Withdrawal of accessible staterooms.

[Slugsta]

I also had a cheque from P+O in relation to a cancelled cruise, even though I had paid by card. I was able to deposit it via an ATM.

[bbtablet]

Who'd have thought we would end up one day having to learn off each other how to deal with a cheque!

 

My nearest bank is a 20 mile round trip and if you have the audacity to approach the counter to pay in a  a cheque they scold you and tell you that you should do it yourself using a machine a few steps away.

[CarlaMarie]

Is there a reason why they are sending cheques and not just refunding to the cards used to pay? 

[john watson]

I should have just posted it into my bank.

 

Regards John

[Ardennais]

2 hours ago, bbtablet said:

Who'd have thought we would end up one day having to learn off each other how to deal with a cheque!

 

My nearest bank is a 20 mile round trip and if you have the audacity to approach the counter to pay in a  a cheque they scold you and tell you that you should do it yourself using a machine a few steps away.

Same for me and I always make a point of asking for counter service. I know full well how to use the machine, but I also know that my father and his friends wouldn’t have a clue. 

[terrierjohn]

49 minutes ago, john watson said:

I should have just posted it into my bank.

 

Regards John

Fortunately the post office system is very simple, and the only drawback is that it does take longer to reach your account than paying it into the branch used to.

I might suggest to Boris that he gives the banks an ultimatum, they set up a single branch network in every local village, to service all the banks, or he will nationalise them.

[Guest]

Does anyone know the logic to the location of the quarantine cabins? On Iona we were deck 12 and a few cabins down from a blocked off zone. As they were across multiple levels, it made getting to the cabin difficult from other decks. Couldn’t use the forward lifts for the whole trip! 
 

We also observed passengers opening the fire doors and taking a shortcut through the quarantine zones…

[BrianI]

With HSBC, you can pay a cheque in on line. In simple terms you just take a photo of the cheque and send it off. No need for a bank branch or ATM.

However the limit is £500

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/ways-to-bank/mobile/cheque-deposit/
 

Other banks have a similar system.

 

Brian

 

[john watson]

21 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

Does anyone know the logic to the location of the quarantine cabins? On Iona we were deck 12 and a few cabins down from a blocked off zone. As they were across multiple levels, it made getting to the cabin difficult from other decks. Couldn’t use the forward lifts for the whole trip! 
 

 

I think you take a photo of your accessible, or other cabin type front door load it on the app which you wish to go to. Then click access cabin, fast route, shortest route etc. avoiding fire doors and follow the navigation on the unit. Avoids all the queueing.  Makes sense to me.

 

Other cruise lines have a similar system.

 

Regards John

Edited October 16, 2021 by john watson

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

I think you take a photo of your accessible, or other cabin type front door load it on the app which you wish to go to. Then click access cabin, fast route, shortest route etc. avoiding fire doors and follow the navigation on the unit. Avoids all the queueing.  Makes sense to me.

 

Other cruise lines have a similar system.

 

Regards John

If it's been programmed by the P&O IT dept, then you could end up anywhere on the ship, but unlikely to be near your cabin.

[molecrochip]

On 10/8/2021 at 2:13 PM, terrierjohn said:

I have just had a telephone call from the executive office in response to an e-mail sent to them on Sept 11th asking for clarification on why my launch booking had been cancelled.

The answer is that although P&O did look at the booking date when trying to re-assign other passengers that had lost their cabin due to the change in quarantine location, they did not do this for accessible cabins, one has to ask why not.

However if FB posts are to be believed some accessible cabins in other areas of the ship also had their bookings cancelled. Which either means that there are multiple quarantine areas or someone is not telling the truth.

During the phone call I did question why, when protocols are being changed or refined on a regular basis, they had decided to revert to a 90 day balance payment date. This will be passed back to the management, but I doubt the accountants will let them do the right thing.

The phone call was spot on lunchtime, which meant I was unable to quiz the lady more, I wonder if this is policy since the last time I raised concerns in an e-mail the phone call came in over lunch as well. 

Overall no real satisfaction for me, it felt more like the shrug of the shoulders you sometimes get from the customer service desk, than any genuine concern about the complaint.

So sorry John.

 

I think the reason for not using the booking date was because often the accessible cabins all sell out on the launch date. So booking date is not a differentiator.

 

I have never managed myself to get an answer to what criteria they did use but suggest as other cabin numbers affected, it was not cabin location.

[molecrochip]

2 hours ago, Glitterati said:

Does anyone know the logic to the location of the quarantine cabins? On Iona we were deck 12 and a few cabins down from a blocked off zone. As they were across multiple levels, it made getting to the cabin difficult from other decks. Couldn’t use the forward lifts for the whole trip! 
 

