£2 a day dining supplement for 1st sitting.

Booked a 77 night cruise on fred olsen boudica from 8th January 2017. Sadly we have had to cancel because of ill health. Because we booked in may with an anchor fare we have had to lose all of the amount of the cruise. We are claiming from our insurance company but it does not quite cover all of the fare. We have travelled with fred olsen a great deal and I asked if as a goodwill gesture they could refund the £308 we paid for this service. Surely this is a service that we no longer require and should be refunded to us but they have refused to do this. They will be able to use our cabin for other guests and this is very unfair. Has anyone else experienced this.

Firstly, I hope the health issue improves soon. You must have been looking forward to the holiday.

Thankfully it seems that your insurance will cover most of your loss - I always find insurance such a worry. I am assuming that there is a voluntary excess to explain the difference. Is the early dining payment not included in the whole cost you are claiming?

Additionally, I would think that the ship may not sail at full capacity so your cabin may not be used by other guests. On our recent Boudicca trip, she sailed with 100+ fewer passengers than capacity.

if your insurance company will not pay the dining fee and as FO's anchor fares policy states that there is no refund then it seems that it is fair. We are told of the rule when we book. It is unfortunate but that is it.

Best wishes for a good recovery.

Hi Thanks for your reply. I have no problem at all with having to lose the full amount on the anchor fare. We both knew this when we booked. I think Fred Olsen are the only cruise company who charge if you want to change the sitting time. We do not know which sitting they have given us until we go into our cabin. If it has to be changed we have to join a long queue in the dining room, and just pay up. My point is that we paid this supplement several weeks after we paid the full anchor fare so it was an additional charge for a service. We no longer will have this service - so I think it is fair to refund it. I have travelled for years with Fred Olsen with my late husband and since his death eleven years ago I have been with them twice on my own and several times with my travelling companion. I think this is a shabby way to treat loyal customers.

Yes, I know the procedures re changing an assigned dining time and that it does affect those who prefer a different time to that allocated. I just thought it would be included in the insurance claim.

You may be right re FO being the only cruise company who charge this but on the other hand, the company most probably has the cheapest gratuity charges so I suppose it's swings and roundabouts.

We have had a couple of anchor fare holidays and when I booked was informed that if I wanted to choose the cabin, I could pay the regular fare - several hundred pounds more! I chose the saving. ;)

Everyone chooses their holiday and the terms with which they book. Anchor fares can be considerably less than other fares and there are disadvantages of booking them as well as advantages. We have booked both types of fare at different times and taken the terms on offer, whatever they were at the time.

Fred runs a business and the terms are what they are. I do not quite understand why your insurance company has not refunded the total cost and can see why someone may not be happy with that, though I do wonder if the health condition in question, or a symptom related to it, may have been present when the dining option was taken. If so, you would obviously not be insured for that cash.

An anchor fare is an anchor fare as I see it, no matter how that fare is made up. If you upgraded to a better cabin grade under your anchor fare (we have done that) then would you say you should get that money back from Fred!

I see disadvantages with Fred but this is not one of them. Terms are similar with all cruise companies and you are lucky having had the option to choose a dining time under a guarantee fare. I do not think the relatively small amount is really worth making a big deal about anyway.

I always find complaints about the terms someone has booked under very tiresome as everyone chooses what they book.

Everyone chooses their holiday and the terms with which they book. Anchor fares can be considerably less than other fares and there are disadvantages of booking them as well as advantages. We have booked both types of fare at different times and taken the terms on offer, whatever they were at the time.

 

Fred runs a business and the terms are what they are. I do not quite understand why your insurance company has not refunded the total cost and can see why someone may not be happy with that, though I do wonder if the health condition in question, or a symptom related to it, may have been present when the dining option was taken. If so, you would obviously not be insured for that cash.

 

An anchor fare is an anchor fare as I see it, no matter how that fare is made up. If you upgraded to a better cabin grade under your anchor fare (we have done that) then would you say you should get that money back from Fred!

