Select price vs saver

[ann141]

The extra OBC also differs according to type of cabin booked and the 'extraOBC' offers do not usually apply to inside cabins.If we book an inside cabin we often choose the Select Fare but choose the coach option because the OBC offered otherwise is minimal but if we book a Balcony Cabin with an 'Extra OBC promotion 'the price difference between Saver and Select (when the Extra OBC is taken into account) often means you are paying no more for Select and you have more advantages.

[Vampiress88]

4 minutes ago, happy v said:

We always travel on the coach and as we come from Newcastle it usually makes up the difference between saver and select.

my kids are definitely best contained to the car. They sang all the way down last year. Love my kids but I don’t think they will be winning X factor 

[happy v]

18 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

my kids are definitely best contained to the car. They sang all the way down last year. Love my kids but I don’t think they will be winning X factor 

In my opinion it would brighten the journey. But you're right some people might moan.

[wowzz]

Always "select " for two reasons. One, we want a cabin that is quiet, so we pick one that has cabins above and below, and secondly,  so that we can be sure of freedom dining. My wife would kill me if we were allocated fixed dining, especially if it was first sitting.

[madster66]

We are always price driven ... and have booked both early saver and select. We may have been lucky but have always loved our cabin allocation on saver and have always received our requested dining preferenc😄😄🥂🛳

[Happy afloat]

Select fare for us, mainly because we prefer freedom dining. We prefer the option of eating when we're ready, not when we're told.

We usually book early, so don't always get a huge amount of obc, sometimes only £45pp for two weeks. We'll take the car parking option for this as we don't consider  £90 overly expensive for secure parking. 

[ohnonotmeagain]

Always book ES....

Don't mind what cabin or where.

Don't mind about paying for occasionally shuttle bus (not every port needs  one)

 Don't do traditional dining anymore if we help it but IF they cannot do Freedom as full, will always change to what suits us.

 

Never booked select.Yet.Always seems a LOT more money,in my experience.

[the english lady]

We have always booked select..mainly because I usually spend a fair amount of time deciding where I want the cabin to be. I also check upgrade paths..

As we worked up through the cabin grades, in normal times , we also found the ones we were after tended to sell out on select , never made it down to early saver or especially saver fare...or if they did , it was in positions i didnt want.

As we live across the water from the port now i did say to OH we can go on saver fares ...but we never have done. We will have to see next year what the new face of cruising is for us to decide.  

Also pre covid 19 ,with select fares , you could change your booking ..we have done so numerous times...from one cruise to another and even cunard to pando on a couple of occasions .

[Son of Anarchy]

In recent times we've booked Select more times than ES.  On the occasions we went for Select it's been down to cabin location, OBC and for two cruises, we got the back to back discount.  

[Bazrat]

we book select just so we know what cabin we have and it adds to the fun.

[SquishTheWhale]

Price driven too. Our first time with p&O we booked saver as the price difference was large and the benefits small. This time the price difference was only about £200 and extra obc offered to the tune of £180. Went for obc and parking though as we don't really need that much to spend but we do have to pay to park either way!

Plus we will be travelling with a kid for the first time so wanted to ensure a quiet cabin location

[Vampiress88]

8 minutes ago, SquishTheWhale said:

Price driven too. Our first time with p&O we booked saver as the price difference was large and the benefits small. This time the price difference was only about £200 and extra obc offered to the tune of £180. Went for obc and parking though as we don't really need that much to spend but we do have to pay to park either way!

Plus we will be travelling with a kid for the first time so wanted to ensure a quiet cabin location

 

hi squish 

long time no speak. How’s your little boy? Did you ever get chance to move house? Bet your glad you didn’t do Disney this year now. 
where you off to on the cruise? 
 

I would book select but only if the price was very similar. 
 

I just can’t wait to get back on holiday somewhere that’s no here. Getting fed up of my own house lately.
 

[terrierjohn]

48 minutes ago, SquishTheWhale said:

Price driven too. Our first time with p&O we booked saver as the price difference was large and the benefits small. This time the price difference was only about £200 and extra obc offered to the tune of £180. Went for obc and parking though as we don't really need that much to spend but we do have to pay to park either way!

Plus we will be travelling with a kid for the first time so wanted to ensure a quiet cabin location

Gone are the heady days when you could get 65% off the P&O price from an online TA, which we received for a Jan Caribbean cruise on Arcadia's inaugural season.  Mind you probably everyone else did as well. 

