ToadOfToadHall

40 minutes ago, BigMac1953 said:

Anyone so desperate for their money back probably shouldn't have booked a cruise in the first place.

That sums it up in a nutshell.

Anyone who'd already committed funds to a cruise, or any holiday in fact, must have been in a financial situation to do so.  Therefore, not getting your money back is obviously a financial loss (a product/service has been paid for but not received) but it can't be causing anyone financial hardship because said person has already paid said money. Financial hardship is caused to someone who has an unexpected expense that they do not have the means to pay; a holiday cannot be an unexpected expense.

I wonder if Cunard/Carnival actually have the IT capability to process bulk refunds ?

What I mean is, on any given cruise, there will always be a small number of cancellations/refund requests by passengers. So you ring up, tell them your booking details, they enter that manually on their computer, pull up your booking and hit the refund option.

But now they have to refund everyone on a cruise, one multiple ships, for multiple cruises. That's thousands and thousands of bookings to process. And when does a cruise ever get cancelled normally ? Almost never.

So when they specified their booking system, why would they need the requirement to batch refund because it wasn't a functional requirement that they ever envisaged needing ?

What you might therefore find is that their booking system simply does not have the software functionality to refund all bookings in one go and they have to manually do it one booking at a time. And that would then explain why it's taking so long and why some have had their refunds and others have not.

Or, alternatively, they are just not very keen on returning your money.

3 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

And Liverpool is a much more attractive port.

Oh come on, do be fair.

Liverpool:

Southampton:

I've issued (is that the right word ?) a charge-back with Visa just twice, each time after contacting the companies concerned multiple times and finding they did not take the matter seriously. I have no intention of ever giving either of those two companies my business (both for goods, not services) ever again , so if they wanted to put be on a "blacklist" then it makes no odds to me.

On 4/16/2020 at 9:27 PM, Trevor33 said:

. When cancelled Cunard will offer you a Future Cruise Credit(125%) or a cash refund but you will not receive the refund for up to 6 months. Seems wrong but you can still actually book

So they give you 125% credit against a cruise in the future that then said future cruise just happens to be increased in price by 25%. No, that will never happen. 🤠

I found the point about cruises bringing little to the places/ports they stop at very interesting. Thinking about that, I can see that is true. How much do people actually spend when in port ? From my own experience (i.e. what we tend to spend), it's not that much really - maybe the odd pint or a snack (we don't bother to buy souvenirs). So how much have me and Mrs Toad contributed to the various places we have been whilst cruising ? Not much I would say. Which is the total opposite of when we go away and stay in hotel, either in the UK or abroad.  So on a cruise we contribute almost nothing to local economies but in a hotel we contribute an awful lot.

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

I'll leave it open here as it dragged the sticky some way off topic !

Thanks Host Hattie. I suppose the BBC article is no so much about CV per se, more about that it's highlighted to people how the cruise industry operates. 

Ah, I missed that. If Host Hattie can delete this thread then that's fine.

This is interesting in what it says. Cunard and the QM2 gets a mention at the end.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52182509

They raise some interesting points and tax, labour rates and labour laws. That's not just about Cunard, it's about the whole cruise industry in general.

The question they pose about people having short memories might raise some debate.

18 hours ago, eroller said:

Cunard better figure out what it wants to be and who it wants to appeal to.  I feel they don’t have a lot of clear direction right now.    

That is a very good point you make. They are trying to hedge their bets and not alienate anyone, but the trouble with that is they come across as being a bit clueless as to whom they want to appeal to.

On 12/7/2019 at 3:16 AM, NSWP said:

It is actually Daryl Brohmann doing the modelling, retired Australian Rugby League Player, he has been modelling for Lowes stores for many a year, good quality 'made in China Clothing' just like your Primark.🤣

I've just looked him up - he's a big lad alright !

I once went into Primark to see what all the fuss was about - I felt quite unwell looking at all the Chinese tat 🤣

It is interesting that if you look on the Cunard UK website FAQs under "How much are the drinks on board ?" then all the drinks lists have no prices. For example :

https://www.cunard.com/content/dam/cunard/marketing-assets/pdf/life-on-board/drinks-packages/Queen Elizabeth and Victoria Golden Lion.pdf

20 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. Gala evenings often come at the end of sea days, when the movement of the ship,usually supplies some sort of cooling breeze, and people may have spent the days around the ship being not very energetic. Smart attire evenings often follow port days when people have been getting hot and frazzled on land, where it usually seems warmer anyway. So it sort of makes some sense, particularly for those on the early sitting. Maybe.

