Cunard is Going to Have a Run for My Money

[Classiccruiser777]

http://maritimematters.com/2013/05/viking-star-to-shine/

[bphman]

You're comparing apples to oranges. The new Viking ship is beautiful in drawings but will only be sailing the usual Med and North Atlantic for the inaugural season. Cunard offers many more options all over the world. No one knows what the dining experience will be like. I want to sail Viking but would like them to get a year or two under their belt. I am sure there will be some teething pain. It is a big transition going from 150 pax to almost 1,000. I think they are focusing more on Oceania, Azamara and the other luxury and near luxury lines.

[Salacia]

HI Classiccruiser. Cunard isn't going to run for your money, or mine. It's the new markets that has the focus of Cunard. If Cunard has any focus at all, which at this point is not evident.

 

Kudos and best wishes to Viking on their new endeavour; it does sound very attractive.

-Regards, -S.

[seasidegal]

HI Classiccruiser. Cunard isn't going to run for your money, or mine. It's the new markets that has the focus of Cunard. If Cunard has any focus at all, which at this point is not evident.

 

Kudos and best wishes to Viking on their new endeavour; it does sound very attractive.

-Regards, -S.

 

Well said, Salacia.

 

Sad :( but still well said.

 

The Viking ship looks beautiful (at least it looks like a ship and not a floating resort).

 

best regards,

seasidegal

[Scrapnana]

Sounds interesting. Wonder what the dress code will be.:rolleyes:

[Whitemarsh]

It sounds like they're going for what should be Cunard's core demographic.

 

I like the pool, looks like you could do some decent laps.

 

The lobby is nice too.

 

Although the painting at the top of the staircase reminds me of the artwork in Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare before Christmas'.

 

I notice there was no mention of any cabins for solo travellers. :(

[Whitemarsh]

Sounds interesting. Wonder what the dress code will be.:rolleyes:

 

I sincerely hope it will be this...

 

[Pennbank]

It sounds like they're going for what should be Cunard's core demographic.

 

I like the pool, looks like you could do some decent laps.

 

The lobby is nice too.

 

Although the painting at the top of the staircase reminds me of the artwork in Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare before Christmas'.

 

I notice there was no mention of any cabins for solo travellers. :(

 

 

Whitemarsh, do we really need solo cabins ?

 

We pay for the cabin anyway with most cruise companies charging us 200% anyway which is fair.

Except Cunard who wanted to charge solos a lot more than that compared to their Getaway fares. (Although an extremely reliable travel agent with inside knowledge has rumoured that Cunard is about to change their policy and revert back to allowing solos and families of 3 back on board paying the Getaway fare.

[Whitemarsh]

Whitemarsh, do we really need solo cabins ?

 

We pay for the cabin anyway with most cruise companies charging us 200% anyway which is fair.

Except Cunard who wanted to charge solos a lot more than that compared to their Getaway fares. (Although an extremely reliable travel agent with inside knowledge has rumoured that Cunard is about to change their policy and revert back to allowing solos and families of 3 back on board paying the Getaway fare.

 

I would like it if there were solo cabins available at half the price of a double occupancy cabin.

[fantasy51]

I would like it if there were solo cabins available at half the price of a double occupancy cabin.

 

I would like it too, but it won't happen unless we are prepared to share a bathroom, sleep in a single bed, cut down on living space, etc.

 

I assume like you I am not interested in solo cabins where the per-metre floor space is tiny and the price-per-metre is more than that in a double cabin.

[Whitemarsh]

I would like it too, but it won't happen unless we are prepared to share a bathroom, sleep in a single bed, cut down on living space, etc.

 

I assume like you I am not interested in solo cabins where the per-metre floor space is tiny and the price-per-metre is more than that in a double cabin.

 

No I do not want to share a bathroom, I would like a single cabin that has it's own facilities and is at least 75% as large as the normal cabins. I wouldn't mind if it had a single bed, that doesn't bother me.

[Pennbank]

I would like it if there were solo cabins available at half the price of a double occupancy cabin.

