P&O Cruises Upgrade Programme - Official Terms & Conditions
These terms govern P&O upgrade, the cabin bidding upgrade programme (the “Programme”) which is available on certain cruises operated by Carnival Plc trading as P&O Cruises (“P&O”).
In these terms, when we refer to "we", "us" or "our", we mean P&O. When we refer to "you" or "your" we mean you, the person who is an eligible passenger using the programme. “Your cruise” means the cruise element of the holiday you have booked with us. “Your cabin” means the individual cabin you selected when booking your cruise or that we first allocated to you.
If you are an eligible passenger and choose to take part in the programme, these terms will apply to you.
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1. About the programme
1.1. The programme allows you to submit an offer to upgrade your cabin to a higher grade of cabin on your cruise. Information about the cabin grade(s) we use can be found here.
1.2. We cannot confirm in advance which individual cabins will be offered for upgrades through the programme. Any upgraded cabin will always be a higher cabin grade than your cabin but may have different features and be in a different location onboard.
IMPORTANT: We will automatically allocate you an upgraded cabin if your upgrade offer is accepted. You may not reject the upgraded cabin we allocate to you and revert to your cabin once your upgrade offer is accepted. The programme may not be suitable for you if you have booked your cabin because it has certain features or is in a particular location onboard.
1.3. Upgrade offers are legally binding offers from you to pay us the amount you select when making an upgrade offer. When you make an upgrade offer you are agreeing to pay us this amount if your offer is accepted.
1.4. If we do not accept your upgrade offer it will be considered unsuccessful and you will not be required to make any further payments to us.
1.5. The programme is optional. You do not have to submit an upgrade offer but if you do we do not guarantee it will be accepted. The choice to accept an upgrade offer is ours alone and only we will decide which cabins are allocated as upgrades through the programme.
1.6. Upgrade offers are payable on a per-person basis for each person sharing your cabin. If it is accepted, the cost of your upgrade offer is payable in addition to the price of your cruise.
2. Who can take part
2.1. The programme is only available on some cruises to passengers who we have selected to participate, called “eligible passengers”. You must be aged 18 or over to be an eligible passenger and the balance of the price of your cruise must be fully paid.
2.2. Only one person associated with your booking can submit an upgrade offer for your cabin. You can make as many upgrade offers for higher cabin grades as you wish but we will only accept one upgrade offer for your cabin.
2.3. If you have booked multiple cabins on your cruise, any upgrade offer you make will not apply automatically to all cabins associated with your booking. Individual upgrade offers must be submitted for each cabin booked. You must the full authority and permission of all passengers associated with your booking if you submit an upgrade offer on their behalf.
3. How to take part
3.1. If you have not opted out of receiving pre-cruise information from us, we will email you directly with details on how to take part in the programme.
3.2. To submit an upgrade offer you must visit our dedicated programme website which can be accessed via the link in the email inviting you to take part in the programme. This is called the “offer site”. You must enter the booking reference associated with your cruise and your name to enter the offer site.
3.3. The list of cabin grades available for upgrade offers will be shown on the offer site. These are unique to you and may not appear for other passengers. You must follow all directions shown on the offer site to submit an upgrade offer.
4. Upgrade offers
4.1. “Upgrade offers” are the amount that you and all other passengers sharing your cabin are willing to pay to upgrade your cabin to a higher cabin grade.
4.2. All upgrade offers you submit are private and are not visible to other passengers. Only we will be aware of the value of any upgrade offer(s) you submit.
4.3. To submit an upgrade offer you must visit the offer site and enter the amount that you and all other passengers sharing your cabin are willing to pay to upgrade your cabin.
4.4. Upgrade offers are legally binding offers from you to pay us the amount you choose when making your offer. When you make an upgrade offer you agree to pay us the amount you select if your upgrade offer is accepted.
4.5. The lowest upgrade offer you can submit for any grade of cabin will be shown on the offer site. Upgrade offers cannot be lower than the minimum offer amount shown.
