Do P+O allow for changes after booking if room credit is increased?

[Dinglebert]

I suspect I know the answer but given Royal are doing it I want to check about PandO.

 

In short my cruise next April if I was to buy it today offers an extra £210 in cabin credit than when I booked.  The price of the cabin is only £40 more so basically £170 cheaper.

 

If I cancelled and rebooked it wouldn't be worth it as would lose the current deposit, also my current airport Glasgow is not showing as an option which I hope means it has sold out rather than no flight.

 

I booked via a travel agent whose phones are not working so I can't ask them other than to email.

 

Before anyone asks no I wouldn't be offering to pay extra if the price went up.  However under current rules from other cruise lines I would be able to get the extra credit.

[thornegirl]

40 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

I suspect I know the answer but given Royal are doing it I want to check about PandO.

 

In short my cruise next April if I was to buy it today offers an extra £210 in cabin credit than when I booked.  The price of the cabin is only £40 more so basically £170 cheaper.

 

If I cancelled and rebooked it wouldn't be worth it as would lose the current deposit, also my current airport Glasgow is not showing as an option which I hope means it has sold out rather than no flight.

 

I booked via a travel agent whose phones are not working so I can't ask them other than to email.

 

Before anyone asks no I wouldn't be offering to pay extra if the price went up.  However under current rules from other cruise lines I would be able to get the extra credit.

I've just moved a cruise that was booked via a TA from a cruise on Ventura in October this year to a cruise on Arvia in March '24.  They moved the deposit from the October cruise to the March '24 cruise, I had to pay a little more deposit because of the increase in the cost of the March cruise.  No problems at all.

[Dinglebert]

15 minutes ago, thornegirl said:

I've just moved a cruise that was booked via a TA from a cruise on Ventura in October this year to a cruise on Arvia in March '24.  They moved the deposit from the October cruise to the March '24 cruise, I had to pay a little more deposit because of the increase in the cost of the March cruise.  No problems at all.

This cruise has been moved twice already due to covid followed by a health issue.   Trouble is this time I don't want to move the cruise I just want them to offer it to me at the same price as if I was buying it now.

[Trevor Fountain]

Not a chance.

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, Dinglebert said:

This cruise has been moved twice already due to covid followed by a health issue.   Trouble is this time I don't want to move the cruise I just want them to offer it to me at the same price as if I was buying it now.

You could move your cruise to a random future cruise, and then re-book your original cruise,  so as to get the extra obc.

However,  I suspect even the decrepit P&O IT system will pick up on your ruse, and not allow it.

[Gettingwarmer]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

You could move your cruise to a random future cruise, and then re-book your original cruise,  so as to get the extra obc.

However,  I suspect even the decrepit P&O IT system will pick up on your ruse, and not allow it.

They might lose their Glasgow flight. 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Gettingwarmer said:

They might lose their Glasgow flight. 

Good point.

[Dinglebert]

Thanks all.  My TA is saying not a hope (or words to that effect).   I would move forward and back but the Glasgow flight thing is an issue.  The nearest is showing as Manchester and I'm not going to risk that.

[wowzz]

44 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

Thanks all.  My TA is saying not a hope (or words to that effect).   I would move forward and back but the Glasgow flight thing is an issue.  The nearest is showing as Manchester and I'm not going to risk that.

Strange that your TA is saying no chance, whereas the TA that many of us use, do this re-booking all the time !

Time for a new TA ?

[Jennizor]

I rebooked my upcoming Eastern Med cruise after receiving a special offer from P&O earlier in the year. The only thing I couldn’t do was keep my original cabin on C deck as there was a wait list for that deck. I changed to A deck and got a decent cabin. I finished up with a much better deal all done over the phone direct with P & O.

[Dinglebert]

just back from a RCI cruise so quick update.  I contacted my travel agent again and said why could I not shift and reshift cruise.  They stated they could do that but would charge me £50 each to do it.  Frankly last time I will be booking with an agent.

[Billish]

56 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

just back from a RCI cruise so quick update.  I contacted my travel agent again and said why could I not shift and reshift cruise.  They stated they could do that but would charge me £50 each to do it.  Frankly last time I will be booking with an agent.

Are you sure that the charge is not one imposed by the cruise company, and not the TA ?

Princess, for example,  allow you to refare once, but impose a £100 charge to do so.  

