Booking confirmation

[yesididit]

My booking confirmation alongside Grade, shows     Balcony/your cabin can be allocated anytime up to departure blah blah blah....

 

If it was obstructed view, would it clearly state this above?

 

I may have messed my online booking up. I did not want obstructed but I appear to have paid the price for obstructed yet according to my confirmation it just says Balcony.

I don't want to contact them for fear of them saying oh dear we haven't charged you enough.

Thank you

[jeanlyon]

I know it's too late, but I would personally never do an online booking.  You don't get to see all the cabins that are available.  A good Travel Agent can see them all.  As you don't know what cabin you are in, you have no choice but to call and ask.

 

You don't say which ship you have booked?

Edited July 16, 2019 by jeanlyon

[yesididit]

Thank you for your reply.  I have booked a saver ticket so won't know the cabin number. I wouldn't know which to choose if I had a choice so the select ticket would be wasted on me.

My question just concerns the obstructed view, should it say on the confirmation if it is obstructed or not?

Thank you

[Dorset cruise fan]

Give P&O a call, they have always been really helpful when I've spoken to them and will tell you exactly what you've booked and if it's not what you wanted then what the difference would be to change.

[yesididit]

I'm not drawing it to their attention if it favours me hehe

 

Are they obliged to honour the sale if they have dropped a clanger?  Contract of sale and all that stuff

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, yesididit said:

Thank you for your reply.  I have booked a saver ticket so won't know the cabin number. I wouldn't know which to choose if I had a choice so the select ticket would be wasted on me.

My question just concerns the obstructed view, should it say on the confirmation if it is obstructed or not?

Thank you

I assume you're on Britannia since this is the only ship with obstructed balconies.  Howeve the obstruction is not major, unless you definitely want to sit out on your window box for long periods and have a view through the balcony glass. 

However if you yearn for an unobstructed balcony then maybe you need to clarify the issue by ringing P&O and asking the question.

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, yesididit said:

Are they obliged to honour the sale if they have dropped a clanger?  Contract of sale and all that stuff

In a word, yes.  Subject to their terms and conditions, though even then they can't rely on them if they're 'unfair'.

 

However, persuading P&O to meet its legal obligations is frequently problematic, and you may need some knowledge of the law, and considerable perseverance, to succeed.

[Bazrat]

Just out of interest who dropped a clanger you booked a saver ticket agreeing to p&o terms,if you wished to pick a cabin you pay extra and it’s the luck of the draw what you get.

Unless p&o puts you in the hold I cannot see how they are not meeting there legal obligations.

[Eglesbrech]

Some saver fares are completely the luck of the draw within the cabin type so bookers have to take what is allocated including obstructed views, others however are not.

 

P&O are fulfilling the booking by allocating any of the inside/outside/balcony booked (rare for suites to be offered) if the guarantee is for the full grade.

 

Early savers often offer you the option to book a specific grade within the cabin type and in these circumstances this is specified in the booking. The booking confirmation will say what grade you have selected where the xx is below.

“XX / Your cabin can be allocated anytime up to departure and once allocated cannot be changed. You will automatically be advised once allocated”

 

This allows you to avoid the any of the grades of cabin that you would not want. You are still taking a chance on the actual cabin you get but within a much smaller pool of cabins and in a specific level.

 

For the op, check if you have anything on your confirmation email where xx is above, if not then you can be allocated any balcony.

[SquishTheWhale]

I think the OP is saying they booked an obstructed balcony cabin (by accident but they know they have) and as their booking confirmation just says 'balcony' they are wondering if P&O has actually given them a non-obstructed balcony category for the cheaper price. Hence P&O dropping a 'clanger' and their reluctance to notify them of their mistake.

 

I'm not hugely familiar with P&O confirmation documents but they are probably just listing your category of cabin 'balcony'- of which obstructed balcony is a grade.

Edited July 16, 2019 by SquishTheWhale

[yesididit]

Mmmm perhaps my fault for not making it clear.  Thank you Squish the Whale for being almost right, and the rest of you for being interested.

 

I booked a saver because I'm not bothered which cabin I get. I am bothered about the type.

The choice was Inside, Balcony or Suite.

I chose Balcony. Within Balcony there is further choice of Single,Standard,Superior Deluxe or Fully Obstructed.

I chose Standard, but somehow I paid the price of the Fully Obstructed, which is cheaper. I did not error in my choice, the error was the pricing on their website. In fact I checked it twice, I even selected the Obstructed cabin and the system would not proceed and said I had to phone them. I came out of the system, went back in and started again thinking I have messed it up. 

