Just been downgraded from booked and allocated cabin!!!

[crompton21]

We were moved from an aft suite and the only option was a downgraded room grade which we did not want.  The email stated that we could cancel without charge, which we did.  On a positive note, the refund was processed in 24 hours!

 

Hope that may help your argument should you choose to pursue it.

[Pippa04]

3 hours ago, NotDelilah said:

As we booked Select Price and chose No Upgrade we have cancelled as the alternative was unacceptable and are to receive refund less the 25%.

Had booked a C deck balcony on Ventura. Moved to A deck cabin with a much smaller balcony, despite being told on Monday there were cabins available on C deck. So 2 weeks looking down on the balconies we had booked. Adding insult to injury or what?

Exactly what happened to me on Azura.  We were quoted over £300 each to move 10 cabins down the corridor but despite being told we'd been given an upgrade in our email apparently this was too much of an upgrade...

 

The problem with "having covid contact" is that you get a FCC on a cruise line that you may never want to sail on again.  4 months on and I'm still no further down the line to getting my money back - I'm just being ignored.

[Megabear2]

59 minutes ago, Pippa04 said:

Exactly what happened to me on Azura.  We were quoted over £300 each to move 10 cabins down the corridor but despite being told we'd been given an upgrade in our email apparently this was too much of an upgrade...

 

The problem with "having covid contact" is that you get a FCC on a cruise line that you may never want to sail on again.  4 months on and I'm still no further down the line to getting my money back - I'm just being ignored.

Are we aware if it's only people in quarantine areas being moved or are they playing general musical chairs?  For the first time ever I've just booked to Caribbean cruises for Christmas this year and next on a select fare.  I prefer to travel mid forward and assumed these cabins would not be interfered with for quarantine.  Am I assuming too much or are they shunting people around in other areas as well?

[NotDelilah]

4 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Why did you lose 25% when the change was P&O’s and not yours? I wouldn’t have accepted that. If they wouldn’t have budged I’d have called them the week before the cruise, told them I have Covid and got 100% back. 

25% was the enhanced future cruise credit. Just glad not having to have it all as FCC. Have now booked a Princess cruise.

[Gettingwarmer]

3 minutes ago, NotDelilah said:

25% was the enhanced future cruise credit. Just glad not having to have it all as FCC. Have now booked a Princess cruise.

Right so as I understand it you declined a 125%FCC and took 100% refund. I don’t blame you. 

[NotDelilah]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Why couldn't you have a C deck balcony if they are still on sale? Surely making you lose 25% is unacceptable if P&O refused you the same type/grade of cabin if there was availability. What reason did they give for refusing you that option?  Others travelling on Iona have been allowed to move their deck 8 reallocation to deck 9 so there is a precedent you could quote. Suggest you contact ABTA for clarification on that one. I most definitely would not accept that penalty. As Selbourne says if you'd completed the medical questionnaire stating you had Covid contact they would have given you all your money as FCC.

C deck available on Monday but apparently not on Thursday. We need to get away so have booked a different Canaries cruise 3 days shorter but £2000 cheaper than P&O.

[NotDelilah]

2 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Right so as I understand it you declined a 125%FCC and took 100% refund. I don’t blame you. 

 

3 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Right so as I understand it you declined a 125%FCC and took 100% refund. I don’t blame you. 

 

2 minutes ago, NotDelilah said:

C deck available on Monday but apparently not on Thursday. We need to get away so have booked a different Canaries cruise 3 days shorter but £2000 cheaper than P&O.

 

[NotDelilah]

6 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Right so as I understand it you declined a 125%FCC and took 100% refund. I don’t blame you. 

We booked the cruise with FCC from a cruise P&O cancelled last year so they are taking back the enhancement. Looking forward to what we have booked instead. Anyone who ticked “no upgrade” should be able to do the same.

[NotDelilah]

2 hours ago, Pippa04 said:

Exactly what happened to me on Azura.  We were quoted over £300 each to move 10 cabins down the corridor but despite being told we'd been given an upgrade in our email apparently this was too much of an upgrade...

 

The problem with "having covid contact" is that you get a FCC on a cruise line that you may never want to sail on again.  4 months on and I'm still no further down the line to getting my money back - I'm just being ignored.

We were upgraded from HD to HB but wanted large balcony for 4 of us to sit together. Weren’t even offered neighbouring cabins.

[Pippa04]

On 4/1/2022 at 2:20 PM, NotDelilah said:

We were upgraded from HD to HB but wanted large balcony for 4 of us to sit together. Weren’t even offered neighbouring cabins.

We weren't offered anything either.  I asked and they refused!

[Pippa04]

On 4/1/2022 at 1:15 PM, Megabear2 said:

Are we aware if it's only people in quarantine areas being moved or are they playing general musical chairs?  For the first time ever I've just booked to Caribbean cruises for Christmas this year and next on a select fare.  I prefer to travel mid forward and assumed these cabins would not be interfered with for quarantine.  Am I assuming too much or are they shunting people around in other areas as well?

