Megabear2

Thank you. About right for the moronic man he appears to be. However what is his association with P&O not being welcome? Was it their advert or something?

Excuse my ignorance and with fear of opening a can of worms what is the Clarkson debacle, assuming you're not referring to his latest faux pa with Meghan?

That's good news. The problem with HE is they were a family business grown rapidly on mainly the airport car parking hotel business. A couple of management buy outs led to them trying to expand into all things travel. For a very long time they had big links to Thomas Cook who were their main market. Like many when the pandemic stopped everything overnight they were caught out, sacked and furloughed nearly all their staff and struggled to survive. They earned a dreadful reputation in the car parking/hotel side in the pandemic era with the ridiculous cancellation charges and vouchers you couldn't use. They have a big tie up with the major travel agencies which doesn't help either. If you look to book parking through them nowadays they only offer their own subsidiaries whereas previously you had a lot of other options. Rumour has it there were so many problems with the vouchers etc that some hotels and operators didn't want to do business with them, no idea of course if it's TRUE! I'm guessing, only a personal opinion, that they pay handsomely for the recommendations and tie ups and keeping things under one umbrella suits the big companies. Holiday Extras were not always P&O and Cunard's preferred insurer it's a fairly recent deal (if I recall around 5 years). Their previous recommended company pulled out of the travel insurance market following something of a scandal with the claims company (they weren't the only company to be affected). They also had to change their claims handler/underwriters when TIF moved out of the market. Great Lakes are the people offering this service now and they are slightly better for the customer. I think your timing put you in the middle of that financial crisis/mess up unfortunately. Looking forward to hearing how you get on. HE's history if anyone is interested: https://www.holidayextras.com/about-us/company-history.html#:~:text=1983 - Holiday Extras founded as Apple Booking Company&text=Gerry decided that this was,worked solely with travel agents.

You may find Cunard a little easier on disembarkation days. When I sailed with my mother one lift was designated wheelchair only and you were invited to either go to a special area with other users or on our last cruise before she died wait in your cabin until your disembarkation time. I understand the latter has remained in force through the post pandemic so hopefully will continue.

It's great to be cruel sometimes! On supermarkets I get very vexed by mother and child spaces when there are none for limited mobility rather than disability. In Waitrose one day I had my mother in law with me who was awaiting a hip replacement and as a result in severe difficulty walking. I pulled into to a mother and child space as it was nearest to door. You can't park here she said as an irate mother glared at us. Oh yes I can I replied opening the door to the buggy bearing woman. Pointing at my MIL i said very firmly "Mother" and then pointing to myself "child", i cant see any age restrictions can you so we're staying. The 20 odd year old lady was gobsmacked and rapidly departed.

I sympathise on the insurance although I'm surprised Holiday Extras didn't allow you to move the insurance once the cruise was rebooked as this is what happened with my family members. Unfortunately with Staysure your policy was in place - was it a single policy rather than annual - and as you had been directed to them by P&O they will have treated your policy as in effect as you attempted a claim and obviously this was dealt with after departure date. I suggest in your negotiations with P&O you try to negotiate some extra compensation for the insurance costs stating it was their wrong information which meant you will be marked as using the policy. The excursions nd and restaurant bookings should have been refunded directly to your card used to pay for them. Check your statements again and if you haven't had the refunds telephone P&O and ask why not. These refunds are not in dispute and are owed under P&O's Terms and Conditions. As such the normal telephone channels should be able to deal with the refunds immediately. I hope that helps, if I can offer anything else please let me know and I'll do my best!

