October onwards cruisers…

[wowzz]

13 hours ago, Britboys said:

Princess has long had a reputation in the USA for a high level of 'nickel & diming

But other lines, such as RCL are even worse.

[lindylooellalouise]

16 minutes ago, ToxM said:

Seeing reports from the book of visage that payment dates for October 3rd cruise (not sure which ship) are being moved back to end of August. 

 

I did a dummy run on my October cruise and payment date seems to still be 28th Julyish (already paid so can’t see from my paperwork). 

 

 

Hi I’ve just checked my 1st October cruise with Cunard and payment now moved to 1st September is this an indication that it may be cancelled 

[Britboys]

5 hours ago, davecttr said:

As an ex Cruise Director explained to me. Entertainment Manager is a more exact description of my job and I get a loss less hassle from passengers who think I am in charge of the cruise.

 

as for the rest, cabins remain cabins for me as do decks. Changing the terminology is either dumbing down or following fashion. BTW when did railway stations change to train stations and factories become facilities, not that I care.

I'm with you Dave - I still book a cabin on a deck and will always do so. Last week I had my first post-lockdown visit to my local Railway Station too...😀

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Creeping Americanisation - and I hate it. Staterooms, train stations, cookies, fries etc etc.

 

Plus the rapidly increasing use of words like ‘color’ and other American spellings.

 

Wasn’t there a big campaign a couple of years back about getting back control or something?

 

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170904-how-americanisms-are-killing-the-english-language

Me too Harry. I have to bite my tongue when in coffee shops/cafés etc and the person in front of me says "Can I get"...😡

I also won't buy/order "Mac'n'cheese" but very much enjoy a plate of macaroni cheese...😄

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi I’ve just checked my 1st October cruise with Cunard and payment now moved to 1st September is this an indication that it may be cancelled 

It is probably at least an indication that they are no longer certain it will go ahead as planned...

[lindylooellalouise]

Just now, Britboys said:

It is probably at least an indication that they are no longer certain it will go ahead as planned...

Yes I thought it was something like that still no change to the payment schedule for my November and December cruises.

[Adawn47]

23 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi I’ve just checked my 1st October cruise with Cunard and payment now moved to 1st September is this an indication that it may be cancelled 

That's what happened with this year's June cruise. The balance date was moved from March to May, and then cancelled. I had a sneaky feeling that this October cruise was going the same way, so we jumped before we were pushed.

Avril

[lindylooellalouise]

3 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

That's what happened with this year's June cruise. The balance date was moved from March to May, and then cancelled. I had a sneaky feeling that this October cruise was going the same way, so we jumped before we were pushed.

Avril

Looks like it’s going the same way as last year it’s the uncertainty that’s hard to deal with, because once you know you can accept it and move on someways it’s a relief not sure what to do☹️
lindy

[ToxM]

My October 28th cruise on Arcadia has a load of available cabins all of a sudden. I think a few people are getting the jitters. 

 

Payment date still appears to be July 30th.

[bee-ess]

Does anyone think that the Caribbean season will happen on Britannia and Azura, The ships are due to reposition in October. We are booked on Britannia in October but don't feel that confident of it happening.

[L751]

43 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Does anyone think that the Caribbean season will happen on Britannia and Azura, The ships are due to reposition in October. We are booked on Britannia in October but don't feel that confident of it happening.

We are on Britannia in October as well, after yesterday's announcement thing do not look good. 

[bee-ess]

5 minutes ago, L751 said:

We are on Britannia in October as well, after yesterday's announcement thing do not look good. 

Sorry, meant to say we are on Britannia in January, but the ships go out there in October.

[wowzz]

54 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Does anyone think that the Caribbean season will happen on Britannia and Azura, The ships are due to reposition in October. We are booked on Britannia in October but don't feel that confident of it happening.

I think cruises to Europe in October are doubtful, let alone the Caribbean. 

Surely only a matter of time before the winter Caribbean programme is cancelled by P&O. 

[bee-ess]

14 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I think cruises to Europe in October are doubtful, let alone the Caribbean. 

Surely only a matter of time before the winter Caribbean programme is cancelled by P&O. 

