Megabear2

Away from the doom and gloom for a second! My friend looking to join me on 29 October Iona has reported to me that on a saver fare the only balcony option showing is mid forward/mid aft cabins. The select fare so lots of available balconies on various decks and positions. Interestingly no forward Promenade deck 8 cabins are available. This would appear to indicate that P&O are allocating/filling up the worst cabins first, but I may be completely wrong. I have a deck 14 aft cabin which I booked following Grahams advice that these were a better option than the lower down decks. We could of course share that but would prefer to have two rooms. Any ideas what might happen if all these other rooms stay unsold at select fare? Do you think they'll start adding more into saver or will it become select only. Answers on a postcard via your crystal ball please!

The EU directive was updated earlier this year. I'm uncertain whether it has been amended since but I'm sure others on here will have information for you. It is however an individual country's right to set rules. Certainly there were 50 people leaving Regal Princess into quarantine in Rome when I disembarked there on 9 July. I have not heard of anyone offloading anywhere in Spain for a couple of months now that US people can return home without testing, but with the cruise lines not providing covid figures it is impossible to say. However I wasn't thinking of Europe more Canada, the Caribbean and the upcoming world and South American cruises.

Interesting classification class there Wowzz. This puts Aurora, Arcadia, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria in the medium ships category with QM2 just squeezing in to the large one. Balmoral, Bollette and Borealis are also medium along with the Marella fleet. Having sailed on all for the former and Marella Explorer in her previous identity under RCI, the standout for me is that on QM2 she never feels full and I have heard some describe her as "soulless" as a result yet per passenger ratio and space she offers more than any of the other "medium" ships. This would seem to indicate for "classic" crusing the size isn't relevant but the cruise lines' use and ideas for the ships are. Cunard are sold as classic cruises whereas P&O tries to masquerade as classic crusing but only on these adult only ships. Therein possibly lies the answer to all the disillusionment.

The vaccination status isn't going to be the problem. Unless the insurance market has changed passengers who do not have a positive test for covid are not covered on insurance policies if they are quarantined. The current "honour" system P&O and Cunard have been offering has therefore been picking up the tab which the insurer doesn't meet. The relevant section of the new policy is: "This means P&O Cruises and Cunard will no longer offer FCCs to customers who have been unwell with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone with con-firmed or suspected COVID-19, within 10 days prior to their cruise, or to customers that are required to isolate on board during their cruise" . Assumedy P&O have done their homework with the insurance companies this time around but the wording does not mention anything to indicate who is picking up the tab or relocating any fly cruise passengers who are "close contacts" or "suspected COVID-19" cases. Losing days of your holiday for isolation should be covered under a decent policy of insurance if the cruise extension is triggered so hopefully passengers can claim up to their limit and at least get some money back. It should be remembered that some passengers choose to not purchase the extra cruise cover to top up their policies and these people will need to be particularly careful as if they are quarantined there will be no recompense from any source. Fly cruise passengers in particular should expect P&O at the very least to confirm what will happen to any passengers who do not provide a positive covid test but end up quarantined because they are "close contacts" or "suspected". There are still countries on P&O's itineraries who will isolate or offload people with/suspected of having covid and the cruise lines are muddying the waters without stating their clear policies once more. Financial loss is one thing as assumedly quarantine in your own cabin if you are a contact will occur and be covered by cruise extension insurance, but the situation regarding places where theoretically you could still be offloaded needs further clarification as to whether P&O will continue to assist with repatriation/travel costs. Currently numbers with covid are falling but if there is a winter surge countries may well tighten their restrictions and requirements again and then the passengers may find themselves back in the "grey" area once more.

So we go back to the close contact not being insurable. Assume that no one will be picked as a close contact going forward then.

P&O are showing not much availability or choice late November early December cruises. Clearly the bigger ships are selling better because they can keep the price down. I'd guess Fred's ships being smaller will fall into the trap Moley mentioned regarding Aurora/Arcadia capacity. The percentage to turn a profit is much higher than with the bigger ships. My aunt used fo sail Fred as her second choice after my uncle became restricted and wanted shorter journeys on smaller ships. When she looked at coming back to cruising she said the prices were astronomically high and she'd therefore no longer consider them.