I believe the Arvia booking times are between 6.00 and 6.15 although I haven't sailed on her - I'm on Iona on 18 March which I anticipate will be sold out as only insiders remain and a certain Mr Barlow is onboard. Another thing to consider is the age demographic of the new passengers, the 30 to 40 year olds. With children being born far later nowadays many of these will be with parents, far more than on other ships. As a consequence people will want to eat earlier, possibly with the children or to ensure they can go to entertainment if they need to pick up children from other places. Add into this mix people like myself who the app wouldn't work for - fine on Britannia not so good on the big girls - the people without telephones, the just plain stubborn and a long corridor leading to two restaurants with inadequate seating and it's very easy to see how the queues can arise. The reception podium has one computer screen allocating tables - I assume its the same on the new ships - and 2 staff who use it. If at 7.30 when the rush starts 30% of the seats are occupied (90 minute turnaround being RC's aim on their megaships) those two people and screen have to move prebooked people through, pass them to available waiters, mark them into the computer as to which table they've gone to, record Auntie Ethel looking for a table, check the computer to see if anything's immediately available if not give her a pager not doubt deal with her grumbles ... Then of course everyone in a party is in the queue to go in despite only one needing to check in, so Auntie Ethel could have Uncle Bill with her and Curt Cobain could have his wife, three kids and grandma and grandpa .... now we have the chaos we see in the photos and that's just my fertile imagination, imagine the reality ...

No need to apologise, I wasn't in any way offended. My point was that having been on both ends of the disabled conundrum with a wheelchair user and a hidden disabilities person it really isn't black and white. I'd guess on your latest cruise the out of order lifts exacerbated the problem too. You are totally correct about people's attitude to the disabled but unfortunately the ignorant and rude are just that. I have to say truthfully although people were thoughtless with my mother on the whole because they could see the wheelchair they would become embarrassed and give her room or apologise. With my husband however it's a whole different story. He receives glares, gets ignored when asking if there's room if a wheelchair is in occupation and told vociferously on one memorable occasion on Azura there's stairs over there mate. The worst occasion was when he had to rush to use the lavatory and went in the disabled one - there are very embarrassing side effects to his medication. On exiting he was confronted by an irate guest in a wheelchair who proceeded to shout at him he should be ashamed of himself for going in there and how he should be reported. End of our evening out and no trip to the theatre as he was devastated. The public on cruise ships unfortunately believe they have "rights" and also many are of an age where they believe that alone gives them a total right to ride while others wait or walk. Unfortunately we have become a somewhat selfish nation over these things.

The early booking between 6.00 and 6.30 if you are on freedom dining has been in place on Britannia since P&O first introduced the concept, it just wasn't well known and also the bulk of people using the dining room wanted to dine after 6.30. When I spoke to the maitre de the first time I was advised of this he told me the period between 6.00 and 6.30 was traditionally not popular as most passengers were used to a fixed dining time of 6.30 or 8.30. That made a lot of sense as he had staff ready and waiting for anyone happy to go in to dine at an early time. Traditionally on American ships the early dining times "sell out" first due to the culture outside of their major cities and conurbations of eating early, many restaurants apart from high end ones start serving "dinner" at 5.00pm. You mention QM2 and the Britannia Club restaurant, I assume you have dined there in which case you will know it is an extremely small venue in a dedicated dining room. Of the 1,360 cabins on the Queen there are only 76 Britannia Club staterooms and 30 of those were added in 2015 during the remastering. The Princess and Queens Grill account for another 170 or so rooms meaning the remainder of over 1,000 odd are served by the Britannia restaurant. Of course those dining in the three Grills and Club restaurants also pay a very large premium for that privilege. The increase in people booking Club is why the extra 30 rooms were added and obviously the Queen Anne is moving on more to offer these dining options and also very new for Cunard quite a lot of extra payment venues. An interesting experiment breaking very much away from the Cunard model. Recently another addition has been a form of freedom dining in Britannia restaurant. QM2 carries a maximum around 2,600. Arvia and Iona by comparison carry 5,200 with 2 and 4 main dining rooms respectively. If they were to adopt the club dining concept assumedly they'd need one restaurant with 1,000 cabins to use the space profitably and this would require a very large premium to be in the mould of Queen Mary 2. Remember the Club staterooms are more or less standard balconies with upgraded furnishings on the Queen and therefore that would have to be the offering on the P&O ships. Personally I doubt around 1,000 people on a P&O ship will want to do that?

