P&O Cruisers - What are things like where YOU are?

[Josy1953]

First the good news, we are both finally clear of the dreaded virus.😷

Now the bad news, on Monday I paid the balance for our October Cruise on Princess and had an email this morning that the cruise has been shortened by 2 days because leaving the dry dock is delayed.  We do still want to do the cruise but now we have to get the over payment back from Princess.  We aren't bothered about losing Lanzarote and Lisbon because we have been to both numerous times.  I just hope they are quicker at refunding than P&O were during the pandemic.🤞

Edited July 28, 2022 by Josy1953

[gsmt47471015]

5 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

First the good news, we are both finally clear of the dreaded virus.😷

Now the bad news, on Monday I paid the balance for our October Cruise on Princess and had an email this morning that the cruise has been shortened by 2 days because leaving the dry dock is delayed.  We do still want to do the cruise but now we have to get the over payment back from Princess.  We aren't bothered about losing Lanzarote and Lisbon because we have been to both numerous times.  I just hope they are quicker at refunding than P&O were during the pandemic.🤞

Not very good news for you but it does show that P and O are not the only ones struggling with things at the moment

[Eglesbrech]

11 hours ago, Billish said:

Actually, from reports I have seen, when you add on drink costs,  speciality meal costs etc, the price difference is less than it appears. 

Having said that,  Vamps with her spread sheets, will have taken all of that into account. 

It depends on the grade you book and when but then that could be said for most cruise lines I suppose. 

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Not very good news for you but it does show that P and O are not the only ones struggling with things at the moment

I did wonder if it was a coincidence that we got the email on the final payment day for the cruise.

Princess are seeming to be a bit more proactive than P&O were, I have just had a phone call from our Princess Cruise Specialist explaining that the problem is with the German shipyard doing the dry dock (who knows if that is right or not)  and telling me that the refund will be refunded within 10 days.  I know that this is only one cruise that is affected but P&O were not forthcoming with any information when cruising was paused because of Covid.  They took months to refund money that many of us had paid in good faith.

[Dermotsgirl]

13 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I did wonder if it was a coincidence that we got the email on the final payment day for the cruise.

Princess are seeming to be a bit more proactive than P&O were, I have just had a phone call from our Princess Cruise Specialist explaining that the problem is with the German shipyard doing the dry dock (who knows if that is right or not)  and telling me that the refund will be refunded within 10 days.  I know that this is only one cruise that is affected but P&O were not forthcoming with any information when cruising was paused because of Covid.  They took months to refund money that many of us had paid in good faith.

P&O still seem to be tardy with refunds.

 

I cancelled a cruise at the end of May and I’m due a refund, as the deposit was overpaid (long story, the money I paid had been transferred multiple times). I was told 28 days for the refund. Of course, it wasn’t paid, so I had to get my travel agent to chase, and was told ‘within 2 weeks’. The 2 weeks expired yesterday, sure enough nothing paid. I’ll chase again next week, but not happy about this. The travel agent used to be very proactive, but now they are reactive - will probably not use them again. Also, unlikely to consider P&O until I feel they have their admin sorted out and the onboard experience is more reliable. 

[Snow Hill]

1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

P&O still seem to be tardy with refunds.

 

I cancelled a cruise at the end of May and I’m due a refund, as the deposit was overpaid (long story, the money I paid had been transferred multiple times). I was told 28 days for the refund. Of course, it wasn’t paid, so I had to get my travel agent to chase, and was told ‘within 2 weeks’. The 2 weeks expired yesterday, sure enough nothing paid. I’ll chase again next week, but not happy about this. The travel agent used to be very proactive, but now they are reactive - will probably not use them again. Also, unlikely to consider P&O until I feel they have their admin sorted out and the onboard experience is more reliable. 

We had to threatened them with a letter before action to get our £7000+ back back in 2019 after B2B cruises cancelled, we kept getting the it will be through in next 2 weeks, once a 100 days had passed we got serious, our son is a solicitor he got one of colleagues to draft a letter for us, our refund was paid within 3 days. 

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Snow Hill said:

We had to threatened them with a letter before action to get our £7000+ back back in 2019 after B2B cruises cancelled, we kept getting the it will be through in next 2 weeks, once a 100 days had passed we got serious, our son is a solicitor he got one of colleagues to draft a letter for us, our refund was paid within 3 days. 

I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. 

 

I also wonder about doing a Section 75 claim as I paid by Credit card, but the payment originally went to the agent instead of P&O. Plus, the payment was originally made in October 2019, and has been on a long and winding road through many different bookings. I've kept all the paperwork, but it will still be fairly complicated to put in a claim. 

[davecttr]

My April 23 Arvia cruise was a replacement one this year with full balance already paid. I received a booking confirmation on 6th June and the £261 was refunded to my credit card on the same day. A new booking confirmation arrives 22 June and they had further reduced the cruise price. A refund of another £453 was promised. I am not worried yet as 28 working days is not until next monday.

[Peanut006]

8 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

 Both the msc ones were actually more expensive than the p&o ones we have booked 8 nights for £2050 and 7 nights for £1950. The p&o was booked ages in advance on release date I think for £1500 for 7 nights and £2600 for 14 nights. Only difference is that the msc ones fall in the school holidays for this year and we’re late deals. 
 

im definitely going with an open mind. I though I’d not like p&o back when we started and we did. And it’s all going to be what we make of it anyway. 

We have been with MSC twice. Although not my favourite cruise line overall we did think they had great entertainment in the theatre that everyone could enjoy whatever nationality they were.

 

We liked the cabins, they were very spacious and they do the best pizza at sea.

