P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow has taken to social media to address the issue of refunds and to assure customers that the refund process is underway.

Taking to Facebook, Ludlow said: “I wanted to take this opportunity to address the issue of refunds as I am very aware of how imperative it is that those of you who opted for a refund, instead of an enhanced Future Cruise Credit, receive your money back as swiftly as possible.

“The first thing for me to stress is that the refund process is underway.

“We are proud to be a travel company, which is able to offer refunds but the impact of Covid-19 upon our business, your businesses, and all of our lives has been devastating, and therefore the complexity and scale of this task has been unprecedented for us.

“At P&O Cruises, we have had to adapt our ways of working very quickly as we set up new systems and all our colleagues began working from home.

“I understand that some of you see us as a big business ‘holding on to your money’ as some of our guests have been commenting publicly, but I assure you I am very aware of the financial constraints everyone is under at the moment and we are not delaying this intentionally.

“The first cruises were cancelled due to Covid-19 in the middle of March and whilst we expected to process the first refunds sooner, we revised that to ‘up to 60 days’ when we realised the impact the pandemic was having on our wider business and teams.

“I know that ‘up to 60 days’ is not ideal and it is certainly not the service you would normally expect from us but sadly “normal” has taken on a new meaning.

“In the past few weeks, despite the challenges, we have been able to put new technology and systems and also additional resource in place which will result in more refunds being processed more quickly and I hope this will improve the situation daily.

“We will also be contacting all of you who have requested a refund.

“For those of you who opted for an enhanced 125 per cent Future Cruise Credit. I want to highlight that we are amending our systems so that the FCCs will soon be able to be redeemed online without the need to call us. More details on that coming at the end of the month.

“To give you maximum flexibility, I’m also pleased to announce that you now have until the end of December 2021 to put your FCC against a booking for any holiday on sale during that period, which should help with your planning if you already have future holidays booked with us.

“Also do remember that FCCs may now be used to upgrade or for a second cabin for any booking in 2021 or 2022 (holiday departure period currently on sale) and also may be gifted or transferred to someone else.

“This option too will apply to further out departures as and when they go on sale, until as stated above, the end of December 2021.

“I never underestimate the feeling and affection that many of you have for our ships and for our business as a whole. It is a huge privilege to have so many very loyal guests who holiday with us time and time again.

Thank you so much for your understanding and forbearance as we work our way through these difficult circumstances, it really is very much appreciated.

“I’d also like to thank once again the many of you who have sent messages of support, whether it be to myself, or to the thousands of our team members, ship and shore, during these difficult times.

“We look forward to sailing again soon and welcoming you back on board.”

P&O Cruises has extended its pause in operations up to and including 31 July 2020.

For more information on P&O Cruises’ refund process, visit pocruises.com.