P&O Cancelling Cruise Bookings!

[Eglesbrech]

9 hours ago, Britboys said:

Sadly for P&O though Phil, this just seems to be another gaffe that appears to suggest they don't give a damn about their customers. After the refunds debacle you would think they would try to build up confidence, not destroy it further... 

Particularly when you see how some other lines are handling the same situation. Royal are reducing numbers for the early cruises as well but according to folks on their board they are looking for volunteers and offering a longer cruise later in the year for the same price if people are prepared to move. With that incentive I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers.

 

[Sixfielder]

9 hours ago, Britboys said:

Sadly for P&O though Phil, this just seems to be another gaffe that appears to suggest they don't give a damn about their customers. After the refunds debacle you would think they would try to build up confidence, not destroy it further... 

The cruise industry, and Cunard and P&O in particular, aren't doing themselves any favours.  We have had three QV cruises camcelled now; first time around Cunard were the last of the Carnival group to cancel, but this time must have taken criticism on board and cancelled quickly.  So we thought of booking Iona to Iberia 25th September and the customer services rep was totally unhelpful to the point of being abrupt. She simply kept repeating her script that protocols will be as per government guidance and that masks will have to be worn in all public areas.  Asked what that meant, she clearly hadn't a clue!  Why would we spend £7k on a cruise when they cannot tell us if masks will have to be worn in the cinemas. thetares, gyms, and even dancing?!  So we have decided to spend the money instead on a fortnight in St Barths.  Their loss.

[Pink-belle]

46 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Particularly when you see how some other lines are handling the same situation. Royal are reducing numbers for the early cruises as well but according to folks on their board they are looking for volunteers and offering a longer cruise later in the year for the same price if people are prepared to move. With that incentive I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers.

 

That is exactly what I would have expected from P&O, move over offers the same I have experienced in the past with Princess.

[Pink-belle]

35 minutes ago, Sixfielder said:

The cruise industry, and Cunard and P&O in particular, aren't doing themselves any favours.  We have had three QV cruises camcelled now; first time around Cunard were the last of the Carnival group to cancel, but this time must have taken criticism on board and cancelled quickly.  So we thought of booking Iona to Iberia 25th September and the customer services rep was totally unhelpful to the point of being abrupt. She simply kept repeating her script that protocols will be as per government guidance and that masks will have to be worn in all public areas.  Asked what that meant, she clearly hadn't a clue!  Why would we spend £7k on a cruise when they cannot tell us if masks will have to be worn in the cinemas. thetares, gyms, and even dancing?!  So we have decided to spend the money instead on a fortnight in St Barths.  Their loss.

The thing  is though  the customer service Rep wouldn’t have known,  any more than you know as, as a company P&O have been quite clear they will be following Government guidance.  Today that means yes, masks in the theatre and actually No dancing etc, but 25th September? How could she have answered you any differently?  She shouldn’t have been abrupt, but I think everyone of us get like that sometimes when asked unanswerable questions day after day. 
 

I’m sure a fortnight in St Barths will be wonderful.  

[MX-Drew]

1 minute ago, Pink-belle said:

The thing  is though  the customer service Rep wouldn’t have known,  any more than you know as, as a company P&O have been quite clear they will be following Government guidance.  Today that means yes, masks in the theatre and actually No dancing etc, but 25th September? How could she have answered you any differently?  She shouldn’t have been abrupt, but I think everyone of us get like that sometimes when asked unanswerable questions day after day. 
 

I’m sure a fortnight in St Barths will be wonderful.  

I agree with you Pink-belle on that.

 

I had overlooked that there will be no dancing, Oh well never mind.🤣

 

I wonder when we can breath a sigh of relief?

I do feel really sorry for those who have had their cruise cancelled, and as said before it is probably easier to take if the entire cruise was cancelled.

 

I'm really surprised they are picking BLC discounted bookings as surely that does not show support for front line works who deserve a holiday.