I think you are probably right, we are not out there until Jan but can't see it happening if the ships don't go in October, we are due to pay on Oct 3rd so hope they cancel before that or reduce the payment window.

[Adawn47]

7 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Looks like it’s going the same way as last year it’s the uncertainty that’s hard to deal with, because once you know you can accept it and move on someways it’s a relief not sure what to do☹️
lindy

That's how we felt. We were hopefully hanging on to our October 9th cruise, as we didn't want to go another year without a holiday, but we finally gave in and I moved the deposit to next October. We feel more relaxed now and can look forward to planning next year's cruise with more optimism than we did this year.

Avril

[Adawn47]

4 hours ago, ToxM said:

My October 28th cruise on Arcadia has a load of available cabins all of a sudden. I think a few people are getting the jitters. 

 

Payment date still appears to be July 30th.

One will be ours. I cancelled on Saturday.

Avril

[terrierjohn]

4 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

That's how we felt. We were hopefully hanging on to our October 9th cruise, as we didn't want to go another year without a holiday, but we finally gave in and I moved the deposit to next October. We feel more relaxed now and can look forward to planning next year's cruise with more optimism than we did this year.

Avril

We were in Whitby today very busy and not a lot of room for social distancing, but the near normality was very refreshing.  I just hope that as we get close to full vaccination giving everyone major protection, people will gradually ease back into a more normal existence, and begin to rely on on our excellent scientists to keep track of variants and determine if we need a tweaked vaccine to keep us safe.

[LondonLad60]

On 6/13/2021 at 8:39 PM, terrierjohn said:

I sympathise with your comments, but your cruise fare would be much higher if everyone followed your, and my example. So I am prepared to accept the minor irritation of the hard sell, if in fact it persuades enough of my fellow passengers to part with sufficient money for the ship to achieve its revenue target.

I fully agree that the prices of all inclusive cruises are higher, however, my wife and I have only ever cruised with P&0, and we are becoming increasingly disillusioned with them, so after considering various cruise companies we decided to try Saga, and we were on the last Saga cruise that operated in March 2020.  Just about EVERYTHING was included. I won't go into full details, but  I will mention all drinks, three speciality restaurants, free 24 hour room service and free wi-fi. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and we felt that it represented good value for money. 

 

The total on board spend for both of us was... zero. Zilch. £0.00p. However, I should add that figure would no doubt have increased if the shop had been open for the duration - because of an outbreak of norovirus it was only open for two days.

 

We are now confirmed 'Saganauts' as they are known, and we have three cruises booked with them next year - we have written 2021 off. The only reason I'm still taking any interest in P&O is that we are on Aurora's September cruise going to the USA & Canada, and I'm hanging on hoping to have my deposit refunded. I recently received an email saying the balance due date has been put back to early August, which as others have said on here could be an indication that P&O is at least considering cancelling, but leaving it to the very last minute.

[Harry Peterson]

38 minutes ago, LondonLad60 said:

I fully agree that the prices of all inclusive cruises are higher, however, my wife and I have only ever cruised with P&0, and we are becoming increasingly disillusioned with them, so after considering various cruise companies we decided to try Saga, and we were on the last Saga cruise that operated in March 2020.  Just about EVERYTHING was included. I won't go into full details, but  I will mention all drinks, three speciality restaurants, free 24 hour room service and free wi-fi. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and we felt that it represented good value for money. 

 

The total on board spend for both of us was... zero. Zilch. £0.00p. However, I should add that figure would no doubt have increased if the shop had been open for the duration - because of an outbreak of norovirus it was only open for two days.

 

We are now confirmed 'Saganauts' as they are known, and we have three cruises booked with them next year - we have written 2021 off. The only reason I'm still taking any interest in P&O is that we are on Aurora's September cruise going to the USA & Canada, and I'm hanging on hoping to have my deposit refunded. I recently received an email saying the balance due date has been put back to early August, which as others have said on here could be an indication that P&O is at least considering cancelling, but leaving it to the very last minute.

I’ve heard nothing but praise for Saga from friends who’ve switched from P&O for higher standards. Seems to be more Cunard than P&O but without the dressing up.

