P&O Not refunding

karyn01

Hi There

My parents, basically booked a cruise in the Carribean for Mums 80th Birthday.  They were due to leave in February 2020 after a consultation with my Mums doctor, as she is on medication that reduces her immune system the doctor wrote a letter to say that in her opinion she should not travel due to the virus.  They then cancelled the holiday due to the virus that was going around (on a previous cruise with the same company she contracted Norovirus and was very ill!) They had paid for the cruise in full, taken insurance out.

Since then I have been in contact with P&O Cruises, Soveriegn Cruises and the insurance company, all saying that the other should be refunding the monies back.  We seem just to be going around in circles.  I have also submitted all paperwork to the ombudsmen and apart from receiving a response to confirm they have the complaint we have heard nothing from them either.

My Parents paid over £4000 for this trip of a lifetime and I feel are being treated very unfairly.  They dont understand that they have done everything that was asked from them and still received no outcome. I was wondering if there is any help / assistance you can give.

bagand96

A bit more info needed... Who cancelled the holiday?

If your parents cancelled their booking, due to the letter from the doctor, then they should claim on Travel Insurance after getting a cancellation invoice from P&O/Sovereign.

If P&O cancelled the cruise, then your parents are entitled to a refund from P&O/Sovereign. 

mattyprice4004

The only time P&O or Soveriegn would be responsible is if they cancelled the cruise in full - if it left, regardless of reason then they do not have to refund.

eskbanker

Did the cruise go ahead - I vaguely recall early impact of Covid on far eastern cruises but don't remember the Caribbean being affected in February 2020?

Anyway, if the cruise was cancelled then the cruise operator should be refunding, but if the cruise went ahead but your parents didn't join it for medical reasons then it's their insurance company who should be picking up the tab, or is the story more complex and less binary than that?

mjm3346

As they decided not to go on the cruise (on medical advice) presumably that will be the insurance company and nothing to do with P&O/Sovereign if the cruise still ran - travel restrictions in Feb 2020 are unlikely to have stopped the cruise as I think China was the only place before March 2020 where we had them

Hasbeen

Sorry. They cancelled the cruise. No refund for deciding not to go / turn up. They are not being treated unfairly for their decision.

I assume they decided not to go because of the previous cruise norovirus and perhaps panicked a little bit?

It would be the insurance company and depends on what wording / policy they had at that time.