Southampton to Barbados (late October) your advice please

[Big HP]

Thanks everyone for your comments has helped decide I would do this cruise but can't get my head round if to book on low deposit at current price and cancel rebook if price drop or sit it out and see. 

[wowzz]

33 minutes ago, Big HP said:

Thanks everyone for your comments has helped decide I would do this cruise but can't get my head round if to book on low deposit at current price and cancel rebook if price drop or sit it out and see. 

I can't see much of a downside by booking now with a low deposit. By booking now you will get your choice of cabin, preferred dining option (I assume you will book select) . By waiting, you might get a slightly better price, but in a bad cabin, with a dining option that is not to your liking.  

[Big HP]

Thx - actually no early saver but can select grade of cabin and type which we know is only on one part of ship we are happy with.

Dining option hope we get choice of freedom dining.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Big HP said:

Thx - actually no early saver but can select grade of cabin and type which we know is only on one part of ship we are happy with.

Dining option hope we get choice of freedom dining.

Whilst you can choose whereabouts on the ship, you won't be able to specify which side, which us crucial if you have a balcony on a TA.

You probably know that freedom dining is the most popular option,  so that could be problematic.

In some cases,  the difference in price between select and saver is not that great, especially when you take obc into account.  Unless the saving is massive, I think it is better to pay more in order to select the exact cabin I want, and to be certain of getting  freedom dining.

[Big HP]

It's £800 different in price  with £400 obc  inc so £400 overall. I think that's alot for choice of cabin. I was hoping as out of school holidays freedom may be less popular!

Think a package holiday may be easier! 

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Big HP said:

It's £800 different in price  with £400 obc  inc so £400 overall. I think that's alot for choice of cabin. I was hoping as out of school holidays freedom may be less popular!

Think a package holiday may be easier! 

I don't think that the chances of getting freedom dining will be any easier just because it is out of school holidays.

We use our balcony a lot - not keen on laying on sunbeds surrounded by 100s of other people. With at least 7 sea days on a TA, the thought of our cabin being in the shade for the whole time makes £400 seem very reasonable in order to get all day sunshine. 

Just our preference,  we all have different priorities. 

[sueandphil]

We have done the TA 7 times and two more booked this year (hopefully) and next year all on P&O. We have been lucky with the weather except for 2015 on Adonia until after a couple of days after the Azores. We have also cruised other lines but never a TA. We always go for a Port side balcony or if we can afford it an aft suite. We try for the longer 22 nights as you spend 9 days getting to the Caribbean so you have limited time there on the shorter 14 or 15 nights. I suggest at the very least you go for the 15 nights as you will get a day in Barbados before you fly home. We generally find its cheaper to book on release although there can be some last minute bargains but we always say if we are happy with the price just do it!

 

[P&O SUE]

Re Freedom dining - Britannia has 2 out of 3 on the main dining rooms that are Freedom so I would say you have a good chance of getting Freedom. Especially if you book this far in advance as I THINK they do allocate  based on when you book.

[Big HP]

8 hours ago, sueandphil said:

We have done the TA 7 times and two more booked this year (hopefully) and next year all on P&O. We have been lucky with the weather except for 2015 on Adonia until after a couple of days after the Azores. We have also cruised other lines but never a TA. We always go for a Port side balcony or if we can afford it an aft suite. We try for the longer 22 nights as you spend 9 days getting to the Caribbean so you have limited time there on the shorter 14 or 15 nights. I suggest at the very least you go for the 15 nights as you will get a day in Barbados before you fly home. We generally find its cheaper to book on release although there can be some last minute bargains but we always say if we are happy with the price just do it!

 

Thx for this v constructive. I wish I knew what the release price was to be able to judge current pricing. Was originally fixed on Aug 2021 but decided we can wait to celebrate. The select rate is a little out of reach for us by time added drinks package  and other spends but maximising experience also v important.

