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19 hours ago, laslomas said:

 

Don't forget some pf us are already in Europe and will quite likely want to take a cruise at the same time cruisers in the U.S. are thinking about cruising out of Florida. 

All of our holidays so far this year have been cancelled. We have a cruise, Southampton to Norway booked for the end of August. Perhaps that one will take place. In the meantime we are dreaming of a weekend, or day trip somewhere. Anywhere will do.

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I am only speculating, obviously as none of us know for sure, but my thoughts are, even with the amount they are having to do, with today's technology it cannot take 60 days to process refunds. 

We all know it is effectively the press of a button, with a bit of checking beforehand. I could transfer you money in seconds. (that's not an offer)... 😊

They are either quoting 60 days to spread the cash flow or they are holding off to see where they are in 2 months time... I suspect the latter... 

Lets hope it is quick for all our sakes. 

Andy 

 

Probably stalling for time until they get government approval to dish out vouchers instead of cash. Not only P&O Quite a few are still doing cash. I had a non cancel/refund room booked in Vancouver in June for a few nights. Marriot gave the option to cancel and the money was back on my card in 5 days.

1 hour ago, OuiOnboard said:

Right! Unfortunately, stupid is as stupid.....

My DW laughs when I call the buffet        " The trough". We try and avoid that. Some of the guests think tongs are for wearing in the hot tub.

8 hours ago, kalos said:

Yes I'm with you on this one Andy

 

I posted this a few days ago over in the pub lets smile page but thought it would suit your thread Andy .

 

Anyone got any funny memories of a past cruise?
If you have please post them,lets share those happy times .

 

The one  I remember is a sea day on the Azura .

Mrs Kalos  and I decided to pay a visit to the Glass House and we decided to have a meal there.
"I will pay for this with my cruise card" she said.

 

Then a waiter came up and asked if we would like to order any food?
He seemed a nice Indian guy with a soft spoken but strong Indian accent.
I had decided what I was having to eat and I ordered a steak.
The waiter asked any sauce to which I replied peppercorn please.

Mrs Kalos said she would have the same to the waiter, which he jotted onto his notepad.
With a smile on his face he read the order back ....
"Right you Sir are having the steak and peppercorn " and turning to my wife...
" You Marrrrm are having same ?  You have Cardamom ? "
No I want the same as my husband ,peppercorn please, she replied.
With a very puzzled look on the waiters face he turned to Mrs Kalos...
" Marrrrm ..You are ordering  both same with peppercorn ? True ?"
"YES " She  smiled, only to be wiped of her face when the waiter said 
"and you have Cardamom,please."
"I do not want any Cardamom at all, just the peppercorn ,same as my husband please"
was her reply, looking totally baffled.

It was now at this point the waiter pointed down at Mrs Kalos hand which she was clutching her cruise card  ....

Again he asked her " you have Cardamom,please."
At which time the penny dropped.  Talk about lost in translation !  

You have Cardamom,please is  " You have the card marrm please (in your hand ) to pay with ?
The Steak and peppercorn was very nice ,
That's our story. Have a nice day and keep safe.

Sometimes it's the silly things that you remember first. We had done a fair few cruises before we went on our first RCI from Southampton. After boarding on Saturday and looking around the Independence, I though why is that,? oh well . It was about Tuesday that I found out why the lift was called Saturday.

52 minutes ago, picsa said:

Closed at 605 down 22% on the day.

 

If it keeps going at this rate then bye bye Carnival.

Hope they survive, at least til after my August Iona cruise. Really looking forward to that one. Gary Barlow will be onboard.😪

1 hour ago, Brummijam said:

As regulations stand, clients are entitled to a refund within two weeks of the cruise or holiday being cancelled by TUI, so please don't feel under any obligation to accept a credit note or a future cruise/holiday alternative.

 

This exactly. Would TUI accept a voucher or credit note from me as payment for my holiday?

Do the right thing TUI pay the refunds that are due, Stop playing for time.😤

ABTA are trying to get the government in the guise of Department for Transport to change the rule to permit refunds. Big business v consumers. Guess who will win. I think my refund will be by voucher.

No thought for customers finances.

11 hours ago, GeroWA said:

We had a Northbound Alaska cruise booked for June 19, 2020 departing Vancouver BC and disembarking  Seward AK, obviously this has been cancelled. We opted for the 125% FCC and have just booked the exact same cruise departing June 11, 2021 and have something to look forward to in these challenging times.

