Megabear2

You will need to fill in the accessibility form to take any form of walking stick onboard and you will be required to mark the mandatory one to one assistance P&O insist upon. I would suggest completing it immediately if your wife intends taking it onboard. It has taken a lot of effort to get three bookings correctly marked and acknowledged to facilitate my husband's walking stick.

You are no doubt right. I posted the information for interest not discussion but as I was asked what I would have done/expected and replied accordingly. Really nothing surprises me about P&O or indeed any cruise line.

If you are in the too early queue there have been no chairs available unless you have assisted boarding.

I assume you are asking what i would have done? So, myself? Well I was never in doubt about the decision and stated so at the time that P&O had made entirely the right call in entering into the contract with whoever they could to ensure the holidays went ahead. I also did not think people being upset about lack of entertainment systems was a reasonable attitude. Regarding the lack of premium economy seating I did feel that those passengers should have been offered the opportunity to cancel without penalty but at least the costs were refunded with some small additional compensation. So that's where I've always stood, never made any bones about it, I would not have threatened to cancel my holiday or shouted as others did. It is what it is would have been my attitude. However, I do take issue with P&O about the aftercare situation for those passengers who suffered these horrendous delays and were treated pretty abysmally by all accounts, including somewhat luckily (but maybe not for him!) a very well known blogger. The actual handling of events on the ground appears to have been appalling, in some cases quite traumatic - being left in an empty airport having no access to food or water being the case in point. In no way could that be described as acceptable. Upon return from holiday when those affected started to apply for their legally due compensation from Maleth it became obvious something was going on. Those people had nowhere to turn for help, information and guidance except P&O who in turn instructed their staff to adopt the nothing to do with us attitude. The further into the season we went the more we saw people were joining online groups of disgruntled passengers getting no response from Maleth. It became clear that P&O were hardening down on their nothing to do with us stance. They had a perfect right to do so but realistically as the months rolled by with no Maleth responses wouldn't it have made sense to not ignore the people involved and perhaps have reached out to them to explain the situation as they have just been forced to do by Watchdog? There is absolutely nothing worse for an individual than knowing you have suffered an injustice, doing everything necessary to get your redress and then hitting a brick wall. It makes people angry, frustrated, very upset. Although not responsible would it have hurt P&O to have one or two staff trained to handle the calls, emails, letters or other communications of these thousand or so people? Incidentally I watched the programme, it did not direct blame anywhere else than at Maleth, there was no attempt to blame P&O. The statements I quoted have been published alongside the broadcast. Surely for all involved if P&O had assisted their affected customers in the first place rather than just thrusting forms at them and washing their hands it would have been better for all?

I remember you worrying your flight might have become a Maleth one though ...

Never said they should. I said that as this situation has been ongoing for many months P&O should have had the courtesy to reach out to the affected passengers and explain the situation. As it is there has been a wall of silence, a great deal of upset and anguish for those involved with a stance of not our problem get on with it. There is absolutely nothing worse than an individual having to keep chasing and being ignored without any explanation for months on end. This information only become public due to individuals getting frustrated and wanting some answers. No matter who is right or wrong, what should gave occurred or didn't these folk gave been treated very badly and at the very least should have had a proper explanation of the situation. Reading and listening to their stories they've had absolutely nothing from anyone regardless of who is responsible. Truthfully I think the whole thing is a mess, of course the holidays couldn't have been cancelled en bloc but those that suffered the misfortune at the hands of Maleth's bungled efforts should have been kept informed of the situation and not just cut loose.

Just playing devil's advocate here! So do you think it was the right decision? If you were one of the thousand or so passengers on those five flights or indeed the more successful ones would you think the gamble paid off or would you expect P&O to back you up, help you and at least apologise they put you in this situation?

Very technical but any lawyer worth their salt should have been aware of the need to ensure the P&O brand was protected from bad publicity by association. The furore that erupted on announcement of one class no entertainment aircraft did a lot of damage to the brand including with the travel agents. Now it's looking very likely the passengers will not even get the compensation they are legally due and P&O are able to sit on their hands saying nothing to do with us guv and yet they made a corporate decision to knowingly take that risk on their passengers' behalf. If you're correct it's just very shabby.

Exactly the point I was making about poor due diligence. If you can provide that information why on earth could P&O's legal team not see the risk? We are only speaking about five flights but there could have been considerably more as a lot were only a little under the three hours with their delays.

