P&O reduce prices/refunds

[Winifred 22]

11 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

I book all our cruises and pay for them. My husband sometimes asks on the way to Southampton how much I’ve paid, and to be honest, I can never really remember. 

Me neither I could probably give a ball park figure but not a precise one. 😀

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I can honestly say I have never heard anyone discussing what they paid for their cruise. Another reason to keep myself to myself I think. 

 

We'd never had it happen before but because the prices were reduced so much for that cruise there were some shall I say interesting characters onboard who were enjoying their drinks packages and telling the world their business!

[Winifred 22]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

We'd never had it happen before but because the prices were reduced so much for that cruise there were some shall I say interesting characters onboard who were enjoying their drinks packages and telling the world their business!

Oh I see. Embarrassing all round then 

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Oh I see. Embarrassing all round 

We weren't embarrassed as such but very angry when we had to "enjoy" their company every night with the drunken behaviour and then watch them on their bargain saver fare go into far better rooms than us.  We had been moved from our original booked cabin four days before departure due to some stated problem with it and had been told we had no option but to accept the replacement as the cruise was full.

[Winifred 22]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

We weren't embarrassed as such but very angry when we had to "enjoy" their company every night with the drunken behaviour and then watch them on their bargain saver fare go into far better rooms than us.  We had been moved from our original booked cabin four days before departure due to some stated problem with it and had been told we had no option but to accept the replacement as the cruise was full.

Oh no how awful. No wonder you

were annoyed 

[Valfan]

7 hours ago, FangedRose said:

That is why I never engage in any conversations about what I (or anyone) paid. If it ruined your cruise you not only lost the £800, you lost the entire price of the cruise as you didn't enjoy it.

It's not a case of engaging in conversations with people. At dinner tables, and particularly at solo get-togethers, I've found on more or less all of my cruises that people talk about their bargain prices, or moan about their high cruise prices, without me saying a word. 

On this particular cruise, a lot of people were saying in the first couple of days, "Did you all jump on at the brilliant price that this has been for the past few weeks?" They could tell by my face that I wasn't one of the lucky ones without me saying a word.

I knew about the £828 price drop for many weeks before sail date, without any conversations with anyone.  It was advertised in emails, cruise adverts, mailshots etc. The cruise was ruined for me long before it sailed.  A lot of other things happened on the cruise as well which ruined it even more.  But that's a story for another day.

[paulatsea]

9 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I book all our cruises and pay for them. My husband sometimes asks on the way to Southampton how much I’ve paid, and to be honest, I can never really remember. 

Perfect wife !!! 

[Winifred 22]

6 hours ago, Valfan said:

It's not a case of engaging in conversations with people. At dinner tables, and particularly at solo get-togethers, I've found on more or less all of my cruises that people talk about their bargain prices, or moan about their high cruise prices, without me saying a word. 

On this particular cruise, a lot of people were saying in the first couple of days, "Did you all jump on at the brilliant price that this has been for the past few weeks?" They could tell by my face that I wasn't one of the lucky ones without me saying a word.

I knew about the £828 price drop for many weeks before sail date, without any conversations with anyone.  It was advertised in emails, cruise adverts, mailshots etc. The cruise was ruined for me long before it sailed.  A lot of other things happened on the cruise as well which ruined it even more.  But that's a story for another day.

Oh I see I am a regular solo traveller but never go to any of the meets ups and only ever dine on a table for one. I have never been tempted to join in any solo activities and hearing stories  like this just confirms my choices that it would not be for me. I prefer to keep myself to myself. If I wasn’t offered a table for one I would rather eat at the buffet. I don’t even like the two person tables that are close together. 

 

[FangedRose]

2 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Oh I see I am a regular solo traveller but never go to any of the meets ups and only ever dine on a table for one. I have never been tempted to join in any solo activities and hearing stories  like this just confirms my choices that it would not be for me. I prefer to keep myself to myself. If I wasn’t offered a table for one I would rather eat at the buffet. I don’t even like the two person tables that are close together. 