[ann141]

According to a reply by P and O on another social media site P and O are cancelling customers who booked last so if anyone booked as soon as dates were released I suggest phoning P and O and asking why they have been 'bumpedoff'

[lindylooellalouise]

6 minutes ago, ann141 said:

According to a reply by P and O on another social media site P and O are cancelling customers who booked last so if anyone booked as soon as dates were released I suggest phoning P and O and asking why they have been 'bumpedoff'

Hi Ann we phoned yesterday and they couldn’t give me an answer also asked if I re booked could it happen again and they said they couldn’t guarantee it 

[ann141]

3 minutes ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi Ann we phoned yesterday and they couldn’t give me an answer also asked if I re booked could it happen again and they said they couldn’t guarantee it 

I can understand P and O saying they can't guarantee a cruise being cancelled in the future because no one really knows definitely about future government policies etc.It was an official reply by P and O to the question of how people were chosen that I read so possibly the person you spoke to yesterday didn't know but perhaps she should have asked her manager One problem I find with phoning P and O is that you get different answers depending who you speak to.I tend to email instead. Very disappointing for you

[Son of Anarchy]

 If the capacity has been reduced to 1000 pax, that's 500 (give or take a bit)  bookings.

 

I heard many years ago that Artemis' final cruise sold out within 3 hours of release, which would have probably been in excess of 500 bookings.

 

Could it be that over 500 bookings were made on launch day of Britannia's Staycations?   A lot of people out there with FCCs burning holes in their pockets and a lot of people wanting to get away as soon as possible.  Just a thought.

[lindylooellalouise]

2 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I can understand P and O saying they can't guarantee a cruise being cancelled in the future because no one really knows definitely about future government policies etc.It was an official reply by P and O to the question of how people were chosen that I read so possibly the person you spoke to yesterday didn't know but perhaps she should have asked her manager One problem I find with phoning P and O is that you get different answers depending who you speak to.I tend to email instead. Very disappointing for you

Hi Ann what I meant was I asked would I be bumped off again 

 

1 minute ago, Son of Anarchy said:

 If the capacity has been reduced to 1000 pax, that's 500 (give or take a bit)  bookings.

 

I heard many years ago that Artemis' final cruise sold out within 3 hours of release, which would have probably been in excess of 500 bookings.

 

Could it be that over 500 bookings were made on launch day of Britannia's Staycations?   A lot of people out there with FCCs burning holes in their pockets and a lot of people wanting to get away as soon as possible.  Just a thought.

I thought that could be the reason too, but we will never find out I would like to know how many of us have actually been bumped off

[lindylooellalouise]

18 minutes ago, davecttr said:

If Britannia has 3600 passengers and P&O were gambling on a 2/3rds occupancy of 2400 passengers they will have to cancel 1400 passengers per cruise, about 700 cabins worth!

 

Do Iona's cruises not start until August in which case P&O don't know what restrictions will be in place.

 

There are press reports that the 4 week delay might only be a 2 week delay. Order, counterorder = disorder. Imagine the shambles that would cause.

Absolute chaos 

[Josy1953]

I feel so sorry for everyone who has had their cruises cancelled, we were very disappointed last year when ours was cancelled.  It would be interesting to know how they choose which bookings to cancel.

Does anyone know what happened to @joeecco ?  I remember he was worried about his wedding possibly being cancelled because it was on board one of P&I'd ships.

[majortom10]

Sadly P&O once again have shown their contempt for their loyal cruisers. Many have booked car parking, hotels, train bookings and general items in preparation for the cruise and all they get from P&O is the usual claim off your travel insurance.

[molecrochip]

22 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Sadly P&O once again have shown their contempt for their loyal cruisers. Many have booked car parking, hotels, train bookings and general items in preparation for the cruise and all they get from P&O is the usual claim off your travel insurance.

I’m sorry Major Tom but this isn’t P&O’s fault. The government encouraged the industry to proceed as if no capacity restrictions would be in place post 21 June. Now that’s changed, P&O have had to adapt.

 

There was great take up originally for the staycations so it’s possible that you had to book on launch day to be within the first 1000 passengers.

 

Cancellations have been done based on those who booked later. The only early bookings cancelled were any staff/staff family bookings which were ALL cancelled, irrelevant of booking date, before general cancellations commenced.

