P&O reduce prices/refunds

[ParisHilton]

Thanks folks, that's kind of what I expected, I think I must have seen a discount offered somewhere which is what made me think it.  Totally agree though it would be utterly pointless for them to discount their main revenue source.

I suspect their business model is term time cover the companies' costs.  School hols are profit.

[daiB]

25 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

When you think about it, it would be daft of P&O to offer discounts for over the 60s. On many cruises out of school holidays they would be giving discounts to over 90% of the passengers 😂 

 

On a serious note though, whilst we all like a discounts and will take them where offered, the over 60s, in the main (and certainly the average cruiser whose over 60), probably have higher disposable incomes than younger customers who, whilst still working, have mortgages, childcare costs etc etc.

 

As with all holiday types, you will find that prices out of school holidays will be cheaper on the family ships, so at least you have that to look forward to, unless, as in our case, one of your kids hooks up with a teacher, or you eventually have grand children and then you might be back to school holiday cruises again 🙄😂

I like the idea of discounts for over 60’s actually over 70’s would do. 🙂

 

[Megabear2]

All the "special offers" have ended on P&O and Cunard apart from extra obc on Caribbean cruises.  A quick look shows the coming shortly P&O cruises - sailing before end of November - have dropped in price, but the obc has also dropped considerably as well.  However the headline prices are now lower as the saver has kicked in.  I would expect October/November to see a few"fire sales" on the Iona Spain cruises (not Canaries) and the remainder of Arvia sailings before she goes Caribbean.

 

Very little movement to be seen yet in early new year sailings but final payment is coming in October so I'd expect the cheaper savers to kick in next month.

 

Interestingly Caribbean sailings are holding well on select fares and already flights are only available from limited airports -this is early for that to happen.  For instance I looked at March and a lot are Manchester only.  It will  be interesting to seeif any extras appear as they did last year.  Select Caribbean fares having been cut quite dramatically earlier in the year are creeping up, not to the heady heights of day 1 fares but definitely a few hundred at a time.  Savers are on the otherhand becoming bargains through November early December as balance due date is past.  My old cancelled Christmas cruise on Arvia can now be bought for £6358 for 2 in a deck 12 mid forward balcony.  My fare was £7350.  The balcony saver is £5898. Interestingly the Prom cabins are shown and priced individually under the early saver option.  It will be interesting to see if this changes when we go to full saver on 24 September.

 

On another point on "special offers" at 12.05am and immediately after I clicked into both P&O and Cunard websites to do mock bookings.  Despite the offer ending on 4 September the P&O site would still allow certain cruisesto be booked withthe expired offer - this remained until 8.00am this morning.  Cunard on the other hand gave a message if you clicked the special offer banner stating the offer was finished.  Same IT same parent company yet one could cause big confusion if you booked.

 

From a personal/selfish note I'm delighted to say all three of my Cunard cruises have indeed risen by 10% and the obc is no longer doubled which indicates this was indeed a genuine sale!

 

My remaining two P&O cruises in early 2024 show no price change - yet!!

[FangedRose]

3 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Are there good discounts to be had when you hit 60?  Though I'm hoping when I get there I can avoid school holidays and benefit from those 'discounts'!

Never even crossed my mind!

 

Most places don't even offer discounts until you are 66 now anyway.

[Dermotsgirl]

23 minutes ago, FangedRose said:

Never even crossed my mind!

 

Most places don't even offer discounts until you are 66 now anyway.

When I’m going to visitor attractions, I’ve found that the ‘senior’ discount  is applicable at either 60, 65 or 66, so I always have to read the small print to see if I’m old enough. It’ll be much easier when I’m 66, and officially old!
 

Although, in 2026, the state pension age begins its transition to 67, so there’ll be a longer wait to be ‘old’ 

[ParisHilton]

Someone has just sent me a link for 7 nights on Euribia for £800 .

Sailing Feb2nd.  That's unbelievably cheap. I need to get a private tutor for the girls.

 

£60 pp/pd.  I know there will be add ons, but still.

I wonder if I need a work trip on a cruise ship......

 

[Bill Y]

With regards to the original posting. We have now received an amended booking confirmation but no explanation so the mystery  deepens, we got the opinion that the TA was sceptical of this P&O email and asked why was this reduction made was the itinerary being changed?

 

Although we did not wish to look a gift horse in the mouth we pushed for more information:-

• Is there now a promise that if the cruise is reduced there will be a reduction to previous bookings?
• Does this apply to all bookings or only on certain ships?
• Is it select fares only?
• Is it only cruises after a certain date i.e. date booked or sailing?
• what happens if the fare goes back up again?
• Is my 2024 Aurora cruise subject to this "new pricing" ? and any new bookings subject to the answers of the above questions?

 

From TA

 

I have received the following reply from P&O unfortunately they were unable to answer most of your questions.
This is their reply:

We can confirm that your enquiry has been completed as requested.