 

Hope you have a lovely time 

 

Michelle 

 

[bobstheboy]

Returned from a MSC cruise a couple of weeks ago with Covid. First week was great, start of second week we were both sure we had Covid. Contacted Medical Centre who sent a nurse to our cabin to test us. Took nasal swabs, said they would test and let us know. Thirty minutes later we were told we were negative and it was probably a heavy cold. We were sure it was Covid, no energy, no taste,  very lethargic. 

 

We decided to keep ourselves away from people as much as we could and only ate in the buffet. Breakfast and lunch was ok, dinner was poor. There was no follow up from Medical Centre during the next six days we were onboard. Arrived home, self tested and we were positive. If we had been irresponsible, we could have mixed with others and passed it on to who knows how many ? We were annoyed with ourselves that we forgot to take testing kits with us, something I would advise on doing.

[Josy1953]

3 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

Returned from a MSC cruise a couple of weeks ago with Covid. First week was great, start of second week we were both sure we had Covid. Contacted Medical Centre who sent a nurse to our cabin to test us. Took nasal swabs, said they would test and let us know. Thirty minutes later we were told we were negative and it was probably a heavy cold. We were sure it was Covid, no energy, no taste,  very lethargic. 

 

We decided to keep ourselves away from people as much as we could and only ate in the buffet. Breakfast and lunch was ok, dinner was poor. There was no follow up from Medical Centre during the next six days we were onboard. Arrived home, self tested and we were positive. If we had been irresponsible, we could have mixed with others and passed it on to who knows how many ? We were annoyed with ourselves that we forgot to take testing kits with us, something I would advise on doing.

I would advise anyone to take their own test kits with them and to use them if they have any symptoms.  It is quite possible that the on board test was negative.  I know from working in the vaccine hub that most people are infectious for several days before testing positive because the initial viral load can be too low to trigger a positive result on an LFT.

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is raining and 14°C.

Sad day today as it is 14 years since Pauline's lovely dad died.

We will call at the remembrance room at the crematorium later to leave a message and see his name in the book of remembrance.

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is raining and 14°C.

Sad day today as it is 14 years since Pauline's lovely dad died.

We will call at the remembrance room at the crematorium later to leave a message and see his name in the book of remembrance.

Our thoughts are with Pauline and you.  Try to remember the good times with Pauline's dad.  Whenever my sisters, brother and I get together we always end up laughing at mum and dad's reactions to some of the things that we used to do as children.

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

Our thoughts are with Pauline and you.  Try to remember the good times with Pauline's dad.  Whenever my sisters, brother and I get together we always end up laughing at mum and dad's reactions to some of the things that we used to do as children.

Thank you Josy 

[grapau27]

We called at a country pub for lunch for Roy's memory.

It was appropriately called 

The Angel Inn.

 

 

[Josy1953]

We decided to go to our favourite Friday lunch venue for the first time for a while.  I had a nice surprise when 4 ladies were shown the the table next to us, I thought that I recognised one of them and she kept looking over to us as if  trying to decide if she knew us.  I decided to ask her if she was who I thought she was and she was.  We have obviously aged and look slightly different now than we did 10 years so had a quick chat and have arranged to meet up on Wednesday for coffee and a catch up. 

[Josy1953]

Our Fish Friday plates

[lincslady]

I love fish and chips - must have tartare sauce - but can't bear mushy peas.  Often they are served in a little bowl, like Josy' s, which is fine, but I do always ask for them not to be served.  Also love baked beans on toast, but not for breakfast or again with fish and chips.  Mainly the taste, but also because they make the crisp stuff soggy.

[lincslady]

Sorry - it was Graham's in the bowl.

[Josy1953]

43 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I love fish and chips - must have tartare sauce - but can't bear mushy peas.  Often they are served in a little bowl, like Josy' s, which is fine, but I do always ask for them not to be served.  Also love baked beans on toast, but not for breakfast or again with fish and chips.  Mainly the taste, but also because they make the crisp stuff soggy.

I don't eat mushy peas,  I usually ask that they are left of my plate but I  forgot today so just left them.  I always ask for tartar sauce which comes in a little bowl that was just off the photo to the side.  I detest baked beans and as I do the food shopping OH only ever gets them when we have breakfast out.

[Peanut006]

10 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is raining and 14°C.

Sad day today as it is 14 years since Pauline's lovely dad died.

We will call at the remembrance room at the crematorium later to leave a message and see his name in the book of remembrance.

A sad day for you both but also lots of happy memories 

Michelle

[Peanut006]

We have just got home after taking three grandchildren on mini hovercraft rides at Hoverforce near Chester. They absolutely loved it, going across marshes and lakes. 
 

A nightmare getting there though, a lorry fire on M6 closed all three lanes and we were stuck in the traffic for nearly two hours. I don’t know the outcome of the driver but hopefully he is ok.

 

I feel fizz Friday might be happening soon….

 

Have a nice evening everyone 

 

Michelle 

[P&O SUE]

No fish and chips for me but I’ve just been for a catch up with a good friend. As the weather was nice we sat outside the Kremes restaurant and I had a strawberry crepe, yummy! It was at our dockside outlet in the old dockyard.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by P&O SUE

[purplesea]

I decided I wasn't going to cook, so ordered fish and chips via the local chippy's app and sent hubby down to get them.

No mushy peas for me either, I hate them and am not keen on baked beans either! 

[pete14]

The company who owns the site on which our static caravan is sited had their annual golf day today at Abergele golf club. The picture is looking back up the 18th hole towards the I’m a Celebrity’ castle. A great day was had by all, even those of us who didn’t win. 
 

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by pete14