FangedRose

1 hour ago, david63 said:

If by that you mean that there is only one couple on the coach who booked the complete package via a TA then if the coach was delayed and they all missed the ship then it would be the TA's responsibility to deal with the problem for that couple as they are the ones who put the package together.

Nothing to do with TA. Nothing to do with how you book. It is part of the offering from P&O. When booking you are asked do you want obc, parking or coach (depending on offers at the time of booking, you may get two out of three). It is not an optional extra. Intercruise is "preferred partner" of P&O, as such those using Intercruise get preferential treatment.

17 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

So if only one couple take the cruise offer , are they the only passengers that P&O wait for, do they only allow those 2 to board and deny all the others?

12 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

This is very interesting to me at the moment.  We normally park by the ship regardless of who we are sailing with. In October we did a TA on Celebrity Silhouette and flew back from Florida into Manchester and so paid for one-way coach to Southampton. We were very, very impressed with Eavesway.

 

Our ship was delayed due to weather conditions and so our luggage was taken from us and a shuttle into Southampton centre was laid on.  It was a coach from a Yorkshire company and the legroom was dreadful and nothing like the lovely journey we had on Eavesway and has put us off getting any other company.

 

To get to the point, I only discovered yesterday that with P&O if we choose the perk transfer option with Intercruise for our upcoming cruise, it will definitely NOT be Eavesway.  We are considering taking the OBC and paying out of pocket for Eavesway.

 

Have there ever been any recorded instances of P&O passengers missing their ship because they used Eavesway?

In my experience the coaches used by Intercruise are the same as those used by Eavesway. Your situation with weather delays causing last minute arrangements is a different thing altogether and should not deter you from using Intercruises. 

This didn't happen to me, but some five years ago a couple used Eavesway. Their luggage was mistakenly offloaded at the wrong ship. They were left with only the clothing they arrived in for the best part of a week. They were informed that if they had travelled with Intercruises they would have been given vouchers to use in the shops for clothing and toiletries etc. But, as they had travelled with Eavesway they were considered "independent" travellers and were given no assistance, just as if they had arrived by car and left their luggage in the boot.

28 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

{I didn't face any of your issues and loved both my cruises  but I clearly want different things to you on board  and never like to sit in atriums on any of the ships to worry about the atmosphere there}

 

Must be me,,my go to cruises the last few years as well as P&O is Celebrity ‘S’ class.

Most evenings revolve around the atrium,you can spend most of the night in any of the bars around it and be royally entertained…rock n roll parties,60s party,ABBA night,silent disco.and no waiters with iPads taking 20 orders then waiting until barman has made them all before bringing you your drink.

You do realise that once your order is put in the tablet it is instantly transmitted to the bar staff who then produce the drink? Much more efficient than the waiter trotting back and forwards to the bar. Swiping the card and giving it straight back is infinitely preferable to them disappearing with your card for minutes at a time.

39 minutes ago, kermchem said:

We booked through a high street TA because, yes, I knew exactly which cruise I wanted, but we needed an agent to make all the nice customer service noises that one of us needed to hear, and we work in the week, usually in different towns, so an empty (!) TA on Saturday morning it is. I could have booked direct for the same price, or with another TA for a discount, but neither would have made for domestic bliss!
But, back to my earlier comment, P&O has effectively two phone numbers, one for direct customers and one for all the TA’s (big ones, small one, specialist, mine, yours, etc.) and they don’t have enough staff to answer EITHER of them. Use a specialist or online TA and they still have to sit on the phone and wait for P&O to answer. 

Having tried both I would only ever use a cruise specialist TA. I would never book direct either. You contact your TA, they contact the cruise company with all the queries they've got for many passengers, and they are dealt with in one call. 

23 minutes ago, david63 said:

100% - If you arranged the coach travel at the same time as you booked the cruise and with the cruise line then it would fall within the Package Holiday regulations but if you book the cruise and the coach separately it is not covered - it is irrelevant who is paying.

 

Where you may get package holiday cover is if you book the cruise with a TA and the coach at the same time and it is all on one invoice then you would probably be covered

It is on the same contract. It states on the paperwork from P&O that the "free" coach travel is part of what you have booked.

1 hour ago, amajaa said:

 

Haha or as above Longhurst. 

 

Anyone seeing the Captain ask him if he wants some stout. I just remember the three of them sitting in the Rovers drinking stout 

Milk stout

5 hours ago, david63 said:

That is not necessarily the case. Your contract is with the coach operator and not the cruise line therefore it does not fall within the Package Holiday regulations.

 

The cruise line will do all it can to wait for a coach that is delayed but at some point the ship will have to sail.

 

There are precedents for this - albeit not often.

If you choose the coach as a "perk" (instead of free parking, or OBC, depending on the offer in place) it  certainly is part of the cruise package. If you book the coach independently you are correct. Even then if you choose Intercruise as "preferred partner" you will be in a better position than if you book Eavesway.  

57 minutes ago, BouncingWheel said:

I think you need to be linked bookings though don’t you.

No.

It depends on the number of eligible passengers on that particular cruise.

1 minute ago, zap99 said:

Old men taking photos of kids may find themselves in big trouble nowadays.

Well, yes. The police did have a word, especially in summer when the boys were shirtless.

Just now, zap99 said:

Folk are quick to judge, often with nothing to go on but their own prejudices. Children enjoying themselves on holiday. They must come from Broken homes and be working class.🤣

Agree totally. When my boys were kids they would go to the local playing fields with neighbours and friends to play football, using the council provided goal posts. An elderly gentleman used to complain to the police about kids running riot, he used to take photos of them "as evidence".