Good luck with your cruises this year

[Selbourne]

On 4/16/2020 at 7:35 PM, Big HP said:

Hi 

I am potentially looking at cruise late October 2021 from Southampton to Barbados on Britania (ages away I know)

I am looking for constructive thoughts from those who have done this or a very similar cruise at this time.

Would you recommend it?

At what point days in does the weather tend to improve?

Did anyone else book so early? The price looks reasonable (not knowing what is ahead for us all) but no idea if this is a popular cruise so waiting may be better?

The cruise is to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and my 50th so looking for the good balance of enjoying cruising element and time in the Caribbean. 

 

Thanks in advance

My views would be consistent with many of the other views expressed, but different on some others. We haven’t done a cruise to the Caribbean but we did a return transatlantic to USA in Sep 2018. 
 

The first thing I would say, especially if you have only done one cruise, is how comfortable will you be with all the sea days during the transatlantic crossing? It sounds nice, but doesn’t suit everyone and you won’t know until you do it. My wife loves sea days and I am OK with them as a way to break up days in ports, but we both found the 6 sea days each way to be far too many and we were bored. We aren’t great fans of P&O’s ‘entertainment’, especially during the day, and even though we had some good guest speakers the days really dragged for us. We both loved the USA and Canada when we were there, but we had previously discussed doing a Caribbean round trip cruise and on the basis of our experience of all the sea days on this cruise we said that we now wouldn’t want to do it. We also had rough seas both ways, which made it even more of an endurance, but I guess you have less risk of that with the Caribbean - hopefully! Flying isn’t an option for us, but if I was advising anyone on a Caribbean cruise I would say fly out and back and spend all 14 nights in the calm warm waters of the Caribbean, with daily scenery and ports. 
 

Although the price may seem reasonable, it’s almost certainly more than when it was launched. We only ever book Select as cabin location is critical. As others have said, the ‘saving’ of a saver fare is usually questionable, especially as you will get on board credit with a Select fare. Cabin location is critical. Savvy cruisers will have booked all the best cabins and savers are a risk. You might be lucky, but you might not be. As well as ending up on the shady side, you could be above or below a public area and be subjected to noise disturbance which can ruin your cruise. Many of us have learned the hard way. We were two decks above the Live Lounge on Britannia and the noise disturbance was excessive. Friends of ours had a midships suite on Azura but were directly below a sun deck and were woken at 6am every morning by the crew dragging deck chairs around to wash the decks. I could give more examples. Select customers will avoid all of these problem areas (once known) and as a Saver customer you have what’s left. 
 

You won’t find many people on here who will recommend the drinks package to you. It’s not just the fact that you will struggle to save money by doing so, but there are an awful lot of restrictions with it. Many of the drinks we like aren’t covered by it. P&O drinks prices are very reasonable and we find that we never drink as much as we think we will, especially on port days when you are off the ship. 
 

One other tip.  If you do book a Select fare, take on board credit not free parking and book your parking with Parking4Cruises. On longer cruises they are around half the price of CPS (the operator that P&O use). You will therefore end up with your parking covered plus a slug of OBC. 

[Big HP]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

My views would be consistent with many of the other views expressed, but different on some others. We haven’t done a cruise to the Caribbean but we did a return transatlantic to USA in Sep 2018. 
 

The first thing I would say, especially if you have only done one cruise, is how comfortable will you be with all the sea days during the transatlantic crossing? It sounds nice, but doesn’t suit everyone and you won’t know until you do it. My wife loves sea days and I am OK with them as a way to break up days in ports, but we both found the 6 sea days each way to be far too many and we were bored. We aren’t great fans of P&O’s ‘entertainment’, especially during the day, and even though we had some good guest speakers the days really dragged for us. We both loved the USA and Canada when we were there, but we had previously discussed doing a Caribbean round trip cruise and on the basis of our experience of all the sea days on this cruise we said that we now wouldn’t want to do it. We also had rough seas both ways, which made it even more of an endurance, but I guess you have less risk of that with the Caribbean - hopefully! Flying isn’t an option for us, but if I was advising anyone on a Caribbean cruise I would say fly out and back and spend all 14 nights in the calm warm waters of the Caribbean, with daily scenery and ports. 
 