[Jazzytelly]

Our TA advises to change to a random cruise and then change it back. They did that for me on a cruise earlier in the year and managed to get the cabin next door to the one I had before,

 

We also moved our Arvia cruise recently to a month earlier to take advantage of the extra OBC. 
 

P & O do not charge for moving a cruise but they probably do charge for changing cabins on an already booked cruise, which is why the TA is saying book a random cruise then rebook original. Of course the main problem the OP has is the flight.

 

If P& O offer free transfer the TA should not charge you extra, ours definitely doesn’t. I would ask to move to a different TA but also not use them again.
 

 

[Megabear2]

43 minutes ago, Jazzytelly said:

Our TA advises to change to a random cruise and then change it back. They did that for me on a cruise earlier in the year and managed to get the cabin next door to the one I had before,

 

We also moved our Arvia cruise recently to a month earlier to take advantage of the extra OBC. 
 

P & O do not charge for moving a cruise but they probably do charge for changing cabins on an already booked cruise, which is why the TA is saying book a random cruise then rebook original. Of course the main problem the OP has is the flight.

 

If P& O offer free transfer the TA should not charge you extra, ours definitely doesn’t. I would ask to move to a different TA but also not use them again.
 

 

Some of the American cruise lines have returned to "normal" terms and conditions, ie no free changes.  If P&O should do this there would be a charge and also it would have to be a more expensive cruise to move to.

 

The free moving is a great benefit which hopefully will stay a while longer but we should be aware it most likely won't be here forever unfortunately.

[zap99]

29 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Some of the American cruise lines have returned to "normal" terms and conditions, ie no free changes.  If P&O should do this there would be a charge and also it would have to be a more expensive cruise to move to.

 

The free moving is a great benefit which hopefully will stay a while longer but we should be aware it most likely won't be here forever unfortunately.

Once you have paid the final balance.......not a hope. I emailed his lordship. Answered by his executive team. After a thorough investigation we can tell you that this new promotion does not apply to your booking, but are sure you will have a wonderful cruise on Iona. I thanked them for their ' thorough ' investigation, but pointed out that we were actually on Britannia.🤣

[Billish]

5 hours ago, Dinglebert said:

Frankly last time I will be booking with an agent.

Personally I think that would be a mistake.

Unfortunately you have picked a bad TA. The good ones, which many of us on here use, would not make such a charge. 

There are pros and cons for using TAs as opposed to booking direct. We find that using a good TA preferable to booking direct, especially as it is so difficult to contact P&O directly.

[Camberley]

After a dodgy agent years ago - which early put me off travelling - I swapped to another and now always use them.
 

I have found my TA to be SO many times better than booking and dealing with P&O directly, who I have found to be barely competent in terms of effective contact and clear info. A good TA is a real god-send 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Camberley

[Dinglebert]

1 hour ago, Billish said:

Personally I think that would be a mistake.

Unfortunately you have picked a bad TA. The good ones, which many of us on here use, would not make such a charge. 

There are pros and cons for using TAs as opposed to booking direct. We find that using a good TA preferable to booking direct, especially as it is so difficult to contact P&O directly.

I understand agents cannot be named on this forum so won't.   However how on earth do you know an agent is good or not?  The one I used is well known.  They are the ones who are imposing the charge not P+O.  I am tempted and if it works financially dump the deposit and rebook.

[Billish]

28 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

I understand agents cannot be named on this forum so won't.   However how on earth do you know an agent is good or not?  The one I used is well known.  They are the ones who are imposing the charge not P+O.  I am tempted and if it works financially dump the deposit and rebook.

That is an extremely good question, but, as you say, cannot be answered on here.

However,  if you were to, for example,  ask a question about TAs on a forum such as the one that Advises  on Trips, people can name names! 

[Bazrat]

7 hours ago, Billish said:

Are you sure that the charge is not one imposed by the cruise company, and not the TA ?

Princess, for example,  allow you to refare once, but impose a £100 charge to do so.  

We had a cruise on Princess moved because they cancelled to this year, because of wife’s ill health we asked if we could move it to next year to a more expensive cruise and they kindly told us there was a surcharge, so I cancelled lost the deposit and they lost a sale,.

[Host Sharon]

Since this discussion has now drifted into one on travel agents, it will be locked.