Well, you are correct in what you say regarding when Gala nights are compared to other nights (i.e. sea days v non sea days).

But I think "maybe" sums it up very well - sort of a "hmmmm... really?" chin stroker and a slightly doubting look on one's face.

1 hour ago, Docker123 said:

The actual letter in my stateroom today

 

 

So Cunard say men do not need to wear a jacket on Smart Attire evenings because of the "warmer evening". Fair enough. And yet they still need to wear one on Gala Nights. So either Cunard can control the weather by making it cooler on said Gala Evening, or that is a blatant lie.  You can't cite warm weather as a reason on one evening  but not the next. 

7 hours ago, NSWP said:

ONYA BAZ. This is what they need on Cunard.

Tom Selleck has put some weight on!

I see Cunard are still using a different definition of the word "nominal" from the dictionary definition. 

This Friday,  BBC2 at 19:30,  someone's specialist subject is The Cunard Shipping line:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b8td

4 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

Another thing we find helpful is a motion-activated battery-powered night light. That way, if a person needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, they don't need to turn on the bathroom light from outside, thus flooding the cabin with light. 

Just keep your smart phone on the bedside cabinet. As soon as I pick mine up the screen turns on and provides enough light to stumble to to bathroom.

7 hours ago, ToadOfToadHall said:

I've done this twice:

 

Step 1: Party A rings Cunard and asks for linked booking code

 

Step 2: Party B rings Cunard and tells them the code. Cunard says "we have linked your booking to Mr and Mrs so and so"

 

That's it.

 

 

I've missed a bit out of course.

Party A needs to tell Party B the code !!!

I've done this twice:

Step 1: Party A rings Cunard and asks for linked booking code

Step 2: Party B rings Cunard and tells them the code. Cunard says "we have linked your booking to Mr and Mrs so and so"

That's it.

I nearly got caught out not buying holiday/cruise insurance as soon as a cruise was booked 3 or 4 years ago now. I bought the insurance about 7 days before we were due to sail, and 5 days before the departure date Mrs Toad had an accident which meant we had to cancel.

Everything was paid however with just the loss of about £50 excess.

We now have annual insurance as it seems that you break even at 2 holidays a year so it was the better option.

As I used TUI as an example, I've just tried a "dummy" booking and there was nowhere that I could see where the cancellation terms were stated as I was selecting the various options.

Now as it happens, I booked a hotel last Saturday and that site was very clear; it stated what would be taken from my card now and also it stated the date by which I could cancel and receive a full refund.

As a general observation, if you book just a hotel they are very clear about cancellations (e.g. book this rate and you can cancel up until some date or book this rate and no cancellations are accepted, or whatever) but package holidays hide all that in the T&Cs that you have to go and look for yourself.

3 hours ago, Glenndale said:

I remember that there was a 'pop-up' restaurant with waiter service on the aft deck of QV.

It was dependent on the weather to some extent 😁

We used it a couple of times on one trip but I don't have any record of the menu.

We could be going back 2 years or so. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

There was when we on the QV 2 years ago but I never saw anyone eating there so maybe it stopped ? As I recall it wasn't cheap. 

5 minutes ago, North West Newbie said:

And the T&C's go on to state:-

 

"If you booked using a Low Deposit Offer, the full deposit amount stated on your confirmation invoice will need to be paid upon cancellation."

 

Indeed yes. So in this case, taking up their Low Deposit Offer makes no odds really as you still have to pay the full deposit even if you cancel.

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

No holiday contracts in the UK whether it be cruise or land based have non refundable deposits that is part of the contract you agree when you agree booking with holiday company.

I think you mean "No holiday contracts in the UK whether it be cruise or land based have refundable deposits".

or

"All holiday contracts in the UK whether it be cruise or land based have non refundable deposits".

For example, I've a holiday booked with TUI , and these are their T&Cs:

12. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING

Period Before Departure When Notice Of Cancellation Is Received/ Percentage Of Total Booking Price

70 days or more (Loss of deposit)

Your deposit is non-refundable, even if the cancellation charge calculated is lower than the deposit amount paid.