Balance due

[BestGuessed]

Thank you majortom 10.  
You are right that the loss of circa £250 in the general scheme of things isn’t that much ....   I think we are beginning to lean that way and won’t pay the balance if they insist it be paid on 6th December.

[ann141]

11 minutes ago, BestGuessed said:

Thank you ann141. 
We are booked through a TA so will have to ask them to negotiate on our behalf. 
I have to say they have always been excellent unlike the experiences of some of the other posters on here who are less than impressed, so we will see if they can pull any strings for us.

I agree that the package we booked and the experience that will inevitably be provided could be grounds for us to have a refund??

 

Good Luck.In the last year I have managed to have an extension of balance date through a TA (not for a P and O cruise)and also with a direct booking via P and O though on another occasion with P and O they wouldn t budge!

Both cruises were subsequently cancelled before revised balance due date so only had to apply for a refund of the deposit

Edited November 17, 2020 by ann141

[AnnieC]

1 hour ago, BestGuessed said:

My husband and I have been following this thread as we too along with both Dermotsgirl and lindylooellalouise are worried about what to do as far as paying the balance on this cruise goes.  

What exactly will we be paying for as none of us can possibly know whether ....
 

A) The cruise will go ahead

B) The ship will be docking at any of the ports we are expecting to visit

C) And what will the onboard experience consist of?

As the onboard experience is a very big part of our holiday  (we love the theatre shows, the live music and particularly enjoy dancing) this is leaving us in a huge quandary.  
We will take a pretty dim view if P&O expect us to pay the balance in three weeks time and we don’t have a clue what we will be getting for our money. 
We can’t transfer the deposit to  later next year or 2022 as we already have cruises booked for then.  
Does anyone think an extension into January, or possibly to six weeks before expected sailing date is possible and should we all start requesting such an extension?  
P&O can’t possibly know what they will be able to provide come March and as such should not be able to insist we pay the balance for what is essentially a hypothetical holiday.

More comments and advice will be very welcome please !!

Beautifully put, and I feel for everyone in this position. Hope you, and all the others with bookings in the fairly near future  are successful in delaying final payment until the picture is clearer, though the picture seems pretty clear to many of us right now.

[BestGuessed]

Thank you Ann.
We are getting the impression from our TA that P&O won’t budge on this occasion either. 
I think it’s very wrong taking into account the present circumstances.  

The lack of goodwill definitely doesn’t make us keen to do further P&O cruises in the future. We will be exploring other cruiseline options from now on !!

[BestGuessed]

Thank you AnnieC.

I honestly don’t think P&O are doing themselves any favours in taking this stance.

A lot of people are going to feel very disillusioned with their current attitude and won’t forget in a hurry !!

[Dermotsgirl]

41 minutes ago, BestGuessed said:

Thank you Dermotsgirl.

Yes we will definitely hang on as long as we can too and put up a bit of a fight if we have to !!
To be fair our deposit isn’t massive either, I think it was around £250 but we still don’t particularly want to lose it. 
Will you consider sticking with the possibility of going and decide to pay in full do you think?  Or do you feel that the experience we will have (if we actually sail of course) will be so far removed from our expectations of a cruise that it will just be a complete waste of money?

We were on board Oceana in March this year at the time the ports were all shutting down and we returned to Southampton early.  Our March cruises from Southampton seem to be ill fated !!

I see you live in Kent ... We are from Kent too ...  near Maidstone.
Cruising from Southampton is such an easy option from here,  made even better as there are no airports/flights involved. 👍🏻😁

 

 

I live in the Medway towns, so not too far from you. It’s a nice run down to Southampton from here. We’ve also cruised from Tilbury with CMV, and that was a breeze.

 

Whatever happens, we won’t be paying in full for this cruise, as we just don’t want to go anymore. It’s difficult to imagine how a 2 week cruise to Spain could happen in 3 and a half months time and if it did happen, the onboard experience would be very restrictive. Also, it is said that people wouldn’t be able to go ashore independently, but would have to book a P&O tour to preserve the ‘bubble’. Plus the necessity to be tested before boarding and questions about what would happen if Covid got onboard.....it’s not much of a holiday.

 

my balance was due on 6th November with the travel agent. They’ve delayed the date to 26th November. But I don’t think there’s any chance of P&O delaying their due date, unfortunately 

 

 

[Splice the mainbrace]

1 hour ago, BestGuessed said:

Thank you majortom 10.  
You are right that the loss of circa £250 in the general scheme of things isn’t that much ....   I think we are beginning to lean that way and won’t pay the balance if they insist it be paid on 6th December.

 

I seem to remember that in normal times you can transfer a P&O cruise for £100. So you could transfer to a 2022 cruise that you have no intention of going on for free with their current transfer policy, then move it again for free (if still available) or £100 to a 2023 one when they are released.

