Vantage & Getaway fares scrapped

[Scriv]

If you read through this forum, mniein,you will see that there has been a long discussion about this issue over the last 6 months or so....

 

Anyway, P and O now have a new price structure to be announced today which they feel is a new fair structure for all of us. We haven't seen it yet, so it is too early to comment at the moment.

 

Re your case though, I think we have to accept that the very late booking offers are always around on all types of holidays like this.

 

Enjoy your cruise - am sure you will have a fab time.

[Wiltonian]

Well, that's strange: at 7.57am on the day Getaway fares are going, there are around 10 more listed than there were yesterday!

 

Stuart

[Wiltonian]

Aha!

 

Vantage and Getaway run to the end of a March as expected. With a little overlap, Select prices then start. Then for some cruises, there's a second column of lower prices, and that column is unlabelled! That feature runs to the end of April.

 

And fly-med cruises now include the flights, as for fly-Caribbean cruises at what I think are slightly higher prices.

 

Hmmm.

 

Stuart

[Wiltonian]

The site is updating as we use it: the second column is now labelled as early saver. Same 15% deposit, the expected reduced priority on dining etc etc and no upgrades. Intriguingly, only inside and outside cabin prices shown, but balcony prices available, certainly on some cruises, once you start booking.

 

But that may change, of course!

 

Stuart

[Midsomer Madness]

The cruise we have booked for the Caribbean in 2015 has reduced in price by a couple of hundred pounds pp, so Need to wait and see what our TA has to say, will we get any extra OBC? I'd be very happy if we did lol

[Len Baker]

The cruise we have booked for the Caribbean in 2015 has reduced in price by a couple of hundred pounds pp, so Need to wait and see what our TA has to say, will we get any extra OBC? I'd be very happy if we did lol

 

Our 2015 Canaries cruise has reduced by £190 per person. Not sailed with P&O before and I'm not very happy. I would be grateful if you could post an indication of your TA's reply regarding OBC. We booked online with P&O and to date received no information on this subject.

 

Total reduction £380. Total deposit we have paid £395!! Soon we may be better off cancelling if no OBC.

 

Len

[Scriv]

I'm hoping we will get an email soon about our bookings if we have already made them direct with P&O...Please could people post when/if they hear?

 

It will also be interesting to hear what the TAs will be saying about existing bookings where the price has dropped.

[Midsomer Madness]

I will certainly post when I hear..someone over on Facebook says she has already rang p&o and been advised the difference will be given in OBC, but is will wait until I hear from my TA...again if anybody else hears please post.

[kersh]

I have just checked our cruises out for next year.

 

The two on Adonia are more expensive than we paid on the select fare and the saver fare is slightly less but we have on board credit.

 

The Oriana one at Xmas is not available on saver fare and the select fare is identical to what we paid.

 

I still cannot believe that the late booking fares will not be considerably less than these new fares.

 

We are looking for a getaway around June next year so will wait and see what cones available. The rest of the year us booked up unless we see a really good deal in October lol.

 

Sue

[Midsomer Madness]

This has been posted with Vicki's permission..for her Facebook post

 

Just spoken to someone at Bolsover, they are flooded with calls about the fare changes. Any vantage that are booked will get any diffrerence between that and the new Select fares as OBC on top of any benifits they already have, e.g. coach, parking OBC etc.... emails will be coming out but as 1000's will take a while, early saver to replace getaway but no where like the old getaway, will not be the late deals at half price any more, said thats the end of the nightmare as P&O have never ever had so many complaints as they have since getaways, some people have paid 1000's more on a old vantage fare than fellow passengers on a getaway and P&O have had a customer relations nightmare apparently !! Hopefully this will get things back to how they were, book early get more benifits but also a good price just a little over the saver fare with no benifits and the saver fare to stay a very similar price or possibly even go up nearere to sail time. Select fares with the benifits will not go up and if come down will get the extra benifits which never seemed to happen with vantage so will see.

 

And

 

 

just to add, he said so many people had been waiting for the getaways, apparently they will get a shock in future if they wait...........things will be changing for definate apparently, they cant risk this ever happening again its cost them a lot

3 minutes ago · Like

 

I'm still waiting to hear from my TA but expect they are rather busy today!

Edited November 4, 2013 by Midsomer Madness

[Norfolk Brit]

This has been posted with Vicki's permission..for her Facebook post

 

Just spoken to someone at Bolsover, they are flooded with calls about the fare changes. Any vantage that are booked will get any diffrerence between that and the new Select fares as OBC on top of any benifits they already have, e.g. coach, parking OBC etc.... emails will be coming out but as 1000's will take a while, early saver to replace getaway but no where like the old getaway, will not be the late deals at half price any more,

 

so many people had been waiting for the getaways, apparently they will get a shock in future if they wait...........things will be changing for definate apparently

 

I don't suppose they were prepared to put any of this in writing?:rolleyes:

 

Mary

[Scriv]

Which prices are you comparing when you talk about the 'price difference'?