We also observed passengers opening the fire doors and taking a shortcut through the quarantine zones…

The corridors are covered by CCTV. Generally when passengers are moving through stateroom decks its either to or from their own cabin. CCTV operators do follow said individuals / retrace their steps and refer them to the senior officers.

 

First time is a warning, but if caught doing it repeatedly, they will be offloaded at the next port.

 

Walking through those areas without the correct protocols can threaten the ship's quarantine status and its ability to dock at ports. This is taken really seriously and is covered in the Captains muster announcement about not entering parts of the ship that are closed or for crew only.

[Kalessin]

I'm sorry to re-open an old thread, but we were contacted by P&O yesterday to "downgrade" us from accessible balcony cabin 12625 on Iona for the voyage starting 5th March (booked in January 2021). Just to add insult to injury, we were offered a whopping £100 each to downgrade to an inside cabin (plus the difference in fares) and the Guest Support Representative helpfully told us "Please noted that this inside accessible cabin are smaller than some of our other ships" [sic].

 

A friend pointed me to this thread and I was horrified to see that withdrawal of P&O accessible cabins has been a known issue for months and @molecrochip actually identified our cabin as affected. I found via Twitter that least one other traveller was also contacted yesterday. Are others having the same experience?

 

I have requested a full refund and will be asking for compensation.

[john watson]

4 minutes ago, Kalessin said:

I'm sorry to re-open an old thread, but we were contacted by P&O yesterday to "downgrade" us from accessible balcony cabin 12625 on Iona for the voyage starting 5th March (booked in January 2021). Just to add insult to injury, we were offered a whopping £100 each to downgrade to an inside cabin (plus the difference in fares) and the Guest Support Representative helpfully told us "Please noted that this inside accessible cabin are smaller than some of our other ships" [sic].

 

A friend pointed me to this thread and I was horrified to see that withdrawal of P&O accessible cabins has been a known issue for months and @molecrochip actually identified our cabin as affected. I found via Twitter that least one other traveller was also contacted yesterday. Are others having the same experience?

 

I have requested a full refund and will be asking for compensation.

 

I thought compensation was 20% when they cancel a cruise.  They have not fulfilled the terms of the contract in my opinion.

 

Regards John

[Selbourne]

34 minutes ago, Kalessin said:

I'm sorry to re-open an old thread, but we were contacted by P&O yesterday to "downgrade" us from accessible balcony cabin 12625 on Iona for the voyage starting 5th March (booked in January 2021). Just to add insult to injury, we were offered a whopping £100 each to downgrade to an inside cabin (plus the difference in fares) and the Guest Support Representative helpfully told us "Please noted that this inside accessible cabin are smaller than some of our other ships" [sic].

 

A friend pointed me to this thread and I was horrified to see that withdrawal of P&O accessible cabins has been a known issue for months and @molecrochip actually identified our cabin as affected. I found via Twitter that least one other traveller was also contacted yesterday. Are others having the same experience?

 

I have requested a full refund and will be asking for compensation.

I’m so sorry to hear about this. We would also be cancelling in that situation. We always book balcony cabins as we love the constantly changing outlook (as well as the natural light) and we enjoy watching the approaches, arrivals and departures from ports, without having to go out on deck (sometimes from bed when it’s early morning)!. We also spend time in our cabin or on the balcony watching the world go by when the ship is busy and, although we don’t sunbathe, we like popping out to get a better look at things, whether that be places we are passing, dolphins etc. We’ve even seen whales. For all these reasons, and more, we would rather not cruise than be in an inside cabin. 
 

We have a Deluxe Accessible Balcony cabin (deck 10, on the ‘hump’) booked on Iona for next summer and we have booked the two adjacent Deluxe Balcony cabins for our daughters and their partners. If P&O attempted to move us then I would be cancelling all three bookings and seeking compensation. Experiences like this can easily be the nail in the coffin for passengers who are wavering over their long term loyalty to P&O, especially when the change happens a matter of weeks before a cruise that people are getting excited about. 

[molecrochip]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:10 AM, Kalessin said:

I'm sorry to re-open an old thread, but we were contacted by P&O yesterday to "downgrade" us from accessible balcony cabin 12625 on Iona for the voyage starting 5th March (booked in January 2021). Just to add insult to injury, we were offered a whopping £100 each to downgrade to an inside cabin (plus the difference in fares) and the Guest Support Representative helpfully told us "Please noted that this inside accessible cabin are smaller than some of our other ships" [sic].

 

A friend pointed me to this thread and I was horrified to see that withdrawal of P&O accessible cabins has been a known issue for months and @molecrochip actually identified our cabin as affected. I found via Twitter that least one other traveller was also contacted yesterday. Are others having the same experience?

 

I have requested a full refund and will be asking for compensation.