We love Gary!!!! Bring him on ...

Saw Elton on his Million Dollar Piano at Ceasar's Palace in 2015, total magic. My friend surprised me with VIP tickets and I got to go on stage with Elton and about twenty others to sing Crocodile Rock. Marvellous memories.

Shows how much I know then! Reindeer will not be so happy after all

As the Captain usually has a role to play on Christmas Eve needing a nice red coat you might have hit the nail on the head about the white beard. N indicates Iona as the ship. As the Capitain/Santa appears at the funnel at least the pollution won't choke the reindeers ....

Did you select an area, ie forward, mid forward/mid aft, mid or aft? There's usually only a small difference in price on saver fares for these "grades" and enormous upgrades aside an aft or mid aft balcony will avoid deck 8 problems on Arvia and Iona.

We wake very early every morning, a hangover from my 2 1/2 hour work train commute every morning, so early morning noise isn't a worry to us. What is a problem are late night Caribbean deck parties ending at one in the morning if you have a Deck 15 cabin. Having had that fun in January 2020 I try to book select in the Caribbean but outside of that area reason late night deck dancing and Queen tributes rarely occur elsewhere in the world so a saver isn't such a gamble. Our onboard spend is rarely above £500 as we book and pay for all our extra dining and excursions before travelling so that £1,000 difference is well worth the risk, particularly in Europe.

This is now a typical gap on a lot of the cruises. I think you did exactly the right thing and I will be doing the same going forward Christmas excepting.

My brother in law is currently on Ventura, in Madeira as first port. Very experienced regular cruiser on P&O, RCI and Cunard. He reports Ventura a big disappointment to date. Crew are working extremely hard and he cannot fault the service but the ship is as he put it "sad". The weather hasn't been the very best humid and cloudy so people looking for things to do and places to sit. Has been crowded with lots hitting the bottle as he puts it. He states overall condition is poor in comparison when he last sailed on her in 2019 and generally tired, he especially mentiond his television not working. He has paid for full trip wifi but it only works on his wife's phone and not the laptop. Technology guys trying their best but to date it simply isn't working. He mentions limited food choice in MDR as a disappointment compared with the last P&O cruise we did as a family on Britannia. Overall he says he did not pick wisely and wishes he'd taken the other options he had of either Britannia or Queen Victoria. Hearing this I understand your disappointment and suggest sticking with Iona or trying Arvia or Britannia. Otherwise if you can stretch to it go RCI as their great for children and there is masses to do for them.

I'm on that one. I noticed nearly every aft cabin on all decks except 12 are currently available. Was beginning to think they weren't in use but realise now that savers are only offering forward and mid forward/mid aft cabins. My guess is they'll mainly go to deck 8 until the last minute. As I want to see Mr Barlow if possible I'm happy if she's not full up as it gives me more chance in the raffle!

All mine have gone up. £200 on October one, £300 on December one and £400 on December next year. Obc is standard now at £60 on all of them. Pretty sure another offer on the horizon as current Britannia one runs out 5/9 and new testing/vaccination starts then too. I did notice £50 had come off the October saver fare though.

Thanks for your input. I spoke to Princess in Southampton. My original call did indeed go to someone in the US but the second time I insisted the operator liaised with Guest Relations in Carnival House. This was done while I was on the phone by text and email (the GR person refused to speak to me or the operator). I felt a bit sorry for the lady trying to help as she said she was dyslexic and really wanted a verbal conversation but was refused. P&O Executive Office who are of course not anything to do with the two situations with Princess have been trying to help all the way from the start. These two companies are like chalk and cheese on compassion. For instance P&O have contacted me several times just for an update on my aunt's health, Princess have not even replied to my last email of 1 August and have written to my aunt direct wishing her happy sailing in the future, not even asking if she is any better. I'm very, very close to lawyers and my journalist contact on the big issue so yes, not a good reflection on that particular company.

I hadn't thought of the credit card. I will look into that idea, thanks. The insurance is a single trip policy moved from the covid hit cruise to the one with her friend. I believe if no other cruise is booked and this one is cancelled while they say no liability the policy will lapse once the cruise sails. I've spent the morning looking at all cruise lines FCC policies. Seems if you don't use them you lose them, unless anyone knows differently? I'm learning an awful lot about cruise lines these past few years and basically most of it seems pretty rubbish!!!

