Anyone had a free upgrade?

[Book bug]

We had booked a midship inside cabin A deck on Ventura and were given an upgrade to a forward outside cabin so above the theatre, coming back to the cabin in the afternoon from excursions all you could hear were the performers rehearsing. 

On the flip side,  another time we got an upgrade to a deluxe balcony at checkin at the port which was lovely but our luggage went to the original cabin so had to retrieve it 

[gsmt47471015]

36 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Used to be but I wonder now with the ridiculous difference in saver and select fares.  I think less and less people will book select.

Always book select but even we are starting to question it

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Used to be but I wonder now with the ridiculous difference in saver and select fares.  I think less and less people will book select.

Strangely enough, despite misgivings,  we just booked a Caribbean cruise on Britannia,  and, once the obc was taken into account, the difference between the two fares was less than £200 in total.

I know that to some,  the obc is of little  consequence,  but to me and Mrs W it is a major consideration,  

I wonder if P&O are flexing the obc depending on the popularity of the cruise (we are sailing in December 2023).

Flexing obc is a good way of attracting customers without destroying the overall pricing architecture of the cruise fare structure.

[Megabear2]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

Strangely enough, despite misgivings,  we just booked a Caribbean cruise on Britannia,  and, once the obc was taken into account, the difference between the two fares was less than £200 in total.

I know that to some,  the obc is of little  consequence,  but to me and Mrs W it is a major consideration,  

I wonder if P&O are flexing the obc depending on the popularity of the cruise (we are sailing in December 2023).

Flexing obc is a good way of attracting customers without destroying the overall pricing architecture of the cruise fare structure.

Depends on whether the OBC levels remain as high as they have been. The special offer ends tomorrow. For instance a normal midship balcony on Britannia 24/2/2023 sailing is £6358 select total with £390pp obc but £330 of that is the special deal ending on 22 August. The saver fare is from £5018 with a choice of midships totalling £5418. 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Depends on whether the OBC levels remain as high as they have been. The special offer ends tomorrow. For instance a normal midship balcony on Britannia 24/2/2023 sailing is £6358 select total with £390pp obc but £330 of that is the special deal ending on 22 August. The saver fare is from £5018 with a choice of midships totalling £5418. 

The difference in prices on that sailing is far greater than that on our December cruise. 

Perhaps it is because post Christmas cruises are more popular,  and P&O can increase the select fare accordingly? 

Our select balcony fare in December is considerably less than the fare you quoted,  and that includes Premium Economy seats. 

[Jill85]

We have just been upgraded despite always ticking the no upgrade box from an inside mid forward to an outside midships for our cruise on Aurora next Friday 26th. Quite happy with it so far! I am wondering if the upgrade was due to needing that area of the ship for quarantine? 

[janny444]

Once booked a certain grade on a saver fare and we were " upgraded" BUT we ended up in a very noisy cabin which on 3 sides was surrounded by the White areas on a ship....always wondered what the white areas are for....now I know....." work" areas. Lesson learnt....now always book Select and state NO " upgrade.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The difference in prices on that sailing is far greater than that on our December cruise. 

Perhaps it is because post Christmas cruises are more popular,  and P&O can increase the select fare accordingly? 

Our select balcony fare in December is considerably less than the fare you quoted,  and that includes Premium Economy seats. 

Could well be.  November and early December Caribbean are always cheaper because it's  "rainy season", something I find hilarious.

 

I just looked at 1/12/2023 - mid balcony is £5418 with the £780 obc.  Saver mid balcony is £4,398, saver balcony starts at £4158. That is only £1,020 more so yes the £780 looks like a good deal but as we know it ends tomorrow and apparently the "normal" is £60.00. 

 

Compare that with my Arvia 22/12/2023  now at £7696 for mid forward balcony with £780 obc (I paid £7200 with £500 obc).  Saver is currently £6196 but being mid forward risks deck 8. However that's £1,500 difference today and as Bazrat said some would be very happy with deck 8 ...

[FangedRose]

2 hours ago, Jill85 said:

We have just been upgraded despite always ticking the no upgrade box from an inside mid forward to an outside midships for our cruise on Aurora next Friday 26th. Quite happy with it so far! I am wondering if the upgrade was due to needing that area of the ship for quarantine? 

Unlikely, quarantine cabins are all balcony cabins.

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

Unlikely, quarantine cabins are all balcony cabins.

Yes, but an entire section is blocked off, so that will include inside cabins, even though they will not be used.

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Could well be.  November and early December Caribbean are always cheaper because it's  "rainy season", something I find hilarious.

