bobstheboy

No moans but after 25 years we have had enough of cruising. Currently in a 5* AI hotel in Paphos and it ticks all the boxes. By for now.

My flight from Manchester to Tenerife on Jan 6th was marred because the original plan had to be replaced overnight. Different seating configuration so no leg room seat, which I had paid a total of £140 for. On return on 20th Jan I told my TA and she phoned P&O who said they would refund £70. I left it nearly three weeks, no refund. TA phoned again nd also emailed. Here we are nearly three months later, still no refund. I have emailed Paul Ludlow, coping to customer services.

Customers shouldn't have to keep chasing up money owed. I m getting so annoyed I feel like waving goodbye to P&O after 25 years.

On 3/31/2024 at 11:25 AM, daiB said:

Which confirms what I have said for a long time, the best prices are to be had on day one of the booking process. Eg a deluxe cabin on Britiannia, the one which on Princess would be a mini suite, 2 weeks to the Canaries in Oct 25. I paid less than £100 pppn. Price now up to over £140 pppn.

We've had this debate previously. I have had two cruises since Covid reduce after pre registering and booking early on day one. One dropped in price, 10% discount and 800 OBC and free parking, even after losing my £150 pp deposit I saved £1200. It was an onboard offer.

It can be very advantageous. I posted on another thread my deal whilst onboard Arvia last September. We had booked the Iona 35 night in Jan 25 to Caribbean previously. They had a special offer of 10% discount, lower price, low deposit, free parking and £800 OBC. I quickly realised by cancelling my original booking and losing £150 pp deposit, I would still save a total of £!200. My excellent personal TA cancelled and I rebooked onboard.

At last ! Applied on 3rd March for September Princess cruise, approved this afternoon. Some are 24 hours, others 11 days.

Still waiting. Sent proof of ownership last Monday, accepted Wednesday with a note to allow up to 5 working days for OBC, Sep cruise, Sky Princess.

Still waiting for confirmation. Some are getting very quick notification, others, mine submitted Monday, not so quick. They acknowledged my holding on Wednesday. Got to be patient !

Just now, brian1 said:

It's strange that people put themselves on the Ancestry platform but "bottle it" when contacted.

Yes, I found it very strange. My brother was a member and one of his daughters, neither responded. My sisters were not, it was my cousin James I found out about other family members. He has done a lot of research and traced my paternal ancestry back to the late 1700's, from the Rhonda, Wales. My great grandfather left in 1895 and settled in Ohio. 

3 minutes ago, brian1 said:

Cheers Bob,one of the reasons for my post was to reach out to you,remembering your story from last year.Glad you went ahead with your journey.The flip side of mine is I.m 99% sure I have a half brother thru our "dad".At first my aunt thought my dad might have been her half brother who was a coach driver who had a woman at every bus stop,lol.When Ancestry refined their results to separate the parents this confirmed her sister as my mum.This half brother of mine is a bit reluctant to talk but he confirmed we were born in Stepney a few weeks apart in different hospitals.His mum went missing after he was born and even the police couldn't find her.He was adopted also.There are matches to my dad on the site which could stir up a hornets nest if I contacted them.Good luck to you also,Brian.

Thanks Brian.  I have traced a half brother and three half sisters on my fathers side. My brother has since died, my sisters haven't responded, but my cousin has. He filled in a lot of gaps and the stories he has told about my father and his war exploits have given me a warm feeling. No contact from my mothers side, many 3rd cousins ect but no closer and no leads.

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

The 2nd one is a Davina Mcall long lost family moment at Euston station.In my adoption records it said my mum was born in 1935 and taken into care at 3 years old due to filthy living conditions and her mum allowing the premises to be used for improper purposes.She led a life of numerous   fostering and schools including a spell in a convent/asylum and was deemed out of control.At the age of 16 she was mixing with women of dubious character and known criminal men culminating in a charge of soliciting and resulting in my birth when she was 17.24 hrs after my DNA results with Ancestry I was in contact with my aunt who was born in 1944 and never met her sister.Her mum Ivy,the protaganator in this saga gave her away to her brother and she never found out until she was 20 that her sister was her cousin.There's loads more to this saga but cut a long story short she is coming down from Northampton with her cousin to meet me and a brother who lives in France who she never knew about until recently.His daughter from London,my cousin will also be there.OMG, coming up for breath now..My aunt was devastated when she found all this out and thought her mum was a strange but respectable lady.Wish me luck,Brian.

Having been on a similar journey I know the mixed emotions you are going through. Good luck.

I am meeting a 1st cousin in June. He lives in Ohio and is visiting the UK with his wife. All done through Ancestry and DNA.

Submitted my Carnival holdings statement to Stockperks on Monday, together with details of my Princess cruise in September. Had an acknowledgement very quickly, stating it would reply in two days, so hopefully today

Carnival have a contract with Stockperks running until 31st December 24. A change of end date each year seems the likely answer, 31st Dec not 31st July.

Thanks for an entertaining blog. I hope you enjoyed the cruise, apart from the aircon problems and a less than friendly Captain. 

38 minutes ago, Hils62 said:

Carnival website is now updated and confirms shareholder benefits to 31/12/24

 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit

Good news for me, cruising on Sky Princess in September.

59 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

If you think you are getting something for free without handing over any cash then I am not sure who is the silly one!

 

The shareholder OBC is a discount not a free gift - buy this and it is £150 cheaper, not here is £150 free just for holding the shares.

 

Now obviously there are those who will say "but I was going to but it anyway" and the answer to that is that it is still a discount and not a free gift.

I should have known I couldn't debate with you . I'll move on.

3 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Worse than that, you have to buy the shares AND the cruise to get the shareholders benefit!

Well, I bought the shares at £5.30 and had £450 OBC and more to come. As for having to buy the cruise, what a silly comment.

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

It makes no difference - if you follow prices you will see that if OBC goes up £100 so does the fare - although the opposite is not always true

Totally disagree. I have had large OBC and the cruise price has not gone down that much but the OBC has.  Examples are Azura in Jan this year, got a great price for a suite and £700 OBC + another £300 with shareholder and military OBC. Cruising next Jan. Iona 35 nights. £800 OBC + £300 and 10% discount when we booked on Arvia last September. Price is still way above what I paid.

Got to be price savey.

3 hours ago, elmsliebev said:

this is currently being discussed on the Cunard forum and one poster has said that they have the resolutions to vote on, including one that says recommendation that the shareholder benefit be continued. 

Maybe they're just doing things differently this year. 

That sounds more positive. It was Moley's comment re not an agenda item which spooked me.

1 hour ago, Wivvy said:

Decentish price earlier today - I'm out. Carnival shares gone.

I was tempted to sell today. Hope I don't regret it.

So by early May we should know if people cruising in August are being credited with OBC, if the three month rule is being enforced.

It's not in the report or AGM agenda, not looking good.

Moley's comment seems ominous. Looks like I'll be selling mine this year, hopefully for a nice profit, I bought at £5.40.

49 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

That might, I suspect, be because @crompton21 is amongst a tiny number of people who actually read company reports!  Great spot by them.

 

I have started a similar thread on the Princess board to see what people there think.

I've no idea if it will be kept or not. I,'ll join Phil with a shilling it stays.

No mention of OBC concerns on other forums, either on here or elsewhere.

Paul Strickler, there's a name from the past. I knew he did presentations on cruise ships but haven't been on a ship he was on. First met him in the mid 80's, a lifetime ago. A very good detective.