frogsgirl

We have flown from Schiphol post cruise with an early afternoon flight to UK and security lines were huge and the security staff were not rushing at all🤨, we made it through with little time to spare, gave ourselves 3 hours thinking it would be plenty of time but it was very stressful.

Just received our deposit refunds, Iona cruise 24th April 21, booked directly with P&O.

Applied for the refund on the day of cancellation, impressed. 

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thanks for posting.

Did you book directly with P&O or with a TA?.

Given the current no sailing it is wise of P&O to make final payment due 30 days before because as it seems likely they will cancel your sailing and it makes it easier for them and saves you paying a lot of money out 3-4 months in advance.

Graham.

Hi Graham, booked directly with P&O.

I’m with you on the likelihood of cancellation, this move from P&O is of benefit to us in that we are unlikely to lose our deposit now (which wasn’t huge but still ££),

We have definitely decided not to travel in the highly unlikely event it does go ahead.

Andrea

Just received an email from P&O and it does take the pressure off now, this is for Iona 24th April 21 cruise:

We hope that you are looking forward to your forthcoming cruise and we know that as your holiday approaches there are many things to consider. 

When you made your booking we would have advised you that the full balance for your holiday is due 90 days before departure. However in light of the on-going situation regarding COVID-19 and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance on cruising, we wanted to reassure you that we will only recommence sailing when it is the right time to do so. We have therefore taken the decision to relax our balance due payments terms on this holiday to 30 days prior to departure, meaning you now have a little more time before you have to pay your final balance.

If you would like to understand more about our enhanced health and well-being measures on board, please visit our website.  And remember, you can manage your booking by logging into My P&O Cruises. Here you’ll be able to personalise your holiday to suit you, plus find out everything you need to know before you embark. 

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If my 94 year old mother can have the vaccination to protect herself, and others, plus relieve the pressure on the NHS, why can't others?

I don’t normally get into social media spats, it’s not my scene as I tend not to judge without knowing people on a personal level, i wish your mum good health.

To WOWZZ Thank you for your concern however I didn’t ask for it so there was no need waste your energy typing your crass response. 

Fingers crossed for an announcement soon, have to pay balance on 24th Jan for 24th April Iona cruise and really don’t want to. Mum is 77 and does not want the vaccine, we are not in the age category to be vaccinated by the time the cruise comes along. 

I don’t want to rebook as this cruise was for mum really and given her stance on the vaccination it seems pointless at this stage with all the uncertainty. 

I’m hoping for an updated pause communication sooner rather than later. Our April Iona cruise is due for final payment in January and would prefer the cancellation now (cruise already moved from September this year).

I notice that on the website that the updates have disappeared from the front page, does anyone know if it’s been moved or removed? 

thanks

Andrea

we are on the Iona cruise to Norway April 2020, the below has just landed in my inbox and may be of interest:

Important Notification
*Important information - Pre existing medical requirements*
Iona
G111
7 nights
Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 24 April 2021 Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 1 May 2021
Passenger 1
  We are following all latest guidance to evolve our enhanced protocols to
protect the health and well-being of guests, crew and the communities we visit
once we begin sailing again. Unfortunately when we return we will be unable to accept guests who have the following medical requirements: Supplementary oxygen (including via oxygen concentrator), Mechanical ventilatory support (except for overnight CPAP for sleep apnoea), Dialysis. Within the 14 days prior to the
cruise: Have been unwell with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been in close contact with someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been advised to self isolate under a government Test and Trace system.
We are so sorry to have to make this change, but we need to follow new industry procedures for the protection of everyone on board. Any guest that is impacted by the requirement for supplementary oxygen, mechanical ventilatory support or dialysis will be given a full refund of monies paid to date for their bookings.

Breakfast treat for me, toasted sesame seed bagel, cream cheese, pickled herring, red onion, capers and a squeeze of fresh lemon😋

Rum & raisin gelato..2 scoops!

Fresh baked bread on the table, always try and resist fail.

FG😄

Hello all, I’ve been following this thread as waiting for refund, summary:

*Britannia cruise 26th April cancelled by P&O

*online refund form completed 30th March
*received an email with cancellation invoice (incorrect value) but following info here on CC did not concern myself and then P&O FAQ confirmed it would show incorrectly

*refund paid back too credit card 21st May

*credit card company refunding fee free back to current account as no balance on card

Thanks to all those posting their experiences and for those who are yet to receive your refund I hope it comes soon...I’m going to keep reading this until I know Andy has his! 
 

Andrea 😁

3 hours ago, Eddie99 said:

Has anyone contacted them over this?

Or posted on other media where someone from the company might see it?

I contacted P&O via Twitter as I have also received an auto response from an email I sent in June 2019, in fact a further one this morning, below was their response:

“thanks for letting us know. This is likely just an error but we have taken note of this for you. Please send us a direct message if anything further occurs with this!”

