Itinerary change

[bassman67]

I've just received a letter from P&O telling me that the itinerary of my 2017 cruise has been radically changed "for security reasons". The call to Kusadasi has been deleted, as Turkey is seen to be a security risk, but one of the substitute destinations is Sarande in Albania, land of gun-toting extremists! The call at the island of Santorini has also gone(without mention), presumably because of possible volcanic action, as it is a Greek, not Turkish island! All-in-all, the changes have totally changed the appeal of this cruise to us, as we were looking forward to both of these destinations. The alternative ports of call hold far less attraction. The main reason for booking this cruise was the visits to ports in the Aegean and now they're gone. This is reminiscent of 2002 when our cruise to the Aegean with RCL was cancelled due to unrest in Iraq. Again, the nearest port to Iraq on that cruise was Kusadasi, so there would have been 1000 miles and 1 million Turkish troops between us and the Iraq border.
What annoys me most is the P&O attitude. We can't even cancel without losing our deposit.

[Onelife]

I've just received a letter from P&O telling me that the itinerary of my 2017 cruise has been radically changed "for security reasons". The call to Kusadasi has been deleted, as Turkey is seen to be a security risk, but one of the substitute destinations is Sarande in Albania, land of gun-toting extremists! The call at the island of Santorini has also gone(without mention), presumably because of possible volcanic action, as it is a Greek, not Turkish island! All-in-all, the changes have totally changed the appeal of this cruise to us, as we were looking forward to both of these destinations. The alternative ports of call hold far less attraction. The main reason for booking this cruise was the visits to ports in the Aegean and now they're gone. This is reminiscent of 2002 when our cruise to the Aegean with RCL was cancelled due to unrest in Iraq. Again, the nearest port to Iraq on that cruise was Kusadasi, so there would have been 1000 miles and 1 million Turkish troops between us and the Iraq border.
What annoys me most is the P&O attitude. We can't even cancel without losing our deposit.

Changes before departure

If changes to your itinerary are made before departure then regulation 12 and 13 of the Package Travel Regulations should apply.

If the changes are significant and you're no longer happy with your cruise - for example you're booked on a Mediterranean cruise and it can no longer travel around the Mediterranean - you have three options.

You can either:

Request a refund
Request a substitute package of equal or greater value
Request a substitute package of lower value with a price adjustment
Depending on the circumstances of the changes you may also be able to claim compensation


Hi Bassan. ..well you're certainly not happy with the change of itinerary but whether one destination change is enough to implement any of the above l'm not sure.

Regards

OL

[Manoverboard]

Refunds are out, we invoked clause 40 in 2013 because the whole of the Argentine was removed and we were successful. Changes in and around the Med will not count as a ' failure ' on their part.

As for P&O .... they took our very sizable final payment and only then did they tell us that 5 ports were being removed, they already knew it was going to happen. Best of all they added one Port in Brazil but ' it ' was high risk re Yellow Fever !!!

Albania is safe and well worth a visit, Santorini and Mykonos however were infected areas due to poor sanitation during the summer of 2016.

Either way it is always a disappointment when itineraries are changed.

[Meg 50]

I've just received a letter from P&O telling me that the itinerary of my 2017 cruise has been radically changed "for security reasons". The call to Kusadasi has been deleted, as Turkey is seen to be a security risk, but one of the substitute destinations is Sarande in Albania, land of gun-toting extremists! The call at the island of Santorini has also gone(without mention), presumably because of possible volcanic action, as it is a Greek, not Turkish island! All-in-all, the changes have totally changed the appeal of this cruise to us, as we were looking forward to both of these destinations. The alternative ports of call hold far less attraction. The main reason for booking this cruise was the visits to ports in the Aegean and now they're gone. This is reminiscent of 2002 when our cruise to the Aegean with RCL was cancelled due to unrest in Iraq. Again, the nearest port to Iraq on that cruise was Kusadasi, so there would have been 1000 miles and 1 million Turkish troops between us and the Iraq border.
What annoys me most is the P&O attitude. We can't even cancel without losing our deposit.

when is your cruise?

we have a similar itinerary in 2017....

[david63]

we have a similar itinerary in 2017....

... or at least you thought you had

[wolfie]

Itineraries can be changed for many reasons, AND, any cruise line has it covered in their T&C's. Only if it is not covered in their T&C's can you cancel, and I believe that a change of port of call, is one, for whatever reason they give, and, one change of port of call is hardly significant- it has happened to us many times, sometimes when on board and with no prior notice! That's the risk you take when cruising. You could even MISS some ports of call that you were due to visit and that too is not covered; we have missed some never to be visited again ports of call, it happens!!!

Just enjoy the fact that you CAN cruise, wherever you end up.

[bassman67]

This was the response from P&O


Thank you for your email.

I appreciate your disappointment due to the itinerary changes you have been advised of.

We have taken the decision due to safety and security concerns and following advice provided by the Foreign Commonwealth Office. Other Carnival operating lines have also made this decision.

In order to ensure we continue to offer a cruise full of interesting and exciting ports of call and to ensure the safety of all our guests whilst on board, we took the decision to removed ports of call in Turkey and due to the logistical position of Santorini, that port has had to be removed as well.

In light of the changes that have affected your cruise, I would like to offer you a free of charge transfer to another cruise in accordance with our transfer terms and conditions.

TRANSFER T&C’s
Requirements to transfer your booking:
· We will only allow a booking to be transferred once
· The new booking must be of a higher value (before fuel surcharges)
· Bookings must be outside of balance due period - 90 days prior to departure.
· The new booking must sail within - 6 months of the original sailing date for full world cruises including liners and sectors, 12 months of the original departure date for all other cruises.
· The transfer is subject to any additional payment to reflect the new deposit amount.
· Any discount or promotion applicable to the original booking may not apply to the new booking, in which case the passenger shall be required to pay any difference in price.
· Bookings after the balance due date: Transfers are not permitted and the booking will be cancelled at the appropriate cancellation charges as per section 38 of our booking conditions.

If you do wish to transfer your cruise, you can do this by calling our Customer Contact Centre on 0843 374 0111.

Once again I apologise for any disappointment and inconvenience this has caused you and look forward to welcoming you on board in the near future.


Customer Services
P&O Cruises

We've decided to stick with this cruise as all the other alternatives go to ports we've visited at least twice before.

Meg, this is E710C on Oceana

[Meg 50]

Meg, this is E710C on Oceana

we are due to do Kusadasi, but not Santorini, and a couple of months after yours...

thanks - I'll look out for the postman.

[Meg 50]

Have just checked the personaliser - ours is changed too.

Don't mind the additions too much, but a bit peeved at one place dropped- have PM'd Bassman.

Yet to hear officially

[Meg 50]

we didn't hear officially cos our letter got lost in the post!

I have just instructed the agent to cancel our cruise and move it forward a week - same ports, different order. Mainly caused because once we'd booked the first one, our niece announced her wedding date - 17 hours after we land in Gatwick and at the other end of the country....

so in view of a free transfer - no deposit loss, no admin fee AND considerable increase in OBC we've bitten the now smallish net increase in price. a cabin a couple of doors away from the original (unless cancelling frees up that one ).

It's worth it to avoid the logistical nightmare on our return