Quite a few latish bargains back again - less than £50 pp per night

[Cruise_Rookie_2010]

On 4/12/2023 at 7:05 PM, Cruise_Rookie_2010 said:

Currently it feels like 2023 will go down in history as one of the best times to book a cruise, we're just back from a T/A (Arvia) which, including flight, cost us less than £100/night per person all in (parking/insurance/on-board spend included). We've another med cruise booked for October which will be similar, if not less (depends on how much we drink), and I'm very tempted to try an squeeze in a Fjords cruise this year with the deals that are currently floating around. I can't remember anytime in the past 10 years when cruising offered such great value. I travel a bit with work and would struggle to find accommodation alone at the rates we're being offered for an all-inclusive cruise.

I caved and booked a Norwegian fjords, at these prices how could you not?

[Interestedcruisefan]

On 4/12/2023 at 7:05 PM, Cruise_Rookie_2010 said:

Currently it feels like 2023 will go down in history as one of the best times to book a cruise, we're just back from a T/A (Arvia) which, including flight, cost us less than £100/night per person all in (parking/insurance/on-board spend included). We've another med cruise booked for October which will be similar, if not less (depends on how much we drink), and I'm very tempted to try an squeeze in a Fjords cruise this year with the deals that are currently floating around. I can't remember anytime in the past 10 years when cruising offered such great value. I travel a bit with work and would struggle to find accommodation alone at the rates we're being offered for an all-inclusive cruise.

Saw this in a fish and chip shop today in Scotland. Apologising for their price rises. But you can be sure the costs for cruise lines have increased considerably last 2 or 3 years as well. Yet these increases aren't hitting the passengers yet

[Harry Peterson]

This has recently appeared on a 'bargains' website which shall be nameless:

 

7 Night Norwegian Fjords Cruise for 4 People from Southampton- P&O Iona *Full Board* - 6th-13th May - £754 (£185.50pp)

 

Says from £423pp, add 4 and it's £188.50pp. Amazing price, works out at £27pp/pn!
Note that the 4 can be all adults or a mix of children & adults. It's the same price overall if just 2 or 3 go.

 

I've not checked it out properly yet, but that's quite some price!

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

This has recently appeared on a 'bargains' website which shall be nameless:

 

7 Night Norwegian Fjords Cruise for 4 People from Southampton- P&O Iona *Full Board* - 6th-13th May - £754 (£185.50pp)

 

Says from £423pp, add 4 and it's £188.50pp. Amazing price, works out at £27pp/pn!
Note that the 4 can be all adults or a mix of children & adults. It's the same price overall if just 2 or 3 go.

 

I've not checked it out properly yet, but that's quite some price!

I assume it's upto 4 adults sharing an inside cabin?

 

Maybe 4 ladies on a girls escape would consider that?  But they will need to be very close friends!

 

We've shared cabins with our teenage kids of course. Not ideal. 

 

But that's a truly incredible price for a family of 4

 

Definitely cheaper than staying at home with the lights and heating on!!

 

 

 

 

 

[TypicalManc]

When do you ACTUALLY book your cruise though??

Your in a catch 22 situation I think, do you wait till the price drops before you book, losing a lot of choices, cabins, reduction in on board credit, potential for your flight to be full..................its a quandry for sure!

I'm looking to book a Med cruise in September and its currently advertised at £800 with a £140 on board credit, which I thought was a good price, but how much is it likely to drop as the months go by and how much of that credit will be eroded??

[Megabear2]

12 minutes ago, TypicalManc said:

When do you ACTUALLY book your cruise though??

Your in a catch 22 situation I think, do you wait till the price drops before you book, losing a lot of choices, cabins, reduction in on board credit, potential for your flight to be full..................its a quandry for sure!

I'm looking to book a Med cruise in September and its currently advertised at £800 with a £140 on board credit, which I thought was a good price, but how much is it likely to drop as the months go by and how much of that credit will be eroded??

