P&O Cruises has apologised to the trade following its decision to use a little-known carrier for some Caribbean fly-cruises as agents raise fears existing and future bookings will be lost.
Agents said the cruise line’s use of Maltese carrier Maleth Aero to supply charter aircraft for some direct flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Barbados and Antigua was causing problems because no premium seats or inflight entertainment were available and no full refunds offered.
P&O Cruises announced earlier this month it would use two wide-bodied Maleth Aero Airobus A330s to carry passengers to ships Britannia and Arvia from November 3 until March 23. The aircraft are being used in addition to Tui to fufil flights.
P&O Cruises, which said it was pleased to have secured the airline partnership “given the global aircraft and pilot scarcity”, responded to agent concerns raised by Travel Weekly. In a statement it said: “We apologise for any issues this is causing agents and would encourage them to contact our dedicated Travel Agent Partnership Helpdesk directly with any outstanding queries.”
P&O Cruises is refunding clients the cost of the upgrade to premium economy plus offering clients £75 onboard credit each as a goodwill gesture.
A spokeswoman also admitted only “some agents” were informed at the same time as customers about the decision, a move which has angered many agents. The line said it had listened to agent feedback and was taking the comments on board.
But agents insisted the issue remained unresolved with many bookings now hanging in the balance – and future cruise bookings also affected.
Travel consultant Malcolm Shearim, of Marken Travel, has 16 clients affected, 14 of whom have only so far paid the deposit.
He said: “All my customers are unhappy about it. None of them want travel with Maleth and they want to cancel, but P&O is refusing to refund deposits.
“We know nothing about this airline but it won’t be the same experience for clients.”
With balance due dates approaching, he added: “We can usually resolve problems but I think some clients will now cancel.
“There is a panic because we have not got long to sort this out. We’ve paid deposits to P&O so if clients cancel and pursue chargebacks, we [the agent] will end up out of pocket.”
He argued the cruise line’s terms and conditions stated it would offer refunds if the alternative offered was of lower value. “If it’s not a premium seat, that is lower value,” he said, adding that if the agent sourced separate flights these would be unbonded and not offer ship transfers.
Another agency, The Cruise Room, said the lack of premium seating was causing the most concern along with the fact clients could not cancel and receive a refund.
Director Robbie O’Grady said: “Some people have booked premium seats for a specific reason. We have guests who suffer from anxiety and booked the premium seat so they could sit a little away from other people in their own space. P&O’s response has been a flat ‘no’ to a refund.”
O’Grady said the agency has already had clients cancel and others who have decided not to go ahead with planned bookings.
“There is a knock on effect, it’s such a shame,” he said, adding: “We have had cancellations. We have a customer who despite having a premium seat on a Tui flight now don’t want to go because they don’t have faith in P&O. Another client on the verge of booking a P&O cruise with flights has now walked away from the booking.
“This situation is costing us time and money and we have got guests cancelling and talking about doing chargebacks which would cost us money.”
Other clients want to cancel but cannot afford to do so as their balance due dates are imminent and they face losing 50% of the holiday cost to cancel under the cruise line’s terms and conditions, said O’Grady.
He said the agency was sympathetic to the problem of sourcing aircraft but said the fact the agency had only been alerted to the issue by clients and not told directly by the cruise line had put the company “on the back foot”, adding: “It undermines the agent.”
More: Maltese carrier to run P&O Cruises Caribbean charter flights