2021 Price increases on P&O (UK)?

[Son of Anarchy]

42 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I dont believe that's the situation Harry, my reading of the situation for cruises now cancelled, is that you have until 30th Nov to decide if you want a refund. At least that's my understanding, and why I am waiting to see if there is something I fancy when the summer 2022 cruises are launched, if so I will use the "automatic" FCC from my Sept cruise deposit.

I'm sure I read that somewhere as well.

[glennbtn]

I have filled in the form so lets see now. Good customer service would be to refund as they can see we cruise with them all the time as they want to keep custom but you know what these big companies are like

[wowzz]

My understanding is that the default position is that you will be given a FCC of 125% of your cruise fare automatically. You do not have to do anything. You have until the end of November to apply for a cash refund in lieu of the FCC.

[glennbtn]

Hi Wowzz

 

We cancelled before the final payment as was only the deposit so was only 100% of the deposit for FCC

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, glennbtn said:

Hi Wowzz

 

We cancelled before the final payment as was only the deposit so was only 100% of the deposit for FCC

Sorry, didn't realise you were talking about a deposit.

[glennbtn]

Well thought I would update.

 

I received an email from P&O saying that because they gave a FCC I am not entitled to a refund. Think I need to look in to this further as the cruise I book is no longer the same and I cancelled as it was not safe to travel. May be I give this to my credit card company to deal with.

Edited June 24, 2020 by glennbtn

[mercury7289]

51 minutes ago, glennbtn said:

Well thought I would update.

 

I received an email from P&O saying that because they gave a FCC I am not entitled to a refund. Think I need to look in to this further as the cruise I book is no longer the same and I cancelled as it was not safe to travel. May be I give this to my credit card company to deal with.

Would seem the easiest route!

[No pager thank you]

47 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

Would seem the easiest route!

I agree. 

 

Although it may take a while for your credit card company to process the issue.  Try and get a clear timeline out of them when you contact.

 

If all else fails, have a look at the cruises available for your preferred date/itinerary in 2022 when they come on sale.

[drsel]

Well thought I would update.
 
I received an email from P&O saying that because they gave a FCC I am not entitled to a refund. Think I need to look in to this further as the cruise I book is no longer the same and I cancelled as it was not safe to travel. May be I give this to my credit card company to deal with.

If you have voluntarily and intentionally paid for the Cruise, then you cannot claim it is a fraud, because the cruise company will argue that they have already given you a future Cruise credit voucher in lieu of the cancelled Cruise.

Also I read that Cruise lines will ban anyone permanently if they raise a dispute with the credit card issuing Bank.

[No pager thank you]

3 minutes ago, drsel said:

Also I read that Cruise lines will ban anyone permanently if they raise a dispute with the credit card issuing Bank.

This strategy was initially pursued by Ryanair, according to some reports earlier in the pandemic.

 

It was quickly confirmed that this practice is not allowed and cited as a training issue.  Ryanair do not follow this approach as a policy.

 

I have seen no examples of P&O attempting anything remotely similar to be honest.  I would also hope that no Cruise Line attempts the same.  Where has this been reported?

 

IMO it is not necessary to establish a "fraud" for purposes of a credit card transaction, simply that a good has been paid for and not received in the manner expected at the point of sale (misrepresented) and that the seller has not corrected the issue.  I'm sure that a couple of other posters have described the concept of a non refundable deposit being not enforceable.

 

I would imagine that P&O are attempting to rely on the fact of when the cruise was cancelled and by who.

 

[drsel]

If PO has cancelled the cruise, then they have to refund you.

But if you cancelled the cruise AFTER final payment date, it is dicey.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

Aren't we in danger of missing the point here?  Doesn't it depend very much on the terms under which the FCC was accepted?  If there was an agreement that the FCC was in place of a refund, P&O may be right in what they're now saying.  If not, they're probably wrong.

 

But the fact that the customer cancelled makes the deposit - theoretically at least - retainable by the company.

