P&O have just screwed us over 🤬

[paulatsea]

2 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

My point is that yes I appreciate that passengers going down with Covid need isolating. But why oh why does P&O or any other cruise line need to move the area of isolation. All they need to do is compile some sort of statistical chart based on number of passengers and ship size. Set aside x amount of cabins plus 5 or 10% on top of that and allocate a section of whatever ship suitable for accessibility by staff deemed necessary to control and serve those with covid. Instead of disrupting passengers that have chosen a cabin to suit their needs only to find that at last minute . com these requirements have been shattered and whilst not completely ruining their cruise doesn't exactly enhance it. One last thing, before I bore you all to death. I wonder what the situation is on cruise ships frequented by American passengers. Do they have to put up with this situation ? As I have always been of the opinion regardless to pricing etc that they are better looked after than the Brits.

Completely agree - a dedicated section of isolation cabins that are not available to book.

Not a boring subject - this is very important to me as we are very careful about what cabins we choose and I would hate to have it changed last minute.

 

[wowzz]

49 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

One last thing, before I bore you all to death. I wonder what the situation is on cruise ships frequented by American passengers.

From what I have seen on the Princess boards,  there are similar issues there as well.

[Harry Peterson]

42 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

Completely agree - a dedicated section of isolation cabins that are not available to book.

Not a boring subject - this is very important to me as we are very careful about what cabins we choose and I would hate to have it changed last minute.

 

Quite. Like you, we’ve always chosen very specific locations. Booked on the first day with a certain reputable agent on the basis that if one of those four locations isn’t available there’s no booking at all. So far we’ve always been lucky, but if it were changed by the cruise operator I’d be pretty unhappy and looking for ways to get a full refund, and I’m confident I’d succeed.

[Presto2]

12 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Quite. Like you, we’ve always chosen very specific locations. Booked on the first day with a certain reputable agent on the basis that if one of those four locations isn’t available there’s no booking at all. So far, we’ve always been lucky, but if it were changed by the cruise operator, I’d be pretty unhappy and looking for ways to get a full refund, and I’m confident I’d succeed.

Why are you confident re a full refund? Just curious as I don't think others have been able to get one.

(Not getting at you, just wondering what your secret is as this whole issue is making us very edgy about going on any cruise in the near future and am guessing we are not alone. If the situation has not improved when the time to pay our balance in full arrives, I am guessing that we will not pay and move cruises instead rather than have all of our money stuck as FCC)

[Josy1953]

37 minutes ago, wowzz said:

From what I have seen on the Princess boards,  there are similar issues there as well.

We have been on Sky Princess and Emerald Princess this year and on both ships the Covid cases were isolated on decks that were closed off.  The fire doors from the stair wells / lift lobbies to the cabin corridors were shut on the isolation decks and there were noticed on them saying not to open them.  It was deck 9 that was used for isolation.

[Harry Peterson]

18 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Why are you confident re a full refund? Just curious as I don't think others have been able to get one.

(Not getting at you, just wondering what your secret is as this whole issue is making us very edgy about going on any cruise in the near future and am guessing we are not alone. If the situation has not improved when the time to pay our balance in full arrives, I am guessing that we will not pay and move cruises instead rather than have all of our money stuck as FCC)

Summed up in my earlier posts #2 and #6 really.  It all comes down to whether the terms and conditions entitle them to do it, which they probably do, but then whether those terms and conditions are enforceable, which they probably aren't in view of the law relating to unfair terms and conditions.

 

That's just a personal view, of course, but I've yet to lose a legal argument with P&O once it gets to their legal team.  What they tend to do though is insist on a non-disclosure agreement - others here will tell you the same - and they do need to understand that you are quite prepared, if necessary, to go through the small claims procedure.

[terrierjohn]

6 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

My point is that yes I appreciate that passengers going down with Covid need isolating. But why oh why does P&O or any other cruise line need to move the area of isolation. All they need to do is compile some sort of statistical chart based on number of passengers and ship size. Set aside x amount of cabins plus 5 or 10% on top of that and allocate a section of whatever ship suitable for accessibility by staff deemed necessary to control and serve those with covid. Instead of disrupting passengers that have chosen a cabin to suit their needs only to find that at last minute . com these requirements have been shattered and whilst not completely ruining their cruise doesn't exactly enhance it. One last thing, before I bore you all to death. I wonder what the situation is on cruise ships frequented by American passengers. Do they have to put up with this situation ? As I have always been of the opinion regardless to pricing etc that they are better looked after than the Brits.

I agree, however P&Os excuse to justify them continuing to accept bookings for known quarantine areas,  is that since most bookings are done well ahead of the cruise, they have been hoping that the need for quarantine would be relaxed or ended by the time of the cruise.

A bit lame but par for the course currently.

[yorkshirephil]

Lest we forget

[Harry Peterson]

Well this has proved an interesting thread, hasn't it?  

 

There's clearly an issue here with P&O's practice (it's doubtless Carnival wide too) and it's aggravating - unsurprisingly - all the customers affected.  It also damages reputations for fair dealing.

 

Wouldn't it just be more sensible all round if P&O grasped this issue properly, without any more fuss, and offered a choice of the following options:

 

A full refund or

A full refund of the extra paid for the Select fare + a generous OBC for the disappointment caused

 

By the way, I see no legal issues with the 'screwed us over' wording.  It's very difficult for companies to establish defamation in a situation like this, and P&O would have to prove that the publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to its reputation.  And harm to the reputation of a body that trades for profit is not "serious harm" unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss.  That's very clearly not the case here.