Rare ceeceeDee Posted July 24 #51 Share Posted July 24 4 minutes ago, arxcards said: Good spin beats a good product, until you try to sell it a 2nd time. Or as my journalist late father in law always said 'Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story'.🤭 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Traveller Posted July 24 #52 Share Posted July 24 3 hours ago, Aus Traveller said: That is what I did. I compared the deck plans of the old Star Princess with the plans of the Pacific Encounter. This showed whole sections of cabins at the aft section of decks 10, 11 and 12 that have been converted from twin share to three or four berth cabins. I was surprised that my TA didn't already have this info. P&O staff at the call centre had no idea which cabins have the double-decker beds and I am pretty sure that the person I spoke to didn't know that the Pacific Encounter was formerly the Star Princess. The cabins that have the retro-fitted double-decker bunks are in the following categories, but NOT ALL of the cabins in the category have these bunks. Some have remained as two-berth cabins. That is easy to check, but if you book a GO fare, you can't choose a particular cabin, just the category. Deck 10 - balcony cabins BD, BI (inter connecting). interior cabins ID and II (interconnecting) Deck 11 - balcony cabins BD and interior cabins II Deck 12 - balcony cabins BE. We always book BC so haven't encountered these dreaded double-decker beds. I will advise my family members NOT to book the categories I have mentioned because there would be a fair chance of getting a bonus - double decker beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jean C Posted July 24 #53 Share Posted July 24 2 hours ago, arxcards said: At the time, there were P&O staff and mainstream T/As that were telling customers that Pacific Dawn was a brand new ship. Nothing much changes when some staff only learn about cruising from internal memos. Hahaha, we encountered that with our first P&O cruise on Pacific Pearl. We were aware it was previously Ocean Village, however a TA said it was a brand new ship, to clarify I said "straight out of the box?" to which she said "yes"! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ceeceeDee Posted July 25 #54 Share Posted July 25 On 7/24/2024 at 12:28 PM, Jean C said: Hahaha, we encountered that with our first P&O cruise on Pacific Pearl. We were aware it was previously Ocean Village, however a TA said it was a brand new ship, to clarify I said "straight out of the box?" to which she said "yes"! Caveat Emptor anyone? If the 'experts' won't do their research I guess we have to.🙄 Does the term 'having a dog and barking yourself' spring to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mycruiseobsession Posted July 25 #55 Share Posted July 25 On 7/19/2024 at 12:18 PM, arxcards said: Not that it will matter for much longer, booking via P&O's website lacks flexibility. I want to know our cabin options before we book, not to even have to pick from a list afterwards as P&O offers. If booking direct with P&O, I would recommend doing it over the phone. Personally, we email our T/A and will give him a block of cabin numbers to pick from. The difference in price between Go and Value is mostly absorbed with OBC, so "value" is usually worthwhile. I am glad you got it sorted. I don't think it is a case of false advertising, but an inability to deliver on a promise. Not deceptive, just incompetent. There are some online TAs that allow you to choose a cabin at the enquiry/hold step without actually putting your details in. These are my favourite TAs!! I used to book direct theough P&O everytime but sometimes we only have time to to book after-hours, and I need all the options then but the P&O site no longer allows me to choose a room until the whole deposit paid process has occurred. So for the last 2 bookings I have used a TA I know things will change again once the Carnival Branding takes over, but for now I won't be direct booking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare arxcards Posted July 25 #56 Share Posted July 25 1 hour ago, Mycruiseobsession said: There are some online TAs that allow you to choose a cabin at the enquiry/hold step without actually putting your details in. These are my favourite TAs!! I used to book direct theough P&O everytime but sometimes we only have time to to book after-hours, and I need all the options then but the P&O site no longer allows me to choose a room until the whole deposit paid process has occurred. So for the last 2 bookings I have used a TA I know things will change again once the Carnival Branding takes over, but for now I won't be direct booking. I won't web book via cruise line sites nor T/A sites either. I don't need to be anonymous with my T/A. I just email what I am after - 24hrs, and at his first opportunity I will get a cabin held along with a quote/pricing in the reply. If it fits, I pay the deposit via EFT, if not we will pass and let the hold lapse. Even once Carnival takes over the P&O process, we will still be booking via our T/A, as the pricing is usually 1 to 2% better than the cruise line offers, and I know I have someone looking out for any price drops. They are my favourite T/A's. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porky55 Posted July 28 #57 Share Posted July 28 On 7/24/2024 at 8:07 AM, Aus Traveller said: That is what I did. I compared the deck plans of the old Star Princess with the plans of the Pacific Encounter. This showed whole sections of cabins at the aft section of decks 10, 11 and 12 that have been converted from twin share to three or four berth cabins. I was surprised that my TA didn't already have this info. P&O staff at the call centre had no idea which cabins have the double-decker beds and I am pretty sure that the person I spoke to didn't know that the Pacific Encounter was formerly the Star Princess. I am not at all surprised at this … perhaps these are perfect times to us a TA instead of book yourself, once you pinpoint a group of cabins that suit 🤔😏 Rose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted August 2 #58 Share Posted August 2 Your cruise experience is meant to be a happy experience. Clearly yours hasn't been. I hope Fair Trading puts pressure under this cruise line to do the right thing by its customers. This is clearly unexceptable! I, for one, wouldn't book a cruise with this cruise line. You can't beat word of mouth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare arxcards Posted August 6 #59 Share Posted August 6 On 7/25/2024 at 9:20 PM, arxcards said: I won't web book via cruise line sites nor T/A sites either. I don't need to be anonymous with my T/A. I just email what I am after - 24hrs, and at his first opportunity I will get a cabin held along with a quote/pricing in the reply. If it fits, I pay the deposit via EFT, if not we will pass and let the hold lapse. Even once Carnival takes over the P&O process, we will still be booking via our T/A, as the pricing is usually 1 to 2% better than the cruise line offers, and I know I have someone looking out for any price drops. They are my favourite T/A's. The thing that my favourite kinda T/A's will do. I need to make some changes, so I email our T/A this morning. I get an autoreply that he is on leave. Rather than be referred to the office, I get another email detailing how our cancellation would work, pricing and transfer of deposit onto two new bookings. All that service and a price approx 5% cheaper than booking direct just from an email. This also includes the same nominated cabin being booked for both of these B2B cruises. Saves me a lot of stuffing around, and instead I can lay out a loose itinerary in the UK, and get to booking flights & hotels. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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