wowzz Posted October 15, 2020 #101 Share Posted October 15, 2020 7 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: So do I move it to a shorter closer to home cruise for summer 2022, when brochures are launched, which means that I accept all the new protocols if still in force by then. If the new protocols are still in force in mid 22, I cannot see how cruising will survive. People may accept the need for official excursions only, for a short while, but not long term. The same with no mixed tables, masks etc. When a cruise becomes an ordeal, people will refuse to pay. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janny444 Posted October 15, 2020 #102 Share Posted October 15, 2020 7 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: I must admit, I'm really wondering what to do for the best. I know that I no longer want to go on the cruise. Even though it's not until January 2022, after all that has happened, its too far from home and too long to be away. So do I move it to a shorter closer to home cruise for summer 2022, when brochures are launched, which means that I accept all the new protocols if still in force by then. Wait and see what happens and move the cruise later, risking very high fares for any new cruise I may move too. Wait and go down the charge back route if the cruise is not as originally sold to me. Wait for P&O to cancel - I don't think the world will be ready for long cruises in 15 months time, so I believe this cruise will be unlikely to happen. I normally find it easy to make decisions, but I'm struggling on this. Hi....some decisions are easier to make than others....unfortunately this is not one of the easy decisions. I think you have decided that the January 22 is a definite no go so then you have to go with the option that you are most comfortable with which may be changing it to Summer 2022 and one that is shorter and closer to home. Hopefully by Summer 2022 the restrictions and protocols will have relaxed by then.....it would certainly give more time for that to happen. Yes you could go through the chargeback option but that will probably mean a lot of hassle and arguing your point....when we book holidays it is to have less hassle in our lives....not more. One of the cruises that we have enjoyed the most was surprisingly the Round Britain cruise....we really really enjoyed that cruise.....you couldn't be much closer to home and if whatever was happening on the cruise wasn't to your liking you could always get off and go home ! 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 15, 2020 #103 Share Posted October 15, 2020 28 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: I must admit, I'm really wondering what to do for the best. I know that I no longer want to go on the cruise. Even though it's not until January 2022, after all that has happened, its too far from home and too long to be away. So do I move it to a shorter closer to home cruise for summer 2022, when brochures are launched, which means that I accept all the new protocols if still in force by then. Wait and see what happens and move the cruise later, risking very high fares for any new cruise I may move too. Wait and go down the charge back route if the cruise is not as originally sold to me. Wait for P&O to cancel - I don't think the world will be ready for long cruises in 15 months time, so I believe this cruise will be unlikely to happen. I normally find it easy to make decisions, but I'm struggling on this. I think that this is a difficult choice. A few pointers: 1) As the cruise is not until January 2022, you don't need to pay any more until October next year. Who knows where we will be a year from now? It could be much brighter than most of us think. If it's not well then you still haven't paid them any more money. 2) The certainty you need is will you be allowed to move your deposit to a cruise in the new brochure. If not, then that limits your options, but it helps with certainty. 3) If you can move the cruise in to the new brochure then bump it in to the long grass on a shorter cruise close to home whilst the prices are low at pre-registration and then not worry about it for 18 months. Yes, you might not get the 25% bonus on the deposit, but then no one is really going to benefit with the prices. 4) If you can't move the cruise in to the new brochure then find a week on Iona in Winter 2022, we've got one for early late March/April 2022. There are some cheap deals there, as P&O can't fill the cabins. Your deposit will more than cover a decent cabin deposit on that cruise, plus, the furthest you will be going is Germany. If you are right that the world is not ready then you get your money back. If not, when the balance comes due in January 2022 you can decide then whether to accept the protocol's or lose the deposit. It's still the same money that you would lose by cancelling now. By then, clarity on the legal / chargeback provision will have come up too. Hope that this helps you 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 15, 2020 #104 Share Posted October 15, 2020 32 minutes ago, wowzz said: While I totally agree with you about the cruise no longer being the same as the one you booked. I suspect that you will find it difficult to get the cc company to agree. Hopefully I will be proved wrong. You may be right Wowzz... The strongest argument that passengers have is that you have booked a cruise to an expected range of destinations, under the guise that you could visit those places should the ship be able to safely call at port. The passenger is now required to pay additional monies to leave the ship. That's not covered by the terms and conditions, and there's not a requirement for the passenger to accept an increase in price. Somebody cleverer than I will develop this! The whole sorry business about masks and dining is a red herring. The company is still offering a full board cruise with substantially the same facilities, even though the experience is not the same. