When it set sail for its latest tour of the Caribbean, the liner Ventura was brimming with festive cheer. This weekend, however, it is awash with claims that “chav” holidaymakers had turned it into the cruise ship from hell.
P&O is bracing itself for a flood of complaints from returning passengers about a “them and us” divide which saw guests who had paid up to £7,500 a cabin taking refuge from fighting families and underage drinkers. Some claim that youths were caught trying to set fire to a Christmas tree.
It may be the first of many holiday cruises to suffer from the credit crunch. Would-be passengers who had placed a 10% deposit decided they could not afford the full cost of the cruise and cancelled.
Instead, P&O filled the rest of the 3,300 places aboard ship with holidaymakers who were seeking a last-minute sunshine bargain.
Cruising etiquette went overboard with the new breed of cut-price passengers, who tried to reserve sun beds all day by draping towels over them and allegedly sent their underage children to the ship’s 12 bars to stock up on alcohol.
A brawl between two families from Manchester apparently broke out over who was drinking the better champagne.
Children threw food at stewards and abused the ship’s officers when asked to stop. Even the captain was booed when he tried to count down to midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Bad weather meant that the £330m ship, which was launched in Southampton last year, missed three of the six islands on its itinerary. Instead, it made an unscheduled stop at another port to put ashore two youths who were behaving badly.
Barbara Stone, 69, from Old Windsor, Berkshire, said: “I booked months in advance and paid £8,000 for four people. I then heard on board that people had picked up tickets for £900 per person a few weeks before the cruise started.
“I’ve been on 14 cruises now and this one was definitely the worst. My friend saw a 14-year-old boy who was blind drunk in the lift. We also heard that a fight took place because a waiter wouldn’t serve alcohol to a 14-year-old and the boy’s father became aggressive.”
Richard Rawlings, 20, a student from Wilmslow, Cheshire, who was on the boat with his father Nigel, 52, an accountant, his mother Joy and his 17-year-old sister, said: “We paid £15,000 for two cabins. When we got on board we heard people had got it much cheaper. It was full of chavs. Kids were trying to torch the Tamarind lounge and there was a big fight between two Manchester families.
“Someone was cut with a broken glass on New Year’s Eve. I was threatened when I tried to sit on a sun lounger - somebody had tried to reserve it all day by leaving a towel on it.”
Alan Osborn, of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, a retired company director who was on board with his wife Joyce, has sent a six-page letter of complaint to his cruise agent. “We have been on many cruises but were very disappointed with this one. It was the first cruise where I have heard people boo the captain,” he said.
“Two men spent the night in Ventura’s cells and were put ashore, while two young men who tried to set fire to a Christmas tree were apprehended by a criminal lawyer who was among the passengers.” Osborn, who paid more than £4,000 for his cabin, added: “There was an atmosphere on the ship which I likened to the worst days of Benidorm and the lager louts.”
Heather Pearce, another passenger, said: “Large aggressive groups of people were drinking lots. To get away from the mobs we went down to the Havana bar. In the bar I just felt like it was going to boil over.
“This huge family were throwing cigarette butts overboard and we were stood watching the butts land on the cabins underneath. Usually on a cruise boat there is a lot of security around, but on this one we just didn’t feel safe.”
Crew members aboard the Ventura - launched by Dame Helen Mirren in April and now in Barbados awaiting its next cruise – said only four security staff were on duty at night.
They confirmed that one incident on New Year’s Eve escalated into a fight in the Havana bar between two youths and two adults. An entertainments officer tried to break it up until security guards could arrive. One of the youths was cut in the face with a broken glass.
Officers said they were unaware of an attempt to set fire to a Christmas tree and insisted the “torching” incident in the Tamarind lounge involved a young passenger popping balloons with a cigarette lighter.
They claimed that under-18s could get alcohol on board only through their parents or by bringing it onto the ship.
The officers admitted, however, that two youths, together with an adult guardian, were put ashore at St Vincent for contravening rules on bad conduct.
A P&O spokesman said: “Should anyone wish to contact us formally in writing then we will respond to them immediately and thoroughly investigate the concerns.”
The spokesman said only 4% of passengers had cancelled in the two months prior to departure and cabins had been filled without “undue discounting” - although he admitted that reducing ticket prices by up to 50% was not unusual.