Brexit and booking your cruise holiday

With the UK's departure from the European Union delayed, many people have questions when it comes to booking their holidays during this period of transition and beyond.

Planet Cruise Financial Protection

All holidays sold by Planet Cruise have the guarantee of financial protection by the ATOL and ABTA schemes.

P&O Brexit Promise

As well as us being able to ensure your holiday is financially protected, P&O have come forward with their own Brexit Promise.

If booking with P&O Cruises, they pledge that you will still be able to cruise from Southampton, pay for your cruise and onboard in pounds sterling, and that services such as plane transfers, dining, taxes and onboard entertainment will still be included in the price of your cruise.

Fred Olsen’s Brexit Promise

To guarantee their cruise fans that there’s no need to worry about Brexit and their cruise holiday, Fred. Olsen have promised the following:

A full refund and future free cruise if your sailing is cancelled due to Brexit, as well as ABTA and ATOL protection.

No extra charges due to Brexit once your booking has been made and deposit paid. As well as using only sterling onboard, avoiding exchange rates and a weak pound.

ABTA's Brexit Travel Advice 

For up-to-date information on Brexit and your holiday plans, please see ABTA’s own Brexit Travel Advice page.

CLIA’s Brexit Advice to Cruisers

The Cruise Lines International Association are the international cruise trade association who deal with maintaining standards across the industry.

CLIA state on Brexit that:

In the event of a no deal, cruisers’ rights will remain the same as EU law becomes de-facto UK legislation.

Cruisers are reminded of the importance of reading all Terms and Conditions of their booking, as well as making sure they are fully insured with passports still valid for at least six months after travel. Should Britain leave the European Union without a deal, circumstances are likely to change. If you hold an adult passport that's over 9 years old, you may not be able to travel and are therefore urged to consider updating your passport at the earliest opportunity. You can check your passport's validity at this useful government site.

For the latest information from CLIA, please read their Brexit guide.

Pre-book and Pre-pay

In addition, to avoid any negative impacts on your cruise such as undesirable changes in exchange rates, you may wish to consider prebooking and prepaying any onboard services that you may require such as excursions, drinks, and gratuities. On the other hand, if you do pay for anything extra while at sea, cruise lines use an onboard currency system which results in only minor fluctuations to the exchange rate. 

Here's some useful information on payment onboard the largest cruise lines' ships.