25% FCC

[adamscott]

My cruise in September has been cancelled and I have only paid the deposit.  I have just been told that the extra 25% will only be allocated on money paid (deposit) and not the cost of the holiday.  Can anyone confirm this?

 

Thanks

Adam

[NoFlyGuy]

Yes. The extra 25% is on what you have actually paid. If you had only paid £50 each deposit on a £5000 booking whilst onboard and not needed to pay the balance the balance yet, P&O  won't be offering you a £6250 FCC!

[adamscott]

Thank you.

[Alan Flett]

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not or even if I have been given incorrect information from my travel agent. I paid the balance on my August back to back cruise a few weeks ago so obviously this has now been cancelled. This was a week on Iona then 2 on Britannia. 
 

I already had another 2 week cruise booked in August 2021 and about a month ago I booked the same week on Iona in 2021 as I thought they may be cancelled this year. So now I have the same holiday weeks next year. 

 

Now here is the problem. I was initially happy to take the FCC and potentially upgrade our cabin  so I could use it or even book a weekend break to get the FCC as Iona was quite a bit more expensive next year than this so it would offset the cost. I was told today that I can use the 25% additional FCC (£1,625) against this but I was not able to use the money I have paid for the 2020 cruises (£6,500 ish) to pay the balance of my 2021 cruise.

 

They said that if I take the FCC it has to be used against a new booking if I want to use the full amount they hold from me plus’s the additional 25%. 
 

Is this right as I think it’s ridiculous if true? Effectively they would keep my money until I booked another cruise which will be 2022. Obviously I’m asking for my money back if that’s true. 
 

 

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Alan Flett said:

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not or even if I have been given incorrect information from my travel agent. I paid the balance on my August back to back cruise a few weeks ago so obviously this has now been cancelled. This was a week on Iona then 2 on Britannia. 
 

I already had another 2 week cruise booked in August 2021 and about a month ago I booked the same week on Iona in 2021 as I thought they may be cancelled this year. So now I have the same holiday weeks next year. 

 

Now here is the problem. I was initially happy to take the FCC and potentially upgrade our cabin  so I could use it or even book a weekend break to get the FCC as Iona was quite a bit more expensive next year than this so it would offset the cost. I was told today that I can use the 25% additional FCC (£1,625) against this but I was not able to use the money I have paid for the 2020 cruises (£6,500 ish) to pay the balance of my 2021 cruise.

 

They said that if I take the FCC it has to be used against a new booking if I want to use the full amount they hold from me plus’s the additional 25%. 
 

Is this right as I think it’s ridiculous if true? Effectively they would keep my money until I booked another cruise which will be 2022. Obviously I’m asking for my money back if that’s true. 
 

 

Basically yes - FCC cannot be used on already booked cruises,  apart from upgrading your cabin. I seem to recall that this stipulation is relaxed if you already have a large number of cruises already booked - 8(?) - but that does not apply to most people.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Alan Flett said:

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not or even if I have been given incorrect information from my travel agent. I paid the balance on my August back to back cruise a few weeks ago so obviously this has now been cancelled. This was a week on Iona then 2 on Britannia. 
 

I already had another 2 week cruise booked in August 2021 and about a month ago I booked the same week on Iona in 2021 as I thought they may be cancelled this year. So now I have the same holiday weeks next year. 

 

Now here is the problem. I was initially happy to take the FCC and potentially upgrade our cabin  so I could use it or even book a weekend break to get the FCC as Iona was quite a bit more expensive next year than this so it would offset the cost. I was told today that I can use the 25% additional FCC (£1,625) against this but I was not able to use the money I have paid for the 2020 cruises (£6,500 ish) to pay the balance of my 2021 cruise.

 

They said that if I take the FCC it has to be used against a new booking if I want to use the full amount they hold from me plus’s the additional 25%. 
 

Is this right as I think it’s ridiculous if true? Effectively they would keep my money until I booked another cruise which will be 2022. Obviously I’m asking for my money back if that’s true. 
 

 

Unfortunately all true despite lots of people asking them to reconsider.

[Alan Flett]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Basically yes - FCC cannot be used on already booked cruises,  apart from upgrading your cabin. I seem to recall that this stipulation is relaxed if you already have a large number of cruises already booked - 8(?) - but that does not apply to most people.