Although the price may seem reasonable, it’s almost certainly more than when it was launched. We only ever book Select as cabin location is critical. As others have said, the ‘saving’ of a saver fare is usually questionable, especially as you will get on board credit with a Select fare. Cabin location is critical. Savvy cruisers will have booked all the best cabins and savers are a risk. You might be lucky, but you might not be. As well as ending up on the shady side, you could be above or below a public area and be subjected to noise disturbance which can ruin your cruise. Many of us have learned the hard way. We were two decks above the Live Lounge on Britannia and the noise disturbance was excessive. Friends of ours had a midships suite on Azura but were directly below a sun deck and were woken at 6am every morning by the crew dragging deck chairs around to wash the decks. I could give more examples. Select customers will avoid all of these problem areas (once known) and as a Saver customer you have what’s left. 
 

You won’t find many people on here who will recommend the drinks package to you. It’s not just the fact that you will struggle to save money by doing so, but there are an awful lot of restrictions with it. Many of the drinks we like aren’t covered by it. P&O drinks prices are very reasonable and we find that we never drink as much as we think we will, especially on port days when you are off the ship. 
 

One other tip.  If you do book a Select fare, take on board credit not free parking and book your parking with Parking4Cruises. On longer cruises they are around half the price of CPS (the operator that P&O use). You will therefore end up with your parking covered plus a slug of OBC. 

Thankyou for taking the time to provide such a detailed response. One thing we didn't get on our last cruise was enough sea days so it's an element looking forward too at least once! We were looking at a class off cabin where good chance know will be but not which side. Have considered benefits of drinks package and agree too many restrictions (not like ncl). At min whilst on lock down mind telling me i would get good value🤣

Would not need parking for this cruise but will keep contact thank you.

I am prepared I think to wait this out and if doesn't work secure straight away when 2022 comes out.

 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Big HP said:

Thankyou for taking the time to provide such a detailed response. One thing we didn't get on our last cruise was enough sea days so it's an element looking forward too at least once! We were looking at a class off cabin where good chance know will be but not which side. Have considered benefits of drinks package and agree too many restrictions (not like ncl). At min whilst on lock down mind telling me i would get good value🤣

Would not need parking for this cruise but will keep contact thank you.

I am prepared I think to wait this out and if doesn't work secure straight away when 2022 comes out.

 

I think that’s a very sensible approach. We have no choice but to book at launch as we have to have an accessible cabin, and I hate having to book so far in advance, but the advantage has been that, in recent years, launch prices (Select Fares) have never been beaten. P&O are devils for constantly changing prices and playing around with on board credit, so you have to deduct the OBC from the price to get the true net price. OBC has much reduced since gratuities have been ‘included in the price’ though (nothing is free). Some of our cruises have ended up priced at more than double the price we paid at launch, even close to sail date. Of course, what has been the regular pattern in recent years may all go out of the window post Coronavirus. Launch prices for the next release may be more expensive than usual, especially if people have future cruise credit to use up. I think that P&O is being very crafty at the moment, with deliberately inflated prices whilst many customers have future cruise credit from cancelled cruises to redeem, and don’t be fooled by what looks like limited availability on some cruises for next year. Almost all those bookings will have been made before the current crisis, most with negligible deposits, and I would suggest that considerable numbers of passengers will change their mind before balance due date.

[Cruising Nomads]

Just checked 2 cruises I had in mind to book for next year and see no price difference from last month to this month. So I do not believe that P&O are inflating the prices due to the offer of extra %FCC.