4.6. Upgrade offers are calculated on a minimum double occupancy basis. If you are a single occupant in your cabin, any upgrade offer you make will automatically be doubled by the offer site. You will be shown the final total amount on the offer site before you submit your upgrade offer.
4.7. If you booked your cruise in connection with a promotion that entitled you to certain benefits or onboard credit linked to a particular grade of cabin, then those benefits or onboard credit will remain associated with the grade of cabin selected at the time of booking. They will not be increased to reflect any upgrade you might obtain through the programme.
4.8. Upgrade offers must be submitted in whole denominations and paid for in the same currency you used when booking your cruise.
4.9. You must submit a valid credit card number when prompted by the offer site to make an upgrade offer. These credit card details are required to validate your upgrade offer and will not be stored or retained by us once your upgrade offer is submitted. We will not automatically collect payment using these credit card details if your upgrade offer is accepted – you must still contact us to arrange payment in accordance with these terms.
4.10. You may change, alter or withdraw your upgrade offer by following the directions on the offer site before the final offer date provided it has not already been accepted by us.
5. Offer period and availability
5.1. The period in which you can submit an upgrade offer is called the “offer period”. The offer period starts eighty (80) days before the advertised departure for your cruise.
5.2. The “final offer date” is the day seven (7) days before your cruise’s advertised departure date. The offer period ends on the final offer date.
5.3. Only we will select the participating cruises and cabin grades available for upgrade offers through the programme. The programme is not available on all cruises we operate. The selection of cabins available for upgrades through the programme will be based on the availability of cabins onboard from time-to-time and may change during the offer period.
5.4. Not all grades of cabin we provide on our ships may be available for upgrade offers on each cruise, regardless of their availability.
5.5. We will continue to publicly sell cabins in the cabin grades which are available for upgrade offers during the offer period. Submitting an upgrade offer does not guarantee you an upgraded cabin until your upgrade offer is accepted by us. We do not guarantee that any cabins in cabin grades shown as available for upgrade offers will still be available by the final offer date.
6. Acceptance of your upgrade offer
6.1. If your upgrade offer is accepted, we will reassign your cabin to an upgraded cabin within the applicable cabin grade. This is called your upgraded cabin. We will then send you a new booking confirmation email with details of your upgraded cabin and a statement of all amounts you must pay to us.
6.2. Your upgrade offer is only accepted when we notify you by email that it has been accepted. Once your upgrade offer is accepted, you must pay us all amounts associated with your upgrade offer in accordance with these terms.
6.3. There is no agreement between you and us to provide you with an upgraded cabin until your upgrade offer is accepted and you have paid all amounts associated with that offer. We are not required to provide you with an upgraded cabin until this payment has been received by us, in full.
6.4. If we do not inform you that your upgrade offer has been accepted, you will not be entitled to an upgraded cabin. In this case you are not required to make any further payment and you will continue to travel in your cabin.
6.5. Once paid for, upgrade offers are non-refundable, unless permitted by these terms.
6.6. Our acceptance of your upgrade offer will be automatically withdrawn if you do not pay us all amounts associated with your upgrade offer when required by these terms. If this should happen, you will be assigned a new cabin in the same grade as your cabin and will not be permitted to travel in the upgraded cabin.
6.7. In most circumstances we will accept the highest value upgrade offer(s) for the corresponding cabin grades. The criteria and processes we use for accepting upgrade offers are confidential to protect our legitimate business interests. The acceptance of upgrade offers and allocation of upgraded cabins will always be at our sole discretion. In some situations we may choose not to accept the highest-value upgrade offer we receive for any particular grade of cabin.
6.8. Your upgraded cabin will include the in-cabin amenities that are advertised as included with your upgraded cabin grade during your cruise.
