Arvia - Huge discounts

[Son of Anarchy]

7 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

That said, I do wonder whether Arvia's maiden will happen on time.  Her maiden voyage is two months away today, and she is still being fitted out in Papenburg.  Haven't read anything about sea trials etc.

Just had a look at Southampton VTS.  No mention of Arvia at all.  Hopefully will be updated sooner rather than later.

[Ja21]

Hi, have just booked the canaries cruise for January and now alarmed by some of these comments!! What’s going on?? Is the ship about to be scrapped or are p&o going bust???? Needing reassurance 😱

[jeanlyon]

5 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Just had a look at Southampton VTS.  No mention of Arvia at all.  Hopefully will be updated sooner rather than later.

Yes you would think it would have a booked slot for 9th December.  It's not on the list for Madeira either.

[jeanlyon]

11 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes you would think it would have a booked slot for 9th December.  It's not on the list for Madeira either.

Mind you it does show on Madeira arrivals for 15th December.   P&O site says it's in Madeira on the 13th!

Edited October 9, 2022 by jeanlyon

[Bazrat]

8 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Having seen the current saver fares for Arvia's maiden, we would have probably booked, but are already on a cruise at that time.

 

That said, I do wonder whether Arvia's maiden will happen on time.  Her maiden voyage is two months away today, and she is still being fitted out in Papenburg.  Haven't read anything about sea trials etc.

Don’t panic the bars are almost complete

[molecrochip]

9 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Just had a look at Southampton VTS.  No mention of Arvia at all.  Hopefully will be updated sooner rather than later.

As with Iona, P&O will have booked the Ocean Terminal as necessary but requested that its not updated onto the cruise schedule until a lot closer to the time. This is not a need to worry.

 

3 hours ago, Ja21 said:

Hi, have just booked the canaries cruise for January and now alarmed by some of these comments!! What’s going on?? Is the ship about to be scrapped or are p&o going bust???? Needing reassurance 😱

You may recall a lot of comments on here when cruises went on sale about prices shooting up rapidly due to lack of availability. Now Covid is managed different, availablility is better and prices have dropped. This can vary category to category so not every one who booked is affected but most of those who were affected have received some kind of 'thank-you'.

 

9 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Having seen the current saver fares for Arvia's maiden, we would have probably booked, but are already on a cruise at that time.

 

That said, I do wonder whether Arvia's maiden will happen on time.  Her maiden voyage is two months away today, and she is still being fitted out in Papenburg.  Haven't read anything about sea trials etc.

As of Friday, it was still on time.

 

Iona's Ems conveyance is due this month. At that point she berths in Bremerhaven where final fit out (think soft furnishing, cutlery etc) and crew embarkation occurs.

 

Ship trials should take less than a week. Iona took a very long time and I'm not going into those reasons here but sufficient to say it had more to do with Covid that Iona, and won't affect Arvia.

 

Additionally, Iona went to dry dock in Rotterdam twice before coming to Southampton. That is not happening with Arvia.

 

Arvia is due to arrive at Ocean Terminal on Saturday 3 December.

[Son of Anarchy]

Thank you Molecrochip.  Although we're not booked on Arvia its good to read a bit of an update.  A lovely little insight into the arrival of the new addition to the fleet. Might just stay up late when Iona is in English Channel on 09 December.

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

As with Iona, P&O will have booked the Ocean Terminal as necessary but requested that its not updated onto the cruise schedule until a lot closer to the time. This is not a need to worry.

 

You may recall a lot of comments on here when cruises went on sale about prices shooting up rapidly due to lack of availability. Now Covid is managed different, availablility is better and prices have dropped. This can vary category to category so not every one who booked is affected but most of those who were affected have received some kind of 'thank-you'.

 

As of Friday, it was still on time.

 

Iona's Ems conveyance is due this month. At that point she berths in Bremerhaven where final fit out (think soft furnishing, cutlery etc) and crew embarkation occurs.