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manx buoy Posted October 15, 2020 #105 Share Posted October 15, 2020 37 minutes ago, wowzz said: While I totally agree with you about the cruise no longer being the same as the one you booked. I suspect that you will find it difficult to get the cc company to agree. Hopefully I will be proved wrong. All we can do is try and hopefully they’ll see sense and allow refunds by then if your not wishing to travel. Also we’re in insides for them so they might cull us off anyway🤞🤞🤞. If they don’t play ball there’ll be nothing more coming their way from us that’s for sure 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted October 15, 2020 #106 Share Posted October 15, 2020 1 hour ago, wowzz said: If the new protocols are still in force in mid 22, I cannot see how cruising will survive. People may accept the need for official excursions only, for a short while, but not long term. The same with no mixed tables, masks etc. When a cruise becomes an ordeal, people will refuse to pay. As time goes on, the future of the cruise companies becomes even more dicey. I thought there might be some cruising by springtime, but this seems increasingly unlikely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted October 15, 2020 #107 Share Posted October 15, 2020 1 hour ago, janny444 said: Hi....some decisions are easier to make than others....unfortunately this is not one of the easy decisions. I think you have decided that the January 22 is a definite no go so then you have to go with the option that you are most comfortable with which may be changing it to Summer 2022 and one that is shorter and closer to home. Hopefully by Summer 2022 the restrictions and protocols will have relaxed by then.....it would certainly give more time for that to happen. Yes you could go through the chargeback option but that will probably mean a lot of hassle and arguing your point....when we book holidays it is to have less hassle in our lives....not more. One of the cruises that we have enjoyed the most was surprisingly the Round Britain cruise....we really really enjoyed that cruise.....you couldn't be much closer to home and if whatever was happening on the cruise wasn't to your liking you could always get off and go home ! 🙂 Actually, I love round Britain cruises. I’ve done one on Oriana and a couple with CMV, and all of them were very enjoyable. if there’s a suitable cruise on the P&O summer 2022 schedule it would be something to consider. I’m probably most comfortable with moving the cruise on to summer 2022, just to stop thinking about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 15, 2020 #108 Share Posted October 15, 2020 I assume that most posters have only paid a deposit so far, and for most of the past 12 months this has only been 5%, so it seems there is a disproportionate amount of hot air being generated about the changed cruise experience. Certainly if I was not prepared to cruise under the proposed protocols I would not pay any balance until circumstances change, but the deposits can be moved onto summer 2022 cruises and surely things will have improved by then, if not the country will be bankrupt, and we will have far more to worry about than the loss of deposits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted October 15, 2020 #109 Share Posted October 15, 2020 52 minutes ago, No pager thank you said: 4) If you can't move the cruise in to the new brochure then find a week on Iona in Winter 2022, we've got one for early late March/April 2022. There are some cheap deals there, as P&O can't fill the cabins. Your deposit will more than cover a decent cabin deposit on that cruise, plus, the furthest you will be going is Germany. If you are right that the world is not ready then you get your money back. If not, when the balance comes due in January 2022 you can decide then whether to accept the protocol's or lose the deposit. We are booked on Iona for March 2020, and are waiting for P&O to cancel, so a replacement Iona cruise is something that we are thinking about, and what we’ve paid so far would certainly cover our deposit. It’s good to bounce a few ideas round 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted October 15, 2020 #110 Share Posted October 15, 2020 5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: I assume that most posters have only paid a deposit so far, and for most of the past 12 months this has only been 5%, so it seems there is a disproportionate amount of hot air being generated about the changed cruise experience. Certainly if I was not prepared to cruise under the proposed protocols I would not pay any balance until circumstances change, but the deposits can be moved onto summer 2022 cruises and surely things will have improved by then, if not the country will be bankrupt, and we