Summer 2020 launch price

[Firsttimecruise10]

Hi,

 

I have been waiting for the April 2020 prices to be released as I am planning to take my family on our first cruise.

 

I have kept an eye on the April 2019 prices for the 7 night Western Europe cruise, for a balcony at select price the cost has hovered between £650pp and £750pp with free parking and £45pp credit.

 

I was quite disappointed to see the same cruise for April 2020 (actually minus the Gurnsey stop) is £850pp with free parking or £45 credit.

 

I have read numerous times that launch is the best time to book. Does any one have any advice as to whether the launch price seems particularly expensive?

 

Many thanks in advance

[pete14]

Hi,

 

I have been waiting for the April 2020 prices to be released as I am planning to take my family on our first cruise.

 

I have kept an eye on the April 2019 prices for the 7 night Western Europe cruise, for a balcony at select price the cost has hovered between £650pp and £750pp with free parking and £45pp credit.

 

I was quite disappointed to see the same cruise for April 2020 (actually minus the Gurnsey stop) is £850pp with free parking or £45 credit.

 

I have read numerous times that launch is the best time to book. Does any one have any advice as to whether the launch price seems particularly expensive?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Launch is usually the cheapest time to book, especially select fare. I cannot comment on the actual cruise you have mentioned but another way of looking at it is for £120 per night for a balcony cabin, as much food and entertainment as you like and waking up somewhere new every morning is great value. If younger family members are sharing your cabin, I think they are free at the moment as well.

[jeanlyon]

Well for both the cruises I am booking the prices are really good, but they are on Arcadia, both 19 days and in April and October. Can't speak for other cruise lengths.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

I think prices are slightly higher for 2020 Cruises, but I presume this is to cover the removal of tips.

 

 

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[oxygenbanditnot]

Cost of cruise is influenced by lots of factors but under £100 pppn for a Balcony Cabin is very good value when you consider the reasonable food, entertainment; and all the other amenities make for a good all round holiday. Launch is not always the best time but if it is school hols you are going in, then you are better off booking up early.

[sweep2907]

This was all discussed in a recent thread. Too many factors to list but I'd say on the whole the launch is the cheapest. If the cruise isn't selling as well then obviously prices will lower like any supply and demand commodity. Depends on ship and cruise etc

[Selbourne]

Hi,

 

I have been waiting for the April 2020 prices to be released as I am planning to take my family on our first cruise.

 

I have kept an eye on the April 2019 prices for the 7 night Western Europe cruise, for a balcony at select price the cost has hovered between £650pp and £750pp with free parking and £45pp credit.

 

I was quite disappointed to see the same cruise for April 2020 (actually minus the Gurnsey stop) is £850pp with free parking or £45 credit.

 

I have read numerous times that launch is the best time to book. Does any one have any advice as to whether the launch price seems particularly expensive?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

To answer your specific question, yes it does seem to me that launch prices & OBC combined (which, as the true ‘net’ price is the correct way to look at it, rather than just base price) aren’t quite as good this time as at other launches.

 

I have been a vocal advocate for a few years now that the best time to book a Select price is at launch, which is what we have been doing. None of our last 6 Cruises have ever been cheaper (net of OBC) than when we booked them.

 

We have booked two cruises at this launch. One is on Iona, which in so far as base price was concerned seemed very reasonable. However, the offer of OBC or parking is very poor compared to what we have had before. We have always managed both. Other regular posters on here say that they have only ever had one or the other and I have no reason to doubt them (I book with P&O whereas most use TA’s), but I have maintained detailed records of every cruise we have booked since 1996 and in recent years, booking at launch, we have had both - and sometimes quite a chunk of OBC in addition to parking.

 

We have also booked a 21 night cruise on Aurora for summer 2020 which is costing £100 per night more than a comparable 19 night Cruise on Aurora in spring 2019, also booked at launch. In addition, the 2020 Cruise offers OBC or parking. Our 2019 booking offered both. Obviously the fact that the 2020 cruise is summer will account for some of the price difference but not all. It may also be that the conversion of this ship to adult only (which wasn’t announced when we booked the 2019 Cruise) may have played a part.

 

So, for the first time in a number of years, I am less convinced now that those of us booking summer 2020 cruises at this time will be getting the lowest ‘net’ prices. Hopefully I will be wrong as I have booked two, but I certainly feel that there will be late bargains to be had on Iona, as I simply cannot see P&O filling that ship for a whole season just doing the same 7 night Fjord cruise.

