Cancellation of November cruise.

[AndyMichelle]

9 hours ago, AnnieC said:

You can't have read many of Andy's comments if you seriously believe that - he's one of the regulars on here who has kept me going with his good-natured  and often very funny remarks during the last few difficult months.

Thank you Annie, finally someone who gets my sense of humour😊

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

5 hours ago, Bazrat said:

I think Andy is a bit of a wolf in sheep clothing his eyes are to close together actually they join in the middle 

That's just my eyebrow Baz😊

[AndyMichelle]

9 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Andy is one of the good guys that's kept everyone's spirits up while having to deal with his own difficulties as well. That remark by Balaena was insulting and uncalled for. Good manners cost nothing which is why some don't  think they need them.

Avril 

Cheers Avril, the voice of reason again😊

I am getting visions of Hyacinth Bucket' and candlelit soiree... 

RICHARD.. 

Andy 

[No pager thank you]

10 hours ago, Mrk2868 said:

Hi.  We have decided that we are going to pay the final balance for our November 2020 Caribbean  Cruise, even though my guess is that it probably won’t happen.  Balance is due at the weekend. 

 

 

 

What does surprise me is that I’ve had no reminders from P&O about the balance being due.  As someone who has booked direct I’d have thought it was in their interest to warn us about the balance being due, and the current status of the cruise.  Next time we will use a TA.  What are peoples thoughts?

 

 

 

For the record we have booked a regular balcony cabin on Britannia. 

 

 

One thing I can say was that when the previous extension of the suspension of cruises occurred, something similar happened.

 

In the case of direct bookings, usually you get two "friendly reminder" emails around two weeks and one week before the balance is due.  Both emails invite you to an online platform to pay "at your convenience."  I have never ignored the second one, or paid late, so cannot advise what occurs next.

 

However, in the time running up to the suspension, numerous customers reported not receiving the reminders, which led to suspicion that the decision to extend occurred much earlier than when disclosed to passengers.  That said, any passenger who did pay, was allowed to, and any passenger asking for advice was told to pay.

 

The cynic would say that P&O hope that you forget to pay, ergo you lose your deposit and if (and the possible unfortunate when) the cruise is cancelled, P&O then do not need to offer you either a refund or a 125% FCC, which supports administrative pressure on then.

 

The other possibility, as I have discussed on another thread is if you are registered to "auto pay" your balance.  If this was selected at the point of booking and not cancelled prior to the balance due date, P&O will automatically charge your debit / credit card.  Therefore, no reminder is necessarily needed.

 

The above however shows that the next announcement about extension / restart is perhaps not too far away, it was expected yesterday but was (apparently) dropped.

 

Hope this helps you Mark.

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Cheers Avril, the voice of reason again😊

I am getting visions of Hyacinth Bucket' and candlelit soiree... 

RICHARD.. 

Andy 

Not remotely like Hyacinth Andy. Oh wait, sorry, you must mean you know who in the suite. We're more of a Daisy and Onslow 😂 

Avril 

 

[AndyMichelle]

36 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Not remotely like Hyacinth Andy. Oh wait, sorry, you must mean you know who in the suite. We're more of a Daisy and Onslow 😂 

Avril 

 

Obviously wasn't referring to you Daisy😊

[Mrk2868]

1 hour ago, No pager thank you said:

One thing I can say was that when the previous extension of the suspension of cruises occurred, something similar happened.

 

In the case of direct bookings, usually you get two "friendly reminder" emails around two weeks and one week before the balance is due.  Both emails invite you to an online platform to pay "at your convenience."  I have never ignored the second one, or paid late, so cannot advise what occurs next.

 

However, in the time running up to the suspension, numerous customers reported not receiving the reminders, which led to suspicion that the decision to extend occurred much earlier than when disclosed to passengers.  That said, any passenger who did pay, was allowed to, and any passenger asking for advice was told to pay.

 

The cynic would say that P&O hope that you forget to pay, ergo you lose your deposit and if (and the possible unfortunate when) the cruise is cancelled, P&O then do not need to offer you either a refund or a 125% FCC, which supports administrative pressure on then.

 

The other possibility, as I have discussed on another thread is if you are registered to "auto pay" your balance.  If this was selected at the point of booking and not cancelled prior to the balance due date, P&O will automatically charge your debit / credit card.  Therefore, no reminder is necessarily needed.

 

The above however shows that the next announcement about extension / restart is perhaps not too far away, it was expected yesterday but was (apparently) dropped.

 

Hope this helps you Mark.

Hi. 

So far I’ve not received any emails from P&O asking me to pay. 