 

I see disadvantages with Fred but this is not one of them. Terms are similar with all cruise companies and you are lucky having had the option to choose a dining time under a guarantee fare. I do not think the relatively small amount is really worth making a big deal about anyway.

 

I always find complaints about the terms someone has booked under very tiresome as everyone chooses what they book.

I regularly get mailings from Fred Olsen although I have never sailed with them. I think we entered a draw once at a cruise show? I must admit Fred Olsen has never struck me as an upmarket cruise line and their ships look old and shabby. I was looking at a 27 night Fjords of the Arctic cruise and was horrified to see they were charging £7299pp for a balcony cabin. I think they are having a laugh! No wonder the ships are sailing half empty. I think the OP would do be better booking with a more modern cruise line with better value for money and more customer focused attitude.

Booked a 77 night cruise on fred olsen boudica from 8th January 2017. Sadly we have had to cancel because of ill health. Because we booked in may with an anchor fare we have had to lose all of the amount of the cruise. We are claiming from our insurance company but it does not quite cover all of the fare. We have travelled with fred olsen a great deal and I asked if as a goodwill gesture they could refund the £308 we paid for this service. Surely this is a service that we no longer require and should be refunded to us but they have refused to do this. They will be able to use our cabin for other guests and this is very unfair. Has anyone else experienced this.

Fred Olsen would expect you to claim the dining supplement from your travel insurance along with the rest of the monies paid so far. It sounds as though the cover on your travel insurance policy was not for as high an amount as it needed to be. This is something that you do really need to check before taking out the policy, or else accept that you will incur a loss if forced to cancel. (And at such short notice, they will probably be unable to fill your cabin so will also lose out on your onboard spend and gratuities)

I think this £2 charge per day is quite outrageous. My friend is diabetic and they would not change her sitting unless she paid up. They even put a family with a 2 year old child on the second sitting.

Surely they knew a 2 year old could not stay up so late to eat

There is really no administrative work entailed and on principle I think this amount should be returned to us.

Perhaps Fred Olsen need to re-think this policy.

I think this £2 charge per day is quite outrageous. My friend is diabetic and they would not change her sitting unless she paid up. They even put a family with a 2 year old child on the second sitting.

 

Surely they knew a 2 year old could not stay up so late to eat

 

There is really no administrative work entailed and on principle I think this amount should be returned to us.

 

Perhaps Fred Olsen need to re-think this policy.

Perhaps you could tell us why you have not (or could not) claim on your travel insurance as you seem to think they will pay up for the rest (i.e. the bulk) of the cash..............

We have annual world wide travel insurance and although we travel a great deal usually it is adequate for our needs.

It is only about £300 short of the full amount of the anchor fare.

I do not think it is for the travel insurers to repay this as it was not part of the anchor fare.

To me Windfall has a clearcut case:

1.Fred Olsen is unique in using Extortion to impose an extra dining charge and administered in a most vindictive way

2. It is downright THEFT to make a charge for a Service Not Delivered.

My suggestion : Vote with your Feet for such treatment. Where`s Justice?

To me Windfall has a clearcut case:

 

1.Fred Olsen is unique in using Extortion to impose an extra dining charge and administered in a most vindictive way

 

2. It is downright THEFT to make a charge for a Service Not Delivered.

 

My suggestion : Vote with your Feet for such treatment. Where`s Justice?

How is it extortion when you chose the cheaper fare which clearly stated that you could not choose sitting, then paid £2 pppn to choose your preferred sitting! As for theft, you should speak to your insurance company about that. There is no injustice here -if you need to eat at a certain time e.g. for diabetic reasons or you have a child, do not choose the cheaper fare option.

I wonder why "Windfall" has posted a comment today supporting............Yes Windfall!!

