Am I being unreasonable?

[terrierjohn]

57 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. 

Maybe when it get towards cruise date they will accept bookings for cabin grades were none remain, if there are still cabins of a higher grade available, which could be given as upgrades.

[amajaa]

You need to go to a good Cruise Travel Agent, unfortunately we are not allowed to mention names on here, but I do know lots of us use the same one.  But what I would say is don't go to a normal travel agent, they often have little knowledge of cruises you must use a cruise agent. 
 

I am very surprised the people at P & O themselves aren't being helpful as has been said complain direct to the CEO 

[laslomas]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

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.

 

The poster stated that B428 is the Cruise number - not the cabin number. The cabin is C539.

[Megabear2]

12 hours ago, HMB1990 said:

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. 

Am I correct that this reservation is for 29 November 2024, the Friday departure? If it is I assume you have paid a deposit around £350 on the amount you mention fof the total.  Having looked at that voyage it is indeed a very busy one for inside cabins.  If I choose select fare and enter 2 adults and a 6 month old baby it offers me only 3 cabins all fixed beds and if I remove the little one I get only a handful more.  The next day's sailing has a slightly more availability but again with the baby added the choice drops to 3 fixed bed rooms.

 

Although you would lose your deposit of £350 you could consider possibly cancelling and rebooking a balcony cabin on a select basis, admittedly it would cost more but currently there is £340 onboard credit which would cover the loss of your deposit.  There is little difference in cost between the clear and obstructed balcony cost, literally tens of pounds so you could end up with a really nice cabin - aft cabins on C deck are available for instance. For 2 plus a baby it would be £4407. Obviously I'm not aware of your finances but you would get complete peace of mind doing this. 

 

A saver balcony without the OBC is £3907 but again you would lose your deposit without the OBC to make up for it and be at the mercy of P&O's choice of cabin.

 

One other thing, the current P&O offers end on 4 March.  Generally within days they will be replaced but the prices of the cruises tend to change on an offer ending.  For a few days they will rise, often quite a bit particularly if the next offer is increased onboard credit.  P&O use these to "balance" their profit, ie higher OBC but higher base price, lower OBC generally a lower base price but whichever option the customer chooses they end up with the same bottom line. As the customer you play roulette and try to read the market.  This cruise is selling well if it is the November one.  

 

You need to decide really if you want to enter an argument with P&O or attempt to find another solution.  Unfortunately booking a cruise online if you have anything other than a basic 2 adults is a minefield. Simple advice is don't do it, use a good reputable travel agent or at the very least do a telephone booking with P&O and record every detail you discuss and answers given.

 

Good luck whatever you choose to do.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HMB1990]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

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.

 

The cruise number is B428 our room that has been given is C539 which is fixed twin beds with pullmans. Before they added the cot we were In a queen bed configuration. The room sizes are the same and the cot easily fits in the open wardrobe area so the bed configuration does not matter. The issue is they are fixed so I cant get them pulled together once on board. 

[HMB1990]

11 hours ago, bbtablet said:

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.

Yes im not bothered about room number or where we are on the ship. We were able to booked room bed configuration queen. That is what I am bothered about. They should have allocated us a queen bed room as that is what we picked and paid for and have on our receipt. They have given us fixed twins with pullmans. Up to the point of the agent adding the cot our booking confirmation said queen bed. Now the cot is added they swapped it to non converting twins. They never explained this would happen. I would have upgraded if I knew, but now they saying I cannot upgrade as no rooms left. Which is a lie. 

[Megabear2]

20 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Yes im not bothered about room number or where we are on the ship. We were able to booked room bed configuration queen. That is what I am bothered about. They should have allocated us a queen bed room as that is what we picked and paid for and have on our receipt. They have given us fixed twins with pullmans. Up to the point of the agent adding the cot our booking confirmation said queen bed. Now the cot is added they swapped it to non converting twins. They never explained this would happen. I would have upgraded if I knew, but now they saying I cannot upgrade as no rooms left. Which is a lie. 

Britannia inside rooms for 3+ people are clearly marked on the deck plan as fixed beds with Pullman beds either fold down or drop from the ceiling.  The problem is the computer counts your baby as a third person and therefore looks at rooms for 3 people.  It is pretty dumb but that's how the program is written.  I can do a mock booking for 2 adults and it comes up with more cabins without fixed beds.  However add a baby or a child and it defaults to the fixed beds/Pullmans.

