Jennizor

Like a lot of others, I received an e-mail from P & O today about my refund. They assured  me that they are working hard to process the large number of applications and I would receive my refund asap. Having just read the e-mail again, I noticed that the booking reference they quote is completely different to the actual one. I am only on day 28 currently so not expecting anything soon but I wonder what this discrepancy means!

We were on Britannia in Feb, the last cruise round the Caribbean before she returned early to Southampton. It was our second time on her and while we do like her and would sail on her again, we prefer Azura. We love the Blue Bar, day or night. Quizzes during the day and music at night. It is really spacious overlooking the atrium. The decks seem more spacious too. We should have been on her in June, going to the Baltic, even got out favourite cabin on C deck. All cancelled now unfortunately. We are booked on her again next June but not sure we will be able to go as I am 70 in a couple of months. DH could go as he is younger than me - he wouldn’t dare go without me!  Whichever you decide on I am sure you will enjoy the experience. 

Majortom10, thanks for your response. I will ring my TA tomorrow. I am not too concerned with FCC, as I said in my original post I am going ask for a refund. I was just posting to let others know what I had been told. I will post the response from my TA.

This is cut and pasted from the email I received from my TA this morning.

A Future Cruise Credit, worth 125% of your original cruise booking, has been applied to your account. You can choose to use this credit in a number of ways: it can be put towards an existing booking you have with P&O Cruises, used to add-on new cabins to your existing booking or upgrade your own cabin, transferred to family and friends or you can book a completely new cruise. It’s valid on any sailing up until 31^st March 2022 and you can redeem the voucher until 31^st December 2021.

When I click on the web refund link, it takes through to P and O.

I have just received an email from our travel agent about our June cruise, this has been cancelled and they put a credit on my account.

All cruises up to 31 July have been cancelled.

They are offering 125% FCC , it can used against a cruise already booked. It can be used to upgrade a future cruises. It can be transferred to family or friends cruises. The voucher on my account is valid for cruises up March 2022 but must used by 31 December 21.

There is an online form with the email if I want a refund. I am going to complete this as who knows what the future of cruising will. We have cruises booked for Feb and June 21. I am hoping these happen but nobody can be certain.

The refund can take up to 60 days.

Annieuk, if you like Nigella recipes you should try her chocolate hazelnut cheesecake from her Nigellissima book. It is like Ferraro Rocher in a cheesecake. I have it made so many times for family and friends and everyone loves it. So easy to make too. Mmmm, enjoy.

I am the boring one. For me you can’t beat a good Sauvignon Blanc before dinner, Malbec at dinner. My idea of a cocktail is a gin and tonic in the Crows Nest and for a tipple before bed, a Baileys with ice. On our recent cruise on Britannia we had the drinks package and I tried different cocktails around the pool. All nice but not a convert.  Just having a G & T, bemoaning the fact that our June cruise will be cancelled. Keep safe everyone - that is more important than any cruise.

The cruises on my wish list are the three we already have booked. First one, the Baltic - this is booked for June for my 70th and our 20th wedding anniversary (same day) - not going to happen. Second one - Iona next February to the Canaries - been to the Canaries lots of times but as we love the bigger ships, just wanted to try Iona. Third one - Eastern Med on Azura (my favourite ship). My husband wants to go to Croatia so this fitted the bill, also a few places we have not been before. Hey ho, something to look forward to. 

Our last cruise was to the Caribbean on 29th February on Britannia. We had a lovely cruise, we had visited most ports on previous cruises. We didn’t do much this time as my husband has a leg problem at the moment so we spent a lot of time on board. We were on fixed dining and shared with a great couple, lots of laughs and joint activities. We went to the Limelight Club for the first time and saw Gareth Gates. A great evening and he was excellent. We had the drinks package as with quite a lot of OBC and loyalty discount was a good deal for us. At dinner on the Friday evening before we flew home on Saturday the Captain made an announcement telling the newly arrived passengers that their cruise was cancelled and they would be sailing straight to Southampton. We were all stunned but the people on the next table, who were affected, accepted it quite well. An empty plane flew out on the Saturday to take us home. We got back to the beginning of the current situation but felt extremely lucky to have had a lovely holiday. We have another cruise booked in June, going to Northern Europe and the Baltic states, we know this won’t happen now and just waiting for P & O to cancel it and give us a refund.

Another brilliant moment on our cruise from Canada down to Fort Lauderdale was our arrival into New York. I set the alarm for 6.30. We opened  the curtains, sat up in bed and watched as the Statue of Liberty came into view. It was amazing. Aah, happy memories.