Yes, that was my first question because its exactly what P&O did. The two companies are poles apart in their attitude and considering my aunt was the most travelled guest on our I'll fated cruise I thought they might be nicer. Basically told tough luck. We have family who work for BA and when I mentioned the conundrum to them they were surprised as apparently the airlines have been told any unspent vouchers will need to be refunded on expiry.

Drumroll .... the select prices appear to have risen by £200 on most cruises and we have reverted to £60 obc!! Lovely offer of £100 off selected 2023/4 Britannia cruises until 5 September.

Having spoken with them twice yesterday they have stated that as its FCC standard T&Cs don't apply. If it cancels she would lose her deposit (deducted from the FCC) and the balance is reissued as another FCC which she can then apply to her next cruise. That "next cruise" of course isn't going to happen as she's never sailing again. The cruise deposit is only £1.00 per person as it was booked on the special one day offer. Her friend who she's booked with doesn't have any FCC applied so he only loses £1. Ironically we had booked one of these £1.00 things ourselves for next year as well but no FCC involved. I never even received a cancellation invoice for that because the loss was so small. When I called Good to Go to see if they'd allow a claim on insurance they said that there is no loss on this cruise (obviously the £1 isn't covered) so no claim. The remaining £1,399 is going to sit with Princess and expire next year if not used. That's why I was wondering if anyone on here had ever got to the expiry date on a FCC and not been able to use it.

Thank you. That's what I was thinking. Currently the money is of course tied up in a cruise but of course she can't go. Once final payment is due next month it will of course revert to dead money which was why I was trying the cancellation route. I can’t get any answer from the cruise line if it just expires or whether there's some paperwork issued saying its lost. I suppose most people actually spend it okay. I know airlines have been told to refund if vouchers aren't spent in time but can't find anything for cruises. P&O were so much more helpful and offered an easy solution.

Hello, welcome. I've yet to sail Iona but when making my booking for the same cruise I was advised by P&O that deck 8 has no mid aft or aft balcony cabins. Looking at the plan therefore only the mid forward cabins will presumably be a possibility for you unless you are given an upgrade to a deluxe or conservatory cabin. This cluster of mid forward cabins are quite small, 10 in total with 2 of them being accessible cabins. If you look on the P&O deck 8 plan they are the last cabins on deck 8 coloured in pink and are grade GC.

Has anyone had to cancel a cruise where the deposit was just a future cruise credit and then tried to claim on their insurance? Currently trying to deal with one of my Aunt's bookings made using fcc from her cancelled trip when she caught covid. At the time she was barred from travelling as she failed the health questionnaire. Subsequently booked another cruise for November this year and the credit was applied for the deposit. Obviously with her circumstances she won't be travelling on this or most likely any other cruise so I've asked what options there are. Unlike P&O who made an exception and moved the fcc to me so I could reimburse her Princess have basically said tough luck, she gets an FCC which expires July 2023. As a result we get no cancellation invoice as the fcc is covering the deposit for two plus a surplus. Anyone know what happens if you can't spend the fcc for other health reasons, will she just lose the m9ney in July 2023 or will we get some sort of cancellation invoice to show her loss at that point? I've spoken to her insurance company who say she's not out of pocket as there's a fcc so therefore no claim liability on them. There's also the problem they are in dispute with her on the big claim and are saying she didn't declare her conditions correctly which I think they would use for this second policy. We are talking £1,400 so not huge but as she is £20,000 down after the last claim I'm trying to get her something back if possible. We are still waiting on angiography as there's now an argument on whether a stent will be needed and the hospitals here and Italy are having a medical disagreed about her diagnosis. Meantime the insurance company have made a final ruling on what they will pay and she is, as I said, currently £20,000 out of pocket. The ombudsman is now being asked to look at things. Any advice on the FCC matter much appreciated.

Probably because the US have a different culture and attitude to the military. I never cease to be astonished at all their special hats etc when they cruise. Living here we have many army friends both current and retirees and they are much more private about their service.