On a cruise several years ago a child had to taken to hospital as they had a head injury. The conversation centered around the fact that the child had been running (racing, careering, fooling) around the pool and what can you expect and it was their own (or the parents) fault.

The truth was that the child was ill with a high temperature and had passed out and hit their head as a result.

Trust the British public to immediately assume the worst of everybody except themselves.

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

They asked if it was a foldable wheelchair and if it was needed to move around the cabin. It is and no, not in the cabin. The accessibility form was completed. I have to admit that I haven’t seen any posts about people being forced into booking an accessible cabin. This is the email response to the completed form. 
 

I have added the use and measurements of your manual wheelchair to both bookings.

 

Please be aware that mobility aids must be stored safely away from the cabin door inside the cabin when not in use, which will reduce the floor space available.

Public walkways and stairwells must be kept clear in case of emergency.　

 

Ah. Ok. I must have missed that bit.

4 minutes ago, sandancer said:

We are in a standard balcony which is not ideal as there doesn’t appear to be anywhere suitable to stow the wheelchair. We were on Azura recently and the wardrobe area was ideal as it is a hanging rail without doors and the chair fitted in there really well. I watched a U tube video of a cabin the same as ours and it’s definitely going to be a little hiccup. We can’t leave it outside the cabin for obvious reasons. Please don’t take this as a complaint, far from it, we booked late and knew we would have to take what was available even though it was not a saver fare. We will manage and it won’t stop us enjoying our cruise. Still, it would be good if we could get a bigger cabin, possibly paying more but def not bidding. 

Really! You were allowed to book a standard cabin with a wheelchair? This forum is full of complaints from wheelchair users that they were being forced to book accessible cabins.

It scares me the amount of sugar that is contained in these cocktails. A dinner companion was a diabetic and was very careful about what she ate at dinner, not eating potatoes, rice or pasta, (carbohydrates are converted to sugar in the body) no desserts etc. But would then drink fresh orange juice at breakfast (fructose is still sugar), have special coffee with flavoured syrups, and have at least one cocktail during the evening,and then moaning about her sugar levels. I don't envy being her diabetic nurse trying to explain it to her.

This reminds me of a cruise some five or six years ago (could be longer ago). A gentleman was travelling alone had two epileptic fits several days apart. According to P&O regs he shouldn't have been travelling alone but he didn't declare it because he wanted to cruise. He had to spend several days in the medical centre as we were transatlantic and, according to the story going around the ship, he was disembarked ASAP with a medical bill exceeding the total cost of the cruise with no assistance from P&O, and no insurance as he didn't declare it.

The first part of the story I observed first hand, but what happened after he was wheeled down the deck by a very disgruntled medic was ship wide rumour. But, nobody saw him around the ship after the second incident.

It just shows what people will lie about to get on board.

18 minutes ago, laslomas said:

 

It all seems to be very vague, and a bit of a minefield. I have had the email, and so far am ignoring it until I am sure whether I need to complete it. My cruise is not until April 2024, so plenty of time for requirements to change.

 

 I wonder if turning up at embarkation with a walking stick umbrella would cause a commotion if you had not said you were bringing one 🤔

 

I also think for some people a walking stick, or cane, is a fashion accessory. Try telling Chris Eubank that his fashionable walking stick is actually a mobility aid.

I don't think it's vague. If you need, or may need, help walking please tell us. If you think you may need help fill the form in. If you don't fill it in and turn up with a walking stick you may get turned away. The opposite won't be the case 

I'm sorry if I'm missing something. But, surely a walking stick is a mobility aid? Even if it is not needed all the time?  It's been a long time since they were a fashion accessory. It is sod's law that the day an emergency occurs is the very same day the walking stick (aid) is needed and the staff need to be aware and put the logistics in place.

Once again this comes down to having proof. Keep/save/print all communications. If all correspondence has been via email save them in an appropriately named folder on your phone and, keep your phone with you!

Never, ever arrange these thing over the phone. No evidence = no proof = one person's word against another.

I got one as well.

To me it reads as if P&O has been inundated with passengers arriving at embarkation and asking for assistance with no prior notification. It is a general reminder that if assistance is required it needs to booked.

On 11/6/2023 at 6:44 PM, Ilovemygarden said:

Surely not allowed now?🤔

????

Never heard that before!

8 hours ago, beryjastry said:

I have no other type of insurance. I have cancelled both cruises it was just the cold-hearted way P&O now treat their customers.

My Husband died 14 years ago. We had a cruise booked, not P&O, and as the date for final payment approached we realised that we couldn't go due to his declining health. The deposit was forfeited, insurance didn't cover as it was an existing condition for which he was receiving ongoing treatment and tests. It is not a P&O thing.

3 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

You may be on a different blood pressure medication to me then, as the amlopodine that I'm on - which I think is one of the commonest - warns against grapefruit in its leaflet. Unless I've somehow imagined it and have been denying myself grapefruit unnecessarily! Perhaps I should check again. 

Yeah, that's different from mine.

24 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

There can't be too many on your cruise with high blood pressure then, as for some reason if you are on medication for that (like myself) then you are warned to avoid grapefruit. Fortunately I prefer other fruit juices anyway.

I've been on meds for blood pressure for 15 years, never been warned about grapefruit.  On the other hand just begun on statins and, from the initial consultation, through the pharmacy and the leaflet in the packet are multiple warnings about grapefruit.