My experience.

I applied for the refund last Monday, via the webform link, the day they advised the cruise had been cancelled.

Tuesday I received notification of cruise cancellation.

Friday I received the cancellation invoice, for the incorrect value however there was a notice in the earlier email to say this would be incorrect. It does state on the invoice the total value paid so I’m optimistic that they will process the full value of the refund when they get round to my application.

FG😊

hi mrsgoggins

I had already booked a cruise on Britannia end of May before the cruise on Ventura so will see if there is anything different to Ventura or comparable with X.

I always make the most of any situation and we did have a good holiday.

Price was a factor in giving P&O a go however I’m a quality over quantity type of person so this will play a factor in future bookings.

The staff do work very hard and such long hours, I didn’t expect them to perform for me, that’s not my style but the overwhelming feeling we got was they were simply not happy and maybe too exhausted to interact, it was just such a stark contrast to what we have previously experienced. 

Sadly we did see a significant amount of ignorance and rudeness by fellow passengers to each other and staff members and I had a few cringe moments but this happens in all cultures.

I’ll report back on my Britannia experience next month. 😊

Just back off our 1st P&O on Ventura having sailed mainly Celebrity on S class ships & Constellation.

Overall the main dining room food was comparable for both lines for us. Celebrity wins hands down on buffet for food and layout.

Balcony cabin was a similar size and prefer the storage layout on Ventura however the bathroom & balcony size much better on X S class ships.

What stood out as a negative for P& O was poor management of embarking after shore excursions and lack of officer presence keeping on top of things around the ship, found a lot of unsmiling staff around the ship.

Didnt see a lot of cleaning going on around Ventura and I got a bit fed up of having a coffee in the coffee lounge at a dirty table, every time! 

Liked the shows on Ventura.

Prefer the cosmopolitan feel to Celebrity rather that Britishness of Ventura.

Service charge cheaper on P&O but we tend to tip personally as well however this was the only trip we struggled to find someone to give a tip too, very bizarre.

Happy to answer any specific questions if needed.

it was, Southampton to Baltic on Silhouette, never been offered an upgrade before.

1 in our room with satches of coffee, tea, creamer sugar etc & refreshed daily. Sailed out of Southampton.

We got a call 5 days before our recent cruise, upgrade to a Sky Suite from a 2B balcony for £200....we took it!

Great space, loved Luminae, room position wasn’t great due to large overhang & noise from OV kitchen all hours of the day & night...but we were very happy:D

Just arrived back from Baltic cruise and 2 days in St Petersburg went very well.

We had an independent tour and as expected the wait in line for immigration was time consuming however they had all booths full of staff but the document inspection was thorough.

Coming back the 1st evening the lines were long to get back on the ship and there were some stressed passengers who were trying to get back & ready for their evening trips.

2nd day still the same document inspection getting off but quicker getting back on.

No hint of any tension whilst touring, wonderful visit.

Ship : Silhouette

Deck: 12

Cabin#: 2135

Class: Sky Suite

Starboard or port: Port

Bed near: bathroom

Quiet Cabin: No, significant noise level from above, Ocean View buffet, trolleys rumbling along tiled floors. Started @4am and continued till around 12am.

Balcony view: some struts and large overhang, no sun

Balcony size: 50% more than standard balcony. Good sized table, 2 reclining chairs & foot stools

Wind: No problem

Any specific problems: apart from the noise from above this was a nice sized room with plenty of storage.

We were in 7340 on Silhouette and had a slightly larger balcony.

Didn’t mind the walk, burns off some calories!

We were in Scandinavia so weather was on the cooler side with a lot of rain and as it was completely exposed it was the 1st time we had limited use of our balcony.

We noticed soot on the furniture and floor quite a lot but have to say the view was impressive.

Have done a couple of cruises since and booked side balcony which we prefer.

FG :)

We have done this trip, very easy and lovely scenery along the coast.

Took the early morning train & arrived jus5 before midday so lots of folk around.

Plenty of taxis/cabs at the train station, took one to Pan Pacific, it was a splurge but very convenient for the cruise.

FG :D

hi Londontowner

We are going to the Fabergé museum in May, like you we have been to SPB before and it wasn’t open.

Iif you don’t get any responses from experienced travelers in the meantime I will happily report back to you on this thread.

FG :D

We are due to sail in 36 days and i’m tracking Foreign Office advice which i’m sure Celebrity are also doing.

We were in SPB 6 years ago and had a truly wonderful experience, if we missed it this time it would be extremely disappointing as it’s the jewel in the crown of a Baltic cruise imo.

FG

:mad: just wanted to add my frustration. Finally got in using g**gle chrome.

In my booking I tried looking at shore excursions for the cruise, click into a port of call and it takes me to "Where would you like to cruise"...:rolleyes::mad: