Getaway Fare - post here how close to sailing allocated cabin no.

[kersh]

Hi Scriv, no won't boast on the cruise,

. This thread was about posting cabin allocated when booked as a getaway deal.

We book Vantage fares for must do cruises like Xmas and birthday/ anniversary cruises. We booked a getaway last year and were happy with the cabin so decided to risk it again this year. We had no option to book lowest grade balcony cabin so very happy to be allocated highest grade balcony cabin but had we been paying full price we would have chosen C deck balcony cabin. We do not get any OBC or parking with getaway fare. The only OBC we get is because we are shareholders and apply for that when we have paid the balance which is when we book if getaway fare.

 

I do feel for the pax who booked Vantage fare who did not realise that getaways would be available on the majority of cruises epecially at this time of year. We have 5 cruises booked at Vantage fares, one or Xmas this year,50 night part WC next year, and a back to back on Adonia in the summer next year which is an unusual cruise, followed by Xmas on Oriana to the Caribbean. We may well have been able to book all of these cruises cheaper but just were not prepared to risk them being sold out.

 

Sue

[kersh]

Hi Cosmic Rays,

 

We checked our CP first thing this morning and still guarantee shown but checked again at lunch time and the cabin was showing.no e mail recd from either PO or TA.

 

Sue

[carhirer]

·······please have a thought for those like me when you are on your cruise and don't boast about it too much in front of those left in an inside cabin without any OBC 'cos they booked early. I feel sick.·······

 

Scriv - vantage pricing notwithstanding, just focus on the fact that inside cabins represent a really good deal. You enjoy all the facilities available to people who paid '000s more. And you only appreciate the difference if you want to spend time on your own in your room. There is a whole ship out there to be enjoyed!

 

But i'm sure you know that already.

[Scriv]

Thanks all. Sorry to be a misery and yes, sorry too that I have hijacked your thread. xx

[kersh]

Scriv, you are entitled to post on any thread and I genuinely do feel for you. We have been in the same position having booked an inside when brochures came out only to find balconies being old for the same price or little more 8 weeks before sailing.vwe tried to upgrade but P & O quoted the original balcony price for us to upgrade. We were miffed but when we got on the cruise we were too busy enjoying it to worry about anyone else and what they paid.

 

The experience has made us more aware of what to book and when to book it.

 

Just enjoy your cruise and try to forget what others have paid.

 

Sue

[tillybilly321]

Whereas I am genuinely pleased for you, Sue, please have a thought for those like me when you are on your cruise and don't boast about it too much in front of those left in an inside cabin without any OBC 'cos they booked early. I feel sick. I really do not want to consider a P and O cruise ever again.

 

 

Hi Scriv,

 

Just curious really but did you not receive any OBC on your Vantage cruise or did you take up the Parking / coach option instead ? You certainly should of had one of them !!

[Scriv]

Yes, we did get parking, (although Reservations had not sent this through to the Parking Company, so I had to chase that up, lol) and a very nice table on the sitting we wanted and an early discount of 5%. And the cabin was very nice in a very quiet and peaceful and stable spot.

 

We thought we had a great deal but when we got on board it was soon very apparent that we were in the minority having booked early. (We had pre registered pre brochure and I think pre- Vantage fares) We heard so many - I am not exaggerating - boast of having paid much less than half the price we had paid for an inside cabin and got windows/balconies/upgrades etc. I was not going round asking these people, by the way, we just could not help hearing it nearly everywhere we went.

 

But it was not even that that rankled - it was that these cruisers were then even further upgraded pre- or at check in and received even more OBC and even nicer balconies/views than what they had been allocated.

 

Now, I didn't even mind that really, but it would have been nice also to have been offered an upgrade even at a cost, especially as we had registered for an automatic upgrade which we secretly had hoped would happen. We knew there were some empty outside cabins down our corridor, but we heard someone tell of having asked and being refused.

 

Anyway, we have had the cruise and it was really fantastic and we did enjoy every minute. We still feel it was very good value for money, as where else could you enjoy fine dining and the luxury of a 5 star hotel with great entertainment and being taken to some fabulous places. And it was a birthday treat for me and very special.

 

Anyway, enough from me now... have moaned enough!!! I now understand the system, so I won't do the early bookings again.

 

Kersh, you make sure you have a brilliant cruise and enjoy your upgrade!!

[the english lady]

What all of the getaway bookers will have to bear in mind for next year (plus all the vantage fare bookers who will never do so again) is that you will have no choice of dining time either. Before anyone says just go and have a chat with the Maitre-d, I am sure if a ship is half full of getaways they will not be allowed to change dining. For important date I will still book vantage to get what I want. I have explained to OH that there will be people on board who have paid less than us, but I will be dining when I want.

I know in a hotel you have no real choice of where your room is, but you can usually choose when to dine. I will await next year for the multiple room bookers on getaways ,whose cabins are on differewnt ends of the ship, and different decks and different dining seating-with no chance of being able to change anything...It will happen.

[Scriv]

Yes, I guess you have a point there, the english lady.

[carhirer]

Why would PO offer getaway bookers OBC?

 

The website simply shows a reduced price. Why wojld PO then voluntarily offer further inducements after booking?

 

Or is OBC something added by TAs at the time of booking?

 

The "upgrades" are simply part of the getaway deal - you get one of the unsold cabins.

 

On my forthcoming cruise in July there is only a £100 pp (10%) price difference between getaway and vantage prices for an inside whereas the balconies carry a whopping £600 difference. So book vantage inside (with OBC) if you want to avoid being shafted by getaway fares.

[tillybilly321]

Why would PO offer getaway bookers OBC?

 

The website simply shows a reduced price. Why wojld PO then voluntarily offer further inducements after booking?

 

Or is OBC something added by TAs at the time of booking?

 

The "upgrades" are simply part of the getaway deal - you get one of the unsold cabins.

 

On my forthcoming cruise in July there is only a £100 pp (10%) price difference between getaway and vantage prices for an inside whereas the balconies carry a whopping £600 difference. So book vantage inside (with OBC) if you want to avoid being shafted by getaway fares.

 

 

I too was puzzled that getaway bookers were being given " extra" OBC. There is certainly no OBC offered or given by P&O for getaway fares. They are not exactly over generous with the amount given to Vantage fares.:(

[Essexlass2]

Getaway fare cruisers get no OBC as far as I am aware. Certainly there was no mention of that or any other incentive for us! Having booked at a Getaway price some months back, we now find that had we waited longer we could have saved yet another £500pp, which is something that we didn't anticipate, but hey, we've got a good deal so we're happy :D

[Cosmic Rays]

Getaway fare cruisers get no OBC as far as I am aware. Certainly there was no mention of that or any other incentive for us! Having booked at a Getaway price some months back, we now find that had we waited longer we could have saved yet another £500pp, which is something that we didn't anticipate, but hey, we've got a good deal so we're happy :D

 

Likewise, we booked in March BUT have been given £100 OBC by the TA - one or two were offering this at the time we booked but it certainly wasn't from P&O!!

[carhirer]

So presumably the drunken, singlet wearing, tattoed, getaway passengers boasting about having secured OBC are lying, drunken ....?

[the english lady]

So presumably the drunken, singlet wearing, tattoed, getaway passengers boasting about having secured OBC are lying, drunken ....?

Yes ofcourse they are. The refined posh people are the ones who booked vantage.......tee hee

[Cosmic Rays]

So presumably the drunken, singlet wearing, tattoed, getaway passengers boasting about having secured OBC are lying, drunken ....?

 

I have only been drunk once in my life - in 1972 - don't wear a singlet, and have no tattoo!!!

We have yet to sail and won't be saying anything to anybody on this subject although we might be prone to it from others unfortunately............LOL

[Scriv]

No, this wasn't a case of Mrs Bucket v. Onslow, lol. Liked the image! These were very nice respectable people just openly thrilled to bits by the deals they had.

 

One had been allocated a porthole and was upgraded to a large picture window, another had a window with obstructed view and was upgraded to a balcony, and another had a 'small' balcony and got a large one in a mini suite!!!

 

I would have been so grateful for an obstructed porthole, just for a bit of daylight.

