Proceedure for cancellations if Oceana goes

[Presto2]

Not wanting to repeat the posts on the other thread, but just wondering what happens to cruises booked for next year if Oceana is sold.

Do people the chance to rebook again on another cruise or will another ship 'step' in?

 

Just wondering as family have a cruise booked next June and it would be good to be able to give them some advice as they are very new to cruising and this would be the 2nd time they have had to cancel as they should have sailed on her in April (just gone).

 

Just wondering what happened when Oriana was sold.

 

Thanks

Edited July 5, 2020 by Presto2

[Manx buoy]

When Adonia and Oriana went the cruises were cancelled with very little of a sweetener that I recall and rebook if you like but again no preference or discount  The same happened when they cancelled the Gulf programme last winter no priority for the new itineraries 

[Presto2]

Oh dear .... that sounds grim. They were so disappointed to cancel this April and were excited to be on Oceana again. I suppose we all have to see what happens.

[Teabelly69]

When they cancelled the gulf programme you got 10% off a rebooked cruise if you booked by a certain date

[Manx buoy]

18 minutes ago, Teabelly69 said:

When they cancelled the gulf programme you got 10% off a rebooked cruise if you booked by a certain date

Don’t remember that 

[Teabelly69]

Yes, we were booked on her in February,  changed it to this October. So fingers crossed this goes ahead, but if it does possibly wont be on Oceana.

[Manx buoy]

16 minutes ago, Teabelly69 said:

Yes, we were booked on her in February,  changed it to this October. So fingers crossed this goes ahead, but if it does possibly wont be on Oceana.

Was the 10% for rebooking a gulf cruise we stayed with our original dates repositioning back from Malta and the one after to the Canaries got 10% B2B but don’t remember anything else

[royallondon]

1 hour ago, Teabelly69 said:

When they cancelled the gulf programme you got 10% off a rebooked cruise if you booked by a certain date

Yes,  from memory we were offered either a 10% discount off her revised European itinerary or 10% off any of that years winter Caribbean itinerary If booked by a cut off date.

 

Regards

[No pager thank you]

From experience of having a Christmas and New Year 2019 cancelled on Oriana, this is what happened:

 

-- TA and P&O both contacted us to explain that our cruise was cancelled.  You get an email saying sorry from Paul Ludlow which is most grating, thankfully no back up video.  This was in fairness within a month or so of making the booking.

-- We were offered the chance to either cancel our holiday, and receive a refund - no timelines stated (pre pandemic) - or to book a replacement cruise within one month of the holiday being cancelled.  No step in or alternative was automatically offered.

-- If we booked the replacement holiday, we were offered £75pp OBC as compensation, nothing if taking a refund.  This OBC could be applied either by a TA or by P&O.  The OBC credit offer was combinable with all usual offers.

-- The rebooking process, in fairness, was relatively painless.

 

In the end, we rebooked to Arcadia (and had a great time) on her festive cruise.  The plus was that we ended up paying around £400 less and received extra on board credit.  The negative was that we had a 16 night cruise, including Christmas and New Year, and ended up with just a Christmas cruise, coming back on the 29th and making other arrangements for New Year.  Like for like, had we attempted to tack on a New Year cruise on either Arcadia or another ship then we would have been stung big time, but in the end we came out just about even. 

 

What I would say is that, although to the best of my knowledge all Oriana passengers were treated the same, this was not the case on previous cancellations where there was not a sweetener.  Also, at 16 months out from our replacement cruise and with none of these pesky FCCs about, the order book was lighter, even though we wanted the specific festive cruise, which is always more expensive.  So it wasn't too bad.

 

What I can't say with any confidence is how P&O will manage this particular scenario, assuming Oceana is indeed leaving the fleet.  As I mentioned on another thread, if they offer to keep your cruise, but say for instance on Ventura (could be another ship if in June), I would not automatically believe that you would be entitled to a full cash refund of whatever has been paid, as the company could argue that the standard of accommodation is the same (or in some people's opinions better).  They might offer 100/110% FCC if you don't accept the transfer, or a small amount of OBC as a sweetener to discourage refunds.  In what seems the less likely event that the cruise is cancelled and no replacement ship is offered, one would think that 125% FCC rules will apply, or the offer of a full refund.