[grapau27]

On 11/14/2020 at 7:27 PM, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi all can’t believe I’m in this situation again 6th time this year. Now  the balance is due for my Iona 6th March 2021 really want to believe this cruise will go ahead but have some niggling doubts I don’t want to pay in case it’s cancelled because have had some horrendous problems with TA I do realise bottom line it’s up to me but would appreciate some of your views.

Personally I would ring your TA and transfer your booking for late 2021 or better still till 2022.

Write down all your questions so you are organised and go into their office or ring them.

Be pleasant but assertive and if they won't help tell them you are going direct to P&O and tell them what is happening.

There are plenty of review sites where you could tell your story which I'm sure your TA won't want bad feedback.

Good luck.

Graham.

[majortom10]

49 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

 

I seem to remember that in normal times you can transfer a P&O cruise for £100. So you could transfer to a 2022 cruise that you have no intention of going on for free with their current transfer policy, then move it again for free (if still available) or £100 to a 2023 one when they are released.

Currently P&O policy is if it is a Select fare booking you can move it free of charge.

 

[majortom10]

On 11/14/2020 at 8:02 PM, lindylooellalouise said:

Yes would like to transfer to a 2022 booking but past experience our Ta has cancelled and rebooked so they receive further commissions 

I would try and transfer booking to 2022 and if your TA tries and say you have to cancel and rebook say that is not P&Os policy for transferring booking. I was in a similar position to you having a cruise on Britannia for 6th May and transferred it to another cruise in May 2022 and it took my TA a matter of minutes to book new cruise and said P&O would take care of cancelling old cruise and free parking. It was so simple and quick.

[Alftupper]

Hi all thanks for all the good advice will definitely ring the ta and ask to move to cruise

Edited November 18, 2020 by Alftupper
Wrong post

[BestGuessed]

23 hours ago, BestGuessed said:

My husband and I have been following this thread as we too along with both Dermotsgirl and lindylooellalouise are worried about what to do as far as paying the balance on this cruise goes.  

What exactly will we be paying for as none of us can possibly know whether ....
 

A) The cruise will go ahead

B) The ship will be docking at any of the ports we are expecting to visit

C) And what will the onboard experience consist of?

As the onboard experience is a very big part of our holiday  (we love the theatre shows, the live music and particularly enjoy dancing) this is leaving us in a huge quandary.  
We will take a pretty dim view if P&O expect us to pay the balance in three weeks time and we don’t have a clue what we will be getting for our money. 
We can’t transfer the deposit to  later next year or 2022 as we already have cruises booked for then.  
Does anyone think an extension into January, or possibly to six weeks before expected sailing date is possible and should we all start requesting such an extension?  
P&O can’t possibly know what they will be able to provide come March and as such should not be able to insist we pay the balance for what is essentially a hypothetical holiday.

More comments and advice will be very welcome please !!

 

[BestGuessed]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post as above ... we have made the decision not to pay the balance and to try to get a FCC if possible but if we are not able to get a credit against a 2023 cruise we will just lose the deposit.  
So the decision is made ... thank you everyone for all your help.

[lindylooellalouise]

8 minutes ago, BestGuessed said:

 

Hi that’s exactly how we feel would love to be on the cruise but not sure what restrictions will be in place or will the cruise be cancelled then we can take the refund  still waiting for our ta to call us back regarding our options to transfer our cruise it would be easier for us if it was cancelled sooner rather than later 

[No pager thank you]

On the same topic, our next balance is due to P&O direct on Christmas Eve...

 

The issues are:

 

-- The cruise is supposed to be on Aurora.  Most of the intelligence suggests that if a restart is attempted early in the New Year, it is going to be on the larger ships and possibly on "no stop" itineraries.

 

-- Unlike the Canary Islands, it does not appear that the Norwegians are as keen on the international cruise lines having itineraries.

 

-- Beyond seeing the beautiful fjords, any of the scenic stops are severely limited if you are prevented from disembarking and roaming freely.

 

My conclusions are that the cruise is unlikely to depart and if it does, we are not sure that we want to be onboard.  Inflexibility persists in terms of the right to say no to the "experience" of cruising with Covid-19.

 

We also don't fancy getting locked into a Summer 2022 cruise given the mess that has been customer service in 2020 and we are fully booked up in to the brochure up to March 2022.  Determined not to give them any extra money 💰💲

 

Kind of means we have to hope it gets cancelled ... sorry to those who want to go, hope that you can.

 

Just hoping that the cancellation Santa 🎅 comes early and preferably takes the current shore side service standards away on his sleigh ...

 

[wowzz]

33 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Unlike the Canary Islands, it does not appear that the Norwegians are as keen on the international cruise lines having itineraries.

