smj777

The canapes are horrible soggy little tarts. Suggest you cancel them and save your appetite.

I Emailed to customerservices@pocruises.com.

Thanks for all your support. Yes, I did Email to say that I wanted to make a claim, which is presumably where they got my name to reply to. I hope that this is a general response and everybody affected gets automatic credit.

I am pleased to say that I have today recieved an Email from P&O, acknowledging my claim for compensation and offering myself and OH £50 each in OBC.

This looks like a form letter although it is addressed to me personally. I reckon that this is fair and have Emailed back to accept.

Does anyone know whereabouts on my cruise personaliser my OBC is shown as I can't find it?

Holiday Inn Eastleigh do a stay and park deal incuding taxi to the ship.

Here is a copy of an Email I sent to Customer services at P&O today.

"I paid the balance on our cruise, Ventura N716 sailing on 23/6/17, £3,524.38 on the 7th. March. On the 20th. of this month, May, a further payment to P&O Cruises, for the same amount was taken from my account.

I know that you are aware of this problem, but I feel that I should let you know that I will be incurring interest charges for my account being overdrawn, loss of interest on money transferred to my current account from a savings account. I have also spent a good deal of time and money on the telephone and online in connection with this incident.

I will be grateful if you will acknowledge this Email , at the same time confirming that you will reimburse me for my losses and compensate me for my necessary efforts."

I will let this forum know of any reply I receive.

Checked my bank this am - not lucky, still £3800 gone and well overdrawn.

As advised in P&O's Email, I telephoned my bank (Nationwide, with whom I am now overdrawn and will be charged accordingly) and they said they couldn't do anything and advised me to ring P&O on 0843 373 0052.

I did so and got a recorded message saying just the same words as the Email. So there seems to be no action I can take and am entirely at the mercy of P&O who have taken £3,800 of my money.

I am going to be out of pocket for overdraft fees, cost of phone calls and any other charges that will arise out of standing order/direct debits being defaulted on.

I can only hope that P&O agree to refund any losses incurred.

The Email that I got was different

We have been made aware of an issue with a number of historic card payments made in relation to cruise bookings on P&O Cruises. We have been informed by the third party payment processor that you are affected and we would like to apologise sincerely for any inconvenience caused.

As a result of an error made by the payment processor they have incorrectly debited a transaction against your account. The payment processor has now posted a refund to your account. The majority of banks and card providers should already be aware of this matter, however processing may take up to seven bank working days depending on your bank. We will be in touch again next week with further details as to how you can reclaim any charges you may have incurred.

We are able to confirm that this was not a result of a security breach and that no personal information has been compromised.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, we recommend in the first instance you contact your bank who has been made aware of this situation. If they are not able to resolve the matter, we recommend that your bank contacts Elavon Merchant Services on this number 0345 600 0292. This information is also shown on our website at www.pocruises.com.

We would like to apologise again for any inconvenience caused

Seems not all incorrect payments have or will be refunded promptly.

We've had a thread about what we like about cruising with P&O, but what about the rest?

To kick off with;

Poring over the new brochures.

Choosing a cruise.

Contacting TA

Choosing cabin etc.

Deciding on excursions.

Putting out clothes etc. on the spare bed.

Driving down to Southampton.

Hotel, night out in Southampton.

Seeing the ship next morning.

Dumping cases and going up to the embarkation lounge.

Any more?

If you wanted to eat in your cabin, but didn't want room service, can you just go and get a tray full of food from the buffet and take it back to your cabin to eat?

Probably typical P&O cost cutting. Save money by dropping Sky

Flying pig here. I didn't know the true facts when I posted.

Probably typical P&O cost cutting. Save money by dropping Sky

Question: Is the P&O embarkation system fit for purpose?

 

In my opinion, yes it is. I and my luggage are safely on board before the muster drill; surely that's the whole point to the process of embarkation?

 

Since the onset of the new system, we have twice had an embark time of 3:30pm. We've gone for lunch at La Regata and the Hythe Boathouse respectively. We've arrived at the terminal close to 3:00pm and gone straight through. No waiting, no queuing, no fussing, no fretting. Next month, we have an embark time of 2:30pm. We have a table booked at the Vestry, where we'll enjoy a great lunch, then wander across to the terminal for an efficient embarkation. I really can't see what all the fuss is about, I just think some people want to put hurdles in the way.

Thanks for that. We love La Regatta and you have given us 2 new eateries to try.

We stay overnight before a cruise at the Holiday Inn near the terminal. We have breakfast and get kicked out of our room by 12 noon and go straight to the terminal.

We have never had a boarding time before 3.00 pm, so we take newspapers and books and sit and read, chat and people watch until we are called.

Some people seem to have no patience and moan - fortunately most folk just accept the situation and don't moan.

Kettle in the cabin! You can use your own tea bags and coffee. Being able to put the kettle on when arriving back from trips ashore, waking up, afternoon, last thing at night.

If you get to a M&S you can buy a dinner jacket and trousers, shirt and dickie bow for about £75. that'll last for many cruises, premiers etc.

If you are with your wife/girlfriend she will love the chance to glam up. And she'll think that you look extremely handsome too.

Go for it!

On a CC review of Adonia, the poster stated;

"P&O still use the smallest spirit measure at sea being a small 25ml measure."

Is this true does anyone know? Seems a bit unlikely, but to me all G&Ts taste weak compared to the ones at home!

I do like the clarification that cash tips are kept by the recipient. I really didn't want any individual gratuity to go into the pool as I felt that defeated the object.

Quote from Times, today 29/3

Shares in Carnival Group hit a record high after the world’s largest cruise ship operator raised earnings forecasts.The operator of Cunard and P&O Cruises posted quarterly profits above expectations, informing the market that 25.3 million passengers would sail on its vessels this year. “At this time, cumulative advance bookings for the remainder of 2017 are well ahead of the prior year at considerably higher prices,” it said.

Any comments?

"Also, did you find it difficult to find a free table to sit for your meal during your cruise? On the Ventura, it was usually very difficult to find a table - sometimes, we had to go to another restaurant in which the buffet was closed (eg from Waterfront to Beach House) to find a table"

This does happen. Don't just grumble, look for a larger table with maybe two people on it, say 'We can't find a table, do you mind if we sit here? They'll say yes, and before you know it, you are talking and you have met 2 more friends on the ship.

The HI Walker Ave. is perfect for a cruise/stay. Nice restaurants nearby and with a bit of luck you'll see your ship waiting for you when you wake up next morning.

A warning though, look out for the dates of the Boat Show in mid September when all the hotels will be fully booked.

CC awards for 2017 are announced. P&O hardly get a mention in any category.

Now I know that these things are subjective and there are no anti-awards for the worst, but PandO should surely be trying to up their game in the categories that can be improved - food quality etc.

We'll still do P&O because there is so much to like, convenience, kettles, own drinks allowed and so on, but are they falling behind in comparison with other lines?

Having noted on other threads that some people, particularly new cruisers, found themselves having difficulty finding their way around a ship that they hadn't been on before, I thought that I'd pass on a tip.

Before you go, get a P&O brochure. They have full deck plans of each ship in the back. Cut our the pages for your particular ship and take them with you on board. You'll soon get the hang of the layout and shouldn't get lost.

We are booked on a cruise this June, but have already decided on a cruise in June 2018.

Is it a good idea to book when we are on the ship this year? What extras do we get, OBC, discounts etc.?

Should we just register for future cruise benefit?

What is the best option?