 

Did you make your initial booking on the telephone with P&O, with a travel agent or doing it on the P&O website yourself?  If it was one of the first two the agent should have given you the necessary information about the cabin choice being available with only fixed beds and on that basis you have a good argument.  If however you made the reservation online yourself it unfortunately is extremely difficult to say it's P&O's problem as it is for us as the booker to double and triple check what the small print is.  For example I made a short notice (withing 6 weeks) booking on Britannia for a deluxe balcony cabin and ended up on deck 15 with permanent shade and huge noise issues until 1.00pm every night.  This was my risk choice, no I didn't like it but I did have the benefit of £1,000 saving.

 

Unfortunately bed configuration is confirmed only at room allocation, it isn't a firm thing on a saver fare, it simply indicates your preference. Again another confusion for the unwary.

Edited March 1 by Megabear2

[HMB1990]

18 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Am I correct that this reservation is for 29 November 2024, the Friday departure? If it is I assume you have paid a deposit around £350 on the amount you mention fof the total.  Having looked at that voyage it is indeed a very busy one for inside cabins.  If I choose select fare and enter 2 adults and a 6 month old baby it offers me only 3 cabins all fixed beds and if I remove the little one I get only a handful more.  The next day's sailing has a slightly more availability but again with the baby added the choice drops to 3 fixed bed rooms.

 

Although you would lose your deposit of £350 you could consider possibly cancelling and rebooking a balcony cabin on a select basis, admittedly it would cost more but currently there is £340 onboard credit which would cover the loss of your deposit.  There is little difference in cost between the clear and obstructed balcony cost, literally tens of pounds so you could end up with a really nice cabin - aft cabins on C deck are available for instance. For 2 plus a baby it would be £4407. Obviously I'm not aware of your finances but you would get complete peace of mind doing this. 

 

A saver balcony without the OBC is £3907 but again you would lose your deposit without the OBC to make up for it and be at the mercy of P&O's choice of cabin.

 

One other thing, the current P&O offers end on 4 March.  Generally within days they will be replaced but the prices of the cruises tend to change on an offer ending.  For a few days they will rise, often quite a bit particularly if the next offer is increased onboard credit.  P&O use these to "balance" their profit, ie higher OBC but higher base price, lower OBC generally a lower base price but whichever option the customer chooses they end up with the same bottom line. As the customer you play roulette and try to read the market.  This cruise is selling well if it is the November one.  

 

You need to decide really if you want to enter an argument with P&O or attempt to find another solution.  Unfortunately booking a cruise online if you have anything other than a basic 2 adults is a minefield. Simple advice is don't do it, use a good reputable travel agent or at the very least do a telephone booking with P&O and record every detail you discuss and answers given.

 

Good luck whatever you choose to do.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the info. Yes thats the cruise. To put into stated facts:

- booked 2 adults 1 baby, queen bed on saver fare, online august 23, Booking confirmation states queen bed. 

- Jan 24 rang to ask for bassinet on flight and was told they didn't have them

- 9th Jan 24, agent emailed me asking if I wanted to add cot, high chair etc, I said yes please

- 10th Jan 24, new booking confirmation comes through stating twin beds

- I start my calls to ask why this has changed, I am told to just ask them to swap configuration once on board. 

- Monday 26th feb. I ring because I want to buy 2 x non alcoholic drinks packages and it keeps adding child drinks package as it's not free as we are not buying the expensive packages. Baby will not be using the drinks package and I don't want to pay for it. Im am told to just buy it and sort out once on board for refund. I then queried the bed again as iv now looked at the map and it states fixed twins. Agent tells me to send email, so I do so. 

- Email reply states they wont deal with me until 6 months before departure, obviously I know this cruise is busy so I panic thinking, by that time there will be no rooms left to swap to, so I ring again. 

- I am told sort this on site. I inform them it cant be sorted as it's a non-converting and I need to sort now because limited rooms left. I am told no rooms left at all. I check site, yes I can book rooms so there is room left, your lying. They hang up on me, stating I have to wait for email to come back to me. 

- I ring again ask to upgrade to balcony, we paid 3.5k the balconies are 3.8k, im told no you have to pay 5.4k as that was price of balcony when we booked. Im sorry but I feel they should be meeting me in the middle here, I wouldn't need to even spending a penny more if they gave me the bed configuration that I booked. I don't care what the room number is, or where on the ship we are. The select saver price deal was rubbish when we booked, only gave £200 onboard spending. But wanted about £600 extra if I remember rightly. 

- Just to add insult. In 2022 I booked norweign fjords on the phone with an agent for April 23. I said several times on the phone I was pregnant. Coming up to cruise date my MIL said people who are pregnant cant travel. I checked all my documents sent to me, read all fine print, all emails, nothing anywhere said absolutely anything about pregnancies. I had a doctors note, I wasn't high risk and id checked government guidelines. 1 week before departure and I saw a post on a forum, so I rang p&o.... I turned 24 weeks pregnant 2 days before the cruise and they wouldn't let me go ! We lost our money for Southampton hotel either side of holiday and car parking and our dog kennel costs. p&o would not let us move the holiday or have cruise credit or admit that their agent should have queried me when on the phone. I sucked that up as lesson learnt. This time I booked myself, made sure I read everything along the way & got exactly what we wanted. Now this has happened. 

