Cancelling Cruises because of the C word

[gailellen12]

I also wonder how many FCC will not be used.  I have a small one but am not sure that I will cruise again due to my age.  As someone mentioned in a previous post FCC  will be like gift cards that are never redeemed and eventually expire - a good analogy I think.  I would have preferred a full cash credit but was at the 50/50 point to cancel.  My friends who were  joining me  were doing 2 previous cruises before I was to join them so their cancellation window was much shorter than mine.  I have traveled solo before but decided I didn't want to this time under current conditions.  The only upside was we were ahead of the cancellation onslaught and received our 50 percent cash back to our credit cards  two days after we cancelled March 6.

[terrierjohn]

11 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

I think it depends on the time scale.. 

Many companies have put finance in place for a while, which is great, but if it is prolonged... 

Nobody knows... 

Lets hope its over quickly and we can all enjoy a cocktail in the Crows Nest... 

Andy 

I am with you Andy, I have no idea when the crisis will be over and when over 70s restrictions and travel insurance concerns will be lifted. But I have no doubt that once it is we will be cruising again.

[Eglesbrech]

On 3/26/2020 at 4:48 PM, grapau27 said:

I paid £70 to pre-book our plane seats to Barbados.

P&O refunded this in a few days.

Can I ask how you got that please. We paid for upgraded seats, meals, champagne etc and are being pushed between P&O and the schedule flight company (which P&O provided as part of our package). Each is referring us to the other for a refund.

[sayanne]

4 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

You think?  I’m not too sure.  In my own case we have only been cruising for 6 years but have ‘packed them in’ during that time, and now I’m viewing it differently and thinking ‘Scotland looks good’ and ‘I love the Cotswolds’ (out of season 😉). Maybe it’s an age thing too though, and won’t it be good just to have choices again?

 There is another quote above that alludes to such a similar issue, age related, that longer term the prospect for insuring travelers over 70 may change. If there is one thing this pandemic has taught us, it is the speed at which a situation can go from  risky to truly life threatening when people are away from their home resources. I ran the posts in this thread from three weeks ago to today and it could easily not be the same thread.

 

There are personal considerations due to age/physical well-being that may play out. I asked for a refund rather than an FCC for my April trip entirely due to issues of aging. I have two years left to do a couple of trips which require more physicality.  Unfortunately that is also the rebooking window for the river cruise deal if I had taken the FCC. The next river cruise has to wait. 

 

There are serious health considerations for cruising as well. Some more elderly passengers, like those on Holland America's Amsterdam, were cruising because their health precluded flying. I am failing to understand all of it - one report says it is going on to the states with a full crew and the passengers' luggage. Regardless, they are not carrying the people so those folks have to fly home in the face of risks. And there are all kinds of places that people have gotten stuck which are far worse than Australia, with zero flights still running even if someone can take a difficult flight.

 

None of these considerations apply for younger people, they have lots of time for things to recover and frankly take bigger risks. But for the older portion of travelers, even those like me still a bit under 70, this thing has been a real wake up call for what level of risks are tolerable. I expect going forward cruise lines will have to enunciate a lot more about what they will do if things go bad. And that costs money, for the cruise lines as well as trip insurers for extraction.

[grapau27]

32 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Can I ask how you got that please. We paid for upgraded seats, meals, champagne etc and are being pushed between P&O and the schedule flight company (which P&O provided as part of our package). Each is referring us to the other for a refund.

I got an email from P&O March 13th the day we cancelled our Azura TA for March 20th and my credit card was credited the same day for our TUI pre booked seats.

I booked and paid for the seats a few months earlier on P&O cruise personaliser.

[Eglesbrech]

23 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I got an email from P&O March 13th the day we cancelled our Azura TA for March 20th and my credit card was credited the same day for our TUI pre booked seats.

I booked and paid for the seats a few months earlier on P&O cruise personaliser.

Thanks. I take it the TUI flight was a charter and not a schedule?

 

We also booked and upgraded via the P&O link through the personaliser but the money went to the schedule flight company. We are being shoved from pillar to post as P&O didn’t take the money but the airline say we booked via a “travel agent” , they mean P&O.

[grapau27]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Thanks. I take it the TUI flight was a charter and not a schedule?

 

We also booked and upgraded via the P&O link through the personaliser but the money went to the schedule flight company. We are being shoved from pillar to post as P&O didn’t take the money but the airline say we booked via a “travel agent” , they mean P&O.