 

However, remember that all cruises are currently covered by the opportunity to transfer free of charge, so it is not that bleak.  This would mean that if you do not like the larger ships (if offered) then you should be able to transfer the booking to one of Arcadia or Aurora and, all things being equal, find that at least one of these ships will be following the itinerary that you want.  However, you might have to be a bit flexible on dates, depending on bookings on these ships, which will be heavier in June 2021, as many cruisers with cancelled bookings from June 2020 will already have re-booked.  Therefore, the negative is that the cruise may be increased in price and certainly, in the case of Oriana, P&O made no allowances, so you might end up paying effectively more to transfer.

 

My advice would be to either accept the transfer of ship, particularly if it comes without cost.  If no transfer of ship is offered, consider a cruise in a slightly lower season if you can.  For instance, on Aurora and Arcadia, there are better deals to be had in March to May and October to November than can be had June through August.

 

Apologies for the long post.  I have read how upsetting this been and hope that, if it does come to having to rebook, then this helps a little.  Good luck 😊

[Presto2]

Thank you so much for all of this so far. It won't affect us but will affect molise family. I want to get them as much advice as I can if she goes.  Yet again our CC family help out when we need it. 🙂

[kalos]

Well at least she is back home tonight , just heading up the Solent when I looked .

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-1.3/centery:50.8/zoom:11

Edited July 5, 2020 by kalos

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

As I mentioned on another thread, if they offer to keep your cruise, but say for instance on Ventura (could be another ship if in June), I would not automatically believe that you would be entitled to a full cash refund of whatever has been paid, as the company could argue that the standard of accommodation is the same (or in some people's opinions better). 

What I don't understand, is, if they offer to transfer Oceana pax to Ventura, what happens to the Ventura pax?

Surely there are not enough vacant berths to absorb all the displaced Oceana pax

[No pager thank you]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

What I don't understand, is, if they offer to transfer Oceana pax to Ventura, what happens to the Ventura pax?

Surely there are not enough vacant berths to absorb all the displaced Oceana pax

A previous poster touched on this I believe Wowzz ... thinking / speculation is that they go on to Iona or Aurora, for instance the Canaries Winter season; Azura, Britannia and Arcadia left as is. 

 

So 3 ships itineraries in to 2 remaining has a better chance of working, cue no one gets a refund.

 

In 2021, pattern changes, but same principle.

 

May be a problem for the festive season and peak Summer 2021, where you get to an overbooking problem (possibly). 

 

In an overbooking environment, you get back to the "order of the cull" discussion from a few weeks ago.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

A previous poster touched on this I believe Wowzz ... thinking / speculation is that they go on to Iona or Aurora, for instance the Canaries Winter season; Azura, Britannia and Arcadia left as is. 

 

So 3 ships itineraries in to 2 remaining has a better chance of working, cue no one gets a refund.

 

In 2021, pattern changes, but same principle.

 

May be a problem for the festive season and peak Summer 2021, where you get to an overbooking problem (possibly). 

 

In an overbooking environment, you get back to the "order of the cull" discussion from a few weeks ago.

Thanks for that.  I have to say that if I  was moved to a different cabin, on a different ship, on a different itinerary,  I would not be a happy bunny!  

[ann141]

I am hoping that if Ventura replaces Oceana for cruises from Dubai this winter then our January 2021 cruise to the Caribbean on Ventura will be cancelled meaning we can have a refund rather than transferring the deposit to a Future cruise.

[bee-ess]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for that.  I have to say that if I  was moved to a different cabin, on a different ship, on a different itinerary,  I would not be a happy bunny!  

Or me

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I am hoping that if Ventura replaces Oceana for cruises from Dubai this winter then our January 2021 cruise to the Caribbean on Ventura will be cancelled meaning we can have a refund rather than transferring the deposit to a Future cruise.

I can't see that happening. The logistics of flying in a full complement of pax for Ventura are difficult. Also, what do you do with the pax that have cruises already booked on Ventura? 

[joeecco]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I can't see that happening. The logistics of flying in a full complement of pax for Ventura are difficult. Also, what do you do with the pax that have cruises already booked on Ventura? 

They will be flying in passengers to Azuras Med season next year - it’s easily doable. Especially with these few months of the pause to organise it. 

