P&Os new cancellation policy - shockingly bad

[molecrochip]

31 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

 

OK - we are booked in Iona in late June.

 

My assumption until I got that email, was that if the cruise goes ahead, but the advice for asthma sufferers to not travel was still in place, P&O would be obliged to refund.  This morning's email appears to suggest that's not correct but maybe they are just playing chicken with us.

By standardising that you will get 110% FCC across the board, there is now no benefit from calling up months ahead compared to 3 days ahead. So, wait and see if your cruise is cancelled. If it is, cash or FCC are your options. If not, you can transfer 3 days out or travel.

 

This should reduce the stress on the P&O call centre.

[mercury7289]

9 minutes ago, Shirlthesinger said:

Of course it will be cancelled and then there will be refunds.  It's surely just so that they can get the first lot out of the way until they cancel the next lot.  Eventually they all will be cancelled.

So all cruises at least before the 7th May will be cancelled is what you appear to be saying. Confirm please

[molecrochip]

1 minute ago, Les_ldh said:

It’s not just what’s happening in this country that is relevant though. If the ports of call remain closed there will be nowhere to cruise to, so even if by some miracle the UK is completely clear of the virus cruising will still not restart.

The UK is behind most of the summer season destinations. On that basis they should reopen before we do.

 

When they do reopen, their economies will want as much of our money as possible.

[daiB]

It is apparent time that all bodies Theatres, cruise lines, Warner’s holiday Hotels etc are only cancelling events for one month. Clearly they are taking the attitude that if the event is not cancelled then they should not offer any more than credits. Clearly this will change as the first month comes to an end.

[Les_ldh]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

The UK is behind most of the summer season destinations. On that basis they should reopen before we do.

 

When they do reopen, their economies will want as much of our money as possible.

I hope you’re correct, but this thing started with a lot of bad publicity for the cruise industry, so I can’t see countries wanting us back that quickly. I hope I’m wrong though.

[Javert1969]

3 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

By standardising that you will get 110% FCC across the board, there is now no benefit from calling up months ahead compared to 3 days ahead. So, wait and see if your cruise is cancelled. If it is, cash or FCC are your options. If not, you can transfer 3 days out or travel.

 

This should reduce the stress on the P&O call centre.

 

 

Again that's fine, but for peace of mind, I would like to understand, if the cruise does go ahead in June, but, I cannot go because of the FCO recommendations on health conditions that were put in place after I originally booked the cruise, P&O would be forced to offer a full refund to those travellers over 70 etc.  I am not bothered about needing to contact them right away - I just want to know whether my money is at stake if the cruise goes ahead but I cannot go.  

 

 

[mercury7289]

Just now, Javert1969 said:

 

 

Again that's fine, but for peace of mind, I would like to understand, if the cruise does go ahead in June, but, I cannot go because of the FCO recommendations on health conditions that were put in place after I originally booked the cruise, P&O would be forced to offer a full refund to those travellers over 70 etc.  I am not bothered about needing to contact them right away - I just want to know whether my money is at stake if the cruise goes ahead but I cannot go.  

 

 

Another one for Shirlethesinger!

[molecrochip]

1 minute ago, Les_ldh said:

I hope you’re correct, but this thing started with a lot of bad publicity for the cruise industry, so I can’t see countries wanting us back that quickly. I hope I’m wrong though.

The report released overnight on the Diamond Princess quarantine concludes that it was likely that it was transmitted by crew providing food deliveries to cabins. If you see the changes that were in place by the time that the Grand Princess had it's outbreak, a lot of learning and changes had taken place. A large number of those changes focused around splitting those dealing with infected and non-infected guests.

[Broadside]

2 hours ago, Tablelamp said:

Based on what P & O told us six days ago, I am awaiting the required letter from my doctor stating that I have an underlying health condition which precludes me from cruising. There will be a charge for this letter and now P and O are saying that they have change their minds and are now only offering a future cruise credit which I will be unable to use as my holidays are already booked for 2021.   This is absolutely shocking behaviour by P and O and after being a loyal customer for many years they have lost me as a passenger for good.

 

Consider charging P and O for the letter cost? 

[barriead]

I take a lot of comfort from P&O being covered by ABTA so if they go bust we will get our money back....however its shockingly bad practice to change the cancellation terms to something less advantageous than previously offered.

I am quite happy to leave my money there until things evolve further....it has however got me thinking about using other cruise lines if and when the world gets back to some normality.

[Mattsudds]

21 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

 

 

Again that's fine, but for peace of mind, I would like to understand, if the cruise does go ahead in June, but, I cannot go because of the FCO recommendations on health conditions that were put in place after I originally booked the cruise, P&O would be forced to offer a full refund to those travellers over 70 etc.  I am not bothered about needing to contact them right away - I just want to know whether my money is at stake if the cruise goes ahead but I cannot go.  

 

 

 

If you cannot cruise because of the FCO health recommendations, but your P&O sailing is not cancelled, you have two choices. Either P&O keep your money because of the newly imposed, worsened, cancellation conditions, or P&O keep your money and you have to commit to a future cruise with them. Who knows if any when the health recommendations will change. This is truly awful customer handling by P&O, and especially after telling everyone there was no rush to cancel because they wanted to deal with those departing soon first. Anyone who listened to their plea and didn’t phone up immediately has lost out. 

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, barriead said:

I take a lot of comfort from P&O being covered by ABTA so if they go bust we will get our money back....however its shockingly bad practice to change the cancellation terms to something less advantageous than previously offered.

I am quite happy to leave my money there until things evolve further....it has however got me thinking about using other cruise lines if and when the world gets back to some normality.

My thoughts exactly.

