Saver Fare v Cunard Fare

I realise this is quite a well trodden path.......but I am still struggling with Cunard's pricing structure and just how far they will go to protect their Cunard fare. I just tried to book a saver fare this evening and was told there was no guarantee my family would sit together?! I accept the no choice over seating clause but surely Cunard can recognise that having a meal together is a fundamental part of going on holiday together? We are platinum members who only cruise with Cunard and I was told that customer loyalty was not reflected in the saver fare. To make it worse the price on the web was not offered when I rang up, apparently they were waiting for the system to update itself. Funny how the web price updated after I finished my call. I didn't book the cruise in the end. I struggle with a company that promotes a white star service who cannot guarantee that a family can eat together because we chose a cheaper fare. All thoughts welcome.

How many cabins where you looking to book??. A good T.A will link the bookings so you can dine together.

How many cabins where you looking to book??. A good T.A will link the bookings so you can dine together.

Thanks for the reply, just the 2 cabins this cruise. Cunard said they would link the bookings together but even they would not guarantee we would end up sitting together

Hello,

I assume that the pricing has been advertised by Cunard/Carnival and not a travel agent? If so this seems to be a typical example of the Carnival approach to revenue building. This system has been designed to grab our interest with cheap advertised fares which upon examination have numerous clauses which are totally unsuitable to normal minded customers.

We cruised with P&O last winter and paid the last minute cheap fare which we accepted would come with some conditions attached. We went with another couple and on arrival on the ship we found that they had sat us together but on the late sitting when we had asked for first sitting. We accepted this and we were also given the very front cheapest cabin which we accepted without complaint.

Having said we have to accept some conditions I do agree with you that it is seemingly a mean act to not let your party sit together, it seems that they are just drawing in our interest then throwing such unreasonable conditions into the mix that we are likely to spend more to avoid these conditions.

I salute your strength of character in not booking under such a mean condition it is unreasonable and should not be expected of a customer by Cunard.

I realise this is quite a well trodden path.......but I am still struggling with Cunard's pricing structure and just how far they will go to protect their Cunard fare. I just tried to book a saver fare this evening and was told there was no guarantee my family would sit together?! I accept the no choice over seating clause but surely Cunard can recognise that having a meal together is a fundamental part of going on holiday together? We are platinum members who only cruise with Cunard and I was told that customer loyalty was not reflected in the saver fare. To make it worse the price on the web was not offered when I rang up, apparently they were waiting for the system to update itself. Funny how the web price updated after I finished my call. I didn't book the cruise in the end. I struggle with a company that promotes a white star service who cannot guarantee that a family can eat together because we chose a cheaper fare. All thoughts welcome.

In practice - once on board it would be highly unlikely that they would not seat you together.

As others have said - there are times that a Travel Agent can do things that Cunard will not -to my astonishment one TA I contacted recently quoted a price that was way way below Cunard's offering - we often think we are getting the best deal by going direct but I have learnt this is definitely not so in the cruising world. (Also in the airline industry).

Considering the huge difference between the Cunard and Saver fares on many cruises, and in accordance with the terms and conditions, for this thread I will side with Cunard! For those who pay full fare, then Early Saver, it is right to give them preference. Guarantee cabins are likely to be those that are hard to sell, so hence given to this on the Saver fare.

Sorry, but this is a contentious subject for those on Saver fares, but want all/some of the choices. Take the cheaper fare and enjoy being on the ship: it is generally a bargain.

In practice - once on board it would be highly unlikely that they would not seat you together.

As others have said - there are times that a Travel Agent can do things that Cunard will not -to my astonishment one TA I contacted recently quoted a price that was way way below Cunard's offering - we often think we are getting the best deal by going direct but I have learnt this is definitely not so in the cruising world. (Also in the airline industry).

