P&O are still aiming for May cruises to go ahead ???

[Trevor Fountain]

2 minutes ago, comcox said:

It's not that we want to cruise then at all, but tell that to P&O who refuses to refund our money even if we've sent them evidence of medical conditions and a doctor's letter saying I'm not to cruise during this outbreak.

The OP seems to want to cruise though.

"We have a cruise booked for the End of May  from Malta to Italy and Croatia  and would very much like to go on this  as  we were supposed to be renewing our Wedding Vows."

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, comcox said:

It's not that we want to cruise then at all, but tell that to P&O who refuses to refund our money even if we've sent them evidence of medical conditions and a doctor's letter saying I'm not to cruise during this outbreak.

If you are medically unfit, cannot you claim on your insurance? 

[Tablelamp]

38 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

I am shocked and flabbergasted by this thread. What are you people talking about cruising for in the near future.

There is very little chance of the current lockdown measures not being extended beyond the date of OP's cruise. Even if they are relaxed going on a cruise in may would be totally irresponsible, and quite honestly P&O and anyone thinking of boarding a ship in May should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.   

 

i don’t see that anybody on this thread (recently) has mentioned cruising in May, or have I missed something.

 

[daiB]

13 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

The OP seems to want to cruise though.

"We have a cruise booked for the End of May  from Malta to Italy and Croatia  and would very much like to go on this  as  we were supposed to be renewing our Wedding Vows."

It would be helpful to read the OP’s full post and then quote it as she goes on to say, 

“But In reality we  think its highly unlikely that we will be going”.

 

Her post was asking why P&O were sending an email saying her cruise was likely.

 

 

[Trevor Fountain]

2 minutes ago, daiB said:

It would be helpful to read the OP’s full post and then quote it as she goes on to say, 

“But In reality we  think its highly unlikely that we will be going”.

 

Her post was asking why P&O were sending an email saying her cruise was likely.

 

 

Irrelevant.

[daiB]

3 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Irrelevant.

A bit like your first post.

[Broadside]

Just now, jake 26 said:

 

 

Just now, jake 26 said:

So it seems the refund process is in motion.

I still don't understand all the posts about ABTA and FCCs. That may happen but, currently, as far as P&O is concerned, it's 'fake news'.

 

 

P and O have stated in their own media releases they are now acting on ABTA's advice and guidance

 

There are many reports of P and O and Travel Agents being obstructive and misleading about offering a full cash refund to customers

 

P and O changed their policy about refunds for people unable to travel due to govt advice at the time.

 

P and O are currently ( for over two weeks ) unable to refund prebooked excursions and restaurant bookings on non cancelled cruises.

 

FCC's are already happening! A lot of the posts are about what protections, if any ,a FCC has and if they are even the same as a potential " ABTA protected credit note " if people want to make their free choice to take one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Broadside

[livinforcruisin]

Further Crusie cancellations

P&O have just announced further cancellations upto and including May 15th.  So our May 7th fly cruise out of Malta has just been cancelled.  We received an email with all the relevant information on and a link to allow us to ask for a full cash refund online.  Which we have now done.  They say that it may take upto 60days to receive the refund. 

Edited March 30, 2020 by livinforcruisin
To add in more information

[MickD]

18 minutes ago, livinforcruisin said:

Further Crusie cancellations

P&O have just announced further cancellations upto and including May 15th.  So our May 7th fly cruise out of Malta has just been cancelled.  We received an email with all the relevant information on and a link to allow us to ask for a full cash refund online.  Which we have now done.  They say that it may take upto 60days to receive the refund. 

Yup got my email for cancelled cruise April the 12th although interestingly  they were offering 125% for a fcc and 110% obc for refunded drinks package plus the choice of full refund obviously 

Edited March 30, 2020 by MickD
Missed off information

[zap99]

2 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

I am shocked and flabbergasted by this thread. What are you people talking about cruising for in the near future.

There is very little chance of the current lockdown measures not being extended beyond the date of OP's cruise. Even if they are relaxed going on a cruise in may would be totally irresponsible, and quite honestly P&O and anyone thinking of boarding a ship in May should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.   

