Christmas cruise flights

[CCFC]

Booked a Christmas 2021 cruise on Britannia on the website, paid a deposit, the cruise price looked about right at £1700. Today P&O rang back to say sorry there are no flights available and we would have to book our own as the flights were full which sounded very odd. When we asked for the price of the flights to be taken off she said sorry that price doesnt include flights ( previously I have cruised around that date for less than that with flights). Asked for refund, 10 days to process. Anyone else ever heard of this happening?

 

Not amused!

[Manx buoy]

Sounds like some kind of scam flights are always included 

[pete14]

6 minutes ago, CCFC said:

Booked a Christmas 2021 cruise on Britannia on the website, paid a deposit, the cruise price looked about right at £1700. Today P&O rang back to say sorry there are no flights available and we would have to book our own as the flights were full which sounded very odd. When we asked for the price of the flights to be taken off she said sorry that price doesnt include flights ( previously I have cruised around that date for less than that with flights). Asked for refund, 10 days to process. Anyone else ever heard of this happening?

 

Not amused!

I agree, it sounds like a scam. Did you book directly with P&O or through an agent? If through an agent, it should be the agent contacting you, not P&O. 
It may be a good idea to check whether you have agreed for P&O to contact you by phone, email and / or post. If you have not agreed to phone, they would have contacted you in another way you have agreed.
Perhaps best to phone P&O yourself and check. If it is a scam, they will be very keen to know and will probably investigate to find out how the scammer found out you were booked on the cruise. If you do this, it may help others if you let us know the result.

[CCFC]

Direct with P&O, its all very odd.

[Son of Anarchy]

Sounds extremely odd.  It actually sounds so incorrect that I don't see how it could be someone simply not knowing what they were doing.

 

Maybe email PandO direct to clarify the situation.

[kalos]

I have just been on P& O web site and put in Britannia December and 

the cruises are showing with the flights included symbol and wording .

Something's not right I would be back onto P&O via telephone ASAP.

 

 

[Snibs]

If flying to Bridgetown, not only is the flight included you have a choice of Friday or Saturday. And also possible different airports.  As still available to book seems very odd.

Edited March 9, 2021 by Snibs

[zap99]

2 hours ago, CCFC said:

Direct with P&O, its all very odd.

Some years ago we tried to book premium seats.P&O told me they were full so we would need to go economy. What about another air port. Reluctantly they said Birmingham, or Manchester. We flew from Birmingham. I would get back to them. It sounds a bit like a brush off to me.

[Guest]

That does sound odd. When we booked our Azura Xmas 2021 cruise we couldn’t book on the day we wanted as there were no London flights left. So we had to choose to fly the day the cruise leaves. We found it odd that it was that booked up that far in advance (we booked last August)

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Guest

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

That does sound odd. When we booked our Azura Xmas 2021 cruise we couldn’t book on the day we wanted as there were no London flights left. So we had to choose to fly the day the cruise leaves. We found it odd that it was that booked up that far in advance (we booked last August)

 

Did you book Premium seats?  As these are limited in number I assume they sell out fast. 

[terrierjohn]

17 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

That does sound odd. When we booked our Azura Xmas 2021 cruise we couldn’t book on the day we wanted as there were no London flights left. So we had to choose to fly the day the cruise leaves. We found it odd that it was that booked up that far in advance (we booked last August)

 

The Christmas cruises are popular  and it may be that the flight you wanted was quickly fully booked.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Did you book Premium seats?  As these are limited in number I assume they sell out fast. 

Nope! Just economy! Very odd. We took the decision to book 2021 before our 2020 Xmas cruise was inevitably cancelled to avoid the price hike/rush. So it wasn’t like everyone was rushing to get a cabin! 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

The Christmas cruises are popular  and it may be that the flight you wanted was quickly fully booked.

Possibly. We had no issue when we booked only a year in advance for Xmas/NYE 2020/2021. But over a year in advance for 2021/2022 and the London flight was full! Just one of those things I guess. 
 