 

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Harry Peterson

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Aren't we in danger of missing the point here?  Doesn't it depend very much on the terms under which the FCC was accepted?  If there was an agreement that the FCC was in place of a refund, P&O may be right in what they're now saying.  If not, they're probably wrong.

 

But the fact that the customer cancelled makes the deposit - theoretically at least - retainable by the company.

 

 

If someone has used a FCC in full or part payment, then presumably they now have a new contract and its doubtful that P&O would allow anyone to cancel and then seek a refund, unless and until the new cruise is cancelled.

But my reading of the current terms is that you dont need to request a refund rather than a FCC until the end of November.

[mercury7289]

1 hour ago, No pager thank you said:

I agree. 

 

Although it may take a while for your credit card company to process the issue.  Try and get a clear timeline out of them when you contact.

 

If all else fails, have a look at the cruises available for your preferred date/itinerary in 2022 when they come on sale.

Your fall back situation might suit you but not a chance in hell from us.

 

Would need to fully understand what the new normal will be and then decide if it suits.

 

All the things that are currently being suggested or discussed would not be a holiday for us..

 

Currently have 3 cruises paused this year 58 nights in total have a B2B on Aurora May/June 2021 booked December 2019 for 35 nights.

 

Not a chance this will happen, as intended, so refund will be sort.

 

 

[No pager thank you]

1 hour ago, mercury7289 said:

Your fall back situation might suit you but not a chance in hell from us.

 

Would need to fully understand what the new normal will be and then decide if it suits.

 

All the things that are currently being suggested or discussed would not be a holiday for us..

 

Currently have 3 cruises paused this year 58 nights in total have a B2B on Aurora May/June 2021 booked December 2019 for 35 nights.

 

Not a chance this will happen, as intended, so refund will be sort.

 

 

Fair points, well made Mercury.

 

It remains to be seen if, when cruises restart, in an amended form (whatever that is), P&O chooses to keep the flexibility for people to either transfer their existing bookings, or request a refund.  Essentially I think that the temporary policy and "freedoms" will be just that.

 

To be honest, based on how inflexible (in my opinion) P&O have been with some customers, including the case discussed here, I am not assuming that P&O will be more generous than they need to be when cruises do actually restart and when they have bookings at "strong pricing" in high season - read across the Carnival umbrella to cushion against. 

 

I also imagine "amended cruises" / new normal will not be justified as a major change to holidays, and that ABTA / Govt by omission will back this stance to support the industry.

 

Therefore, I am assuming that my existing 2021 bookings (also initially booked in 2019) will need to be taken if I am to avoid issues in recouping my deposit, without a great deal of effort and repeat faff.   I regret my haste to book so many holidays in advance with P&O from the previous brochure, but that it my fault for relying on their previous good service, lesson learnt. 

 

This of course assumes that travel is viable by that time and that early bookings such as yours or mine are not cancelled by P&O to reduce operating capacity and increase yield (both ifs).  That would change things.

 

The reason I mentioned the FCC was that they will be available for any cruise on sale, and the new (delayed) brochure is expected in the next few months.  Of course this a matter of personal choice.

 

However, the FCC (if credit card company is unhelpful) would provide options for holidays from April 2022 to at least mid 2023.  I would suggest that like-for-like, better deals are to be had there than in 2021. Plus that might have the preferred itinerary / date sought.  Most of those who count themselves as pessimistic assume that what we recognise as normal should return by that window.

[mercury7289]

14 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Fair points, well made Mercury.

 

It remains to be seen if, when cruises restart, in an amended form (whatever that is), P&O chooses to keep the flexibility for people to either transfer their existing bookings, or request a refund.  Essentially I think that the temporary policy and "freedoms" will be just that.

 

To be honest, based on how inflexible (in my opinion) P&O have been with some customers, including the case discussed here, I am not assuming that P&O will be more generous than they need to be when cruises do actually restart and when they have bookings at "strong pricing" in high season - read across the Carnival umbrella to cushion against. 

