Baltic cruises

[majortom10]

Nobody knows until P&O make an official announcement whether you will be allowed to cancel with full refund or what the terms will be. We were due on Britannia on 6th May but cancelled it and booked another for 2023 under their flexible transfer policy but we did for a different reason.

[Son of Anarchy]

All depends on whether P&O regards this as a significant change.  From a purely personal view I would consider dropping St Petersburg as a result of FCO advice as a significant change.  Opinions as to the importance of St Petersburg on a port schedule vary, but I would hazard a guess that for  most pax on a cruise that takes in SPB it is one of the main reasons why they booked that cruise.

 

We were booked on the current Ventura cruise, until four weeks prior to departure the itinery was changed.  All the USA ports were dropped and replaced with Caribbean ports and Praia de Vitoria.  We were offered an incentive of £300 obc each to stay on the cruise or a full refund.  We took the refund, though it did take over four weeks to come through.  Hopefully P&O will offer you a refund as well.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Son of Anarchy

[wowzz]

Just had a call from Saga regarding our September Baltic cruise. 

SPB is being replaced with Gdansk and Ronne, plus we get the premium drinks package.

We had the option of cancelling and getting our deposit back, but have decided to stick with the cruise.

Kudos to Saga for sorting out a new itinerary so quickly.

[Gettingwarmer]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just had a call from Saga regarding our September Baltic cruise. 

SPB is being replaced with Gdansk and Ronne, plus we get the premium drinks package.

We had the option of cancelling and getting our deposit back, but have decided to stick with the cruise.

Kudos to Saga for sorting out a new itinerary so quickly.

Good you have been advised so quickly. Good to get premium package as I was surprised that you could not get good gin/spirits in the all in price, only house. 

[PortlandNonna]

I am booked on the April 9, 2022 sailing of Enchanted Princess...TransAtlantic/Baltic cruise.  I anticipate a change in the itinerary, eliminating St. Petersburg and substituting another port. No announcements have been made yet, but I am sure we will not port there.  Anyone else on the this cruise?

[Harry Peterson]

“If P&O Cruises makes a significant alteration to the Package the Guest will have the choice of either accepting the alteration, accepting an offer of an alternative Package of comparable standard if available (P&O Cruises will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling the Package and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.”

 

That’s the relevant contract term, but the devil is in the words ‘significant alteration’.  With SPB it’s probably going to be easier to establish because it’s usually the most important part of the cruise, as reflected by the time spent there.

 

P&O may disagree though, in which case you can still succeed, but only with great persistence, possibly a clear and proven intention to use the County Court via the Money Claims Service, and possibly again by accepting a non-disclosure agreement.

 

With luck, they may just accept the situation and offer refunds. If not, prepare for some interesting discussions with them on those two words. You can win, but you need to be resolute.

 

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

“If P&O Cruises makes a significant alteration to the Package the Guest will have the choice of either accepting the alteration, accepting an offer of an alternative Package of comparable standard if available (P&O Cruises will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling the Package and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.”

 

That’s the relevant contract term, but the devil is in the words ‘significant alteration’.  With SPB it’s probably going to be easier to establish because it’s usually the most important part of the cruise, as reflected by the time spent there.

 

P&O may disagree though, in which case you can still succeed, but only with great persistence, possibly a clear and proven intention to use the County Court via the Money Claims Service, and possibly again by accepting a non-disclosure agreement.

 

With luck, they may just accept the situation and offer refunds. If not, prepare for some interesting discussions with them on those two words. You can win, but you need to be resolute.

 

And as I said elsewhere, Saga gave us the option of returning our deposit because SPB was no longer on the itinerary. 

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, PortlandNonna said:

I am booked on the April 9, 2022 sailing of Enchanted Princess...TransAtlantic/Baltic cruise.  I anticipate a change in the itinerary, eliminating St. Petersburg and substituting another port. No announcements have been made yet, but I am sure we will not port there.  Anyone else on the this cruise?

I think you might be better asking on the Princess board. 

[Cruiseabc12345]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

You may have a claim under Section 40 https://www.pocruises.com/legal-and-privacy/booking-terms-and-conditions

 

Thank you. I'm not sure about the legal terminology but I hope you're right!

