NavyPanda

6 hours ago, Bill Y said:

Thanks to those that replied. There used to be a distinction between “early” and “late” savers not too long ago, indeed the P&O website still mentions that, but the P&O website is often discredited on CC as been out of date. As late as last October it was being reported on CC the booking confirmations were stating

"As you have booked under our Early Saver price you will receive second priority for dining. We will capture your dining preference nearer to sailing and we'll do our best to accommodate it, subject to availability. You will receive notification of your allocated dining once on board."

So am wondering what happed regarding the “capturing” of the dining preferences as I am not aware of any further posts?

 

 

So I would be interested in how @NavyPanda, @Marmaduke, @Leomins et al got on?

 

 

Yes in the past there was always capacity on the late sitting but it would be nice to have the request go in before the cruise rather than queue up after boarding when it probably could have been sorted out easily beforehand

 

 

I never had an opportunity to choose my dining preferences, although I never pushed the idea by quoting the booking confirmations with P&O. In the end I was fortunate to be allocated what I wanted on embarkation and I didn't have to queue up and get it changed.

All my future cruises are booked on Cunard at the moment, their 'Early Saver' fares DO allow you to choose dining preferences. This I'm very happy with (choice of cabin doesn't mean much to me), so will continue to book this fare type with Cunard unless the OBC situation means I'm likely to spend less booking the Cunard fare instead.

I've already booked to go on her twice this year. The lack of a 'proper' promenade deck isn't a deal breaker for me, as long as there is space to walk around and get some sea air. Curious to see what the design choices for the interior look like in reality.

Whilst not strictly 'off-menu' the Children's menu is always available. 

'Adult' choices on the menu include; Tomato Soup, Fruit Plate, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Hot Chocolate Brownie and Fresh Fruit Salad

childrens-menu.pdf (cunard.com)

On 1/14/2024 at 4:16 PM, sweep2907 said:

Not sure about anyone else but it appears the company are finally not lowering their prices last minute to ridiculously cheap prices. I've had a look through last minute deals over next few weeks and hardly anything under £100pppn.

 

It would be nice to return to the old days where you had confidence booking early,knowing prices wouldn't drop way below what you paid. In return it would be lovely just to see standards right slightly towards what they were even 4 or 5 years ago. Anyone else noticed this?

I've been looking at some pricing data which I saved from last year. Comparing prices at 26 Feb 23 (I have nothing earlier than that) vs 15 Jan 24.

If we look at the Top 40 cruises on sale ranked by price per night. In Feb 2023, 10 of the Top 40 cheapest cruises were within 60 days of sailing. Today, only there are only 4 in the Top 40.

This does suggest that P&O aren't lowering their prices at the 'last minute' quite like they used to. Instead, it could be argued they are lowering them earlier instead! 

In terms of overall pricing, not a lot has changed. The cheapest cruise to book last February on a per night basis was as 14 night Iona cruise sailing 23-Nov-24 for £699 (£49.93/night). Today, the cheapest is another 14 night Iona cruise sailing 6-Dec-25 for £729 (£52.07). Given inflation is currently 4%, this is exactly the price you would expect. Effectively, there has been no change in the 'cheapest'.

Looking another way at the Top 40 cheapest per night, last February the mean price per night was £59.32, the range £49.93-£64.14 and median £60.83. Whereas today, the mean is £63.55, the range £52.07-£69.93 and median £64.21. This is about 5-6% increase, which given inflation is around 4% (and previously a lot higher) means that there has effectively been very little increase in pricing. 

Finally, looking at overall pricing (of all cruises on sale) for the cheapest cabin. In February, the mean was £100.86/pn, the median £92.79/pn. Today it is £106.37/pn with the median being £99.86/pn. Again, just above inflation.

Will be interesting to see what the situation is like at the end of February when 'Late' Saver fares for late April and May will be on sale, when the two ships will be back from the Caribbean and Arcadia is back from her world cruise (world cruises and Caribbean tending to be more expensive per night) 

Also, out of the 817 cruises currently on sale, 429 of them are under £100/pn. 

55 minutes ago, matdark said:

I wouldn't mind if it was a regular cruise TBH, but since this one is a very short 3 nights break (to introduce the QM2 to my 7yo son), every hour on board counts 🙂

This "loyalty tier: red" puzzles me though, I remember that new cruisers used to have a red stripe on their cards

If your loyalty tier is Red then Cunard sees you as a first time cruiser. If this is incorrect, it is likely your booking isn't connected to your Cunard World Club number.

1 hour ago, alpha whiskey said:

I believe the parking charges have very recently been increased to £6 at Westquay 

Looks like you are correct. Now appears to be £6/day, was £5 back in August. 

Parking in Southampton | Westquay Shopping Centre (west-quay.co.uk)

I've parked in the ibis/Novotel car park on a few occasions now without issue, although I didn't stay at the hotel (you can pay for the parking separately at around £4/day). The hotels which share the car park do packages including parking for 8 or 15 nights.

Alternatively as already has been suggested you can park at the Westquay multi storey, £5/day, pay on exit which is located next to the Premier Inn.