 

Of course, it could be the case, as suggested by another poster above, that the lower OBC this time is as a result of the abolition of the auto service charge. Although I wholeheartedly agree with this move (and applaud P&O for doing it) I am not naive enough to believe that P&O will just suffer this loss of revenue. It will clearly have to be offset elsewhere. If, as may be the case, this has been achieved through lower OBC, it may indeed be the case that these ‘net’ prices will continue to be the lowest. None of us know for sure. Only time will tell.

[janny444]

Hi....just booked the Iona at the same price as what we paid last year....2017....for the same time of year....same cabin grade. We always have the coach transfer so no increase over the 3 years and of course tips/gratuities are included so actually is is working out cheaper.

 

With you being a first time cruiser you will get 5% off the select fare....not sure if you have factored that in your costing

[Cathygh]

Other cuts are evident in the number of ports of call, as the OP mentioned Guernsey. Baltic ports seem to have been cut too. I haven't checked any others.

I have only booked on launch once which is for an Oceana cruise to Dubai next year. I am still tracking prices but what seems to be clear in general is that suite prices are hardly ever cheaper after launch, unless the cruise isn't too popular and there is still availability later on. I base this on our fjords cruise last summer, on Aurora, when we were offered an upgrade to a suite at a heavily discounted price. There were 16 mini suites and suites available 2 weeks before sailing. So maybe there will be bargains on Iona.

[grapau27]

To answer your specific question, yes it does seem to me that launch prices & OBC combined (which, as the true ‘net’ price is the correct way to look at it, rather than just base price) aren’t quite as good this time as at other launches.

 

I have been a vocal advocate for a few years now that the best time to book a Select price is at launch, which is what we have been doing. None of our last 6 Cruises have ever been cheaper (net of OBC) than when we booked them.

 

We have booked two cruises at this launch. One is on Iona, which in so far as base price was concerned seemed very reasonable. However, the offer of OBC or parking is very poor compared to what we have had before. We have always managed both. Other regular posters on here say that they have only ever had one or the other and I have no reason to doubt them (I book with P&O whereas most use TA’s), but I have maintained detailed records of every cruise we have booked since 1996 and in recent years, booking at launch, we have had both - and sometimes quite a chunk of OBC in addition to parking.

 

We have also booked a 21 night cruise on Aurora for summer 2020 which is costing £100 per night more than a comparable 19 night Cruise on Aurora in spring 2019, also booked at launch. In addition, the 2020 Cruise offers OBC or parking. Our 2019 booking offered both. Obviously the fact that the 2020 cruise is summer will account for some of the price difference but not all. It may also be that the conversion of this ship to adult only (which wasn’t announced when we booked the 2019 Cruise) may have played a part.

 

So, for the first time in a number of years, I am less convinced now that those of us booking summer 2020 cruises at this time will be getting the lowest ‘net’ prices. Hopefully I will be wrong as I have booked two, but I certainly feel that there will be late bargains to be had on Iona, as I simply cannot see P&O filling that ship for a whole season just doing the same 7 night Fjord cruise.

 

Of course, it could be the case, as suggested by another poster above, that the lower OBC this time is as a result of the abolition of the auto service charge. Although I wholeheartedly agree with this move (and applaud P&O for doing it) I am not naive enough to believe that P&O will just suffer this loss of revenue. It will clearly have to be offset elsewhere. If, as may be the case, this has been achieved through lower OBC, it may indeed be the case that these ‘net’ prices will continue to be the lowest. None of us know for sure. Only time will tell.

With your detailed past cruise price records you are the best person to listen to.

I agree Iona doing all those Fjord cruises on a high passenger capacity ship is going to be difficult to fill and feel deals will be had closer to sail time.

Work holiday agreement and caring for Pauline's mam with her dementia mean we can't book at launch but usually around 6-9 months before sailing.

We always book balconies on select and received good obc

[jeanlyon]

We always have an inside cabin and I think that £69 pppn for one cruise and £81 pppn for the other is amazing value. The OBC is slightly less but that's fine. Those are our 2020 bookings. For 2019, we have similar prices and the price of the cruise is now £500 pp more than we paid on launch.

[stocktonmackem]

I have just compared the price of our cruise to the fjords for aug next year on Ventura with the cruise we have booked on Iona for the same time of year. It is actually £450 cheaper on Iona and we also have a better grade of cabin.

[daiB]

To answer your specific question, yes it does seem to me that launch prices & OBC combined (which, as the true ‘net’ price is the correct way to look at it, rather than just base price) aren’t quite as good this time as at other launches.