 

Much more expensive though, particularly for a suite, and as always it’s a balancing act between quality and quantity. P&O has certainly changed markedly in the last few years.

[crompton21]

The Saga accounts 12m to Jan 2020 have a disclosed average revenue per passenger of £3,688 which apparently equates to £259 per night per passenger.

 

Some posters have been happy to state that Saga is not more expensive, the facts do appear to show that a much greater revenue per passenger is achieved by Saga than Carnival.  The figures are obviously reflecting the average cost of a cruise and ignoring any/all of the extra benefits.  

 

The many positive statements about Saga perhaps reflect that you get what you pay for (but you do pay for it).

Edited June 16, 2021 by crompton21

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, crompton21 said:

The Saga accounts 12m to Jan 2020 have a disclosed average revenue per passenger of £3,688 which apparently equates to £259 per night per passenger.

 

Some posters have been happy to state that Saga is not more expensive, the facts do appear to show that a much greater revenue per passenger is achieved by Saga than Carnival.  The figures are obviously reflecting the average cost of a cruise and ignoring any/all of the extra benefits.  

 

The many positive statements about Saga perhaps reflect that you get what you pay for (but you do pay for it).

It's always difficult comparing cruise line prices, especially ones as disparate as Saga and P&O.

Standard Saga balcony cabins,  are, imho opinion, similar to P&O deluxe balcony cabins.

Our Saga cruise in one of the cheaper cabins, scheduled for Seprember next year, is coming out at around £200 pppn, whereas on P&O we would typically spend about £130 pppn. The drinks package on Saga will save us about £30 pppn, so the overall extra for Saga is not that much, especially when one takes into account the free transfers to ship, which is a considerable saving for us.     

Putting a cost benefit on sailing in a ship of 999 pax versus several thousand obviously depends on the individual.

[ToxM]

From what I have seen Saga sit with Azamara, Viking and Oceania in the premium luxe category, under Regent, Silversea, Crystal etc, but above Celeb (which are also trying to get into that upper tier), Cunard and possibly HAL. 

 

Having sailed on a 1250 passenger ship I certainly think it’s a definite sweet spot for me. It’s always worth looking at space per passenger as well as what else is included. I would certainly be up for trying Saga as it fulfils my enjoyment of cruising from Soton with a slightly more upmarket experience. 

 

P&O scratches the itch for me at times, but sometimes I just want a bit nicer. 

 

I would suggest that anyone who buys a drinks package and prefers a balcony cabin to investigate Saga and other premium lines and take into account the extras. You may be surprised at the price differential not being that much different, especially if you have a fly cruise and take off the flights and arrange your own. 

 

 

[ToxM]

OK so Cunard have always been the first line to announce their plans to cancel itineraries. This was a little different from them that they just swapped over ships. 

 

Would that possibly happen with say Arcadia and Aurora? Bearing in mind these ships are still in warm layup with no crew and no staycations. 

 

Cunard also had the luxury of the ships with itins swapped over being identical.This certainly isn’t the case with any of the P&O ships. 

 

Got themselves in a potential pickle I reckon. 

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

15 minutes ago, ToxM said:

OK so Cunard have always been the first line to announce their plans to cancel itineraries. This was a little different from them that they just swapped over ships. 

 

Would that possibly happen with say Arcadia and Aurora? Bearing in mind these ships are still in warm layup with no crew and no staycations. 

 

Cunard also had the luxury of the ships with itins swapped over being identical.This certainly isn’t the case with any of the P&O ships. 

 

Got themselves in a potential pickle I reckon. 

 

 

I’m wondering if the cruises that are swopping  from QV to QE (I think it’s about five from 1st November) will just mean that any passengers will be automatically swapped to similar cabins. As a change of ship is a material change, I should think that passengers should at least be given the choice of cancelling without penalty 

[ToxM]

9 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I’m wondering if the cruises that are swopping  from QV to QE (I think it’s about five from 1st November) will just mean that any passengers will be automatically swapped to similar cabins. As a change of ship is a material change, I should think that passengers should at least be given the choice of cancelling without penalty 

 

It’s a straight swap I think and yes they should be given the chance to cancel.