We do not have a price promise in place, we look at bookings case by case if there has been a significant reduction. Therefore I cannot answer the following questions because we do not have a price promise in place.

I am sorry they were unable to answer.

 

I am beginning to think that theses emails were a mistake (probably IT) as so few people on here mentioned them but to their credit P&O honoured the email.

[mitooki]

On 9/5/2023 at 11:08 AM, Megabear2 said:

A quick look shows the coming shortly P&O cruises - sailing before end of November - have dropped in price, but the obc has also dropped considerably as well.

A new offer expiring 2 October seems to be active now. Headline looks similar to the offer that expired on 4 September but slightly less generous with OBC.

[FangedRose]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:05 PM, Bill Y said:

With regards to the original posting. We have now received an amended booking confirmation but no explanation so the mystery  deepens, we got the opinion that the TA was sceptical of this P&O email and asked why was this reduction made was the itinerary being changed?

 

Although we did not wish to look a gift horse in the mouth we pushed for more information:-

• Is there now a promise that if the cruise is reduced there will be a reduction to previous bookings?
• Does this apply to all bookings or only on certain ships?
• Is it select fares only?
• Is it only cruises after a certain date i.e. date booked or sailing?
• what happens if the fare goes back up again?
• Is my 2024 Aurora cruise subject to this "new pricing" ? and any new bookings subject to the answers of the above questions?

 

From TA

 

I have received the following reply from P&O unfortunately they were unable to answer most of your questions.
This is their reply:

We can confirm that your enquiry has been completed as requested.

We do not have a price promise in place, we look at bookings case by case if there has been a significant reduction. Therefore I cannot answer the following questions because we do not have a price promise in place.

I am sorry they were unable to answer.

 

I am beginning to think that theses emails were a mistake (probably IT) as so few people on here mentioned them but to their credit P&O honoured the email.

Got confirmation of my new reduced price.

 

From "the other place" (fb) is seems to only be Arcadia and Aurora cruises in 2025.

[ParisHilton]

I'm still trying to talk myself into affording Disney. Can anyone advise how much I should allocate for tips? I assume there's a standard rate for the folks that service your room? Are we expected to tip wait staff ( they seem to follow you across diners so I assume so).  Bar staff for a drink? Or a coffee? Staff in the buffet ?

I'm a typical Brit and no idea how this works.  Don't want to be a mingebag but also don't want to book this then find it's another 25% for tips.  Or at least know that's likely!

[FangedRose]

1 hour ago, ParisHilton said:

I'm still trying to talk myself into affording Disney. Can anyone advise how much I should allocate for tips? I assume there's a standard rate for the folks that service your room? Are we expected to tip wait staff ( they seem to follow you across diners so I assume so).  Bar staff for a drink? Or a coffee? Staff in the buffet ?

I'm a typical Brit and no idea how this works.  Don't want to be a mingebag but also don't want to book this then find it's another 25% for tips.  Or at least know that's likely!

Best ask on the Disney Forum

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

I'm still trying to talk myself into affording Disney. Can anyone advise how much I should allocate for tips? I assume there's a standard rate for the folks that service your room? Are we expected to tip wait staff ( they seem to follow you across diners so I assume so).  Bar staff for a drink? Or a coffee? Staff in the buffet ?

I'm a typical Brit and no idea how this works.  Don't want to be a mingebag but also don't want to book this then find it's another 25% for tips.  Or at least know that's likely!

This might help:

 

How much is the gratuity for a 7 night Disney cruise?

 

 

If you're traveling on a seven-night cruise with a party of four, your total gratuity fee would be $407 ($14.50 x 4 people x 7 nights). This baseline amounts will be automatically added to your stateroom bill. You can choose to pay them in advance of your sailing or once you're onboard.29 Jan 2023

 

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

This might help:

 

How much is the gratuity for a 7 night Disney cruise?

 

 

If you're traveling on a seven-night cruise with a party of four, your total gratuity fee would be $407 ($14.50 x 4 people x 7 nights). This baseline amounts will be automatically added to your stateroom bill. You can choose to pay them in advance of your sailing or once you're onboard.29 Jan 2023

 

It’s my understanding watching several well known you tubers too,  there is pressure to tip individuals over and above this as well. 

[Selbourne]

These conversations make me appreciate the fact that P&O dispensed with additional charges for gratuities.

[ParisHilton]

Thanks folks $400 is much less than I was fearing .

It feels a bit like resort fees in that they're bolted on at an almost fixed rate. I'm not sure if it's just to keep headline prices down or a tax dodge or both. 

I'm sure there's scope there for some dollars to be handed over to friendly cabin staff too.

 

Just something that occured to me the other day too when trying to evaluate how good value cruises seem to be .  Shows are in English. So I couldn't do a city break in say a big German city in a hotel with a pool and add on restaurant fees and a few shows .I suppose I could factor in a duo lingo subscription....

