Am I being unreasonable?

[amurray88]

39 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Hello, sorry to hear your problems.  Would you please provide some further information as follows:

 

Which ship

Which date

What type of fare you have booked

What type of fare is your baby sailing under, ie free, reduced rate, special offer

Which drinks package is it, assumedly not the deluxe package as that gives children free drinks package automatically 

 

As I understand it if a cot is required you have to request one in advance - I asked my BIL who confirmed they had one but a long time ago in 2012 and it had to be ordered before departure, he also mentioned baby baths?  This old link from CC might give you an idea on space as well.

 

 

 

Also not sure if you've seen it but CruiseMummy is a helpful source on travelling with little ones.  Te link below is from September 2023 so pretty recent.

 

https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/tips-for-cruising-with-a-baby-or-toddler-on-po-cruises/

 

If you are sailing on Iona or Arvia I doubt very much there will be any availability for an outside cabin once you are onboard as these cabins are exceptionally popular with families. All of these cabins have, I thought, sofas which can convert to a bed so I am at a loss as to why they state you need a Pullman for a baby as the third person.  I would suggest telephoning P&O to query this.  In my opinion if you wait until onboard you will not be able to move to an outside cabin as there will be no availability. 

 

The bed can be sorted very easily once onboard. Your cabin steward will introduce himself on your arrival and he/she can change the set up to queen very easily.  You will be able to explain to them you won't be using the Pullman bed so it should be easy.

 

Whilst very annoying the important thing is to sort out the cabin if you are unhappy with having the inside.  I suggest if there is time calling, asking for a full explanation as to why you cannot change to an outside - the departure date and type may have some bearing on this - and state once again you need to reserve a cot as you understand from social media others have indeed done this.

 

If it's any consolation I can confirm on Arvia in May there were a large number of families in inside cabins on deck 4 when I moved down there.  However they seemed to have problems with large buggies as they didn't fit the cabin or doors and were leaving them in the corridor which is technically not allowed.  

 

Good luck in sorting things, hopefully before you sail.

Hello,

 

We're on Azura in 5th January 2024. We just booked the saver fare but I believe my baby cost £49.

 

I'm sure it'll be great when onboard but would rather fix all this beforehand.

[Megabear2]

9 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

Hello,

 

We're on Azura in 5th January 2024. We just booked the saver fare but I believe my baby cost £49.

 

I'm sure it'll be great when onboard but would rather fix all this beforehand.

Okay, that explains why you can't change the cabin type as these fares are not amendable and you are now past final payment date.  

 

P&O website states the following on babies/infants:

 

"In twin cabins these extra beds are pull-down beds which your cabin steward will stow away by day (please note in selected Arvia, Azura, Britannia, Iona and Ventura cabins there are sofabeds instead; see deck plans for details)." (My bold).

 

and

 

"Azura, Britannia and Ventura have a number of cabins that can accommodate a travel cot for an infant aged over 6 months and under 2 years."

 

I am assuming your cabin has not been allocated yet but I would think advising P&O/travel agent your booking could be noted that you require a cabin suitable for a travel cot and this shouid be borne in mind by P&O at allocation, hence I would on this occasion bypass your agent to speak direct to P&O for help and booking the cot.

 

Incidentally when calling, ignore the chatbot and the bit about if you've booked through an agent, basically you want customer service but there isn't an option. If they argue about the agent point out they have given contradictory advice so you need clarification - lay it on thick you're concerned there won't be a travel cot if you can't book it and you need peace of mind.

 

The drinks package unfortunately is something you will need to sort onboard as the very antiquated system simply cannot cope.  As I said the alcoholic package gives the kids for free but now I recall you want the non alcohol one.

[CaptainPedantic]

You are not being unreasonable at all, not on any of those points, and I too would not want to try to resolve these issues onboard - I hate having to spend any time on holiday not enjoying my holiday. Although it can be quite entertaining overhearing some of the complaints at the desk 🙂

 

I'd suggest the cot availability is the most important issue to get resolved before you go. I doubt there will be an issue onboard - after all, they should only allow a certain number of that age group to be booked and ought to have enough travel cots to cope. But that's the one I'd be most worried about getting confirmed. 

 

I do understand the 'computer says no' insistence that you had to book a cabin with extra berths even if you won't and can't use the pullman - but this shouldn't prevent you from having a queen bed setup with a cot. Your cabin steward will sort this out easily onboard, I wouldn't worry too much about this - just get confirmation of the travel cot and the rest should be ok. It's a shame they can't get around this for an outside cabin, but I do understand those limitations. 