Also literally the other day we have moved a cancelled September cruise to a Caribbean in November. The lady at P&O said they rarely sell out of the flights and the second Gatwick flight on each day is more often than not flying less than capacity. So there must have been a rush from the South for Xmas 2021!!

[Snibs]

To fill the ship they rely on the flights. Hence why the flights are over 2 days. Having done this for years they must be aware of the supply and demand from the different airports and why they sometimes add regional airports for a set departure date.

Therefore they most have enough spaces on the planes but maybe not from the airports people want to fly from each time.

 

 

[Captain_Morgan]

Just a thought....its likely that the 2021 Xmas fly-cruise season to the Caribbean might not actually happen as currently advertised, hence the lack of included flights? 🤔

When we consider we're looking at coastal UK cruises this summer with probably one or two ships only, what are the chances that an actual fly cruise season in the Caribbean is likely to go as currently scheduled (on the website)???

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Captain_Morgan said:

Just a thought....its likely that the 2021 Xmas fly-cruise season to the Caribbean might not actually happen as currently advertised, hence the lack of included flights? 🤔

When we consider we're looking at coastal UK cruises this summer with probably one or two ships only, what are the chances that an actual fly cruise season in the Caribbean is likely to go as currently scheduled (on the website)???

Well, I think that is unlikely, but if it was the case, then surely the fare would have to  be reduced to reflect the lack of flights, which was not the case with the OP.

[Captain_Morgan]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Well, I think that is unlikely, but if it was the case, then surely the fare would have to  be reduced to reflect the lack of flights, which was not the case with the OP.

Which part is unlikely?  The fact that the Caribbean season will or will not go as currently scheduled?

OP mentioned flights being full, which would make sense IF they intend on trying to salvage some semblance of a fly-cruise season with limited numbers.  I don't think it's appropriate to say there is a scam afoot as some have said, especially if dealing direct with the company as compared to an otherwise unknown travel agency.

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, Captain_Morgan said:

Which part is unlikely?  The fact that the Caribbean season will or will not go as currently scheduled?

OP mentioned flights being full, which would make sense IF they intend on trying to salvage some semblance of a fly-cruise season with limited numbers.  I don't think it's appropriate to say there is a scam afoot as some have said, especially if dealing direct with the company as compared to an otherwise unknown travel agency.

Unlikely that they will sell cruises with no flights included. 

[kalos]

50 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Unlikely that they will sell cruises with no flights included. 

 

Agreed, anyone who goes on P&O website and checks out cruises like 

Caribbean, 7 Nights (B128G) Britannia they will see clearly posted 

Flights Included  within the price .

[pete14]

On 3/9/2021 at 3:11 PM, CCFC said:

Direct with P&O, its all very odd.

Any further information? Presumably you have contacted P&O.

[Captain_Morgan]

Sounds like one of P&O's infamous IT glitches 

[CCFC]

They gave us a full refund. Something I should have mentioned was this was flying to St Lucia and back from Barbados. Still a bit miffed.

[pete14]

27 minutes ago, CCFC said:

They gave us a full refund. Something I should have mentioned was this was flying to St Lucia and back from Barbados. Still a bit miffed.

Thanks for letting us know. Still seems rather curious but at least you are now able to find a replacement holiday or spend it on something else nice for Christmas.

[Snibs]

Even so the flights are inclusive and therefore for them to organise. They will know the number of passengers per plane etc. Obviously a mistake made by them

[seapals2]

I would have asked for compensation too.  Obviously over booked the cruise and not enough flight seats available to fulfil demand.  Part of the selling point with this Caribbean cruise is the fact you fly out on chartered flights.  We did it a couple of years ago and it worked really well.  Coaches met the plane on the tarmac and we were whisked straight to the ship in Barbados.  Onboard in less than an hour from landing.  Would recommend it to anyone doing a Caribbean cruise for the first time .. as there is no luggage handling.