[SquishTheWhale]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Gone are the heady days when you could get 65% off the P&O price from an online TA, which we received for a Jan Caribbean cruise on Arcadia's inaugural season.  Mind you probably everyone else did as well. 

 

It was probably like looking at holiday brochures now- nobody pays the printed price! We've used an agent in the past but have found discounts very minimal and I prefer to cut out the middle man if possible.

[SquishTheWhale]

8 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

 

hi squish 

long time no speak. How’s your little boy? Did you ever get chance to move house? Bet your glad you didn’t do Disney this year now. 
where you off to on the cruise? 
 

I would book select but only if the price was very similar. 
 

I just can’t wait to get back on holiday somewhere that’s no here. Getting fed up of my own house lately.
 

 

Have you got anything booked in? We've booked Iona for October 2021 just because I'm desperate to get something in the diary!! And we need to get that boy introduced to cruising lol. Although technically he did his first cruise while in me! Hes 13 weeks now and growing very fast. Life is very different than it was pre baby! Everything went through on our house purchase so we've been in a few months now. Hope you are well!

[Selbourne]

Always Select for us. Cabin location is critical and those booking select choose the best ones (as evidenced by this thread). With Savers you have what’s left. You might be lucky, but you might not be and a cruise would be spoiled for us if we were subject to noise disturbance from a public area above or below us. On family ships we even look for cabins that aren’t adjacent to those with extra bunks, so as to minimise the risk of noisy kids next door to us. As you can tell, we like a quiet cabin! Having done Club dining for years and switching to Freedom, we wouldn’t want to go back to Club, so that’s the other major reason for booking Select (not an issue on Iona though as all Freedom). We don’t book Select for the shuttle buses, as we often prefer to walk, but that’s also a minor benefit. We often take the OBC and book parking ourselves with Parking4Cruises, which leaves us in pocket. For all these reasons we wouldn’t book Savers, however big the saving, but in reality, once you take everything into account, the ‘saving’ is often very small indeed and sometimes, if you do the maths properly, virtually nothing.

 

The only time we booked a saver was a short cruise on Ventura where we booked a Penthouse. There are only two of them and one was booked, so we knew exactly which cabin we would have! We also planned to do Select Dining each night, so had we been allocated Club it wouldn’t have been an issue. As an added bonus, none of the ports needed a shuttle bus. That was the sole exception, all others have been select. 
 

We book direct with P&O but we get a small discount (via additional OBC) that equates to around 5%, which seems to be what TA’s offer. It’s a scheme that is no longer available, but one or two of us on here still get it. We also have a fantastic relationship with a Personal Cruise Specialist (no longer officially called that) who we have known for years and does all our bookings and has done us some favours over the years. Even if we didn’t get the deal with P&O, I don’t think I’d use a TA or cruise specialist for just 5% discount. That wouldn’t be enough of a saving to add a middle man in my mind, especially having read all the problems and extended delays that those having used TA’s have had with the recent refunds. I’m not at all surprised to read the comments of a lot of people who are going to book direct in future. That being said, if people have the sort of relationship with a TA that we have with our contact at P&O then I can understand why they would continue using them. There is no right or wrong to that question, it’s what we all feel comfortable with. 

[Vampiress88]

1 hour ago, SquishTheWhale said:

 

Have you got anything booked in? We've booked Iona for October 2021 just because I'm desperate to get something in the diary!! And we need to get that boy introduced to cruising lol. Although technically he did his first cruise while in me! Hes 13 weeks now and growing very fast. Life is very different than it was pre baby! Everything went through on our house purchase so we've been in a few months now. Hope you are well!

we are on Iona in July 21 fjords one. Had to book it last year as was gutted we’d cancelled the other one due to moving house. 
 

everything will definitely be different with kids. So your boy will be about 20 months when you go? 
 

we took my youngest down to Cornwall when she was 19 months. (Think we did quite a few caravan ones when they were little but all were close to home) 

it wasn’t bad to do or plan at that age so a cruise at that age will be perfect. 