- Iv since emailed the president and COO of Carnival group UK on LinkedIn. Lo and behold, someone rang me this morning saying they are looking into this matter as a priority. 

- In the past week the rooms I was willing to upgrade to have gone from 3.8k to 4.6k. 

- I have rebooked the norweign fjords cruise for march 25. I bought the upgrade and picked my cabin. Guess what ...... I am being told I cant have this cabin now as it cant have a cot !!!!! Like ***** ! you shouldn't have let me book it then as the baby was always on the booking ! This was booked same day as the Caribbean cruise. 

- P&O wont give me full refund to allow me to rebook either, I feel this is the least they can do since it is their system that in their words 'allowed me to book something that it shouldn't have done' & 'our system is not advanced enough to differentiate between a baby & a person'. Not my problem ! You dont give me what I booked & paid for, you have broken the contract, I am entitled to a full refund or an upgrade into whatever is available to fix the issue. 

Sorry to rant. 

 

[Megabear2]

4 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Thank you for the info. Yes thats the cruise. To put into stated facts:

- booked 2 adults 1 baby, queen bed on saver fare, online august 23, Booking confirmation states queen bed. 

- Jan 24 rang to ask for bassinet on flight and was told they didn't have them

- 9th Jan 24, agent emailed me asking if I wanted to add cot, high chair etc, I said yes please

- 10th Jan 24, new booking confirmation comes through stating twin beds

- I start my calls to ask why this has changed, I am told to just ask them to swap configuration once on board. 

- Monday 26th feb. I ring because I want to buy 2 x non alcoholic drinks packages and it keeps adding child drinks package as it's not free as we are not buying the expensive packages. Baby will not be using the drinks package and I don't want to pay for it. Im am told to just buy it and sort out once on board for refund. I then queried the bed again as iv now looked at the map and it states fixed twins. Agent tells me to send email, so I do so. 

- Email reply states they wont deal with me until 6 months before departure, obviously I know this cruise is busy so I panic thinking, by that time there will be no rooms left to swap to, so I ring again. 

- I am told sort this on site. I inform them it cant be sorted as it's a non-converting and I need to sort now because limited rooms left. I am told no rooms left at all. I check site, yes I can book rooms so there is room left, your lying. They hang up on me, stating I have to wait for email to come back to me. 

- I ring again ask to upgrade to balcony, we paid 3.5k the balconies are 3.8k, im told no you have to pay 5.4k as that was price of balcony when we booked. Im sorry but I feel they should be meeting me in the middle here, I wouldn't need to even spending a penny more if they gave me the bed configuration that I booked. I don't care what the room number is, or where on the ship we are. The select saver price deal was rubbish when we booked, only gave £200 onboard spending. But wanted about £600 extra if I remember rightly. 

- Just to add insult. In 2022 I booked norweign fjords on the phone with an agent for April 23. I said several times on the phone I was pregnant. Coming up to cruise date my MIL said people who are pregnant cant travel. I checked all my documents sent to me, read all fine print, all emails, nothing anywhere said absolutely anything about pregnancies. I had a doctors note, I wasn't high risk and id checked government guidelines. 1 week before departure and I saw a post on a forum, so I rang p&o.... I turned 24 weeks pregnant 2 days before the cruise and they wouldn't let me go ! We lost our money for Southampton hotel either side of holiday and car parking and our dog kennel costs. p&o would not let us move the holiday or have cruise credit or admit that their agent should have queried me when on the phone. I sucked that up as lesson learnt. This time I booked myself, made sure I read everything along the way & got exactly what we wanted. Now this has happened. 

- Iv since emailed the president and COO of Carnival group UK on LinkedIn. Lo and behold, someone rang me this morning saying they are looking into this matter as a priority. 

- In the past week the rooms I was willing to upgrade to have gone from 3.8k to 4.6k. 

- I have rebooked the norweign fjords cruise for march 25. I bought the upgrade and picked my cabin. Guess what ...... I am being told I cant have this cabin now as it cant have a cot !!!!! Like ***** ! you shouldn't have let me book it then as the baby was always on the booking ! This was booked same day as the Caribbean cruise. 

