Ventura broken down?

[jeanlyon]

1 hour ago, gazwag said:

Not sure why, hotel costs and travel arrangements are a persons free choice P&O haven't forced anybody to stay in a hotel beforehand.

Yes I agree.  Reasonable costs are paid.  We were one day late back home on Oriana.  They paid our extra night dog boarding and also my friends replacement bus ticket.

[gazwag]

1 hour ago, Lottie A said:

Many passengers travelling a long distance to Southampton have no choice but to stay in a hotel overnight. Why SHOULD they be out of pocket when their cruise is cancelled through no fault of their own? P&O are notorious for not compensating passengers properly...for example it is very rare for them to refund the port fees for missed ports, which many other cruise lines do routinely. 

It seems that Ventura is staying in port in Tenerife for the repairs to be undertaken. Then presumably a slow return to Southampton arriving next Tuesday.
 

I’d much rather be stuck in Tenerife too  P&O Sue ....LOL but I do feel very sorry for the passengers who had their little pre Christmas jaunt cancelled. 

I might book a concert in Glasgow for example and 5 days before the singer pulls out because they are ill, I don't expect the singer to reimburse me my hotel, I just expect to get my ticket price back again. If I'm lucky I might get my hotel deposit back or, as posted earlier, a lot of hotels you can get the full cost back anyway depending on how you paid for it.

Edited December 9, 2019 by gazwag

[Eglesbrech]

8 minutes ago, gazwag said:

I might book a concert in Glasgow for example and 5 days before the singer pulls out because they are ill, I don't expect the singer to reimburse me my hotel, I just expect to get my ticket price back again. If I'm lucky I might get my hotel deposit back or, as posted earlier, a lot of hotels you can get the full cost back anyway depending on how you paid for it.

Package holidays are different.

[crompton21]

My commiserations to all of the people who have been affected by this, I assume there may well be people on board who can't extend their holiday because of day today commitments as well as all those whose plans have been ruined.

 

Regarding the incident, I checked the position of Ventura when I saw the first post on Saturday night at 22.30 ish.  At that stage, Ventura had turned 180 degrees or so and appeared to be relatively stationary although drifting slowly (2 knots I think) towards Tenerife.  There appeared to be a fair distance from her position to the island.  

 

The Punta Salinas (ocean going tug) had departed and was heading towards the scene.  Data on Ventura's journey appeared to show that the incident occurred at 19.30/20.30 (the speed dropped dramatically) and it therefore appears that assistance was requested fairly early in the incident.  I cannot remember another time when I have registered a situation where a P&O ship has required assistance from a tug in the last 5/6 years, it may have happened, but I can't remember one

 

Those with more knowledge than I may know whether the request of assistance was likely to be because of the relative proximity to land or because it became quickly apparent that the issue was not able to be easily fixed.  If the latter point is the answer then I would question the information provided on Sunday regarding speed of repairs.

 

The two smaller tugs that also attended are classified on the marinetraffic website in differing ways, the V.B. Tenerife is described as a fire fighting vessel and the V.B. Canarias as a tug.  Other websites classify them both as tugs.  

 

Provided as observations and not facts.  

 

 

[davecttr]

I presume they will be offering all passengers aboard the option of free flights home by Friday or staying aboard the ship for free as it limps back to Southampton. The thought of it breaking down again in an Atlantic gale would be somewhat worrying.

[Lottie A]

6 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I presume they will be offering all passengers aboard the option of free flights home by Friday or staying aboard the ship for free as it limps back to Southampton. The thought of it breaking down again in an Atlantic gale would be somewhat worrying.

Yes! 😱

[Josy1953]

17 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I presume they will be offering all passengers aboard the option of free flights home by Friday or staying aboard the ship for free as it limps back to Southampton. The thought of it breaking down again in an Atlantic gale would be somewhat worrying.

Even this could leave people with problems such as :

 

Luggage allowance on flights is probably less than the luggage that many people h have on board.

Many passengers will have their car in Southampton and may live many miles from Southampton and will have difficulty get to Southampton to retrieve it.

Some passengers may be cruises because they can't fly for various reasons (health / disability, fear of flying etc )

[Eglesbrech]

Those who have their holiday extended may also need to consider their travel insurance which may run out before the voyage does among the other practical issues they will face.

[AndyMichelle]

25 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

Even this could leave people with problems such as :

 

Luggage allowance on flights is probably less than the luggage that many people h have on board.

Many passengers will have their car in Southampton and may live many miles from Southampton and will have difficulty get to Southampton to retrieve it.

Some passengers may be cruises because they can't fly for various reasons (health / disability, fear of flying etc )

Good points. 

Flying back wouldn't be an option for us so we would have to stick with it. 

Then again, an extra few days holiday would be a bonus for us. 

Andy 

 

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, AndyMichelle said:

Good points. 

Flying back wouldn't be an option for us so we would have to stick with it. 

Then again, an extra few days holiday would be a bonus for us. 

Andy 

 

Depends how accommodating employers are for those who still work.

 

Lovely if you are retired,  not so good if you have no annual leave and face having the time deducted from your December pay as some employers have been known to do (remember all the fuss with the ash cloud).

[Josy1953]

10 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Good points. 

Flying back wouldn't be an option for us so we would have to stick with it. 

Then again, an extra few days holiday would be a bonus for us. 

