Heatherlea10

I've just checked my credit card online and I had a refund from P&O on Wednesday for my 4th April cruise.  I did book direct with P&O and requested my refund on 24th March.  I never chased them for a refund.

30 minutes ago, BrianI said:

OBC can only be used to book excursions on board not beforehand. The clue is in the name.

Brian

Yes, I understand that.  I was just stating the fact that if the OBC couldn't be used in the shops I wouldn't have much use for it as we always book excursions months in advance, due to popular ones selling out.  From comments on here though it's looking like the OBC can be used in shops, even though there's no mention in the email from P&O.

8 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Probably an oversight as normally obc can be used for anything on your bill and until it is used up our 8.5% loyalty discount does not come into play.

Our obc used to pay for the autogratuities.

I'm hoping that's the case as we only have the occasional drink onboard and usually book shore excursions beforehand as the popular ones sell out before boarding.

I don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but the email from P&O re extra onboard spend states it can be used on drinks, spa treatments, room service and shore experiences booked on board.  There's no mention of onboard shops.

I am still confused by this. I found the original price written on a pad on 3rd September. I had written down the prices for 2 cruises for us and our single friend. I had worked out the discount due to us before asking our TA to book for us on 17th. Having just received our bookings from P&O and our confirmation including extra discount from our TA, I find that I did in fact get the original price with the 10% discount.

In my case I’ve actually received a 15% discount from when the prices were first advertised on 3rd September. I too wrote down the prices of 2 cruises we wanted to book and what the prices were on 3rd September. When I was able to book the cruises on 19th and 20th September, the prices shown online had actually decreased by 5%, so I did end up paying what I anticipated paying on 3rd September after the automatic 5% discount. However, as the wording on their website said that a 10% discount would be applied at checkout for past customers (ie no mention that the prices already included a 5% reduction) I phoned up P&O and queried it with them and was very lucky from the sound of it, to receive a new confirmation email with a further 5% discount included.

P&O only changed the wording to say that a 5% discount was already included on 26th September. I think that anyone who booked their 2020 cruise prior to 26th September should get a further refund of another 5%. I know that I would be fighting for it if they hadn’t refunded me. Things like this do leave a very sour taste in your mouth and P&O should honour the price for all customers as it’s not worth losing loyal customers over.

This is what it says on one of the cruises I booked

 

 

"New guests booking this cruise on Select Price will receive a 5% saving if booked before 3 December 2018. Discount has been reflected in prices below. Past guests booking this cruise on Select Price will receive a 10% discount if booked before 3 December 2018. Discount taken from full fare and will be applied at checkout."

 

 

Not sure I quite understand it. However, my cruise is now £400 pp more than it was when I booked. So if I take off 10% that's £360

On 26th September P&O amended the wording on their website to show what you've written. Prior to that date there was no mention that the fares already included a 5% discount. The wording lead you to believe that you would receive a full 10% discount for past guests:

10% savingfor past guests

Past guests booking this cruise on SelectPrice will receive a 10% discount if booked before 3 December 2018. Discountapplied at checkout.

5% saving for new guests

New guests booking this cruise on SelectPrice will receive a 5% discount if booked before 3 December 2018. Discountapplied at checkout.

I did manage to resolve the problem directly with P&O and they have honoured the full 10% discount and emailed me new booking confirmations.

Your not on the coach for that long, after the Flaam train you get another train to Voss have a lovely buffet lunch at the hotel 5 min walk from station, after lunch we had time to wonder around the lake or shops ( I think about an hour,) met the coach in the hotel car park, then a scenic coach ride with one or 2 stops were we walked a very short distant to a huge waterfall, then continued the scenic drive back to the ship.

Yes, I quite agree. The coach journey is probably about 1.5 to 2 hrs and with the stop(s) and gorgeous scenery, it isn't long at all.

What do you do on this tour? Sounds pricey, but then again the train ride is £50 alone even if you book it independently!

 

Our Britannia cruise is the end of August next year- what kind of timeframe will the excursions start being loaded?