 

Ship trials should take less than a week. Iona took a very long time and I'm not going into those reasons here but sufficient to say it had more to do with Covid that Iona, and won't affect Arvia.

 

Additionally, Iona went to dry dock in Rotterdam twice before coming to Southampton. That is not happening with Arvia.

 

Arvia is due to arrive at Ocean Terminal on Saturday 3 December.

I am glad covid will not affect Arvia. Can you tell me why P&O stopped the FCC's? Was it because covid is regarded as over or was it financial.

[gsgbrumuk]

To avoid confusion regarding fares on other sailings in this instance I was referring to the maiden cruise.

[ElmaLee]

On 10/7/2022 at 3:32 PM, Mollag said:

And giving money back to early bookers so much for Ludlow crowing about how good future bookings are. Throwing extra OBC at people as well to keep us sweet more and more like desperation to me

Are P&O proactively giving partial refunds to early bookers where fare have dropped?  I'm interested in this as P&O told me to cancel, lose my deposit and rebook, which I did and saved £800.

[ElmaLee]

On 10/7/2022 at 4:28 PM, davecttr said:

This reminds me, i have a email from P&O reducing my fare on Arvia next April by over £400 and promising to refund my credit card. This was months ago and it still has not arrived.

 

I will remind them when i cancel my Iona cruise next week

I am interested in this as I'm on Arvia in Feb and P&O told me to cancel and rebook to get savings!

Could you show the relevant bit of email (without any personal info)?  Thanks

[Britboys]

I think there are probably a number of factors leading to these reductions. In addition to what Molecrochip has mentioned above, it is a bog-standard Canaries itinerary - which doesn't appeal to everyone, it arrives back on 23rd December (so very close to Christmas) and many of P&O's longer-term, loyal pax were very disappointed with Iona's Maiden and a number who tried Iona didn't like her. Also, I assume (but may be wrong) that it departs before schools break up for Christmas so rules out many of the target audience for Arvia...

[Megabear2]

Will be interested to see what happens with the rest if Arvia's cruises which are currently reduced by £100 per voyage.

 

It's not just Arvia that early bookers had over priced, I'm watching my Britannia cruise drop like a stone and the cabin next door to mine is now £1,500 cheaper than I paid for my select opening day booking and they're getting £30 more OBC than me including my "bribe".  As a result I'm monitoring very carefully my Arvia cruise next year.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

I think there are probably a number of factors leading to these reductions. In addition to what Molecrochip has mentioned above, it is a bog-standard Canaries itinerary - which doesn't appeal to everyone, it arrives back on 23rd December (so very close to Christmas) and many of P&O's longer-term, loyal pax were very disappointed with Iona's Maiden and a number who tried Iona didn't like her. Also, I assume (but may be wrong) that it departs before schools break up for Christmas so rules out many of the target audience for Arvia...

All good points. We were booked on Iona’s original maiden cruise (obviously cancelled) and I asked Mrs S about going on ‘Our Vera’s’ maiden and she dismissed it out of hand, as she said she wouldn’t want to be under such a tight timescale for Christmas when it returns. 

[Francisdrake]

For the moment it seems booking at the death is the way to go,  with the size of Britannia, Iona & Arvia they'll take a hell of a lot to fill them particularly with them making the same port calls every year.   

 

I made the mistake of booking early thinking I'd need to book early to get a single balcony before they sold out.  (nearly £3400 for the fortnight in the Caribbean going 5th of November)  

 

Since then I rebooked again just before payment was due to be made as it was only £3100 for a standard balcony cabin including the single supplement so I paid less for a bigger cabin by re-booking even taking into account my lost deposit.       

I've just checked it out of curiosity and it's now available direct from p&o for £2238 for a balcony with the single supplement included. 

[Peterson78]

Apologies for slightly disrupting this thread, but can someone tell me why so often when looking at cruises with P&O the price for a single cabin (inside or balcony) is often substantially more than that for the standard equivalent, even with supplement ?

