If You Have Covid A Day Before You Cruise

[GSPG]

What would P&O do:

Refund yours and your travelling family’s money?

Give you all a FCC?

Other?

 

Thanks

[FangedRose]

Think you have to claim on your insurance now.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, GSPG said:

What would P&O do:

Refund yours and your travelling family’s money?

Give you all a FCC?

Other?

 

Thanks

P&O would give you nothing. You would have to try and get your insurance company to pay out, which, as Megabear has pointed out elsewhere, is extremely difficult. 

Edited September 29, 2022 by wowzz

[jaydee6969]

P&O FAQ on this :-

 

https://www.pocruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.our-covid-19-protocols.what-happens-if-i-test-positive-for-covid-19-before-my-holiday.summary

 

And P&O FAQ statement.

[CaptainPedantic]

When did this policy change? We only booked our November cruise at the end of August and given how our last cruise was impacted by Covid we were very careful to read through all the terms before booking... 😐 well, at least I thought we were careful...

Edited September 29, 2022 by clubcardcruiser

[terrierjohn]

10 minutes ago, clubcardcruiser said:

When did this policy change? We only booked our November cruise at the end of August and given how our last cruise was impacted by Covid we were very careful to read through all the terms before booking... 😐 well, at least I thought we were careful...

5th or 6th of September I think.

[pete14]

8 minutes ago, clubcardcruiser said:

When did this policy change? We only booked our November cruise at the end of August and given how our last cruise was impacted by Covid we were very careful to read through all the terms before booking... 😐 well, at least I thought we were careful...

Terms and Conditions change as circumstances change. Even the terms and conditions in force when you booked had changed several times over the past couple of years, not always in the favour of P&O; 125% future cruise credit for example. I have no idea how many times terms and conditions have changed since we booked our cruise departing in 5 weeks on the launch date. 

[davecttr]

I have a final balance due in mid October. With transport and hotel costs it is close to £3000. I will give serious consideration about cancelling and spending the money on UK land holidays instead. I have a Arvos cruise next April but that is already paid for having been moved twice

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I have a final balance due in mid October. With transport and hotel costs it is close to £3000. I will give serious consideration about cancelling and spending the money on UK land holidays instead. I have a Arvos cruise next April but that is already paid for having been moved twice

Or go on a hotel holiday to the Caribbean instead, as Megabear suggested.

[picsa]

40 minutes ago, wowzz said:

P&O would give you nothing. You would have to try and get your insurance company to pay out, which, as Megabear has pointed out elsewhere, is extremely difficult. 

 

Thus some (but not all) people will not take a test before travelling as it is voluntary because you don't want to know the result - and the impact will be more COVID on the ship.

 

And that's before you get to those who do know they have it but travel anyway - has there ever been a case of anyone ticking one of the 'don't let me on board' boxes on the health declaration.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

Thus some (but not all) people will not take a test before travelling as it is voluntary because you don't want to know the result - and the impact will be more COVID on the ship.

 

And that's before you get to those who do know they have it but travel anyway - has there ever been a case of anyone ticking one of the 'don't let me on board' boxes on the health declaration.

Yes, one lady ticked a box to say she had a cough, and consequently got banned from boarding. Unlikely that the insurance company will pay out. 

Megabear (again!) has already commented on this issue.

[picsa]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, one lady ticked a box to say she had a cough, and consequently got banned from boarding. Unlikely that the insurance company will pay out. 

Megabear (again!) has already commented on this issue.

 

So next time she won't tell the truth and neither will any of the people she tells about being denied boarding.

[Harry Peterson]

Worth bearing in mind here, perhaps, that it’s the terms and conditions at the time of booking which matter. Not later versions modified to suit P&O.

[Megabear2]

7 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Worth bearing in mind here, perhaps, that it’s the terms and conditions at the time of booking which matter. Not later versions modified to suit P&O.

Agree totally Harry.  Those affected need to fight hard via the law.  

 

Those of us yet to sail need to press and get in writing our insurers stance on this much the same as we did last year.  Very difficult to confront the cruise lines without ammunition.  Noticeably neither Holiday Extras or P&O have responded to my questions which I raised after speaking to Allianz, Post Office and Avanti who are our insurers.

[Megabear2]

27 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, one lady ticked a box to say she had a cough, and consequently got banned from boarding. Unlikely that the insurance company will pay out. 

Megabear (again!) has already commented on this issue.

I think that post was deleted as off topic on the Baltics thread.  I'll try to report the lady's story here later.

[Harry Peterson]

24 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Agree totally Harry.  Those affected need to fight hard via the law.  

