P.O. Cruise update

[hollyjess]

Does anyone have any idea when P and O are going to give an update regarding November cruises? It's now getting close to pay the balance.

[molecrochip]

Unfortunately even those of us who have a fairly reliable source are finding things very fluid at the moment in this regard.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, hollyjess said:

Does anyone have any idea when P and O are going to give an update regarding November cruises? It's now getting close to pay the balance.

After the refund debacle if it was me I would transfer the booking to next year as imo it is very unlikely cruising will be happening in November and if it is then face masks and social distancing etc will make for an uncomfortable experience.

[Adawn47]

51 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

After the refund debacle if it was me I would transfer the booking to next year as imo it is very unlikely cruising will be happening in November and if it is then face masks and social distancing etc will make for an uncomfortable experience.

That's what we were thinking and so we transferred our November cruise to June  2021 five days ago.

Avril 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

After the refund debacle if it was me I would transfer the booking to next year as imo it is very unlikely cruising will be happening in November and if it is then face masks and social distancing etc will make for an uncomfortable experience.

Last thing I would do as majority if not all 2021 cruises area lot higher than originally released and have increased considerably recently. It would negate the extra 25% as useless and of no benefit and not as good a deal as P&O want you to think. My August cruise on Arcadia is currently over £2400 for Select fare when we booked on brochure release in September 2019 for a Select fare we paid just over £1400.

Edited August 1, 2020 by majortom10

[wowzz]

I can't see any cruises going ahead this year, and next year looks pretty grim as well. We have a Saga  cruuse booked for March next year - can't see that happening,  and a P&O cruise booked in March 2022, which I am dubious about.

Realistically, I can't see any cruises happening until next summer at the earliest. 

To use an awful phrase "the optics don't look good". 

[emam]

21 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Last thing I would do as majority if not all 2021 cruises area lot higher than originally released and have increased considerably recently. It would negate the extra 25% as useless and of no benefit and not as good a deal as P&O want you to think. My August cruise on Arcadia is currently over £2400 for Select fare when we booked on brochure release in September 2019 for a Select fare we paid just over £1400.

 

Is that for one of two people? For those of us who can't book on release, that is still slightly less than we paid for June in an inside cabin. It would be more in August.

[No pager thank you]

3 hours ago, hollyjess said:

Does anyone have any idea when P and O are going to give an update regarding November cruises? It's now getting close to pay the balance.

As I have mentioned elsewhere, sorry I can't shed any light on this for you, wish I could.  Molecrochip is usually one with good inside knowledge, where it exists.

 

My only advice to you is to leave it until absolutely when to you have to make a decision and not now.  I cannot say for definite, but the chances of the cruise going ahead do not look great at the moment, sorry.

 

If you pay up, then you face a long wait for a full refund if it is subsequently cancelled 2-5 months are current benchmarks.  But you will get all your money back.

 

Or, you can transfer your cruise now, but the one you choose may be poor value for money. 

 

The best advice I can offer at the moment is to look, tentatively, if there are other cruises up to April 2022 which might be suitable.  Price them up online.  You might find a bargain for instance for November 2021.  Then make the decision which is right for you on balance due day.  There might be an opportunity to transfer the booking again at a later date.

 

P&O are unlikely to be flexible, bit there is always a chance that they may cancel before this date.  Sorry, many of us are in the same boat (metaphorically speaking)😀

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, emam said:

 

Is that for one of two people? For those of us who can't book on release, that is still slightly less than we paid for June in an inside cabin. It would be more in August.

Sounds like per person for a balcony.  

[wowzz]

Just now, No pager thank you said:

As I have mentioned elsewhere, sorry I can't shed any light on this for you, wish I could.  Molecrochip is usually one with good inside knowledge, where it exists.

 

My only advice to you is to leave it until absolutely when to you have to make a decision and not now.  I cannot say for definite, but the chances of the cruise going ahead do not look great at the moment, sorry.

 

If you pay up, then you face a long wait for a full refund if it is subsequently cancelled 2-5 months are current benchmarks.  But you will get all your money back.

 

Or, you can transfer your cruise now, but the one you choose may be poor value for money. 

 

The best advice I can offer at the moment is to look, tentatively, if there are other cruises up to April 2022 which might be suitable.  Price them up online.  You might find a bargain for instance for November 2021.  Then make the decision which is right for you on balance due day.  There might be an opportunity to transfer the booking again at a later date.

 

P&O are unlikely to be flexible, bit there is always a chance that they may cancel before this date.  Sorry, many of us are in the same boat (metaphorically speaking)😀

Good advice - but, as you say, prices are escalating. We moved our January 21 cruise deposit to March 22,  two months ago, as prices were shooting up. Ideally we will  move the cruuse to 2023 if that is possible.

[emam]

10 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Sounds like per person for a balcony.  

 

Thought it would be, but there is always so much talk about release prices so couldn't be certain.

[grapau27]

8 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Last thing I would do as majority if not all 2021 cruises area lot higher than originally released and have increased considerably recently. It would negate the extra 25% as useless and of no benefit and not as good a deal as P&O want you to think. My August cruise on Arcadia is currently over £2400 for Select fare when we booked on brochure release in September 2019 for a Select fare we paid just over £1400.

The op hollyjess said it is getting close to final payment so it is only the deposit paid at the moment.

We all know what happened with refunds so if it were me rather than paying the balance and worrying I would book another cruise next year transferring my deposit.