The excursion is the train journey to Voss, a very nice buffet lunch at a hotel in Voss and then return by coach. I can recall the coach stopping at a waterfall and it possibly has other stops too. The itinerary can also be done in reverse order ie coach first and return by train. I've checked my old emails and once we departed at 9.45am and the second time it was 10am, so not too early. It is a full day excursion and, in my opinion, excellent value for money.

I have just telephoned P&O after booking a cruise earlier this week and was told the old story about 5% being taken off before the price was advertised on the website. I asked her to check with her team leader and they said the same. They said if I'm not happy then my only option is to write to customer services and they would forward it to their legal department. What a waste of time that would be as they never answer anyway. I have two cruises booked with P&O with three already done and this leaves a bad taste in the mouth and in future will seriously shop around before booking P&O again. Then after shopping around probably still book with P&O as they suit us:o:)

What a shame - either I was very lucky or you were unlucky. I would definitely phone again (choose the complaints option when you phone). State the exact wording that it said online ie 'past guests booking this cruise on Select Price will receive a 10% discount if booked before 3 December 2018. Discount applied at checkout.' If you are still unsuccessful, I would write to them (post it signed for post). In my eyes, it is quite plain that they have to honour the 10% because, at the time of booking, nowhere did it state that the price already included a 5% discount.

I actually wrote to them to complain about an earlier cruise this year on Ventura when, due to engine problems, we arrived late in 2 ports and missed one port. They did phone me up to acknowledge the problem and gave us a small gesture of onboard credit for our next cruise.

Yes, lunch was in a hotel/restaurant in a place called Voss (I think). It was a very good buffet and you could help yourself to whatever you liked (it was beautiful salmon). I didn't bother with dessert as it was traditional Norwegian items ie jelly or blancmange. You could also have a bottle of beer, water or pepsi etc. The hotel is situated on the banks of a lake and on both our visits we chose to walk by the lakeside instead of going shopping. The first time we did the tour we had the coach journey first and returned by train. Last time it was done in reverse order. I think it's to cope with the number of passengers wishing to do this excursion.

I've just checked my old emails and the first time we did this excursion it was in 2014 and it cost £105 per person. It therefore wasn't a huge increase in price in 2017 at £112 per person. It's always a very popular excursion and I would definitely recommend booking it soon after the excursions become available online ie don't wait until you board the ship.

Yes, I was quite surprised at how relatively easy it was to get them to honour the 10% discount from the price shown online. They've obviously received many phone calls and can now see that they were wrong and have re-phrased the wording relating to the discount. I admit that I've now actually received a 15% discount from when the cruises were first shown online early September as I made a note of the prices then for the cruises we were interested in. When the booking became live last Wednesday I checked the prices again online and the prices had dropped by 5% on the 2 cruises we were going to book. As we only received a 5% discount from the online price when we booked, the price we paid was what I had anticipated paying. Their wording was quite clear though saying that past guests would receive a 10% discount at checkout and there was nothing to indicate that the prices already included a 5% discount.

If anyone else thinks they haven't received the correct discount that was displayed online, I would recommend they phone P&O as they can obviously see their wording was misleading.

I phoned P&O this morning as I'd booked 2 cruises last week and only received a 5% discount off the online prices. The person I spoke to tried to convince me that the prices had already been discounted by 5% but I pointed out that the wording when I booked said that past guests would receive a 10% discount and this discount would be applied at checkout. Eventually I asked her if I could write a letter to complain as I thought I was entitled to a 10% discount off the price displayed. She put me on hold whilst she spoke to her team leader and when she came back to me told me I could have a further 5% discount. It was definitely worth a 10 minute phone call. I notice that the wording has changed online today to say that a 5% discount is already included in the displayed prices.

Hi, we did Norway in a Nutshell in Flaam in September 2017 - it was £112 per person when we pre-booked the excursion with P&O. It's a fantastic excursion and one not to be missed. We'd done the same excursion in 2015 and enjoyed that more as we were lucky and the weather was glorious. Last year the weather wasn't great, so it did spoil it slightly but I'd definitely do it again if visiting Flaam.