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Americans Not Wanted by P&O Australia?


rkacruiser
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Having sailed on the Statendam to Singapore for her final HAL voyage and learning that Pacific Eden was sailing to Singapore for her final P&O Australia cruise, my interest in booking this cruise increased when I saw the ship's itinerary. Several ports would be new to me and the dates of the cruise worked. Sailing on a well-liked ship by me on another final positioning voyage was also very appealing. So, it was time to get details.

 

Accessing the P&O Australia webs site was fruitless. Sending an e-mail through their "Contact Us" link produced no reply. I asked my United States-based cruise specialist Agent to obtain information. Using her regular channels for bookings, which included P&O Cruises, she got nowhere. She sent the Company an e-mail and finally received an answer. The answer: only a direct booking with P&O Australia could be made whether it was done by my Agent or by me. Such a booking would not be considered an "agency" booking if my Agent made the booking, I don't blame her agency and her for having no interest in doing that.

 

Any booking that I might wish to make had to be done through their international phone number, which would result in expensive phone bills for me, or through an Australian travel agency with which I have no experience. And, doing that would probably end up in some expensive international phone calls.

 

What's the message I am receiving from P&O Australia?

 

Americans need not request a reservation.

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There are numerous reputable on-line Australian travel agencies. Unfortunately the CC rules are that I am not allowed to tell you their names.

 

I have made all of my bookings, bar one, on P&O and other lines without any voice contact with an agent. I have used email for document delivery. Once you are on P&O Cruise Control everything is easy. I don't understand why accessing P&O's website was fruitless. Is it not possible to book on the website, or is the website itself not accessible? Is there a question you need to ask of P&O before you will book with them?

 

Sometimes you need to take a leap into the dark. Find an Australian online agent and try them. You will be very unlikely to be ripped off, as Australian Consumer law is much more rigorous than in the US.

 

Also I think you have an exaggerated idea of the cost of international calls. I can't imagine a call from the US to Australia costs more than a couple of bucks at a time. Unless you have some very specific requirements you would only need to make one or two calls.

 

To find cruises in Oz, you don't need to be a Guru.

Edited by SinbadThePorter
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Not wanted - not at all.

 

They are just a local-based cruise line without international clientele, so you need to book in their home country. They don't have international representation as they get very few international cruisers. But if you do book with them directly, you're treated exactly the same as any other onboard - there isn't a two class system or any other discrimination in place.

 

 

 

As with Sinbad, none of the issues you raised are major obstacles. But yes, if you want to cruise with them you'll have to work with their procedures, the same as booking with other travel providers which don't have international representation.

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Thank you both for your responses. Specifically answering SinbadThe Porter's question about my experience with P&O's web site: Using their "Contact Us" link, I sent an e-mail requesting confirmation of the Pacific Eden's date of sailing with details on itinerary and pricing. As I said, I heard nothing from that e-mail that I sent. My U.S. based travel agent had difficulty obtaining a response as well. That's not an encouraging message to me. Because of the difficulty I was having in obtaining information, I decided to forget about this possible cruise.

 

However, your two messages are encouraging me to do some further thinking about my 2019 travel plans. I am going to put the Pacific Eden's cruise back on my radar.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to post to my concern!

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However, your two messages are encouraging me to do some further thinking about my 2019 travel plans. I am going to put the Pacific Eden's cruise back on my radar.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to post to my concern!

 

Check out the info under Pacific Eden leaving P&O Australia Fleet in this section of Cruisecritic. It appears her final voyage will be 16 March 2019. The Pacific Aria is identical in design.

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Check out the info under Pacific Eden leaving P&O Australia Fleet in this section of Cruisecritic. It appears her final voyage will be 16 March 2019. The Pacific Aria is identical in design.

 

On the 16th March 2019, Eden will be in Adelaide. If she heads to Singapore from there it will probably be via Fremantle (Perth).

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Having sailed on the Statendam to Singapore for her final HAL voyage and learning that Pacific Eden was sailing to Singapore for her final P&O Australia cruise, my interest in booking this cruise increased when I saw the ship's itinerary. Several ports would be new to me and the dates of the cruise worked.

 

 

I would love to see these details. I can't find anywhere here downunder that has these details readily available as a bookable cruise.

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  • 1 month later...

Popular reputable American online travel websites have an Australian site. Do a google search or "website name.com.au". This is what I used to book a Solomon Islands Cruise online only available on other cruise premium lines (out of my price range). I used this vs. the direct site because the direct site would not let me pick an exact room. I will agree that P&O email is worthless. I did have trouble with trying to fill out the P&O registration online. I used 3 different browsers with no luck. I had to call them in order to complete the registration (which I was not happy about but was not the fault of the online travel agency).

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Popular reputable American online travel websites have an Australian site. Do a google search or "website name.com.au". This is what I used to book a Solomon Islands Cruise online only available on other cruise premium lines (out of my price range). I used this vs. the direct site because the direct site would not let me pick an exact room. I will agree that P&O email is worthless. I did have trouble with trying to fill out the P&O registration online. I used 3 different browsers with no luck. I had to call them in order to complete the registration (which I was not happy about but was not the fault of the online travel agency).

 

My call to Australia cost me $0.90.

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  • 2 months later...

My wife and I booked for the Singapore to Brisbane cruise from the US. We had to call P&O Australia directly. It cost about $20 in all.

 

However we are now on the cruise and wished we had saved our money. The cruise is a nightmare and the P&O staff are making it worse. Nothing works.... No AC in the cabins, spa equipment broken (yet they continue to sell spa packages and then offer a 15% discount whe you find you cannot use them), spurious charges appear in your account, the list goes on. We are 4 days into the cruise and about half of the passengers including myself, have spend most of the time in line at reception trying to get something fixed or at least a fan to cool the room.

 

I have been on dozens of cruises with almost all of the cruise lines and this is, by far, the worst I have ever experienced The passengers are calling this the "Cruise of Deception". Stuff breaks on ships, but it is how the staff handle it that determines the outcome I thing this small cruise line only cares about profits and not passengers.

 

For cruises around Australia I would recommend Holland America. When it is difficult to book, that tells you how your experience will be.

 

Hope this helps.

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Last cruise for P&O, no interest in fixing it. Goes to CMV to be renamed Vasco de Gama. Sailed on Columbus with CMV earlier this year. This ship used to be Pacific Pearl before P&O sold it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Last cruise for P&O, no interest in fixing it. Goes to CMV to be renamed Vasco de Gama. Sailed on Columbus with CMV earlier this year. This ship used to be Pacific Pearl before P&O sold it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Not quite correct.

 

The OP is sailing on Pacific ARIA, which has undergone a "refit" and is staying with P&O Australia.

Pacific EDEN has been sold to CMV and leaves the P&O fleet in March 2019, to be renamed the Vasco De Gama.

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Original post stated Pacific Eden.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Sorry, my bad. I was thinking the post above yours by ray6203 was the OP, and was replying to another thread in which he raises the same points about the cruise he was currently on, the Aria's post refit cruise back to Aus.

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