Britannia

[kalos]

5 minutes ago, xAlanox said:

Normally I presume we would get a statement on the last day. It’s looking more than likely we will get nothing and just have to pay whatever P&O charges. I will of course contact them on Monday to query this. 

 

When you contact them ask for a final date statement with time, dates and venues , to be 

e-mailed to you . Be interesting to see where they think your wife spent this money once 

you had left the ship .🤔 ??

[xAlanox]

More footage from the wounded Britannia.. there was debris that floated up even in the following morning, also 2 tug boats was constantly pushing the ship towards the Berth all night and was there in the morning. I am astounded that they have managed to put everything right in a matter of hours in Southampton. I am happy the passengers got back home safely and pray for the passengers that are now on board. I am sure nothing will happen but it was very scary. I saw some seriously wounded crew members with blood on their T-Shirt and wearing a sling.

 

On P&O defence non stop checks was made throughout the day with divers went under water to look, life boat was also deployed to look at the parameter of the ship, the bits was probably from the side of the ship where the lifeboats was situated.

 

Again I am not being negative towards P&O, just stating facts from what I have experienced and have seen with my own eyes. Reps did try their hardest, maybe it was just a perfect storm.  

[purplesea]

50 minutes ago, xAlanox said:

More footage from the wounded Britannia.. there was debris that floated up even in the following morning, also 2 tug boats was constantly pushing the ship towards the Berth all night and was there in the morning. I am astounded that they have managed to put everything right in a matter of hours in Southampton. I am happy the passengers got back home safely and pray for the passengers that are now on board. I am sure nothing will happen but it was very scary. I saw some seriously wounded crew members with blood on their T-Shirt and wearing a sling.

 

On P&O defence non stop checks was made throughout the day with divers went under water to look, life boat was also deployed to look at the parameter of the ship, the bits was probably from the side of the ship where the lifeboats was situated.

 

Again I am not being negative towards P&O, just stating facts from what I have experienced and have seen with my own eyes. Reps did try their hardest, maybe it was just a perfect storm.  

20230827_211322.mov 20230827_234904.mov

Thank you for your informative report. I have read it with interest as we are due to sail on Britannia in two weeks time.

 

[xAlanox]

I must say, I think P&O would never set sail if it was not safe to do so, my vision from the balcony on deck 15 means nothing in comparison to the extensive checks that was made. Im sure 99.9% of the time people would have a wonderful holiday, unfortunately the freak storm changed that for us.

 

They will be on high alert for yours, I'm sure they lost the complacency and safety will turned all the way to max @purplesea. Safe travels. 

[Windsurfboy]

Reading this thread

 

The high winds did not come out of the blue.

 

P&O kept every one together in a cheap hotel for their ie P&O's convenience.  They could have sent them to better hotels , but that would have entailed more complex logistics and more money.

[Dermotsgirl]

15 hours ago, xAlanox said:

Hi everyone,

 

My family and I, was on the ship when the accident happened. Also one of the hundreds who was asked to leave via a letter in the cabin. Which we as a family of four did. We had a balcony room and have footage. 

 

What happened is pretty much clearly documented, it all happened on the 27th August 11am. 

 

A lot of promises was made by the ship crew, the ones who asked you to come off, yet all of the things that was promised was broken due to exceptional circumstances (flight delays, ship crashing, weather etc). 

 

It was lucky that the oil ship was there to stop the Britannia from sustaining major damage in the bottom part of the ship.

 

Anyways, cut things short, staying in Alcudia was not great, the hotel was seriously badly designed with standing water ponds attracted a lot of mosquito’s. Also traveling from Fedra III build to reception took at least 15mins of walk, to the restaurant was at about 10 minutes. 

 

I understand that P&O tried their best and many things was out of their hands, it’s just the holiday and cruise that was paid for was pretty much non-existent from the moment the crash happened. Especially for those who agreed to leave. 

 

P&O staff did try their best to make things work out and as comfortable as possible. Its just that I paid for a cruise holiday (first holiday since covid) with my family and now im back home, we are all left with bitter sweet feelings. 