[Cruising Nomads]

Just noticed they are now transferring any shore ex and other bookings made via My Cruises to OBC at 110%. The cheeky me thinks.

[Jdhome1983]

I looked at how much it would cost to book an identical cruise for next may same dates (roughly) i would get £5060 (110%) back for our suite but it would cost me 5900 to rebook the same spec

 

Think ill be boycotting these clowns going forward

[Son of Anarchy]

8 minutes ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Just noticed they are now transferring any shore ex and other bookings made via My Cruises to OBC at 110%. The cheeky me thinks.

 

Sounds more than cheeky.  If you didn't request this and booked via credit card, I would seek a refund via the credit card company.  Let them have your headache dealing with PandO. 

[PompeySailor]

9 minutes ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Just noticed they are now transferring any shore ex and other bookings made via My Cruises to OBC at 110%. The cheeky me thinks.

Just went in and cancelled all our excursions and pre purchased items, first booking went through and got email confirmation of cancellations.

Monies will be refunded to my credit card.

 

Messed me about when I processed the second cancellation and eventually managed to get it to process and cancel 

 

agreed sneaky #$@&@# 

[Les_ldh]

2 minutes ago, Jdhome1983 said:

I looked at how much it would cost to book an identical cruise for next may same dates (roughly) i would get £5060 (110%) back for our suite but it would cost me 5900 to rebook the same spec

 

Think ill be boycotting these clowns going forward

You’re quite correct. All the cruises that I looked at for next year were substantially more expensive than this year, even when taking into account the 125% FCC, never mind the now miserly 110%.

[Javert1969]

1 hour ago, Mattsudds said:

 

If you cannot cruise because of the FCO health recommendations, but your P&O sailing is not cancelled, you have two choices. Either P&O keep your money because of the newly imposed, worsened, cancellation conditions, or P&O keep your money and you have to commit to a future cruise with them. Who knows if any when the health recommendations will change. This is truly awful customer handling by P&O, and especially after telling everyone there was no rush to cancel because they wanted to deal with those departing soon first. Anyone who listened to their plea and didn’t phone up immediately has lost out. 

 

That's what P&O are clearly saying, but I'm wondering if it's actually legal for P&O to do that - if the FCO advice means a specific person cannot travel for whatever reason, they have to give a full refund and not only a future cruise - at least that was my understanding from discussions on these threads last week.

 

Further - I would think that even if they can offer a replacement, they should offer an identical cruise at the same price - forcing you to pay more would also not be legal I would hope?

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

 

That's what P&O are clearly saying, but I'm wondering if it's actually legal for P&O to do that - if the FCO advice means a specific person cannot travel for whatever reason, they have to give a full refund and not only a future cruise - at least that was my understanding from discussions on these threads last week.

 

Further - I would think that even if they can offer a replacement, they should offer an identical cruise at the same price - forcing you to pay more would also not be legal I would hope?

In our case, I see that Arcadia is going to Dover after the end of the RoW cruise, so our cruise will obviously be cancelled. Seems that P&O are trying to avoid cancelling until the last minute in the hope that people will accept FCC. 

[mickrory]

The 110% FCC is poor form. We booked our Iona cruise very early, the 125% earlier offer wouldn't cover rebooking the cruise based on 2021 prices. We're still prepared to sail in June but if the Norwegians won't allow Iona in we'd be asking our TA for a full refund.

Guess we just have to be patient and wait for P&O to cancel the cruise.

[Happy2b@sea]

I see that the Limelight Club etc have gone back to Coming Soon!  Also, I tried to cancel my 2 Epicurean bookings and the system would only let me cancel the Nordic one - it's like they know!

[glennbtn]

So we have a cruise in August which seems a way off yet but need to pay the rest of the bill in May. I take it if we decide to cancel before payment we get the deposit back as a future cruise credit?

 

I am hoping we will be able to go as it's a cruise around the UK and Ireland but need to make a decision quite soon really.

[Tablelamp]

28 minutes ago, glennbtn said:

So we have a cruise in August which seems a way off yet but need to pay the rest of the bill in May. I take it if we decide to cancel before payment we get the deposit back as a future cruise credit?

 

I am hoping we will be able to go as it's a cruise around the UK and Ireland but need to make a decision quite soon really.

If P and O’s record over the past week is anything to go by I would say don’t trust them and don’t pay your balance.

[Son of Anarchy]

Conspiracy theory:

 

The Peninsula Club is getting top heavy, eg on our last cruise there were two sittings for the Baltic/Ligurian lunch, let alone however many attended the Caribbean one.

 

The revised cancellation policy is rapidly fizzing off the old/bold/loyal following that PandO has had for several years.

 

If PandO can fizz off enough of the oldy/boldy/loyalies they won't come back.

 

Therefore those in the higher tiers of the Peninsula Club will therefore reduce accordingly, making those tiers more "exclusive" once again.  BTW when I say "exclusive" I use the term with little more than mockery.

 

So, PandO bean counters have successfully ensured small numbers in the higher tiers of their "loyalty" system without moving the goal posts.

 

So much for rewarding loyalty.  Thanks Carnival House, Southampton

 

 

 

 

[dorsetlad]

1 hour ago, glennbtn said:

So we have a cruise in August which seems a way off yet but need to pay the rest of the bill in May. I take it if we decide to cancel before payment we get the deposit back as a future cruise credit?

 

I am hoping we will be able to go as it's a cruise around the UK and Ireland but need to make a decision quite soon really.

We were on the same cruise on Arcadia, but have already cancelled via email, and asked for a refund of our deposit. I have had an acknowledgement, but nothing further. I would add that we cancelled as we are both over 70, and I have diabetes. Hoping that as I cancelled before this latest farce, they will honour my request.