Iona delay

[Megabear2]

Forgive my ignorance but does that mean in addition to the OBC or would that be said to be covering the legal entitlement requirements?

[Cruisemeister2002]

I don't know whether anyone else has notice this with regards to onboard credit. When you get onboard credit this will be used for drinks, goods and maybe  speciality dining. If it costs you say for instance £150 per day for your cruise. If P&O then gave you £150 onboard credit it wouldn't be like giving you a £150 refund as the items you purchase will have a 50% or more mark up on them. So your £150 credit is only actually worth £75 or less.

[WECRUISEUK]

2 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

I don't know whether anyone else has notice this with regards to onboard credit. When you get onboard credit this will be used for drinks, goods and maybe  speciality dining. If it costs you say for instance £150 per day for your cruise. If P&O then gave you £150 onboard credit it wouldn't be like giving you a £150 refund as the items you purchase will have a 50% or more mark up on them. So your £150 credit is only actually worth £75 or less.

£150 each sounds reasonable to me,plus i'm going to check our ins. to see what's in the small print.

[tring]

20 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Forgive my ignorance but does that mean in addition to the OBC or would that be said to be covering the legal entitlement requirements?

 

If you are referring to my post, I have just given the legal requirements for P&O and OBC does not come into it at all.  I have edited my previous post to clarify.

 

Obviously P&O are hoping to calm people by giving something that is easy for them, but it is for people to make their own mind up as to what they are prepared to accept, or not.  Could keep their office staff occupied for a long time........

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by tring

[CarlaMarie]

31 minutes ago, sogne said:

just passed Iona now  got glimpse through rain squalls I can confirm that having been on  both QE and QV as well as Arcadia in my opinion they handle bad weather well although not as good as QM2

 

is Iona delay due to possible problems berthing in Ocean or inabilituy nto handle bad weather ?

 

I'm guessing it is both.

 

I might be mistaken, but I think she has had a problem berthing in Southampton before. 

[Selbourne]

46 minutes ago, tring said:

 

For people who are on the next cruise, there would be a legal entitlement to a refund in cash of a one day cost of the cruise (not OBC), plus P&O would be responsible for accomodating passengers overnight pre cruise.

 

For people on the ship at present, they are entitled to any extra costs, such as parking, travel etc. when they return.

 

I should imagine in practice there will be a number of negotiations around these entitlements according to individual people's situations, but it is always useful to know the legal rights you are working with, so hope this helps.

 

Knowing how P&O operate, very little (if any) of this will be proactively offered. They will just offer some OBC as a pacifier. Those (like yourself) who understand the law will get the correct reimbursement, but only after a prolonged battle and being forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Obviously poor weather isn’t P&O’s fault (which they hide behind), but neither is it the passengers fault. 
 

I’ve only ever used NDA’s when discussing very sensitive business issues (takeovers etc) or when hiring or firing very senior people, but P&O use them for customer complaints. Bizarre. 

[Megabear2]

36 minutes ago, tring said:

 

If you are referring to my post, I have just given the legal requirements for P&O and OBC does not come into it at all.  I have edited my previous post to clarify.

 

Obviously P&O are hoping to calm people by giving something that is easy for them, but it is for people to make their own mind up as to what they are prepared to accept, or not.  Could keep their office staff occupied for a long time........

 

Thank you. I've never been in a situation like the one ongoing thankfully and will pass your information to my family tomorrow so they can as the wish.  It is very helpful and I'm sure they wouldn't know.  As there are 8 of them in total it will be a reasonable sum they can speak to P&O about.

[Selbourne]

Although the shipping forecast isn’t great, it’s not particularly exceptional. Perhaps we have been very unlucky, but we’ve had several cruises in gale force 10 and even an 11 🤢

 

The only time that we have felt scared was on Azura in the Eastern Med of all places. A freak and unexpected storm hit us overnight and the ship felt as though it was going to be ripped apart. The captain said the next morning that he had never experienced anything like it before. Apparently loads of passengers had gone to the muster stations with life jackets. Frankly, with seas like that the last thing I’d be contemplating is getting in a tender or life boat. I decided that I’d rather go down with the ship! A number of passengers disembarked the next morning and flew home, vowing never to cruise again. Needless to say, the rest of the cruise was like a mill pond 😂 

[majortom10]

46 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

I don't know whether anyone else has notice this with regards to onboard credit. When you get onboard credit this will be used for drinks, goods and maybe  speciality dining. If it costs you say for instance £150 per day for your cruise. If P&O then gave you £150 onboard credit it wouldn't be like giving you a £150 refund as the items you purchase will have a 50% or more mark up on them. So your £150 credit is only actually worth £75 or less.

That is why P&O do it.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

For people who are on the next cruise, there would be a legal entitlement to a refund in cash of a one day cost of the cruise (not OBC), plus P&O would be responsible for accomodating passengers overnight pre cruise.

 

For people on the ship at present, they are entitled to any extra costs, such as parking, travel etc. when they return.

 

I should imagine in practice there will be a number of negotiations around these entitlements according to individual people's situations, but it is always useful to know the legal rights you are working with, so hope this helps.