 

We all know that in reality , that is not going to happen. (Even NCL with their Studios, sometimes it is cheaper to select a normal cabin)

 

What is, for us UK residents, that Cunard are reverting back to allowing solos and 3rds to book the extremely advantageous Getaway fares from 1st September 2013

 

Wonder if our letters helped or if sales are down.

 

info via Cunard Facebook page in reply to Howard Thomas.

https://www.facebook.com/cunard

 

:D

[Whitemarsh]

We all know that in reality , that is not going to happen. (Even NCL with their Studios, sometimes it is cheaper to select a normal cabin)

 

What is, for us UK residents, that Cunard are reverting back to allowing solos and 3rds to book the extremely advantageous Getaway fares from 1st September 2013

 

Wonder if our letters helped or if sales are down.

 

info via Cunard Facebook page in reply to Howard Thomas.

https://www.facebook.com/cunard

 

:D

 

It's very good that they're allowing singles to book the Getaway fares, I wonder why they were excluded in the first place?

[Pennbank]

It's very good that they're allowing singles to book the Getaway fares, I wonder why they were excluded in the first place?

 

The only reason I can think of was to extract even more money from the growing singles market and it did not work.

 

 

You could have lied on the booking and booked for 2 with only 1 travelling anyway. On check in, just state that the the other person was not travelling.

So it did not make sense.

But I suppose many passengers would never have done that to Cunard (:D)

Singles pay 200% usually anyway.

 

The fact that Cunard have now reverted back to their old policy makes everyone happy, except no doubt their bankers

[Pies4u]

Viking look as though they have a good product! Often fancied trying their river cruises but not managed one as yet. They could well affect the likes of Oceania & Regent in Northern Europe with that sort of vessel - it has great potential. The style and design appears to be unique & distinctive.

 

They would also score, highly, in my book if they made one of their new ships "adult only" - none of the so called luxury lines do that and, given the increase in hotels that provide such a facility, that would be a vote winner. If you are providing a high quality product in such a limited environment and majoring on the "peace/tranquility/ambience" themes then that would be far more attractive to many - as has often been debated & presented on here. Credit to P & O for their 3 adult ships, of which I've only been on Arcadia, but the concept is popular and it works.

[fantasy51]

I've just read the release and I can see that Viking will certainly be beyond my price range. They seem to be continuing so many of the policies of river ships that make them too expensive, such as excursions included. I think it will be fantastic for the more affluent, but no good for those of us on about-average incomes.

 

In addition to the outstanding hardware, Viking will provide excellent value for the money (starting at $421 per person per day, including airfare) with the following included : shore excursions in each port of call (enhanced excursions are also available at an additional cost); concierge service; free unlimited wifi; complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner service; complimentary specialty coffees; complimentary self-service laundry; complimentary room service; all port taxes and transfers to and from the ship.

[fantasy51]

You could have lied on the booking and booked for 2 with only 1 travelling anyway. On check in, just state that the the other person was not travelling.

So it did not make sense.

 

We actually asked about that on our last cruise and we were told that if only one person turned up, for whatever reason, it would revert to a single booking and the pax would have to pay the extra.

 

A friend of mine is currently booked on a P&O cruise, using her own name twice in the booking. The company she has booked with assures her that it will go through because they have friends in the booking section at Cunard.

 

She is legally trained and has looked at the small print and has seen it in writing that Cunard can turn around and charge her the extra, but has chosen to test it out.

[Pennbank]

We actually asked about that on our last cruise and we were told that if only one person turned up, for whatever reason, it would revert to a single booking and the pax would have to pay the extra.

 

A friend of mine is currently booked on a P&O cruise, using her own name twice in the booking. The company she has booked with assures her that it will go through because they have friends in the booking section at Cunard.

 

She is legally trained and has looked at the small print and has seen it in writing that Cunard can turn around and charge her the extra, but has chosen to test it out.

 

I have spoken with my travel agent about this and was informed no problem to book for 2 with 1 turning up. How do they know if the other person had a fever and was vomitting so decided not to travel !

Why have that form before checking in then ?.

The travel agent was obviously aware of the ways around the problem. Luckily we wont have to tell porkies from September.:D

I did do a trip in January with P&O (Not a great fan) for 3 weeks to the Caribbean and had no problem with the same policies in house.

