Future cruises

[silver service]

Do not want to sound too depressing, but. We serial cruisers

Are getting older. Now the cruising programme is coming

Out two years ahead. Are we all going to be around to

Take them? A serious thought.

[smj777]

What happens if I book a holiday and pay a deposit for, say, June 2018 and find out subsequently that I have to cancel. What is P&O's policy on returning deposits in full? Would travel insurance cover the usual risks that far in advance, even if I had travel insurance that is in force now?

[robanddiane]

We can't book holidays in at work until next year so not much good to us.

[mickey89]

Suggest you book Celebrity via the US with a good travel agent then your deposits are fully refundable, and you get great deals with plenty of obc.

You can't book P&O that way because Carnival stopped us !!!

[bee-ess]

Suggest you book Celebrity via the US with a good travel agent then your deposits are fully refundable, and you get great deals with plenty of obc.

You can't book P&O that way because Carnival stopped us !!!

 

Can you book through a US agent with a UK address ?

I thought that in UK we were not given the same rights as the US passengers, such as refundable deposits and refunds if the price drops.

Edited September 2, 2016 by bee-ess

[mickey89]

Can you book through a US agent with a UK address ?

I thought that in UK we were not given the same rights as the US passengers, such as refundable deposits and refunds if the price drops.

 

YES you are, we have booked Celebrity, RCL and Oceania via US Travel Agency for the last five years. I have even cancelled one cruise and received a full refund just last month. We always give our UK address and always state we are UK residents. Our US agent is so good that we even received a credit when the cruiseline dropped the price after final payment which is unusual even by US standards. We have also booked a future cruise onboard a Celebrity ship and had the booking allocated to the US agency without any question.

 

Any Carnival brand like P&O, HAL, Costa, Cunard, Princess - you will need to have a US address and probably residency otherwise Carnival Corp. will block the booking.

Celebrity are the best so why choose any of the others anyway ?

[tinsoldier]

 

Celebrity are the best so why choose any of the others anyway ?

 

 

Maybe not everyone can afford celebrity? Or maybe not everyone agrees with your opinion that they are the best?

 

 

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[john watson]

Do not want to sound too depressing, but. We serial cruisers

Are getting older. Now the cruising programme is coming

Out two years ahead. Are we all going to be around to

Take them? A serious thought.

 

Annual cruise insurance and single trip cover up to twelve months ahead. Best prices are unlikely to be found 12 - 24 months out. The few people booking 12 - 24 months out are unlikely, in my view, going to snap up the exact cabin you want etc. leaving you with a good range of choices under 12 months from sailing.

 

Regards John

Edited September 3, 2016 by john watson

[MattyBarlow]

Do not want to sound too depressing, but. We serial cruisers

 

Are getting older. Now the cruising programme is coming

 

Out two years ahead. Are we all going to be around to

 

Take them? A serious thought.

 

 

How'd you reckon people who book Saga cruises feel ;-)

 

Seriously though there is no point thinking about it. Everyday is a blessing and no ones guaranteed to see the next.

 

 

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[Presto2]

 

Seriously though there is no point thinking about it. Everyday is a blessing and no ones guaranteed to see the next.

 

 

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Was thinking exactly the same thing.

[NauticalMiss]

Maybe not everyone can afford celebrity? Or maybe not everyone agrees with your opinion that they are the best?

 

 

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You're right; they're not the best; IMO not even close. With great trepidation, we decided to give Celebrity another go, simply because we liked a particular itinerary. Twenty-four hours after booking, I got cold feet and just couldn't do it. I had to fight tooth-and-nail for my deposit to be returned. It took Celebrity almost 6 weeks to process the refund. All style but no substance.

[jody75]

You're right; they're not the best; IMO not even close.

 

Suggest you both look at the reviews.

Why is P&O satisfaction rating in the 60% or lower and Celebrity in the high 80%.

Statistics paint a different picture to what you wish to believe !

[kruzseeka]

You're right; they're not the best; IMO not even close. With great trepidation, we decided to give Celebrity another go, simply because we liked a particular itinerary. Twenty-four hours after booking, I got cold feet and just couldn't do it. I had to fight tooth-and-nail for my deposit to be returned. It took Celebrity almost 6 weeks to process the refund. All style but no substance.

 

I'm surprised you were able to get your deposit back. I've always thought that was non-refundable, or do you have a 14 day cooling off period as with some sales contracts you sign up to? What is P&O's policy on this? I'm not making a point here or making comparisons about respective cruise lines - just interested to know what customer rights apply in this instance.

[peteukmcr]

You're right; they're not the best; IMO not even close. With great trepidation, we decided to give Celebrity another go, simply because we liked a particular itinerary. Twenty-four hours after booking, I got cold feet and just couldn't do it. I had to fight tooth-and-nail for my deposit to be returned. It took Celebrity almost 6 weeks to process the refund. All style but no substance.