[Cruiseabc12345]

59 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Nobody knows until P&O make an official announcement whether you will be allowed to cancel with full refund or what the terms will be. We were due on Britannia on 6th May but cancelled it and booked another for 2023 under their flexible transfer policy but we did for a different reason.

Yes unfortunately it's incredibly difficult because they haven't said anything to me directly about the situation at all

[Cruiseabc12345]

56 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

All depends on whether P&O regards this as a significant change.  From a purely personal view I would consider dropping St Petersburg as a result of FCO advice as a significant change.  Opinions as to the importance of St Petersburg on a port schedule vary, but I would hazard a guess that for  most pax on a cruise that takes in SPB it is one of the main reasons why they booked that cruise.

 

We were booked on the current Ventura cruise, until four weeks prior to departure the itinery was changed.  All the USA ports were dropped and replaced with Caribbean ports and Praia de Vitoria.  We were offered an incentive of £300 obc each to stay on the cruise or a full refund.  We took the refund, though it did take over four weeks to come through.  Hopefully P&O will offer you a refund as well.

Thank you for your response. I'm glad you managed to get your refund eventually. Isn't that dreadful dropping all usa ports??? I agree St Petersburg is the main draw for a Baltic cruise and I also think it is a significant change but I wonder if P&O would agree with me!

[tring]

36 minutes ago, PortlandNonna said:

I am booked on the April 9, 2022 sailing of Enchanted Princess...TransAtlantic/Baltic cruise.  I anticipate a change in the itinerary, eliminating St. Petersburg and substituting another port. No announcements have been made yet, but I am sure we will not port there.  Anyone else on the this cruise?

 

There has been an announcement for all Carnival Corporation brands - they made an announcement at the weekend that none of their brands will be calling at SPB for the foreseeable future.  I am pretty sure that was reported on the Princess boards and it was certainly mentioned here on Saturday night and I posted a link on Sunday to that information both on this thread, as well as on a thread in the Ports of call section.  I will put that link again below (this link also shows the tweet by Carnival Corp, which I found useful as I do not use twitter.  The new itineraries are still awaited though:-

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/26895-carnival-brands-set-to-drop-russia-calls.html?fbclid=IwAR0c4PG1KL8oBsm8Co_NHtva_R6dMx3m0h8c4-Y4Bm-E1GDSxiEvM7fgHRA

 

Thank you for reporting you are still awaiting revised itineraries.

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by tring

[Cruiseabc12345]

25 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

“If P&O Cruises makes a significant alteration to the Package the Guest will have the choice of either accepting the alteration, accepting an offer of an alternative Package of comparable standard if available (P&O Cruises will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling the Package and receiving a full refund of all monies paid.”

 

That’s the relevant contract term, but the devil is in the words ‘significant alteration’.  With SPB it’s probably going to be easier to establish because it’s usually the most important part of the cruise, as reflected by the time spent there.

 

P&O may disagree though, in which case you can still succeed, but only with great persistence, possibly a clear and proven intention to use the County Court via the Money Claims Service, and possibly again by accepting a non-disclosure agreement.

 

With luck, they may just accept the situation and offer refunds. If not, prepare for some interesting discussions with them on those two words. You can win, but you need to be resolute.

 

Thank you for your response. I agree with you I think it's a significant change but as you say yourself the devil is in the detail. I would like to avoid an altercation/small claims etc with P&O because I love their cruises generally...having said that I wouldn't be happy paying a huge amount for a Baltic cruise and missing the only reason I booked that cruise. Many thanks 

[Cruiseabc12345]

14 minutes ago, wowzz said:

And as I said elsewhere, Saga gave us the option of returning our deposit because SPB was no longer on the itinerary. 

Unfortunately we booked directly and not via Saga. Perhaps a lesson learnt

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Cruiseabc12345 said:

Unfortunately we booked directly and not via Saga. Perhaps a lesson learnt

You misunderstand.  I was talking about a Saga cruise, not a P&O cruise booked through Saga.

[tring]

When Fred announced at the end of last week that his Baltic Itinerary for May at the end of last week was being modified and gave the replacement port calls for SPB, he also gave £150pp OBS to everyone.  I wonder if P&O will follow Fred and Saga with an extra perk?  It would be a nice gesture if they do.

