Cunard UK vs US Pricing

[kohl57]

I've often read here how different the fares are for Cunard for the U.S. and U.K. market. And despite relentless "geoblocking" of its websites, there are plenty of software add-odds to get around this. Using "Hola" I came up the below comparisons for the 17-day Mediterranean cruise in QUEEN ELIZABETH 28 August that my wife and I are going on. I picked the grade of cabin we had last year and the Princess Grill cabin we have this year

 

CA Balcony Britannia Restuarant

US market fare $1999 pp (or £1502 ) (it's flat rate for ALL Balcony Cabins actually)

UK market fare £2714 pp (or $3610)

 

The UK fare is the full Cunard fare not the "saver" fare which we don't have in the US

 

P2 Princess Suite Princess Grill

US market fare $7948 pp (or £5976 pp)

UK market fare £5399 pp (or $7182 pp)

 

As of now, there is no "free drinks" offer for grills on this sailing for the U.S. market.

 

So... and as they say your mileage will vary, on this sailing, the Britannia cabins are cheaper... substantially... for the US market while the Princess ones are higher.

 

Of course, we booked our cruise last September and got... well.. we got an amazing deal ($5495/£4128 pp) that has still held up and included free drinks, free gratuities and a $550 pp on board credit. Proving that sometimes the best deals are well before sailing not closer in.

Edited May 28, 2018 by kohl57

[Ray66]

(it's flat rate for ALL Balcony Cabins actually)

 

Is that always the case in the US or just for this cruise? There are lots of different balcony rates for us. Lower decks/upper decks, front/aft/midships.

 

I've never seen free gratuities offered in the UK. But we do get some OBC or free car parking when paying the full Cunard Fare.

[kohl57]

I just picked one cruise, the one we are actually booked on. This is a product, a commodity in an international, global market so the prices will vary and probably there will be 123 different fares offered for the same cabin before it's done. My comparison was strictly one cruise, at the prevailing rates for today for the US and UK market. I suspect the rates for the EU may be different, too.

[bluemarble]

Is that always the case in the US or just for this cruise? There are lots of different balcony rates for us. Lower decks/upper decks, front/aft/midships.

 

I've never seen free gratuities offered in the UK. But we do get some OBC or free car parking when paying the full Cunard Fare.

 

No, that's unusual to have all the balcony rates the same here in the US.

 

To expand a bit on kohl57's analysis, the US fares quoted do not include an additional $118.97 per person in taxes and fees which are included in the UK fares. In the US there is $50 per person OBC included for both the CA and P2 cabins on this voyage. In the UK, if you choose the OBC option, the offer is $130 per person in the CA cabin and $220 per person in the P2 cabin.

[kohl57]

Yes, and there are additional OBC offered by agencies etc, past passengers etc. We got a combination of both plus more for booking right after our last cruise.

 

Again, it's your classic commodity pricing no different from investing in pork belly futures or indeed airline fares etc. It's not some regulated "service" fare. And Cunard are no different in this respect than other lines.

 

Our experience has always been if it seems like a real "deal", no matter how far out it's offered, it's usually better to grab it. Not everything, especially the better grades of accommodation, is "dumped" on the market at the last moment.

[Canuker]

Another thread on this topic is at

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2630420

[ZZRLAD]

The free drinks, gratuities and OBC you state are worth a minimum of £2500 for us on our two week cruise.

That’s one hell of a shafting for UK. And they expect us to pay gratuities and cabin daily charge to boost employees pay ?. Obviously they can afford to pay their employees acceptable salaries otherwise they couldn’t afford to charge the US so much less than the U.K.

another example of rip off Britain

Edited May 28, 2018 by ZZRLAD
Spelling error

[kohl57]

What I find hard to believe is the Cunard, like many British companies, actually charge you to... talk to them on the telephone! And way more than you'd pay otherwise. Just astonishing. In the U.S., it's a toll free call without exception. When we booked our August cruise in QE, the rate actually dropped for the P2 grade (it was originally a flat rate for all Princess Grill cabins) we reserved and wanted... called Cunard, toll free, and the agent helpfully devoted a good 22 mins to rebook us to take advantage of the lower fare. That call alone would have cost close to 20 quid in England. As I said... astonishing.

[fantasy51]

Kohl57, if you know what you are doing then calls to Cunard in the UK are free. There is a website here which is 'saynoto0870'. You put in the high-priced number and it tells you the standard alternative, which is free with many phone packages.

[oceansandseas]

Canadian and also Diamond with Cunard. The promotions that have been running lately in Canada (I can only get Canadian page with Canadian Dollar pricing) is offering FREE DRINKS AND COMPLIMENTARY GRATUITIES FOR GRILLS CLASS ONLY. This benefit is not given to inside, outside or balcony cabins. Are FREE DRINKS AND COMPLIMENTARY GRATUITIES given to everyone booking Cunard in the US?

 

It was mentioned that in US there were reductions for past passengers. DH and I are Diamond and have never been given reduction in price for this. There is a 5% for past passengers taking the World Cruise if you book quite far ahead by a date specified by Cunard. Have other past passengers received a reduction in price? What percentage? Was this recent?

 

If I ever saw the price being the same for all balcony categories, I would not book the lowest priced balcony available.

 

Earlier this month I was able to get OBC of $400.00 per cabin on the cruise we booked. It was a promotion. Higher amounts for more expensive cabins. This is the first time I have been given any OBC and I am Diamond and have used different TA's.