[P&O SUE]

The thing is Oceana is doing the Canaries and the 7 day Lisbon/Porto cruises next year.  Who will do the Canaries instead? It’s a popular trip and although Aurora and Arcadia do a couple they are normally longer trips instead of the usual 12 night ones. Just wondering!

[ann141]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I can't see that happening. The logistics of flying in a full complement of pax for Ventura are difficult. Also, what do you do with the pax that have cruises already booked on Ventura? 

I think someone mentioned that a lot of the cruises prior to christmas on Ventura are sailing to the Canary Islands and the people could probably be accomodated on Iona if they wish to cruise there. On another site someone suggested that the 65 night cruise on Aurora to South America might be replaced with two 28 night cruises plus a shorter cruise which might be an option for those booked on the two 35 night cruises on Ventura in January and February.Of course its all speculation but it is likely that quite a lot of people will be disappointed if changes are made because Oceana leaves the fleet but hopefully we will know more by the end of next week.I just hope that people who are affected in any way have the option for a full refund.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, ann141 said:

I think someone mentioned that a lot of the cruises prior to christmas on Ventura are sailing to the Canary Islands and the people could probably be accomodated on Iona if they wish to cruise there. On another site someone suggested that the 65 night cruise on Aurora to South America might be replaced with two 28 night cruises plus a shorter cruise which might be an option for those booked on the two 35 night cruises on Ventura in January and February.Of course its all speculation but it is likely that quite a lot of people will be disappointed if changes are made because Oceana leaves the fleet but hopefully we will know more by the end of next week.I just hope that people who are affected in any way have the option for a full refund.

If, and at this stage it is still an if, Oceana  does leave the fleet, I am sure refunds will be given. But,  if I had booked a cruise on Oceana some 18 months ago, at an excellent  price,  I would be more than a little p****ed off to find that all comparable cruises were considerably more expensive, even more so as P&O are trying to recover their FCC costs.

[ann141]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If, and at this stage it is still an if, Oceana  does leave the fleet, I am sure refunds will be given. But,  if I had booked a cruise on Oceana some 18 months ago, at an excellent  price,  I would be more than a little p****ed off to find that all comparable cruises were considerably more expensive, even more so as P&O are trying to recover their FCC costs.

I agree.We have a future cruise booked with MSC in September which we don t want to go on.It hasn t been cancelled yet so we are looking to transfer to the same cruise next year.However we will only be able to have an inside cabin for the same price that we have paid for a balcony.Lets hope Oceana hasn t been sold but it sounds very likely that she has been.P and O have upset a lot of people in the way they have dealt with refunds.It seems likely that they will be upsetting quite a few more if Oceana has been sold and Itineraries changed etc.

[joeecco]

28 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I think someone mentioned that a lot of the cruises prior to christmas on Ventura are sailing to the Canary Islands and the people could probably be accomodated on Iona if they wish to cruise there. On another site someone suggested that the 65 night cruise on Aurora to South America might be replaced with two 28 night cruises plus a shorter cruise which might be an option for those booked on the two 35 night cruises on Ventura in January and February.Of course its all speculation but it is likely that quite a lot of people will be disappointed if changes are made because Oceana leaves the fleet but hopefully we will know more by the end of next week.I just hope that people who are affected in any way have the option for a full refund.

That sounds like a good logistical plan, we aren’t the biggest fans of Ventura but would much prefer to sail on her around the Gulf than to not sail at all! 
 

just out of interest, what makes you think we will know by next week? Has there already been a pre-announcement? 

[ann141]

43 minutes ago, joeecco said:

That sounds like a good logistical plan, we aren’t the biggest fans of Ventura but would much prefer to sail on her around the Gulf than to not sail at all! 
 

just out of interest, what makes you think we will know by next week? Has there already been a pre-announcement? 

No pre announcement but someone who posts on here who seems to have 'inside' information  suggested that an announcement may be made by P and O either at the end of next week or the beginning of the following- but it may just be speculation- no doubt we shall find out

[joeecco]

Just now, ann141 said:

No pre announcement but someone who posts on here who seems to have 'inside' information  suggested that an announcement may be made by P and O either at the end of next week or the beginning of the following- but it may just be speculation- no doubt we shall find out

Oh no, hopefully it’s good news rather than bad news for once! Haha