New OBC Promotion

[grannygristle]

Hi Grannygristle

You have gave no details of your cruise date booked,date of sailing etc. we booked our cruise for February 2015 in April 2013 At the old Vantage fare with £70 pp on board credit. On 4th November 2013 we received an e-mail from P&O informing us that as price of our grade of cabin had fallen under their new select fare we had be allocated a further inboard credit of £80, this made our total inboard spend of £220.00 in total. After seeing the new OBC offer for cruises booked prior to 28/02/14 and having read the contributions to this thread I contacted P&O customer services laying out my case.My enquiry was dealt with quickly and efficiently the outcome being that my original booking was cancelled and then rebooked under the new offer costing me an extra £120.00 in total but with an increase in on board credit giving us a total onboard credit of £220.00 pp instead of £110.00pp.

I would therefore keep in touch with P&O customer services but it may depend on your booking,perhaps there is not enough of a difference for them to change your booking.Best of luck.

 

There's a year between my booking and the sailing day - I booked under the 'Vantage' scheme, no need for me to tell anyone here the details, P & O know them. Our OBS would be a further £200 if we booked today. When the change from Vantage to Select was made we were offered nothing extra (we have the original £70 per person).

 

I, too, 'laid out my case' (politely) quoting the same offer as you and I'm pleased you were dealt with efficiently - that saddens me even more when I think about how I was dealt with this evening on the phone. I will definitely be waiting for their email reply. :D

 

Thanks for replying.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi Again

Depending on the type and grade of cabin you have booked perhaps there was no price difference when the vantage changed to select. As far as the new OBC offer I can't offer advice in our case we have cruised with P&O for a number of years and always have to book at least 18 to 24 months in advance to ensure our seat on the Glasgow Flight. This may have played a part in our satisfactory outcome. I do hope you have a satisfactory outcome and in any case enjoy your cruise when it comes.

[daiB]

There's a year between my booking and the sailing day - I booked under the 'Vantage' scheme, no need for me to tell anyone here the details, P & O know them. Our OBS would be a further £200 if we booked today. When the change from Vantage to Select was made we were offered nothing extra (we have the original £70 per person).

 

I, too, 'laid out my case' (politely) quoting the same offer as you and I'm pleased you were dealt with efficiently - that saddens me even more when I think about how I was dealt with this evening on the phone. I will definitely be waiting for their email reply. :D

 

Thanks for replying.

 

 

Two things have to be right, are there any cabins left in the grade you booked, if not then you get no extra as you could not book that grade now.

 

Secondly the price you pay now, if you were to rebook, including any OBC has to be cheaper than the one you paid, when you booked.

 

We had 4 cruises booked and when I asked the question 3 of them worked out more expensive now so no extra. On the 4th we have received over £200 extra.

 

Our return email took some time as they must have had a lot and they have to compare the exact time you booked.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gemlea]

Thank you all for the information above - I'm really hoping for a positive outcome too :)

 

Phoned them tonight and was lied (?) to. Was told that P & O had increased the fare (and that there would be people booking now wouldn't really be any better off in the long run). I told her that I hadn't noticed that, she said it happened yesterday. As soon as I got off the phone I checked and they are still the same!

 

 

 

grannygristle - We have friends who are newly retired and first time cruisers. When speaking to P & O regarding their claim to receive the recent OBC offer, they were told the same thing LAST WEEK that the price of their cruise had gone up!! I checked on the P & O website and the original price was still showing!! I have checked again today and its still the original price. Somewhere along the line, someone is telling 'porkies' !!!:(

 

Thanks to the experiences of many on this thread, I have now told them to try again via e-mail to Customer Services. To be fair, they did receive a pretty quick acknowledgement, and are now awaiting a final decision. They originally paid a hefty 'vantage' fare which under the latest OBC offer would provide them with £500 on board spend - not an insignificant amount to be disadvantaged by for booking early. And how sad that the excitement they should be feeling at booking their first cruise has been tainted in such a way.

[daiB]

Grannygristle and Gemlea,

 

If the cruises were booked a year ago they may have been in the period when we go 5% off for booking early. Some people got a further 5% for being past passengers so if you were a past passenger you got 10% off.

 

This has to be taken into consideration, because it is the price you paid including discounts that the company are looking at. So the price you paid could well be less than the price now, after taking off the new OBC.

 

Be careful, remember this is an open forum.

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[jeanlyon]

It's not correct to say that the fare has to be cheaper. Our fare had risen by £20 pp, making £40. They honoured the fact that if we were booking now and we paid the extra £40, we could have another £200 OBC which we have done. So we are £160 better off.

[RobinsonCruiseo]

Yes I think Jean is correct

 

What you paid + OBC provided = X

What you WOULD pay + what OBC you WOULD have had = Y

 

X - Y, and if this is a positive number this is the additional OBC spend you should receive.

[jeanlyon]

Our single friend who is travelling with us could also have upped her OBC by £270!! She already had £175 and would have had to pay £38 for the privilege, so she declined. There's no way she would spend all that.

[Gemlea]

Grannygristle and Gemlea,

 

If the cruises were booked a year ago they may have been in the period when we go 5% off for booking early. Some people got a further 5% for being past passengers so if you were a past passenger you got 10% off.

 

This has to be taken into consideration, because it is the price you paid including discounts that the company are looking at. So the price you paid could well be less than the price now, after taking off the new OBC.

 

Be careful, remember this is an open forum.