Edited August 2, 2020 by grapau27

[Cathygh]

One indication could be around return flight information on the Caribbean TAs, the first one leaves on 16th October. I can't remember how many weeks in advance the info is released. If it's 8 weeks prior to departure then this brings us to August 21st. So has anyone on the cruise been given the flight info?

As P&O seem to cancel from 8 weeks in advance may be Aug 21 is when the announcement will be made. of course there is the little matter of FCO advice against cruising, which I can't see changing any time soon

Cathy

[majortom10]

12 hours ago, emam said:

 

Is that for one of two people? For those of us who can't book on release, that is still slightly less than we paid for June in an inside cabin. It would be more in August.

Both prices are per person for an inside cabin £1400 paid for highest grade and £2400 is for lowest grade inside cabin. Balcony prices of course would be higher.

Edited August 2, 2020 by majortom10

[kersh]

We are waiting to hear about our November Caribbean cruise.  We are now not expecting it to sail but we have nowhere to turn our deposit to as fully booked for next year and up to March 2022.  We will pay our balance when due and request refund when they cancel it. According to our TA refunds are now being processed much quicker for the newer ones but a March/ April is still a problem due to a big black hole. 

[majortom10]

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

Sounds like per person for a balcony.  

Incorrect they are prices for inside cabin grades.

[purplesea]

We've got one booked in November for the Caribbean but can't decide whether to cancel or transfer to a later date.

[bee-ess]

1 hour ago, purplesea said:

We've got one booked in November for the Caribbean but can't decide whether to cancel or transfer to a later date.

 

We have one booked in Feb and were hoping to see Azura and Britannia sail to the Caribbean in October but don't think that will happen now - we need an update from P&O, the sooner the better before balances have to be paid.

[Mrk2868]

We are booked on Britania, for 14 day caribbean cruise in November 2020.  Our Plan is to pay the final balence when due in a few days time.  Anyones guess if the cruise will happen, but we are hoping it will.  We booked direct with P&O.  Does anyone know if they will send an email reminder or what happens if we have not paid by Sunday 9th, when payment is due?

[Chrisdriving]

I rang P and O this morning about transferring our deposit for J015 to another cruise but asked again if the balance for that cruise could be delayed past 8th this month due to the current situation and i was told there is no deviation allowed from the balance at 90 days condition currently.I told them that with respect we cannot pay the balance that far ahead due to not knowing the conditions and protocol onboard should it sail by any miracle but there is no slack being given by them currently.

 

Will try again on 8th to ask same question when we have run out of options and time.

Futile i know but its not over till the fat lady sings as they say.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Chrisdriving

[mat5664]

I think the sensible thing is for refunds not vouchers and absolutely not to pay balances.

 

When/if this horrible thing starts to goes away or there is a vaccine - cruises will still be one of the last things to start again as events have shown they are at the very high risk end of things.

 

In a couple if years we will hopefully look back on this as a bad dream but if I had to put money on it, I would say cruises will not start again until Summer 2022.

[ann141]

2 hours ago, Chrisdriving said:

I rang P and O this morning about transferring our deposit for J015 to another cruise but asked again if the balance for that cruise could be delayed past 8th this month due to the current situation and i was told there is no deviation allowed from the balance at 90 days condition currently.I told them that with respect we cannot pay the balance that far ahead due to not knowing the conditions and protocol onboard should it sail by any miracle but there is no slack being given by them currently.

 

Will try again on 8th to ask same question when we have run out of options and time.

Futile i know but its not over till the fat lady sings as they say.

When I phoned a couple of weeks ago about a possible delay to paying the balance I was given a firm No. I think they had received lots of similar phone calls and whereas a few weeks ago a couple of people managed to have an extension to the balance payment date they are all  now saying No! I transferred the deposit to a cruise next year but have sent a strongly worded e mail to Paul Ludlow(I know he won't personally read it)to say that I think it is unreasonable to expect people to pay a large sum of money when the FCO advice is not to cruise.I have not yet received a reply but have another balance due in October so am hoping P and O will have changed their terms by then

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, mat5664 said:

, I would say cruises will not start again until Summer 2022.

If that were to be the case, I'm not sure that there would be any cruise lines left. Carnival certainly would have run out of money by the end of 2021, and Celebrity would also be broke.

[No pager thank you]

It is so short-sighted for P&O to be so unreasonable when it comes to balance due dates. 

 

Do they really, honestly, expect most people to pay up given what has happened with Hurtigruten and still with pretty much no information about what their plans are/were/could be, 90 days out?  Or are they hoping to collect a few unredeemed deposits?

 

I just hope that most customers have remembered to turn their auto pay off, or failing that ask for full refunds this time round.  The FCC merry go round has to stop.

 

Let's assume that certain people are right who are saying that prices will eventually rise so that the losses in the pandemic will be recouped.  As a general rule of thumb, people expect better when it comes to paying more, including service.  

 

How does this intransigence from P&O help customers - they have had months to determine a more reasonable policy?

 

And breathe...

Edited August 3, 2020 by No pager thank you
Typo

[pete14]

25 minutes ago, mat5664 said:

I think the sensible thing is for refunds not vouchers and absolutely not to pay balances.

 

When/if this horrible thing starts to goes away or there is a vaccine - cruises will still be one of the last things to start again as events have shown they are at the very high risk end of things.

 

In a couple if years we will hopefully look back on this as a bad dream but if I had to put money on it, I would say cruises will not start again until Summer 2022.

‘absolutely not to pay balances’ sounds to me like a good way to lose your deposit. P&O is not offering ‘vouchers’. They are offering to transfer money paid for cruises they have cancelled to a new cruise and this is covered by ABTA guarantee which a voucher wouldn’t be.