That's ridiculous. I saw that but assumed that the issue was people were saying that they just wanted to transfer the full FCC against the holiday without upgrading.

 

I am willing to either upgrade my cabin or book a weekend break but as they will keep the money I have already paid until it's completely used on a future bookings there is no chance I am doing that as it will be at least 2022.

 

So basically P & O are penalising people like myself (and many others on here) who have cruises already booked for 2021 whilst people who only have the cruises booked for 2020 get the benefit.

 

If I would have held back and not booked for 2021 then I wouldn't have got the cruise I wanted as the cruise we have booked next year is closed for some children. Our friends who were travelling with us this year tried to change theirs yesterday and were told the clubs are full.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Alan Flett said:

That's ridiculous. I saw that but assumed that the issue was people were saying that they just wanted to transfer the full FCC against the holiday without upgrading.

 

I am willing to either upgrade my cabin or book a weekend break but as they will keep the money I have already paid until it's completely used on a future bookings there is no chance I am doing that as it will be at least 2022.

 

So basically P & O are penalising people like myself (and many others on here) who have cruises already booked for 2021 whilst people who only have the cruises booked for 2020 get the benefit.

 

If I would have held back and not booked for 2021 then I wouldn't have got the cruise I wanted as the cruise we have booked next year is closed for some children. Our friends who were travelling with us this year tried to change theirs yesterday and were told the clubs are full.

Yes, it is frustrating, but you could do what many of us have done and just get a refund, albeit after a very long wait. The ‘extra’ 25% is of little appeal to many of us, given that prices on cruises that were launched some time ago (such as 2021 cruises) are more expensive than at launch so the 25% can be pretty worthless. Add to that the perilous state of the cruise industry, which is only going to get worse with no resumption in cruising in sight and many would argue that ‘cash is King’.

 

Personally, I found it a great relief to have had all my money back so that we can start again with no restrictions. We don’t intend to cruise again until we are vaccinated and social distancing is a thing of the past, as we can’t see a cruise being either safe or enjoyable until that time, but when we can make a future booking it will be at launch when prices have traditionally been cheapest and, even if that’s not going to be the case in the future (who knows?) you at least get first pick of cabins, which matters a lot to us. 

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, it is frustrating, but you could do what many of us have done and just get a refund, albeit after a very long wait. The ‘extra’ 25% is of little appeal to many of us, given that prices on cruises that were launched some time ago (such as 2021 cruises) are more expensive than at launch so the 25% can be pretty worthless. Add to that the perilous state of the cruise industry, which is only going to get worse with no resumption in cruising in sight and many would argue that ‘cash is King’.

 

Personally, I found it a great relief to have had all my money back so that we can start again with no restrictions. We don’t intend to cruise again until we are vaccinated and social distancing is a thing of the past, as we can’t see a cruise being either safe or enjoyable until that time, but when we can make a future booking it will be at launch when prices have traditionally been cheapest and, even if that’s not going to be the case in the future (who knows?) you at least get first pick of cabins, which matters a lot to us. 

Absolutely right. Forget all this FCC nonsense - get your money back and then you have no worries. 

[Cruising Nomads]

When you use the FCC against an upgrade it only applies to the upgrade value. You can not use it to pay of the existing balance of the cruise either.

[No pager thank you]

I agree with the consensus here - take your money back.

 

There are some posters who are sympathetic to the plight of P&O and more still the broader state of the cruise industry.  I do have sympathy too, particularly for the staff affected in the sector.

 

That said, this is one of the examples where P&O, as part of the Carnival umbrella, are simply not putting customers first.  Similar vouchers / refund credit notes can be used in this way elsewhere in the broader travel industry to bring down balances on future bookings in a more flexible way.

 

Some of this is based on the customer failing to realise that the 125% Future Cruise Credit isn't actually an incentive in many cases.  In some, the credit effectively provides a worse "return" than a 100% cash refund. 

 

Added to this the dreadful customer service when it comes to refunds, with processes which would upset even the chief bureaucrat in the Byzantine empire, and you can see why many people give in and pay twice and early, to get less.

 

It sounds as if you aren't taken in by this - good on you 😀

[davemorton]

If prices have not changed, you can always cancel and rebook using the FFC in the same call.  They had no issues with me doing this.