NauticalMiss

Thanks Mickey89 that's a good idea

NauticalMiss have you had any success with yours?

 

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Hi Gymbod. Quick question - which flight have you booked Row 1 seats for? Is it Gatwick to Barbados/St Lucia? The reason I ask is that P&O have refused my verbal request to refund the difference. And now they have refused my written request. By year end, we will have spent over £10,000 with P&O this year. Last year, we also spent over £10,000; and next year we have two cruises booked already, costing almost £9,000 between them. To say that I am somewhat disappointed is an understatement :mad:

Thanks Mickey89 that's a good idea

NauticalMiss have you had any success with yours?

 

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Hi Gymbod. No. No news yet. P&O have declined to refund the difference. I explained that I have no problem paying to book my seat, but £60???? When Thomson passengers are paying £20 for the same product???? I am a patient woman but am feeling a little peeved right now.............:(

Totally agree with you, Thomson have an emergency exit the other side of the bulkhead exactly the same as TC so should be same price - £20. Go for it and don't accept a brushoff, go to the top and threaten your future loyality.

 

Gymbod- you should do the same, best of luck to you both. They should apply their rules correctly and fairly.

Hi Mickey89 - I am so furious that I can't accept a brush-off. Have started via customer services but am happy to go to the top if their resolution is not acceptable. Ridiculous situation.

Hi Gymbod. I spoke to the Flight Department. Have sent a complaint via email to customer services. Currently we have three cruises with P&O over the next year, and we have never made any complaint in the past - but this situation is ridiculous. Thomson and Thomas Cook offer the same product, i.e. Premium Economy seats, but P&O levy two (very) different additional charges for that product. :mad:

As another has mentioned row 1 seats are charged at £20 not the £60 you were adamant was the cost. Having spoken to P&O did you get a refund ?

Hi, P&O says that Row 1 seats on the Thomas Cook Airbus are charged at £60 and that no refund will be given. They say that it's because those particular seats are emergency exit seats which I pointed out was incorrect. There is a wall between the seats and the exit doors, as said doors are located in the galley. Then she changed her tune and said it was because those seats had additional leg room. However, according to the Advice Centre, there is no additional charge for such seats in Premium; just a charge for standard (£20). I am taking it with 'Customer Services' - wish me luck :(

One of them must be out on the wing :eek::D:D

Yikes, hope not. I'm not a great flier at the best of times!!

Have spoken to the Air Department at P&O, who confirm that for their purposes the configuration and the associated lettering is correctly portrayed on CP, so I am happy now. Was beginning to think that I was a mad old fool!

Incidentally, whilst I was on hold to them I found this on t'interweb.

"On the A330, the premium cabin is configured 2-3-2.

Note: Our seat lettering is wrong, it should be A,C - D,F,G - H,K.

The cabin comprises seven rows. Note that row seven backs onto a bulkhead and may have reduced recline as a result."

- See more at: http://www.seatplans.com/airlines/thomas-cook-airlines/a330-200-20/a330-200-20-premium-long-haul#sthash.E3O4KrFG.dpuf

Mmm, are you sure of your seat numbers? Suggest you re-check before you ring P&O !

Yup, just checked again. We have 1H and 1K. Also, I was able to book them via CP before they opened 'officially'. I had signed into CP at 10:30pm the night before, just to make sure that I had the correct booking number written down. I scrolled down the flight details screen. The outbound flight booking button was greyed out (as expected). For some reason, I scrolled down to the bottom of the screen, and the inbound flight button was green! I pressed it and was allowed to book seats on both flights, even though outbound button had been greyed out :confused: .

We reserved our seats last week, bulkhead 1G & 1J for both out and inbound flights Gatwick to Barbados and paid £20ea. - total paid was £80. I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting to pay £200.

Mmm, very interesting. We booked 1H and 1K, and have been charged £60 each. Guess a call to P&O is in order......

Maybe not everyone can afford celebrity? Or maybe not everyone agrees with your opinion that they are the best?

 

 

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You're right; they're not the best; IMO not even close. With great trepidation, we decided to give Celebrity another go, simply because we liked a particular itinerary. Twenty-four hours after booking, I got cold feet and just couldn't do it. I had to fight tooth-and-nail for my deposit to be returned. It took Celebrity almost 6 weeks to process the refund. All style but no substance.

We've done two 2-night cruises this year, one on Britannia and the other on Azura. On both occasions, the formal night was on the second night.

Flights to/fro Caribbean - seat cost each way/pp

Economy standard seat - £20

Economy bulkhead seat - £50

Premium standard seat - £20

Premium bulkhead seat - £20

Check P&O Frequently Asked Question for release date of your flight.

Are you sure about this? I was charged £60 each for bulkhead seats in premium economy on an outbound flight to Barbados. I was about to jump up and down on P&O but having checked the Advice Centre, it was he correct amount. Bit steep I know, but having experienced an awful flight last year due to small child in the seat in front :eek:, I hope that it is money well spent. As an anxious flier, hopefully this time I won't have soft toys thrown into my food, or be be sprayed with drinks, or experience the constant screeching and running around. Happy days.........

Getting back on topic, on our recent Britannia cruise with my son and family we were given a boarding time of 15:30, we all decided this was too late and took the risk to arrive earlier.