Unfortunately as I see it rather than waiting for distraught passengers to contact the BBC Watchdog P&O should not have been burying their heads in the sand and hoping it would go away. There have been numerous passengers seeking clarity and advice yet the stance has apparently been to ignore them and say nothing to do with us. I find it very difficult to believe P&O could not have given those people some sort of statement about the situation to at least explain they are involved in legal action with Maleth and as such their hands were tied. I'm also rather surprised at the due diligence carried out that the airline was actually viable and able to honour any legal obligations it might incur in the event of problems for passengers. Although £500,000 for those five badly affected flights sounds a large amount, at the end of the day an airline should be solvent enough to meet a legal obligation. This contract with Maleth really does sound like "flying by the seat of the pants" stuff and the poor passengers appear to be the unaware victims of a panic by P&O based on oh God what are we going to fly the passengers out on? No matter how it's dressed up it's a very poor show all round.

It's a bit chilly here in London but apparently much better than home where there is persistent heavy ran continuing from yesterday. Had a great time with our family yesterday celebrating my sister in law's 70th birthday with a lovely lunch and get together. Only one family member couldn't get the day off work so 22 of us sat down across three tables. It was a great warm up for our Aurora cruise in August when all 23 will be sailing. My three eldest nieces had spent hours making personalised goodie bags and individually boxed cup cakes as well. It was so nice to all be together gor once. Today the celebration continues as my husband and I are taking the birthday girl and her husband out for another lunch, this time just the four of us and then on to the theatre. I met my husband through my sister in law when we worked together 47 years ago so we have a very special bond.

I found him discussing Maleth Aero with a couple of others who post regularly on CC. He told me he was reading along here still although not posting for those secret reasons. Sadly missed by me as well.

Sadly they've removed my favourite Cloudy Bay Sauvignon on both P&O and Cunard but I did find a very nice Greek and Indian wine in the Chart Room. For dinner I just stuck to Cunard's own Sauvignon Blanc and pinot grigio which is perfectly acceptable to me. Whisper it quietly but I could get the perfect serve gin and tonics in the Chart Room - I love Three (now four) Queen's gin - as most of the Cunard staff from the other ships and the waiters and barmen are very adept at organising drinks outside the normal confines. My much loved mojitos aren't on every bar menu but like most things ask and they will provide.

I'm not known by family and friends as Queen of the 5* for nothing ... To be truthful I do occasionally stay at the Premier Inn Newmarket but I so rarely switch on TV anywhere when I'm travelling I'd probably not know any different. It's only on here became husband wanted to see the election coverage!

Did you have the full 40 page wine list? I'm not a big wine drinker, particularly reds, but my table companions were and the list was huge for reds, although some of them were running into the hundreds of dollars per bottle which again is something Cunard specialise in for their US guests. Believe it or not some customers ship large quantities from their own cellars to drink onboard as they consider the offerings inferior. I exceeded my $72 a day on virtually every day, bar one. A lot of my daily spend was on tea, bottled sparkling water, cans of water to take ashore, breakfast juices and smoothies in the Wellness Cafe. My alcohol intake was limited to my normal small glass of white wine with lunch, the same with dinner, a mojito before dinner, a g&t or at a bar after dinner and the occasional liquor on gala nights or an Irish coffee. It adds up quite rapidly, particularly on seadays where I like a non alcoholic beer (strangely these are only on the alcoholic drinks package despite being totally alcofree). I'm a creature of habit and know more or less what I'll be doing drinks wise before I board. When traveling alone I spend a lot of time socialising so know I'll be in a bar! Of course I also did not have any OBC (traveling solo it's always quite small) but when I travel with my husband habits and consumption are totally different. My onboard account was $250 at the end and was the balance for my Internet - I worked part of the trip - and the purchase of a sweatshirt for $50 plus my daily ice cream consumption.

I too use high quality audio and broadcasting equipment at home but would be very surprised apart from in extremely high end land based hotels to receive full HD broadcasts. I'm currently sitting in a 5* London hotel and the TV is broadcasting in "normal" mode. My own experience worldwide is that unless the premises offers a full satellite or cable service watching in full HD is a rarity. Unfortunately modern TV sets offer very poor sound quality by their design and I doubt we will see hotels and cruise lines offering sound bars etc on their standard cabins, although I understand that in the Grills very much superior electronic equipment is being offered on Queen Anne. Then again as my travelling companion on one excursion had paid £23,000 for her room it was probably well and truly paid for in her fare!