- P&O wont give me full refund to allow me to rebook either, I feel this is the least they can do since it is their system that in their words 'allowed me to book something that it shouldn't have done' & 'our system is not advanced enough to differentiate between a baby & a person'. Not my problem ! You dont give me what I booked & paid for, you have broken the contract, I am entitled to a full refund or an upgrade into whatever is available to fix the issue. 

Sorry to rant. 

 

So you have this problem on two cruises?  I note Executive is now on the case so you may well get somewhere via them.  

 

They are correct the computer system is not advanced, in fact its downright ancient and on occasion impossible.  IT and customer service are not unfortunately P&O's strong point.

 

Under the circumstances with a long time to the cruises it may be worth your while waiting on the reply from Executive Office as they should be in a position to override the computer and sort it out.  You may even find yourself with an upgrade to sort the matter.  My experience with Executive Office is they do try to help and on occasions are quite generous by way of apology.  Have they stated a timeframe?

[HMB1990]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

So you have this problem on two cruises?  I note Executive is now on the case so you may well get somewhere via them.  

 

They are correct the computer system is not advanced, in fact its downright ancient and on occasion impossible.  IT and customer service are not unfortunately P&O's strong point.

 

Under the circumstances with a long time to the cruises it may be worth your while waiting on the reply from Executive Office as they should be in a position to override the computer and sort it out.  You may even find yourself with an upgrade to sort the matter.  My experience with Executive Office is they do try to help and on occasions are quite generous by way of apology.  Have they stated a timeframe?

Can I ask please where during the booking process do you see that the only rooms left for inside cabins when a baby is on? Iv just done another booking followed it through I can see deck 12 rooms c316 c317 & c323 are all available and fit 4 people with pullmans but the twin beds are not fixed so they can be put as a queen. This is how I know I am being lied to and fobbed off. 

[Winifred 22]

You best bet is to see what the Executive office come up with or take the hit with your deposit and rebook on a select fare choosing your own cabin irrespective if you don’t care where you are  etc.. select fares ensure you get the cabin of your choice. Saver fares will always be allocated by what P &O want you to have regardless of whether it suits you or not personally. 

[Megabear2]

25 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Can I ask please where during the booking process do you see that the only rooms left for inside cabins when a baby is on? Iv just done another booking followed it through I can see deck 12 rooms c316 c317 & c323 are all available and fit 4 people with pullmans but the twin beds are not fixed so they can be put as a queen. This is how I know I am being lied to and fobbed off. 

I went to select booking, 2 adults and 1 infant under 24 months. I just put 6 months. Booking availability came up with the following cabins for that set of people:

 

A120, 121, 124, 125

B531, 612, 611

C316, 317, 323

D439

E344, 349, 442, 443

F426, 427

G434, 435

 

all of these are fixed twin beds. Yes, I can say Queen as my choice when I proceed but the fact is that configuration would be unavailable once onboard in any of the inside cabins I can book for 3 people.  The same options also come up if I put in a child over 24 months.  

 

You aren't being lied to, yes there are other insides but P&O do not consider them suitable for 3 people only two.  Obviously with the baby and the closet area you have slightly more of an argument as to where you place the cot (as happened with the OP) but that is something the P&O team alone will decide.

 

On Iona it will inevitably be worse, sorry, the cabins are smaller and no open wardrobe area so not sure how that one would work.

 

Edited March 1 by Megabear2

[HMB1990]

14 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I went to select booking, 2 adults and 1 infant under 24 months. I just put 6 months. Booking availability came up with the following cabins for that set of people:

 

A120, 121, 124, 125

B531, 612, 611

C316, 317, 323

D439

E344, 349, 442, 443

F426, 427

G434, 435

 

all of these are fixed twin beds. Yes, I can say Queen as my choice when I proceed but the fact is that configuration would be unavailable once onboard in any of the inside cabins I can book for 3 people.  The same options also come up if I put in a child over 24 months.  

 

You aren't being lied to, yes there are other insides but P&O do not consider them suitable for 3 people only two.  Obviously with the baby and the closet area you have slightly more of an argument as to where you place the cot (as happened with the OP) but that is something the P&O team alone will decide.

 

On Iona it will inevitably be worse, sorry, the cabins are smaller and no open wardrobe area so not sure how that one would work.

 

Im looking at these 3 rooms - 

 

C316, 317, 323

 

Where does it show these are fixed twins ? They don't have the black diamond on them. It has a white diamond, which states - cabin has 2 additional beds in the form of pullman beds. Which to me means it might be twins but they are not fixed so we could move them. 

 

I can then also select queen bed configuration. Which if it was fixed twins, it shouldn't let me do this. 

 

Their system is to blame if it's allowing me to book something that isn't available or misinforming me. 