 

I also imagine "amended cruises" / new normal will not be justified as a major change to holidays, and that ABTA / Govt by omission will back this stance to support the industry.

 

Therefore, I am assuming that my existing 2021 bookings (also initially booked in 2019) will need to be taken if I am to avoid issues in recouping my deposit, without a great deal of effort and repeat faff.   I regret my haste to book so many holidays in advance with P&O from the previous brochure, but that it my fault for relying on their previous good service, lesson learnt. 

 

This of course assumes that travel is viable by that time and that early bookings such as yours or mine are not cancelled by P&O to reduce operating capacity and increase yield (both ifs).  That would change things.

 

The reason I mentioned the FCC was that they will be available for any cruise on sale, and the new (delayed) brochure is expected in the next few months.  Of course this a matter of personal choice.

 

However, the FCC (if credit card company is unhelpful) would provide options for holidays from April 2022 to at least mid 2023.  I would suggest that like-for-like, better deals are to be had there than in 2021. Plus that might have the preferred itinerary / date sought.  Most of those who count themselves as pessimistic assume that what we recognise as normal should return by that window.

Fully understand, but we live by the creed that a bird in the hand--etc.

Much prefer a clean break and freedom to make future decisions as and when.

Would never consider taking FCC. or any other such thing from any company.

[Selbourne]

3 hours ago, drsel said:

Also I read that Cruise lines will ban anyone permanently if they raise a dispute with the credit card issuing Bank.

I can’t believe that for one minute. Sounds like scaremongering to me. Cruise lines will be desperate to get customers back when this crisis ends. The die hards on here who are desperate to cruise ASAP, regardless of vaccinations or on board restrictions, are not representative of the majority of people. With their larger ships in particular, P&O now needs to rely on new to cruising passengers and I should think that a great many of those will be now be having second thoughts. It will be a battle to fill all their ships over the next year or two. 
 

Also, keep in mind that U.K. law requires P&O to refund in full within 14 days. I received my refunds at day 45, which now seems early compared to many. If I had been kept waiting over 60 days then I would have reclaimed via Credit Card and if I had been kept waiting over 100 days, as some have, I would be seriously considering legal recourse. Even if I had been forced to resort to the latter, P&O would bite my hand off if I called to make a new booking! Needless to say, I won’t be booking with them any time soon!

[pete14]

16 hours ago, glennbtn said:

Well thought I would update.

 

I received an email from P&O saying that because they gave a FCC I am not entitled to a refund. Think I need to look in to this further as the cruise I book is no longer the same and I cancelled as it was not safe to travel. May be I give this to my credit card company to deal with.

As you cancelled the cruise just before the full amount was due, P&O are not required to give you a refund. Under normal circumstances, you would have received nothing, currently their T&Cs have changed to giving fcc. Had you waited for P&O to cancel the cruise, you would have been entitled to a refund or enhanced fcc. This of course would have probably meant you having to pay in full and receiving it back because your payment was due before P&O cancelled the cruise that you had previously cancelled. Any other cruise you book with the fcc will not be the same but this is not relevant because you cancelled (with good reason) which is why you were given fcc. I cannot see any reason why your credit card company will intervene and under the circumstances of your cancellation (not P&O) I don’t think they should. Sorry.

Edited June 25, 2020 by pete14

[Harry Peterson]

20 minutes ago, pete14 said:

As you cancelled the cruise just before the full amount was due, P&O are not required to give you a refund. Under normal circumstances, you would have received nothing, currently their T&Cs have changed to giving fcc. Had you waited for P&O to cancel the cruise, you would have been entitled to a refund or enhanced fcc. This of course would have probably meant you having to pay in full and receiving it back because your payment was due before P&O cancelled the cruise that you had previously cancelled. Any other cruise you book with the fcc will not be the same but this is not relevant because you cancelled (with good reason) which is why you were given fcc. I cannot see any reason why your credit card company will intervene and under the circumstances of your cancellation (not P&O) I don’t think they should. Sorry.