[Vampiress88]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Always Select for us. Cabin location is critical and those booking select choose the best ones (as evidenced by this thread). With Savers you have what’s left. You might be lucky, but you might not be and a cruise would be spoiled for us if we were subject to noise disturbance from a public area above or below us. On family ships we even look for cabins that aren’t adjacent to those with extra bunks, so as to minimise the risk of noisy kids next door to us. As you can tell, we like a quiet cabin! Having done Club dining for years and switching to Freedom, we wouldn’t want to go back to Club, so that’s the other major reason for booking Select (not an issue on Iona though as all Freedom). We don’t book Select for the shuttle buses, as we often prefer to walk, but that’s also a minor benefit. We often take the OBC and book parking ourselves with Parking4Cruises, which leaves us in pocket. For all these reasons we wouldn’t book Savers, however big the saving, but in reality, once you take everything into account, the ‘saving’ is often very small indeed and sometimes, if you do the maths properly, virtually nothing.

 

The only time we booked a saver was a short cruise on Ventura where we booked a Penthouse. There are only two of them and one was booked, so we knew exactly which cabin we would have! We also planned to do Select Dining each night, so had we been allocated Club it wouldn’t have been an issue. As an added bonus, none of the ports needed a shuttle bus. That was the sole exception, all others have been select. 
 

We book direct with P&O but we get a small discount (via additional OBC) that equates to around 5%, which seems to be what TA’s offer. It’s a scheme that is no longer available, but one or two of us on here still get it. We also have a fantastic relationship with a Personal Cruise Specialist (no longer officially called that) who we have known for years and does all our bookings and has done us some favours over the years. Even if we didn’t get the deal with P&O, I don’t think I’d use a TA or cruise specialist for just 5% discount. That wouldn’t be enough of a saving to add a middle man in my mind, especially having read all the problems and extended delays that those having used TA’s have had with the recent refunds. I’m not at all surprised to read the comments of a lot of people who are going to book direct in future. That being said, if people have the sort of relationship with a TA that we have with our contact at P&O then I can understand why they would continue using them. There is no right or wrong to that question, it’s what we all feel comfortable with. 

I do get why people pay for a location. The ones I was looking at have always been over £300 difference. 
 

I do agree that I wouldn’t want to do club dining. With kids that will have no benefit to us at all. Not sure why anyone likes club dining but I know a lot do. Maybe they aren’t as antisocial as me. 
 

I never know which cabin to pick when I get a choice. Only remember being the very first cabin and I didn’t like that. But it was only 1 night that was bad. 

[SquishTheWhale]

1 hour ago, Vampiress88 said:

we are on Iona in July 21 fjords one. Had to book it last year as was gutted we’d cancelled the other one due to moving house. 
 

everything will definitely be different with kids. So your boy will be about 20 months when you go? 
 

we took my youngest down to Cornwall when she was 19 months. (Think we did quite a few caravan ones when they were little but all were close to home) 

it wasn’t bad to do or plan at that age so a cruise at that age will be perfect. 

 

Yes he'll be around that age. Hoping he will be manageable by then! My parents are thinking of booking too so we'd have some babysitting. They did a cruise with us last year and not sure they love it but they just want to spend time with us. My mums mobility is very limited now due to Parkinsons so holiday options are limited for them anyway.

We're doing the western europe route on iona- Amsterdam bruges etc. Mainly chose it as the price was very good and P&O only charge £50 for the little one. On RCI they are full price!! Although we ended up nearly doubling the price by booking a superior deluxe aft balcony... oopsies.

 

Can't wait to see what you think of Iona! Have to admit P&O is not my cruise line of choice, we said we wouldn't sail again unless on Iona. She looks a huge step up from the rest of the fleet.

Edited May 30, 2020 by SquishTheWhale

[Selbourne]

24 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

I do get why people pay for a location. The ones I was looking at have always been over £300 difference. 
 

I do agree that I wouldn’t want to do club dining. With kids that will have no benefit to us at all. Not sure why anyone likes club dining but I know a lot do. Maybe they aren’t as antisocial as me. 
 

I never know which cabin to pick when I get a choice. Only remember being the very first cabin and I didn’t like that. But it was only 1 night that was bad. 

As a very general rule, if you always go for a cabin that has other cabins above, below and to the side of it, then most of the time it’s OK. You can get bad cabins at all grades, including suites. Nothing is without risk though. Sound insulation between cabins is very poor on many ships and we have been disturbed in the early hours, or early morning, by passengers in adjoins cabins, letting cabin doors slam closed, slamming drawers, talking loudly, TV up loud etc etc. A lot of this is down to poor design, but occasionally you get the odd inconsiderate passengers who don’t give a second thought to others, so all the knowledge and research in the world can’t account for all eventualities!

