? Cabin 10217 on Pacific Explorer.

[AdeleC]

Booked a twin Balcony cabin on this ship  and have been given this one. Says it has 1 single bed 1 Sofa bed 2 upper bunks. We are in mid 70s with back problems  ? This is not what was booked. What can we do?

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, AdeleC said:

Booked a twin Balcony cabin on this ship  and have been given this one. Says it has 1 single bed 1 Sofa bed 2 upper bunks. We are in mid 70s with back problems  ? This is not what was booked. What can we do?

If you didn't choose a specific cabin and booked with a cheaper guarantee option, they can give you any cabin in that balcony category or higher. It doesn't have to be a twin, and it can be located anywhere on the ship.

 

For now, ring P&O ASAP and explain your situation. For anything in the future, not just P&O, book a specific cabin to suit and elect not to get any complimentary upgrades. Not all location upgrades are in better locations.

[AdeleC]

I rang P&O said to contact agent. Which I have done not getting much joy. My receipt says twin balcony state cabin

[arxcards]

55 minutes ago, AdeleC said:

I rang P&O said to contact agent. Which I have done not getting much joy. My receipt says twin balcony state cabin

You have a BD category balcony cabin. There are approximately 60 of these cabins, of which 24 have 4 berths. Ideally, P&O would rather see 3 or 4 passengers in those cabins to maximise their capacity, but they will also assign them to solo or twin passengers. What P&O has done is certainly not ideal for most passengers, but it is normal and well within their booking terms.

 

Yes, if you booked through an agent it is for them to resolve and explain how your booking works. The cheapest fares are guarantee bookings, where you are getting a discounted deal for being flexible. I figure many agents will give you the cheapest option as the only option.

 

We are in our 50's and reasonably mobile, but still avoid guarantee bookings even if it costs us a few dollars. I would happily book a specific cabin nearby such as 10183, but not book anything that would randomly place me in any one of those 60 cabins. By booking a specific cabin and electing not to be upgraded we can choose:

how high or low on the ship we want to be, or whether forward or aft,

to be close to lifts,

to not have adjacent blocks of 4 berth cabins (noise),

to not have an interconnecting cabin (noise),

to have cabins above and below vs noise from activity in public areas,

either port or starboard to suit our view in/out of a certain port.

 

Good luck on getting this resolved in your favour.

Edited January 2 by arxcards

[Jean C]

Just FYI, I always check deck plan sites like CruiseMapper and Cruise Deck Plans and choose my own cabin. They include symbols on their plans showing the pairs of adjoining cabins and 3 or 4 bunk rooms - I avoid being next to those cabins just in case the occupants generate more noise than couples in twin rooms - no guarantees of course, couples can be pretty noisy as well 🥳

[ceeceeDee]

Adele, I would keep harassing your agent. I have a friend who is an ex-travel agent specialising in cruises and I know they have a few strings they can pull if they put their mind to it from what she has told me in the past.

[Jean C]

I'm on a research hunt. Pacific Explorer was previously Dawn Princess. Sea Princess is her sister ship. The cabins have a different numbering system, but 10217 on Pacific Explorer is B737 on Dawn Princess. Here is a photo I found of B737 on Sea Princess, showing the "sofa bed".

 

[arxcards]

35 minutes ago, Jean C said:

I'm on a research hunt. Pacific Explorer was previously Dawn Princess. Sea Princess is her sister ship. The cabins have a different numbering system, but 10217 on Pacific Explorer is B737 on Dawn Princess. Here is a photo I found of B737 on Sea Princess, showing the "sofa bed".

 

That info is also available on P&O's own Pacific Explorer deck plans. With only two in the cabin, the upper bunks will be folded back to the wall, but there is still no possibility of joining the lower beds

 

Main issue though, if you book a guarantee (no frills fare), you have very little say in which cabin you will get, and there are more restrictions around cancellation costs too. P&O has now got to the stage they would prefer to sell a large number of guarantee cabins, and it is up to us to choose otherwise.

 

This is a basic 3 night cruise to nowhere on Pacific Adventure. The lead-in "Go Fare" fare is $115pp cheaper, and who wouldn't want to pay $38 per night less when  .... "Our lowest fare for guests who know exactly when they want to cruise and are happy to let P&O choose a room on their behalf"

[ceeceeDee]

And also, of course, is the risk, however rare, of the cruise being overbooked and some passengers with guarantee cabins not being able to sail as happened recently with RCL out of Brisbane.

 

Yes, everyone likes to save money and we're no exception, but we do prefer to choose our cabin and factor that into our cruising budget. We tend to book early (up to 18 months ahead) and generally save money that way. Currently we saved in excess of $1,000 on our next cruise by booking early.

[resordanis]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

You have a BD category balcony cabin. There are approximately 60 of these cabins, of which 24 have 4 berths. Ideally, P&O would rather see 3 or 4 passengers in those cabins to maximise their capacity, but they will also assign them to solo or twin passengers. What P&O has done is certainly not ideal for most passengers, but it is normal and well within their booking terms.

 

Yes, if you booked through an agent it is for them to resolve and explain how your booking works. The cheapest fares are guarantee bookings, where you are getting a discounted deal for being flexible. I figure many agents will give you the cheapest option as the only option.