My confirmation clearly says "Balcony" with NO mention of Obstructed but I have paid the cheaper price. So, happy days?

I will not ring them because that would give them the opportunity to request more money even if it was their mistake. I have had an obstructed cabin before but for the Fjords would prefer to see them without standing on the wardrobe  :-)

Either way I will be a big boy and take it on the chin, I'm not losing out whatever happens, apart from possibly falling off the wardrobe.

[the english lady]

You say it was your mistake, you say you were not entirely sure what you were doing, you say you are not sure what you are getting,but don't want to ring them.

Not sure any of this was "their" fault. 

Had you picked up the phone in the first place to ring them to book, you could have stated what you wanted and they could have suggested what fare you pay, what the likely allocation for that grade would be.

All you can do now is wait until your cabin is allocated and go online and look at the deck plans to see where you will be. if you paid for an obstructed cabin, one assumes you may end up with that, or end up with a slightly higher grade (either more midships or higher deck). Do report back when you have your allocation ,so we know how this story ends please nicely.

[Babyeddiedog]

I would say that if you think you've booked an obstructed balcony, you've paid for an obstructed balcony and you get an obstructed balcony you haven't lost anything. If you really don't want an obstructed balcony you should call and see what they can do, you won't be in a worse position than you are now and at least you'll know! 

[ann141]

We have booked an obstructed balcony with another cruise line and our confirmation just states Balcony, no mention of obstruction.However I have looked at the cabin we have been allocated and it IS an obstructed balcony.I don t mind because that is what we have paid for and expected but if you definitely don t want an obstructed cabin I think the best thing would either phone P and O and check or wait until you receive your allocated cabin and if it is obstructed ask if you can pay to upgrade.Of course you run the risk of not being able to upgrade if you are allocated a cabin close to the sailing date but the obstructed balcony cabins on Britannia aren t too bad.

[AndyMichelle]

3 hours ago, yesididit said:

Mmmm perhaps my fault for not making it clear.  Thank you Squish the Whale for being almost right, and the rest of you for being interested.

 

I booked a saver because I'm not bothered which cabin I get. I am bothered about the type.

The choice was Inside, Balcony or Suite.

I chose Balcony. Within Balcony there is further choice of Single,Standard,Superior Deluxe or Fully Obstructed.

I chose Standard, but somehow I paid the price of the Fully Obstructed, which is cheaper. I did not error in my choice, the error was the pricing on their website. In fact I checked it twice, I even selected the Obstructed cabin and the system would not proceed and said I had to phone them. I came out of the system, went back in and started again thinking I have messed it up. 

My confirmation clearly says "Balcony" with NO mention of Obstructed but I have paid the cheaper price. So, happy days?

I will not ring them because that would give them the opportunity to request more money even if it was their mistake. I have had an obstructed cabin before but for the Fjords would prefer to see them without standing on the wardrobe  :-)

Either way I will be a big boy and take it on the chin, I'm not losing out whatever happens, apart from possibly falling off the wardrobe.

We made a similar 'mistake' when booking Britannia and were allocated an obstructed view cabin.

It turned out to be G407, mid ship with absolutely no obstruction...

They tried to 'upgrade' us to a non obstructed cabin above the live lounge...

No thank you and they happily left us where we were.

Hopefully you will be as lucky as we were.

Andy

[the english lady]

A question. Early saver fares are for a grade. As all the savers quotes are for the cheapest option. Would the cheapest option be for an obstructed balcony. So does it need to show obstructed or otherwise as what the customer is paying for is the cheapest option for the grade. 

Have to say for what you lose not booking select we have never seen the point of going for the cheaper options. Should anyone say saver fares are cheaper  and not everyone can pay select. Do the maths..In some cases select fare minus OBS can work out less than saver fares (it did for our next cruise) needless to say we are select for it.

I would much rather pay out and  know what cabin im getting rather than have no idea if the balcony i have paid for will have a view or not.

[AndyMichelle]

3 hours ago, the english lady said:

A question. Early saver fares are for a grade. As all the savers quotes are for the cheapest option. Would the cheapest option be for an obstructed balcony. So does it need to show obstructed or otherwise as what the customer is paying for is the cheapest option for the grade. 

Have to say for what you lose not booking select we have never seen the point of going for the cheaper options. Should anyone say saver fares are cheaper  and not everyone can pay select. Do the maths..In some cases select fare minus OBS can work out less than saver fares (it did for our next cruise) needless to say we are select for it.

