Southampton parking

[F-s Islander]

Obviously it's a no brainer with that sort of difference but presumably not for a two-week cruise.

A friend recently took the free CPS parking for Iona against OBC of £ 70.

CPS quoted us something like £248 for a 14 day cruise and P4C were £136 which wasn't even the cheapest option they offered. CPS also seem to get booked up quickly so there isn't always an option.

We always book Select as we choose the same cabin location and there are other perks. Our OBC on the last cruise was about 500 per cabin,...

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, zap99 said:

On our next cruise we could pick parking with CPS, or an extra £80 OBC. Parking 4 cruises price for the same cruise is £98, so actually a few quid in our favour. 🤣

It has often been said that CPS beat P4C on the shorter cruises, but lose badly on the longer cruises.

[Selbourne]

We use both CPS and P4C. As has been said, CPS are usually cheaper on short cruises and P4C cheaper on longer ones, although we got parking with CPS for our 65 nighter earlier this year for just £160.

 

We almost always book Select, but it’s worth noting that sometimes it can be worth declining the CPS parking (which isn’t ‘free’ as you are turning down additional OBC in order to get it) and book with another provider (P4C in our case). As has been said, the net gain can sometimes be quite considerable. 
 

For us, the issue is less about cost and more about speed and convenience. When CPS works well it is brilliant. Whilst we have never had any issues or delays with CPS at the end of a cruise, we have unfortunately had 3 or 4 instances with embarkation when we have been held in holding lanes for half an hour or more. Had we used P4C on those occasions we would have avoided all of that and been on the ship half an hour earlier. 
 

On our next cruise (Cunard) we are booked with CPS because we have a lot of OBC and don’t want any more as we will struggle to spend it, but after our contrasting experiences with our last 2 cruises (one with CPS and one with P4C) I would much rather be using P4C. 

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, zap99 said:

On our next cruise we could pick parking with CPS, or an extra £80 OBC. Parking 4 cruises price for the same cruise is £98, so actually a few quid in our favour. 🤣

Yes but what OBC would you get if you didn't have CPS and chose extra OBC and then booked P4C. I am sure you would be a lot better off and not just a"a few quid".

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, zap99 said:

We always book select as we don't want leftover cabins, so we use CPS and get to pick when we eat. We get some OBC as well. Folk will do what fits their budget.

Check what OBC you would have without CPS and instead taken extra OBC which is available with Select and then booked P4C and I bet you would be much better off.

[zap99]

19 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Yes but what OBC would you get if you didn't have CPS and chose extra OBC and then booked P4C. I am sure you would be a lot better off and not just a"a few quid".

£80 OBC with select. Choose between coach, parking ,or extra £80 OBC.  Next June P4C is £98 for the week. Drop parking, get £80 extra OBC and pay £98 cash to P4C. No brainer really, but if the situation was reversed, would I go through the faff to save £18..No.

[zap99]

30 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Check what OBC you would have without CPS and instead taken extra OBC which is available with Select and then booked P4C and I bet you would be much better off.

I looked at 2 week Arvia cruises for next summer. Drop the parking and get £120 extra OBC. P4C want £130.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Check what OBC you would have without CPS and instead taken extra OBC which is available with Select and then booked P4C and I bet you would be much better off.

I have to admit that for 14nt cruises, which is what we normally do, there is now very little financial benefit to opt for P4C, but we have had so many boarding delays with CPS waiting in rows for the chauffeur vans to return, that the speedy arrivals process with P4C is worth even paying a slight premium.

[F-s Islander]

It's obviously all a matter of what works best for the individual, but for what it's worth we were on a 14 night cruise on Britannia earlier this year and and saved over £100 with P4C. Free parking would not have compensated for the OBC we would have lost. CPS got booked up before we responded to their quote anyway, but we have also in the past been left in a holding queue with them on departure and have had a bit of a wait on arrival too. The service seems to have gone downhill as we thought it was fantastic on our first cruise about 7 years ago and didn't mind paying the money. They've ramped up the price since then though!

When cruising started up again after Covid, CPS were completely booked and there was only a little time to arrange parking as the cruise dates kept changing. We went with Parkonmydrive which was very cheap and in our experience went well. I can recommend "Peter" in Southampton if he's still doing it. He couldn't have been more helpful.

We've booked 14 nights on Arvia next year, have £550 OBC, taking the free parking is not an option. We booked on board and so the on board spend given may be more generous but we always spend above what we are given anyway so the more the  better! To be honest we think they give you the OBC to encourage you to use different food outlets and avoid the included ones being swamped on large ships like Arvia!

For a 7 day cruise it sounds as if taking the free parking is often a good idea

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

I looked at 2 week Arvia cruises for next summer. Drop the parking and get £120 extra OBC. P4C want £130.

Yes but what was total OBC if dropped FP and chose extra OBC on top of OBC given with FP.

[terrierjohn]

49 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Yes but what was total OBC if dropped FP and chose extra OBC on top of OBC given with FP.

That is the difference, my last 2 P&O cruises I chose P4C, but because I wanted to ensure I could cancel and get a refund, the P4C price was, from memory, £135, meaning I could have saved £15 by giving up £120 OBC. But I still felt it was worth paying the extra to ensure I could drive straight in to the drop off lane, and not have to wait in a CPS waiting lane.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Yes but what was total OBC if dropped FP and chose extra OBC on top of OBC given with FP.

On the 7 night cruise we have booked for next year we got £80 OBC. If we had chosen extra OBC, the extra would have been £80. That's £80+£80. That would have left us with having to pay for parking. P4C want £98. £80 -£98 = -£18.Not a good outcome.  We have never had an issue with CPS, so have no reason to change.