It would appear that it's only those in quarantine areas being moved.  The fact that they're leaving it so late means that acceptable cabins are all taken.

 

Hopefully you'll be ok with your choice of cabin.🤞

[Danamis]

On 3/20/2022 at 8:13 PM, molecrochip said:

You have aft view cabins if I've followed correctly. Is this the case that at least one cabin is even numbered and one cabin odd numbered? If this is the case, has only the odd or even been moved?

 

Turns out that all our cabins had been moved but P and O have emailed our cancellation to an old email address that we hadn't used for years. Our other emails had gone to our current addrress... We have been moved to C deck. Ok sized balconies but were were not allowed to choose as you would expect having paid for Select fare. Sorry for late delay. Just got back from 2 weeks on Ventura!

Edited April 3, 2022 by Danamis
error

[Danamis]

26 minutes ago, Pippa04 said:

We weren't offered anything either.  I asked and they refused!

P and O upgrades aren't necessarily what we would consider an upgrade.

[Selbourne]

18 minutes ago, Danamis said:

P and O upgrades aren't necessarily what we would consider an upgrade.

Me neither. IMO an upgrade would be from an inside to outside, outside to balcony, balcony to suite etc. The higher grades within the same cabin type merely relate to the position (usually midships highest, descending as you work outwards) so are not upgrades. In fact, P&O grades do not take into account locations where noise problems can occur, so you could specifically choose a cabin where there is no risk of noise from public areas above or below (as we always do) and be ‘upgraded’ to an identical cabin that is a bit more towards the centre of the ship but blighted with noise problems. 
 

Do I recall that there is a second option to allow an upgrade as long as it’s to a different type of cabin? I don’t recall being offered that option but I’m going to call our TA tomorrow and be clear that if our Iona cabins are still being used for quarantine next year (I’d sincerely hope not, but we all said that last year!) then I won’t accept any alternatives at all and would want a refund on all 3 bookings. If P&O are still playing silly buggers then I will cancel prior to the balances being due. 

[Danamis]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Me neither. IMO an upgrade would be from an inside to outside, outside to balcony, balcony to suite etc. The higher grades within the same cabin type merely relate to the position (usually midships highest, descending as you work outwards) so are not upgrades. In fact, P&O grades do not take into account locations where noise problems can occur, so you could specifically choose a cabin where there is no risk of noise from public areas above or below (as we always do) and be ‘upgraded’ to an identical cabin that is a bit more towards the centre of the ship but blighted with noise problems. 
 

Do I recall that there is a second option to allow an upgrade as long as it’s to a different type of cabin? I don’t recall being offered that option but I’m going to call our TA tomorrow and be clear that if our Iona cabins are still being used for quarantine next year (I’d sincerely hope not, but we all said that last year!) then I won’t accept any alternatives at all and would want a refund on all 3 bookings. If P&O are still playing silly buggers then I will cancel prior to the balances being due. 

The cabin we have been allocated is opposite the launderette. Certainly not top of my list! We have about £16,000 invested in future cruises at the minute. Unless the customer service picks up we may well be cancelling most of them. I have to say though, all of the crew we were in contact with on Ventura the last two weeks were brilliant. It is Head Office that lets the side down.

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Danamis said:

The cabin we have been allocated is opposite the launderette. Certainly not top of my list! We have about £16,000 invested in future cruises at the minute. Unless the customer service picks up we may well be cancelling most of them. I have to say though, all of the crew we were in contact with on Ventura the last two weeks were brilliant. It is Head Office that lets the side down.

That’s the thing that I’ve never got my head around with P&O. In the most part, their ship based staff are brilliant. Providing great customer service seems to be in their DNA. In all our cruises I’ve only ever had to complain about one staff member (a butler, ironically) whereas I have praised dozens. By contrast, their land based service is woeful and seems contrived to be brand damaging. Getting a satisfactory resolution is always a battle and requires stamina and perseverance to the extent that when you do eventually ‘win’ (usually with a Non-disclosure agreement, so reluctant are they to let it be known that they will ever back down when wrong) any good will has been lost completely. 

[lincslady]

The great staff onboard and rubbish staff ashore applies to many other lines - I have been on Saga and Seabourn, and it is just the same.  Seabourn, of course, is also part of Carnival, and  IMO their British office are worse than useless.