Following on from the fiasco, this makes interesting reading: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2cQxlcT6ZKFW5TPvCDjfcLt/maleth-aero-p-o-carnival-ror-june-2024

Regarding drinks pricing, it is what it is. Cunard offer a vastly superior and much larger menu and their drinks, particularly cocktails are far superior and contain bigger alcohol measures. I did have the drinks pack for this cruise - first time on Cunard - and it equated to £800 for the two weeks. It removed the 15% service charge. My Britannia cruise coming in December I have the Deluxe Drinks package bought before the last price increase at £650 or thereabouts. I do not consider the offerings to be of anywhere near the range of the Cunard one. The "restrictions" Selbourne mentions due to costs mainly affected wine offerings along with some cocktails in two bars. My choice apart from there was extensive. Historically the Commodore Club and Chart Room have always offered drinks of higher value, with or without drinks package.

As I am honoured by a mention from Selbourne I'll add my two pennath! I am a Cunard Diamond cruiser so my take on anything Cunard is very much slanted by my previous experiences on the preceding four Queens and any comments on service levels will reflect this. The dining room "issues" experienced by me to which Selbourne refers were with regard to two matters. Firstly I was travelling solo, something I regularly do on Cunard but less frequently on P&O and I was also sailing on a very late cheap fare which meant I did not have a dining choice. Normally this would not be the case and I would automatically book and request fixed dining second sitting on a table of 8. Initially on Queen Anne I was allocated Anytime Dining, the equivalent of P&O's freedom dining. This operates via the app that's not an app in the same way as P&O does. My problems with this were that the system insisted that I could only dine alone on a table for myself and sharing was not an option. I was unhappy with this as I like to be on a shared table when I travel solo even if it's different people at each meal. As a consequence after the first night the Purser's office arranged for me to transfer to a table for 8 on the late sitting at 8.30pm. It should be noted that early sitting on Cunard is 5.30pm so considerably earlier than on P&O. This is mainly offered to accommodate the US and other nationalities who eat far earlier than people from the UK. My comments on the service to our table were mainly to do with speed of service and organisation. The table was serviced by a team of three and a sommelier, two of whom were brand new. Initially it was a bit hit and miss which is probably understandable. On day 4 myself and one of my table companions had a long chat with them and they were telling us the first two cruises had been absolute hell for them as the guests had been extremely demanding and on occasions downright rude. They commented they were thankful that the guests on the current cruise were more understanding. We noticed a very rapid improvement from that day onwards and the staff started to relax and smile more. To be truthful the service at all times was superior to that offered on P&O, it just was not at the beginning of the normal Cunard high level. On the last evening we learned that one of our waiters and the sommelier were leaving the ship in Southampton and were due to fly back to Queen Elizabeth in a few days. It appears that Cunard had brought in short term quite a high number of experienced staff from the other Queens for the first three cruises to help with training and familiarisation. This was very much noticed around the ship. Most regular Cunard passengers are very used to familiar faces in their "home" and a large number could be found around the ship covering all departments. These staff members were as usual of the highest calibre offering impeccable service. The newer members of the staff were clearly learning the "Cunard way" and by the end of the cruise seemed to be getting there. So Queen Anne is different, she's a lovely ship modern and bright and in a lot of ways intuitive with things like the Bright Lights Society and the drawing room. She is trying hard to be a Cunarder but it may we an uphill battle with the die hard traditionalist Cunard passengers. She has her own distinct character already. My favourite P&O ship by a very long way is Britannia and I'd happily put Queen Anne alongside her as a "posher" choice than her. However I'd struggle to rate Queen Anne with the Celebrity Edge which is much more quirky and cutting edge in all respects. As is well known I absolutely hated Arvia for the noise issues in particular but as I experienced an inside cabin on her and on Queen Anne would draw the comparisons based on this. There is absolutely nothing to choose between the two cabins save Arvia offers better design for wardrobes and also the placement of the television - unlike Selbourne I had no complaints about the offerings on Queen Anne or with sound/picture quality. In my opinion the offering was of equivalent quality and variety to that on Britannia. My next cruise is on Aurora and I do not believe that comparisons will be able to be drawn between this cruise and the three preceding ones I have just had which were on Celebrity Edge, Britannia and now Queen Anne as the ships are so totally different. What I do believe is possible is to compare the product offered, and overall the Cunard offering remains much more in line with their pre pandemic offering. Yes there have been cuts, those who regularly travel with them will notice them for sure, but they are nowhere near as drastic as P&O's. So to sum up, if you've never sailed Cunard you will find it a step up from P&O at a higher price level, if you are a traditionalist you'll probably be pleased as well. As a Cunard devotee I'll sail on Queen Anne again as planned in October but can say for sure my next sailings on the other three Queens will definitely give me a more true Cunard experience. That's not a complaint just an observation that Queen Anne will be different in the same way I'm sure Arvia will be different to Aurora.