 

I have been a vocal advocate for a few years now that the best time to book a Select price is at launch, which is what we have been doing. None of our last 6 Cruises have ever been cheaper (net of OBC) than when we booked them.

 

We have booked two cruises at this launch. One is on Iona, which in so far as base price was concerned seemed very reasonable. However, the offer of OBC or parking is very poor compared to what we have had before. We have always managed both. Other regular posters on here say that they have only ever had one or the other and I have no reason to doubt them (I book with P&O whereas most use TA’s), but I have maintained detailed records of every cruise we have booked since 1996 and in recent years, booking at launch, we have had both - and sometimes quite a chunk of OBC in addition to parking.

 

We have also booked a 21 night cruise on Aurora for summer 2020 which is costing £100 per night more than a comparable 19 night Cruise on Aurora in spring 2019, also booked at launch. In addition, the 2020 Cruise offers OBC or parking. Our 2019 booking offered both. Obviously the fact that the 2020 cruise is summer will account for some of the price difference but not all. It may also be that the conversion of this ship to adult only (which wasn’t announced when we booked the 2019 Cruise) may have played a part.

 

So, for the first time in a number of years, I am less convinced now that those of us booking summer 2020 cruises at this time will be getting the lowest ‘net’ prices. Hopefully I will be wrong as I have booked two, but I certainly feel that there will be late bargains to be had on Iona, as I simply cannot see P&O filling that ship for a whole season just doing the same 7 night Fjord cruise.

 

Of course, it could be the case, as suggested by another poster above, that the lower OBC this time is as a result of the abolition of the auto service charge. Although I wholeheartedly agree with this move (and applaud P&O for doing it) I am not naive enough to believe that P&O will just suffer this loss of revenue. It will clearly have to be offset elsewhere. If, as may be the case, this has been achieved through lower OBC, it may indeed be the case that these ‘net’ prices will continue to be the lowest. None of us know for sure. Only time will tell.

 

 

 

As we discussed before Selbourne In all our cruises in the past 6 years we have never had more than one benefit. Our TA always keeps us right in this regard often telling us which would be the better value. From the cruises we have looked out the on-board credit seems to be the same as in previous years or certainly not much different. Clearly you could find individual uses where this is not the case but I think the generality is that there has been little change.

 

 

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[majortom10]

Only just noticed for the first time that the inside cabins are only 134sq ft which is very small even to Britannia's comparative which is 161sq ft. Battery hens come to mind.

[grapau27]

I have just compared the price of our cruise to the fjords for aug next year on Ventura with the cruise we have booked on Iona for the same time of year. It is actually £450 cheaper on Iona and we also have a better grade of cabin.

Great news for you.

[grapau27]

Only just noticed for the first time that the inside cabins are only 134sq ft which is very small even to Britannia's comparative which is 161sq ft. Battery hens come to mind.

Wow that's small.

We always book balconies although haven't booked yet so will check the size of them.

[jeanlyon]

Azura's inside cabins are only 137-181 so not much difference.

[oxygenbanditnot]

We always have inside cabins too, but we book late saver normally. Our last cruise was Oriana 17 nights including 2 days in Venice. We paid £58pppn. We have yet to have a bad cabin, but yes it does happen.

[jeanlyon]

Don't agree with the person above who says they are cutting ports. We have got some great ports on our two Arcadia cruises, but then that's why we booked them. Iona can't get fuel at all ports, so maybe that's why. I can't believe they are going to fill that ship to the fjords every week with 5000+ pax.

[kersh]

We always book on launch day and have yet to see any of the cruises we have booked cheaper for select price. Occasionally we have seen them slightly cheaper at saver fare but as we like to choose our cabin and dining saver fare doesn’t interest us.

In 2016 we did a 24 night USA cruise on Arcadia in an aft balcony. We booked on launch day and the price per night was £104 pp. this almost doubled during the 18 month before we sailed. We are thinking of booking the USA cruise again for 2020 in the same cabin but the price this time has risen to £165 per night pp. That is some hike in price but still less than the cruise price ended up being in 2016.

[majortom10]

Azura's inside cabins are only 137-181 so not much difference.

 

The equivalent PA inside cabin on Azura is 159sq ft.

[izzywalker]

Azura's inside cabins are only 137-181 so not much difference.

Her sister ship venturer is the same size inside cabin

[Firsttimecruise10]

Thank you all for the replies and input. I’ve taken the plunge and registered for a HE cabin on Britannia for April 2020!! Thanks again!