 

The drinks package situation is ridiculous really - this is something they really should be able to sort before travel, especially since there is a small discount available for booking before boarding. I'd be following this one up too. (I have no experience of this with P&O, but with Princess it was very easy to not have to book packages for 3rd/4th passengers).

 

We sailed a lot with P&O when our kids were young. Our first on Oriana was with a 6-month old and 2-year-old, we were given a travel cot and took a 'ready bed' with us - there was just about enough room in an inside cabin for the 4 of us, yes it was a squeeze but only at night - the 'ready bed' went under our bed, and the cabin steward collapsed and re-made the travel cot every day for us (but left it in the cabin in case we needed it during the daytime).

 

I'd hope your TA should sort all of this out for you, but I also wouldn't give up harassing P&O directly. You shouldn't have to do this now and you definitely shouldn't have to do this onboard. It's making me cross just writing this, given all the amazing holidays we had with P&O as our kids grew up... I could go on and on about how P&O crew made our holidays so so brilliant with our kids, but I must admit we didn't have all this worry before travelling.

 

Good luck getting everything sorted out, I hope to read about it when you have and I'm sure you will have an amazing time.

[Red Ray]

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

We just booked the saver fare but I believe my baby cost £49.

Not a bad price for a baby to be fair - you'd pay a lot more on eBay.

[amurray88]

7 minutes ago, Red Ray said:

Not a bad price for a baby to be fair - you'd pay a lot more on eBay.

He's causing so much grief with my cruise that I'm currently looking at the refund policy 😂

[amurray88]

35 minutes ago, CaptainPedantic said:

You are not being unreasonable at all, not on any of those points, and I too would not want to try to resolve these issues onboard - I hate having to spend any time on holiday not enjoying my holiday. Although it can be quite entertaining overhearing some of the complaints at the desk 🙂

 

I'd suggest the cot availability is the most important issue to get resolved before you go. I doubt there will be an issue onboard - after all, they should only allow a certain number of that age group to be booked and ought to have enough travel cots to cope. But that's the one I'd be most worried about getting confirmed. 

 

I do understand the 'computer says no' insistence that you had to book a cabin with extra berths even if you won't and can't use the pullman - but this shouldn't prevent you from having a queen bed setup with a cot. Your cabin steward will sort this out easily onboard, I wouldn't worry too much about this - just get confirmation of the travel cot and the rest should be ok. It's a shame they can't get around this for an outside cabin, but I do understand those limitations. 

 

The drinks package situation is ridiculous really - this is something they really should be able to sort before travel, especially since there is a small discount available for booking before boarding. I'd be following this one up too. (I have no experience of this with P&O, but with Princess it was very easy to not have to book packages for 3rd/4th passengers).

 

We sailed a lot with P&O when our kids were young. Our first on Oriana was with a 6-month old and 2-year-old, we were given a travel cot and took a 'ready bed' with us - there was just about enough room in an inside cabin for the 4 of us, yes it was a squeeze but only at night - the 'ready bed' went under our bed, and the cabin steward collapsed and re-made the travel cot every day for us (but left it in the cabin in case we needed it during the daytime).

 

I'd hope your TA should sort all of this out for you, but I also wouldn't give up harassing P&O directly. You shouldn't have to do this now and you definitely shouldn't have to do this onboard. It's making me cross just writing this, given all the amazing holidays we had with P&O as our kids grew up... I could go on and on about how P&O crew made our holidays so so brilliant with our kids, but I must admit we didn't have all this worry before travelling.

 

Good luck getting everything sorted out, I hope to read about it when you have and I'm sure you will have an amazing time.

I'm hoping that this is just poor customer service pre-cruise and as per most cruises the service onboard will be exceptional. From all the cruises we've done we can only grumble about one or 2 things and even then it wasn't anything serious which isn't bad going. 

[david63]

Who is saying "sort it out onboard"? Is the TA or P&O?

 

If you have contacted P&O direct when having booked via a TA then P&O will not normally discuss a booking with you - it has to go via the TA so I could understand that response (doesn't alter the fact that it is poor customer service)

 

If it is the TA that is saying it then you need to progress that up the management chain of the TA, even going to ABTA if necessary, as that is unacceptable as sorting those things out is what you are paying them for.

[Clodia]

5 hours ago, amurray88 said:

Definitely... Unfortunately for me, it was the other way round with the room. I booked a queen and it's now been changed to twin and they won't let me change it back.

That happened to me on Iona in March. I wanted  Queen but they insisted my cabin ( a Conservatory Mini Suite) could only be a twin. Quick word with the Cabin Steward,  came back from breakfast on the first day to find it remade as a Queen.  Of course he got an additional tip. Having the same cabin next month, confirmed as a Queen. 