 

P&O really needs to understand exactly what the passengers when through since leaving the ship the hours of standing in queues, the not knowing which airport.. the time we had to wake up. There was a lot of suffering mentally and physically. 

A15FE712-90B5-492D-A16D-73F77251CFE6-2300-0000077480DC818F.mov

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

 

If asked, I would have probably agreed to leave the ship - but having seen what happened to you and the other people who have reported their experiences, I now know I would stay on the ship unless there was no other alternative.

 

I do think that you and the people you were with should have been looked after much better than you were, after all, you were doing P&O a favour. I would have found the whole situation to be very stressful.

 

I hope you are now getting some relaxation, and can begin to put the whole thing behind you 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

3 hours ago, xAlanox said:

We stayed at the hotel for 2 nights. @P&O SUE

 

@Megabear2 I would say there was definitely over 200 paying guest that left the ship. Yes P&O kept us all together at the Bellevue Apartments, correspondence was via SMS messaging. 

 

The Britannia ship was looking a bit worse for wear, we stayed on Deck 15 on the even side, one of the rooms was leaking so bad it was coming out to the deck corridor, there was blue cloths on the ground, but when you walked past, it was splurging as it was so wet. 

 

@HalifaxYorksCruiser I wish we did what you did, how was the rest of the ships journey and what did they offer you some sort of compensation?  Yes we did feel we were at the mercy of P&O arranging things for us. It was terrible, and if this becomes national news, no passenger would ever leave the P&O ship if they were ever asked

 

@molecrochip Yes they offered and paid 4 nights of Pro-Rata in to my account already. 

 

There is so many things unclear, like our onboard accounts, they just took money £170 from my wife’s account, which was cleared daily on the 30th August, when we were already away from the ship. 

Normally I presume we would get a statement on the last day. It’s looking more than likely we will get nothing and just have to pay whatever P&O charges. I will of course contact them on Monday to query this. 

In response to your question above the rest of the journey home was uneventful. As we were travelling at greater speed the wind across the decks was higher than it would have been ( higher decks were closed one day) . Other than the speed (23knots) it was the usual sea day activities. Everyone got £40pp whether they were really affected or not. We received no compensation for the missed port of Gibraltar and told to claim on our insurance. I have just checked my insurance and we get £50 but it’s not clear from the policy ( ours is a joint policy) if that is pp. To be fair Gibraltar was always going to be a bit of a rubbish day as it was only 4 hours in port. By the time you got off, got a taxi/ shuttle into town and back it left little actual time in port . 

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Reading this thread

 

The high winds did not come out of the blue.

 

P&O kept every one together in a cheap hotel for their ie P&O's convenience.  They could have sent them to better hotels , but that would have entailed more complex logistics and more money.

Assuming that they shoreside staff were waiting on details for the flights I'm guessing keeping everyone together was for expediency once flights were able to be sourced and the air traffic situation was clear.

 

Reading various reports about the stress people were experiencing with the flights changing destination etc it would assumedly been difficult to locate 300 people in separate hotels and transport them.

 

Logistics would seem to br the main reason for the choice.

[Windsurfboy]

Ease of Logistics for P&O shouldn't outweigh passenger comfort. As they were commicating by SMS , didn't need to be in one place. That would have been true before mobile phones became ubiquitous. 

 

Lesson is don't volunteer. 

 

Look after yourself no one else will

 

Try to ascertain where they are sending you before you go.

 

If you end up in a dump, try as soon as possible to book yourself into a decent hotel and send P&O the bill

[Advanced Diver]

8 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

In response to your question above the rest of the journey home was uneventful. As we were travelling at greater speed the wind across the decks was higher than it would have been ( higher decks were closed one day) . Other than the speed (23knots) it was the usual sea day activities. Everyone got £40pp whether they were really affected or not. We received no compensation for the missed port of Gibraltar and told to claim on our insurance. I have just checked my insurance and we get £50 but it’s not clear from the policy ( ours is a joint policy) if that is pp. To be fair Gibraltar was always going to be a bit of a rubbish day as it was only 4 hours in port. By the time you got off, got a taxi/ shuttle into town and back it left little actual time in port . 