[tjwa]

Yes ofcourse they are. The refined posh people are the ones who booked vantage.......tee hee

 

....and it cost the 'posh people' a lot more money.:):)

 

Personally all this talk about dining arrangements, cabin locations, shuttle bus etc does not bother me it's hard cash that matters.:D

[carhirer]

No, this wasn't a case of Mrs Bucket v. Onslow, lol. Liked the image! These were very nice respectable people just openly thrilled to bits by the deals they had.

 

One had been allocated a porthole and was upgraded to a large picture window, another had a window with obstructed view and was upgraded to a balcony, and another had a 'small' balcony and got a large one in a mini suite!!!

 

I would have been so grateful for an obstructed porthole, just for a bit of daylight.

 

This is what confuses me. In tbe first example presumably the getaway would have booked a an unspecified "outside". 2 weeks before sailing he would have been "allocated" a portholed cabin. And then in those two weeks he negotiated an upgrade to a picture window? I would have thought the allocation would have beeen final

[kersh]

This is what confuses me. In tbe first example presumably the getaway would have booked a an unspecified "outside". 2 weeks before sailing he would have been "allocated" a portholed cabin. And then in those two weeks he negotiated an upgrade to a picture window? I would have thought the allocation would have beeen final

 

You cannot negotiate your allocated getaway cabin. When you book you opt for inside, outside, balcony or suite. You are then given your cabin allocation, if you don't like it tough. You may, but not guaranteed, be able to upgrade your outside cabin to a balcony cabin but the rules say that any amendment to a getaway booking will be classed as cancellation.

 

Last year allocations were given out soon after booking and they often did change to a higher grade nearer to sailing time but this year the allocations have been done much nearer to sailing date so probably will not change now.

 

Sue

[Scriv]

All I can say is what these people were saying...

[the english lady]

....and it cost the 'posh people' a lot more money.:):)

 

Personally all this talk about dining arrangements, cabin locations, shuttle bus etc does not bother me it's hard cash that matters.:D

Thing is we would hate to go on a 2 week cruise and be allocated early sitting. Would not like that at all. Would not like to eat in the buffett for 2 weeks either. We booked a 2 nighter last year (tagging it onto a 18nighter) and were given early sitting. We ate in the buffett then, but hated it for the evening. We like dressing up and sitting somewhere with no atmosphere was not nice.

Shuttle buses-will make a difference if you pay £5 a pop most times on a 14 night cruise. It will add up.Cabin location, well I guess the higher the grade you can afford, the less it would probably matter as there are no "bad cabins" the higher the grade you book.

[jackieo]

Thing is we would hate to go on a 2 week cruise and be allocated early sitting. Would not like that at all. Would not like to eat in the buffett for 2 weeks either. We booked a 2 nighter last year (tagging it onto a 18nighter) and were given early sitting. We ate in the buffett then, but hated it for the evening. We like dressing up and sitting somewhere with no atmosphere was not nice.

Shuttle buses-will make a difference if you pay £5 a pop most times on a 14 night cruise. It will add up.Cabin location, well I guess the higher the grade you can afford, the less it would probably matter as there are no "bad cabins" the higher the grade you book.

 

My understanding is that if you get a dinner sitting you don't like you can see the head waiter on first afternoon to change your booking. We've always been accommodated by doing this on Princess.

[daiB]

My understanding is that if you get a dinner sitting you don't like you can see the head waiter on first afternoon to change your booking. We've always been accommodated by doing this on Princess.

 

What has happened in the past, in this case may not be so in future. Getaway fares for next year do not include a choice of dining and the implication is that changes on board will not be allowed. That is part of price one has to pay for getting a very good deal.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[jackieo]

What has happened in the past, in this case may not be so in future. Getaway fares for next year do not include a choice of dining and the implication is that changes on board will not be allowed. That is part of price one has to pay for getting a very good deal.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

Okay I think I understand Getaway a bit better now. We did our first 2 nighter on Azura last month and paid a vantage fare (price wise I thought it wasn't bad) and therefore we specified our cabin and dinner arrangements. So With gateway fares I think it is a case of. you pay less but take your chances!