Price for 2012 cruises from TAs

[Gerrym]

No. Do you wish he was yours?

 

Debbie:)

 

 

Can you imagine? !!!!

 

 

 

LOL

 

:)

[Gerrym]

Debbie you must not say anything positive Gerry does not like it.

 

Gan canny

 

Dai

 

 

LOL Mr. P&O, well done.

 

 

:)

[MattyBarlow]

If the prices aren't right the pax will vote with their feet. My guess is that it will make little difference as they will end up discounting heavily, like they do each year, when the ships aren't full.

[daiB]

If the prices aren't right the pax will vote with their feet. My guess is that it will make little difference as they will end up discounting heavily, like they do each year, when the ships aren't full.

 

You mean like every other cruise line.

 

Have you ever looked at the USA sites with their 90 day tickets and up to 70% discount.

 

It would look like standard industry practice.

 

Gan canny

[bearded gent]

That is what the people on the pando site are saying. only plus point pando will only want the money 8(?) weeks before where as TA 's usually want it a lot sooner. If you have a TA that is particually helpful people may stay with them, but usually these days it always comes down to money..money money.

 

I posted this on another thread but think it is worth repeating:-

 

One thing I have noticed this year is that all TAs are demanding 100% payment with booking if you want to take advantage of P&Os upgrade offers. There is also a 100% cancellation penalty attached to the booking.

As much as I like the price with the upgrade, I (and a few others I imagine) are not in a position to pay all upfront and ofcourse you do not know which cabin you will be allocated.

Do I wait till I have the cash and hope the offers are still in force or just resign myself to a lower grade cabin when booking later??

 

With regards TA pricing I got quotes off four (4) who all gave me the same quote, which were lower than pando's

[millykin]

Hi Feebee 71

Agree with you, re benefits of using a TA, thats why I will wait till the 8th, P&O contact stated that the prices on the email / ex website are only a guide.

I'm happy with the price and will book anyway but will always haggle for best possible deal

Millykin

[southwinds]

Really I dont know what the fuss is about.. When we first started crusing it was like this.. in recent years its been sale after sale after sale it is getting like DFS.. the price in the brochure is meaningless.. and what has happened new cruisers have been put off as the rest of us now know to qet quotes..

Now we can look in the brochure and have a clear idea what the REAL price is and not sale sale sale...

As said before agents gave away 10% of THIER commission to us now they dont have it to give away.. but for us the price is the same. Its just the bottom line price.. no frills... you can compare prices your self. Either you want the cruise at that price or not... just because it dosnt know say 50% off dosnt mean its not a good price its just done away with the original micky mouse price in the brochure which we all know NO BODY ever paid ...

[feebee_71]

Derek,

 

You say you've had 4 prices all lower than P&O's. Is this for a Portunus/Peninsular cruise? If so, the TA's will quote including the additional 5% discount for being a member of the club, but on the P&O site they can't factor in the 5% discount until after the member has inputted in their Portunus number to show they are entitled to the additional discount. Because of the way the P&O site works you cannot run a dummy booking until after April 6th (or the dates the cruises go on general sale) therefore you can't get an accurate price.

 

Feebee_71

[feebee_71]

Hi Feebee 71

Agree with you, re benefits of using a TA, thats why I will wait till the 8th, P&O contact stated that the prices on the email / ex website are only a guide.

I'm happy with the price and will book anyway but will always haggle for best possible deal

Millykin

 

Millykin,

 

I'm not sure there is going to be much to haggle about - except perhaps the charges for using a CC or the time before the cruise that you have to pay the balance to the TA's.

 

From what I've heard, there isn't going to be the option of TA's offering additional OBC, the prices are set by P&O and parking is already included (though coach travel isn't) so I don't know what will be available to be offered to make it a better deal than what is already on offer.

 

Good luck though, if you do get some sort of deal, I will just be happy to hear on April 2nd that I have got my bookings and in the cabin grades I am happy with.

 

Feebee_71

[bearded gent]

Derek,

 

You say you've had 4 prices all lower than P&O's. Is this for a Portunus/Peninsular cruise? If so, the TA's will quote including the additional 5% discount for being a member of the club, but on the P&O site they can't factor in the 5% discount until after the member has inputted in their Portunus number to show they are entitled to the additional discount. Because of the way the P&O site works you cannot run a dummy booking until after April 6th (or the dates the cruises go on general sale) therefore you can't get an accurate price.