[Britboys]

9 minutes ago, Clodia said:

That happened to me on Iona in March. I wanted  Queen but they insisted my cabin ( a Conservatory Mini Suite) could only be a twin. Quick word with the Cabin Steward,  came back from breakfast on the first day to find it remade as a Queen.  Of course he got an additional tip. Having the same cabin next month, confirmed as a Queen. 

Glad to hear that P&O has recognised you as Queen Clodia... 😉🙂

[HMB1990]

I am here in 2024 to say I am now having this same issue direct with p&o. 

Booked the B428 14 night Caribbean on the Britannia. Booked and confirmed a queen bed inside cabin, myself, husband and baby. 

Rang and added a cot last month. New confirmation came through a couple of weeks ago stating bed configuration non converting twins with pullmans. 4 agents, 3 emails later and all I am getting is ' try and sort it onboard ' 

Sorry but I booked and paid for a queen bed. Baby has always been on the booking and is in a cot. I could get over the pullmans not being used but the twin converting beds are a deal breaker sorry. 

I paid 3.5k for this holiday. A balcony is now 3.8k I said id upgrade but they are quoting me 5.4k for the same balcony because that was price when I booked ! 

Am I being unreasonable in the fact I expect to get what I booked and paid for - queen bed. and its not my fault there system apparently let me book something that is shouldn't have done. It's not like iv rung up and added my baby after booking. 

They are telling me there are no inside queen beds available on any grade, but I know its not true as I can book them online today. So they are certainly fobbing me off. 

I told them to refund me and I'll rebook a balcony. They say i'll loose my deposit. How is that fair ? They are not providing what I booked, therefore surely they have broken the contract. 

Someone please help. I am not happy to pay this much money and spend 2 weeks on what should be a luxury holiday in twin beds with restricted head room due to wall mounted bunks, with a cot between us. It looks like a hostel for goodness sake and we will have to crawl down our beds to the foot to get in and out. 

Customer service is diabolical. 

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, HMB1990 said:

I am here in 2024 to say I am now having this same issue direct with p&o. 

Booked the B428 14 night Caribbean on the Britannia. Booked and confirmed a queen bed inside cabin, myself, husband and baby. 

Rang and added a cot last month. New confirmation came through a couple of weeks ago stating bed configuration non converting twins with pullmans. 4 agents, 3 emails later and all I am getting is ' try and sort it onboard ' 

Sorry but I booked and paid for a queen bed. Baby has always been on the booking and is in a cot. I could get over the pullmans not being used but the twin converting beds are a deal breaker sorry. 

I paid 3.5k for this holiday. A balcony is now 3.8k I said id upgrade but they are quoting me 5.4k for the same balcony because that was price when I booked ! 

Am I being unreasonable in the fact I expect to get what I booked and paid for - queen bed. and its not my fault there system apparently let me book something that is shouldn't have done. It's not like iv rung up and added my baby after booking. 

They are telling me there are no inside queen beds available on any grade, but I know its not true as I can book them online today. So they are certainly fobbing me off. 

I told them to refund me and I'll rebook a balcony. They say i'll loose my deposit. How is that fair ? They are not providing what I booked, therefore surely they have broken the contract. 

Someone please help. I am not happy to pay this much money and spend 2 weeks on what should be a luxury holiday in twin beds with restricted head room due to wall mounted bunks, with a cot between us. It looks like a hostel for goodness sake and we will have to crawl down our beds to the foot to get in and out. 

Customer service is diabolical. 

E-mail direct to chief executive office with your complaint and how it has been dealt with.

[Winifred 22]

Have you checked the cabin number ? If the Pullman beds are not being used they don’t encroach on the cabin and headroom and you can have a queen bed. It’s only if they are being used you have to have twins. You would need a 3/4 berth cabin because you are 3 people albeit one of them is a baby. I suggest you check the cabin number against the deck plan and you might find it will be O K 

[CarlaMarie]

4 hours ago, HMB1990 said:

I am here in 2024 to say I am now having this same issue direct with p&o. 

Booked the B428 14 night Caribbean on the Britannia. Booked and confirmed a queen bed inside cabin, myself, husband and baby. 

Rang and added a cot last month. New confirmation came through a couple of weeks ago stating bed configuration non converting twins with pullmans. 4 agents, 3 emails later and all I am getting is ' try and sort it onboard ' 

Sorry but I booked and paid for a queen bed. Baby has always been on the booking and is in a cot. I could get over the pullmans not being used but the twin converting beds are a deal breaker sorry. 