Absolutely agree. Do you all think my June and August cruises will be ok?.

[P&O SUE]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Applied for my cash refund just now. Be interesting to see if I get my refund by May 29th.

I am aware that I will be told by other posters that I should be demanding payment in 14 days, but in these times I believe a little tolerance is needed.

I’m exactly the same, I was in the first wave of refunds as my cruise was 10th April. It said 45 days at the time, but I’m quite tolerant as I know they’re swamped at the moment. I’ll post when I get it and how long it took! 
Be aware I had a refund invoice that had the cancellation fee taken off and was shocked but then noticed another email saying to ignore the cancellation charges. Both these emails had gone to my ‘junk email’ for some reason.

[Britboys]

33 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Absolutely agree. Do you all think my June and August cruises will be ok?.

June - next to no chance. August - unlikely but very outside chance.  Just my opinion, no 'insider' knowledge.  I'm booked for October and not sure that will happen by any means...

[jake 26]

1 hour ago, Broadside said:

 

 

 

P and O have stated in their own media releases they are now acting on ABTA's advice and guidance

 

There are many reports of P and O and Travel Agents being obstructive and misleading about offering a full cash refund to customers

 

P and O changed their policy about refunds for people unable to travel due to govt advice at the time.

 

P and O are currently ( for over two weeks ) unable to refund prebooked excursions and restaurant bookings on non cancelled cruises.

 

FCC's are already happening! A lot of the posts are about what protections, if any ,a FCC has and if they are even the same as a potential " ABTA protected credit note " if people want to make their free choice to take one.

 

 

 

ABTA's advice and guidance seems sound as offering an FCC alternative to a cash refund helps protect the industry. So P&O are offering a 100% cash refund or 125% FC C when they cancel a cruise.

 

I can't comment on 'many reports' of obstructive and misleading behaviour by P&O and TAs as I haven't seen any.

 

P&O did make a change but the fact that people could cancel their cruise of their own volition and opt for a FCC instead, before P&O cancelled is a merit in my book.

 

I'm aware of the glitch in prebooked items refunds, but if you book online you receive a receipt with a transaction no. So you can follow that through to a refund solution when things settle down. I'm in the same position with prebooked excursions and restaurant reservations, but if they aren't refunded with my cruise refund I shall follow it up using the receipt data.

 

FCCs are happening and hopefully it will help in the industry's recovery, but  conjecture about their validity is not helpful without substance to back it up.

[zap99]

22 minutes ago, Britboys said:

June - next to no chance. August - unlikely but very outside chance.  Just my opinion, no 'insider' knowledge.  I'm booked for October and not sure that will happen by any means...

Fortunately Celebrity cancelled the June Alaska cruise, Iona at the end of August is a wait and see. We don't mind going on the cruise if it seems fairly safe to go, but don't really want to meander around the North Sea should Norway no want us. Perhaps 2021 ????.

[pete14]

38 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

 

ABTA's advice and guidance seems sound as offering an FCC alternative to a cash refund helps protect the industry. So P&O are offering a 100% cash refund or 125% FC C when they cancel a cruise.

 

I can't comment on 'many reports' of obstructive and misleading behaviour by P&O and TAs as I haven't seen any.

 

P&O did make a change but the fact that people could cancel their cruise of their own volition and opt for a FCC instead, before P&O cancelled is a merit in my book.

 

I'm aware of the glitch in prebooked items refunds, but if you book online you receive a receipt with a transaction no. So you can follow that through to a refund solution when things settle down. I'm in the same position with prebooked excursions and restaurant reservations, but if they aren't refunded with my cruise refund I shall follow it up using the receipt data.

 

FCCs are happening and hopefully it will help in the industry's recovery, but  conjecture about their validity is not helpful without substance to back it up.

