Booking A Cruise On Board.

[Shocked91]

Hi. Was just wondering what the current offer is for booking another cruise while on board. We are on board Iona beginning of March and was just wondering if we would get a better deal on board. Looking at booking a 2 week Caribbean cruise for Feb 24. The current online offer is £640 OBC. Thank you.

[yorkshirephil]

4 minutes ago, Shocked91 said:

Hi. Was just wondering what the current offer is for booking another cruise while on board. We are on board Iona beginning of March and was just wondering if we would get a better deal on board. Looking at booking a 2 week Caribbean cruise for Feb 24. The current online offer is £640 OBC. Thank you.

One of the benefits is £50pp deposit, usually extra OBC is added, we also had 5% extra discount offered on some cruises. 

[TigerB]

When we were on Arvia in January we booked two cruises; the Canaries on Britannia in September this year, and the repositioning cruise back to Southampton on Arvia next March. We got double OBC for them both, £700 for the first and £1210 for the second; and it was £50pp deposit for each. 

When we got home I checked the online price and there was no difference in price; obviously less OBC and a bigger deposit for each.

I intend to keep an eye on prices and won't pay the remaining balance until to due date; if there is a better deal, and subject to a suitable cabin being available, I will probably take a hit on the £100 deposit if it works in my favour to do so.

[sandancer]

If you book onboard is it automatically passed on to the travel agent you booked the original cruise with or does it stay with P&O. 

[TigerB]

1 minute ago, sandancer said:

If you book onboard is it automatically passed on to the travel agent you booked the original cruise with or does it stay with P&O. 

I'm not sure they have that information onboard, as we were asked if we had a travel agent we wanted to nominate.

[sandancer]

Thanks. I was going by Celebrity where they pass on the booking to the travel agent unless you specifically instruct them not to. We are also on the Arvia repositioning cruise in March. We have just booked Azura for January. If I’d known about the £50 deposit and double obc I would have waited and booked onboard. 

[yorkshirephil]

12 minutes ago, sandancer said:

If you book onboard is it automatically passed on to the travel agent you booked the original cruise with or does it stay with P&O. 

Ours have always passed to the TA we cruised with

 

[binman2]

Have booked a few times on board when I was lucky enough to be on board on release day .I can never understand how p and o always revert booking to your TA  who then gives me a further discount and p and o giving me £50 pp obc as well and a low dep  of £50 pp .They must pay commission to TA less profit for p and o and more discount for passenger ,Shouldn't complain of they might take if off us 

[yorkshirephil]

10 minutes ago, binman2 said:

Have booked a few times on board when I was lucky enough to be on board on release day .I can never understand how p and o always revert booking to your TA  who then gives me a further discount and p and o giving me £50 pp obc as well and a low dep  of £50 pp .They must pay commission to TA less profit for p and o and more discount for passenger ,Shouldn't complain of they might take if off us 

I have often wondered why they do that, I can see no financial logic.

[sandancer]

The only drawback I can see for booking onboard is if you want a specific cabin or cabin category. We always book an aft, wake view cabin whenever possible and they tend to be snapped up quickly once a cruise is released for booking. Not over bothered about the £50 deposit but double obc is well worth having. TigerB did really well with that. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by sandancer

[yorkshirephil]

4 minutes ago, sandancer said:

The only drawback I can see for booking onboard is if you want a specific cabin or cabin category. We always book an aft, wake view cabin whenever possible and they tend to be snapped up quickly once a cruise is released for booking. Not over bothered about the £50 deposit but double obc is well worth having. TigerB did really well with that. 

If you book select you pick your cabin at point of booking.

[sandancer]

Yes Phil, we always book Select.  I was trying to point out that if you wait to book onboard you have less chance of getting your chosen cabin category if it is in high demand.

[purplesea]

While on board last May we booked a cruise for this September. We were given the option of transfering the cruise to the TA we had used to book the cruise we were on. We paid a £50pp deposit but our OBC was £25 pp on the 7 night cruise.

[tring]

2 hours ago, sandancer said:

If you book onboard is it automatically passed on to the travel agent you booked the original cruise with or does it stay with P&O. 

 

If you have booked your current cruise with an agent, you have the choice of the onboard booking going to the same agent, but you could choose to leave it direct with P&O if you prefer.  I think most people would have it sent to their agent though, as they often give a bit more discount.

 

If you have booked your current cruise directly, the booking has to stay as a direct one.  Also, you could not choose to transfer a booking to a different agent, only one you are booked with for that cruise.

 

[terrierjohn]

5 hours ago, TigerB said:

I'm not sure they have that information onboard, as we were asked if we had a travel agent we wanted to nominate.

P&O do transfer your booking to the TA you booked with, but not certain whether you can switch from a direct booking to a TA.