[cruising.mark.uk]

Exactly, Lincs Lady.  Pick pretty much any cruiseline board on here CCL, NCL, RCL, Oceania, Seabourn, Crystal (until it went bust), MSC, Holland America etc and there will always be numerous threads about how poor shore-based customer service is. Why is that a surprise?  In effect, the customer service is  a call centre, employing individuals, most of whom have never been near a cruise ship, at very low wages plus commission to sell as many cabins as possible. They laid off employees en masse through Covid and are now desperately recruiting to cover the gaps.   I was on Reed (the employment site) earlier today.  Prominent in all results whatever you searched for were Carnival UK Travel Advisor and Contact Centre posts (see  https://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/carnival-uk-/p5916)

[paulatsea]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Me neither. IMO an upgrade would be from an inside to outside, outside to balcony, balcony to suite etc. The higher grades within the same cabin type merely relate to the position (usually midships highest, descending as you work outwards) so are not upgrades. In fact, P&O grades do not take into account locations where noise problems can occur, so you could specifically choose a cabin where there is no risk of noise from public areas above or below (as we always do) and be ‘upgraded’ to an identical cabin that is a bit more towards the centre of the ship but blighted with noise problems. 
 

Do I recall that there is a second option to allow an upgrade as long as it’s to a different type of cabin? I don’t recall being offered that option but I’m going to call our TA tomorrow and be clear that if our Iona cabins are still being used for quarantine next year (I’d sincerely hope not, but we all said that last year!) then I won’t accept any alternatives at all and would want a refund on all 3 bookings. If P&O are still playing silly buggers then I will cancel prior to the balances being due. 

Haven’t seen that option - only unspecified upgrade - I always say no in case it’s on the wrong deck or position.

[molecrochip]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Me neither. IMO an upgrade would be from an inside to outside, outside to balcony, balcony to suite etc. The higher grades within the same cabin type merely relate to the position (usually midships highest, descending as you work outwards) so are not upgrades. In fact, P&O grades do not take into account locations where noise problems can occur, so you could specifically choose a cabin where there is no risk of noise from public areas above or below (as we always do) and be ‘upgraded’ to an identical cabin that is a bit more towards the centre of the ship but blighted with noise problems. 
 

Do I recall that there is a second option to allow an upgrade as long as it’s to a different type of cabin? I don’t recall being offered that option but I’m going to call our TA tomorrow and be clear that if our Iona cabins are still being used for quarantine next year (I’d sincerely hope not, but we all said that last year!) then I won’t accept any alternatives at all and would want a refund on all 3 bookings. If P&O are still playing silly buggers then I will cancel prior to the balances being due. 

There are (or last time I checked, were) two upgrade options available when booking direct through the contact centre. One which is any upgrade (grade to grade) e.g. HC to HB or HA. The other option is upgrade to different type of cabin. e.g. Inside > Outside > Balcony > Suite. 

 

I don't know what TAs have access to. The box on the website is ANY upgrade.

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

There are (or last time I checked, were) two upgrade options available when booking direct through the contact centre. One which is any upgrade (grade to grade) e.g. HC to HB or HA. The other option is upgrade to different type of cabin. e.g. Inside > Outside > Balcony > Suite. 

 

I don't know what TAs have access to. The box on the website is ANY upgrade.

Thanks. I used to book direct with P&O and I recall that there were two options. My contact at P&O is no longer there, so I now use a TA (the one that most regulars on here use) and I think we were only asked about the default ‘upgrade’ option (i.e. the upgrade that isn’t an upgrade option)!

[Danamis]

13 hours ago, paulatsea said:

Haven’t seen that option - only unspecified upgrade - I always say no in case it’s on the wrong deck or position.

We had ticked for no upgrades as we wanted to keep our cabins but they overrode that due to operational issues...

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Danamis said:

We had ticked for no upgrades as we wanted to keep our cabins but they overrode that due to operational issues...

Surely in those situations you should be offered a full refund as an alternative. Were you given that option?

[Danamis]

3 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Surely in those situations you should be offered a full refund as an alternative. Were you given that option?

Not sure but it wasn't really an option for us due to family members' leave booked.

[MX-Drew]

First off I admit to reading the whole of this thread.

 

In my case our cruise on Azura out of Malta at the end of May has been affected by a cabin change. What makes this worse is I like a lot of others chose to pay the select fare so I could pick the cabin as we are going with our son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren on a linked booking and chose a cabin close by. Our cabin has been moved but they refuse to say where at the moment and I suspect I will find out the day before we fly out which will be too late to contact P&O.

 

I fully understand the need although I do think it could have been planned and handled better but what sticks in my throat is that P&O flatly refuse any compensation or extra OBS even though like many have said I have paid for something I'm not getting. @molecrochip I noted you said P&O will offer extra OBS, well sorry but they don't.

 

This is the final straw for me with P&O and is the very reason I didn't even look at the 2024 launch offers and I will be cancelling by two cruises on Ariva at a loss of £50  per cruise.

 

We will now cruise Celebrity who have slightly better customer service and have the courtesy to pick up the phone and call if there is an issue and give very generous compensation.