[Megabear2]

57 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Thanks folks $400 is much less than I was fearing .

It feels a bit like resort fees in that they're bolted on at an almost fixed rate. I'm not sure if it's just to keep headline prices down or a tax dodge or both. 

I'm sure there's scope there for some dollars to be handed over to friendly cabin staff too.

 

Just something that occured to me the other day too when trying to evaluate how good value cruises seem to be .  Shows are in English. So I couldn't do a city break in say a big German city in a hotel with a pool and add on restaurant fees and a few shows .I suppose I could factor in a duo lingo subscription....

I'd go for it if it's what you want.  Rarely when preparing do I submit to paying more than a $20 or so extra tip. A very good friend of mine is a Disney World employee - we met him New Year's Eve 1999 on his first day as barman in Disney Port Orleans. Four years later we met him again as a senior barman in Grand Floridian. By then he was married and bought a house outright in Celebration based as he put it tips from misguided Brazilians and Europeans. Takefromtgat as you will - his advice to us a dollar or so maxbwith a round of drinks is more than enough... 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Megabear2

[ParisHilton]

Ok, so after lots of dilly dallying I think we will be defecting to royal Caribbean. I guess American lines assume 90%+ of passengers pay tips. Whereas Brit centric ones find a much lower tip rate .

Optional tips seems madness. I think it's cultural, it might be generational. That said I've been to America a couple of times with people that work with Americans so tipping isn't completely alien to me. I also appreciate that the crew work really hard for very little and I happily give them something. Seems unlikely they see it though if it's collected by the cruise line .

[Winifred 22]

10 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Ok, so after lots of dilly dallying I think we will be defecting to royal Caribbean. I guess American lines assume 90%+ of passengers pay tips. Whereas Brit centric ones find a much lower tip rate .

Optional tips seems madness. I think it's cultural, it might be generational. That said I've been to America a couple of times with people that work with Americans so tipping isn't completely alien to me. I also appreciate that the crew work really hard for very little and I happily give them something. Seems unlikely they see it though if it's collected by the cruise line .

I thought Royal charged a daily rate for gratuities per person for  all in the cabin including children. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Winifred 22

[ParisHilton]

6 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

I thought Royal charged a daily rate for gratuities per person for  all in the cabin including children. 

Hi Winifred. They seem to charge a daily rate, but I'm told it's optional. 

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Hi Winifred. They seem to charge a daily rate, but I'm told it's optional. 

Oh I see. I won’t go down that rabbit hole of removing gratuities. I normally sail Cunard and my pet hate is the removal of gratuities. On Cunard they are shared out amongst all staff including laundry workers and galley staff. I would never be able to tip those crew members in person so I keep the auto gratuities on and tip extra to wait and cabin staff. For reference I am from  U K.,

[lancashire_cruisers]

3 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Oh I see. I won’t go down that rabbit hole of removing gratuities. I normally sail Cunard and my pet hate is the removal of gratuities. On Cunard they are shared out amongst all staff including laundry workers and galley staff. I would never be able to tip those crew members in person so I keep the auto gratuities on and tip extra to wait and cabin staff. For reference I am from  U K.,

It’s the same on Royal Caribbean in that it’s shared with the behind the scenes staff. You can remove, reduce or increase the auto-gratuities at guest services but we’ve never felt the need to do so on our RCI cruises. We just view it as part of the cost of the cruise and factor it in when looking at the overall cost.

[ParisHilton]

Thanks, for the replies. It's real penny pinching to not pay them. I'm sure shine won't and will feel guilty free but I guess that's just life.

[Scots Couple]

On 9/16/2023 at 11:13 AM, ParisHilton said:

I'm still trying to talk myself into affording Disney. Can anyone advise how much I should allocate for tips? I assume there's a standard rate for the folks that service your room? Are we expected to tip wait staff ( they seem to follow you across diners so I assume so).  Bar staff for a drink? Or a coffee? Staff in the buffet ?

I'm a typical Brit and no idea how this works.  Don't want to be a mingebag but also don't want to book this then find it's another 25% for tips.  Or at least know that's likely!

Gratuities on Disney  are $14.50 per person per day including babies and children and $15.50 in a Concierge grade they are added automatically to your bill

[FangedRose]

15 hours ago, ParisHilton said:

Hi Winifred. They seem to charge a daily rate, but I'm told it's optional. 

It is optional, but you have to queue and fill in forms at reception to remove them. And, I think I'm right, you can only remove them for future days, so if you want to remove them for the whole cruise you need to do so on the first day, hence the queue.

[majortom10]

E

1 hour ago, FangedRose said:

It is optional, but you have to queue and fill in forms at reception to remove them. And, I think I'm right, you can only remove them for future days, so if you want to remove them for the whole cruise you need to do so on the first day, hence the queue.

You don't have to go down on first day to cancel gratuities you can do it anytime during the cruise and there are no forms to fill in they fill in form and you just sign it.