We were in the Ocean terminal car park by 1:15 and with only one small lane of waiting cars we were unloading the luggage a few minutes later, by 1:30 we were in the terminal waiting area with a red alphabetic check in card, given out in sequence as we entered. They were also issuing green ones which I assumed was for on time arrivals, but they were getting through the cards fairly quickly.

Our card was called at 1:55 and we were on board and in the cabin just after 2:15pm, the cases arrived about an hour later.

HOWEVER had we waited for our allocated time, probably arriving about 3:00pm, we would have faced 6 or 7 lanes of waiting cars in the car park with a delay time of at least 30 minutes, the last lane of the cars were only going to the drop off point by 3:55, so I assume it was 4:30 before everyone was boarded and muster was at 5:00pm.

I doubt there were any lulls in the boarding process, so to ensure everyone gets on board in a reasonable time it would seem sensible for P&O to bring forward the embarkation start time to around 11:30 if they really want everyone on board by around 4:00pm.

Just my opinion of course, but they really should be trying to make the boarding procedure less stressful.

We recently had a 3:30pm embark time. Slightly disgruntled at the outset. However, decided to go with it. Travelled down from Cardiff on the morning which we don't usually do; so saved on extra night's stay. Had a lovely lunch on the way. Dropped car off at 3pm. On board by 3:30pm. Luggage waiting for us; unpacked and in the Glass House by 4pm. Job well done!

Does anyone have an email address for P&O? I have a query and it's tricky to phone atm. I can't find it, although I'm sure some helpful person posted it a while back. Guess I should have jotted it down when I saw it :(

TIA

The Titanic Exhibition is quite a sobering one. I found it interesting and it whiled away a couple of hours with 'The Outlaws'. If the weather is good, you could pop over to Hythe on the ferry (takes just 12 minutes from Town Quay) and have a wander around. Take a mid-morning coffee or a late breakfast in Seashells and enjoy the views.

I concur - it's St Lucia. However, last year we docked on the opposite side (townside?) and the karaoke bar area looked a bit abandoned, and the shops weren't open. I don't know if it's still open for business - anybody else know?

I think that you can pre-book on Aurora too.

Thanks for all the tips, folks. Have had confirmation of booking this morning. Will add bandana to my list (which, incidentally, I have always fancied myself in ;), and will make sure I wear my extra big sunglasses to make sure I get extra protection on top of the sunscreen. Can't wait.

Wow, we are so going to do this! Have just sent an email to get details. Won't be in port until December, but this cannot be missed!!

People I have spoken to at Barbados airport haven't enjoyed the farewell excursion and felt dumped at the airport very early.

 

Either enjoy the ship to the full until you are called to the buses ( you can shower/ change in the spa) or go off for a few hours. You don't have to sit with luggage for hours on end. Make tge most of that last half day in the sun

We did the 'Farewell to Barbados' excursion once, but haven't repeated it. I would agree that they drop you at the airport too early :(

We didn't enjoy the Farewell to Barbados tour, its a bit of a mystery tour with a few loo stops, next time we will stay on the ship or nip up to the Boatyard for a few hours. You can hire a cabin for a few hours instead of using the luggage depository.

The cabin hire is a great facility, but it is not always available. On our last Caribbean cruise on Azura, no last day cabins were made available which was a bit of a pain. P&O missed out on a big revenue generator but I s'pose they must have had a good reason (although we weren't given one).

Hi - We are cruising on Britannia (B630) 13 nights Southampton To Canary Islands and today received our "Your holiday information" booklet from P&O.

 

Although it mentions appropriate formal wear it doesn't give an indication of how many formal nights there are expected to be. I would imagine at least 2 and maybe 4! Trouble is the high command will not want to be seen in the same gown/cocktail dress more than once (because obviously all 4,000 passengers will notice hic) and I don't want to lug an extra case if its not necessary!!

 

So grateful if anyone could advise of the projected number of formal nights?

 

Many thanks

 

Michael

Hi Michael, on a 13-nighter I would think you'll get 4 formals. And FYI, Everyone WILL notice if the same dress is worn on more than one occasion. I have managed to accumulate so many dresses now that I don't have to buy any new ones. I call it my 'Cruise Collection' and the best way to justify the expense is to book more cruises ;)

Beautifully cut trousers in black and/or cream are a great starting point also, and with a selection of sparkly tops can give a lady many different outfits and keeps the packing under control. It's a win-win.

I understand the rules, as we have had an iron "confiscated" by the naughty police. My question is - what is the safety difference between a small travel iron, in room kettles or the irons in the launderette??, or even leaving mobile phones on charge whilst out of the room, or through the night.

The irons in the laundry room have a timer, and will automatically switch off when the time runs out. Don't know what you mean about in-room kettles? They also switch off when they boil so I don't see them as a fire risk. The trouble with travel irons is that they can be left on in the cabin, unattended. With the 'motion of the ocean', they can fall onto the carpet or bedding and ...................... :eek:

People come to this website for honest advice. For those who doubt that P&O ships have a SOOT problem just go to Youtube and type 'P&O soot'

Sorry jody75, I am being honest. We haven't had a soot problem in a stern cabin. I don't doubt that some passengers may have had a problem, maybe. But us? No.

We love cabins on the stern; haven't had any soot issues yet..............