[Vampiress88]

37 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

As a very general rule, if you always go for a cabin that has other cabins above, below and to the side of it, then most of the time it’s OK. You can get bad cabins at all grades, including suites. Nothing is without risk though. Sound insulation between cabins is very poor on many ships and we have been disturbed in the early hours, or early morning, by passengers in adjoins cabins, letting cabin doors slam closed, slamming drawers, talking loudly, TV up loud etc etc. A lot of this is down to poor design, but occasionally you get the odd inconsiderate passengers who don’t give a second thought to others, so all the knowledge and research in the world can’t account for all eventualities!

I haven’t found the cabins noisy. It’s the sea when it’s rough the front was awful. 
 

im one of those that worries the kids are being loud. In reality I bet you could hear me more telling them to be quiet than them. 
 

don’t spend a lot of time in the cabin but I think that’s cos we had inside one. 

[ToxM]

Just re-re booked a cruise (second rebooking from cruise originally booked for November this year) saved over a grand by booking saver on a suite (same grade band as I had before) onto a saver from the select price. We are going to Norway next October so a wraparound balcony will be nice and if we dont get the dining allocation we want then we can get the butler to try and change to freedom dining for us or tell him he is going to be busy serving meals for us in the cabin - I am sure that will get us the allocation we want ;)

Always been unsure about saver fares, but in this case, due to a very helpful lady on the phone when I rebooked we worked out that I can guarantee to a certain grade - for suites at least.

Dont care if we hear the azipods etc, we are on a ship, I want to hear and feel it move.

[Harry Peterson]

43 minutes ago, ToxM said:

Just re-re booked a cruise (second rebooking from cruise originally booked for November this year) saved over a grand by booking saver on a suite (same grade band as I had before) onto a saver from the select price. We are going to Norway next October so a wraparound balcony will be nice and if we dont get the dining allocation we want then we can get the butler to try and change to freedom dining for us or tell him he is going to be busy serving meals for us in the cabin - I am sure that will get us the allocation we want 😉

Always been unsure about saver fares, but in this case, due to a very helpful lady on the phone when I rebooked we worked out that I can guarantee to a certain grade - for suites at least.

Dont care if we hear the azipods etc, we are on a ship, I want to hear and feel it move.

As you say, in certain limited circumstances you can get away with a saver fare on a suite and take no risks at all, knowing that whatever's offered going to be just fine.  Doesn't apply to all suites, though, and you do need to take very great care to get it right.

[Vampiress88]

On 5/30/2020 at 9:47 AM, SquishTheWhale said:

 

Yes he'll be around that age. Hoping he will be manageable by then! My parents are thinking of booking too so we'd have some babysitting. They did a cruise with us last year and not sure they love it but they just want to spend time with us. My mums mobility is very limited now due to Parkinsons so holiday options are limited for them anyway.

We're doing the western europe route on iona- Amsterdam bruges etc. Mainly chose it as the price was very good and P&O only charge £50 for the little one. On RCI they are full price!! Although we ended up nearly doubling the price by booking a superior deluxe aft balcony... oopsies.

 

Can't wait to see what you think of Iona! Have to admit P&O is not my cruise line of choice, we said we wouldn't sail again unless on Iona. She looks a huge step up from the rest of the fleet.

I like p&o but got nothing to compare it against really. 
 

like the looks of Iona but feel it’s going to be massive. 
 

Im just not used to not having holidays booked and we were spoilt last year with the good holidays and now we haven’t got any this year i don’t like it. Want to book another cruise but daren’t due to Not knowing what insurance will cover and kinda holding out hope that we can go Disney next year. I just like to have some plans in the works. 
 

I do think it will be a good age for your little boy and if your mums struggling then cruises are the way to go. 
 

[Bertie Doe]

We've just paid the deposit on an Arcadia cruise next year. We looked at the pluses for Select and saw cabin choice, parking, obc and the big draw of Freedom dining. I did the sums and the gross difference between Select and Saver was £850 pp. When you deduct obc, and parking, this brings the net difference down to just £460 pp.

 

£460 equates to £20 pp per night for the 23 nights of this cruise. The cost of dining in Ocean Grill or Sindhu is £20 pp, so the saving pays for these meals throughout the trip. What clinched it for us, was seeing a sample menu :-

 

https://ask.completecruisesolution.com/help/ext/PO/life-on-board/cover_charges

 

Is it possible to book the restaurants in say, the week before cruising ? As the only complaint I've heard, is they get booked up pretty quickly.

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Bertie Doe
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