Yes it was a charter flight to Barbados.

You might be best to email P&O at Carnival House as anything booked on the cruise personaliser they should sort out.

[Josy1953]

I was looking at P&O's twitter and saw the following about why it is taking so long to get refunds processed:

 

usually refunds take 7-10 working days but unfortunately our offices are closed, therefore we have minimal staff working remotely to arrange the refunds. We realise this is not an ideal situation, however following government advice we are keeping our people safe.

[majortom10]

I think once cruising resumes you might see some rapid selling of some ships within some cruise lines if they can find buyers. Was always on the cards with Iona on the horizon that P&O had too many ships and there would be a slimming of the fleet but you mind find more than one of the less profitable and older ships will be sold sooner than expected.

 

[Harry Peterson]

Or it could be a situation rather like the hotel industry. Hotels rarely cease trading when their owners hit the financial rocks - they just change hands and are acquired by new owners. The asset remains, the ownership changes.

 

If the present large companies such as Carnival go under, the ships will remain, and it’s entirely possible that new emerging companies unhindered by the vast debts of the existing ones will acquire them. And it’s more than likely that if that happens there’ll be a considerable similarity between the directors of the old companies and those of the new companies. The debts will have gone, though, and the ordinary shareholders will have lost their investment.

 

Carnival (2020) PLC perhaps?

[wowzz]

39 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Or it could be a situation rather like the hotel industry. Hotels rarely cease trading when their owners hit the financial rocks - they just change hands and are acquired by new owners. The asset remains, the ownership changes.

 

If the present large companies such as Carnival go under, the ships will remain, and it’s entirely possible that new emerging companies unhindered by the vast debts of the existing ones will acquire them. And it’s more than likely that if that happens there’ll be a considerable similarity between the directors of the old companies and those of the new companies. The debts will have gone, though, and the ordinary shareholders will have lost their investment.

 

Carnival (2020) PLC perhaps?

You old cynic Harry!  But you are right, it happens a lot in the restaurant trade as well. I seem to remember Anthony Worrall Thompson letting one of his restaurants fail, leaving all his suppliers in debt, and then reopening the next day as a brand new concern. 

(My apologies if I have named the wrong chef!)

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

I think once cruising resumes you might see some rapid selling of some ships within some cruise lines if they can find buyers. Was always on the cards with Iona on the horizon that P&O had too many ships and there would be a slimming of the fleet but you mind find more than one of the less profitable and older ships will be sold sooner than expected.

 

The problem with that hypothesis is where will you find buyers for these excess cruise ships, if indeed this happens. A more likely scenario is that some cruise ships may remain mothballed, if initial demand is at a reduced level.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Or it could be a situation rather like the hotel industry. Hotels rarely cease trading when their owners hit the financial rocks - they just change hands and are acquired by new owners. The asset remains, the ownership changes.

 

If the present large companies such as Carnival go under, the ships will remain, and it’s entirely possible that new emerging companies unhindered by the vast debts of the existing ones will acquire them. And it’s more than likely that if that happens there’ll be a considerable similarity between the directors of the old companies and those of the new companies. The debts will have gone, though, and the ordinary shareholders will have lost their investment.

 

Carnival (2020) PLC perhaps?

I made the exact same point a day or so ago. The ‘NewCo’ route is immoral but is sadly now the vogue. One of many reasons that I wouldn’t touch FCC with a barge pole. 

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Thanks. I take it the TUI flight was a charter and not a schedule?

 

We also booked and upgraded via the P&O link through the personaliser but the money went to the schedule flight company. We are being shoved from pillar to post as P&O didn’t take the money but the airline say we booked via a “travel agent” , they mean P&O.

This email came from P&O today,I screenshot it in case you hadn't seen it.

[terrierjohn]

Don't know if this has been posted before but this is the latest Covid19 announcement from P&O and seems to answer most current questions, even as far as cruise due to sail after 1st Sept.  Scroll all the way down for answers to most asked questions, they might not be what you want to hear, but they do answer a lot of outstanding questions.

 

 

https://www.pocruises.com/travel-health-advisories/flexible-cancellation-policy

[Selbourne]

27 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Don't know if this has been posted before but this is the latest Covid19 announcement from P&O and seems to answer most current questions, even as far as cruise due to sail after 1st Sept.  Scroll all the way down for answers to most asked questions, they might not be what you want to hear, but they do answer a lot of outstanding questions.

