Price reduction on 2009 cruise

[mgdsld]

My problem is we booked Ventura for September this year last June, in an AC Suite for 4 adults. Whilst looking on P & O's web site today it now seems that we could book an AC Suite for £2,000 cheaper. We contacted our agent who rang P&O and came back to us saying that P&O would not entertain any form of reduction. This seems totally unfair as we are loyal cruisers and we are always told to book early for the best discounts. We obviously will be writing to P&O but don't hold out much hope. We are now considering cancelling and forgoing our deposit. One thing we know is we will not book P&O again. So they have lost yet another client and one who always book Suites at that. Royal Caribbean must be laughing all the way to the bank. Any advice welcome. Sue

[milky-bar-man]

If the price had gone up rather than down, would you have phoned your travel agent / P&O and offered them the difference ?

I guess like all things, theres a good time to buy and a bad time to buy ; convertible cars are cheaper in Winter than they are in Summer !

If your deposit is low enough to make it cost effective to cancel and rebook, then I'd do that. Don't blame P&O for your mistake.

[LEESRE]

Sue,

Infortunately this is the case P&O will not reduce your cruise unlike other cruise lines. We have found this to be the case.

 

Work out if you still want to do this cruise wether it will be more beneficial to cancel and loose the deposit and then rebook at the reduced rate.

I have done this before and found that you can still save quite a lot of money.

I amwell aware that it is annoying but there are those that say if you book early you get your chosen stateroom and dining preference but at what a price!!

[daiB]

My problem is we booked Ventura for September this year last June, in an AC Suite for 4 adults. Whilst looking on P & O's web site today it now seems that we could book an AC Suite for £2,000 cheaper. We contacted our agent who rang P&O and came back to us saying that P&O would not entertain any form of reduction. This seems totally unfair as we are loyal cruisers and we are always told to book early for the best discounts. We obviously will be writing to P&O but don't hold out much hope. We are now considering cancelling and forgoing our deposit. One thing we know is we will not book P&O again. So they have lost yet another client and one who always book Suites at that. Royal Caribbean must be laughing all the way to the bank. Any advice welcome. Sue

 

 

Sue,

 

Your problem is that you booked your cruise at an expensive time.

 

A cruise with P&O for summer 2010 will be at its cheapest in April 2009, not June*. By then there will have been a number of price rises and cuts in discount which could easily account for the £500.00 difference in the cost per person.

 

To book early it must be within the first week of bookings, for some cruises the first day.

 

 

* I note that on another board you say the cruise was in June and you booked it in September?

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[lostinvegas]

I don't really understand this post.

 

You booked early at the full price, I am willing to bet you picked your cabin, which airport you fly from and which dinner sitting your on.

 

You could have taken the risk of waiting to book now but the grade cabin you booked may now have been sold out? thats what your paying for at the end of the day.

 

The people who book late will get much less choice of cabin if any at all and will probably not be on the dinner sitting they want? If they are flying they may have to fly from an airport miles from their home.

 

If you want to save money it might be cheaper to cancel and re-book (losing your deposit but making a saving on the booking fee).

 

I would be very surprised if any company would reduce the price once someone had booked do RCI do this?

 

If I were you I would go and enjoy your holiday, don't worry about how much you or anyone else paid just go and have a great time.

 

Chris

[supered]

If you want to save money it might be cheaper to cancel and re-book (losing your deposit but making a saving on the booking fee).

 

I would be very surprised if any company would reduce the price once someone had booked do RCI do this?

This is common pratice in the USA but if you book in the UK, even with American cruise lines, you may not be abel to claim the discount.

 

Eddie

[PRIORY ROAD]

We are cruising with Princess Cruises (Emerald Princess) in three weeks time. My sister, who lives in the States, did all the booking as they are also cruising with us. We booked a mini-suite each, but my sister, who is an ex-TA asked her TA that if the cabin prices were reduced, she wanted the reduction. This had happened, and we have the cabin at a reduced price. We did not have to cancel and re-book, it just seems that this is common practice in the States. Indeed, it has also happened with the hotel we are staying in pre-cruise. The costs of rooms went down from when we originally booked and my sister requested the reduced rate. It just doesn't happen in the UK.

[LEESRE]

You are correct it does not ahppen in the UK only that States.

 

If you do notice a price difference on RCI then if you ring them or get yout TA to ring them then they will reduce your price. I have done this with them quite a few times, but you have to notice the price reduction or they will not just let you know that the prices have been reduced.

[Enjoyacruise]

This happened to us with a cruise we booked in April 2008 for the queen Victoria.

 

Eventually after getting nowhere with Cunard we cancelled thus losing our deposit and rebooked. Even with the lost deposit we will be £700 better off. All Cunard offered was to put us on a list for a possible upgrade; although the Cunard forum indicates some customers have been offered upgrades or onboard credit

 

It does however grate that there will be other late bookings who overall have better deals than us. We all want value for money so the reasoning we got the cabin we wanted does not really help!

 

I feel that Cunard/P&O-Carnival may suffer in future years from loyal customers booking later and remembering what could be perceived as shabby treatment.

[LibraLass41]

Yes, you could cancel, loose your deposit and rebook, but you may not get the dinner sitting you want, probably wait-listed, and you may end up in a cabin which is in a poorer position on the ship....are there many suites left now?

 

Or loose your deposit and book another cruise line- but IF you do this do write and tell p&o they have lost good customers PLEASE!

[southwinds]

As said before the lowest price is when the brochure first comes out, well its the advance one these days... we book while the ink is still wet in it.. for the lowest price, we then watch to see if it gets lower during the year and I am happy to say in 15 years its never happened to us. However it could be we have just been lucky... On our first ever cruise we were told to book early and we always have.. By June the second edition is out and the From price will be quiet a bit more than the From price in April.

 

Its the same with qoods in the shops, you never know once you have brought something, kitchen, car, or sofa .... 6 months later it could be cheaper or in a sale.... it happens. You cant take a car back can you?

You have to make a choice when you purchase if you are happy with the price ...

Lets face it we have all seen our houses go down in price lately !!

[lostinvegas]

Wow I am amazed that in the US they will reduce your price after booking.

 

Still the Kitchen, car and house analogy is a good one.

 

Chris

[jeanlyon]

Totally agree. This is the second time I have booked a cruise almost on the first day. The cruise is still £400 each more than it was when I booked it and I don't believe it will come down. Got second sitting and chosen cabin.

[jeanlyon]

and free parking :-)