Ventura Reaches Southampton a Day Late After Storms Austen and Boelo, Cherbourg Cancelled
If you are booked on Ventura's sailing that was due to start Saturday, October 24, your embarkation is now Sunday, October 25, with terminal check-in times unchanged but shifted to Sunday. Ventura sails at 4 p.m. and returns Saturday, October 31. Expect a prorated one-day future cruise credit, not cash, and note that it must be used on a future P&O Cruises booking. If you bought a drink package or WiFi, ask P&O directly, because the initial emails did not mention refunds for either.
My read is that P&O had no good options here. Storms Austen and Boelo pushed Ventura's Southampton arrival to 6:07 a.m. on October 25, and the late departure would have killed the Cherbourg call regardless. Citing the French protests as well simply gives the cancellation a second reason. The loser is the guest who wanted a full 7 nights. A prorated credit for one day only helps if you plan to sail with P&O again, and the Facebook comments show that some guests have no such plans. A cash refund would cost the line more, so I read the credit as the cheaper path for P&O. It also keeps the money inside the brand. The unanswered question is drink packages and WiFi, which the first emails did not address. If I were aboard, I would ask for that in writing before sailing on October 25. The weather is only part of the picture, since MSC Virtuosa, Arvia, Iona and others have also been disrupted.