Everyone else who has posted on this thread, started by Windfall, has clearly disagreed with his/her view. Not taking any notice of the many replies is one thing, but constantly arguing, then putting a post on pretending to be someone else is totally stupid.

The OP has clearly not even realised that a person's username is clearly displayed at the top of every post made by them.

Thank heavens other people use this section of the boards politely and sensibly.

Hello Tring

I did not write that reply. I respect other folk's views on this and I am not so dishonest to write message with another person's name. You can believe me or not I do not mind.

To me Windfall has a clearcut case:

 

1.Fred Olsen is unique in using Extortion to impose an extra dining charge and administered in a most vindictive way

 

2. It is downright THEFT to make a charge for a Service Not Delivered.

 

My suggestion : Vote with your Feet for such treatment. Where`s Justice?

This is the post I was referring to (#11). It quite clearly has the name "Windfall" above the post and it also shows clearly on your list of postings when your profile and statistics are searched, yet the text tries to imply otherwise.

I really have better things to do with my life though. Goodbye.

Hello Tring

 

I did not write that reply. I respect other folk's views on this and I am not so dishonest to write message with another person's name. You can believe me or not I do not mind.

It is odd. Perhaps a friend decided to try to support you and used your account on here.

I don't think it is theft or extortion - it is made clear re dining arrangements.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned is to wait until boarding and then be prepared to queue to pay the extra.

I still don't understand about the insurance. Our insurance doesn't take into account the cost of the holiday but we do agree to pay an excess.

Hello Tring

 

I did not write that reply. I respect other folk's views on this and I am not so dishonest to write message with another person's name. You can believe me or not I do not mind.

It has your name on it, nobody else's name. Unless someone hacked into your account - you need to be careful.

Windfall

I fail to see why your Insurers won't pay up?

Surely you had a cancellation invoice with all the cancellation charges on including the £2 per day supplement? Therefore it is the responsibility of the insurance company to refund you.

The way I interpret the problem is this:-

Their travel insurance policy covers cancellation up to a certain figure. (My policy is £5000 per person, as an example).

They have booked a 77 day cruise, total cost being more than whatever their policy covers. The dining supplement takes them even more over the limit of what the insurers will pay.

Moral being always get a policy with a high enough cancellation amount of cover.

I know I could have paid a higher premium and got £7500 or £10,000.

I am surprised to learn that Fred.Olsen charges a 2 pound per day dining supplement for first sitting. I hadn't heard of this charge before.

I am surprised to learn that Fred.Olsen charges a 2 pound per day dining supplement for first sitting. I hadn't heard of this charge before.

No, that is not exactly it. They have two levels of fare. The full priced one, you get to choose your cabin number and your dining sitting. The cheaper one, they choose both of these for you and you take what you are given. However, if you wish to book the cheap fare, but still choose your dinner sitting, then you can pay £2 per day to do so. I think it is a good system. With P&O, there is no such option, it is all or nothing.

Hope that is clear!

We have annual world wide travel insurance and although we travel a great deal usually it is adequate for our needs.

 

It is only about £300 short of the full amount of the anchor fare.

 

I do not think it is for the travel insurers to repay this as it was not part of the anchor fare.

This is the real crux of the problem, you failed to properly insure your trip and you would now like FO to cover the shortfall...

If you had obtained an appropriate level of cover for your trip you would not now be trying to duck out of the terms you freely agreed to with Fred.

There is no lack of clarity on this charge when you book an anchor fare and it is disingenuous to try to cast FO in the role of villain when the problem is your choice of inadequate insurance cover...

No, that is not exactly it. They have two levels of fare. The full priced one, you get to choose your cabin number and your dining sitting. The cheaper one, they choose both of these for you and you take what you are given. However, if you wish to book the cheap fare, but still choose your dinner sitting, then you can pay £2 per day to do so. I think it is a good system. With P&O, there is no such option, it is all or nothing.

 

Hope that is clear!

Yes, thank you.