 

The brochure/website listed prices for your cabin category under the old scheme compared with today's website?

[Midsomer Madness]

The vantage price you booked at compared to the new select fare showing today for the same category of cabin.

 

I've just received an email from p&o about our 2 nighter on Oriana saying price has not changed so everything remains the same. If the select fare should drop they will contact me,blah blah blah, that's exactly the same as they said when vantage fares came in..so I remain to be convinced..I've not received anything about our Caribbean one yet, but suspect they are sending emails out depending on the date of sailing...

[Midsomer Madness]

Confirmation received from p&o by email, our cruise has dropped in price. We will get the difference of £300 in OBC..quite happy with that!

[simonpjd]

We have got the email with details of our Mar15 Adonia cruise.

New fare is the same as the Vantage fare we booked so no change. If the new fare falls we will get the difference. Unlikely - but we knew all this when we booked so not worried at all.

Overall the new structure seems a lot fairer than vantage/getaway so well done P&O and I hope it works out well. And if the last minute fares will no longer be 40-50% reductions so much the better.

[simonpjd]

BTW I see the Carnival share price is up to £22.50 this morning. So for those canny enough to fill their boots when they fell to £21 a month or so ago you not only are getting some OBC but you are also making a notional £1.50 a share profit. Happy days.

Please remember they can go up or down.

[Scriv]

Had my email re our cruise for next June- extra OBC of £354.00 as the Select Price is less.

I am very happy with that :)

Edited November 4, 2013 by Scriv

[Brayman]

Just had my email for Aurora in July and an additional OBC of £384 to match difference between what I paid and what the new Select price is.

 

Well done P&O for getting the emails out so quickly and effectively honouring their Price Promise! :)

[crompton21]

The whole debacle of vantage/getaway fares could certainly be used as an educational feature on how to seriously damage a brand, and how to allienate what was a very loyal customer base.

I would make an assumption that the majority of people were not so much upset by the fact that their chosen cruise reduced in price (that will always stand a chance of happening) but that they felt conned by a price promise that was probably not the most honest and probably not P & O's finest hour.

Today there appears to be a move straight into saying that the prices will not come down and that those are the prices full stop. Should that not be the case and prices fall, then we are back to square one with people feeling conned again. I hope that doesn't happen, but am cynical as to whether anyone can promise that prices will not fall if a cruise has not sold well.

I think that it is possible that you may see heavily discounted cruises sold through online offers/travel agents but not directly by P & O on their website. They can then respond to all complaints saying that how a third party chooses to sell their product is beyond their control, and infact it would be illegal for them to try and control selling prices by a third party.

[Midsomer Madness]

The commission to TA has not been increased so can't see them selling of cheap. the early saver fares are quite good from what I've seen 7 night fly cruise including flights in April £599 only deposit needed to be paid...

Edited November 4, 2013 by Midsomer Madness

[crompton21]

Agents recently said Cunard and P&O had a long way to go to build bridges with the trade, but Truscott said the lines were “coming back to the table with opportunities for agents”.

 

The cruise lines said other promotional fares may be introduced from time to time, including limited late availability deals that will come with no choice of cabin, dining time or table size and very restrictive booking conditions.

 

These comments come from Travel mole/Travel weekly.

 

I genuinely hope that we can get back to a simple situation where you can book a cruise in advance, sit back and look forward to your holiday without worrying on where the price will end up. But at this early stage lets be careful on "the price will not change" type comments.

[clivep]

Select fares with the benifits will not go up and if come down will get the extra benifits which never seemed to happen with vantage so will see.

 

And

 

 

just to add, he said so many people had been waiting for the getaways, apparently they will get a shock in future if they wait...........things will be changing for definate apparently, they cant risk this ever happening again its cost them a lot

 

As far as I can see, the new Select fares have dropped the price guarantee of the Vantage fares. P&O says it's "kept all the benefits you value" with the Select prices... they obviously agree that the price guarantee of the Vantage fares had no value.

 

P&O also state "Other promotional prices may be introduced within three months of the sailing date". Let's call them Late Savers (or Getaways version 2) and will presumably be at whatever price is needed to fill the ships.

[leylander]

Got an email referring to "your booking on Ventura in December".

 

"Turning to your booking with us in December, as your holiday departs prior to when these changes are being made, your booking is not affected and your terms and conditions remain the same."

 

So nothing for us. Paid £4000 for the two of us with a vantage fare. Oh - and we're not on Ventura in December, we're on Azura in Jan.

[Captain Rob]

My Email refers to my booking on Azura in January. Thought I was on Ventura!

[Captain Rob]

Just had another email from P&O

 

Dear Passenger

 

You may have just received an email from us and we are aware that some have gone out with some incorrect information on them. We apologise for this error and we will be sending you a revised email later today. Please disregard your first email.

 

Regards

 

P&O Cruises

 

Can't they get anything right?