Arcadia cancellations!

[Astrajet]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On current P&O form, that sounds extremely unlikely, it will be one or the other, so better fill in the online refund form or they will assume you are happy to accept the FCC.

When our Aurora June '22 sailing was cancelled a couple of weeks ago, the cancellation letter said we would get a full cash refund plus 5% in FCC and £100pp on board spend to be added to the next cruise as a good will gesture. 

We've already had the OBS added to our September' 22 cruise & the FCC has been used as deposit for a 2024 booking. Payments made for excursions were credited back to the payment card within a couple of days. 

 

We didn't have to do anything - no forms to fill in - it all just happened. 

[Gettingwarmer]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On current P&O form, that sounds extremely unlikely, it will be one or the other, so better fill in the online refund form or they will assume you are happy to accept the FCC.

Incorrect. You get full refund of the price of cruise. FCC percentage of cruise depending how soon it is and  OBC when new cruise booked 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Gettingwarmer
If changed to of

[jeanlyon]

I find it very strange that they do not mention it on the P&O website, just take the cruises off, no explanation.  

[molecrochip]

9 hours ago, AuroraCruiser08 said:

Any reason given for the cancellation? 

Super glad we transferred our May 1st booking to Britannia now! 

There is currently an increased level of Covid amongst all categories of crew across numerous ships. Sadly for those with Arcadia cruises booked, it makes more sense to cancel one ship’s itineraries and reallocate staff than it does to offer a sub-par service on every ship.

11 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Oh OK, they get a refund AND FCC and OBC.  that sounds right.

Yes. Refunds will be processed automatically in line with payment method and route (so via TA if appropriate).

 

FCC/OBC will be applied based on how soon the cruise was to depart.

 

Now that P&O have moved from Covid operations to normal operations, cancellation refunds are back to the pre-Covid processes.

[Triggertravel]

This is concerning as we are booked on the July 5 th sailing to Norway and Iceland . I think I’ll  contact p&o direct to ask what is going off and if the our cruise is at riskjust in case I need to put a contingency plan in .what I don’t understand from previous posts is how can they have staff shortages ?and somebody posted that Aurora was also cancelling cruises ? Worrying and concerning for p&o or have they sold these ships ? And putting a smoke screen up 

[J110]

Hi all

yesterday Dave Monk - blogger and journalist posted on twitter that the cruises cancelled were

J205 J 206 J 207 J208 J209 J210 and J 211 due to staff shortages re Covid.

 

No mention of the legionnaires issue anywhere except Arcadia Jottings.

 

Aurora  cancellations so far in June are due to a delayed regular inspection in dry dock.

it was originally supposed to happen in JanFeb.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

There is currently an increased level of Covid amongst all categories of crew across numerous ships. Sadly for those with Arcadia cruises booked, it makes more sense to cancel one ship’s itineraries and reallocate staff than it does to offer a sub-par service on every ship.

Hi Molecrochip, thanks for the info.  May I ask please, how these increased Covid cases are expected to affect the calls at ports in light of, in particular, the Spanish case level requirements?  Are these increased cases being reflected in passengers going down with the disease as well?  As passengers sailing soon are we to expect more refusal of entry to ports such as happened with Azura on her return from the Caribbean? Thanks as ever.

[Otter18]

20 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

I didn't think Aurora was back until June?  But I may have got that wrong.

I saw Aurora a couple of weeks ago in Tortola BVI

[jeanlyon]

They have cancelled her cruises in May.

[Fionboard]

14 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

On current P&O form, that sounds extremely unlikely, it will be one or the other, so better fill in the online refund form or they will assume you are happy to accept the FCC.

Full refund, £493 FFC and £100 OBC.  Just used it to rebook an alternative cruise.

[Dermotsgirl]

As Aurora already has an upcoming period of being out of service, it may have made more sense to cancel more of her cruises, and transfer the Aurora crew to the other ships.

 

Then there’d only be one ship that would need bringing out of hibernation again.

 

I don’t doubt that there are staffing issues on the other ships, being in a pandemic with a highly infectious virus will do that. But, in this case, I think it’s being used as a handy screen, to avoid drawing attention to the issues with the water on Arcadia. 

[J110]

Hi Jeanlyon

 

we are on the Aurora 19 days in May and as of today  it is still going. Unless this has happened in the last few hours.
they have cancelled June cruises

[molecrochip]

Aurora has 2 cruises cancelled in June when she is to dry dock. Arcadia has cancellations through to the end of June due to Covid related crew shortages.

 

As I understand it, there was a single suspected case of Legionnaire’s disease identified in an individual who recently travelled on Arcadia. They got ill after the ship had returned to service. It is not known if Arcadia was at fault, however precautionary measures are being taken including additional testing and flushing of the water systems.

 

It should be noted that there is continual testing of each ship's water systems. If the problems with Arcadia's water were serious, the ship would already be back in Southampton having cut short its current cruise.

[jeanlyon]

21 minutes ago, J110 said:

Hi Jeanlyon

 

we are on the Aurora 19 days in May and as of today  it is still going. Unless this has happened in the last few hours.
they have cancelled June cruises

Apologies.  I meant June.

[molecrochip]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Hi Molecrochip, thanks for the info.  May I ask please, how these increased Covid cases are expected to affect the calls at ports in light of, in particular, the Spanish case level requirements?  Are these increased cases being reflected in passengers going down with the disease as well?  As passengers sailing soon are we to expect more refusal of entry to ports such as happened with Azura on her return from the Caribbean? Thanks as ever.