[wowzz]

36 minutes ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Just checked 2 cruises I had in mind to book for next year and see no price difference from last month to this month. So I do not believe that P&O are inflating the prices due to the offer of extra %FCC.

As I said previously, Arcadia cruises to the Canaries in spring 2021 and 2022 have increased by 50% compared to the 2020 pricing, so although prices may not have increased co parex to last month, they have certainly increased significantly over a 6 month period.

[AndyMichelle]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

As I said previously, Arcadia cruises to the Canaries in spring 2021 and 2022 have increased by 50% compared to the 2020 pricing, so although prices may not have increased co parex to last month, they have certainly increased significantly over a 6 month period.

Yep, as I have said before, our identical cruise for next year was 25% dearer than we paid, and I don't believe we got the best price. 

Andy 

[bee-ess]

1 hour ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Just checked 2 cruises I had in mind to book for next year and see no price difference from last month to this month. So I do not believe that P&O are inflating the prices due to the offer of extra %FCC.

We have a Caribbean Fly Cruise booked in Nov 2020 and we paid 1890 each - same cruise ship and Cabin grade in 2021 is 2500 and in 2022 is 2600. A 125% FCC will cover neither.

[Big HP]

5 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

We have a Caribbean Fly Cruise booked in Nov 2020 and we paid 1890 each - same cruise ship an4d Cabin grade in 2021 is 2500 and in 2022 is 2600. A 125% FCC will cover neither.

Wow- I was convinced what I was quoted while fairly reasonable was slightly over.

Have you cancelled 2020 then? The price for same cruise I am looking at 2021 this year was 1000pp cheaper due to virus I guess (now gone up a bit as people cancel and swap)

As people move their trip prices will rise as system thinks demand is high availability low I guess!

[bee-ess]

1 hour ago, Big HP said:

 

Posted  in error

Edited April 22, 2020 by bee-ess

[Cruising Nomads]

Depending on when you booked or checked prices, cruise prices increased in late December but obc also went up for outside cabin grades and above. This did not fully cover the price increase but did by about 80%.

[Selbourne]

4 hours ago, Cruising Nomads said:

Just checked 2 cruises I had in mind to book for next year and see no price difference from last month to this month. So I do not believe that P&O are inflating the prices due to the offer of extra %FCC.

The increases pre dated last month but you could also look at it another way. The industry is in crisis, with cruises being cancelled and those that aren’t yet cancelled experiencing huge levels of cancellations. The normal rules of demand and supply would mean that prices should be plummeting to encourage new bookings. They aren’t. Why? Because they are being held unrealistically high whilst people who have accepted FCC rush to convert them to a booking, having perhaps now realised that FCC is not protected and if the cruise line goes bust you have lost your money. Once that FCC is redeemed against a new booking your entire booking value becomes protected again. 

[ollienbertsmum]

On 4/22/2020 at 2:23 PM, AndyMichelle said:

Yep, as I have said before, our identical cruise for next year was 25% dearer than we paid, and I don't believe we got the best price. 

Andy 

 

Andy

 

I had booked a balcony on Iona for this June at launch.  It has now been cancelled and I was considering my options and  looking at the same cruise next year.   The prices were almost the same as I had paid.  I am not sure if there was still £180 OBC included, it certainly was not 25% more though.   

       

Edited April 28, 2020 by ollienbertsmum
My first try was a bit of a ramble.

[Big HP]

29 minutes ago, ollienbertsmum said:

 

Andy

 

I had booked a balcony on Iona for this June at launch.  It has now been cancelled and I was considering my options and  looking at the same cruise next year.   The prices were almost the same as I had paid.  I am not sure if there was still £180 OBC included, it certainly was not 25% more though.   

       

Think that's a good decision. We are now going to wait as looks like our November trip in doubt (Not a cruise).

I think prices will rise just simply cus booking are being moved and making demand look high. Going to see how 2022 prices pan out. That's unless the situation changes quickly and I'm ready to react.