 

Keep safe everyone. 

We will give you a wave as we pass. We had Vancouver-Vancouver booked on Eclipse on 14th June 2020, followed by a 12 day Rockies tour. Plan A is to book for 13th June next year. X and Royal both go. Preference is X, but won't be rushing to book anything just yet. At the moment, dreaming of a long weekend somewhere in England. Anywhere will do. ANYWHERE.

8 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

I’m due on Azura in October for my husband’s 60th birthday. A cruise that has been booked for nearly 2 years.

i hope it’s safe to sail but I’m really starting to accept it might not happen now. I know there’s more important things going on now but I’m so sad mainly for my husband as it was perfect timing ( his birthday falls on the first sea day)

Also an itinerary with several new ports for us.

 

Anyway, welcome to cruise critic John, Azura was our first ship we sailed on so she has a special place in our hearts.

He may choose to put his 60th off for a year. I put mine off for 5 Years, it really is worth doing.

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

It means we need to have a sense of perspective.  

At times this forum seems to forget the realities of the outside world.  We complain about Inflexibility,  unfair t&c's,  lack of loyalty to previous customers, etc, but we are lucky to have the money to be able to afford these holidays in the first place.

Just my personal opinion, but when there is so much pain and hardship out there at the moment, all this whinging about FCCs seems somewhat insensitive. OVMV.

I agree with you. We should all insist on cash refunds and refuse FCC . If they don't agree, well they just will jollywell have to cos of they don't we will scream....

1 hour ago, glittergal1 said:

Well if that is the case then I hope Carnival  does  go out of Business it would serve them right , We had a terrible Carnival cruise with them last year  (obviously I would feel sad for all the staff) 

I at least if they go bust I will lose less money than I would have for Paying for all the cruises.  (I paid on credit card will claim on that ) And I would love  to book a land Holiday in 2021 unfortunately Ive 4 cruises booked (thank fully not all P&O) and no holiday left for land based,

But actually  thinking about it if Carnival do go out of Business that would free up 2 holidays for land based.😄

Thank you I feel better now so will look forward to Carnivals demise and my land holidays in the future 

 

 

I'm sure that the thousands of staff put out of work will feel grateful that you are sad for them. If my August Iona cruise is cancelled and taking a FCC instead of a refund of my deposit helps I will take that gladly. But I doubt my £130 will help much. One of the joys of cruising is meeting lots of interesting people. I guess there are exceptions.

3 hours ago, daiB said:

It is industry standard if they have all either agreed to do the same thing or ha followed each other. Eg Royal Caribbean is almost exactly the same as P&O

Agreeing to do the same thing is right now not permitted by law. It is called collusion. Boris may change that soon, but currently that offence carries penalty of up to 10% of worldwide turnover and directors can be banged up ( that's the legal term.). Just saying

4 hours ago, daiB said:

Only they are doing the same as everyone else. Royal Caribbean, Warner’s Holidays etc.

Refunds from Celebrity, Marriot,Gatwick parking. Don't know about Warner as we only ever book a few weeks beforehand as "sometimes,they have a sale on ".😁

18 hours ago, Sorcerer Tim said:

I too have applied for a refund. I have no idea when it will arrive and Celebrity has been silent on the subject. I had to pay my AMEX bill in full as it came due and am waiting to see my $6,500 credit hit and put me at a credit balance. I may have to see what AMEX can do, but I do not think it is disputable at this point. I will try to keep you all posted

Due to refunds, I have a credit balance on my card. When my DW saw it she said " no problem, when the handbag shop reopens, the can have it".

2 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Its a nightmare situation for them to be honest.  Firstly, they may not know just yet when she is now going to be ready, secondly, they certainly don't know when they are going to be able to start sailing again and thirdly they don't know when Norway is going to open to cruise ships again.  I should think giving anyone an "early indication" is just about impossible.  I dare say they will be formulating several different contingency plans

I thought I stumbled into a heavmetal forum ( iron maiden,😁). Looks like our 29th August Iona could be  Iona maiden cruise.

22 minutes ago, Britboys said:

June - next to no chance. August - unlikely but very outside chance.  Just my opinion, no 'insider' knowledge.  I'm booked for October and not sure that will happen by any means...