I would much rather pay out and  know what cabin im getting rather than have no idea if the balcony i have paid for will have a view or not.

Of our upcoming cruises, 2 are select and one early saver.

This was solely due to a massive difference in cost, it was worth taking a chance.

We have selected a grade which we will be happy with and the next 2 upgrade options are both acceptable, so fingers crossed.

We have been lucky previously with early saver, but a bit of knowledge about the ships has helped.

Andy

[yesididit]

I disagree the English Lady, saver fares are not for a grade, they are for those who are not bothered which cabin or dining option to have. Picking a saver fare you still need to chose between inside, window or balcony.

 

Update, I rang P&O and I'm booked in an obstructed view balcony, I will put up and shut but not too happy given that I selected standard balcony. They offered an upgrade for more money, I declined.

Here endth the story

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, yesididit said:

 

Update, I rang P&O and I'm booked in an obstructed view balcony, I will put up and shut but not too happy given that I selected standard balcony. They offered an upgrade for more money, I declined.

Here endth the story

Fingers crossed for G407 or equivalent...

Good luck,

Andy

[grapau27]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:43 AM, yesididit said:

Thank you for your reply.  I have booked a saver ticket so won't know the cabin number. I wouldn't know which to choose if I had a choice so the select ticket would be wasted on me.

My question just concerns the obstructed view, should it say on the confirmation if it is obstructed or not?

Thank you

Sounds like a balcony guarantee only which usually means you get what's left.

We always book select because we can pick our cabin, dining option and get obc too.

[Harry Peterson]

If I'm going to cruise it has to be in a cabin of my choice - they vary so very much and the wrong cabin can mean a ruined holiday.  If that means Select, which it does, so be it.

 

We've just had a very pleasant family holiday on the North Norfolk coast in a superb rented house.  Same thing applies.  Location is everything.  It was carefully selected and fitted all our needs perfectly.  I wouldn't leave that choice to a bookings agency, so why would I let P&O decide (out of what's left over) where to put me?

[Bazrat]

3 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

If I'm going to cruise it has to be in a cabin of my choice - they vary so very much and the wrong cabin can mean a ruined holiday.  If that means Select, which it does, so be it.

 

We've just had a very pleasant family holiday on the North Norfolk coast in a superb rented house.  Same thing applies.  Location is everything.  It was carefully selected and fitted all our needs perfectly.  I wouldn't leave that choice to a bookings agency, so why would I let P&O decide (out of what's left over) where to put me?

One of the very rare occasions I agree with you why leave it to chance,I hope you left north Norfolk in a reasonable state we’re across there in a couple of weeks time,obviously in a specially selected rented property.

[the english lady]

12 hours ago, yesididit said:

I disagree the English Lady, saver fares are not for a grade, they are for those who are not bothered which cabin or dining option to have. Picking a saver fare you still need to chose between inside, window or balcony.

 

Update, I rang P&O and I'm booked in an obstructed view balcony, I will put up and shut but not too happy given that I selected standard balcony. They offered an upgrade for more money, I declined.

Here endth the story

Saver fares are for a type. (inside outside or balcony) Early saver are a grade. Both are in the lap of the gods as to where you end up, but early saver you can at least specify a grade 

* P&O Cruises Early Saver *

Thank you for choosing to book your holiday with P&O Cruises.

 

Your booking has been made on P&O Cruises Early Saver. Your cabin grade has

been secured. We will assign your cabin number either in the grade secured or

in a higher grade before departure.

 

I would guess the grades on that ship have ones for obstucted balconies and ones for unobstructed

[the english lady]

should have added if you booked a saver fare (pay 100% at time of booking) you do only get the choice of inside/outside/balcony. However they are based on the cheapest cabins of each of those types so a balcony would be fore/aft/obstructed. Anything above that would be charged at a higher price (higher up/more midships/unobstructed) This is why you really need to understand how it works or speak to a human who understands how it works.

[yesididit]

I do know. I booked a saver fare and had that choice. See post number 1 😕

Suits me because the it appears the default dining is last sitting, (all my past savers have been later sittings)which suits me because I only go cruising for the dancing. Have already said, if I had a choice of cabins I wouldn't know which to choose, apart from unobstructed 🙂

So, I don't really want to know how it works,it would be wasted on me and I don't like talking on the telephone. Thank you for sharing your knowledge though x