[Scrapnana]

I've just read the release and I can see that Viking will certainly be beyond my price range. They seem to be continuing so many of the policies of river ships that make them too expensive, such as excursions included. I think it will be fantastic for the more affluent, but no good for those of us on about-average incomes.

 

In addition to the outstanding hardware, Viking will provide excellent value for the money (starting at $421 per person per day, including airfare) with the following included : shore excursions in each port of call (enhanced excursions are also available at an additional cost); concierge service; free unlimited wifi; complimentary wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner service; complimentary specialty coffees; complimentary self-service laundry; complimentary room service; all port taxes and transfers to and from the ship.

 

With the airfare, excursions, drinks, etc. included $421/day isn't too bad of a deal. What would put it out of my price range would be a 200% single supplement.

[Pennbank]

With the airfare, excursions, drinks, etc. included $421/day isn't too bad of a deal. What would put it out of my price range would be a 200% single supplement.

 

Why should it be a 200% s supplement ?

100% single supplement would be enough for Harvey.

(Why pay more than 2 when only 1 travelling.

[Jim Avery]

Viking look as though they have a good product! Often fancied trying their river cruises but not managed one as yet. They could well affect the likes of Oceania & Regent in Northern Europe with that sort of vessel - it has great potential. The style and design appears to be unique & distinctive.

 

They would also score, highly, in my book if they made one of their new ships "adult only" - none of the so called luxury lines do that and, given the increase in hotels that provide such a facility, that would be a vote winner. If you are providing a high quality product in such a limited environment and majoring on the "peace/tranquility/ambience" themes then that would be far more attractive to many - as has often been debated & presented on here. Credit to P & O for their 3 adult ships, of which I've only been on Arcadia, but the concept is popular and it works.

 

I also would like to see the Adult Only concept. The plans look very appealing. Two negatives come to mind. First, it is being built at Tincantieri.:eek: Secondly, Viking River Cruises has been getting more and more negative reviews of late. One went so far as to refer to Viking as "the Carnival of river cruising".:eek: I have never traveled with Viking River so will keep an open mind and hope that the sea cruise division will operate as advertised. :D

[sullaRaffaello]

With the airfare, excursions, drinks, etc. included $421/day isn't too bad of a deal. What would put it out of my price range would be a 200% single supplement.

 

The way I read it, the only included drinks are wine and beer with lunch and dinner. I'm assuming that any drinks at bars outside of mealtimes would be charged. Who knows how they would attempt to ration out the wine and beer at meals?

[fantasy51]

Why should it be a 200% s supplement ?

100% single supplement would be enough for Harvey.

(Why pay more than 2 when only 1 travelling.

 

Pennbank, I have noticed some confusion when people talk about single supplement. When some people say 200% they mean 200% of the price, i.e. the original fare plus another 100%. Other people refer to that as 100% supplement (i.e. 100% on top of the fare that others pay).

 

I try to write clearly enough so that both camps can understand what I'm saying, and then I use a bit of guesswork when I am reading the posts of other people. :p

[Pennbank]

Pennbank, I have noticed some confusion when people talk about single supplement. When some people say 200% they mean 200% of the price, i.e. the original fare plus another 100%. Other people refer to that as 100% supplement (i.e. 100% on top of the fare that others pay).

 

I try to write clearly enough so that both camps can understand what I'm saying, and then I use a bit of guesswork when I am reading the posts of other people. :p

 

Cheers fantasy

then in that case the word supplement is misleading, and should not be used.

[Salacia]

Sounds interesting. Wonder what the dress code will be.:rolleyes:

 

What is the dress code?

 

During the day on board and ashore dress is casual and comfortable, including shorts, jeans, and sturdy shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for poolside and in the gym.

 

For evenings, while there are no “formal nights”, the recommended onboard dress is Elegant Casual for most restaurants, performances or other special events. Suggested attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional, but not required. Dinner in The World Café remains comfortable and casual, with daytime dress deemed appropriate -

COPIED FROM http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/about-your-trip/faq.aspx