Do P&O Take Their Passenger Loyalty For Granted?

[daiB]

Anyone choosing a line because of perks needs their bumps felt. And all these whingers and moaners. Well sod off to another company where you can revel in your free laundry and stuff.

I choose a cruise based on the itinerary. Then pick the best ship to go there. Having said that we have 750 quid OBC for our next P&O cruise. Not sure what we will spend it on but I am sure we will think of something.

 

 

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I could come and help with that

 

 

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[The Wilkies]

would choose Princess over P & O any day with their wide range of itineraries. We used to think that P &O were the bees knees, not any more...

[The Wilkies]

The 10% off the bill is OK but you have to use up your OBC before you get it.

 

That's wrong. The 10% comes off shop purchases regardless of whether you have outstanding OBC or not.

[Josy1953]

That's wrong. The 10% comes off shop purchases regardless of whether you have outstanding OBC or not.

It didn't come off anything until all of our OBC was used up last week on Ventura. We saved a grand total of 66p and our final bill was £5.94.

 

We were not in in any way bothered that it did not kick in until the OBC was used as it does not make sense to give 10% off if we are not paying any actual money.

[daiB]

That's wrong. The 10% comes off shop purchases regardless of whether you have outstanding OBC or not.

No that is incorrect. Have a look at an old statement you can see exactly when the 10% comes off. This happens when the OBC is spent.

 

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[The Wilkies]

No that is incorrect. Have a look at an old statement you can see exactly when the 10% comes off. This happens when the OBC is spent.

 

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Confusion reigns. I was thinking about Princess. Sorry.

 

Another plus for them

[daiB]

Confusion reigns. I was thinking about Princess. Sorry.

 

 

 

Another plus for them

 

 

Hardly a + if you don't use the shops. We do use the bar however.

 

 

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[john watson]

Well with princess you can reach the top level in a few as 75 nights cruising instead of 250 for P&O to me that is desperation.

 

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This is an exaggeration the minimum number of nights on Princess is technically 16, you can do 1 night cruises but you would have to be a saddo to do all 32 transatlantic flights!

 

Lol John

[daiB]

This is an exaggeration the minimum number of nights on Princess is technically 16, you can do 1 night cruises but you would have to be a saddo to do all 32 transatlantic flights!

 

 

 

Lol John

 

 

So I overegged the pudding to make them look better. :). :)

 

 

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[CCFC]

You can be Elite with Princess in 5 cruises regardless of days, check the Princess boards.

[john watson]

The problem P&O has with loyalty is that there is not much reasonable competition. Nobody in my opinion is offering anything that is close to the product but a clearly better or cheaper alternative. There are other cruise lines but they are all just that bit different and generally short of the mark. This has led to P&O having a huge number of repeat customers. Given that, you cannot hand out much in the way of perks, certainly nothing that is expensive. Therefore if one is going to be in the P&O top tier they need to exclude lots of frequent cruisers, hence the recency clauses!

 

Regards John

[davecttr]

With Southampton departures P&O can have an advantage, If you include fly cruises there is a lot more choice out there.

 

I wonder if Carnival has been using P&O as a cash cow because they have a captive audience but with the depreciation of the pound they are earning less dollars from P&O. The result is severe cost cutting!

[daiB]

You can be Elite with Princess in 5 cruises regardless of days, check the Princess boards.

 

 

Do you not mean 15. The magic numbers are 15 cruises or 150 nights but a one night cruise counts the same as a 50 night cruise.

 

 

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[NSWP]

Do you not mean 15. The magic numbers are 15 cruises or 150 nights but a one night cruise counts the same as a 50 night cruise.

 

 

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Spot on. We have been Elite on Princess since 2008, we got it on the '150 day basis' after 7 cruises, as several of them were 30 plus days.:cool::cool:

 

The Americans do 15 x 3 California coastals and bingo, they qualify with 15 cruises...free laundry !! (and the rest of the perks.)

[daiB]

With Southampton departures P&O can have an advantage, If you include fly cruises there is a lot more choice out there.

 

I wonder if Carnival has been using P&O as a cash cow because they have a captive audience but with the depreciation of the pound they are earning less dollars from P&O. The result is severe cost cutting!

 

 

There is not severe cost cutting. P&O's advantage is the 6/7 ships sailing year round from Southampton. The latest figures show that the number of people cruising from the UK, not flying has gone up 9%. This is one main reason for the apparent increase in the cost of cruises.

 

In reality the main difference is that prices are not going down as much as they once did.

 

 

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[brian1]

Do you not mean 15. The magic numbers are 15 cruises or 150 nights but a one night cruise counts the same as a 50 night cruise.

 

 

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Hi,if you sail in a suite you get an extra credit and if you sail solo you get a credit so if a solo sailed 5 cruises in a suite,elite may be possible,cheers,Brian.

[daiB]

Hi,if you sail in a suite you get an extra credit and if you sail solo you get a credit so if a solo sailed 5 cruises in a suite,elite may be possible,cheers,Brian.

 

 

Ooooo eerrrrr. I forgot that.