Agreed.

[jones721]

So to clarify:

 

Those who have had cruises cancelled by P&O since March have until November to apply for a refund? The default is a FCC automatically issued by P&O but the guest can decide to have a refund instead as long as they request this by November 30th?

 

I haven't done anything yet about my two cancelled cruises (April and May), not filled in any forms nor used any FCC. I am assuming that I can leave this sitting there and opt for a refund if I decide I want the money instead? At the moment, there are no cruises I would want to travel on (stuck to school holidays) and prices are going up all the time.

 

If you are not sure whether you will use your enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit offer which has been automatically applied to your account, you have until 30 November 2020 to request a refund. By completing the form below, you will miss out on the offer of 125% Future Cruise Credit and will instead receive a 100% refund. Please note we are only able to process refund requests via this online form due to the unprecedented demand on our Customer Contact Centre and wider business, and that refunds may take up to 60 days to be processed. In the meantime, please do not call us but rest assured we will be working through this process as quickly as we can.

[majortom10]

TBH dont think anyone will miss out by not having 125% FCC offer because most if not all 2021 cruises have increased more than 25% since they were released in September 2019 so in effect benefits P&O. The only way you could benefit is to save until 2022 programme is released and use it on brochure release. Unfortunately Cunard didnt offer that option until their latest cancellations or else I would have had FCC and used it on 2022 programme when released but initially Cunard said all FCCs had to be used on sailings before March 2022.

 

[zap99]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

TBH dont think anyone will miss out by not having 125% FCC offer because most if not all 2021 cruises have increased more than 25% since they were released in September 2019 so in effect benefits P&O. The only way you could benefit is to save until 2022 programme is released and use it on brochure release. Unfortunately Cunard didnt offer that option until their latest cancellations or else I would have had FCC and used it on 2022 programme when released but initially Cunard said all FCCs had to be used on sailings before March 2022.

 

When we rebooked Iona for next year it was+£80 now it's +£300 and no Gary Barlow ☹️

[No pager thank you]

6 minutes ago, zap99 said:

When we rebooked Iona for next year it was+£80 now it's +£300 and no Gary Barlow ☹️

Gary Barlow must have a lot of FCCs - it's his fault the cruises are going up in price ... clearly he didn't the patience to wait for the 2022 brochure launch 😉

[zap99]

1 minute ago, No pager thank you said:

Gary Barlow must have a lot of FCCs - it's his fault the cruises are going up in price ... clearly he didn't the patience to wait for the 2022 brochure launch 😉

When he rebooked he said I have lots of FCC. Will you take that ( sorry )🤩

[No pager thank you]

1 hour ago, jones721 said:

So to clarify:

 

Those who have had cruises cancelled by P&O since March have until November to apply for a refund? The default is a FCC automatically issued by P&O but the guest can decide to have a refund instead as long as they request this by November 30th?

 

I haven't done anything yet about my two cancelled cruises (April and May), not filled in any forms nor used any FCC. I am assuming that I can leave this sitting there and opt for a refund if I decide I want the money instead? At the moment, there are no cruises I would want to travel on (stuck to school holidays) and prices are going up all the time.

 

If you are not sure whether you will use your enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit offer which has been automatically applied to your account, you have until 30 November 2020 to request a refund. By completing the form below, you will miss out on the offer of 125% Future Cruise Credit and will instead receive a 100% refund. Please note we are only able to process refund requests via this online form due to the unprecedented demand on our Customer Contact Centre and wider business, and that refunds may take up to 60 days to be processed. In the meantime, please do not call us but rest assured we will be working through this process as quickly as we can.

That's my understanding, although I have requested refunds apart from a small deposit.

 

I was having a look (out of curiosity) around how much the school holidays cruises are going up, often by a lot more than 25%.  However, I did notice, in case it's of interest, that the premium on the February half term (2022) and October half term (2021) seems to be not quite as bad than Easter/July-Aug Summer/May etc.