| Long planned cruise cancellation? Posted by bobm at 08:31, 12th October 2025 |     |
If the work had been scheduled sometime ago, why did they sell tickets but only cancel them now - albeit presumably a few days ago as one trip was due to leave last week?
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/25532750.p-o-cruises-iona-enters-planned-dry-dock-voyages-cancelled/
One of the UK's biggest cruise ships has entered long-planned dry dock with two sailings being cancelled.
P&O Cruises has confirmed that its flagship vessel, Iona, is undergoing her first drydocking in October, with two cruises cancelled as a result.
Entering service in 2021, Iona was originally due to go into dry dock in March 2025, but the schedule was changed due to shipyard availability constraints.
The affected sailings include a 14-night Canary Islands cruise which had been due to depart Southampton on October 4, and a 7-night Northern Europe voyage scheduled for October 18.
| Re: Long planned cruise cancellation? Posted by GBM at 08:45, 12th October 2025 | |
Ship repair yards are notorious for delayed arrival/departure dates.
They invariably all have financial hits for failing to make target dates.
Repair supplies for ships in drydock suffer the same shortage of available spare parts (bits needed for repair/replacement) as do builders/car garages/shops, etc.
It is a not uncommon occurrence for docking dates to be changed at short notice.
Hugely frustrating for passengers, that said.
| Re: Long planned cruise cancellation? Posted by grahame at 08:55, 12th October 2025 | |
If the work had been scheduled sometime ago, why did they sell tickets but only cancel them now - albeit presumably a few days ago as one trip was due to leave last week?
We are booked on Iona for May 2027. A long way ahead. There could be a clue in the information in the article that the refurb had been planned for March but postponed; we are not told when the new dates were set but they were probably after most cabins had been sold (what we wanted was full even in January 2027!).
Are you sure that the Swindon Advertiser's source is about a very recent decision? Might it be old news refreshed by people who should have been away this week, perhaps to celebrate his 65th or her 21st (for the 49th time) birthday? I also sometimes question travel agent rather than direct booking - there is scope for the extra intermediate agency to add complications, very much as we see with Trainline (for example) on rail.
Having appeared to defend P&O, though, I will admit to having fallen out of love with some elements of their customer service of late - "rules is rules" and an arrogance of not worrying too much about losing good customers. Ah, but then they have no problem generating enquires that complete through to bookings.
| Re: Long planned cruise cancellation? Posted by Mark A at 10:35, 12th October 2025 | |
One of the UK's biggest cruise ships has entered long-planned dry dock with two sailings being cancelled. **snip**
Hardly a UK ship, Swindon Advertiser, she was built in Germany and as of 2025 is registered in Bermuda.
I know this by chance, but, an unexpected fragment of P&O history to be found here: https://sobt.co.uk/shetland-textile-museum/
Mark
| Re: Long planned cruise cancellation? Posted by Clan Line at 11:40, 12th October 2025 | |
A "£100 per person in onboard credit for rebooking" (my highlighting)............not exactly generous ! If, for many reasons, you can't rebook with P & O (once bitten ??) - tough !!!
A friend of mine was on the Spirit of Discovery "incident". Her first comment was that the media reports were way over the top compared to what actually happened (not unusual). Within a few weeks she had received generous apologies from Saga and a 100% refund. In effect, she had a 14 day cruise instead of a 15 day one - for free. Counselling was offered to those who felt they needed it.