will have far more to worry about than the loss of deposits. For our 55 night cruise we paid nearly £800 deposit, which is a substantial sum of money for me. I’ve also got a Queen Victoria cruise where I’ve paid a £1500 deposit, which is an even more substantial sum of money. In my view, the best part of £2500 is worth canvassing opinions, and I’d like to thank people who have responded. it might be hot air to you, but it’s important to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 15, 2020 #111 Share Posted October 15, 2020 16 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: For our 55 night cruise we paid nearly £800 deposit, which is a substantial sum of money for me. I’ve also got a Queen Victoria cruise where I’ve paid a £1500 deposit, which is an even more substantial sum of money. In my view, the best part of £2500 is worth canvassing opinions, and I’d like to thank people who have responded. it might be hot air to you, but it’s important to me. I did say most posters, obviously you fall into the other category. I do sympathise with you but, just like you, the cruise lines never budgeted for this pandemic and I cannot envisage them offering a blanket refund because of the change in the on board experience, especially when they are allowing you to move the deposit back to at least summer 2022 season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 15, 2020 #112 Share Posted October 15, 2020 1 hour ago, terrierjohn said: I did say most posters, obviously you fall into the other category. I do sympathise with you but, just like you, the cruise lines never budgeted for this pandemic and I cannot envisage them offering a blanket refund because of the change in the on board experience, especially when they are allowing you to move the deposit back to at least summer 2022 season. Hi John, I don't think that it has been confirmed that the deposits can be moved in to the summer 2022 brochure yet. The latest from P&O is the flexible transfer policy may be withdrawn at any time. This would mean that the choice for some passengers will be to either accept the restrictions, or lose their cash. That's part of the reason why some passengers are saying that the company's stance is more unreasonable than is necessary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted October 15, 2020 #113 Share Posted October 15, 2020 My TA told me I can move next year's deposits to the new brochure. Obviously he can only go by what he has been told and it could change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 15, 2020 #114 Share Posted October 15, 2020 1 hour ago, No pager thank you said: Hi John, I don't think that it has been confirmed that the deposits can be moved in to the summer 2022 brochure yet. The latest from P&O is the flexible transfer policy may be withdrawn at any time. This would mean that the choice for some passengers will be to either accept the restrictions, or lose their cash. That's part of the reason why some passengers are saying that the company's stance is more unreasonable than is necessary. My understanding is that they have always said it could be applied to any current or future offer, and the date to do this has already been extended into next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted October 15, 2020 #115 Share Posted October 15, 2020 4 hours ago, terrierjohn said: most posters have only paid a deposit so far, and for most of the past 12 months this has only been 5%, John, it depends on the base cost of the cruise. 5% of my 35 day cruise is rather more than 5% of a 3 day trip to Bruges and back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 15, 2020 #116 Share Posted October 15, 2020 52 minutes ago, jeanlyon said: My TA told me I can move next year's deposits to the new brochure. Obviously he can only go by what he has been told and it could change. Hi Jean, That's the current position. However, in response to a question on the same topic on their Facebook page, P&O did say explicitly that their policy on flexible transfers of 2021 cruise deposits (up to March 2022) could change at any time. I don't know why P&O would say that unless it was on the cards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 15, 2020 #117 Share Posted October 15, 2020 11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: My understanding is that they have always said it could be applied to any current or future offer, and the date to do this has already been extended into next year. Hi John, I think you may be referring to unredeemed FCCs. If you have booked a cruise for 2021, either with a cash or a FCC deposit, then the current policy is that you can flexibly transfer, without penalty. However P&O have said explicitly on Facebook that this policy could change at any time. I don't know why they would say this if it was not being contemplated? Hopefully it proves to be wrong from P&O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted October 15, 2020 #118 Share Posted October 15, 2020 21 minutes ago, No pager thank you said: Hi John, I think you may be referring to unredeemed FCCs. If you have booked a cruise for 2021, either with a cash or a FCC deposit, then the current policy is that you can flexibly transfer, without penalty. However P&O have said explicitly on Facebook that this policy could change at any time. I don't know why they would say this if it was not being contemplated? Hopefully it proves to be wrong from P&O. My view is that everything written on FB by P&O is checked and double checked prior to being put online. There is a single party line, and, after a while, you can see that the replies are just cut and paste jobs. There is never a personalised answer to any difficult question. So, when P&O say that the cancellation policy can change at any time, I think you can take it as read that the policy will be changing, but who knows when. You can of course try shaming them into an admission of intention on their FB page, or just ask a straight forward, if awkward question (as I have done), but you will get no response. Strangely enough, if you say how much you love P&O, and welcome their draconian measures, you will immediately get a warm reply. Isn't that strange! