Book Early - Book Late - Not in the middle

[daiB]

I was just thinking (does not happen to often) If P&O remove their discounts at the end of May then prices will rise by 10%.

 

The TA's will not be able to give any discount. The prices will not come down untill just before the cruise. (The 90 day ticker).

 

P&O do want you to book early:mad: or pay more.

 

 

 

Just a thought:D

 

 

:)Happy Cruising:)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

 

Pre registering for 2 cruises in 2012.

[Gerrym]

I was just thinking (does not happen to often) If P&O remove their discounts at the end of May then prices will rise by 10%.

 

 

.

 

 

But I thought as the P&O spokesman that you have been telling us this new P&O procedure will have no effect on prices.

 

You are now saying they will go up by 10%

 

Dai, just when I was starting to believe that P&O were as good as your marketing.

 

 

 

Disappointed

 

Gerry

 

:(

[capnpugwash]

I was speaking to a TA on Saturday and he mentioned that Carnival are reducing the commission paid to them from 15% to 5%. The intention, he explained, is to do away with the price battle that currently exists and to have everyone quoting the same price. He was of the opinion that there will not be an increase in price and they may in fact be reduced by the missing 10%. Whatever is the truth, it is very difficult to compare this years price against last years to see if there has been any alteration in price, and ultimately if you are content with the price quoted, that is the main thing. I am not convinced that the strategy adopted by Carnival will work but time will tell I suppose.

[daiB]

But I thought as the P&O spokesman that you have been telling us this new P&O procedure will have no effect on prices.

 

You are now saying they will go up by 10%

 

Dai, just when I was starting to believe that P&O were as good as your marketing.

 

 

 

Disappointed

 

Gerry

 

:(

 

Sorry,

 

 

Gan canny

[bearded gent]

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??

[berlingo]

Just to say that we did have to pay upfront but we were able to choose our cabin number.

 

We had not expected to be able to but it has been confirmed on the P&O website. Not sure whether this has anything to do with the cabin grade or the month you are travelling but the Big Ship Getaway Deal has worked well for us.

[capnpugwash]

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??

 

The 100% payment and penalty is a condition imposed by P&O in order to give you an extra 5% discount, your TA just didn't explain it to you I think. Or you can pay your normal deposit and settle as normal but you will not be able to take advantage of the discount.

[feebee_71]

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??

 

Derek,

 

The requirement to pay in full at time of booking is something laid down by P&O as part of the booking process for that particular offer. The TAs have no say in the matter.

 

Whether the offer will still be in place when you have the ability to book is something known only to P&O, though they do say the offer is limited to JG grade balcony cabins so, when they are full for each cruise in the brochure the offer will be withdrawn for that cruise.

 

If you do wait to make the booking and it's no longer available, there may be another offer available or you won't have to pay in full.

 

It's all swings and roundabouts!!

 

Feebee_71

[Scorpio41]

The 100% payment and penalty is a condition imposed by P&O in order to give you an extra 5% discount, your TA just didn't explain it to you I think. Or you can pay your normal deposit and settle as normal but you will not be able to take advantage of the discount.

 

This is what we did when we booked last year for this August. We weren't prepared to take the risk paying all up front that far in advance for a 5% discount so we just paid the normal deposit

 

I believe if you book close to departure you need to pay the 100% payment. They are collecting the final payments from all passengers as well.

[feebee_71]

Scorpio41,

 

If booking more than 8 weeks (56 days) before departure then only a 10% deposit is required by P&O - TA's may add to that time as they usually do for balance of cost so full price may be due anything up to 16 weeks pre-departure.

 

If booking less than 56 days before departure then full fare required as it's inside the final payment date for all passengers onboard.

 

Feebee_71