 

Feebee_71

 

Hi Feebee_71

no we have never cruised with pando before so there is no question of any chance of a discount.

[Len Baker]

Hi Tom, had email from P&O re 2012-2013 bookings, ......

TA can't book this till April 8th but P&O can book from around 21st March if you pre register, the prices on the email are just a guide, I shall still wait till the 8th to get quote's from TA, Gills and a couple of other cruise specialists

Millykin

 

hi, I have never been on P&O & have been looking for a few months now to book a 2012 Baltic cruise. I can see itineries on the website with prices & have received an e-mail from P&O regarding their initial offers.

 

How do I get an e-mail from P&O with prices on? Do I pre-register with P&O and or TAs? Can I pre-register without committing to going on the cruise? For me at the moment all roads lead to April 06th when I'm told I can book.:confused:

 

Hope you can help

[daiB]

hi, I have never been on P&O & have been looking for a few months now to book a 2012 Baltic cruise. I can see itineries on the website with prices & have received an e-mail from P&O regarding their initial offers.

 

How do I get an e-mail from P&O with prices on? Do I pre-register with P&O and or TAs? Can I pre-register without committing to going on the cruise? For me at the moment all roads lead to April 06th when I'm told I can book.:confused:

 

Hope you can help

 

If you know what cruise you want pre register with a good TA and on the day they will get your booking for you.

 

You just sit back and wait

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[KarenR_UK]

I posted this on another thread but think it is worth repeating:-

 

One thing I have noticed this year is that all TAs are demanding 100% payment with booking if you want to take advantage of P&Os upgrade offers. There is also a 100% cancellation penalty attached to the booking.

As much as I like the price with the upgrade, I (and a few others I imagine) are not in a position to pay all upfront and ofcourse you do not know which cabin you will be allocated.

...

 

I think this was just a special P&O promotion on selected cruises this year: I found http://www.pocruises.com/SearchPage/Spring-Getaway/?offerCodes=AA

During the month of February enjoy exclusive savings on a selection of holidays departing between March and August 2011.

Terms and conditions

Full payment due at the time of booking. The fares are non-refundable and cancellation charges are 100% from time of booking. Bookings will be made at the minimum grade within each stateroom category without a stateroom number ...

 

Like you I'm not keen on the 100% bits (though its less of an issue I guess with the earlier sailings as you are closer to the full payment date) - who knows what can happen before the later sailings - which is why one TA when promoting them recommended ensuring you have your insurance as soon as you book.

 

I've not seen this in relation to 2012 holidays - if it is then its even less incentive to book early!

[C at Sea]

Just been in to TA today to change a cruise we had booked for October 2011. We had booked an Eastern Med cruise taking in Egypt and Libya! I know they wouldnt take us anywhere dangerous but we wanted to change cos the purpose had been to visit those places!

Anyway while we were there we enquired about a couple of cruises and were given the same prices as P&O. The TA said they weren't giving any discounts at the moment but they'd been led to believe that P&O were offsetting this with lower prices. They also said that they could imagine that if one TA started giving discounts then they would all have to! We had discount for the Feb 2012 cruise we changed to cos they are from the present brochure.

We go to Gold during that cruise and so as its before April2012 we will be placed straight on the new Caribbean level which if we hadnt reached Gold before then would take about another 500 points to get! A bit miffing if you are almost but not quite at Gold before April 2012!

I expect P&O have had a working party thinktank being paid thousands to brainstorm all these changes!

[seb530]

Hey all, dont have any real experience of P&O yet with out first trip planned this summer. generally I have a price in my head that I am willing to pay and will book when the brochures come out if I think its worth it or wait until a price drop.

 

It seems to be that Cruise prices vary really wildly.

At present I would have to pay over £8000K for a 14 day trip that cost me £3300 two years ago and I am afraid thats too heavy for me!

 

From what I can see, p&O and princess are very expensive for 2012 in terms of brochure price, RCI a fair bit cheaper and their prices include the tips/autocharge/hotel charge/whatever it gets called ;-)

 

This year managed to book one of their special prices on Azura for 7 days as, did my travel agent comment, cheaper than a 3* hotel in spain probably on room only! :D

 

What strikes me is that there is absolutely no pattern to cruise prices really, they start reasonably high, go up a bit as cabins are booked then can drop substantially nearer the date if demand is low. So its trying to pick that sweet spot for me.