 

I never go to the solo get together (it usually clashes with the deck game competitions), but always have fixed dining on a large table of solo diners. The nearest I've got to a discussion about price is a jokey off hand comment about the solo supplement and trying to eat twice as much!

[Angel57]

I’ve found the solo get togethers on Aurora to be very friendly - but I’ve only bothered to go when on a longer cruise.

 

[majortom10]

Only ever happened to us once and that was when sharing a table for breakfast. A woman was intent on making sure everyone knew in a loud voice that she had only booked the cruise only 14 days before departure and got a fantastic deal, far better than all we had paid. How she knew that was anyone's guess as she don't know what everyone else had paid. Laughingly we had booked early and paid a lot less than what she paid and had great joy on telling her that she hadn't had such a great deal and that we had paid less. At that point I had the customary kick under the table from "the boss" signalling me to shut up 

 

[paulatsea]

Had one on Oriana - in the pool - “guess how much I paid”  scenario.

I replied that we had paid the same(which was true).

I asked if he had a balcony - as we did.

 

Shattered look !

[ParisHilton]

Is it generally book early (18 months?) in advance for best price, prices creep up, plateau, then last few weeks prices come down, but not to early bird prices?

[paulatsea]

8 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Is it generally book early (18 months?) in advance for best price, prices creep up, plateau, then last few weeks prices come down, but not to early bird prices?

In my experience its not as predictable as that-

I have found the prices to be random. Can’t see any regular pattern.

From experience I know what a decent price is so if I see it I book it, if not I wait and see.

 

The best prices I have had so far are early bookings to the canaries - but that’s not always the case.

 

This is for p&o and Marella.

Saga is much more predictable - earlier the better but also a price guarantee obc credit if the price you paid is reduced.

 

don't know about other lines.

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by paulatsea

[yorkshirephil]

37 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

In my experience its not as predictable as that-

I have found the prices to be random. Can’t see any regular pattern.

From experience I know what a decent price is so if I see it I book it, if not I wait and see.

 

The best prices I have had so far are early bookings to the canaries - but that’s not always the case.

 

This is for p&o and Marella.

Saga is much more predictable - earlier the better but also a price guarantee obc credit if the price you paid is reduced.

 

don't know about other lines.

 

Since covid prices have been all over the place and some of the best deals we have ever seen in 30 years of cruising. When we have booked a newly launched cruise while onboard we have never seen a better deal at any subsequent stage, but I am expecting our 2025 Iona cruise to change that as it is currently slightly cheaper than what we booked.  

[Megabear2]

21 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve not received anything from P&O yet, but have had the 10% off 2024 cruises email from Cunard.
 

I’ve just checked our two 2024 Cunard cruises (both promoting the offer) and whilst the cruise prices are cheaper than we paid (though not by as much as 10%) the OBC is less, so overall the net cost isn’t much different.
 

I don’t have as much built up knowledge of how Cunard do things as I do with P&O, but conscious that they are both part of Carnival UK I wonder if it may be similar? In which case, could there be the usual marketing kidology at play here, where prices go up and OBC goes up, then prices come down and OBC comes down. Net outlay (cruise price less OBC) = roughly the same?

 

I know it’s a mugs game watching prices after having booked, and I’ve always resigned myself to the fact that in the past launch prices were always cheapest (no longer always the case) or that even if prices had dropped we probably would no longer be able to get an accessible balcony cabin (but we did manage to with our recent Britannia cruise, even though we booked after balance due date).
 

Instead I now work to a maximum net price per night that I’m prepared to pay on a Select basis (which for P&O is far less than I used to pay) and then in the unlikely event that the price drops it’s never going to be by enough to worry about. I appreciate that not everyone can do that though and many cruises are booked for very specific / unique itineraries, so subsequent price drops can be infuriating. 