Depends on which ship and itinerary.  I monitor a lot of cruise lines for bargains as I book at short notice on a whim (always have done!) and my experience is the biggest price drops normally occur 6-8 weeks before sailing.  Depending on the popularity then you can see odd decreases/increases. For instance I booked Arvia for mid May on 31/3 to ensure I received my welcome back OBC. Fares were from £849 on that date, earlier this week they dropped £50 to £799 but overnight Thursday they went back up to £849 and remain there, today advertised at over £1,100 for the last odd cabins.

 

Over the years I've found a good way to gauge the fares is to look at the lowest prices the similar itinerary drops to, I do this for several months if I have something in mind and I also look at which cabins remain until the price drops begin, normally I do this fortnightly to judge how sales have been going.  For instance once Iona/Arvia aft cabins are all sold the odds on a saver fare being deck 8 multiply at week 10 because normally the number of "decent" cabins on select fare have reduced to clusters here and there. The lowest price this year has been around £599 inside saver on 14 night Arvia cruises but as we are moving into more desirable times weather wise so £799 seems to be the near norm lowest offering.  Iona 7 nights are hovering between lead price £399 and £449.  The remainder of the fleet are not so easy to gauge but on the whole Britannia comes in around lead prices of £449 upwards for her 7 night fjords to £1,299 upwards on her 14 night Med and Scandinavian cruises.  Ventura, Arcadia and Aurora are rules to themselves but definitely the Azura fly cruises of 14 nights are not the bargain basement offering they were last year, assumedly due to flight costs and the airports being more organised.

 

It's not a precise measure but has stood me in good stead over the past years. I have, however, noted this year that although the headline saver fares are often hundreds and even thousands less than the select fare once you move up cabin type the bargains tend to be fewer and also the select fare cut off price drop remains the same. Using J307 as a random example a deluxe balcony saver is currently from £2,598 whilst the select is from £4,398 with £480 OBC so still a minimum £1,320 more for select. If you choose a better location the price rises accordingly with a mid balcony on a preferred floor generally rise by around £200 to £300 more.

 

So in answer to your question, depends on how much I feel like taking a gamble on location, if it's a sudden desire to get away to anywhere and if I don't mind which ship or where it's going.

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, TypicalManc said:

When do you ACTUALLY book your cruise though??

Your in a catch 22 situation I think, do you wait till the price drops before you book, losing a lot of choices, cabins, reduction in on board credit, potential for your flight to be full..................its a quandry for sure!

I'm looking to book a Med cruise in September and its currently advertised at £800 with a £140 on board credit, which I thought was a good price, but how much is it likely to drop as the months go by and how much of that credit will be eroded??

My only challenge is making sure flights from either Birmingham or Manchester are still available for our Caribbean cruises

 

For Southampton cruises I don't have that worry

 

We go inside saver so honestly makes no difference to us where the cabin is. We don't have a view regardless 

 

So that significantly reduces the pressure on us when booking something

 

I think as Megabear suggests 8 weeks out might be the time for us to book to get the best price

Edited April 22, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, TypicalManc said:

When do you ACTUALLY book your cruise though??

Your in a catch 22 situation I think, do you wait till the price drops before you book, losing a lot of choices, cabins, reduction in on board credit, potential for your flight to be full..................its a quandry for sure!

I'm looking to book a Med cruise in September and its currently advertised at £800 with a £140 on board credit, which I thought was a good price, but how much is it likely to drop as the months go by and how much of that credit will be eroded??

As you say a quandary, bottom line you pay your money and take your chances. If I saw a 14 night cruise for £800 with £140 OBC I would probably book it, yes it may come down but then again it may not, P&O fluid pricing plays havoc with prices from day to day. However would you be happy to pay more if it goes up? or how disappointed would you be if you didn't get on? There are some of the best deals around now that I have ever seen in 30 years of cruising. Good for us retirees as we are virtually packed all year round. 

[TypicalManc]

38 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Depends on which ship and itinerary.  I monitor a lot of cruise lines for bargains as I book at short notice on a whim (always have done!) and my experience is the biggest price drops normally occur 6-8 weeks before sailing.  Depending on the popularity then you can see odd decreases/increases. For instance I booked Arvia for mid May on 31/3 to ensure I received my welcome back OBC. Fares were from £849 on that date, earlier this week they dropped £50 to £799 but overnight Thursday they went back up to £849 and remain there, today advertised at over £1,100 for the last odd cabins.