 

 

https://www.pocruises.com/travel-health-advisories/flexible-cancellation-policy

Thanks John. As this changes so regularly it’s useful to know when new info is available. We have requested a refund for our May cruise but still have £350 deposit on a July/ August cruise. I had written that off, but the revised T’s and C’s will allow us to transfer that to any cruise up to the balance due date, but I think I will just hold out for a full refund on that (assuming that the cruise will be cancelled) as I don’t think we will be cruising for a while, even after the crisis has ended.

[terrierjohn]

45 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks John. As this changes so regularly it’s useful to know when new info is available. We have requested a refund for our May cruise but still have £350 deposit on a July/ August cruise. I had written that off, but the revised T’s and C’s will allow us to transfer that to any cruise up to the balance due date, but I think I will just hold out for a full refund on that (assuming that the cruise will be cancelled) as I don’t think we will be cruising for a while, even after the crisis has ended.

Be aware Selbourne, as I understand these new T&Cs, that you need to arrange a FCC for a deposit before final balance payment date, otherwise I assume you would be deemed to have failed to fulfill your obligations, and you would forfeit the deposit.

[Windsurfboy]

I will be cancelling,   we booked a 19day june med cruise on Arcadia , in a B1 full suite at opening for £10k, they now want  £11k for an 18day May cruise on Arcadia in a balcony cabin , suites sold out God knows how much they would be.

 

As someone said much earlier in this thread , they should have offered  the same cruise or as close as you can get for the same price plus some OBC. This 125% FCC is a con.

[Windsurfboy]

May cruise is in 2021 of course.

[Eglesbrech]

32 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Be aware Selbourne, as I understand these new T&Cs, that you need to arrange a FCC for a deposit before final balance payment date, otherwise I assume you would be deemed to have failed to fulfill your obligations, and you would forfeit the deposit.

Spot on John. The cancellation dates are unlikely to catch up with final payment dates so many, many lost deposits as a result.

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Spot on John. The cancellation dates are unlikely to catch up with final payment dates so many, many lost deposits as a result.

Are they not offering a FCC or transfer booking? I must look through them more carefully.

[Scriv]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Are they not offering a FCC or transfer booking? I must look through them more carefully.

 

I have cancelled our July cruise under these new terms and conditions via this link ... balance was due 11 April.  As per this link, I  was able to transfer the deposit to a new booking or get FCC to the value of the deposit. I did the latter.

[Selbourne]

14 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Be aware Selbourne, as I understand these new T&Cs, that you need to arrange a FCC for a deposit before final balance payment date, otherwise I assume you would be deemed to have failed to fulfill your obligations, and you would forfeit the deposit.

Yes, I believe that’s the case John. Although I think it’s unlikely that we will want to go on a cruise in the next year or two, as I had written the deposit off in my mind I shall most likely convert it to FCC before the balance due date as there is nothing to be lost by doing so. Under the ‘old’ rules it could only be put towards a cruise of at least the same value, but now it can be against any cruise. If we are tempted to do a 7 day cruise in 18 months time it would give quite a big percentage discount off, what I suspect, will be a cheap price anyway! If not, we are in no worse a position than if we just let it lapse when the balance due date comes. 

[SeaJane]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I believe that’s the case John. Although I think it’s unlikely that we will want to go on a cruise in the next year or two, as I had written the deposit off in my mind I shall most likely convert it to FCC before the balance due date as there is nothing to be lost by doing so. Under the ‘old’ rules it could only be put towards a cruise of at least the same value, but now it can be against any cruise. If we are tempted to do a 7 day cruise in 18 months time it would give quite a big percentage discount off, what I suspect, will be a cheap price anyway! If not, we are in no worse a position than if we just let it lapse when the balance due date comes. 

I agree with your view Selbourne, we expect to do the same with regards to our booked October cruise.

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

15 hours ago, Scriv said:

 

I have cancelled our July cruise under these new terms and conditions via this link ... balance was due 11 April.  As per this link, I  was able to transfer the deposit to a new booking or get FCC to the value of the deposit. I did the latter.

Apologies if I read the information incorrectly. I was not aware that it applied to just deposits as well and I’m sure others will make exactly the same mistake, so thanks for sharing your experience.