The email I received today about the new cancellations, including the Iona maiden that I was booked on, contained a link to request a refund of prebooked items such as restaurants and shore excursions. They are offering a full cash refund by submitting the form they linked to the email or 110% as onboard credit on a future cruise. I followed the link to ask for a refund (110% OBC is not much of a deal to higher tiers who receive 10% off spends once OBC is used up) and now I need to wait for a few weeks to receive it. It wasn’t difficult.

[Broadside]

Just now, jake 26 said:

 

ABTA's advice and guidance seems sound as offering an FCC alternative to a cash refund helps protect the industry. So P&O are offering a 100% cash refund or 125% FC C when they cancel a cruise.

 

I can't comment on 'many reports' of obstructive and misleading behaviour by P&O and TAs as I haven't seen any.

 

P&O did make a change but the fact that people could cancel their cruise of their own volition and opt for a FCC instead, before P&O cancelled is a merit in my book.

 

I'm aware of the glitch in prebooked items refunds, but if you book online you receive a receipt with a transaction no. So you can follow that through to a refund solution when things settle down. I'm in the same position with prebooked excursions and restaurant reservations, but if they aren't refunded with my cruise refund I shall follow it up using the receipt data.

 

FCCs are happening and hopefully it will help in the industry's recovery, but  conjecture about their validity is not helpful without substance to back it up.

 

Your first paragraph is not ABTA's advice.  The point is P and O's 110 % or 125 % FCC ( seems to change all the time ) is not  neccesarily the same entity as the potential ABTA refund protected credit note. Please dont spread fake news.

 

If you havent seen any please read other threads.

 

Of course there is a reciept for a payment, that is not relevant. The fact is they are not currently being refunded.

 

Establishing the T and C's of  the FCC is not conjecture.

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

I am relieved that my prediction that P&O would today announce the cancellation of cruises up to 13th May was out by 2 days, as we were booked on the Iona Maiden on 14th and I have now applied for a 100% refund for the cruise and our pre paid select dining reservations. Not terribly happy about having to wait 60 days for my money back, but as long as P&O doesn’t go belly up between now and then I can live with it. Better a delay than having to go into battle with P&O / insurers / credit card company etc. 
 

The 125% FCC (or 110% OBC for pre booked dining) didn’t interest me at all. None of the cruises that you can transfer to are still at the cheap launch prices, so there is negligible (if any) benefit of the extra 25% and we had already made bookings (at launch) for any that interested us. I also suspect that there will be far better bargains once this all settles down and cruise companies have to work very hard to build back their business. This whole episode has rather put us off cruising for at least a year or so anyway, perhaps longer, and our loyalty to P&O has been strained. 
 

Those considering taking FCC might want to do some homework first. I was reading a lot about travel companies and ABTA’s ‘advice’ over the weekend and it appears that you lose the right to a refund if you accept an ‘incentive’. I am guessing that FCC at a greater % than the price paid constitutes an ‘incentive’. I believe that you have until November to apply for a cash refund, by which time things will be a lot clearer, but the law might have changed by then and also, although I think it’s highly unlikely, P&O may have gone into administration by then and even if they come out the other side as a ‘new’ company of the same name (as tends to be the norm these days), then credits would be lost. I’m not trying to scaremonger and I am no consumer lawyer, all I am suggesting is that people research very carefully before deciding what to do. For me, a 100% cash refund in these uncertain times was a no brainier.  

Edited March 30, 2020 by Selbourne

[Shirlthesinger]

I agree with you.

[grapau27]

27 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I am relieved that my prediction that P&O would today announce the cancellation of cruises up to 13th May was out by 2 days, as we were booked on the Iona Maiden on 14th and I have now applied for a 100% refund for the cruise and our pre paid select dining reservations. Not terribly happy about having to wait 60 days for my money back, but as long as P&O doesn’t go belly up between now and then I can live with it. Better a delay than having to go into battle with P&O / insurers / credit card company etc. 
 