 

We are in our 50's and reasonably mobile, but still avoid guarantee bookings even if it costs us a few dollars. I would happily book a specific cabin nearby such as 10183, but not book anything that would randomly place me in any one of those 60 cabins. By booking a specific cabin and electing not to be upgraded we can choose:

how high or low on the ship we want to be, or whether forward or aft,

to be close to lifts,

to not have adjacent blocks of 4 berth cabins (noise),

to not have an interconnecting cabin (noise),

to have cabins above and below vs noise from activity in public areas,

either port or starboard to suit our view in/out of a certain port.

 

Good luck on getting this resolved in your favour.

Well said Geoff. We booked a DF category cabin guarantee on Majestic for a short cruise and there is not a day that I don’t regret that decision. Should always choose your own.

[AdeleC]

Thank you for all of your help. I did book this cruise a year in advance and the photo of their twin cabin was nothing like the 4.. Bad advertising No mention of not getting what was advertised.I would have been happy to pay extra if we had known this. I went on the Queen Elizabeth beginning of this year no problems.

[ceeceeDee]

Adele, I'm so sorry this has happened. Hopefully your travel agent will earn their commission and sort something out for you. As I said earlier, they usually have a few strings they can pull providing the cruise is not fully booked in which case you don't have any wiggle room.

 

Also, I'm very likely preaching to the choir, but don't expect a Cunard experience on P&O. Chalk and cheese springs to mind.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, AdeleC said:

Thank you for all of your help. I did book this cruise a year in advance and the photo of their twin cabin was nothing like the 4.. Bad advertising No mention of not getting what was advertised.I would have been happy to pay extra if we had known this. I went on the Queen Elizabeth beginning of this year no problems.

It is luck of the draw, although the Cunard deck isn't as heavily stacked. Cunard would handle guarantee bookings in the same way, except there are no 4 berth balcony cabins. An inside guarantee on Cunard could still offer up a cabin with 4 single beds in it.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, ceeceeDee said:

Adele, I'm so sorry this has happened. Hopefully your travel agent will earn their commission and sort something out for you. As I said earlier, they usually have a few strings they can pull providing the cruise is not fully booked in which case you don't have any wiggle room.

When it comes to guarantee bookings, the strings a T/A can pull are limited, and it also relies on a suitable vacant cabin being available. Even then, it all depends on how much leverage that T/A has.

[MicCanberra]

You could always ask for an upgrade to a suitable cabin, it may cost less than you think  and you will have peace of mind.

[fishtaco]

On 1/2/2024 at 9:36 AM, AdeleC said:

Booked a twin Balcony cabin on this ship  and have been given this one. Says it has 1 single bed 1 Sofa bed 2 upper bunks. We are in mid 70s with back problems  ? This is not what was booked. What can we do?

Are you sure you are checking the right deck plans? many agents are still using the old Princess deck plans as are many of the online deck plans , P&O Explorer 4 berth balconies are of 2 types,  foldable uppers that come out of the wall if needed and those that raise up from on top of lower bed , when in twin or queen the top bunks lower and  become top of the twin/queen configuration bed with no space underneath the bed in essence 2 beds on top of each other that look like standard Twin/Queen.

 

Tip when booking a P&O cruise call P&O direct first and ask for a cruise planner, they will let you choose your cabin at the Guarantee price.

Edited January 7 by fishtaco

[fishtaco]

 4 berth in 4 berth and 4 berth into queen. If you requested twin it could be the ones that come out of the wall but I also think that type is Inside cabin 4 berth. 

Edited January 7 by fishtaco

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, fishtaco said:

 4 berth in 4 berth and 4 berth into queen. If you requested twin it could be the ones that come out of the wall but I also think that type is Inside cabin 4 berth. 

There are 8 cabins that are different, 4 on deck 11, 4 on deck 10. When it was Dawn Princess, these 8 were the only 4 berth balcony cabins. P&O has retrofitted lots of 4 berth balconies in the version you have shown, but those 8 cabins can only be figured as single beds. A bed and a sofa bed at floor level, and 2 swing down bunks above.

 

10198, 10200, 10215, 10217, 11222, 11224, 11237, 11239 are the original type. Like this: Top bunks swing back to the wall if not required.

[arxcards]

Actually 10 on Explorer carried over from Dawn Princess - add 11192 & 11201.

[fishtaco]

20 hours ago, arxcards said:

There are 8 cabins that are different, 4 on deck 11, 4 on deck 10. When it was Dawn Princess, these 8 were the only 4 berth balcony cabins. P&O has retrofitted lots of 4 berth balconies in the version you have shown, but those 8 cabins can only be figured as single beds. A bed and a sofa bed at floor level, and 2 swing down bunks above.

 

10198, 10200, 10215, 10217, 11222, 11224, 11237, 11239 are the original type. Like this: Top bunks swing back to the wall if not required.

The sofa bed doesn't look too bad if a cheap Twin was booked! We would have this cabin no problems, looks better set out room wise than having the usual  twin beds at 90 Degrees to this I presume the cabin is too narrow to have the beds the other way?  My Cruise advise is  Twin Queen with pop up bunks, and we requested  Queen. we did book late on a very popular Bali cruise Fremantle to Fremantle. Nice find by the way!