It is per person, you need your letter from P&O dating you missed a port and there was no compensation paid. I just claimed for 2 missed ports on our Baltic cruise and got £400 back (£100 pp per port).

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

8 hours ago, Advanced Diver said:

It is per person, you need your letter from P&O dating you missed a port and there was no compensation paid. I just claimed for 2 missed ports on our Baltic cruise and got £400 back (£100 pp per port).

P&O delivered to our cabin two letters addressed to each of us confirming the missed port and that there was no compensation paid for the missed port.

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

P&O delivered to our cabin two letters addressed to each of us confirming the missed port and that there was no compensation paid for the missed port.

These letters are for your insurer.  Full cruise cover with missed ports will pay per person hence two letters - some people have separate insurance policies so that's why it's a letter per passenger.

 

P&O do not offer compensation for missed ports and have no obligation to do so hence telling you to claim on your insurance.

 

Some people do not have missed port insurance on their policies so they will get nothing at all. That is the choice made when buying insurance I'm afraid.

[nosapphire]

8 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

P&O delivered to our cabin two letters addressed to each of us confirming the missed port and that there was no compensation paid for the missed port.

Had they not included those words (no compensation), your insurer may have asked to you get another letter as proof that you had not already received compensation from P&O before they would pay out (if you have "missed port compensation" included, that is).

[xAlanox]

Not sure what compensation or insurance I can claim from for disembarking, probably just the pro rata. 

[zap99]

On 9/2/2023 at 3:02 PM, Windsurfboy said:

Reading this thread

 

The high winds did not come out of the blue.

 

P&O kept every one together in a cheap hotel for their ie P&O's convenience.  They could have sent them to better hotels , but that would have entailed more complex logistics and more money.

I imagine there would be quite a few nice hotels in Majorca that could accommodate a couple of hundred guests at the drop of a hat. August being their off season.🤣

 

[Advanced Diver]

3 hours ago, xAlanox said:

Not sure what compensation or insurance I can claim from for disembarking, probably just the pro rata. 

My insurance covers for curtailment due to "extra catastrophe", but although it was caused by the storm/wind it seems something of a stretch to claim under this clause (if indeed you have a similar clause in your insurance), but still nothing to lose by trying.

 

"If any part of your journey is cut short or
extended as a result of a natural catastrophe we
will pay up to the amount shown in the summary
of cover for:
a) Curtailment if you are unable to use your
travel or accommodation and have to return
home If your public transport is delayed and
no alternative is available for more than 24
hours and you cannot continue with your
booked itinerary;"

[Windsurfboy]

.

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

I imagine there would be quite a few nice hotels in Majorca that could accommodate a couple of hundred guests at the drop of a hat. August being their off season.🤣

 

 

You don't need a couple of hundred in one hotel.  When I  checked online booking.com . Dozens of 5 and 4 star hotels with space.  Put the people in nice hotels , contact via sms when they need to go to airport.  More workyes.

 

 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, xAlanox said:

Not sure what compensation or insurance I can claim from for disembarking, probably just the pro rata. 

There should be a curtailment off holiday clause, plus possibly something about being offloaded.

[terrierjohn]

9 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

You don't need a couple of hundred in one hotel.  When I  checked online booking.com . Dozens of 5 and 4 star hotels with space.  Put the people in nice hotels , contact via sms when they need to go to airport.  More workyes.

 

 

You surely don't believe what you read on booking.com!!!!

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

A good explanation as to what happened in Palma

 

[Windsurfboy]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

You surely don't believe what you read on booking.com!!!!

 

I've used them lots of times , never had a problem,  never turned up and hotel full.

[Advanced Diver]

Britannia is apparently having its new lifeboat hosted in place today. Seemingly it carried a new one from Southampton, but only fitted it today

[Eglesbrech]

3 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I've used them lots of times , never had a problem,  never turned up and hotel full.

Yes we have used they numerous times as well both here and in Europe and never had any issues.

 

@terrierjohn do you have experience of problems with them?

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

I've used them lots of times , never had a problem,  never turned up and hotel full.

But are you paying the lowest price possible?