I paid 3.5k for this holiday. A balcony is now 3.8k I said id upgrade but they are quoting me 5.4k for the same balcony because that was price when I booked ! 

Am I being unreasonable in the fact I expect to get what I booked and paid for - queen bed. and its not my fault there system apparently let me book something that is shouldn't have done. It's not like iv rung up and added my baby after booking. 

They are telling me there are no inside queen beds available on any grade, but I know its not true as I can book them online today. So they are certainly fobbing me off. 

I told them to refund me and I'll rebook a balcony. They say i'll loose my deposit. How is that fair ? They are not providing what I booked, therefore surely they have broken the contract. 

Someone please help. I am not happy to pay this much money and spend 2 weeks on what should be a luxury holiday in twin beds with restricted head room due to wall mounted bunks, with a cot between us. It looks like a hostel for goodness sake and we will have to crawl down our beds to the foot to get in and out. 

Customer service is diabolical. 

 

Hello!

I have included the deck plans for you (these are the 2023 deck plans, so the most recent). If you look at the cabin notes section, all cabins with a filled in diamond shape next to them have the fixed bed configuration. 

 

I hope this helps and puts your mind at ease. 

Britannia-deck-plan-2023.pdf

Edited February 29 by CarlaMarie
Read original message wrong, cruise number not cabin number.

[HMB1990]

36 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Have you checked the cabin number ? If the Pullman beds are not being used they don’t encroach on the cabin and headroom and you can have a queen bed. It’s only if they are being used you have to have twins. You would need a 3/4 berth cabin because you are 3 people albeit one of them is a baby. I suggest you check the cabin number against the deck plan and you might find it will be O K 

HI, I have and it is pullmans attached to the wall, not from the roof. The cabin states it is non converting twins. So this means they cannot be made into a queen bed. I wasn't aware a baby would be classed as a person. They're website let me book 2 adults, 1 infant and I got to choose queen bed. This was booked early August 2023. Now in Jan I rang to confirm a cot in the room and even though I had already had a booking confirmation with room and bed configuration, when they added the cot they changed our room. I noticed it and started the calls complaining. If I had known it wasn't possible to get a queen (if their own website wouldn't have let me pick a queen) I would have paid for an upgrade. Now they wont let me. 

[HMB1990]

5 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

Hello! 

I have checked the deck plans for you, and cabin B428 does not have fixed twin beds. Once onboard your cabin steward will be able to convert the twin beds into a double for you as the pullman beds are not required for your family. 

 

I have included the deck plans for you (these are the 2023 deck plans, so the most recent). If you look at the cabin notes section, all cabins with a filled in diamond shape next to them have the fixed bed configuration. 

 

I hope this helps and puts your mind at ease. 

Britannia-deck-plan-2023.pdf 2.18 MB · 0 downloads

Sorry I am not in cabin B428, thats the cruise number. They have put us in cabin C539 and it states non converting twin beds with pullmans. 

[HMB1990]

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

E-mail direct to chief executive office with your complaint and how it has been dealt with.

Do you have an email address to do this ? 

[CarlaMarie]

2 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Sorry I am not in cabin B428, thats the cruise number. They have put us in cabin C539 and it states non converting twin beds with pullmans. 

 

I am so sorry, I read your first message completely wrong!!  If they have put you in C539 then they would have been fixed beds all along, and would never have been able to be converted in the first place.

 

When you say they changed your room, were you originally assigned a different cabin? 

[Winifred 22]

Did you book select or saver fare ? What was your original cabin number ? 

[HMB1990]

5 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said:

 

I am so sorry, I read your first message completely wrong!!  If they have put you in C539 then they would have been fixed beds all along, and would never have been able to be converted in the first place.

 

When you say they changed your room, were you originally assigned a different cabin? 

When we booked we didn't pick a specific room number but we booked a queen bed and our booking confirmation says queen bed. When the agent added the cot the booking confirmation changed to twin beds. I then started my contacting p&o and was told 'ask for the twins to be made to a queen once on board' but then a few days later cabin numbers were assigned and the room was 'fixed twins' so now the option to have the beds rearranged once on board is not possible. They wont accept responsibility for our room being changed from a queen to twins. Even though I have a booking confirmation stating queen bed. I asked to change rooms to twins that can be moved and they wont accommodate my request saying all rooms are now booked & allocated. Which is not true because I can still book the same grade rooms online today. I even offered to pay to upgrade the grade of the room. They said I cant as they are all allocated & sold. Which again is not true as they are still on sale. I then asked to upgrade to a balcony as they are showing available aswell. When went through the process and right at the end when she asked me to pay, she asked for £5462. I was like what ! I can book the same room right now on their website for £3800. They are standing by the policy of, I have to pay the price it was when I booked back in August 23. Even though this is all their mess up! If their website had not let me book a queen bed at the time, I would have done the £200 upgrade and guaranteed my room. They are saying their website should never have let me book the room that I did. Thats not my problem. Their own staff dont even know what they are saying, they cannot understand when I am telling them it is fixed twins and non convertible, they still keep telling me they can change the beds once on board. 