 

I just looked at 1/12/2023 - mid balcony is £5418 with the £780 obc.  Saver mid balcony is £4,398, saver balcony starts at £4158. That is only £1,020 more so yes the £780 looks like a good deal but as we know it ends tomorrow and apparently the "normal" is £60.00. 

 

Compare that with my Arvia 22/12/2023  now at £7696 for mid forward balcony with £780 obc (I paid £7200 with £500 obc).  Saver is currently £6196 but being mid forward risks deck 8. However that's £1,500 difference today and as Bazrat said some would be very happy with deck 8 ...

We got a wake balcony for £5100 and £880 obc.

Edited August 21, 2022 by wowzz

[david63]

OBC is there as a marketing tool and to confuse. Unless as has recently happened with additional OBC being given after booking (or shareholder OBC) then any OBC at the time of booking is your money that P&O hold in their bank account for you - and if you work out the interest on that it comes into the hundred thousand pounds.

 

I always ignore "headline" prices and look at the net price (headline price - discount - OBC)

[FangedRose]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, but an entire section is blocked off, so that will include inside cabins, even though they will not be used.

On Arcadia the quarantine cabins were/are behind the lifts so no inside cabins. I was confined to my balcony cabin (not moved to quarantine cabins) but the inside cabins opposite me were still being used.

[Jill85]

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

Unlikely, quarantine cabins are all balcony cabins.

We were on B deck inside but moved to E which is what we would have preferred anyway.

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

We got a wake balcony for £5100 and £880 obc.

Well done.  Currently a wake balcony not on 8 or 15 is £5400 with £790 obc so you've done an excellent deal.  

 

 

[wowzz]

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Well done.  Currently a wake balcony not on 8 or 15 is £5400 with £790 obc so you've done an excellent deal.  

 

 

Thanks - not much choice, but we avoided deck 8 or 15. 

Never had wake view before,  so decided it was now or never.  Couldn't see the price going much lower, plus we want to make sure we had PE seats out of BHX.

[Cruisemeister2002]

Had a couple of upgrades in the 16 cruises we have taken, but in honesty couldn't tell the difference. Just waiting to book an inside and get upgraded to a suite with butler and a couple of grand OBC. Oops, just woke up from my dream. Nowadays we usually pay the Select price, pick a cabin and don't request to have an upgrade because the cabin we have chosen is the one we want to be in and as I say I haven't seen a significant difference when supposedly upgraded and in honesty don't think there is. 

[Francisdrake]

Never had a real upgrade only supposed upgrade I've had is to a higher category of the same type of cabin but never noticed any actual difference.

[devonuk]

After all the research I do and booking the cabin I actually want I’d have to be offered the Penthouse or Royal Suite to accept an upgrade 😁

[Ardennais]

A second cabin was upgraded from inside to outside on Azura (I think) about 8 years ago. The children were delighted! 

[Cruisemeister2002]

20 hours ago, devonuk said:

After all the research I do and booking the cabin I actually want I’d have to be offered the Penthouse or Royal Suite to accept an upgrade 😁

The only Penthouse I've ever had was on the top shelf in a newsagents and that was a long time ago.

[tragic_black_viper]

Just got off Arvia transatlantic on Saturday, did a select price with balcony and £1010 OBC (including shareholder benefit). Researched & picked my cabin and was happy.

Looking for a cheap holiday in March and realised we could do a 15 days transatlantic on Arvia in the opposite direction for £1000 per person on a saver fare, cheapest of the cheap cabin. So booked it.

On this occasion I have ticked the upgrade box, as I am not expecting a great cabin, so will be happy with whatever happens. 

 

You generally pay more for select fares, but get to choose your room, in this instance I would not tick the upgrade box. However on a saver fare, where you are not fussy, I would tick the box and cross your fingers. 

 

[swanseaboy]

I've been upgraded 3 times on Arcadia!! Twice from Inside to Obstructed Window and once from Obstructed Window to Balcony. All three cruises were saver fares. Never been upgraded on any other ship!

[amurray88]

I've still to sail with P&O (Jan 24) but got a free upgrade on MSC last year from guarantee interior to deluxe balcony 👌 ... Technically got an "upgrade" on P&O this time due to alot of hassle from an inside to obstructed view outside which I don't really see as an upgrade but hey ho

[terrierjohn]

24 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

I've still to sail with P&O (Jan 24) but got a free upgrade on MSC last year from guarantee interior to deluxe balcony 👌 ... Technically got an "upgrade" on P&O this time due to alot of hassle from an inside to obstructed view outside which I don't really see as an upgrade but hey ho

It depends which ship you are on, the obstructed cabins on E deck on Ventura and Azura are exactly the same size and layout as the inside of the balcony cabins, and you get some daylight.