It's extraordinarily rare to get a UK Cunard offer as is being mentioned over on the Cunard forum.  My OH has surprised me while I'm up north and told me he's just booked me on another Cunard fly cruise next year as it's  three weeks to Italy and the Adriatic.  The price is exceptionally good looking at the confirmation, cheaper than a not so good itinerary on P&O.  I'm well pleased.

[yorkshirephil]

26 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

It's extraordinarily rare to get a UK Cunard offer as is being mentioned over on the Cunard forum.  

I think that speaks volumes for cruising in its current phase. Similar with Celebrity and Princess, even Fred has quite a few deals that I have not seen for many years. 

[ParisHilton]

Our Iona deal with the obc and free coach transfer does seem to have been an amazing deal.

I really struggle to find ANYTHING comparable.  Even a 'decent' holiday park is admittedly quite a bit cheaper, but meals aren't included. Not the scale of entertainment or range of bars. Nevermind the destinations.

 

Royal Caribbean is looking quite a lot more for school hols, but still looking optimistically. Doesn't help that we'd rather not fly (surprisingly most of their best deals seem to be in the Carribean).

[Megabear2]

6 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Our Iona deal with the obc and free coach transfer does seem to have been an amazing deal.

I really struggle to find ANYTHING comparable.  Even a 'decent' holiday park is admittedly quite a bit cheaper, but meals aren't included. Not the scale of entertainment or range of bars. Nevermind the destinations.

 

Royal Caribbean is looking quite a lot more for school hols, but still looking optimistically. Doesn't help that we'd rather not fly (surprisingly most of their best deals seem to be in the Carribean).

Some of the online specialist cruise agents often have deals for families of four on RC which can sometimes make it cheaper.  Not sure if you are aware but a large number RC's inside cabins have "virtual balconies". Although they are insides with no window they have a screen on the wall which shows live pictures from outside.  It can be pretty cool.

 

You will be looking at Anthem from the UK as RC predominantly sail out of the US to the Caribbean hence the "bargain".  If you can face flying their biggest ships are often based in Eurooe - the Oasis class - and these make Iona look very small.  Incredible ships for families more like small cities but can be very ugly!  They look super cool at night though with amazing blue lighting to highlight their hull being unlike any other ship.

[ParisHilton]

Thanks Megabear. Personally I love flying and the children haven't done it.  So only one of us needs persuading. Some of those European ones could well be worth it , will look up the Oasis class.

 

The virtual balconies look perfect for us, I've stepped back from an argument with the brother in law about why on earth I'd pay for a real balcony when I anticipate the room is used purely for sleeping.

 

ps how come you know so so much about all this, are you in the trade?

 

--edit-- WOW some of those vessels are amazing.  I'm going to dine out watching youtube videos for 3 months.

Edited August 25, 2023 by ParisHilton

[Megabear2]

28 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

ps how come you know so so much about all this, are you in the trade?

Sadly not, I'm just a sad old lady who loves anything to do with ships and is fascinated by all the different options.

[ParisHilton]

10 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Sadly not, I'm just a sad old lady who loves anything to do with ships and is fascinated by all the different options.

 

You should so start your own travel agency! 

I'll buy the Cruisebear domain for you 🙂 

[ParisHilton]

Is the prime reason to use an agent "cost". 

I assume agents normally just add cost to anything , however I guess in this instance they can bulk buy.

[ParisHilton]

Is there a list somewhere of eligible cruises for £99 kids?

I've picked cruise into summer for Norweigian Fjords for 24Aug 24, but it's still wanting to charge me £650 per child!

 

 

[pete14]

17 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

Is there a list somewhere of eligible cruises for £99 kids?

I've picked cruise into summer for Norweigian Fjords for 24Aug 24, but it's still wanting to charge me £650 per child!

 

 

There probably is a list deep within the P&O website but probably better to go through cruises you fancy and check for yourself.