P&O have refused embarkation onto booked cruise from Southampton

born_again

DoaM said:

Section 75 ... claim a full refund due to P&O's breach of contract. (Assuming that they have ... you have checked the T&Cs per my earlier reply, yes?)

Could be fun. As they have offered a 40% refund and then the rest on file, so in effect Op is getting the full amount back. I know it's a bit of a play, but that is how a CC would look at it.
I guess P&O are covering themselves here as not wanting to have one of their ships locked in dock while all passengers are quarantined for 14 days.

Travel is so fluid at the moment and no one really knows just how the advise on corona virus is going to change.
I think it is possible that the OP's trip to Japan could be ruled out if Corona virus continues to get worse there. All they can hope is that Travel advise is updated to not to travel. 

Just hope given the OP's ages that they have travel insurance in place already.

DoaM

Unfortunately P&O haven't given a refund, regardless of how you play it ... OP didn't pay by that method therefore why should P&O be allowed to refund by that method? In fact, OP would accept that method if P&O would allow the credit to be used against a further cruise that OP has already booked, but P&O are refusing to do so - they want to have their cake and eat it. So OP may wish to take the nuclear approach with them.

bully1950

I have not broken any part of the contract. I have thought of going to the small claims court. Today I compiled a letter to the Chief Executive of P&O in hope that he will resolve my complaint. The trouble with P&O once they have your money they are reluctant to give it you back. MSC cruise line services are are second to none.

gettingtheresometime

bully1950 said:

I have not broken any part of the contract. I have thought of going to the small claims court. Today I compiled a letter to the Chief Executive of P&O in hope that he will resolve my complaint. The trouble with P&O once they have your money they are reluctant to give it you back. MSC cruise line services are are second to none.

If you have a fb account or someone you know does, P&O are posting on their page about the plans being put in place on there.

a little public shaming might help?

kazzah

I would go down the county court route- we had a dreadful experience on a cruise where we specifically asked for double beds for me and hubby and our son in a different cabin as a solo traveller paid the same price as hubby and I did - only to board the ship to discover that the cabins were old and could only have single beds with no option to turn into doubles- despite me sending emails requesting double beds only and specifying that in recorded phone calls the travel agent would not budge and even make an offer of goodwill -
so I simply sent a letter before action - got nothing back,  so I sen the court proceedings via the online service
within 2 days of them receiving the court paperwork they offered the amount I had requested ( which wasn't the whole cruise value even though my son had a very uncomfortable week in a tiny single bed !) and settled the next day -

it;s amazing how these companies think people won't go through with their threat of action - I wouldn't hesitate to do the same again if it should be necessary

Manxman_in_exile

bully1950 said:

I have not broken any part of the contract. I have thought of going to the small claims court. Today I compiled a letter to the Chief Executive of P&O in hope that he will resolve my complaint. The trouble with P&O once they have your money they are reluctant to give it you back. MSC cruise line services are are second to none.

Make sure you emphasise (1) that it is they and not you who are breaking the contract* by not allowing you to embark, (2) that they are only refunding you 40% of the cost, with 60% held in "credit", and (3) that they are unreasonably refusing to allow you to use the 60% "credit" to set off against the cost of the second cruise you already have booked.

Make sure you know what sort of resolution you want and ask for it.  So do you want the full 100% cost refunded to you or would you prefer to have some (or all) of it paid towards the second cruise?

I agree with DoaM that the refund should be via the same method you originally paid by.

As also suggested above you could consider "shaming" on social media.

Good luck!

* I presume as mentioned upthread that their T&Cs don't allow them to do this?

bully1950

We are not on face book our any other social media unfortunately or I would do my utmost to shame them.
I would warn any customer of P&O To be wary of this company.

davidmcn

bully1950 said:

We are not on face book our any other social media unfortunately

Well, why not sign up? It's no more complex than using this forum. 

gettingtheresometime

bully1950 said:

We are not on face book our any other social media unfortunately or I would do my utmost to shame them.
I would warn any customer of P&O To be wary of this company.

In fairness to P&O we were notified of a delayed departure (due to weather) & told to have lunch on them (they were giving us a £30 pp credit).
Due to circumstances, our departure was delayed until the next day  that & all our overnight hotel bills were met as well as being refunded 50% pp of the cruise. all that we missed was a day at sea, so we were well happy.

JReacher1

I would be tempted to cancel the Japanese holiday and do the cruise instead. Although I would also be wary of doing the cruise as if one person on that ship becomes sick then you’re stuck on there for a long time!