 

Over the years I've found a good way to gauge the fares is to look at the lowest prices the similar itinerary drops to, I do this for several months if I have something in mind and I also look at which cabins remain until the price drops begin, normally I do this fortnightly to judge how sales have been going.  For instance once Iona/Arvia aft cabins are all sold the odds on a saver fare being deck 8 multiply at week 10 because normally the number of "decent" cabins on select fare have reduced to clusters here and there. The lowest price this year has been around £599 inside saver on 14 night Arvia cruises but as we are moving into more desirable times weather wise so £799 seems to be the near norm lowest offering.  Iona 7 nights are hovering between lead price £399 and £449.  The remainder of the fleet are not so easy to gauge but on the whole Britannia comes in around lead prices of £449 upwards for her 7 night fjords to £1,299 upwards on her 14 night Med and Scandinavian cruises.  Ventura, Arcadia and Aurora are rules to themselves but definitely the Azura fly cruises of 14 nights are not the bargain basement offering they were last year, assumedly due to flight costs and the airports being more organised.

 

It's not a precise measure but has stood me in good stead over the past years. I have, however, noted this year that although the headline saver fares are often hundreds and even thousands less than the select fare once you move up cabin type the bargains tend to be fewer and also the select fare cut off price drop remains the same. Using J307 as a random example a deluxe balcony saver is currently from £2,598 whilst the select is from £4,398 with £480 OBC so still a minimum £1,320 more for select. If you choose a better location the price rises accordingly with a mid balcony on a preferred floor generally rise by around £200 to £300 more.

 

So in answer to your question, depends on how much I feel like taking a gamble on location, if it's a sudden desire to get away to anywhere and if I don't mind which ship or where it's going.

Thanks for the 'eads oop' a lot of good advice which i'll take.......................time to start "browsing" 😉

38 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

 

 

 

[TypicalManc]

38 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

My only challenge is making sure flights from either Birmingham or Manchester are still available for our Caribbean cruises

 

For Southampton cruises I don't have that worry

 

We go inside saver so honestly makes no difference to us where the cabin is. We don't have a view regardless 

 

So that significantly reduces the pressure on us when booking something

 

I think as Megabear suggests 8 weeks out might be the time for us to book to get the best price

I'm a bit like you, only done 4 cruises ever, been happy with the prices we paid at the time but think i could probably have done better with a bit more research.

Did the fjords with Ambassador last year and I think we've finally settled on the inside cabin option in the future so not really fussed where its situated, other than keeping away from the obvious potential noisy area's.

Interesting comment about the flights, do you just assume that if the options available when booking then its guaranteed??

 

[TypicalManc]

14 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

As you say a quandary, bottom line you pay your money and take your chances. If I saw a 14 night cruise for £800 with £140 OBC I would probably book it, yes it may come down but then again it may not, P&O fluid pricing plays havoc with prices from day to day. However would you be happy to pay more if it goes up? or how disappointed would you be if you didn't get on? There are some of the best deals around now that I have ever seen in 30 years of cruising. Good for us retirees as we are virtually packed all year round. 

Theres a lot of choice out there so i dont think I would ever be disappointed at missing out, theres always another bargain comes along i think, as Megabear says, just keep looking.

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, TypicalManc said:

I'm a bit like you, only done 4 cruises ever, been happy with the prices we paid at the time but think i could probably have done better with a bit more research.

Did the fjords with Ambassador last year and I think we've finally settled on the inside cabin option in the future so not really fussed where its situated, other than keeping away from the obvious potential noisy area's.

Interesting comment about the flights, do you just assume that if the options available when booking then its guaranteed??

 

Yes

 

It's more like I've waited too long and Birmingham and Manchester flights no longer an option

 

Any savings negated by expensive taxi journeys and/or overnight stays at london airports

 

 To the extent I've had to change  dates to get around 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, TypicalManc said:

I'm a bit like you, only done 4 cruises ever, been happy with the prices we paid at the time but think i could probably have done better with a bit more research.