We booked a fairly last minute late saver fare via a travel agent for a couple of transatlantics recently. Despite the advertised restrictions our TA was able to get us allocated numbered cabins rather than the guarantees advertised by Cunard. The TA also got us the table size and sitting we requested on booking despite the advertised restrictions so it's worth checking around.

There IS no guarantee, but the Maitre d' will do his best to seat you together if you go and visit him on the first day. That is why he has that session.

Failing that, you can always dine in the Lido. I know it's not ideal but it's a possibility. On my April cruise, a TA, I was assigned late seating. I was told by one Maitre d' that there was no possibility of early seating so I decided to eat my lunch in the MDR and have my dinner in the Lido. I thought that would be a good compromise. On that first sea day I chatted to the other Maitre d' (who remembers me from cruise to cruise) at lunch and mentioned what I was doing. He immediately found me a seat at first sitting. I gather it had only come open that day, as the 6 other people on the table had not been assigned to the table the night before, either.

That's the other tactic. If at first you don't succeed, approach the Maitre d' a day or so later in case someone else has changed their mind and space has appeared.

I have to agree with LadyL1, and also with laktex.

You could say that the cheapest "Saver" fares are a great bargain if there are two of you travelling/sharing a cabin and you're happy for Cunard to choose a lot of the details (cabin, dining time, table size etc).

But that once there are four, six etc people in a group, because of the terms and conditions attached to such large discounts, if you wish to dine together, or at a particular size of table, or are fussy about cabin location etc, the "Saver" fares become far less attractive to some.

I'm not sure I can totally see the reasoning behind someone expecting to save lots of money on a fare, but still get some of the perks/same booking conditions and dining/cabin choices as someone who had paid a great deal more.

If we could all do that, there would be no need for the "Cunard fare".

Having said that, as laktex points out, the reality is, if you ask the maitre d' soon after boarding, they can usually arrange for you to a share a table with your friends or family.

But there is NO guarantee of this, they could easily say "Terribly sorry but...".

So, if dining together is really important, and you want that assurance, book the fare that has those terms and conditions attached.

This is exactly what I did when informed, while booking one crossing, that there was no promise that I would be seated with the remainder of my group of friends.

I hope you book your trip and have the most wonderful time onboard :)

I booked a saver fare last year on the QV to St Petersburg. There were 6 of us in 3 cabins. TBH it never occurred to me they would not seat us on the same table. We were allocated a table of 6 early sitting britannia restaurant.

I should imagine you are 99% likely to be seated together. The maitre'd allocates the tables and he would not want a family of 6 coming down to complain on the first night if they were not together.

We also got 2 cabins next to each other and the other one about 6 door away. Worked fine.

I realise this is quite a well trodden path.......but I am still struggling with Cunard's pricing structure and just how far they will go to protect their Cunard fare. I just tried to book a saver fare this evening and was told there was no guarantee my family would sit together?! I accept the no choice over seating clause but surely Cunard can recognise that having a meal together is a fundamental part of going on holiday together? We are platinum members who only cruise with Cunard and I was told that customer loyalty was not reflected in the saver fare. To make it worse the price on the web was not offered when I rang up, apparently they were waiting for the system to update itself. Funny how the web price updated after I finished my call. I didn't book the cruise in the end. I struggle with a company that promotes a white star service who cannot guarantee that a family can eat together because we chose a cheaper fare. All thoughts welcome.

I am sorry you think they are being difficult, but the saver fare is so unfair to the people that pay the full fare. Surely they deserve more attention, same with the people who pay the grill price, you get what you pay for.:confused:

I am sorry you think they are being difficult, but the saver fare is so unfair to the people that pay the full fare. Surely they deserve more attention, same with the people who pay the grill price, you get what you pay for.:confused:

I quite agree with that. You pays your money and you takes your choice. People can't have it both ways, but they always wan to. It's like people on other forums who constantly complain about falling standards (or all cruise lines) whilst at the same time failing to grasp that cruises are getting ever cheaper. They want a cheap price, and then moan that they are not getting what they used to.