Very sorry to hear you are unwell. I hope you both get well soon. How long is the Lloyd's PCR kit going to take to arrive? It might be useful to take another daily LFT and photograph. I would also suggest reporting your result to your doctor and asking for the record to be noted in your medical records. That way if there's any delay in the PCR and you are not showing positive at the time it arrives you will at least have a medical record stating you were positive. This if it helps was the information provided by Holiday Extras as to how they would accept proof if a PCR wasn't the first test taken. Obviously Aviva are different but they must be aware of the difficulties in obtaining PCR tests at short notice.

Well done. Did you see the very good points from the guys just above your reply? As they say if you had P&O excursions they should have been repaid immediately by P&O. If however your excursions were non refundable personal bookings I would suggest you obtain written proof of them being non refundable and try to negotiate their cost as extra compensation. Your insurance costs unfortunately will not normally be refundable.

Not feasible I'm afraid. We offered to pay 200% for my friend and they said no. I have heard of someone on a Cunard cruise who's travelling companion cried off on the morning of departure and she was unable to travel. In June last year on our Princess cruise my aunt and I travelled without her now partner. Although two cabins for 3 persons fares we had to fight to get me to be able to use the empty cabin and I couldn't have it until day 3.

Yes the age old singles problem is one I encounter all the time on Cunard and Princess. I've never had it on P&O but then I never normally travel on the small ships, this will be my first time on Aurora as every time I've booked her something got in the way like covid or the ship going out of service. I've moved my friend in with me which of course means no cabin is being used for a single now but I note it still doesn't allow a booking for someone else. My Iona cruise was booked to use up what I thought was my last FCC but I've since found another £1,000 sitting in my account but from where I have no idea!!! I had a large sum tied up in an Arvia Christmas cruise with my husband but he is refusing to travel P&O again - I'm trying to sort that one out. I was going to go for the Aurora 65 night 2024 cruise as a replacement and thats why I've booked Aurora in April to see how I get along on her. Spanner in the works has appeared over on the Cunard board though with a leaked 2025 itinerary showing Queen Victoria is going to South America in January 2025 and i just love that ship! How lovely to have so many choices, I'm sure it will all get sorted in the next month or so.

Well they say no more singles. However we are going to share and I'm very happy with the result. My booking was £1,998 for an inside saver but making it for 2 we have moved up to an outside for £3198 so I'm making a nice saving. I wasn't aware but I also have a gift from P&O of £100OBC to "welcome me back onboard - I thought that had to be on a select fare but its apparently not the case. I'm well pleased. My 18 March select outside on Iona which I booked onboard Britannia at Christmas was £1299 with £350obc so the Aurora cruise now looks like my big bargain (excuse the use of that emotive word please!).

On the subject of the smaller ships, is it normal to stop selling cabins to solo travellers at a certain point? I'm booked on Aurora in April solo and a friend mentioned yesterday she'd like to travel with me but wanted her own cabin rather than share. Looked this morning availability for several types/grades of cabin but if you put 1 passenger rather than 2 it shows sold out. I assume this means no singles should apply but I've never seen it on P&O.

My OH swims every morning as the pools open, normally at 7.00am so he wanders up to the pool around 6.40. At Christmas the staff on Britannia very helpfully opened the pools at 6.45 to allow him and a lady who swam every morning to train for a sports event in as they were there. Most mornings there were 30 to 40 people waiting to grab sunbeds at 6.40 and some of them moaned vociferously at the staff for opening the pool before setting up the beds. Never before seen so many hopping around and twitching like greyhounds in the traps. Perhaps this is the future of cruising.

Thank you. That's great. I just wanted to check confirmed booking was before September. At the point you booked you could assume FCC was in place. Your cruise timing was unfortunately inside the problem period. However unless you were notified of the policy change you wouldn't have been aware of it as your My P&O wouldn't refer to it.