 

 

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[davecttr]

There is not severe cost cutting. P&O's advantage is the 6/7 ships sailing year round from Southampton. The latest figures show that the number of people cruising from the UK, not flying has gone up 9%. This is one main reason for the apparent increase in the cost of cruises.

 

In reality the main difference is that prices are not going down as much as they once did.

 

 

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How do you know there is not severe cost cutting? The fact is the pound has depreciated against the dollar by about 16% over the last year. Carnival operate in US dollars so the revenue stream from P&O has dropped considerably, maybe even enough that the cruise line is now operating at a loss. They need to increase the pound based revenue stream by about 20% to get the dollar equivalent back to what it was a year ago. Cost cutting will be part of the solution. Other more drastic solutions might be minimising losses by shrinking the P&O fleet, moving ships to more profitable areas. Having less ships also means they can charge the captive audience more. You could also close the free buffet in the evenings and make the mdr offerings less attractive, 'encouraging' passengers to pay extra for better food.

 

The 9% increase in passenger numbers is encouraging, if it is maintained. I read recently that the consumer spending is remaining high because a lot of the money is coming from credit or spending savings with the saving ratio, whatever that is, as low as it was in the 1960's.

 

What happens to the pound is really important. If the Brexit negotiations turn out to be a disaster the pound will fall further. Carnival financial experts will be making contingency plans for this.

[daiB]

On the other hand how do you know there I this deep cost cutting. My proof is that I have not seen it.

 

You seem to be making assumptions based on what you think.

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

Anyone choosing a line because of perks needs their bumps felt. And all these whingers and moaners. Well sod off to another company where you can revel in your free laundry and stuff.

I choose a cruise based on the itinerary.

Such a warm welcome to people who are considering or who are still to take their P&O cruises and are members of other cruise line loyalty schemes. :rolleyes: No wonder I'm still unsure about taking longer cruises with P&O.

 

We too pick cruises due to the itinerary that's why we have 2 upcoming with P&O. But attitudes like this really concern me.

 

However, in just over six weeks I'll certainly enjoy my stateroom upgrade, free wifi minutes, evening cocktail hours, free access to the spa, fee dry cleaning, pressing and laundry, photo discounts, future cruise discounts, speciality breakfasts, priority boarding and disembarkation etc. And it isn't on P&O.

 

Then again I just enjoyed cruise fare discount, free speciality dinners, gifts, photos, cocktail events, spa access, gifts, priority embarkation, disembarkation, tenders, canapés, fresh fruit and more with another line. Again not P&O.

 

Then next year I can't wait for the dedicated cocktail lounge, 3 hours of free beverages each night, welcome back gift/beverages, behind the scenes tours, my cruise fare discount, free wifi, shopping discounts, discounted laundry, canapés, cocktail events, priority embarkation, private departure lounge with breakfast, complimentary speciality dinners and more with yet another line and still not P&O.

 

Do all these loyalty schemes make me consider them as a first choice when booking? Yes, and they have larger fleets than P&O so there is a greater choice of itineraries to choose from IMHO.

 

Do loyalty schemes mean I will always choose those lines? No, but they do influence our decisions.

[davecttr]

On the other hand how do you know there I this deep cost cutting. My proof is that I have not seen it.

 

You seem to be making assumptions based on what you think.

 

 

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OK, you win

 

Is there any evidence of cost cutting?

[daiB]

OK, you win

 

 

 

Is there any evidence of cost cutting?

 

 

Not that affected me.

 

I think that the problems you foresee may well be offset by the fact that with the rise in the Euro against the £ and land based holidays being thus more expensive, people are or will turn more to cruising on £ based cruise lines. This will have the effect of reducing late deals as they will be able to sell cruises at the full price.

 

Now that is my speculation on the effects of the falling £.

 

 

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[SwissDave]

Do you not mean 15. The magic numbers are 15 cruises or 150 nights but a one night cruise counts the same as a 50 night cruise.

 

 

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It's 5. Sail solo in a full suite, get 3 cruise credits. Do that 5 times with the 1 night cruises available from USA you are at Elite.

 

15 cruise credits, OR, 15 cruises, OR 150 nights.

[GlasgowGuy]

I would have to say that in our opinion P&O take loyalty for granted. We sail P&O for the itinerary but if RCL has a similar one we will choose them first every time. P&O would see a decline is passenger numbers if RCL decide to bring a ship back to the U.K for year round sailing.

 

Gone are the days we looked forward to fine dining and wonderful buffets on P&O, it's now all about the ports for us. The OBC does tend to be higher on P&O but compared to the perks we get on other lines there's no comparison.

 

Re cost cutting. Without seeing P&O figures we will never have a definitive answer, all I can base my assumption of cost cutting on is the quality and variety of food available. If I look back at menus and pics from our early P&O forays and compare then to our last cruise on Ventura.....it's like chalk and cheese.

[majortom10]

There is not severe cost cutting. P&O's advantage is the 6/7 ships sailing year round from Southampton. The latest figures show that the number of people cruising from the UK, not flying has gone up 9%. This is one main reason for the apparent increase in the cost of cruises.

 

In reality the main difference is that prices are not going down as much as they once did.

 

 

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Forgive me if I am mistaken but dont P&O send their 2 largest cruise ships to the Caribbean for 4+ months of the year.