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book now or wait?


DundeeDave
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If offers were on the cards I think they would have been flagged up by now.

 

The offers are only up to the 25 of September at the moment so it could still come down in just a few weeks time. They seem to change the prices each Wednesday so it’s worth looking on a Wednesday morning and bagging it if the price is right.

 

There also appears to be a shedload of cabins left. Having left it this long if it was me I would now wait a few more weeks for Anchor fares / price drops to appear (but only if I was not desperate to secure this cruise).

 

If it is something you really want and you need deck 5 upwards then it limits the choices and it’s more of a gamble. If you are more flexible and would accept say deck 4 or if the prices fell enough a balcony then wait a bit.

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Interesting - is that the normal timescale for FO offers to appear, 6/7 weeks before the sailing date ?

 

From what I have seen, yes. Some cruises never come up as late deals but it is worth keeping an eye on the list.

 

The prices go down but appear to go back up again nearer the sail date if they have sold enough Anchor cabins. Recently they had an anchor fare on balcony cabins on one cruise (which almost never happens) but it was only there for a couple of weeks and gone again.

 

If they have a mixed bag of cabins left they sometimes lump the, together as well eg lower outside and upper outside.

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Once the last payment date has passed they often have even more cabins because of cancellations. If there are a number of cabins available at higher grades at that time, they tend to ring round the existing passengers offering reduced price upgrades, so still at a cost but less than what the higher grade would have cost when that cabin was first booked (I am talking freedom fare obviously). Total price paid is often much the same as any anchor fares that are being offered, but you can choose your new cabin and keep freedom status with dining choices and free shuttle buses.

 

That is why it is more often the lower grade cabins (and decks) are then offered on anchor fares, as Eglesbrech mentioned. The cabins to the back of Fred's ships (and especially low down) have a massive amount of noise and vibration and is not where we like to risk. We have done anchor fare for a few cruises in the past and usually not been too bad - but we have mainly done that for mini cruises. We have done fairly well booking Freedom fare when there was an offer on, then getting a reduced price upgrade as we are less keen on the lower grade cabins now, but again it is all chance as to what may be available so you would need to book something you are happy with.

 

We have just booked a cruise on Magellan from Liverpool for next October, which goes up the Seine and also calls at Honfleur and Dublin with latish port departures. Our sort of itinerary and from our local port, but at much less than Fred's prices. We have only done CMV for one mini cruise and said we would not repeat, but seemed worth trying again with that one - just not going to expect too much. It is the ports and their timings that are important to us. CMV itineraries are far better than Fred's IMO. If you do book CMV, it is like P&O in that you need to say "no upgrade" during the booking process if you do not want to risk being "upgraded" to a cabin in a bad location on the ship

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If you have not looked at CMV before, just be aware they do funny things with prices and their "full" prices are something way off the mark of what you can expect to pay. A number, if not all, the winter 2019/20 cruises, (which include the one we have just booked) are currently advertised as 2 for 1, but I would not wish to pay more than that - they have loads of offers and there is always something going if they really want to sell a cruise, though they sometimes leave the "full" prices in place for a while, presumably to make the cruise look cheap at other times.

 

The quality is not the same as Fred, but depends on your priorities, some interesting posts on the CMV section of these boards at present and you will note a difference in the reviews. Also remember you need to exclude an upgrade if you do not want to find you have been moved to a badly located cabin with CMV, as you cannot change your mind after they have moved you and you will not be contacted before they do move you. Look at the itineraries carefully as well - they do a number of cruises with different departure/return ports.

 

We may yet regret our decision to try them again, but I think we will still enjoy the ports and with virtually no time or cost needed to get to the port of departure/return, it cannot be that bad.

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Thanks for the information. I think they go from Dundee which makes them attractive along with Fred from Rosyth. I am getting to the age that I am fed up with the very long journey south.

 

I prefer Celebrity, RCI, P&O etc but as they are all from Southampton I need to start looking elsewhere.

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From what I have seen, yes. Some cruises never come up as late deals but it is worth keeping an eye on the list.

 

The prices go down but appear to go back up again nearer the sail date if they have sold enough Anchor cabins. Recently they had an anchor fare on balcony cabins on one cruise (which almost never happens) but it was only there for a couple of weeks and gone again.

 

If they have a mixed bag of cabins left they sometimes lump the, together as well eg lower outside and upper outside.

 

Thanks for that, very useful intelligence.

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Some good offers, especially for the cruise mentioned on this thread, though looking at the original prices, it is more to do with the very high prices asked for freedom fare on that cruise.

 

We have been tempted to book Boudicca for 31st March 2019 with the Freedom Fare upgrade offer, (which I think is new today for that cruise). Boudicca is going to Belgium and Holland on that one and is in port everyday of a 7 night cruise with overnights in two ports. It is a good price for the grade D cabins and only £50pp more than the Anchor fare being asked for grade D. Given that the anchor fare would have to be paid up front with no chance to change to another cruise, (which we will be able to do up to the final payment date), as well as the other freedom fare advantages, it is a no brainer. We will need to slog down to Dover (or get the train), but seems worth it for that cruise - though must admit last time we sailed from Dover we vowed we would never sail from there again! We have also been able to book the same cabin as what we have booked for a 2020 Indian cruise - so can check out that cabin on this cruise.

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I'm thinking of going on Balmoral on 19th October leaving from Newcastle.
The postie just delivered a FO "Save up to 40%" brochure - for the one on 19th October.....cruise from £599, Ocean View upgrade from £12 pppn, based on Anchor Fares.

 

Good luck getting what you seek.

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