The cruise my mother had booked was made onboard the ship but transferred to her travel agent. She died 5 months before the departure date but I called the cruise line direct for advice on the position before contacting the travel agent. The booking was in my mother's name as she was responsible for the booking and billing. Both P&O and Cunard were very happy to discuss the situation and provide general details of their processes as they were not being asked to actually make any changes but just to provide details of options, processes and procedures. In the event after changing the booking to my husband's name we ended up moving the Cunard booking to an entirely different cruise a year later as my father became seriously unwell the day after my mother's funeral and subsequently passed away himself five months later. Both P&O and Cunard were extremely sympathetic and prepared to explain their processes to help an easy solution be it transfer of pasenger, transfer of voyage or cancellation- the P&O cruise did in fact get cancelled.

It has just occurred to me to ask is your booking a select or saver fare? This can have some bearing. P&O's T&C's do not actually reference a deceased person being lead pasenger but the relevant clauses seem to be as follows: AMENDMENTS TO THE CONTRACT 12. In clauses 12, 13 and 14, “another person” means another person who can comply with all conditions applicable to the Package. A Package may be transferred to another person provided that the Guest consults with P&O Cruises prior to purporting to transfer the Package and P&O Cruises receives in writing the transfer request at least 7 days before the scheduled departure date. Where P&O Cruises agrees to the transfer, both the Guest and the substituted Guest shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of any balance of the price due and for any reasonable additional fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer. In the case of Guests booked under an Early Saver or Saver, all transfers of a Package to another person under this clause 12 will be subject to an administration charge of £20. Guests who have booked a Select Price will not be required to pay an administration charge. 13. Any transfer of a Package to another person will be subject to payment of all charges incurred in connection with the transfer (for example hotel amendment charges) and any transfer of a Package including any flights will also be subject to any charges imposed by the airline. Guests should note that airlines may not allow transfers on scheduled flights and that a flight booking may have to be cancelled and rebooked, in which event the re-booking will always be subject to flight availability and to payment of any charges imposed by the airline which may, in some cases, be the full cost of the ticket. 14. Any request for a transfer of a Package to another person which is received by P&O Cruises less than 7 days before the scheduled departure date shall be treated as a cancellation by the Guest of the Contract and a cancellation charge under clause 38 shall become payable.

Just to be clear I was not suggesting a "what if" conversation but an actual discussion on what the cruise line's requirements are in these types of circumstances. Whilst a distressing and one off event for the OP this situation must sadly occur quite regularly and there will be proper advice and processes that P&O follow which hopefully they can advise him of. The OP indicated his travel agent had not been particularly helpful or by the sound of it sympathetic. P&O on the other hand should be able to tell him what they will or won't do. My experience is that with bereavement they are extremely helpful.

I assume the documents have been provided to the travel agent rather than P&O and therefore they have been forwarded to them by the agent? Has anyone given you a time frame for a decision on what the options are?

When I changed my cruise when my mother died the first question was is it a settled will or has probate been granted. As it happened my father was alive and all the estate was passing to him but the question was still raised. My father was not travelling only my mother and I. They still asked the question. I am assuming nothing much has changed and without them having sight of the will they will ask the question. If the will is settled as per your quote then the solicitor dealing with the issue could presumably provide a letter to the effect although as the gentleman only passed two weeks ago it would seem rather unlikely it has settled in his wife's favour yet. As to not discussing the requirements I'd be very surprised if they would not speak in general terms to the OP. He is not asking for anything directly to do with his booking but is seeking help and guidance on P&O's policy in a case such as his own. He is fully aware he has to go via his travel agent, but he states they are not being very helpful. P&O should be able to explain their policies, who his booking with it totally irrelevant if he is not seeking to do anything with his own booking but seeking generic advice on policy and requirements

Bypass them in the first instance by speaking to P&O. They open in 10 minutes ring them dead on 9.00am as queue waits can be very long at present. There's nothing to lose, you may be pleasantly surprised. I'm crossing everything for you having a nice surprise. People will want to help, they are very understanding as I found in my case.