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 16, 2020 #119 Share Posted October 16, 2020 8 hours ago, wowzz said: John, it depends on the base cost of the cruise. 5% of my 35 day cruise is rather more than 5% of a 3 day trip to Bruges and back. I agree but that's nitpicking, I work on 14 day cruises as an average, and then most deposits would not be a major loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 16, 2020 #120 Share Posted October 16, 2020 8 hours ago, No pager thank you said: Hi John, I think you may be referring to unredeemed FCCs. If you have booked a cruise for 2021, either with a cash or a FCC deposit, then the current policy is that you can flexibly transfer, without penalty. However P&O have said explicitly on Facebook that this policy could change at any time. I don't know why they would say this if it was not being contemplated? Hopefully it proves to be wrong from P&O. A reasonable point NP, but let's just hope your cynicism is unfounded, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manx buoy Posted October 16, 2020 #121 Share Posted October 16, 2020 25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: I agree but that's nitpicking, I work on 14 day cruises as an average, and then most deposits would not be a major loss. I don’t think it’s nitpicking and any money lost is a major loss whether it be £50 or £5000 it’s your money not theirs a lot of people will be needing it to live on and last time I looked P&O weren’t a charity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manx buoy Posted October 16, 2020 #122 Share Posted October 16, 2020 8 hours ago, wowzz said: My view is that everything written on FB by P&O is checked and double checked prior to being put online. There is a single party line, and, after a while, you can see that the replies are just cut and paste jobs. There is never a personalised answer to any difficult question. So, when P&O say that the cancellation policy can change at any time, I think you can take it as read that the policy will be changing, but who knows when. You can of course try shaming them into an admission of intention on their FB page, or just ask a straight forward, if awkward question (as I have done), but you will get no response. Strangely enough, if you say how much you love P&O, and welcome their draconian measures, you will immediately get a warm reply. Isn't that strange! Trouble is they state one thing on FB then one of their phone agents tells people the opposite I.e. the need to pay final balances for one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted October 16, 2020 #123 Share Posted October 16, 2020 6 minutes ago, Manx buoy said: I don’t think it’s nitpicking and any money lost is a major loss whether it be £50 or £5000 it’s your money not theirs a lot of people will be needing it to live on and last time I looked P&O weren’t a charity I was not referring to the legitimate refunds from P&O, rather the possibility that P&O might ultimately stop allowing you to move deposits leaving customers with the choice of sailing during a period with restrictions they would not feel comfortable with, or losing their deposit as they cancel on standard T&Cs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No pager thank you Posted October 16, 2020 #124 Share Posted October 16, 2020 9 hours ago, wowzz said: There is never a personalised answer to any difficult question. Strangely enough, if you say how much you love P&O, and welcome their draconian measures, you will immediately get a warm reply. Isn't that strange! A personal bug bear is the overuse of exclamation marks and emojis to the "can't wait to book for summer 2022" messages, so I only check it occasionally. P&O trying to come across as being their best friend .... bit unusual. Generally speaking, the social media team are the best at sticking to the party line with the preprepared responses. As has been said elsewhere, quite often the same messaging doesn't filter through to the customer service team and call centre. Therefore, customers correctly cite inconsistencies in the application of the policy around current/new bookings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweep2907 Posted October 16, 2020 #125 Share Posted October 16, 2020 Do any of you knowledgeable lot know what rough dates this new 2022 brochure will take us up to? I assume it does not quite cover Transatlantic cruises October 2022? I do seem to remember booking one of these in the spring before 18 month beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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