 

On the Iona for April 25 iv purchased room 14241, this says queen with sofa bed. Am I going to have the same issue here ? Baby is on the booking and will need a cot, does this mean they are either going to say I cant have a cot in that room so iv got to move or will they just point blank refuse to give me a cot ? I am yet to have this out with them. 

 

Thanks for the help BTW, as you can tell i'm starting to get rather upset with the matter. 

[Megabear2]

15 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Im looking at these 3 rooms - 

 

C316, 317, 323

 

Where does it show these are fixed twins ? They don't have the black diamond on them. It has a white diamond, which states - cabin has 2 additional beds in the form of pullman beds. Which to me means it might be twins but they are not fixed so we could move them. 

 

I can then also select queen bed configuration. Which if it was fixed twins, it shouldn't let me do this. 

 

Their system is to blame if it's allowing me to book something that isn't available or misinforming me. 

 

On the Iona for April 25 iv purchased room 14241, this says queen with sofa bed. Am I going to have the same issue here ? Baby is on the booking and will need a cot, does this mean they are either going to say I cant have a cot in that room so iv got to move or will they just point blank refuse to give me a cot ? I am yet to have this out with them. 

 

Thanks for the help BTW, as you can tell i'm starting to get rather upset with the matter. 

Try not to get upset, it can and will be sorted. 

 

Yes I looked at the three cabins you mention and agree it is a different symbol. I thought it might be a different type of Pullman, some are wall drop (not many on Britannia) and some pull from the ceiling.  No harm in checking.

 

I cannot speak for Iona but I'd think the best thing to do is calm down and call P&O today for clarification on the three cabins we have identified as possibly not fixed twin beds.  If it transpires that's the case ask if you can move to one.  If they say no tell them you have a contact in the Executive Office looking at it (assumedly you have a name?). Ask the agent to contact that person while you are online, or at worse asking them to email that individual urgently.

 

I would ask your questions about Iona whilst on the line - if they insist on not contacting Executive Office except by email use the time to give your contact time to get back to the agent you are speaking to.

 

They aren't going to want to cause distress, particularly as you fit exactly the people they are marketing for.  I suggest mentioning that in your conversations.

 

Most important: stay calm, polite, do not get over wraught, don't get angry or raise your tone and don't call them liars.   Although frustrated you will gain nothing if you allow it to over spill.  Just be logical, calm and polite. Don't be afraid to be firm though and stand your ground on insisting they speak to your contact.

Edited March 1 by Megabear2

[HMB1990]

Just an update. - Room numbers C316, C317 & C323 which do not show as FIXED TWINS on the deck plan have been confirmed to be FIXED TWINS and I have been told this is an error on the deck plan. WELL I NEVER ! Looks like some other poor soles might end up surprised aswell. 

 

I am now out of options as they refuse to put me in one of the MANY rooms available that are in fact queen beds as they are sticking to their guns that I MUST be in a room to sleeps 4, due to baby who does not require a bed. They will not override their system which is obviously inadequate. They refuse to swap someone else out who may be in a non fixed twin and actually wants twins & wouldn't be bothered rather they are fixed or not. 

 

I have given up hope of anything being resolved with call centre staff and I am pushing the COO, President & Chief Person officer on linked in. Hopefully the heat on them will prompt someone to actually look into their system. 

 

They admitted they are aware of the drinks package problem and in their own words 'its always been like that' surely they should have worked a way around this, but obviously its a money maker for unsuspecting people, who dont realise they have been charged hundreds for a baby to have a drinks package that they cant use. Otherwise surely they would have fixed this. As a breastfeeding mom please note I want the non - alcoholic packages as I cannot drink and unfortunately the husband will have to have the same. Otherwise we pay even more to buy alcoholic packages (which still works out more even tho the babies package would come off) and I wouldn't even have any alcohol. 

 

Then for my next cruise on IONA. Guess what.... Yes you're right, my confirmed room apparently does not accommodate a cot. Yes I upgraded to select price and specifically purchased a room. Their system again 'should not have let me pick this room type and bed configuration given I have a baby on the reservation, as this is a 2 person room only' They are looking to see what they can do to accommodate this. 

 

Now iv really kicked up a fuss. 

 

3 cruises with P&O 

- First they forgot to inform me I couldn't travel on it when I booked as I was pregnant and would be beyond 24 weeks (booked on the phone !)

- Second I purchased queen bed and have been given fixed twins

- Third iv purchased a specific room with a queen bed and i'm being told i'll have to change cabins

 

[Megabear2]

23 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

Just an update. - Room numbers C316, C317 & C323 which do not show as FIXED TWINS on the deck plan have been confirmed to be FIXED TWINS and I have been told this is an error on the deck plan. WELL I NEVER ! Looks like some other poor soles might end up surprised aswell. 