If you booked in the UK with U T&C's you're extremely lucky that Celebrity were considerate enough to refund your deposit. So that alone makes them go up in my estimation.

 

Suggest you both look at the reviews.

Why is P&O satisfaction rating in the 60% or lower and Celebrity in the high 80%.

Statistics paint a different picture to what you wish to believe !

I agree, there were 3 main areas where Celebrity were streets ahead of P&O in the service stakes IMHO (so I'm not comparing ships as they are all different), and that is Guest Services, Flexible dining and check in. Those alone mean I have 2 future cruises with Celebrity and none with P&O.

 

However, the topic of this discussion is the fact that schedules are available up to 2 years ahead, not which line is better than another.

 

Will we be around to take advantage of these cruises in 2018 and beyond? Who knows what will hold for any of us 2 years into the future.

 

This doesn't only apply to the more mature amongst us, but anyone.

 

Situations can change for all, be that health issues, family changes, redundancy, relationship breakdown etc.

 

All you can do is try and minimise the impact on your travel plans.

 

But above all, remember, I would like to suggest that it's only a cruise you may not be able to enjoy, there are more important things in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yes, not taking a cruise could be disappointing, but the reasons why you can't are probably more important.

[bee-ess]

I'm surprised you were able to get your deposit back. I've always thought that was non-refundable, or do you have a 14 day cooling off period as with some sales contracts you sign up to? What is P&O's policy on this? I'm not making a point here or making comparisons about respective cruise lines - just interested to know what customer rights apply in this instance.

 

Most of this comes down to where you book ( see post #6) - I thought in the UK we could not book from a US TA but this post says otherwise. The US cruisers get many more rights over cancellation and price drops than we do in the UK. I'm still not sure if your rights are governed by where you live or where you book though (i.e. US based TA). Maybe someone can clarify.

[tokyo]

Annual cruise insurance and single trip cover up to twelve months ahead. Best prices are unlikely to be found 12 - 24 months out. The few people booking 12 - 24 months out are unlikely, in my view, going to snap up the exact cabin you want etc. leaving you with a good range of choices under 12 months from sailing.

 

Regards John

 

 

If you want a wheelchair access cabin you need to book very early, at least 12 months in advance.

[john watson]

If you want a wheelchair access cabin you need to book very early, at least 12 months in advance.

 

Wheelchair users are significantly disadvantaged by the two year ahead policy. It makes commercial sense for a company to have things available to buy very early on as the competition will get the business if you have nothing available.

 

P&O have implemented a policy of only permitting certain types of wheelchair and scooter in certain types of cabin for a while now. The proportion of adapted cabins is very small in comparison to demand.On the US side of cruising many able bodied people have been booking the low grade disabled cabins; because you get a much bigger cabin for your money. This is a disgrace but not something I have heard happening on P&O.

 

My general opinion is that it might be useful if some, if not all the mini-suites or higher graded cabins were more disabled friendly. Some adapted features would suit somebody who has a fairly limited disability but not impact on people who are not disabled at all, e.g. when one goes into a public toilet anyone can use the larger cubicle and the automatic taps and drier. A policy like this would relieve some of the pressure off disabled cabins take up. Again an example, someone who needs to take a mini-scooter, for shore use only, has got to book an adapted cabin and block it's availability to take something on board which they are only intending to use ashore but they could get away with a standard cabin otherwise.

 

Regards John

Edited September 7, 2016 by john watson

[daiB]

John with a standard fold up wheelchair you can use any cabin. The restriction is on Mobility Scooters. Electric scooters will need an adapted cabin.

 

 

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[tokyo]

It's not just having wheelchair access. it's inside the cabin. Such as a walk in shower that some people need.

 

Without getting into a debate, I know for a fact that last year on a Pando cruise a disabled cabin was used by someone not disabled. I know, as it was next door to ours. When I asked them why they had a disabled cabin, they simply said that it was bigger. They admitted they were not disabled.

 

Pando do not check if a person is disabled when booking a such a cabin. You have to fill in a form and that is all. No follow up check. Pando should insist on medical proof that you need a disabled cabin. But, they don't. Anyone who is disabled would not hesitate to provide such proof. With regard to folding wheel chairs, if someone has to use a wheelchair to get around the ship it could mean they are unsteady on there legs. In a normal cabin how could such a person get into the cabin without help from someone else. The wheelchair is to wide for the door, they could not stand and fold it up, plus holding open the door. Last year we had a disabled cabin on Aurora which had a door that was automatic. Swipe the card and it opened. You had plenty of time to get inside before it closed. It was fantastic, as my wife could go back to the cabin on her own knowing she could get in and out without any problems.

[daiB]

I know that on Caribbean fly cruises the adapted cabins are used by able bodied cruisers as there are not as many disabled cruisers who can fly or who want to fly.

 

 

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