Cancelling a cruise

Topics that are specific to cruising

Topic author
CaroleF
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1857
Joined: January 2013
Location: Hampshire

Cancelling a cruise

#1

Post by CaroleF »

I have just started looking at the cruise bookings John and I already had in place. There are two P&O cruises, Arcadia to the Fjords, 12 nights in July this year and again Arcadia 16 nights to the Canaries in March/April next year. However, we also had a booking with Saga on their Spirit of Discovery in May this year. So I decided to start by ringing Saga. As this was a booking that had been transferred from a previous cruise that didn't go the majority of the money had already been paid so just had about £1k left to pay. We had really hoped that the Saga ship would give us some of the things we enjoyed about P&O's smaller ships. We had splashed out and booked a suite so the amount of money paid was quite a bit.
Anyway I phoned Saga this morning and didn't have to wait long to get through to the right department.
The man who answered my call couldn't have been kinder. He expressed condolences - and I've found over telephone calls I've had to make to various companies, this doesn't always happen - and then said I could either cancel straight away or could have Saga hold the booking for up to 2 years without deciding on a specific cruise. As of now I don't know how I'm going to feel about cruising - assuming we get back to something like normal, I decided to say I'd cancel now. We did take out the Saga insurance which was offered when we booked and I was told they didn't need any certificates but just a letter confirming that I wanted to cancel and why. The agent told me he had started the process of cancellation and that I would get back all the money paid. The whole process couldn't have been easier. I haven't contacted P&O yet but is it possible they will react in the same way? I hope so.

Carole

User avatar

Stephen
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 15925
Joined: January 2013
Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#2

Post by Stephen »

Well done Saga. The last thing you need Carole is any stress and agro from companies.

Let’s hope P&O are as compassionate. No reason why they shouldn’t be if they want to attract any future custom.

Stay positive Carole, and most importantly stay safe :thumbup:

User avatar

david63
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9392
Joined: January 2012
Location: Lancashire

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#3

Post by david63 »

Difficult to say how P&O will respond at the moment.

From what I can recall in the past it has been a reference to their T&Cs and to claim off your travel insurance.


Whynd1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1832
Joined: February 2013
Location: Gower, Swansea

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#4

Post by Whynd1 »

There was an article in the money section of the Daily Telegraph recently about how some companies especially banks have actually reduced their bereavement teams during the pandemic.
So pleased Saga were so helpful to you Carol.

Lindsey

User avatar

Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#5

Post by Manoverboard »

A thumbs up for Saga but I rather suspect their response was in part due to you having their Travel Insurance.
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

User avatar

towny44
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 8946
Joined: January 2013
Location: Huddersfield

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#6

Post by towny44 »

Manoverboard wrote: 11 Jan 2021, 13:57
A thumbs up for Saga but I rather suspect their response was in part due to you having their Travel Insurance.
I tend to agree with you Moby and, while I hope P&O will be sympathetic, I think they will suggest that Carole's first port of call should be her insurance company.
Last edited by towny44 on 11 Jan 2021, 15:34, edited 1 time in total.
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

User avatar

Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#7

Post by Manoverboard »

towny44 wrote: 11 Jan 2021, 15:34
Manoverboard wrote: 11 Jan 2021, 13:57
A thumbs up for Saga but I rather suspect their response was in part due to you having their Travel Insurance.
I tend to agree with you Moby and, while I hope P&O will be sympathetic, I think they will suggest that Carole's first port of call should be her insurance company.
Let us hope that the Saga Policy covers the other cruises also ... I personally believe that P&O may offer the cabin booked for two as sole occupancy without extra cost at best.
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being


macca1914
Cadet
Cadet
Posts: 32
Joined: January 2021

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#8

Post by macca1914 »

I've been in discussions with P&O about our cruise in July and the added expense for shore excursions. We are a party of four with two girls aged 17. So the reason to have to use a vetted company for a shore excursion or you cannot leave the ship. I explained to P&O that I fully agree with the Covid precautions, but asking families to pay for shore excursions they had not planned, is a greatly added expense. Something we cannot afford. I've booked a cruise in October now my wife and I but not with P&O. I think they should have subsidised this a bit more in some form of package for shore excursions, which may have stopped people cancelling all together.