 

Those of us yet to sail need to press and get in writing our insurers stance on this much the same as we did last year.  Very difficult to confront the cruise lines without ammunition.  Noticeably neither Holiday Extras or P&O have responded to my questions which I raised after speaking to Allianz, Post Office and Avanti who are our insurers.

Plenty of us remember the huge amount of work you put in on this last year. So thanks again for that, and for what you’re obviously doing now.

 

You and I both know that P&O staff don’t understand contract law (why would they?) and will just tell you what suits them, using whichever version of the T&C suits.
 

Take whatever they say with a large dose of salt and check carefully that any vague  reference to the terms and conditions is factually based, and relevant to the terms at the time of booking. Any disagreement is best directed to their legal team, where they do usually know what they’re talking about but will try to bluff you into agreeing!

[wowzz]

40 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Plenty of us remember the huge amount of work you put in on this last year. So thanks again for that, and for what you’re obviously doing now.

 

You and I both know that P&O staff don’t understand contract law (why would they?) and will just tell you what suits them, using whichever version of the T&C suits.
 

Take whatever they say with a large dose of salt and check carefully that any vague  reference to the terms and conditions is factually based, and relevant to the terms at the time of booking. Any disagreement is best directed to their legal team, where they do usually know what they’re talking about but will try to bluff you into agreeing!

Playing devil's advocate here.

Were items such as FCC if you were unable to travel due to covid, FCC if you were qurantined in a cabin etc ever baked into the t&c's, or were they operational policies that could be changed at any time ? 

[Harry Peterson]

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Playing devil's advocate here.

Were items such as FCC if you were unable to travel due to covid, FCC if you were qurantined in a cabin etc ever baked into the t&c's, or were they operational policies that could be changed at any time ? 

I'm afraid I don't know, wowzz.  It's a long time since I've looked at their terms and conditions in any detail.  The last time was over a refund for a changed itinerary pre-Covid.

 

You make a good point, though - you can't normally mount an effective legal argument based on an operational policy.  Only normally on something set out in writing, which normally means the terms and conditions applicable at the time of booking.

 

I say normally because it doesn't have to be in writing - it can be a verbal agreement, though you might have difficulty evidencing that.  And it may be (though I haven't checked) that the Ts&Cs specifically exclude any changes claimed to be made to them following communications with staff.

 

There's also, for completeness, Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 covering unfair terms in consumer contracts.  Often helpful in dealing with P&O, where quite a few of the terms would probably be covered!

 

 

[terrierjohn]

40 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Playing devil's advocate here.

Were items such as FCC if you were unable to travel due to covid, FCC if you were qurantined in a cabin etc ever baked into the t&c's, or were they operational policies that could be changed at any time ? 

Whatever they were, they definitely were not part of the T&Cs when most off us booked.  So we can't really expect to benefit from a close in change, and then complain when T&Cs move in the other direction.

[Cathygh]

And  theykept it really quiet. I have never been informed by P&O that the T&Cs I booked under have been changed for any of the 3 cruises I have booked with them.

[Megabear2]

I'm a great believer in tackling issues before we get anywhere legal stuff.  I think the best way for people to challenge this is to see what their insurance company will pay out for, on what proof and under which section.  It shouldn't be forgotten the covid section of policies is totally separate from the normal policy and as such has totally different requirements.  If you find it's uninsurable in any way write to Paul Ludlow and the legal department and ask why they are offering false hope to their customers.

 

Anyone choosing to do this needs to be very thorough in questions and most importantly needs to ask about the people not testing positive but refused boarding.  Very important to ask if a positive PCR test is required for any claim for anything and also to check how much confinement cover would pay and if quarantine/isolation for covid is covered - it wasn't for someone else.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

And  theykept it really quiet. I have never been informed by P&O that the T&Cs I booked under have been changed for any of the 3 cruises I have booked with them.

But the t&c's have not changed. The policy with regards to FCC has changed, which is a different issue.

[happy v]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Playing devil's advocate here.

Were items such as FCC if you were unable to travel due to covid, FCC if you were qurantined in a cabin etc ever baked into the t&c's, or were they operational policies that could be changed at any time ? 

With you there Wow. They all stated they were current policy and could be changed or cancelled at any time.

[happy v]

If you are refused travel by P&O does anyone know if this is a medical practitioner? As our policy will only pay if it is.

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, happy v said:

If you are refused travel by P&O does anyone know if this is a medical practitioner? As our policy will only pay if it is.

No. It's the computer algorithm. You do not get an appeal and no medical people are involved.