 

Given that Spain now requires all visitors to have negative CV19 test results less than 72 hours prior to arrival, I'm not sure your observation is actually valid.

[bobstheboy]

It would be nice to have a crystal ball. I took the chance, with a low deposit and option to change booking to a later date, to book a Ventura cruise for next August. Balance due in May so plenty of time to decide. who knows how things will be in May, never mind August ?

[No pager thank you]

https://thecanarynews.com/2020/10/22/the-government-of-the-canary-islands-has-authorised-cruise-ships-to-operate-between-the-canarian-ports/

 

Yes, it's correct that the Canary Islands require negative tests.  However, this article implies that the Government has been working with a number of the cruise companies to find a way for their Winter itineraries to be - theoretically - possible, which makes sense given how critical tourism is to those economies.  Emphasis on theoretically...

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2020/08/03/norway-says-no-to-cruises-after-hurtigruten-coronavirus-outbreak/

 

Admittedly this article is from August, but I haven't seen anything positive particularly from Norway, even though that particular country is on our travel corridor the last time I checked.

 

Happy to be corrected, this was my source "m'lurd" 😁

 

Just don't see a Winter itinerary to Norway at the moment...🤔

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, No pager thank you said:

https://thecanarynews.com/2020/10/22/the-government-of-the-canary-islands-has-authorised-cruise-ships-to-operate-between-the-canarian-ports/

 

Yes, it's correct that the Canary Islands require negative tests.  However, this article implies that the Government has been working with a number of the cruise companies to find a way for their Winter itineraries to be - theoretically - possible, which makes sense given how critical tourism is to those economies.  Emphasis on theoretically...

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidnikel/2020/08/03/norway-says-no-to-cruises-after-hurtigruten-coronavirus-outbreak/

 

Admittedly this article is from August, but I haven't seen anything positive particularly from Norway, even though that particular country is on our travel corridor the last time I checked.

 

Happy to be corrected, this was my source "m'lurd" 😁

 

Just don't see a Winter itinerary to Norway at the moment...🤔

I think policies with regard to tourism and CV19 have moved on significantly since the Canary News link, which is a month old.

And,  let's face it, most cruise pax don't make a significant impact on the overall economy of each island. A few beers, a souvenir made in China, and back to the ship for lunch!  

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

I think policies with regard to tourism and CV19 have moved on significantly since the Canary News link, which is a month old.

And,  let's face it, most cruise pax don't make a significant impact on the overall economy of each island. A few beers, a souvenir made in China, and back to the ship for lunch!  

You're forgetting port  charges,  coach tour operators and guides, and for those cafes, bars and restaurants near the ports cruise passengers probaby account for 80 or 90% of their trade.

[wowzz]

22 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You're forgetting port  charges,  coach tour operators and guides, and for those cafes, bars and restaurants near the ports cruise passengers probaby account for 80 or 90% of their trade.

No, I've not forgotten any of those things, with regards to the Canaries,  where cruise passengers make up a relatively small contribution to the overall tourist economy,  because they make up only around 10 % of the tourist numbers to the islands, but more importantly, land based tourists stay around 8 days each,  compared to 8 hours for a cruise passenger. The spend per land based tourist versus cruiser is thus vastly greater.

Obviously I agree that there is a benefit with regards to port charges etc, but the Canaries as a whole  would not suffer significant economic loss if no cruising took place for the forseeable future.

[terrierjohn]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

No, I've not forgotten any of those things, with regards to the Canaries,  where cruise passengers make up a relatively small contribution to the overall tourist economy,  because they make up only around 10 % of the tourist numbers to the islands, but more importantly, land based tourists stay around 8 days each,  compared to 8 hours for a cruise passenger. The spend per land based tourist versus cruiser is thus vastly greater.

Obviously I agree that there is a benefit with regards to port charges etc, but the Canaries as a whole  would not suffer significant economic loss if no cruising took place for the forseeable future.

Then why is their tourist industry so anxious to see cruise ship visits restart?

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Then why is their tourist industry so anxious to see cruise ship visits restart?

They are keen for all tourism to restart, not just cruises, but not at all costs, hence the new rules starting Monday.

 

 

[BestGuessed]

Travel agent has informed us yesterday that we have been allowed a weeks extension before our balance is due which gives us until 13th December to pay the balance on the Iona cruise for 6th March.  
We have also been informed that  cruises have been paused on Seabourn and Holland America lines until the end of March.  
Are these lines both part of Carnival group as we believe they are? If so it would not be unreasonable to expect that the first Iona cruise in March will be cancelled.  

Has anyone else heard anything about this either from their TA or from P&O? 
 

[lindylooellalouise]

Hi our ta which are a nightmare are pestering us to make the final payment and we’re trying to stall, same cruise Iona 6 th March we feel it’s going to be cancelled