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Birmingham cruise show 2017


Bikermouse72
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Hi all, I've just returned from this weekends Birmingham cruise show, having never been to a cruise show before I was hoping for more and was a little disappointed that P&O didn't attend as well as some other UK favourites. The show was mostly attended by river cruises and luxury cruise lines, is this the norm and could anyone recommend any cruise shows?

 

Thanks in advance,

Bikermouse

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Hi all, I've just returned from this weekends Birmingham cruise show, having never been to a cruise show before I was hoping for more and was a little disappointed that P&O didn't attend as well as some other UK favourites. The show was mostly attended by river cruises and luxury cruise lines, is this the norm and could anyone recommend any cruise shows?

 

Thanks in advance,

Bikermouse

 

As the cruise market is booming, and the costs to be present at major trade shows are astronomical, I suspect that some of the major operators have decided that they don't need to be present. I've never been to one, but struggle to understand how a cruise holiday can be represented at a trade show. You would get a far better idea by spending a few hours online in the comfort of your armchair.

 

Of course, the best way to decide if P&O is right for you (if you don't want to splash out on a taster cruise) is to do a ship visit. These are £25 per person and include a 3 course lunch with wine. Best of all, you get the cost refunded in Full if you book a cruise within the next year!

 

http://www.pocruises.com/join-us-for-a-guided-tour/

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As the cruise market is booming, and the costs to be present at major trade shows are astronomical, I suspect that some of the major operators have decided that they don't need to be present. I've never been to one, but struggle to understand how a cruise holiday can be represented at a trade show. You would get a far better idea by spending a few hours online in the comfort of your armchair.

 

Of course, the best way to decide if P&O is right for you (if you don't want to splash out on a taster cruise) is to do a ship visit. These are £25 per person and include a 3 course lunch with wine. Best of all, you get the cost refunded in Full if you book a cruise within the next year!

 

http://www.pocruises.com/join-us-for-a-guided-tour/

 

Unfortunately these visits are no use to those of us who live far away from Southampton. It's a pity that P&O don't do some of these ship visits or taster cruises from ports other than the south of England.

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Of course, the best way to decide if P&O is right for you (if you don't want to splash out on a taster cruise) is to do a ship visit. These are £25 per person and include a 3 course lunch with wine. Best of all, you get the cost refunded in Full if you book a cruise within the next year!

 

http://www.pocruises.com/join-us-for-a-guided-tour/

 

That's great if you live relatively close to Southampton. With a journey of at least 4 hours down numerous motorways and probably more like 7 if there are delays, sadly these ship visits are no use to anyone 'oop North. A shame as it seems a great way to visit a ship. Perhaps a mini cruise may be better - but I think they tend to be booze cruises ?

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We went yesterday as well but only because we live nearby and went on the bus using our bus pass so no cost to us at all and a half day outing.

 

One of the stands was selling P & O cruises and also Princess not sure about Cunard but it didn't say P & O on the stand. I only know because it was running a competition to win a two day trip on Britannia and I saw a little curtain in the corner with P & O written on it.

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We went yesterday as well but only because we live nearby and went on the bus using our bus pass so no cost to us at all and a half day outing.

 

 

 

One of the stands was selling P & O cruises and also Princess not sure about Cunard but it didn't say P & O on the stand. I only know because it was running a competition to win a two day trip on Britannia and I saw a little curtain in the corner with P & O written on it.

 

 

Waving to you from Solihull [emoji4] I never even knew there was a cruise show, but maybe next year!

 

 

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Thanks everybody for you advice. I traveled almost 2 hours to get there and stayed over in a hotel for the night and although it was nice to have a night away, it turned out to be a costly weekend and would not do it again for this kind of event. I like the idea of a ship tour and would love to do one but as others have said, when you live a good few hours drive away from Southampton, a day tour isn't really an option.

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I went on Saturday but was disappointed by the show. Most of the UK market was not present. There was no P&O, Cunard, Princess, Holland America, Fred, CMV or Royal Caribbean. The only big names there were Celebrity and Thompson. It was good though to get a chance to see niche operators with less than a thousand berths per ship. People like Hutigruten and English Holiday Cruises. The show was very quiet too. I did get the chance to order a drawing of a favourite ship which was great.

 

I will probably try to get to the London show next year.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

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We went yesterday as well but only because we live nearby and went on the bus using our bus pass so no cost to us at all and a half day outing.

 

 

 

One of the stands was selling P & O cruises and also Princess not sure about Cunard but it didn't say P & O on the stand. I only know because it was running a competition to win a two day trip on Britannia and I saw a little curtain in the corner with P & O written on it.

 

 

Waving to you from Solihull [emoji4] I never even knew there was a cruise show, but maybe next year!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Waving to you from Solihull [emoji4] I never even knew there was a cruise show, but maybe next year!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hello from Solihull as well. We get dozens of e-mails about the Cruise Show and went 2 years ago as well but paid the £5 parking and said then that was a waste of £5. So this time just for a ride out as the tickets were free we caught the X12 bus, and got of at Birmingham International. Back home by lunchtime.

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Hello from Solihull as well. We get dozens of e-mails about the Cruise Show and went 2 years ago as well but paid the £5 parking and said then that was a waste of £5. So this time just for a ride out as the tickets were free we caught the X12 bus, and got of at Birmingham International. Back home by lunchtime.

 

Parking was £12 yesterday, Sunday. Why oh why so dear for 2 hours parking? If I ever go to the NEC again it's the X12 for me.

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Thanks everybody for you advice. I traveled almost 2 hours to get there and stayed over in a hotel for the night and although it was nice to have a night away, it turned out to be a costly weekend and would not do it again for this kind of event. I like the idea of a ship tour and would love to do one but as others have said, when you live a good few hours drive away from Southampton, a day tour isn't really an option.

 

But if you are prepared to do a weekend break, with a hotel, wouldn't it be better to make a weekend of it in Southampton (or nearby) and do a ship visit? Anywhere on the South Coast is a lot nicer than Birmingham International :D

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But if you are prepared to do a weekend break, with a hotel, wouldn't it be better to make a weekend of it in Southampton (or nearby) and do a ship visit? Anywhere on the South Coast is a lot nicer than Birmingham International :D

Hi Selbourne,

 

I do like Southampton and staying at the Grand Harbour hotel with a visit to the Dancing Man pub which is close by so making a weekend of it in Southampton and doing a ship tour sounds like a much better idea :) . I thought you had to have invites for the ship tours but I now understand you can just pay for them, well you can for P&O at least.

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We went to the cruise show at Earls Court about 5 years ago to get details of Antarctica. Found the perfect trip, Hapag Lloyd on the Bremen. Girl on the desk then said Don't book it today with us, Go to the Noble Caledonia stand, they are giving a 10% discount on it. Well as this was a 5 figure fare per person this advice saved us a few thousand.

So maybe there are bargains to be had at these shows.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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We went to the cruise show at Earls Court about 5 years ago to get details of Antarctica. Found the perfect trip, Hapag Lloyd on the Bremen. Girl on the desk then said Don't book it today with us, Go to the Noble Caledonia stand, they are giving a 10% discount on it. Well as this was a 5 figure fare per person this advice saved us a few thousand.

So maybe there are bargains to be had at these shows.

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Sounds like it was definitely worth the visit for you, and a great deal. I can't say I saw any kind of deals worth the trip to Birmingham so I would definitely think twice before going to such an event again but it's good to know there are bargains to be had :)

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