 

I am now out of options as they refuse to put me in one of the MANY rooms available that are in fact queen beds as they are sticking to their guns that I MUST be in a room to sleeps 4, due to baby who does not require a bed. They will not override their system which is obviously inadequate. They refuse to swap someone else out who may be in a non fixed twin and actually wants twins & wouldn't be bothered rather they are fixed or not. 

 

I have given up hope of anything being resolved with call centre staff and I am pushing the COO, President & Chief Person officer on linked in. Hopefully the heat on them will prompt someone to actually look into their system. 

 

They admitted they are aware of the drinks package problem and in their own words 'its always been like that' surely they should have worked a way around this, but obviously its a money maker for unsuspecting people, who dont realise they have been charged hundreds for a baby to have a drinks package that they cant use. Otherwise surely they would have fixed this. As a breastfeeding mom please note I want the non - alcoholic packages as I cannot drink and unfortunately the husband will have to have the same. Otherwise we pay even more to buy alcoholic packages (which still works out more even tho the babies package would come off) and I wouldn't even have any alcohol. 

 

Then for my next cruise on IONA. Guess what.... Yes you're right, my confirmed room apparently does not accommodate a cot. Yes I upgraded to select price and specifically purchased a room. Their system again 'should not have let me pick this room type and bed configuration given I have a baby on the reservation, as this is a 2 person room only' They are looking to see what they can do to accommodate this. 

 

Now iv really kicked up a fuss. 

 

3 cruises with P&O 

- First they forgot to inform me I couldn't travel on it when I booked as I was pregnant and would be beyond 24 weeks (booked on the phone !)

- Second I purchased queen bed and have been given fixed twins

- Third iv purchased a specific room with a queen bed and i'm being told i'll have to change cabins

 

So you now have confirmation of the problems as we suspected them to be.  

 

Collate and collect all the information, emails, dates of telephone calls etc and rather than relying on the social media channels put the whole lot, from beginning to end, in writing to the email address of the Executive Office emphasising that the whole lot have been a bit of a disaster for you and short of losing yet more money you really need assistance from them as you've booked in good faith on a cruise line advertising themselves very proudly to the young families demographic.

 

In the email express in your strongest terms your disappointment with P&O's handling of the issue, your being a new mum who is finding the whole affair incredibly stressful and you are now beginning to feel P&O do not care about how all this is impacting you.  

 

Again the important thing is to stay calm but firm.  

 

Aside from the Britannia situation I assume the Iona one is less complicated and they are dealing with it?  Even so it hurts nobody to put your experience into writing on that as well. Send to this address. No doubt they will respond 28 days so be prepared to wait.

 

Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com

 

 

You do also have the cancel and rebook option for the balcony although I appreciate that is more expensive. Re drinks package it would be refunded once onboard, annoying but you do get your money refunded.

Edited March 1 by Megabear2

[pete14]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:55 PM, HMB1990 said:

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. 

I think the possible cause may be that when you booked, it appears you booked for two people and this is what appeared on your booking confirmation. Changing the booking by adding the cot seems to have caused the problem. I can only presume that a cabin with a queen size bed, which is in a fixed position within the cabin, does not allow sufficient space to put a cot. Maybe the fixed twin configuration allows this. Mind you, if this is the case, I am surprised this wasn’t explained to you. This doesn’t explain what appears to be un-necessary intransigence on behalf of P&O. You mention booking with an agent. Is that a P&O agent who took your booking directly over the phone or a travel or cruise agent either on the high street, online or phone? If the latter, maybe they should have a go at sorting it out for you. 

[HMB1990]

On 3/2/2024 at 10:47 AM, pete14 said:

I think the possible cause may be that when you booked, it appears you booked for two people and this is what appeared on your booking confirmation. Changing the booking by adding the cot seems to have caused the problem. I can only presume that a cabin with a queen size bed, which is in a fixed position within the cabin, does not allow sufficient space to put a cot. Maybe the fixed twin configuration allows this. Mind you, if this is the case, I am surprised this wasn’t explained to you. This doesn’t explain what appears to be un-necessary intransigence on behalf of P&O. You mention booking with an agent. Is that a P&O agent who took your booking directly over the phone or a travel or cruise agent either on the high street, online or phone? If the latter, maybe they should have a go at sorting it out for you. 

HI Pete, 

 

I feel you may be a little confused. We booked for 2 adults & 1 baby from the start. There system allowed us to pick our bed type configuration, to which we picked queen bed. We booked online. 

 

The holiday I booked on the phone was a prior one. I was just adding it to give an overall view if the shitty service I have so far received from p&o. 