My favourite P & O cruise was on Arcadia, many years ago. We flew to Acapulco and stayed there for a couple of nights. We went to see the cliff divers which was great, if a bit scary. On the first evening there was no fixed dining as people were arriving at all hours. On the second night, we went to our allocated table for 6 and nobody joined us. People on the next table joked with us about being Billy no mates. The next evening the other 4 arrived, they had eaten in Acapulco the previous night. They were 4 friends and we did wonder if we would be excluded from their conversation. No such thing, they were brilliant, extremely funny. We met up every day about 5 for a drink and to do a quiz. We kept in contact for a while. We loved the passage through the Panama Canal. A wonderful lady gave a running commentary for most of the day which was fascinating. The rest of the cruise was in the Caribbean and we fell in love with it. Been 6 times since. We have enjoyed all our P & O cruises but our 2 favourites overall were with Princess, first to Hawaii and secondly to Canada and New England. Mainly because of itinerary but also because of the mix of nationalities, we met some wonderful, friendly and very funny people. At lunch one day an American gentleman asked my husband if he could say something to me, of course Ian said yes. He looked at me and said, Ma’am  you look just like Doris Day did 10 years ago. I thanked him but Doris Day was then 81 and I was 55!  People used to say my mum looked like Doris Day so I wasn’t offended. We have loads of wonderful memories of all our cruises, never had a bad one.

We currently have 3 cruises booked. The first in June, the other 2 in 2021. We will wait for P & O to cancel the June cruise and hopefully get a refund. This cruise was booked for my 70th birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary. We will celebrate at home instead. My concern is that we might have to cancel the other two because of my great age. My insurance company will currently insure me until I am 80, will this change as a result of COVID-19?

1. Boarding at Southampton or anywhere else we have flown too

2. Our first wander round the ship, even if we have sailed on her before

3. Our first dinner, meeting our new table mates. Always been good, recent Caribbean cruise, best people ever.

4. Waking up first morning, going on the balcony and gazing out to sea and feeling relaxed.

5. Dressing for dinner, formal nights and the rest.

Forgot to say, we are patiently waiting for P&O to cancel our June cruise so that we can ask for a refund.

We live in a small community a few miles outside Bolton. Great community spirit, not just now but always. Always do a Tesco online shop booked for Friday.  Cancelled earlier this week as other people more deserving (not 70 for 3 months yet).

Went to Sainsburys and M & S food store this morning. All very civilised, some shelves empty but still lots to buy. Got toilet rolls from M&S for my daughter, three small boys - they go through a lot!

Dog walkers were the most people we saw around locally. Like Josy123, my husband is disappointed not to be bowling this year (he can do the labouring in the garden for me instead). Going to have the best garden ever this year.

Josy1953, that sounds very odd. If that is the case why did they not offer to fly home the passengers on Britannia? There was enough time. I wonder if they offered that to the people who would have been on the flight that came empty to pick us up! 

P&O SUE, you might be better contacting P&O directly. The people who arrived on the 13th of March only found out about the cancellation after they got on board. The Captain  said that the decision to cancel cruises until May was in line with recommendations made by a Cruise Industry Standards  body, can’t remember the exact title. We were talking to people from a Seabourne cruise in Barbados airport and they had been told the same.

Thanks Andy, I wish it had been a happier post. Let’s hope for some good news soon.

Just got back from our Britannia cruise. Very sad at dinner on Friday night. At about 8.45 the Captain addressed the ship. His message was that the people who had travelled out that day had had their cruises cancelled. They would stay on board and travel back to Southampton, starting on Saturday evening (after we had all disembarked). They were offered 125% future cruise credit or they could apply for a 100% cash refund. They also got £300 per person OBC. We were also told that cruises up to May 1st had also been cancelled.

Obviously everyone was disappointed and upset. One couple should have been on for 28 nights.

A lot of the staff were also upset and concerned about losing pay. Obviously the Captain will have spoken to them separately. 

I have to say that a lot of the people involved took it quite stoically. Nothing could be done about it and so they would just make the best of their time on Britannia.

Our Virgin plane came out empty to pick us up, so we got off lightly.

Our next cruise is on 14th of June to Northern Europe and the Baltic. Not sure, like lots of you, whether it will go.

We did have a lovely cruise but the Corona virus was on everyone’s mind all time.
 

Well only two days before we go to the Caribbean. No way am I cancelling, I’ve done most of the packing. Baltic in June, Canaries in Feb and Eastern Med next June - we will monitor the situation and not cancel unless we are advised to.

It all seems a bit odd doesn’t it? I have got seat allocation, that I chose for out and return flights. It will be interesting to see what happens when we get to the airport on the 29th.

I understand what you are saying English Lady. I can assure you that we are very thorough when taking out travel insurance. We have seen several medical evacuations, three last year in the Fjords. We could only hope for their sakes that they were comprehensively covered.  My husband had a heart attack 5 years ago and although on his recent annual health review everything was fine, we still declare his full history. No point in playing roulette with travel insurance. 

Thanks, we will have a look at onestop when we get the result. Much appreciated.

Thanks Andy, All Clear said they would give us another quote if we got the results in time. Staysure also said to go back to them if things changed. It’s just frustrating. I like to get everything in place well before the departure day so that I can be nicely relaxed. We normally have annual insurance. The quote we were given for this cruise only was £755, annual was over £1000. We are going to the Baltic in June. We can’t decide which is the best option. Fingers crossed for us to hear something soon, 

Thanks for your quick response Harry. As I said, we will pay the additional cost but am really hoping we don’t have to. Would rather put the money towards another cruise.