I had always said that P&O were cancelling / moving people on a cruise by cruise basis and that those booking after the configured quarantine areas should not have a problem. You have booked before the quarantine areas were reconfigured and they have left it late to tell you. That said, there was a hope that incidents of Covid would be dropping and the number of quarantine rooms could maybe be reduced - this appears to not be the case.

 

What they have done is to at least ensure that you still have an accessible cabin. I'm not going to attempt to judge whether £100 compensation is fair - that's each to their own. I don't spend much time in my cabin so, whilst disappointed, would probably take it - but I understand peoples objections.

 

You should get your full refund, but don't bank on any compensation - history suggests otherwise.

 

 

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, molecrochip said:

I had always said that P&O were cancelling / moving people on a cruise by cruise basis and that those booking after the configured quarantine areas should not have a problem. You have booked before the quarantine areas were reconfigured and they have left it late to tell you. That said, there was a hope that incidents of Covid would be dropping and the number of quarantine rooms could maybe be reduced - this appears to not be the case.

 

What they have done is to at least ensure that you still have an accessible cabin. I'm not going to attempt to judge whether £100 compensation is fair - that's each to their own. I don't spend much time in my cabin so, whilst disappointed, would probably take it - but I understand peoples objections.

 

You should get your full refund, but don't bank on any compensation - history suggests otherwise.

 

 

I dont disagree with you Moley that P&O will need to ensure there are sufficient accessible cabins for quarantine, but I think that a customer focused cruise line would ensure that early bookers were given priority, even if that meant cancelling the cruise of a later booker who might have paid more.

[Megabear2]

5 hours ago, molecrochip said:

You have booked before the quarantine areas were reconfigured and they have left it late to tell you. That said, there was a hope that incidents of Covid would be dropping and the number of quarantine rooms could maybe be reduced - this appears to not be the case.

Am I correct in reading this that the quarantine areas on all the ships are still being redrawn and therefore other people may find themselves being displaced in the near future?  Assumedly areas that were "okay" for winter sailings are not now sufficient for some reason.

[Kalessin]

14 hours ago, molecrochip said:

What they have done is to at least ensure that you still have an accessible cabin. I'm not going to attempt to judge whether £100 compensation is fair - that's each to their own. I don't spend much time in my cabin so, whilst disappointed, would probably take it - but I understand peoples objections.

 

You should get your full refund, but don't bank on any compensation - history suggests otherwise.

 

 

Thanks @molecrochip, that's very helpful, although disappointing.

I believe that in this case P&O is specifically discriminating against disabled people. My husband has days when he spends the morning in bed or doesn't feel up to going out  - that's very common for a stroke survivor. For us a balcony is an absolutely essential part of the holiday. In addition I care for him 24 hours a day and a cruise is the only break I get from cooking, housework etc. As I pointed out to P&O it can take weeks to find a holiday which works for us, and although others whose holiday is cancelled can easily book an alternative with almost no notice and for an excellent price at the moment, that isn't an option if you need an accessible cabin.

[Peanut006]

I think £100 compensation is an insult. P & O knew it would be an accessible cabin yet they were willing to take your balance money and hope you would take a downgrade.

I am booked on Azura in accessible cabin in the future, I know it is a quarantine cabin at the moment(I didn’t when I booked on launch day as Azura wasn’t even sailing) so if it is still a quarantine cabin before my balance due date I will be asking for my deposit back.

Michelle

[molecrochip]

On 2/3/2022 at 8:50 PM, terrierjohn said:

I dont disagree with you Moley that P&O will need to ensure there are sufficient accessible cabins for quarantine, but I think that a customer focused cruise line would ensure that early bookers were given priority, even if that meant cancelling the cruise of a later booker who might have paid more.

You have no way of knowing whether Kalessin was the first or last person to book an accessible cabin who is affected.

 

On 2/3/2022 at 10:07 PM, Megabear2 said:

Am I correct in reading this that the quarantine areas on all the ships are still being redrawn and therefore other people may find themselves being displaced in the near future?  Assumedly areas that were "okay" for winter sailings are not now sufficient for some reason.

No. They were redrawn in the Autumn to ensure that there were accessible cabins within the quarantine zone. People were not downgraded at the time in the hope that restrictions would be eased by now. Instead, the relevant cabins were kept back in case they were needed - as has been proved by these latest updates.

 

16 hours ago, Kalessin said:

Thanks @molecrochip, that's very helpful, although disappointing.

I believe that in this case P&O is specifically discriminating against disabled people. My husband has days when he spends the morning in bed or doesn't feel up to going out  - that's very common for a stroke survivor. For us a balcony is an absolutely essential part of the holiday. In addition I care for him 24 hours a day and a cruise is the only break I get from cooking, housework etc. As I pointed out to P&O it can take weeks to find a holiday which works for us, and although others whose holiday is cancelled can easily book an alternative with almost no notice and for an excellent price at the moment, that isn't an option if you need an accessible cabin.