 

In Canada (and I believe in US) we have fees and taxes added on. $220.00 Canadian for a double crossing. That would be about $165.00 United States dollars. There are never included air, parking or transfers as I have heard sometimes come with UK bookings.

 

I did not want to let our UK friends think we were getting free drinks and gratuities and all kinds of OBC.

[oceansandseas]

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I must make a correction. Looked at Canadian web site and for voyage Q825, all of the balcony cabin categories are listed for the same price. Not sure how many cabins are available for this sailing. I did not take the time to make a false booking. I guess it happens once in awhile, especially when they are trying to fill a ship. Probably works something like Guarantee bookings.

-

[bluemarble]

See my recollections and thoughts below in red.

 

Canadian and also Diamond with Cunard. The promotions that have been running lately in Canada (I can only get Canadian page with Canadian Dollar pricing) is offering FREE DRINKS AND COMPLIMENTARY GRATUITIES FOR GRILLS CLASS ONLY. This benefit is not given to inside, outside or balcony cabins. Are FREE DRINKS AND COMPLIMENTARY GRATUITIES given to everyone booking Cunard in the US?

 

The current "Big Balcony Event" promotion in the US does indeed only offer free drinks and gratuities for grills suite guests. There was an "Upgrade on Us" promotion this past winter that offered free gratuities for all past passengers (even in Britannia cabins) and free drinks for grills suite guests. As I recall, last summer there was a "Drinks on Us" promotion in the US which offered free drinks for Britannia balcony cabins and above.

It was mentioned that in US there were reductions for past passengers. DH and I are Diamond and have never been given reduction in price for this. There is a 5% for past passengers taking the World Cruise if you book quite far ahead by a date specified by Cunard. Have other past passengers received a reduction in price? What percentage? Was this recent?

 

There is generally a 5% past passenger discount offered in both the US and the UK for a few months after new schedules are announced. When the bulk of the 2019 schedule was announced last September, a 5% past passenger discount was offered on those 2019 sailings through November 30.

If I ever saw the price being the same for all balcony categories, I would not book the lowest priced balcony available.

 

Agreed in general. I happen to prefer a forward balcony to an aft balcony, so one exception to this for me would be if BZ and BY sheltered balconies on QM2 were both being offered for the same fare, I would select the forward BZ balcony. But then that's just a matter of my personal preference. Most others would probably prefer an aft BY balcony cabin.

 

Earlier this month I was able to get OBC of $400.00 per cabin on the cruise we booked. It was a promotion. Higher amounts for more expensive cabins. This is the first time I have been given any OBC and I am Diamond and have used different TA's.

 

Not sure what TA's you are using, and I know you can't mention them here, but it is rather unusual not to get any OBC at all from the online TA's I use here in the US. An exception would be some late bookings (after final payment date) where sometimes OBC is harder to come by from the online TA's.

 

In Canada (and I believe in US) we have fees and taxes added on. $220.00 Canadian for a double crossing. That would be about $165.00 United States dollars. There are never included air, parking or transfers as I have heard sometimes come with UK bookings.

 

That's correct. Taxes and fees are not included in the base fares advertised in the US. In the UK, if you book the "Cunard" fare, you typically have your choice of coach travel to Southampton, parking in Southampton, or OBC. In the UK, airfare is included in the fare for voyages that either depart from or arrive in a port other than Southampton. If you book the "Cunard" fare in the UK, you may receive a reduction in the fare for choosing to arrange your own flights instead.

 

I did not want to let our UK friends think we were getting free drinks and gratuities and all kinds of OBC.

Edited May 29, 2018 by bluemarble

[kohl57]

The discount we got as Platinum World Club members, upon return from our last cruise, was $400 pp extra OBC if we booked Grill accommodation by November (this was after a September cruise). This was in addition to the $150 pp OBC which we get via the agency anyway. At the time we booked, they were offering a very competitive flat rate for P1/P2 cabins that included free tips and free drinks. We wanted a P2 owing to the location. That was in September. In February, the rate for P2s went down the usual percentage vs. P1s and we were easily able to rebook at the still lower fare, same cabin and same deals etc. The free tips/free drinks offer has come and gone numerous times for this specific cruise but the fare has only gone steadily up since then. Indeed, Princess has shown "sold out" a few times.

 

In the end, we think we got a deal by 1) booking within the window after our last cruise and 2) and securing what seemed like a generous offer at the time rather than hoping it would get better. A deal is usually a deal and this wound up costing us far less than a comparable Oceania cruise.

[majortom10]

We last cruised in a Queens Grill suite in Oct/Nov 2017 and have had no offers on returning home if we booked another cruise in a grill suite. No free drinks or gratuities obviously another offer that benefits US cruisers and not those that live in the UK.

[kohl57]

But.... I think this extra credit was offered if you booked aboard as well??? We decided against it as it was the usual mob scene to do so and I find the staff entrusted to do it rather less than amenable. So we had this little "Welcome Home" booklet arrive in the post two days after returning home. In fact, I threw it in the rubbish and retrieved it when I realized it, combined with the prevailing pricing, was a real deal. Maybe it's something only extended to Platinum members?

 

Anyway, it's interesting if not distressing to appreciate how different Cunard treat customers in different countries... maybe the difference is more perception but if a potential (or past) customer perceives they are being unfairly treated, that's all that need to ensure they might not be customers any longer. BTW, P&O used to be like this to their few American customers in the 1980s-90s pre Carnival so it cuts both ways. Indeed, I still have the letter from one David Dingle telling me to, in effect, get lost and stop trying to book P&O from the U.S.! Charming....