[tring]

16 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O do transfer your booking to the TA you booked with, but not certain whether you can switch from a direct booking to a TA.

 

Correct John, we were pretty sure we knew the rules, but that was definitely confirmed by the sales person It is as I said in #14.  They do know if you have booked the current cruise with an agent and, if so, the identity of the agent.

 

[TigerB]

53 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Correct John, we were pretty sure we knew the rules, but that was definitely confirmed by the sales person It is as I said in #14.  They do know if you have booked the current cruise with an agent and, if so, the identity of the agent.

 

 

So, just to be clear; in September we are on Britannia, having booked direct; if we booked again whilst on that cruise, the new booking would remain as a direct booking, we couldn't nominate a travel agent. Is that correct?

[tring]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

So, just to be clear; in September we are on Britannia, having booked direct; if we booked again whilst on that cruise, the new booking would remain as a direct booking, we couldn't nominate a travel agent. Is that correct?

 

That is what I have always understood and also what we were told in November on Aurora and also on Azura in October.

 

We were thinking of pre registering for a 24/25 cruise when on Azura (which was a direct booking), but we would not have been able to request any specific cabin numbers and would not have the option of transferring that pre registration booking to an agent, either before or after cabin allocation.

 

Perhaps worth trying to find out how likely better placed adapted cabins are to be booked within a few  hours of your desired cruise going on general sale.  It is possible people of Caribbean and above loyalty levels will have already booked the better placed adapted cabins when they have the chance of priority booking, a couple of days before cruises go on general sale.  If that is the case, then no one hoping to book on the day the cruise goes on general sale would be able to choose those cabins, even if they are pre registered with an agent.  There are people on this forum who need adapted cabins and usually book at launch because it is not easy to book those cabins, so they may have an idea what the chances are of that.  You could start a new thread to ask about that.

 

I am assuming you are not Caribbean level or above, hence entitled to book at an earlier date, but could be wrong.

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by tring

[TigerB]

57 minutes ago, tring said:

 

That is what I have always understood and also what we were told in November on Aurora and also on Azura in October.

 

We were thinking of pre registering for a 24/25 cruise when on Azura (which was a direct booking), but we would not have been able to request any specific cabin numbers and would not have the option of transferring that pre registration booking to an agent, either before or after cabin allocation.

 

Perhaps worth trying to find out how likely better placed adapted cabins are to be booked within a few  hours of your desired cruise going on general sale.  It is possible people of Caribbean and above loyalty levels will have already booked the better placed adapted cabins when they have the chance of priority booking, a couple of days before cruises go on general sale.  If that is the case, then no one hoping to book on the day the cruise goes on general sale would be able to choose those cabins, even if they are pre registered with an agent.  There are people on this forum who need adapted cabins and usually book at launch because it is not easy to book those cabins, so they may have an idea what the chances are of that.  You could start a new thread to ask about that.

 

I am assuming you are not Caribbean level or above, hence entitled to book at an earlier date, but could be wrong.

 

 

Thanks Tring, that is helpful.👍

No, we are but lowly Pacific cruisers.🙄

[Bill Y]

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

So, just to be clear; in September we are on Britannia, having booked direct; if we booked again whilst on that cruise, the new booking would remain as a direct booking, we couldn't nominate a travel agent. Is that correct?

You can only add an agent that you have used before. Pre covid when we booked on board, we asked who they were passing it back to, they looked it up at told us the name of the agent that we booked the current cruise with, we asked if we could have it passed to another one, they looked and agreed, evidently it had to be one that you used within a certain time frame. It might have changed since then and the fact that your current cruise was booked direct may trump everything. If you have used an agent with P&O recently that will reward you it's worth asking.

[Ardennais]

Does the £50pp deposit apply to all cruises? What about longer cruises, say 21+ nights?

[yorkshirephil]

2 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Does the £50pp deposit apply to all cruises? What about longer cruises, say 21+ nights?

I think anything over 35 nights attracts a higher deposit depending on offers at the time. We paid £50 for our 35 night cruise in 2025 but I am sure someone who booked a worldie paid 15%?

[Ardennais]

Just now, yorkshirephil said:

I think anything over 35 nights attracts a higher deposit depending on offers at the time. We paid £50 for our 35 night cruise in 2025 but I am sure someone who booked a worldie paid 15%?

Thanks. We’re not looking at a worldie - still working! Hoping to do another 35 nighter. 

[Gettingwarmer]

11 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Does the £50pp deposit apply to all cruises? What about longer cruises, say 21+ nights?

 

4 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Thanks. We’re not looking at a worldie - still working! Hoping to do another 35 nighter. 

See these terms on our last cruise 

[Shocked91]

Thank you all for your replies. Booked today for the Caribbean for 2 weeks. We received £740 OBC.