 

What you are saying is correct but they are already playing hardball and telling people to claim off insurance and if insurance refuse to pay get their refusal in writing and P&O will CONSIDER cases on an individual basis. I have past experience of this when they cut short a cruise prior to sailing and offered OBC and I wanted cash pro rata which they refused eventually after a lot of communication and threat of Small Claims Court they paid in cash.

[Golfwidow100]

1 hour ago, sogne said:

just passed Iona now  got glimpse through rain squalls I can confirm that having been on  both QE and QV as well as Arcadia in my opinion they handle bad weather well although not as good as QM2

 

is Iona delay due to possible problems berthing in Ocean or inabilituy nto handle bad weather ?

The delay is due to the safety issues regarding berthing in Ocean terminal.

[purplesea]

I have been in the situation where our ship's arrival was delayed by a day due to bad weather, although not P&O.  The cruise line refunded us one day's fare.

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

I agree. Considering the weather and storms we do get in our part of the country and channel, and that Southampton is her home port, you would have thought this would have been factored in by those who designed her. 

Certainly on the face of it, it seems a strange idea to locate the biggest terminal, for the largest ships, at the least accessible berth...

[WECRUISEUK]

All this is new to us  just like it is for many others on here.When we we're first offered the FCC back in early 2020 we thought that was a generous offer and snatched there hand off.Thing is this,shortly afterwards they raised it from the 10% that we took,up to 25%.We complained,but to late as,"you've excepted the offer".What i think there going to do is offer varying amounts to each of us based on our cabin price and you can except or decline,this will happen perhaps when you board or when your in your cabin on day one.Each of us will have an amount that's going to be exceptable and will decide when the number arrives.

Just checked our ins. and for "delays" they pay,£50 for first 12 hours then £10 for each full 12 hours.

[Son of Anarchy]

7 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Certainly on the face of it, it seems a strange idea to locate the biggest terminal, for the largest ships, at the least accessible berth...

I wonder whether that decision was influenced by decisions made decades if not over a century ago.  45/46 is from where Titanic sailed from.  Back in the days of the £10 poms the boat train went right up to Ocean Terminal.  Got vague memories of seeing off extended family at Waterloo, then Dad driving down to Southampton to wave them onto the ship.  It was probably one of the closest berths to Southampton hotels before the days of Holiday Inn, Novotel etc.

 

[joeecco]

Currently onboard Iona in balcony cabin Forward deck 16. 
We are currently in force 10 winds and the ship is handling it remarkably. It’s almost impossible to open the balcony door with how strong the wind is and yet we are barely rolling or pitching. 
 

The 24 hour delay is to do with being able to safely dock in Southampton, not to do with current sea conditions. 
 

We have slowed to 9 knots since the delay announcement purely to arrive at the new time of Sunday morning. The ship was handling the conditions perfectly at 17 knots before this announcement too. 
 

of course there are some that are feeling the motion in the ocean, and my other half is normally very bad (we had a force 7 on Ventura who was rolling around everywhere and my Oh really felt it) but she is doing very well and has commented about how smooth the ship is considering the views outside. 
 

We are thrilled to have another 24 hours aboard but of course that’s sad news for the new passengers. 

[wowzz]

Just as a contrast, Saga have had an azipod probkem this week,  resulting in the current cruise loosing 3 days (although the passengers remained on board).

Passengers have already been told that they will automatically receive a pro rata refund for the lost days. 

[Bill Y]

3 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

I agree she probably handles the weather better but only Queen Mary 2 is classed has a liner, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria are cruise ships very similar to Arcadia

One of the best talks that I have listened to was given by the Chief Naval architect that lead the team that designed the Queen Mary 2. He explained the difference in specifications between a ocean liner and what some on here are referring to as a block of flats that float.

 

It was initially going to be a smaller ship carrying less passengers but the cost of these specification meant that it had to carry more passengers in order to be viable.

 

High on the list of criteria was to be able to survive a bad North Atlantic storm and to maintain progress in a forward direction. Many years of Atlantic storms were studied in order to calculate the power required.

[tring]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Knowing how P&O operate, very little (if any) of this will be proactively offered. They will just offer some OBC as a pacifier. Those (like yourself) who understand the law will get the correct reimbursement, but only after a prolonged battle and being forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Obviously poor weather isn’t P&O’s fault (which they hide behind), but neither is it the passengers fault. 
 

I’ve only ever used NDA’s when discussing very sensitive business issues (takeovers etc) or when hiring or firing very senior people, but P&O use them for customer complaints. Bizarre. 

 

DH says if they tried to get an NDA from him in such circumstances, it would cost them another £250.

 

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

What you are saying is correct but they are already playing hardball and telling people to claim off insurance and if insurance refuse to pay get their refusal in writing and P&O will CONSIDER cases on an individual basis. I have past experience of this when they cut short a cruise prior to sailing and offered OBC and I wanted cash pro rata which they refused eventually after a lot of communication and threat of Small Claims Court they paid in cash.

 

Of course they would fold if threatened with court action as the outcome would be that they would not only have to pay up, but also cover other costs.  That day was part of the cruise which was not supplied.