 

I have also seen a report of a Celebrity cruise having it's new itinerary published today, so perhaps all the RCI brands have published them. 

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by tring

[Cruiseabc12345]

8 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You misunderstand.  I was talking about a Saga cruise, not a P&O cruise booked through Saga.

Oh I'm sorry 

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, Cruiseabc12345 said:

Thank you for your response. I agree with you I think it's a significant change but as you say yourself the devil is in the detail. I would like to avoid an altercation/small claims etc with P&O because I love their cruises generally...having said that I wouldn't be happy paying a huge amount for a Baltic cruise and missing the only reason I booked that cruise. Many thanks 

With P&O, unlike with Saga, sometimes you have to fight for an outcome which you and they both know would probably be resolved by the courts in your favour. They do cave in, usually with a non-disclosure agreement, but first you have to convince them that you’re serious about court action. It’s not particularly difficult, but you do need to understand all the facts, the contractual terms, and the relevant law.

 

Most people give up, as they did when P&O replaced Amsterdam with Ijmuiden. Some however persevere, and get full refunds.

[Bazrat]

The OP wanted to know if they would get a refund without first contracting P&O direct, with all due respect nobody can possibly answer that question without first contracting P&O.

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Cruiseabc12345 said:

Yes unfortunately it's incredibly difficult because they haven't said anything to me directly about the situation at all

I am sure once a decision is made by P&O you and all those affected will be informed of your options which may not be to your liking. But as already been said if you want a full refund you might have to dig in and suggesting going to County Court.

[amajaa]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

With P&O, unlike with Saga, sometimes you have to fight for an outcome which you and they both know would probably be resolved by the courts in your favour. They do cave in, usually with a non-disclosure agreement, but first you have to convince them that you’re serious about court action. It’s not particularly difficult, but you do need to understand all the facts, the contractual terms, and the relevant law.

 

Most people give up, as they did when P&O replaced Amsterdam with Ijmuiden. Some however persevere, and get full refunds.

Really I’m amazed they got a full refund for just swopping Amsterdam for Ijmuiden. It’s just up the road or the canal if you like. If people got a refund for that then that makes getting a refund for dropping St Petersburg more likely, so good luck.

 

Personally the reason we haven’t booked another Baltic cruise is because we didn’t want to go to SPB again. The first time we did a 2 day excursion with Alla Tours ,  Great and very interesting, the second time we just did an afternoon ships excursion. Had no interest in going again although would like to go to other Baltic ports. I can certainly understand why people want to go though. 

[Bazrat]

14 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I am sure once a decision is made by P&O you and all those affected will be informed of your options which may not be to your liking. But as already been said if you want a full refund you might have to dig in and suggesting going to County Court.

From what I read from original post they haven't contacted them, but you must first contact them if you don't like the answer than you can seek redress through the courts.

[Cruiseabc12345]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

The OP wanted to know if they would get a refund without first contracting P&O direct, with all due respect nobody can possibly answer that question without first contracting P&O.

I never said I wanted a refund without contacting P&O. I have been unable to get information from P&O. I have read here about St Petersburg being removed from the Baltic cruises but cannot get that information from P&O hence I asked for advice here. Please do not be rude. I was simply asking a question 

[Cruiseabc12345]

46 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I am sure once a decision is made by P&O you and all those affected will be informed of your options which may not be to your liking. But as already been said if you want a full refund you might have to dig in and suggesting going to County Court.

Yes it seems so. Hopefully I will hear from P&O soon. Other lines seem to have contacted their passengers already so perhaps it won't be much longer

[Cruiseabc12345]

37 minutes ago, amajaa said:

Really I’m amazed they got a full refund for just swopping Amsterdam for Ijmuiden. It’s just up the road or the canal if you like. If people got a refund for that then that makes getting a refund for dropping St Petersburg more likely, so good luck.

 

Personally the reason we haven’t booked another Baltic cruise is because we didn’t want to go to SPB again. The first time we did a 2 day excursion with Alla Tours ,  Great and very interesting, the second time we just did an afternoon ships excursion. Had no interest in going again although would like to go to other Baltic ports. I can certainly understand why people want to go though. 

Thank you. I had booked that 2 day tour you mentioned. Was so looking forward to it. But nothing compared to the people of Ukraine so I must put it in perspective