 

Its worth adding that I don’t believe the BLC discounts weren’t available on launch day hence these may appear to be targeted but it’s based on booking order only.

[molecrochip]

Also to say, P&O have never been responsible for consequential losses such as flights or car parking. That is a big reason for having travel insurance. P&O are right to point customers in that direction.

[MX-Drew]

13 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Also to say, P&O have never been responsible for consequential losses such as flights or car parking. That is a big reason for having travel insurance. P&O are right to point customers in that direction.

Whilst I understand the "that's what travel insurance is for" it would be a good gesture for P&O to pay the insurance excess that most people will have to pay.

[Megabear2]

47 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

I’m sorry Major Tom but this isn’t P&O’s fault. The government encouraged the industry to proceed as if no capacity restrictions would be in place post 21 June. Now that’s changed, P&O have had to adapt.

 

There was great take up originally for the staycations so it’s possible that you had to book on launch day to be within the first 1000 passengers.

 

Cancellations have been done based on those who booked later. The only early bookings cancelled were any staff/staff family bookings which were ALL cancelled, irrelevant of booking date, before general cancellations commenced.

 

Its worth adding that I don’t believe the BLC discounts weren’t available on launch day hence these may appear to be targeted but it’s based on booking order only.

Could you tell me where this information is from?  There are people on other links saying they have been cancelled from Day 1 bookings.  Surely the cruise companies should have noted when they passed 1,000 particularly in light of the predictions of extension of rules that have been around for weeks.

[Ardennais]

Why couldn’t they have been more open with people and possibly have a waitlist once they reached the 1,000 mark? Customers would surely have appreciated that. 

[Gettingwarmer]

3 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Why couldn’t they have been more open with people and possibly have a waitlist once they reached the 1,000 mark? Customers would surely have appreciated that. 

I agree that this would have been a good thing but none of the cruise companies did this and they are all cancelling cruises. This is not solely P&O. 

[Britboys]

3 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I agree that this would have been a good thing but none of the cruise companies did this and they are all cancelling cruises. This is not solely P&O. 

I am sure that all on here realise that it is not only P&O that have used this as a way to bolster their hard-hit finances due to Covid but P&O are still recovering from the Refund debacle, so the last thing they needed was more adverse publicity. I guess they are lucky that the two new mega-ships enable them to sell cruises at bargain-basement prices and attract lots of new customers...

[Purdey16]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

Also to say, P&O have never been responsible for consequential losses such as flights or car parking. That is a big reason for having travel insurance. P&O are right to point customers in that direction.

Agree with that but I have nothing to claim from my insurance company, I just want P&O to refund me for my insurance I took out for the cruise that they have now cancelled! I’m £43 out of pocket, not a lot but it’s the principle, they shouldn’t of taken my booking on 14 th may 

[Ardennais]

13 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

I agree that this would have been a good thing but none of the cruise companies did this and they are all cancelling cruises. This is not solely P&O. 

I know, but it could have worked for all of them and would have retained goodwill. 

[Son of Anarchy]

22 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Why couldn’t they have been more open with people and possibly have a waitlist once they reached the 1,000 mark? Customers would surely have appreciated that. 

A sensible approach.  That's why they didn't do it. 😇

[Pink-belle]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

 

There was great take up originally for the staycations so it’s possible that you had to book on launch day to be within the first 1000 passengers.

 

Its worth adding that I don’t believe the BLC discounts weren’t available on launch day hence these may appear to be targeted but it’s based on booking order only.

Thanks Molecrochip

 

I don’t want to tempt fate, as my cruise has not been cancelled.  I am sailing with a BLC discount, but only because P&O were good enough to reprice my cruise as a gesture of goodwill.  
my original booking was on launch day 22nd March completed by 9:30 am.  BLC discounts were not until the first week of May.  So if they were new bookings that may be why a large proportion seem to be affected. 
 

I understand the overbooking, after all they are a business.  However, I think there should have been more transparency.  People deal better with facts. I have yet to see an official notification from P&O.

we just got reports from others who found themselves cancelled from a much looked forward to holiday. 

 

 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

At least RCI gave the option of a125% Future Cruise Credit when they cancelled cruises