 

When we were onboard Oriana for an extra day, we were supplied with some drinks complimentary (I think from about lunch time), but there was no other sweetener for us personally, other than the extra day's parking with CPS, but we had no losses and would not have been entitled to anything either.  I know that people with onward travel arrangements which needed to be changed (e.g. train tickets), were speaking with reception who were assisting with that, and as we heard no complaints I suspect P&O coughed up for the extra cost as they are obliged to do.  Times may well have changed though.

 

Within months of our extra day on Oriana we were a day short on a Fred cruise which had to return a day early and we were automatically refunded the cost of that day according to what we had paid for the cruise, plus were given an extra incentive to re book another cruise at a percentage reduction as a sweetener (possibly -30% on certain cruises, but not sure).  Fred has acted in similar ways this year when a cruise did not run as scheduled and I see it has been reported that Saga have done likewise.  I am surprised that it is thought P&O would put up a fight in such circumstances, though perhaps understandable some companies will  try it on.  Will be interesting to see how P&O do react to this situation though, particularly if this situation is repeated with any future cruises.  Of course a simple change of terminal would not work for Iona as she would need to get into Ocean to re-fuel, which is perhaps the main problem.  When we were on Oriana there was another ship docked at QEII Terminal, which was not able to set sail in the weather conditions at the time, so that was not an option for us which otherwise would have solved the issue. 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by tring

[WECRUISEUK]

3 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

I don't know whether anyone else has notice this with regards to onboard credit. When you get onboard credit this will be used for drinks, goods and maybe  speciality dining. If it costs you say for instance £150 per day for your cruise. If P&O then gave you £150 onboard credit it wouldn't be like giving you a £150 refund as the items you purchase will have a 50% or more mark up on them. So your £150 credit is only actually worth £75 or less.

It all depends where you choose to spend your OBC,your right if you decide buy things in the shops as there's quite a markup.If you use it to buy your drinks (beer/wine) then the prices are very similar to what you spend on land.Most expensive pint we nearly bought this year was £6.15,i just looked at the barmaid,the wife laughed and we both walked away.

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, tring said:

 

For people who are on the next cruise, there would be a legal entitlement to a refund in cash of a one day cost of the cruise (not OBC), plus P&O would be responsible for accomodating passengers overnight pre cruise.

 

For people on the ship at present, they are entitled to any extra costs, such as parking, travel etc. when they return.

 

I should imagine in practice there will be a number of negotiations around these entitlements according to individual people's situations, but it is always useful to know the legal rights you are working with, so hope this helps.

 

It could be that OBC in this situation would be refundable, and anyone unable to use all of it would have the balance returned to them after the cruise. This was certainly the case for us on a Princess cruise a number of years ago.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, joeecco said:

Currently onboard Iona in balcony cabin Forward deck 16. 
We are currently in force 10 winds and the ship is handling it remarkably. It’s almost impossible to open the balcony door with how strong the wind is and yet we are barely rolling or pitching. 
 

The 24 hour delay is to do with being able to safely dock in Southampton, not to do with current sea conditions. 
 

We have slowed to 9 knots since the delay announcement purely to arrive at the new time of Sunday morning. The ship was handling the conditions perfectly at 17 knots before this announcement too. 
 

of course there are some that are feeling the motion in the ocean, and my other half is normally very bad (we had a force 7 on Ventura who was rolling around everywhere and my Oh really felt it) but she is doing very well and has commented about how smooth the ship is considering the views outside. 
 

We are thrilled to have another 24 hours aboard but of course that’s sad news for the new passengers. 

Sounds like she ( the ship ). Is handling conditions well. Have a good evening and Saturday.

[tring]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

It could be that OBC in this situation would be refundable, and anyone unable to use all of it would have the balance returned to them after the cruise. This was certainly the case for us on a Princess cruise a number of years ago.

 

That would be a sensible move by P& O as would mean less payouts to be made as many people would likely spend that much anyway.  Should be made clear of the details of that though.

 

That also highlights potential problems with social media and forums as it is very easy to get information which is not the full information.  There are also always the people who think they have rights which they do not have.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by tring

[davecttr]

Ah! memories. Some time on Oceana southbound through the bay with Captain Angelo Vago in command. Beautiful blue sky and an enormous swell from IIRC the starboard bow. This was shortly after the Costa Concordia incident. Anyway stuff was breaking and we became the good ship Oce' as half the name was swept away. The spray was going right over the ship and fused the electrics in the Spa which was aft!. Scared passengers in life jackets were down in reception so Captain Vago made a reassuring announcement from the bridge. Something along the lines of ' don't worry we are not going to sink although it is the worst sea I have been in for many years', accompanied by bridge noises of loud voices, telephones ringing and damage control party orders etc etc. 

 

On the plus side I discovered a way of eating soup without a spoon. You waited until the soup moved vertically past your mouth and captured some before it succumbed to gravity - what fun 😁

[Harry Peterson]

2 hours ago, WECRUISEUK said:

It all depends where you choose to spend your OBC,your right if you decide buy things in the shops as there's quite a markup.

That’s an intriguing comment, John. I’m reliably informed by someone sitting across the room that OBC can only be used on Radley bags.