Let's hope everything get back to normal sooner rather than later. However cancelling cruises will be a common theme I think.

User avatar

barney
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 5607
Joined: March 2013
Location: Instow Devon

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#9

Post by barney »

macca1914 wrote: 30 Jan 2021, 07:10
I've been in discussions with P&O about our cruise in July and the added expense for shore excursions. We are a party of four with two girls aged 17. So the reason to have to use a vetted company for a shore excursion or you cannot leave the ship. I explained to P&O that I fully agree with the Covid precautions, but asking families to pay for shore excursions they had not planned, is a greatly added expense. Something we cannot afford. I've booked a cruise in October now my wife and I but not with P&O. I think they should have subsidised this a bit more in some form of package for shore excursions, which may have stopped people cancelling all together.

Let's hope everything get back to normal sooner rather than later. However cancelling cruises will be a common theme I think.
Don’t blame you macca.
I’d be feeling the same about excursions which is why I flipped ours to 2022.
We will be holidaying in the U.K. this year.
I do the odd P&O excursion but wouldn’t like to think we can’t get off without it.
If it’s the same in 22, we won’t bother at all and just stay in the U.K..
We have friends with a holiday cottage complex in North Devon and they are fully booked from June until October. Let’s hope that they can open.
Empty vessels .. and all that

User avatar

GillD46
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3364
Joined: January 2013
Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#10

Post by GillD46 »

So glad Saga were understanding Carole.Hoping P&O are equally sympathetic.
Gill


LadyPCruiser
Third Officer
Third Officer
Posts: 136
Joined: September 2017
Location: Cardiff

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#11

Post by LadyPCruiser »

Thought it would be quicker to see if anyone on this forum knows the answer than try to get through to p and o...we have a cruise booked for September which is fully paid for in FCC - if p and o cancel the cruise would we get our FCC enhanced again or would we get the original FCC amount?

User avatar

towny44
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 8946
Joined: January 2013
Location: Huddersfield

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#12

Post by towny44 »

LadyPCruiser wrote: 06 Feb 2021, 13:31
Thought it would be quicker to see if anyone on this forum knows the answer than try to get through to p and o...we have a cruise booked for September which is fully paid for in FCC - if p and o cancel the cruise would we get our FCC enhanced again or would we get the original FCC amount?
If you request a refund you will only receive the original money you paid to P&O, I am not certain about reusing it for a new booking but I would expect it would only be for the current value as displayed on your booking confirmation.
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

User avatar

david63
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9392
Joined: January 2012
Location: Lancashire

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#13

Post by david63 »

LadyPCruiser wrote: 06 Feb 2021, 13:31
Thought it would be quicker to see if anyone on this forum knows the answer than try to get through to p and o...we have a cruise booked for September which is fully paid for in FCC - if p and o cancel the cruise would we get our FCC enhanced again or would we get the original FCC amount?
I doubt that if you phoned P&O you would get a definitive answer to that and, in fairness, a lot will depend on what is in place at that time. I suspect that at this point P&O are probably hoping that cruising will have restarted so cancellation from their end will not be an option.

As towny says if you want a refund then I would only expect the initial amount that was paid to be refunded. Moving it to another cruise I would expect the FCC. If P&O do cancel then I would only expect the FCC to be held for a future booking.

Start with minimum expectations then you will not be disappointed.