 

Nor as far as I know I did not enable any auto-pay option.  With websites I’m generally very reluctant to let them store any credit card details, so enabling auto-pay is not something I would do unless it was an hidden default.  Problem is I’m not sure how I can check if it is enabled for the November booking, without ringing up P&O.  Is it hidden somewhere on the P&O website?  Much easier than a phone call. 

So the most likely option is that as you say another suspension is due…..  I’m not planning to pay the final balance till Saturday 8^th or Sunday 9^th (last possible payment day).  All of this does make me think perhaps I should pay as soon as.  Then if there is a suspension any 125% FFC credit might be on the full balance and not just the deposit!   Is this the case? 

 

Earlier today, I spoke to P&O customer service. They confirmed the final balance is due on Sunday.   I got the impression that Britannia is not currently full.  In a lot of ways I see this as a bonus as easier to social distance and generally a less crowded ship! 

[No pager thank you]

19 hours ago, Mrk2868 said:

Hi. 

So far I’ve not received any emails from P&O asking me to pay. 

 

 

 

Nor as far as I know I did not enable any auto-pay option.  With websites I’m generally very reluctant to let them store any credit card details, so enabling auto-pay is not something I would do unless it was an hidden default.  Problem is I’m not sure how I can check if it is enabled for the November booking, without ringing up P&O.  Is it hidden somewhere on the P&O website?  Much easier than a phone call. 

 

So the most likely option is that as you say another suspension is due…..  I’m not planning to pay the final balance till Saturday 8^th or Sunday 9^th (last possible payment day).  All of this does make me think perhaps I should pay as soon as.  Then if there is a suspension any 125% FFC credit might be on the full balance and not just the deposit!   Is this the case? 

 

 

 

Earlier today, I spoke to P&O customer service. They confirmed the final balance is due on Sunday.   I got the impression that Britannia is not currently full.  In a lot of ways I see this as a bonus as easier to social distance and generally a less crowded ship! 

 

I'm not sure that there is a way to check online to be honest, although you do have to turn it on by memory (in the same way that some people prefer to pay for their cruises by monthly direct debit).

 

If you are definitely happy to take a 125% FCC in case of cancellation, and if you can find another cruise that you like (next November wouldn't be bad season and probably price wise), then yes pay up.  May be worth doing a quick quote first and bearing in mind prices are going up.  I doubt that they will announce anything tomorrow.

 

They will have to pay the 25% supplement on all of the balance paid, so this would be to your advantage.  Your initial 100% cash paid is ABTA bonded, just not the "bonus."

 

As you will know, assuming that the cruise does unfortunately get cancelled, then rebook asap.  Call them and quote your six digit booking reference so that the agent can find the FCC.  This will limit your exposure to extra price increases - clearly a lot of people will be doing that if/as/when the next batch of cruises are cancelled.  Hopefully though you will be able to enjoy your holiday.

[Mrk2868]

3 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

I'm not sure that there is a way to check online to be honest, although you do have to turn it on by memory (in the same way that some people prefer to pay for their cruises by monthly direct debit).

 

If you are definitely happy to take a 125% FCC in case of cancellation, and if you can find another cruise that you like (next November wouldn't be bad season and probably price wise), then yes pay up.  May be worth doing a quick quote first and bearing in mind prices are going up.  I doubt that they will announce anything tomorrow.

 

They will have to pay the 25% supplement on all of the balance paid, so this would be to your advantage.  Your initial 100% cash paid is ABTA bonded, just not the "bonus."

 

As you will know, assuming that the cruise does unfortunately get cancelled, then rebook asap.  Call them and quote your six digit booking reference so that the agent can find the FCC.  This will limit your exposure to extra price increases - clearly a lot of people will be doing that if/as/when the next batch of cruises are cancelled.  Hopefully though you will be able to enjoy your holiday.

Hi No_Pager, thank you for this.  Yes my plan is to pay the final balance tomorrow.  Sadly I suspect  the cruise will sadly be cancelled before November.  If that does happen then the plan is to re-book on the same cruise Nov 2021.  We still want to do the cruise.  I've taken on board what you said about getting in quickly before everyone else books and the prices go up even more than they have already.

[amfc_lenny]

I spoke with my ta this afternoon, whose put my payment date back to the same day as p and o, due in 3weeks time, but informed me it’s highly likely that we won’t be going. 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, amfc_lenny said:

I spoke with my ta this afternoon, whose put my payment date back to the same day as p and o, due in 3weeks time, but informed me it’s highly likely that we won’t be going. 

Well done to the TA for being honest.