I agree that this in not good however its not discrimination as they are not favouring able passengers over disabled.

 

16 hours ago, Peanut006 said:

I think £100 compensation is an insult. P & O knew it would be an accessible cabin yet they were willing to take your balance money and hope you would take a downgrade.

I am booked on Azura in accessible cabin in the future, I know it is a quarantine cabin at the moment(I didn’t when I booked on launch day as Azura wasn’t even sailing) so if it is still a quarantine cabin before my balance due date I will be asking for my deposit back.

Michelle

Michelle, I would call sooner rather than later and ask if they have an alternative accessible cabin for you.

[terrierjohn]

10 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

You have no way of knowing whether Kalessin was the first or last person to book an accessible cabin who is affected.

 

 

No but I know that, as a Caribbean member of the Peninsular club, I must have been one of the first who booked, when my October cruise was  cancelled for the same reason.

[Peanut006]

8 hours ago, molecrochip said:

You have no way of knowing whether Kalessin was the first or last person to book an accessible cabin who is affected.

 

No. They were redrawn in the Autumn to ensure that there were accessible cabins within the quarantine zone. People were not downgraded at the time in the hope that restrictions would be eased by now. Instead, the relevant cabins were kept back in case they were needed - as has been proved by these latest updates.

 

I agree that this in not good however its not discrimination as they are not favouring able passengers over disabled.

 

Michelle, I would call sooner rather than later and ask if they have an alternative accessible cabin for you.

Thank you for your reply molecrochip. Unfortunately I only want one of two cabins D703 or D707 which are next to each other on the starboard side and both isolation cabins.
I specifically wanted starboard side as the ship is sailing east Tenerife to Malta to catch the sun on the balcony. I don’t want a port side cabin hence why I booked on launch day. 
I will ring and ask for my money back

Michelle

[Caroline72]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:10 AM, Kalessin said:

I'm sorry to re-open an old thread, but we were contacted by P&O yesterday to "downgrade" us from accessible balcony cabin 12625 on Iona for the voyage starting 5th March (booked in January 2021). Just to add insult to injury, we were offered a whopping £100 each to downgrade to an inside cabin (plus the difference in fares) and the Guest Support Representative helpfully told us "Please noted that this inside accessible cabin are smaller than some of our other ships" [sic].

 

A friend pointed me to this thread and I was horrified to see that withdrawal of P&O accessible cabins has been a known issue for months and @molecrochip actually identified our cabin as affected. I found via Twitter that least one other traveller was also contacted yesterday. Are others having the same experience?

 

I have requested a full refund and will be asking for compensation.

We had the same happen to us on this cruise as well, we had cabin 12624 and like you we did not want the downgrade to a inside cabin which my parents have and they were called the day before and told was not suitable for wheelchair users because not enough turning space! Call me a cynic but I believe they have only said this to the inside cabin holders in the hope they cancel and those cabins could be redeployed to people with adapted balconies as they made no mention of that issue to us.  I refused the offer and if we could have moved to any other cruise I would have taken the money back but I have had a horrendous year last year with my sister being killed and the inquest into her death is a week after we are due back and my company allowed me to carry over the 10 days for this cruise from last year.  I went back to Bolsover and said although it will not be easy as my husband has PPMS and can only manage a couple of steps at the most if they could upgrade the cabin to a delux which has a little more room then I could manage to manoeuvre him around from chair to bed extra, it wouldn't be the holiday we wanted but at least we would have one as I spend a lot of time on our balcony relaxing while my husband rests. Well P&O came back and said we could have a standard balcony under the pool area which I told them was not acceptable as not enough room and I would never book a cabin in this area, we booked select last Feb and paid £1768 each and the cabin they offered us was now on sale for £889 each it took a week of calls and posts on the P&O page on FB and they finally agreed to move us and they transferred us to a delux midships and increased our OBC by £140.00. . We are going to take two wheelchairs so I can have one on the other side of the bed to move him into and taking suction handles for the shower and a extra shower chair  it will be more work for me and less independence for him but its a break we both need.  I was so angry at the way they have treated their disabled passengers that I was not going to go quietly and with Iona only having 55 adapted cabins out of 2610 they have been unfair in then taking those out of action. 

[Cpt Pugwash]

I have a inside Wheelchair Adapted Cabin as they were called when i booked but received a letter the other day saying they were being Re Graded as Partially Accessible and only telling me if no longer suitable they would refund me my fare no offer of compensation.

Luckily for me i am not a Full time Wheelchair User and as others have been told some of the cabins now they say do not have enough turning space for a wheelchair so everything stays the same for me.