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

I hear what you are saying Dai, and I remain hopeful that our friends plight will be dealt with in the correct manner. Of course, if this means they are not due anything because they had an early booking discount, then so be it. Its just that they have been told so many different stories that it makes you question which one is correct. I have the brochure they used to book their cruise, and until this morning (yeah, I checked again first thing this morning, and it had gone up in price), they have been advertising the same price right the way through since the original booking. There are also a considerable number of cabins in their category still available.

 

It doesn't help that i booked the same cruise as them a couple of weeks ago. Paid the select price (which, whilst one category lower, was booked at the corresponding price initially printed in my friends brochure) and have £500 obc, free parking, choice of cabin & dining to boot. If P & O don't cough up anything, then at least we will be on board to help soften the blow in the Bar !!!;)

 

Thank for your word of caution, much appreciated.

[daiB]

I hear what you are saying Dai, and I remain hopeful that our friends plight will be dealt with in the correct manner. Of course, if this means they are not due anything because they had an early booking discount, then so be it. Its just that they have been told so many different stories that it makes you question which one is correct. I have the brochure they used to book their cruise, and until this morning (yeah, I checked again first thing this morning, and it had gone up in price), they have been advertising the same price right the way through since the original booking. There are also a considerable number of cabins in their category still available.

 

 

 

It doesn't help that i booked the same cruise as them a couple of weeks ago. Paid the select price (which, whilst one category lower, was booked at the corresponding price initially printed in my friends brochure) and have £500 obc, free parking, choice of cabin & dining to boot. If P & O don't cough up anything, then at least we will be on board to help soften the blow in the Bar !!!;)

 

 

 

Thank for your word of caution, much appreciated.

 

 

I would be very surprised if the company did not give them anything if they had been due it as I am reading all over the web very positive thing, for a change about their customer service. If what they paid is the same as is on offer now then I suspect they got the discount on booking which does not show on the brochure but it should on their conformation.

 

 

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[grannygristle]

Two things have to be right, are there any cabins left in the grade you booked, if not then you get no extra as you could not book that grade now.

 

Secondly the price you pay now, if you were to rebook, including any OBC has to be cheaper than the one you paid, when you booked.

 

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Definitely cabins of the same category left - I did a dummy booking to check.

Also, the price is exactly the same (that's my point about the non-existent price increase), therefore the OBS offer would put us at an advantage even after the cancellation/rebooking fee.

 

TBH, my original rant here last night was more about what I felt was poor customer service. Like I said, I'll be a little more patient and hope the email team sort it out.

[grannygristle]

grannygristle - We have friends who are newly retired and first time cruisers. When speaking to P & O regarding their claim to receive the recent OBC offer, they were told the same thing LAST WEEK that the price of their cruise had gone up!! I checked on the P & O website and the original price was still showing!! I have checked again today and its still the original price. Somewhere along the line, someone is telling 'porkies' !!!:(

 

Thanks to the experiences of many on this thread, I have now told them to try again via e-mail to Customer Services. To be fair, they did receive a pretty quick acknowledgement, and are now awaiting a final decision. They originally paid a hefty 'vantage' fare which under the latest OBC offer would provide them with £500 on board spend - not an insignificant amount to be disadvantaged by for booking early. And how sad that the excitement they should be feeling at booking their first cruise has been tainted in such a way.

I hope your friends get this sorted too and I'm sorry they've had their first cruise spoiled a little before they even leave. I'm going to play the patience game for a while now but please let me know how they get on. :eek:

[ronay2006]

Just to set the record straight.... P&O cancelled my booking & rebooked the same cabin, dining option etc with NO Cancellation/Admin fee. They just adjusted the final price & extra OBC.

Received both the TA & P&O invoices to-day.

[Bronte30]

Ronay2006, when did you book your original cruise? Was it a select or vantage booking?

 

 

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[daiB]

Ronay2006, when did you book your original cruise? Was it a select or vantage booking?

 

 

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It must have been Vantage as select does not come with a price promise.

 

Remember what P&O are doing now is allowing you to change a booking so it works out cheaper and not charging a fee as they did in the past. You also retain you cabin and dining preference, well we did.

 

How long this will last :confused: is another question

 

Gan Canny

 

 

 

Dai

:cool:

[wilson2579]

So select doesn't come with a price promise then Dai. I was unsure as I thought it would have been the same as vantage:confused:

[Bronte30]

You were very lucky, as I rang them this afternoon, and wouldn't change mine. I am worst off if you add the extra OBC ON.

 

 

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[jeanlyon]

Mine was the same. New booking, new reference, same cabin, same dining and also free parking, and my original OBC together with the extra £200. No cancellation fee.

[Scriv]

Same with our booking. But like Dai has pointed out, it all depends on what you paid and when and what discounts you had.

[jeanlyon]

Mine was an original Vantage fare, now Select with free parking and OBC because I booked on board.

[crafty sue]

I was the same as you jean - cancelled original re booked same cabin new booking reference but £340 obc instead of £70 ! - no admin charge but I have just looked at the Select terms and this is what it says

 

flexibility to change your booking (subject to our booking conditions)

 

so perhaps that is why they are not arguing about it so much

Edited March 1, 2014 by crafty sue
spelling

[Scriv]

Yes, mine was very early Vantage using Future Deposit.

[ronay2006]

We booked 18 months+ ago.... Vantage fare....Now a Joke but due to the information on this forum we are £550+ OBC better off so not so sad!

R

[jeanlyon]

Well done another success. Perhaps they will think again before offering these promotions so early when people have already booked. Towards the end, nobody minds.

[lindyloo22]

Being reading these posts for a few weeks now and have kept looking at prices for the cruise I have booked and just noticed that's in gone up by £200 each, so far so good. But will still watch to see if obc goes up.