Naturally, case levels are being monitored. Crew are subject to more rigorous testing regimes that passengers so it is hoped to catch any positive cases quicker and then isolate. As with passengers, close contacts of affected crew are also identified and isolated until confirmed ok.

 

The advantage with passengers, is that each cruise should hopefully begin with no known cases of Covid. Where crew are being brought from other ships as back-fill, I believe its possible that the sick crew will be moved to Arcadia. There are plans if needed.

 

Its important to manage the situation and hopefully this reduces the risk of being refused entry.

[mrsgoggins]

I'm probably one of the few who doesn't mind the cancellation, especially after following the Arcadia Jottings thread.  We should have been on Arcadia for the first time on 1st May.  We were on the newish shiny Sky Princess - a late bargain with an obstructed balcony (which we barely noticed) - when I read of the issues Wowzz and others reported.  I can find many positives about all the cruises we have been on, and I am sure that the Arcadia one would have been no exception, but I am happy to be staying home in May now.

 

Sorry for those who are deeply disappointed however.

 

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Naturally, case levels are being monitored. Crew are subject to more rigorous testing regimes that passengers so it is hoped to catch any positive cases quicker and then isolate. As with passengers, close contacts of affected crew are also identified and isolated until confirmed ok.

 

The advantage with passengers, is that each cruise should hopefully begin with no known cases of Covid. Where crew are being brought from other ships as back-fill, I believe its possible that the sick crew will be moved to Arcadia. There are plans if needed.

 

Its important to manage the situation and hopefully this reduces the risk of being refused entry.

So almost a spare Mediterranean ship in the same way as Victoria over the winter?  I could see that making sense if Covid is the big problem as it should hopefully stop denied landings and protect passengers from major disruptions to their cruises.

[molecrochip]

I understand that if Aurora was used to accommodate sick crew, then she would potentially have two many Covid positive individuals on board to go to dry dock. Hence another reason for the use of Arcadia rather than Aurora.

Edited April 9, 2022 by molecrochip

[yorkshirephil]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

So almost a spare Mediterranean ship in the same way as Victoria over the winter?  I could see that making sense if Covid is the big problem as it should hopefully stop denied landings and protect passengers from major disruptions to their cruises.

I see your logic Megabear but who would staff Arcadia, she is being taken out of service because of a staff shortage. Even after reading Moleys comments about the complications of staffing ships which P&O have been doing successfully for many years, it still seems strange that a ship is put into operation and less than 2 weeks later taken taken out of operation. If they have staffing issues now surely they had staffing issues 2 weeks ago so why bring Arcadia back. Now they have a new tranche of customers annoyed and out of pocket.

[molecrochip]

6 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I see your logic Megabear but who would staff Arcadia, she is being taken out of service because of a staff shortage. Even after reading Moleys comments about the complications of staffing ships which P&O have been doing successfully for many years, it still seems strange that a ship is put into operation and less than 2 weeks later taken taken out of operation. If they have staffing issues now surely they had staffing issues 2 weeks ago so why bring Arcadia back. Now they have a new tranche of customers annoyed and out of pocket.

I think it has a lot to do with the sudden increase in Covid with said Covid evading LFTs.

[Megabear2]

I assume she has to have staff maintaining her and no doubt more work going on.   QV presumably had the minimum amount of crew required to keep things ticking over whilst trundling between Barbados and St Lucia picking up crew and occasional passengers.  Common sense says Arcadia's going to have to go somewhere as she cannot stay in Southampton.  Why not head out towards the Med and help with relief of crew.

 

Other cruise lines continue to use support ships to keep their crew on, Celebrity Infinity down in Fort Lauderdale.  It would make good sense for Arcadia to assist in keeping the other ships within the required limits.

 

I personally have thought for some time that P&O should have instituted an earlier test requirement for passengers in the days before departure, at least an LFT in the 48 hours before boarding in the same way as other lines have been insisting on.  They must know there's a risk as the are making fly cruise passengers do just that. I can't help thinking they wanted to be all things to all men as so many hate the idea of paying for tests.

Edited April 9, 2022 by Megabear2

[Stokie33]

Typical P&O after yesterdays phonecall where it was confirmed everything was being moved to Aurora 2/5 I got an alert from my bank whilst at work today to say they have refunded the fare, so now on hold to try and find out if the new booking as been cancelled or not, I know I should be glad they processed it so quickly but you have to laugh that they are processing refunds they don’t need to and probably aren’t processing the ones they should be 😂

[Jill85]

Just tried to get hold of P&O regarding our Arcadia booked cruise in May, got a recorded message saying that due to a high call volume it would not be reasonable to be put on hold for any length of time, therefore they were unwilling to continue the call.

[J110]

Replying to molecrochip

The other reason given  is that they are also having trouble getting replacement crew to ships re airline cancellations and disruptions . 
not just staff covid absences . 

 

[Stokie33]

I managed to get through to the queue when I phoned at 4.30, just been answered but the lady can’t take a payment from me as she’s just been drafted in just to answer the phone, and can’t make a payment online as I need to wait for finance to move a FCC across, they are hoping that someone will phone me back tonight to take the payment but have been assured we won’t lose the booking will wait and see 😂 hopefully P&O will totally surprise me and phone back.