Did the fjords with Ambassador last year and I think we've finally settled on the inside cabin option in the future so not really fussed where its situated, other than keeping away from the obvious potential noisy area's.

Interesting comment about the flights, do you just assume that if the options available when booking then its guaranteed??

 

Unless it's a school holiday fully booked cruise I wouldn't even worry about a noisy cabin

 

We've only had it happen to us once and we complained and got moved to a balcony cabin

 

The last cruise on Arvia

 

They don't want unhappy customers on board  if they can avoid it

 

I'm sure they would move you if they had capacity and you complained the right way

 

We complained politely but with good reason

 

Would have been happy just being moved to a non noisy inside but got a balcony which I didnt use but my wife did. And was nice to have 

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

As you say a quandary, bottom line you pay your money and take your chances. If I saw a 14 night cruise for £800 with £140 OBC I would probably book it, yes it may come down but then again it may not, P&O fluid pricing plays havoc with prices from day to day. However would you be happy to pay more if it goes up? or how disappointed would you be if you didn't get on? There are some of the best deals around now that I have ever seen in 30 years of cruising. Good for us retirees as we are virtually packed all year round. 

Unfortunately it is not just P&O but other cruise lines and travel companies that adopted the fluid pricing years ago. I have been monitoring prices on TUIs website for a holiday in July to Austria and have been doing so since early March. The prices have been up and down as often as on a daily basis and also

some with differing discount codes.

[Cruise_Rookie_2010]

There's no easy answer when it comes to cruise pricing. We all have different priorities, for some it's the itinerary, for others it's the room location, some like a specific ship. Only you can tell if the offer represents good value or not and if it does then book and don't get too concerned about whether you may or may not have picked the right time, that's outside your control. Some you win, some you lose, it all balances out over time. I have a simple benchmark, inside guarantees for around £50/night, or balcony cabins for around £100/ night represent great value and we'll flex that for a particular destination or if we want to experience a particular ship. If the price is lower than that then it's a steal, don't forget you are getting the room, transport from A to B (itinerary), food and entertainment all in the price.

[bobstheboy]

I always went last minute but since you know what, I have booked four cruises, pre release, selecting two or three cabins. My personal TA who works from home is very good and before I commit lets me know the cabin number, price and OBC. I could get an inside at the last minute but having had balconies for a few years, won't go back. So far my strategy has paid off, the OBC has been higher on pre release prices and I am happy.

[tring]

On 4/14/2023 at 5:38 PM, Harry Peterson said:

This has recently appeared on a 'bargains' website which shall be nameless:

 

7 Night Norwegian Fjords Cruise for 4 People from Southampton- P&O Iona *Full Board* - 6th-13th May - £754 (£185.50pp)

 

Says from £423pp, add 4 and it's £188.50pp. Amazing price, works out at £27pp/pn!
Note that the 4 can be all adults or a mix of children & adults. It's the same price overall if just 2 or 3 go.

 

I've not checked it out properly yet, but thaAat's quite some price!

 

Those dates cover the Coronation weekend, so probably why they are having particular problems booking that.  Interesting just how low it has gone though.

 

We both had some air miles which needed used last autumn, so had booked the 7th and 8th in Wales, so we will not be at home to see the Coronation concert on the 7th, which I would have preferred, but we booked non cancellable rates.  Also means we will be away over a bank holiday, which we have not done for years. 

 

[NavyPanda]

It looks like the days of no single supplement are gone.  All cruises at the moment seem to have the standard 60% single supplement (which I feel is quite fair).

 

All except one cruise, British Isles B315N, 14 nights, Britannia 9th June 2023 where the single supplement appears to have been reduced to just 20%

 

Inside £719 for solo  (£599pp based on two)

Balcony £959 for solo (£799pp based on two)

 

Works out at £51.36/night (solo) direct from P&O.  Seen it with a travel agent offering a 6% discount making it £676 total or £48.29/night for a solo.

 

Very, very good pricing for a cruise in June for solo passengers.