Angela Davies, owned of Chester-based Sandy Lane Travel, lost around half the commission her agency earned on a £6,000 P&O Cruises booking when her client fell seriously ill just three days before the 14-night cruise departed on 30 January, owing to the Carnival Corp brand's commission policy.

The client was forced to cancel when her doctor forbid her from flying, meaning she also incurred a 100% cancellation charge. Despite losing part of her commission, Davies still helped the client with the paperwork so she could make a claim through her travel insurance.

Asked what she would like to see change, Davies said: “Consortia commercial departments could form a cohort to challenge cruise companies to review and amend their commercial agreements.

"With cancellation cases, the financial loss is borne solely by the agent, while cruise companies continue to profit by clawing back commission.”

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Davies said she wouldn’t stop promoting P&O Cruises following the cancellation, but added: “I know this has been an issue for years and years but I can't just roll over and take it. My business is small, whereas its a drop in the ocean for them [P&O Cruises]. It’s really frustrating because it affects my monthly earnings.”

She added: “When you’re paying a staff incentive, you don’t take away their incentive if there’s a booking cancellation. It would be demotivating. It’s a win-win for P&O Cruises but a loss for Sandy Lane Travel.”

Credit: Sandy Lane Travel

Since October, Davies revealed her agency has had to pay back £1,200 following three cancelled cruise bookings, including two with P&O Cruises. She admitted she does think twice when she books cruises for elderly clients, or ones with existing medical conditions or illnesses.

Davies pointed out that not only does P&O Cruises retain all funds from a cancelled booking but agents could also incur a further charge if the client uses a credit card. In this case, Sandy Lane Travel forked out £68.37 in credit card fees for the cancelled booking, not to mention the £10 booking incentive Davies paid to the sales consultant who made the original booking.

"The credit card charge is a bit of salt in the wound but we have to pay it," Davies continued.

Davies said she wished she had checked online prior to Arvia’s departure to see if the cabin had been resold which would have meant P&O Cruises would have effectively doubled its money from the room.

A P&O Cruises spokesperson said: “Cancellations result in a shared loss of revenue for both P&O Cruises and our travel agent partners. P&O Cruises will always work directly with our agent partners to review guests’ individual circumstances and look to mitigate against cancellations where possible, which is mutually beneficial.”