User avatar

Kendhni
Ex Team Member
Posts: 6520
Joined: January 2013

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#14

Post by Kendhni »

LadyPCruiser wrote: 06 Feb 2021, 13:31
Thought it would be quicker to see if anyone on this forum knows the answer than try to get through to p and o...we have a cruise booked for September which is fully paid for in FCC - if p and o cancel the cruise would we get our FCC enhanced again or would we get the original FCC amount?
In our case we just got the original enhanced FCC put back into FCC, no additional FCC. We have already applied it to one of our 2022 bookings.
Last edited by Kendhni on 06 Feb 2021, 21:34, edited 1 time in total.


LadyPCruiser
Third Officer
Third Officer
Posts: 136
Joined: September 2017
Location: Cardiff

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#15

Post by LadyPCruiser »

Thank you all for answering the question - we were booked to go on the 30 night USA and Canada on September- in fairness p and o have already given us advanced warning that it may be cancelled due to Canadian restrictions


Quizzical Bob
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3951
Joined: January 2013

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#16

Post by Quizzical Bob »

LadyPCruiser wrote: 07 Feb 2021, 11:48
Thank you all for answering the question - we were booked to go on the 30 night USA and Canada on September- in fairness p and o have already given us advanced warning that it may be cancelled due to Canadian restrictions
Yes, Canada has banned cruise ships until the end of February 2022.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

Let’s hope there’s somewhere left to go later this year.

User avatar

barney
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 5607
Joined: March 2013
Location: Instow Devon

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#17

Post by barney »

Quizzical Bob wrote: 07 Feb 2021, 16:26
LadyPCruiser wrote: 07 Feb 2021, 11:48
Thank you all for answering the question - we were booked to go on the 30 night USA and Canada on September- in fairness p and o have already given us advanced warning that it may be cancelled due to Canadian restrictions
Yes, Canada has banned cruise ships until the end of February 2022.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

Let’s hope there’s somewhere left to go later this year.
Just my opinion QB but I really can’t see much in the way of cruising during 21 .
Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong as like most, I’m pretty keen to get back on board.
Empty vessels .. and all that


Quizzical Bob
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3951
Joined: January 2013

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#18

Post by Quizzical Bob »

barney wrote: 08 Feb 2021, 16:28
Quizzical Bob wrote: 07 Feb 2021, 16:26
LadyPCruiser wrote: 07 Feb 2021, 11:48
Thank you all for answering the question - we were booked to go on the 30 night USA and Canada on September- in fairness p and o have already given us advanced warning that it may be cancelled due to Canadian restrictions
Yes, Canada has banned cruise ships until the end of February 2022.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html

Let’s hope there’s somewhere left to go later this year.
Just my opinion QB but I really can’t see much in the way of cruising during 21 .
Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong as like most, I’m pretty keen to get back on board.
It wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case. We are booked on a Princess cruise to Spitsbergen which we paid for with credits from a similar cruise in June 2020 which was cancelled and itself was paid for with credits from a curtailed cruise in Australia in February last year.

That now looks doubtful so we were looking at alternatives one of which was a transatlantic to America and Canada in September this year. Oops.

The thing to watch out for is the expiry date of any credits they deign to give you.


LadyPCruiser
Third Officer
Third Officer
Posts: 136
Joined: September 2017
Location: Cardiff

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#19

Post by LadyPCruiser »

Better check this out - I didn’t realise there was an expiry date 😱


Topic author
CaroleF
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1857
Joined: January 2013
Location: Hampshire

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#20

Post by CaroleF »

I had the refund from our Saga Cruise. They refunded it without notifying me and unfortunately put it back on John's Credit Card which I don't have access to. That account has now been frozen but luckily my daughter was able to speak to Santander and as the amount was below whatever their limit is they are refunding it to Kate. She had to give them the number on the death certificate but that's all they needed. Today I phoned Bolsover about the two P&O cruises we had booked, one in July this year and the other in March/April next year, both on Arcadia. I was told that in these circumstances where a bereavement was involved it was P&O policy to automatically refund any deposit paid. So that was welcome news. I did ask which card had been used to pay the deposits and both were John's so the Bolsover agent is going to tell P&O not to try to put the money on that card and they will probably have to contact me in order for me to give them an alternative account.
It does take a long time to wade through all the different things one has to do. I would ceretainly recommend that people make sure their other half know all the accounts, savings details etc and that they are in joint names otherwise it can make things very difficult. There are only a couple of things that were solely in John's name and will have to wait for Probate so that's made things a bit easier.