[HMB1990]

12 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Did you book select or saver fare ? What was your original cabin number ? 

We booked saver, queen bed. The booking confirmation said queen bed, it asked us during the booking process, what bed configuration we wanted, it shouldn't have done that or allowed us to choose queen bed, knowing we had a baby on the booking. An agent then added a cot and the new booking confirmation said twin beds. Since iv been complaining room numbers have been assigned and the twins are 'fixed' so cannot be changed once on site. I could get over the pullmans and the twin situation, if we could move the beds, but we cant. Im even willing to pay to upgrade but they are not obliging unless I pay £2000 more for a balcony than what they are for sale at. 

[Winifred 22]

The pricing of an upgrade is standard practice  if you wish to amend your booking you always have to accept the rate that would have been applicable at the time of the original booking and it can work both ways you could end up paying less than the current price for a better cabin.  Will they let you pay to upgrade to a select fare  booking  of the same grade and then you could choose your cabin  and pick one say a 3 berth. That is a draw back with saver fares that you have no control over the cabin allocation. I am not sure if the bed configuration is just a preference and not an absolute guarantee. Other folk on here may know better. 

[bbtablet]

2 hours ago, HMB1990 said:

Do you have an email address to do this ? 

1) Back in October last year, Megabear2 said:

P&O Exec Office email:

Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com

 

2) I agree with Winifred22. A saver fare gives you no control over your cabin number - that is why people typically pay up to a £1000 or more extra to secure a specific Select cabin that they choose at booking. I think P&O are saying that the appearance of Queen config was not guaranteed but would be allocated if available when they allocated cabins to all the Saver fare passengers, by which time your situation precluded it, in their eyes.

Still, try the email address - good luck.

Edited February 29 by bbtablet
additions

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, bbtablet said:

1) Back in October last year, Megabear2 said:

P&O Exec Office email:

Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com

 

I agree with Winifred22. A saver fare gives you no control over your cabin number - that is why people typically pay up to a £1000 or more extra to secure a Select cabin. I think P&O are saying that the appearance of Queen config was not guaranteed but would be allocated if available when they allocated cabins to all the Saver fare passengers, by which time your situation precluded it, in their eyes.

Still, try the email address - good luck.

That should not matter if you have specified Queen bed configuration. The problem is that P&O seem to insist that if there are 3 passengers in a cabin, then the pullman beds have to be used and the main beds have to be twins, although if the the third passenger is an infant sleeping in a cot this need not apply. But the computer booking system will not permit this, and if you end up in a fixed twin there is no possibility of remedying this on board.

A firm but fair e-mail to the CEO setting out the issues and the timeline, seems to be your only option to get this changed now.

[HMB1990]

9 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

The pricing of an upgrade is standard practice  if you wish to amend your booking you always have to accept the rate that would have been applicable at the time of the original booking and it can work both ways you could end up paying less than the current price for a better cabin.  Will they let you pay to upgrade to a select fare  booking  of the same grade and then you could choose your cabin  and pick one say a 3 berth. That is a draw back with saver fares that you have no control over the cabin allocation. I am not sure if the bed configuration is just a preference and not an absolute guarantee. Other folk on here may know better. 

I have asked that and they said no because there are no cabins left on any grade with a queen bed except balconies and suits. I know this is a lie because I can book them online. I don't understand why they are trying to block me at every resolution. 

[tring]

56 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

I have asked that and they said no because there are no cabins left on any grade with a queen bed except balconies and suits. I know this is a lie because I can book them online. I don't understand why they are trying to block me at every resolution. 

 

B428, which you said you have been allocated appears to be an inside cabin.  So presuming that is what you have booked, it is possible that the majority of inside cabins would not work with a cot in the cabin.  There is often very little room to move around cruise cabins (particularly insides) without any additions, so may well be why the only way it could be done is with twin beds and the cot between them.  That would also explain why your bed configuration changed when you requested a cot.  There are loads of U-Tube videos of cruise cabins, so you may be able to find one similar to your, so you can assess the size of them.

 

If that is the case though, I think you should have been given a proper explanation.  It is certainly worth sending an email as suggested to see if a resolution can be obtained, but a shame you did not request a cot when you first made the booking.

 

Edited March 1 by tring