Fortunately Celebrity cancelled the June Alaska cruise, Iona at the end of August is a wait and see. We don't mind going on the cruise if it seems fairly safe to go, but don't really want to meander around the North Sea should Norway no want us. Perhaps 2021 ????.

31 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

Indeed and in all likelihood correct.

 

After all, most people can be bought, and 2 "free" perks ought to do it for those who have been paying more and getting less cruise product for many years. The "obedient consumers" will fall all over themselves in a rush!

 

Well said ipeeinthepool!

Won't buy me for 2 free perks. A bit of OBC might well do the trick though.

2 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

I am shocked and flabbergasted by this thread. What are you people talking about cruising for in the near future.

There is very little chance of the current lockdown measures not being extended beyond the date of OP's cruise. Even if they are relaxed going on a cruise in may would be totally irresponsible, and quite honestly P&O and anyone thinking of boarding a ship in May should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.   

Absolutely agree. Do you all think my June and August cruises will be ok?.

9 minutes ago, Britboys said:

There must be some crew aboard.  Some will not have been able to get home because of no/few flights being operated.  Also, there will be some elements of the ships that need to be run/maintained so that would require some technical crew.

Someone needs to drive it as well.😁

21 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Exactly my point.  A - it will cost money - B - I don't believe they will do it.

The cruise companies were very quick to bring in their rules following the government's advice. If the advice changed do we all think they will remove the requirements for the 70+ as quickly ?.

2 hours ago, NoFlyGuy said:

We are living in unpresedentive times ( at least for me born in '53 ). How many of you can remember this level of curbs on your freedom of movement?

The world is going into shutdown, whole economies are going to be shattered, who knows how many people will die before this ends. We are up to 1019 deaths and our leaders think if we can keep it to 20,000 we will have done remarkedly well and that's just the UK.

Arguements about ABTA and terms and conditions of your P&O booking may become irrelevant and to me annoying,  I've little doubt they will be changed by legistration and be retrospective. I have/had bookings and can live with that. My primary concern is for my wife and I to stay safe, and hopefully, have holidays in the future, assuming there are any travel companies left. 

Agree wholeheartedly, but we humans have the capacity to multiwish

 I wish all a safe voyage through this crisis, I also wish I get a cash refund from P&O for my August Cruise just like I just got from Celebrity for my June Cruise. Wish you all health and refunds.

4 hours ago, Pentlands said:

who the heck is "us" in that post???

They are us, similarly we are them. Hope that clears it up.

46 minutes ago, brian1 said:

That's it,I'm bottom feeding now.

That reminds me. We were just going through the straights of Gibraltar . I called out to my DW from the balcony ( she was just getting out of the shower ), come quick, there are hundreds of dolphins along side the ship. I can't, she replied, I'm not dresses. The reply, don't worry they won't mind got me a slap.

20 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I received this general travel insurance guidance for those with holidays booked but likely to be cancelled. A bit general but gives you some idea of the process you should follow.

 

Now that the FCO has issued advice against all non-essential travel for the next 30 days (which is likely to be extended) you may have to cancel or re-organise a booked trip. 

Your first port of call should be your travel provider(s) (airline, hotel, train company, etc) to see if you can obtain a refund or amend your travel plans.

Next speak with your credit card provider (if the trip was booked using a credit card, and the amount paid was over £100) as you should be able to claim under Article 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Finally, speak with your travel insurance claims team (you’ll find their details in your policy wording). Any claim made would be subject to the policy terms and conditions, when the policy was purchased and when the trip was booked.

IE. Try to find someone else to get it from before you bother us.😠

23 minutes ago, wowzz said:

That's the reverse of my experience. I've looked at replacement cruises for our April 12th cruise on Arcadia, and without exception they are at least £500pp more than the price we paid.  

Celebrity cancelled our June Alaska cruise and are giving refunds or 125% FCC if you chose. Same cruise next year is around £600 pp cheaper.

1 hour ago, Addict said:

Ha ha, you're right there.  Epic is definitely an ugly ship.  However, we too loved the ship, even the cabins, even though a lot of people find them a bit quirky.  We will definitely do it again sometime.

We have had many happy cruises with NCL, but have managed to avoid the Epic. One ugly ship. Last year they had a good deal, so we bit the bullet and booked. We had a great time and enjoyed the ship very much. I just wonder if they gave the cabin design brief to a first year primary kid. Weird, but hey ho.