I found the article and it does sound as if there were a few problems on the Christmas cruise but I personally don't believe that deep discounting encouraged these particular people on board. According to P & O they had a small 4% of cancellations (which they attribute to the Credit Crunch) and they sold off these cabins but the didn't confirm or deny whether they were deeply discounted. At least that's my take on the article. There does also seem to be some dubiety about at least two incidents which have been written up. Passengers have stated that some youths tried to torch two Christmas trees but P & O are denying this.

Wednesday, I personally wouldn't even consider altering my travel plans based on this article or or any hearsay!!!! Have you ever noticed that the wild worrying headlines are generally reported second or third hand? I have never sailed with NCL and can also say that I have never read anything to suggest that the ships are full of thugs!!! Don't let the scaremongers worry you! Stick to your guns and enjoy your holiday! I am sorry to say that until cruise lines take definite action, you will always encounter bedhoggers, on every cruise line!!!! Personally, if I have a problem getting a sunbed, I go and see the deck attendant. While I have never known them whip towels of beds which don't actually have people on them, they do at least generally hunt around and find a bed for you!!! Happy cruising!

***Sory Magsy have had to edit to remove copyright material - Admin***

wednesday wrote:

There's an interesting article in today's Sunday Times about the chavs who ruined a cruise on the Ventura. Sounds like the problem arose because a number of would-be passengers cancelled and P&O sold those staterooms off on the cheap and attracted atypical customers.

I am starting to think I'll like to cancel my August cruise on the NCL Jade rather than have to share the ship with unruly passengers. There were loads of deck chair hogs last August as it was; fortunately I had a balcony so had no need to struggle to bag a deck chair by the pool.

Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers!! Because such articles are written to grab attention, there is an undue focus on the "problems" documented which, at best, will contain a grain of truth. One of the things the article focuses on is "sunbed hogging", yet elsewhere in the article it states the weather was so poor that parts of the itinery had to be abandoned! When the weather is poor people whinge, and often little issues become out of proportion.

It is a clear fact that any cruiseship will have a cross section of people with different lifestyle patterns, reflecting the society we live in....no different from the cities, towns and villages we live in. In our experience most cruise-ships will consist of 5% utter snobs, 5% "neds", but 90% normal folk!

Wednesday, we have sailed on Ventura, and the Norwegian Jade and would do so again at the right price, go enjoy your cruise and draw your own conclusions and definitely don't believe everything that is written....even on this forum!

Thanks for the reassuring comments. I doubt the family will allow me to cancel anyway. Mind you, in the present climate, I'm not really in the mood for spending any money on a holiday; reasons ranging from "Omigod, we can't leave the house unoccupied for 2 whole weeks as there will be more burglaries now in a recession" to "I want to hang on to my money like everyone else, you never know what's coming round the corner".

The story has reached the Daily Telegraph today. Same details, nothing new.

There's a follow up in The Sunday Times to that article about chavs on cruises. It's in the Letters page where someone wrote in to say:

".......On our last cruise on QE2, we witnessed a large, unruly, scruffy group - who had bought last minute tickets - cause mayhem in the theatre and bars and heckle the staff who seemed unable or unwilling to do anything about them. This antagonises those who paid a considerable amount and expect a standard and duty of care...... "

I won't put the whole letter up as you have some concerns about copyright on this BB.