Andy 

 

Same for us, we would welcome a few extra days and having annual insurance we would be covered for the extra days.

[PrincessPete]

All very good points, especially Eglesbrech re travel insurance. 

We are not on this cruise but insurance would definitely have been an issue (we can not get annual cover due to my wife's medical history so the cover would run out on the scheduled arrival day back at Southampton).

If a serious medical issue arose in the "extra days" I wonder whether P&O would cover the costs if  passenger's insurance had run out?

Hopefully nothing will arise for anyone on the extended cruise for those staying onboard.

Any thoughts on P&O's stance if it did 

[daiB]

OK just announced on the ship 50% refund on cruise fare + out of pocket expenses. See if people would stop jumping in with both feet before all the facts are known.

 

Wish I had booked this cruise now. 50% off and 4 extra days..... magic.

[crompton21]

7 minutes ago, daiB said:

OK just announced on the ship 50% refund on cruise fare + out of pocket expenses. See if people would stop jumping in with both feet before all the facts are known.

 

Wish I had booked this cruise now. 50% off and 4 extra days..... magic.

 

Not sure I have seen much jumping in with both feet if I am honest.  The facts as known have now changed (as they may do again).

[tring]

3 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Package travel regulations apply to the cruise(as it does to all cruises booked in the the uk).

 

If the cruise line cancels as they have done to the weekend cruisers, they can claim out of pocket expenses.

It is true P&O have legal responsibilities, which would normally also include disappointment.  Sounds like a small claims court job to me.

 

[Eglesbrech]

5 minutes ago, daiB said:

OK just announced on the ship 50% refund on cruise fare + out of pocket expenses. See if people would stop jumping in with both feet before all the facts are known.

 

Wish I had booked this cruise now. 50% off and 4 extra days..... magic.

People are not “jumping in with both feet”, they are discussing scenarios and as this is a discussion forum they are quite entitled to do so.

 

If you are retired or have a reasonable employer and have appropriate annual travel insurance this would be absolutely fine, a little sunshine bonus. Some will not feel that way and be in a panic about a number of issues.

 

A good refund though.

[tring]

2 hours ago, P&O SUE said:

 

I would also be rather stressed about phoning my employer and telling them I needed another couple of days off if I was on the delayed one.

 

 

If I was that badly affected, I would be insisting P&O flew me home.  Must admit personally I would not mind a few extra free days cruise mind, but it is still a mess for all concerned.

[daiB]

8 minutes ago, tring said:

 

If I was that badly affected, I would be insisting P&O flew me home.  Must admit personally I would not mind a few extra free days cruise mind, but it is still a mess for all concerned.

Thos has already been offered a few hours ago

[daiB]

16 minutes ago, crompton21 said:

 

Not sure I have seen much jumping in with both feet if I am honest.  The facts as known have now changed (as they may do again).

At least 3 posts by my count.

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, daiB said:

OK just announced on the ship 50% refund on cruise fare + out of pocket expenses. See if people would stop jumping in with both feet before all the facts are known.

 

Wish I had booked this cruise now. 50% off and 4 extra days..... magic.

Very good compensation.  I just feel sorry for those passengers who will have problems with being away for the extra days ( work etc ).

 

My other half has just pointed out to me that this is the first time for 8 years that we have not been to the Canaries around this time of year and that had I not wanted to have a change this year we would probably have been enjoying an extended holiday and being paid for the pleasure, c'est is vie.

[Broadside]

58 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Those who have their holiday extended may also need to consider their travel insurance which may run out before the voyage does among the other practical issues they will face.

 

Doesn't the holiday insurance become valid from the date of the first incident until the situation is resolved? 

[jeanlyon]

Yes very good.  I don't fly so certainly wouldn't be opting for that.

[Eglesbrech]

14 minutes ago, Broadside said:

 

Doesn't the holiday insurance become valid from the date of the first incident until the situation is resolved? 

I would like to think they would provide some sort of cover but personally I would be checking if I didn’t have annual insurance. Presumably you would have to make contact to activate the extension or at least inform the insurer, (you have to contact when using the medical element over a certain amount). Every policy will potentially be a little different.

[Lottie A]

I know someone onboard who is a Consultant Trauma Surgeon. He is due in work on Saturday night managing a large A&E dept. His wife absolutely refuses to fly so it looks like he is flying home alone and she’s staying onboard until Southampton. 

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, the english lady said:

For what this is going to cost them...the port fees are small. They have cancelled the next cruise..that should leave this Friday, as Ventura will not get back until next Tues. So they will have flight costs dom the current cruise if people need to get back. They are going to b paying more comp. The £25 Is just a starter. Then for the next cruise...cancelled ...they will be doing full refunds plus 20% of what they paid for the 4 night cruise..for another cruise. Plus if any of those have hotel..trains etc they have booked that can not be cancelled they normally deal with case by case. 

I agree with your sentiments but I am also on about other cruises where P&O cancel ports of call during cruise where there is no impact on the rest of the cruise they still have charged each passenger for that port of call but is never refunded and P&O do not reimburse just for a missed port they just say contact your insurance company and then keep your money for profit. Princess always refund port fees/taxes when you miss a port of call whether it be their fault or weather related and dont think the argument that they do it because it is separate on your cruise fare "holds water" because you have still paid them in whatever way it is done.