 

The fact is, their system allowed me to 'book something it shouldn't have' and instead of explaining this to me when I first rang up and when they first emailed me offering a cot (they offered it to me, I didn't ask for it) They should have explained about the room issue. Instead they just went ahead and changed to room configuration. Wouldn't have been so bad if it was twins that could be moved. But they are fixed & to top it off they have wall mounted pullmans. This means we have restricted headroom above and a cot between us, the only way to get out of bed is to crawl down the bed and get out of the bottom. Surely whoever did the risk assessment on this should have thought,,,,,, mmmmm thats a risk, they may hit their heads and its restricting safe passage in case of emergency. 

 

P&O offered £10 on board spending as an inconvenience and kept telling me to sort this once on board. What part of non converting fixed twins are their staff not understanding ? This is obviously a line they are trained to say to get people off the phone. 

[HMB1990]

UPDATE - 

 

P&O have called to now offer me £50pp on board spending for compensation. They are telling me that the room can in fact be made into a queen bed and that their own website & deck plan is incorrect. 

 

How funny is it that I found 3 rooms on their website & deck plan that are not advertised as fixed, but they say they are in fact fixed & now they are saying a room that is advertised as fixed, is in fact,,,,,,, not fixed? 

 

Anyways they say they have photo proof from the ship. But they will not send me pictures of this. How convenient. They are also saying they will not put this in writing to me either. 

 

On the call she did say, she has to warn me that if they put this bed as a queen, we will struggle to get in and out because on the walls are the 2 fixed bunks. So this to me isn't a solution and the room obviously is not fit for purpose. 

 

I have told them I am not happy with this so called resolution and they told me they consider this issue closed. 

 

All I want is a normal queen room with a cot, which I can put safely in the wardrobe open area, which then doesn't restrict access (I had gotten this advice from cruise mummy blog prior to booking). This is what I booked and have a receipt showing. Why is this so hard for them to comprehend. 

[terrierjohn]

14 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

UPDATE - 

 

P&O have called to now offer me £50pp on board spending for compensation. They are telling me that the room can in fact be made into a queen bed and that their own website & deck plan is incorrect. 

 

How funny is it that I found 3 rooms on their website & deck plan that are not advertised as fixed, but they say they are in fact fixed & now they are saying a room that is advertised as fixed, is in fact,,,,,,, not fixed? 

 

Anyways they say they have photo proof from the ship. But they will not send me pictures of this. How convenient. They are also saying they will not put this in writing to me either. 

 

On the call she did say, she has to warn me that if they put this bed as a queen, we will struggle to get in and out because on the walls are the 2 fixed bunks. So this to me isn't a solution and the room obviously is not fit for purpose. 

 

I have told them I am not happy with this so called resolution and they told me they consider this issue closed. 

 

All I want is a normal queen room with a cot, which I can put safely in the wardrobe open area, which then doesn't restrict access (I had gotten this advice from cruise mummy blog prior to booking). This is what I booked and have a receipt showing. Why is this so hard for them to comprehend. 

I sympathise with you and agree P&Os customer service does not meet what we ought to be receiving from a major cruise line.

However I think the answer to your problem is that you should use a good quality online TA in future, perhaps one based in the north midlands, and on cruise critics recomended list, who I am sure would give you great service and advice and sort out any issues, like these, far faster and easier than doing it yourself.

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, HMB1990 said:

UPDATE - 

 

P&O have called to now offer me £50pp on board spending for compensation. They are telling me that the room can in fact be made into a queen bed and that their own website & deck plan is incorrect. 

 

How funny is it that I found 3 rooms on their website & deck plan that are not advertised as fixed, but they say they are in fact fixed & now they are saying a room that is advertised as fixed, is in fact,,,,,,, not fixed? 

 

Anyways they say they have photo proof from the ship. But they will not send me pictures of this. How convenient. They are also saying they will not put this in writing to me either. 

 

On the call she did say, she has to warn me that if they put this bed as a queen, we will struggle to get in and out because on the walls are the 2 fixed bunks. So this to me isn't a solution and the room obviously is not fit for purpose. 

 

I have told them I am not happy with this so called resolution and they told me they consider this issue closed. 

 

All I want is a normal queen room with a cot, which I can put safely in the wardrobe open area, which then doesn't restrict access (I had gotten this advice from cruise mummy blog prior to booking). This is what I booked and have a receipt showing. Why is this so hard for them to comprehend. 

Which room are they saying can be made into a queen? There may be pictures elsewhere you can look at.

 

The real problem is that you were unaware the Queen bed configuration is just a request and is not guaranteed. Unfortunately it is not like booking a hotel room where you choose double or twin sleeping arrangements (mind you I have trouble with this on occasion too when my friend and I were presented with a queen bed in Rome because they believed we were a couple!).