Carole

User avatar

towny44
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 8946
Joined: January 2013
Location: Huddersfield

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#21

Post by towny44 »

Carole, hope you don't mind me asking, but did you have a subsidiary credit card in your name but linked to John's card. I just wondered how these were handled, and whether the subsidiary card holder could still access and deal with this card until it could be closed without outstanding problems?
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

User avatar

Jan Rosser
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 2406
Joined: January 2013
Location: South Wales

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#22

Post by Jan Rosser »

towny44 wrote: 15 Feb 2021, 22:51
Carole, hope you don't mind me asking, but did you have a subsidiary credit card in your name but linked to John's card. I just wondered how these were handled, and whether the subsidiary card holder could still access and deal with this card until it could be closed without outstanding problems?
Hope you don’t mind me butting in John but after my husband passed away I had no problems with the current account as it was in joint names but I had to open a credit card in my own name as I was the subsidiary card holder. I remember paying the balance on the credit card and the bank then closed the account and I opened a new account in my sole name. This all happened 14 years ago and things might have changed of course.
Janis

User avatar

towny44
Deputy Captain
Deputy Captain
Posts: 8946
Joined: January 2013
Location: Huddersfield

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#23

Post by towny44 »

Jan Rosser wrote: 15 Feb 2021, 23:39
towny44 wrote: 15 Feb 2021, 22:51
Carole, hope you don't mind me asking, but did you have a subsidiary credit card in your name but linked to John's card. I just wondered how these were handled, and whether the subsidiary card holder could still access and deal with this card until it could be closed without outstanding problems?
Hope you don’t mind me butting in John but after my husband passed away I had no problems with the current account as it was in joint names but I had to open a credit card in my own name as I was the subsidiary card holder. I remember paying the balance on the credit card and the bank then closed the account and I opened a new account in my sole name. This all happened 14 years ago and things might have changed of course.
Thanks for that info Jan, its what I expected would be the case, Pauline and I both have CCs in our own names but with the other holding a subsidiary card, and our bank account always has been a joint one. So that should help simplify some things when the time comes.
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000


Topic author
CaroleF
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1857
Joined: January 2013
Location: Hampshire

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#24

Post by CaroleF »

As the Santander card I held was only a subsidiary card on John's account they would never deal with me. Previously a year or so ago there was a problem with my card and I phoned them but they wouldn't speak to me, only to John. If I'd had an account of my own it would have been fine but I didn't. John also had a current account with Santander which paid the balance of the credit card each month and money went from his Lloyds account into the Santander account again each month. So that complicated matters. Luckily the Lloyds account was a joint one so I could access that. Eventually my daughters and I decided just to cancel the Santander accounts, current and credit. Luckily Santander agreed that as the amount concerned wasn't large they would transfer it. As my daughter Kate was the one who dealt with Santander they are transferring the money into her account, seems odd but she was the one who gave information re the Death Certificate etc. Hopefully Santander is sorted out now. Some firms are very understanding and helpful - LV for one, others seem to take ages - Prudential life Assurance for example.

These things do take a lot of time. I would have found it even more difficult to cope with if it weren't for my two daughters.

Carole


Topic author
CaroleF
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1857
Joined: January 2013
Location: Hampshire

Re: Cancelling a cruise

#25

Post by CaroleF »

Just had a call from Bolsover to say that P&O would be sending me cheques for the two deposits so that's reassuring that there's no hassle in recovering a paid deposit in such circumstances.

Carole

Return to “Cruise Specific Discussion”