What are my chances?

Afternoon all,

The price of our forthcoming cruise is now £200 cheaper than when I booked it. I know that P&O can charge what they like, when they like and I realise that, if the price had gone up I'd be a bit miffed if they phoned me and asked for more money. However, in the spirit of 'it does no harm to ask' I have emailed them asking very politely for either a refund or a credit to our onboard account of the £200.

Has this ever been successful for any of you?

Cheers in advance.

Did you pay a Select Fare and this has gone down, or do they have an Early saver which is less than you paid? If it's an early saver, then they do not get many choices of cabin or dining and no OBC.

Did you pay a Select Fare and this has gone down, or do they have an Early saver which is less than you paid? If it's an early saver, then they do not get many choices of cabin or dining and no OBC.

It's the Select Fare which has gone down. In fact, on checking the website again just now our cabin grade is now a further £140 cheaper! I presume that they must be struggling to sell cabins.

That's why some of us book earlier!

That's why some of us book earlier!

Sorry Larry, perhaps I'm being a bit thick but I don't understand.

I did book early, last September in fact. Now that the sailing is getting closer, P&O are reducing the fares so I thought I'd chance my arm at getting a refund of the current difference.

Again, apologies if I'm being dense!

I wouldn't say you are dense - just hopeful! ;)

I would be very surprised if you got anything though as the pricing policy is now the fluid pricing without any protection of the obsolete Vantage fares.

But as you say, no harm in asking.

I would say you have 2 chances Bob Hope and No Hope P&O like all other cruise companies have the right to reduce prices of cruises not selling well and have done so for years so you are not the only one to be affected this way just be happy you picked your dining choice and stateroom choice.

I wouldn't say you are dense - just hopeful! ;)

 

I would be very surprised if you got anything though as the pricing policy is now the fluid pricing without any protection of the obsolete Vantage fares.

 

But as you say, no harm in asking.

That's exactly it. I don't really care, to be honest, if the price of our cabin grade has decreased since I booked it as it's all about the holiday and the cruise itself. However, it takes but two minutes to send a hopeful email and if it ends up with me getting a result then we have a wee bit more to spend on the ship.

Nowt ventured, nowt gained :D

Afternoon all,

 

The price of our forthcoming cruise is now £200 cheaper than when I booked it. I know that P&O can charge what they like, when they like and I realise that, if the price had gone up I'd be a bit miffed if they phoned me and asked for more money. However, in the spirit of 'it does no harm to ask' I have emailed them asking very politely for either a refund or a credit to our onboard account of the £200.

 

Has this ever been successful for any of you?

 

Cheers in advance.

Two questions.

1 When you booked did you have an agreement with P&O that where the price went down that you would be refunded?

2 Were you happy with the price when you booked it?

Two questions.

1 When you booked did you have an agreement with P&O that where the price went down that you would be refunded?

2 Were you happy with the price when you booked it?

1 No

2 Yes

But, like I have said several times there's absolutely no harm in asking. The worst that can happen is that P&O say 'no' and I lose two minutes of my life.

That doesn't make me a bad person, surely?

Its the first time Ive heard of a Select Fare being reduced. They usually just reduce the late saver fare to fill cabins. Seems that hasnt done the trick on this cruise. The problem with just reducing the late saver fares is that some people won't book them at any cost due to wanting a choice of cabin and or dinner sitting.

Which cruise is it? Im guessing its Southampton on one of their larger ships on an itiniary that Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are offering this year as there is a lot of competition this year.

There is no harm in asking. The least it will do is give them feedback on a Select fare that has been reduced and which has annoyed a customer.

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1 No

2 Yes

 

But, like I have said several times there's absolutely no harm in asking. The worst that can happen is that P&O say 'no' and I lose two minutes of my life.

 

That doesn't make me a bad person, surely?

Of course it doesn't make you a bad person, more an extreme optimist.

I think you know the response you'll get and also that you'll enjoy your cruise.

Which cruise is it? Im guessing its Southampton on one of their larger ships

Yup, 14-day Portugal, Canaries and Spain on Ventura

There is no harm in asking. The least it will do is give them feedback on a Select fare that has been reduced and which has annoyed a customer.

I wouldn't say that it's annoyed me. It certainly will not spoil the cruise. I'd just rather the £340 be in my pocket rather than P&O's.

Its the first time Ive heard of a Select Fare being reduced.

 

...

 

There is no harm in asking. The least it will do is give them feedback on a Select fare that has been reduced and which has annoyed a customer.

 

 

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Ask definitely. The Select fare on my next cruise which I booked last July been reduced by over £400 pp (it's been going down every time a new offer has come out) and the OBC gone up by varying amounts too. I had a bit of a whinge on this forum some months ago about it! But now I've asked, and got a result....not necessarily exactly what I wanted but none the less they have listened and given me "something" ;)

My argument is simply that you are encouraged to book early to get the "extra benefits" - lower price, good OBC which turn out to be in effect , misleading selling. I know the Ts & Cs mean I may have been on a hiding to nothing but even so this somewhat sharp practice does not endear me to book early again. But sometimes maybe they listen....?