7. When will I be told if my upgrade offer is accepted?
7.1. We can accept your upgrade offer at any time after it is submitted.
7.2. We will try to notify you if your upgrade offer has been accepted before the final offer date but, in some exceptional circumstances, we may accept your upgrade offer as late as one (1) day before your cruise departs.
7.3. We will always contact you by email to confirm if your upgrade offer is accepted.
8. How do I pay for my upgrade offer?
8.1. You must pay us all amounts associated with your accepted upgrade offer via our dedicated payment site. This can be accessed using the link in our email notifying you that your upgrade offer is accepted. Alternatively, you can call our Contact Centre on 0344 338 8003 to make payment.
8.2. You can use any valid Future Cruise Credit (FCC) issued to you to pay for all or a part of your upgrade offer. To use FCC to pay for your upgrade offer, you must tick the corresponding box on the offer site before submitting your credit card details.
9. When must I pay for my upgrade offer?
9.1. All payments must be made within 72 hours (3 days) of us notifying you that your upgrade offer is accepted, except where we notify you after the final offer date.
9.2. We will contact you directly by telephone to confirm if your upgrade offer is accepted after the final offer date. In this case, all payments must be made directly to us and within 24 hours (1 day) of our telephone call with you. Our representative will be able to collect payment from you directly on that telephone call.
9.3. If we attempt to collect payment from you using any credit or debit card details that you provide to us and these payments are declined, we may (but are not required to) contact you to arrange an alternative method of payment.
If we are unable to contact you in a reasonable time, or, if we decide it is necessary for us to allocate the upgraded cabin to another passenger, we will inform you by email that our acceptance of your upgrade offer is withdrawn. In these circumstances, we will allocate you a new cabin in the same grade as your cabin and you will not be entitled to travel in the upgraded cabin. Any cabin we allocate to you will be an equal or higher grade to your cabin but may not be the same cabin you originally booked or which was first assigned to you.
9.4. Any decision we make to withdraw our acceptance of your upgrade offer is final and cannot be appealed or challenged by you.
10. Cancellations
10.1. The terms relating to the cancelation of your cruise in our booking conditions will continue to apply if you make an upgrade offer.
10.2. If you or we cancel your cruise once your upgrade offer is accepted and paid for, the cost of your upgrade offer will form part of the price you have paid for your cruise. Any cancelation fees you are required to pay under the terms of our booking conditions will be calculated using this increased amount. Equally, if we cancel your cruise, any refund or credit we are required to provide you under the terms of our booking conditions will calculated in line with this increased amount.
11. Important terms
11.1. By submitting an upgrade offer you agree that you have read and will be legally bound by these terms.
11.2. Upgrade offers apply to your cabin only. We cannot guarantee that any upgraded cabin will still be close to (or will still be interconnected with) the cabins of other passengers you are traveling with.
11.3. We will always try to act reasonably in processing and accepting upgrade offers but any decision we make to accept (or withdraw our acceptance of) any upgrade offer in accordance with these terms remains ours to make alone. Our decision on these matters is final and may not be challenged or appealed once it is communicated to you.
11.4. We do not make any promises, representations or guarantees to you (or other passengers traveling with you) that you (or they) will receive an upgrade as a result of submitting an upgrade offer.
11.5. We reserve our right to amend the terms of, or if necessary, completely withdraw the programme (and any upgraded cabin allocated to you) if commercial considerations or situations outside of our reasonable control make it necessary to do. This may happen at any time, including after we have accepted your upgrade offer.
If, in this situation, it is no longer possible for us to allocate you a cabin in the same cabin grade as your upgraded cabin, any amounts you have already paid for an upgrade offer will be refunded to you and you will not be required to pay us any other amounts. Except where this refund is due to you, we will not be liable to you for any other costs or expenses you incur as a result of us altering or withdrawing the programme.
11.6. Our booking conditions that you agreed to when booking your cruise remain in full force and effect if you participate in the programme. They are incorporated into these terms, in full.
11.7. These Terms are subject to, and will be governed in accordance with, English law.