Booking a future cruise onboard during a mini 2 day cruise?

[Goosebear Mum]

Hi.

 

We're thinking of taking a short mini 2 day cruise on Azura in May (and Arcadia in July) for our anniversaries. I know these are going to be party ships, in comparison to our previous two longer Christmas cruises...but it'll be a weekend away :)

 

We've decided (and I was about to book) a long cruise in 2018, but looking on here https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/onboard_sales it seems more beneficial to book onboard, than online. Is this the case for mini cruises? Are the staff available for bookings?

 

Any tips?

 

Thanks

GBM

[supered]

Hi.

 

We're thinking of taking a short mini 2 day cruise on Azura in May (and Arcadia in July) for our anniversaries. I know these are going to be party ships, in comparison to our previous two longer Christmas cruises...but it'll be a weekend away :)

 

We've decided (and I was about to book) a long cruise in 2018, but looking on here https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/onboard_sales it seems more beneficial to book onboard, than online. Is this the case for mini cruises? Are the staff available for bookings?

 

Any tips?

 

Thanks

GBM

Yes you can book future cruises on a 2 night cruise. The opening hours will be in your Horizon newspaper. However as it is a short cruise they will be busy so I'd recommend getting there early.

 

The main benefits are a low deposit of £50 per person and a small amount of extra OBC. Although P&O are not that generous in comparison to Cunard in that regard.

 

Enjoy!

 

Eddie

[Goosebear Mum]

Great. It's that low deposit that's tempting... £100 against £2500 over the two bookings for 2018...

 

I'll get down there early!

[Florry]

I've been looking at the 2 nighter on Azura [emoji16]

 

 

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[peteukmcr]

On a 2 night sailing there were not enough staff on Azura for those who wanted to book future cruises and the opening times were too short leading to long lines of people waiting to book. It was obvious many didn't know what they wanted and were taking ages to make up their minds with the staff making the wait time even longer.

 

So I filled out a form for a future cruise deposit of £50 pp which could be applied to future cruise as long as booked within 12 months of the date of purchase of the FCD and this would be deducted from the applicable deposit. The £50 pp was debited to the on board account. On board spend is also available depending on the length of the future cruise booked.

 

Obviously if you want to only pay a deposit of £50 pp you will have to wait in line and spend a lot of your limited time on board of a 2 night sailing waiting for the staff.

 

Bad organisation by P&O IMHO as the next cruise desks are near the shore excursions desk who have staff doing nothing on the last day of a 2 night sailing! They should be able to help out instead of just standing around doing nothing. P&O could be losing business. At least have an appointment system, other lines do.

[eddie11]

Be aware that the £50 'booked on board' deposit does not apply to world cruises or world sectors

[P&O SUE]

There was a wait for staff on Azura when I was on a 12 night cruise - we just filled in a card and popped it in a box but I don't know if you can do that on a 2 nighter. The next day, in our cabin, was a letter confirming my FCD all booked.

[Scriv]

Yes, on a 2 nighter, the time flies past very fast as a lot is crammed into a very short time. There is a danger of spending a lot of time in the queue and booking a future cruise and missing out on enjoying your limited time onboard. If you are able to buy a FCD by filling out a card and putting it into the box and which is then delivered to your cabin later, you will get the same benefits as booking on board other than being able to choose your cabin of course and discuss your cruise in detail. But you could do this in peace the next day when you get back?

Edited April 16, 2017 by Scriv

[Cathygh]

I have just done 2 nights on Azura and fortunately got to the future cruise desk early. Booking any holiday seems to take ages but it took us longer to get a final price because the assistant did not know that HSBC advance account customers get an extra 5% discount and it took a while to verify this. They could have done with extra staff. Also I think they should open ( early) on disembarkation day. That way if you get a quote on one day, you can think about it and then book before you leave. I don't recall seeing the option to leave a card any where. My TA was able to beat the price. the only advantage to booking on board was the low deposit.

Cathy

[Scriv]

The promotional cards for buying a Future Cruise Deposit/Downpayment have always been on a pile on the Customer Loyalty desk and we also had a flyer in the cabin.

[john watson]

Hi.

 

We're thinking of taking a short mini 2 day cruise on Azura in May (and Arcadia in July) for our anniversaries. I know these are going to be party ships, in comparison to our previous two longer Christmas cruises...but it'll be a weekend away :)

 

 

Any tips?

 

Thanks

GBM

 

 

Arcadia in July leaves the EEC and I believe you can buy a full allowance of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages duty free. These are always welcomed as gifts to people at work, as you are not actually allowed to sell them neither at cost or a profit.

 

Regards John

[ann141]

I have just done 2 nights on Azura and fortunately got to the future cruise desk early. Booking any holiday seems to take ages but it took us longer to get a final price because the assistant did not know that HSBC advance account customers get an extra 5% discount and it took a while to verify this. They could have done with extra staff. Also I think they should open ( early) on disembarkation day. That way if you get a quote on one day, you can think about it and then book before you leave. I don't recall seeing the option to leave a card any where. My TA was able to beat the price. the only advantage to booking on board was the low deposit.

Cathy

 

How recently did you book as we have Premier HSBC accounts and I can t find the 5% discount offer but it would be great if that is the case

[Cathygh]

How recently did you book as we have Premier HSBC accounts and I can t find the 5% discount offer but it would be great if that is the case

 

Hi

The end of March. I don't know about Premier Accounts, but if you google "HSBC Advance account cruise" the offer comes up. Hope you can get the discount

regards

Cathy

[ann141]

Hi

The end of March. I don't know about Premier Accounts, but if you google "HSBC Advance account cruise" the offer comes up. Hope you can get the discount

regards

Cathy

 

Thanks, Cathy

I will have to go into the bank and find out- its certainly a good perk!:)