[davecttr]

26 minutes ago, Peterson78 said:

Apologies for slightly disrupting this thread, but can someone tell me why so often when looking at cruises with P&O the price for a single cabin (inside or balcony) is often substantially more than that for the standard equivalent, even with supplement ?

Maybe because some solo bookers want a designated single cabin for various reasons. As there are only a few of these the price asked is high. Or they may not realise they can book one of hundreds of double cabins with a single supplement that actually works out cheaper.

[Windsurfboy]

Our June 2024 suite on Arvia med cruise is £1000 dearer than at launch, and that's for a forward cabin , which we wouldn't have.  All rear like ours gone, so for some cabins it's launch or nothing. 

[davecttr]

17 hours ago, ElmaLee said:

I am interested in this as I'm on Arvia in Feb and P&O told me to cancel and rebook to get savings!

Could you show the relevant bit of email (without any personal info)?  Thanks

This is the amended booking conformation. As you see only £60 OBC is offered but the fare has reduced by £453 which P&O promised to refund to my credit card. I must get round to demanding payment. The cruise was fully paid up because it was moved twice because of covid

 

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, Peterson78 said:

Apologies for slightly disrupting this thread, but can someone tell me why so often when looking at cruises with P&O the price for a single cabin (inside or balcony) is often substantially more than that for the standard equivalent, even with supplement ?

One of the reasons often given is that people travelling on their own tend to spend less per head onboard than couples and families.  Obviously, there will be exceptions, and we’re delighted to be among them!

[Harry Peterson]

A few years ago there were big arguments on these forums about the best time to book for the lowest price. Two very distinct schools of thought - the very early brigade and the much later on brigade.  I’m leaving out the third option, the absolute last minute one, because it’s not really comparable.

 

As time went by, I think there was general agreement that early booking (at launch) was almost always the cheapest option. Most of us did just that and were rarely disappointed, particularly as most of the last minute deals disappeared too.

 

Things seem to have changed back again, reading these posts - and if that’s the case, and people hold back on booking, it’s not going to help their cash flow!

[Windsurfboy]

I think it all depends on how flexible you are , and how many cabins of the type you want are on the ship.

 

With 1334 standard balcony cabins on Iona and Arvia,  then odds favour flexible  last minute buyers. Similarly with 777 standard interior cabins.

 

If you want something else or are looking at smaller ship,perhaps early is best

[Fionboard]

6 hours ago, davecttr said:

Maybe because some solo bookers want a designated single cabin for various reasons. As there are only a few of these the price asked is high. Or they may not realise they can book one of hundreds of double cabins with a single supplement that actually works out cheaper.

Yes, just looked at an Arcadia cruise where single balcony costs more than double for single occupancy.  Will book the double if I go. 

[Devonport D]

I am on Arvia 6th January UK-Carribean, booked this when we were on Iona in June issued with good OBC.

 

We paid £4,400 which included seat upgrade on flight home, I see the same balcony cabin is advertised for £1249 almost half price.

I called P&O to see if we could do a deal with losing my OBC to have a reduction in price or put it towards a Suite, I explained I am a good previous customer and shareholder, very nice lady told me nothing doing, so I told the very nice lady I will be sailing with Celebrity in future.

Never book in advance, what looked a good deal turned out not to be, what is annoying they cannot fill this boat so why could they not do a deal I was not looking for freebies.

I think the price will go to £1,000 for a balcony nearer the sail date, let's hope the ship is complete to sail on time.

[gsgbrumuk]

Although if the ship isn't complete you should get a refund!

 

Maybe they'll do what they are doing with the maiden and give refunds to those who have paid significantly over the odds

I understand the maiden not appealing as much as the second sailing as that is Christmas/New Year. We are on both the Maiden and the T/A so should see you on board.  Home for 2 weeks in between.

However, not had our revised invoice yet nor refund for the maiden.  I will contact agent next week.