As I say I'd no idea of its existence but I'm very glad that someone who always posts nice things is at the top of any list. Restores my faith in human nature.

Well there you go, I had no idea. Congratulations on being Top of the Pops Graham, all that beautiful food speaks volumes along with the lovely wishes you send to people.

I've no idea, actually I'm not a follower of P&O but since I learned of the existence of following I joined up as a Cunard follower. Apparently all of us can have followers as individuals as well, perhaps I should follow you? I quite like the idea of a boat full of followers but maybe Ben Hur's barge complete with oars and rowers is more my scene! I think "followers" are notified if the person or group they are following makes a post, a bit like FB although I doubt individuals on these boards accumulate hundreds as a sign to boast of their popularity.

Bill, did you just rebook the cruise back when it was obvious you couldn't travel, or did P&O put FCC into your account to be used at a later date? Your course of action will be different depending on this and the date of your actual booking for the cruise you were denied boarding on, basically what date does your booking confirmation for the 2022 cruise state?

I apologise. Unfortunately in recent times you and I don't appear to be anywhere near being able to have a civil conversation and my comment was because i believed that yet again you were about to tell me I'm wrong, misleading, biased etc. As I say, I'm sorry for assuming. I had however assumed that "followers" were those most interested in P&O and that I in fact had been slow to realise this when others have mentioned the figure 70 In other threads. I've no idea how you unfollow though but I have noticed recently the number went down.

Until beginning of September 2022 anyone failing the health questionnaire - which was identical to the one you completed - was refused boarding but automatically issued with a FCC for the full cost of their holiday. If you booked prior to September of course assumed you had booked on terms acceptable to you in the event you could not travel - my family and I could not travel last April as several of us caught covid at a wedding. Not all caught it but all 10 were disbarred from travelling and we received within 48 hours FCC into our accounts. The new policy started around 6 September telling passengers they no longer qualified for FCC for denied boarding or quarantine and had to claim on their travel insurance. At that time I was travelling in December so wrote to Holiday Extras on behalf of my family as quite a few of us held policies with them and they were recommended by the cruise lines. Mr Edinburgh had been most helpful to us earlier in the year explaining his company's role. The reply from him is the one I posted here and referred to. Immediately after the new policy and terms went live the number of people here and on social media stating they'd been refused boarding and lost their money escalated enormously. Myself and others started putting pressure on P&O to explain how people could claim on a non existent insurance policy citing unfair trading terms. Although they never actually replied directly I was in contact with their lawyers - ongoing from February. Suddenly out of the blue long past the promised reply date it was announced that for cruises departing after 9 December the health questionnaire was dropped and no one need complete it. A few posted here to say P&O settled things with them. Social media generally had others but all appear to have been forced into non disclosure agreements. However the advice I personally took was the terms were unfair and should be challenged legally if necessary. In the event my family cruised on 9 December and myself on 16th so I did not pursue the matter further. In light of the advice I received I would say your case is good.

The number of followers of P&O, currently showing 68. No doubt this is wrong but I'm sure as usual you'll make sure I'm put in my place!

Sorry to keep questioning but did you send Staysure's response to both ABTA and P&O? If so have either of them commented - assumedly not P&O but ABTA possibly? If you did send it to ABTA they appear to be condoning P&O knowingly selling an uninsurable holiday and stating it's buyer beware. If that is the case I would challenge them again. Not to do with this issue but I had cause to argue with ABTA on a matter last year and did eventually prevail despite them stating nothing to do with them originally. Some staff are better at understanding problems than others. If ABTA still say nothing to do with them I suggest telling them you will be in touch with the media to inform them that ABTA are failing travellers on an extremely difficult situation causing uninsurable loss. State it's a matter of confidence issue for the overall travelling public not just cruisers. Their name is used to sell confidence to the traveller, just letting P&O ride roughshod over those who have fallen foul of this is simply not acceptable. Also if it was a fair policy why did P&O only operate it from September to December? Play devios advocate and mention the Holiday Extras reply from September.