Pippa04

I would imagine that is acceptable as it's an alteration that both parties are happy with. T&C's are there to protect both parties, not just the biggest bully.

I've just been having correspondence with them on this very subject. They refuse to give me the terms and conditions from the day I booked which I assume form part of my contract with them and try to tell me that I have to bear in mind that they can do exactly what they like due to global circumstances. Certainly leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Not really a comparison though is it? They knew there was a distinct possibility they wouldn't be watching their team getting thrashed virtually every week in the Premier League (particularly the Norwich fans!) Now they'll be seeing more matches for the same money with the expectation that they'll have more chance of winning them too.

This is the problem to my mind. If you pay your money when things such as the turndown service are standard you have every right to expect them when you take your holiday.

We'd booked 3 of the large balcony cabins on Azura for family to mingle together as for various health reasons we needed peace and to be away from other people. Given 3 cabins up high where you can hear music etc, close to launderette and stairs with extra berths (which are invariably noisy). Paid £1k extra per person to choose cabins and wasn't willing to make such a large compromise - particularly as they had 3 adjacent large balcony cabins available just down the corridor which were on sale at far less than I had paid but they wanted me to pay over a grand extra for them because they were "too much of an upgrade". I wasn't impressed!

I'm pleased it worked out for you. It's inspired me to start my battle again!

That is very interesting. Do you have anything to prove this in writing or did you just get to speak to an amenable person? I'm £16.5k out of pocket after being told I was being given an unwanted upgrade back in January and would appreciate any help I can get in claiming it back.

Add to that the problem that you can still get moved to something you don't want "for operational reasons"

Possibly although it still doesn't explain giving a refund when they've already lured you in, and a cash one at that. A thought that had occurred to me was are a lot of people cancelling and rebooking when the price drops due to the low 5% deposit although I can't imagine that causes too many administrative problems. I'd certainly love to be a fly on the wall at strategy meetings because it all seems to have gone a bit haywire!

I think you'll find that was my question... If you think I was trying to start a rumour about the smaller ships being sold you obviously haven't been reading this board too closely recently!

Valid point. A lot of cruise lines may be regretting the change to ever larger ships but it's difficult to see how giving unrequested refunds on those ships will help profitability.

My personal opinion is that £8500 for 19 nights on Arcadia is more than just a result of fluid pricing which I understand perfectly well thank you.Excessive fares such as that will not sell and ultimately P and O need passengers spending on ships as well as paying the initial fare. I thought that a message board was a place to express opinions without fear of overly aggressive responses but obviously that's sheer nincompoopery.

Sounds to me as though prices are going up on the smaller ships to discourage people from booking. Question is why. Is it true that Arcadia has been sold and this will mean less refunds or will lower booking figures alter the statistics and prove that she needs to be sold or maybe another reason entirely?

I've known quite large amounts of obc being offered when prices dropped, so much so that it was difficult to spend even on bar bills and excursions but I'm talking at least 15 years ago. An unrequested refund though? I know it's hot down in Southampton bit something is very strange!

I would imagine that for all the people who are delighted at the ending of testing there will be a significant number who booked on the understanding that testing would be mandatory and will not be happy. Obviously this day had to come at some point but I hope those people are treated with more consideration than those who got moved for quarantine cabin purposes.