Let us know if you get anywhere.

Yup, 14-day Portugal, Canaries and Spain on Ventura

 

 

 

I wouldn't say that it's annoyed me. It certainly will not spoil the cruise. I'd just rather the £340 be in my pocket rather than P&O's.

Of course when you booked in September you were booking at the highest price. Had you booked when booking started in March/April it would have been cheaper perhaps by the amount it has now gone down.

Had you booked when booking started in March/April it would have been cheaper perhaps by the amount it has now gone down.

I've been keeping an eye on the prices and it's only gone down in price in the past few days. I think in future I'll just book the time off work and wait until a few weeks before to book a cruise.

Afternoon all,

 

The price of our forthcoming cruise is now £200 cheaper than when I booked it. I know that P&O can charge what they like, when they like and I realise that, if the price had gone up I'd be a bit miffed if they phoned me and asked for more money. However, in the spirit of 'it does no harm to ask' I have emailed them asking very politely for either a refund or a credit to our onboard account of the £200.

 

Has this ever been successful for any of you?

 

Cheers in advance.

Wobblybob yours is a very refreshing thread. No moans, just an is it worth it question.

Well probably not. As you have said it will not spoil your cruise. So go enjoy yourself and prepare to get hooked.

Next time you will be a bit more aware of when to book.

The only time I have had money back ,in the form of OBS ,was when the fares changed from vantage to select.

Since select fares have been around they did tend to change the OBS rather than the price, but now it appears the price is getting fluid.

There will always tend to be cheaper fares nearer to the sailing date, but they have different T and C.

Well having read the thread thus far we decided to check on what our saver fare would be if had not booked in January but had waited until now (still 8 weeks to go to our cruise). What we have found is quite shocking, in fact so shocking that we will never book in advance with P and O again.

Our balcony cabin (not obstructed) is now £500 per person cheaper and it qualifies for £250 OBC (we didn't get any). This is the first time we have booked direct with P and O instead of through a TA and, trust me on this, the very last time.

So much for saver fares, the select fare is actually cheaper now than we have paid as a saver fare. Lets face it , this isn't how to encourage brand loyalty is it? Perhaps P and O should remember that there are a lot of cruise lines out there and if you irritate your long term customers enough they will vote with their feet!!

We booked our cruise on launch. It has now gone down by £300 pp on the Select Fare. We contacted P&O and were told they do not usually reduce Select Fares, this was an exception. Obviously not!! I would certainly ask the question of Customer Services.

Yup, 14-day Portugal, Canaries and Spain on Ventura

 

 

 

I wouldn't say that it's annoyed me. It certainly will not spoil the cruise. I'd just rather the £340 be in my pocket rather than P&O's.

I thought it would be. Ex Southampton cruises are pretty plentiful this year with over 3000 more cabins available per week than last year.

I think we are back where we were before the Vantage fare fiasco was brought in a few years ago. People get unhappy when a cruise is reduced. However its the same with holidays on land. Supply and demand dictates prices.

However if I was the OP I would moan for England. Nothing lost.

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Well, I've heard back from P&O and there is, apparently, nothing that they can do. Or to be more accurate, will do.

I was never after a full refund of the difference in price (currently £340), and didn't really expect anything. However, I do think that it wouldn't have hurt them to comp. us a meal in The Epicurean.

Still, I'd be utterly mad to let this colour our holiday in any way - it will still be a fabulous fortnight seeing new places and trying new things.

You never know, you may get an upgrade as you booked a Select fare early. Select Fares get first priority of upgrades. Enjoy your cruise anyway. :)

Well, I've heard back from P&O and there is, apparently, nothing that they can do. Or to be more accurate, will do.

 

I was never after a full refund of the difference in price (currently £340), and didn't really expect anything. However, I do think that it wouldn't have hurt them to comp. us a meal in The Epicurean.

 

Still, I'd be utterly mad to let this colour our holiday in any way - it will still be a fabulous fortnight seeing new places and trying new things.

Sorry you didn't get anywhere, but it's really nice to see that you won't let this spoil your holiday - as it wouldn't ours either. We are just thankful we can afford to go on a cruise, even if we do pay more than someone else!

Have a wonderful time.:)

Well done for not letting it spoil your holiday. We took the same attitude when prices on our Grand Event cruise on Ventura dropped by 60% - for 4 of us we could have paid £4400 less. Now I know that didn't include the perks, but you can buy a lot of parking and obc with that! We didn't let it spoil holiday, but we learnt an important lesson and haven't booked early since.

but we learnt an important lesson and haven't booked early since.

Amen to that, Holiday Planner!