 

Is this only Britannia, if so what are they doing with Iona booking?

 

I assume the caller is from customer services or was it actually from Executive Office? Why did they say they won't put anything in writing, that seems extremely odd? Did you write as suggested or is this a result of the social media contact?

Edited March 4 by Megabear2

[HMB1990]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Which room are they saying can be made into a queen? There may be pictures elsewhere you can look at.

 

Is this only Britannia, if so what are they doing with Iona booking?

The room I have been allocated is C539. It states no converting fixed twins. But they are saying they have spoken with the ship & have an image to confirm, this room can be made as a queen. 

 

The rooms I asked to be swapped to and am willing to pay extra if I have to were C316, C317 C323. Which do not state are fixed twins but they are telling me, they actually are. 

 

Iona they are saying are newer bigger rooms so they'll make it work ! 

 

Here's a link to a very helpful video from cruise mummy of what my room will look like. 

As you can see, this room is not suitable to be made into a queen bed as the wall hanging pullmans will then obstruct you getting out the sides of the bed.  

 

All i'm asking is for a queen bed, which is what I purchased. Pullmans will be fine if they go into the roof, apparently some rooms do this. 

 

Im now getting some line quoted ' maritime law requires the cruise line to allocated a full bed to infants regardless of whether they use it ' Im struggling to find out if this is true, Can anyone confirm ? 

 

I cant fathom why I cant just be in a normal 2 person room with a queen bed and put the cot at the bottom like in this video or in the indented wardrobe area. I know what their system has don't, but surely they can just override it to resolve the issue. 

 

[Winifred 22]

The Maritime law will be correct and no amount of discussion will allow that to be over ridden. For safety reason all persons regardless of age have to be allocated to a suitable cabin designated for that number of people. This is to do with life boat space allocation for one. As others have said the problem with Saver fares you don’t get to choose your exact requirements. You have to have what’s offered hence why people pay considerably more for the select option. 

[HMB1990]

22 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

The Maritime law will be correct and no amount of discussion will allow that to be over ridden. For safety reason all persons regardless of age have to be allocated to a suitable cabin designated for that number of people. This is to do with life boat space allocation for one. As others have said the problem with Saver fares you don’t get to choose your exact requirements. You have to have what’s offered hence why people pay considerably more for the select option. 

But it did allow me to choose my bed configuration. There are queen beds on this ship with roof pullmans. Which would be acceptable. There are also twin bed rooms that convert to queen with roof pullmans. Either of these types of rooms would work. There are also rooms on this ship with just 1 pullman. 

 

I would have purchased select plus if I couldn't get what I wanted, but I could. It is not may fault their system isn't working properly. Now I cant have the select plus as no rooms left to choose from. 

[Megabear2]

43 minutes ago, HMB1990 said:

The room I have been allocated is C539. It states no converting fixed twins. But they are saying they have spoken with the ship & have an image to confirm, this room can be made as a queen. 

 

The rooms I asked to be swapped to and am willing to pay extra if I have to were C316, C317 C323. Which do not state are fixed twins but they are telling me, they actually are. 

 

Iona they are saying are newer bigger rooms so they'll make it work ! 

 

Here's a link to a very helpful video from cruise mummy of what my room will look like. 

As you can see, this room is not suitable to be made into a queen bed as the wall hanging pullmans will then obstruct you getting out the sides of the bed.  

 

All i'm asking is for a queen bed, which is what I purchased. Pullmans will be fine if they go into the roof, apparently some rooms do this. 

 

Im now getting some line quoted ' maritime law requires the cruise line to allocated a full bed to infants regardless of whether they use it ' Im struggling to find out if this is true, Can anyone confirm ? 

 

I cant fathom why I cant just be in a normal 2 person room with a queen bed and put the cot at the bottom like in this video or in the indented wardrobe area. I know what their system has don't, but surely they can just override it to resolve the issue. 

 

The maritime law is correct - I've seen a similar discussion on a DIsney forum as well.

 

If P&O have stated the matter is closed then unfortunately you have little choice.  You booked a saver fare where nothing is guaranteed I'm afraid.

 

If they say it can be done I suppose you could ask for that in writing once more and sort it onboard.  If however you want certainty it would seem perhaps best to cancel and rebook while the OBC will cover your lost deposit.

 

Short of that I guess it's see what can be done onboard.  

 

I appreciate what you say about the bed configuration only it does say very clearly "preferred" and unfortunately that is not a part of your contract but simply as it says a preference. I'm sorry I cannot be more helpful but if it was Executive Office there is nowhere left to go I'm afraid as I doubt it's something ABTA would be interested in.

Edited March 4 by Megabear2