdam ferry. The last one was our preferred option, though that might have meant not getting on the following day and maybe having to wait 2 or more days longer to get back. So we opted to switch, but communications with the office were not good, so Jo disappeared for another 20 minutes or so and we were not sure if we had been switched to the following day. My wife went into the office and joined a long queue. I then spotted Jo and managed to get our booking altered (as did one other chap nearby). At this point I wondered where the rest of the people were who were due to be on the ship as we only saw about 20 - 30 cars or caravans in our queue (and I think only about 2/3rds of them had the benefit of Jo's advice). Inevitably, the situation was pretty chaotic with cars stretching back to the roundabout outside the compound I believe. So my recommendation here is that there should be an 'emergency' or cancellation procedure in place, ready to be followed with details handed out immediately to everyone so that they have the correct information on what they need to do.
I think we were perhaps one of the lucky ones, who got some information, but I can see why you may have had a lot of angry people queued up at your information desk.
-
Overall Rating:
-
General:
-
Catering:
-
Cleanliness:
-
Staff:
-
Punctuality:
-
Recommended?
No
Reviewed by Michael who travelled with P&O Ferries on Pride of York
Read More
Read Less