The 125% FCC (or 110% OBC for pre booked dining) didn’t interest me at all. None of the cruises that you can transfer to are still at the cheap launch prices, so there is negligible (if any) benefit of the extra 25% and we had already made bookings (at launch) for any that interested us. I also suspect that there will be far better bargains once this all settles down and cruise companies have to work very hard to build back their business. This whole episode has rather put us off cruising for at least a year or so anyway, perhaps longer, and our loyalty to P&O has been strained. 
 

Those considering taking FCC might want to do some homework first. I was reading a lot about travel companies and ABTA’s ‘advice’ over the weekend and it appears that you lose the right to a refund if you accept an ‘incentive’. I am guessing that FCC at a greater % than the price paid constitutes an ‘incentive’. I believe that you have until November to apply for a cash refund, by which time things will be a lot clearer, but the law might have changed by then and also, although I think it’s highly unlikely, P&O may have gone into administration by then and even if they come out the other side as a ‘new’ company of the same name (as tends to be the norm these days), then credits would be lost. I’m not trying to scaremonger and I am no consumer lawyer, all I am suggesting is that people research very carefully before deciding what to do. For me, a 100% cash refund in these uncertain times was a no brainier.  

+1.

[jh1809]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

Absolutely agree. Do you all think my June and August cruises will be ok?.

It's guesswork at this point, but I don't think there's the slightest chance that your June cruise will go ahead, and I think even the August one is slightly odds against.

[Trevor Fountain]

I'm booked for November. That's getting cancelled. I want to see a full 12 months of this virus being clear, or at least a vaccine before I'll be cruising again.

[miniyorkie]

3 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

I’m exactly the same, I was in the first wave of refunds as my cruise was 10th April. It said 45 days at the time, but I’m quite tolerant as I know they’re swamped at the moment. I’ll post when I get it and how long it took! 
Be aware I had a refund invoice that had the cancellation fee taken off and was shocked but then noticed another email saying to ignore the cancellation charges. Both these emails had gone to my ‘junk email’ for some reason.

Sue. Still waiting for refund and our cruise was the 21st March Azura T/A and I know others on CC  are also patiently waiting.  We were cancelled (by p.o not on our own volition) before the increase in payment delay terms ie the 16th March. I am hoping they refund in order of cruise date cancellation. Our August Iceland cruise is the next decision, and we may not have received the refund before balance due date on that one. 

 

[Windsurfboy]

 

I expect it will be  May before I get my refund for April's cruise and August before I get the refund for June's cruise. On principle I will fight if necessary for my refund from Carnival, or from insurance or credit card company, it's my money for goods not delivered not their money.

 

However in my mind the money is already spent. When this is over the British hospitality industry will be in dire straits. So I will spend every penny of it and more as soon as we are out of lockdown enjoying our beautiful country and supporting British jobs. A bit xenophobic you may say, but economic regeneration begins at home. I expect the advice against over 70s travelling will last some time so no insurance,  don't need insurance to holiday in UK

 

I will still go abroad as soon as restrictions are lifted,  I will fly to Australia to see the grandchildren, 

 

The uncertainty of booking a cruise 2 years in advance and seeing if the virus will reappear can wait.

[glittergal1]

19 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

I am shocked and flabbergasted by this thread. What are you people talking about cruising for in the near future.

There is very little chance of the current lockdown measures not being extended beyond the date of OP's cruise. Even if they are relaxed going on a cruise in may would be totally irresponsible, and quite honestly P&O and anyone thinking of boarding a ship in May should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.   

I think you missed the point of my Original Post to start the thread

I was pretty sure and Im still pretty sure that Cruises will not be going ahead for many many months maybe even not at all this year .

However the point of the Post Was that P&O were still trying to take money off people for cruises (we are pretty sure  wouldnt go ahead) 

And P&O continue to tell people that they need to pay the balances for their upcoming cruises (cruises we are pretty sure still wont sail) 

P&O leaves everyone in Limbo If you were to have a cruise to set  sail on May 17th and rang P&O today to ask if it was still sailing I can guarantee they wouldnt Say NO  

[Trevor Fountain]

Fair enough Glittergal, maybe I did miss your point. Hope you do eventually get to sail away, and have a wonderful time.