1 hour ago, Winifred 22 said:

Solos pay a 75% additional premium. The headline prices are per person but based on two sharing. If it's just for one  as the price is  at 175%. The same for Cunard. It’s better than some lines charge. Princess for example is 200% Some ships do have single cabins but they are not always cheaper. Sometimes it only costs a bit more to have a bigger one all to yourself. That’s what I usually do. Hope this helps. Annoying or what but sadly that’s just the way it is. 

It seems to be 60% for the vast majority of cruises available with P&O. 75% with Cunard.

Some early insights from a quick analysis...

There appears to be 201 cruises which are newly available to 'Secure Now'/Pre-book. A significant number of these will be overlapping fly cruises.

Average number of itinerary nights by ship (some cruises will overlap with each other due to flights) 

Arcadia    41.4
Arvia    14.6
Aurora    18.6
Azura    10.8
Britannia    14.0
Iona    12.3
Ventura    13.7
 

Average cost per night of Southampton round trip

Arcadia    £87.66
Aurora    £91.33
Britannia    £64.21
Iona    £68.25
Ventura    £77.50

Average cost per night of fly-cruise

Arcadia    £120.07
Arvia    £119.18
Azura    £83.29
Britannia    £112.72
 

Cheapest cruise (per night) by ship

Arcadia        Portugal And Canary Islands, 16 Nights (J519) 17-Nov-25    £53.06

Arvia        Caribbean Transatlantic, 22 Nights (K522B) 24-Oct-25 £76.32

Aurora        Caribbean, 24 Nights (R520) 02-Nov-25 £74.13

Azura        Mediterranean And Canary Islands, 16 Nights (A539C) 09-Oct-25 £56.19

Britannia    Portugal And Canary Islands, 14 Nights (B525) 17-Oct-25 £64.21

Iona        Portugal And Canary Islands, 14 Nights (G536) £52.07 08-Nov-25 (or G537, G538 both also of the same itineary name at the same price)

Ventura        Portugal And Canary Islands, 14 Nights (N528) 01-Nov-25    £52.07

I had a similar question a couple of days ago which I put on the food and dining sticky thread which I guess has hidden it from any answering it!

It is interesting that the booking confirmation for Early Savers does make reference to being able to choose dining but I can't see any option in order to make that choice. The website also says something which may infer having a choice vs (Late) Saver.

I'll copy and paste most of what I wrote previously below.

(From my P&O Booking Confirmation)

"Thank you for choosing to book your holiday with P&O Cruises. Your booking has been made on P&O Cruises Early Saver. Your cabin grade has been secured. We will assign your cabin number either in the grade secured or in a higher grade before departure. As you have booked under our Early Saver price you will receive second priority for dining. We will capture your dining preference nearer to sailing and we'll do our best to accommodate it, subject to availability. You will receive notification of your allocated dining once on board. Please note that shuttle buses will be chargeable on board, except in ports where they are compulsory for health and safety reasons"

The P&O website on the link below says the following for Early Saver

"Flexibility required for your desired dining style, dining time and table size in the main restaurant"

Our Prices Explained | P&O Cruises (pocruises.com)

Whereas the description for Saver (as expected) is

Dining allocated upon boarding

Is this another case where P&O Booking documents say one thing but the reality is quite different?

Has anyone with an Early Saver booking actually being contacted or been able to record their dining preference? 

1 hour ago, Bedruthen said:

I have today been caught with the same problem. Not happy. A refusal by Cunard to add OBC. The travel agent made no mention of my booking not being valid, in fact, they gave me the email address information to submit the obc application, so they clearly expected it to be paid.

 

I suspect this is a clampdown by Cunard, probably always in their terms but only recently being applied. 
 

I will certainly question the rates in the future, because the obc shareholder credit may well outweigh any discount given by agent. 
 

As an aside, one for the travel agents, how are customers supposed to know what fare rate they have been sold …

If it is a cruise you will have to get on a plane at some point, there is a possibility that it will be a 'net' fare and therefore ineligible for Shareholder OBC. I think it may be likely that most packages sold by travel agents as cruise + nights in a hotel + flight are likely to be at 'net rates'.

If it is a cruise Southampton round trip then I think it would be very unlikely to be a net rate.

Of course, the only way to find out for sure is to ask the travel agent at booking / quotation. 

I've been reading my Booking Confirmation from P&O for my Early Saver booking and it says the following

"Thank you for choosing to book your holiday with P&O Cruises. Your booking has been made on P&O Cruises Early Saver. Your cabin grade has been secured. We will assign your cabin number either in the grade secured or in a higher grade before departure. As you have booked under our Early Saver price you will receive second priority for dining. We will capture your dining preference nearer to sailing and we'll do our best to accommodate it, subject to availability. You will receive notification of your allocated dining once on board. Please note that shuttle buses will be chargeable on board, except in ports where they are compulsory for health and safety reasons"

The P&O website on the link below says the following for Early Saver

"Flexibility required for your desired dining style, dining time and table size in the main restaurant"

Our Prices Explained | P&O Cruises (pocruises.com)

Whereas the description for Saver (as expected) is

Dining allocated upon boarding

I've read reports on here about people being unable to choose their dining option if they book early saver. (We are regular cruisers on Cunard where Early Saver fares CAN choose their dining option on Voyage Personaliser).  

When I log on to My Voyage, I can't see a way to choose my dining option. 

Can anyone provide an update of what the reality is for choosing (or not) their dining option (First/Second/Freedom) if they have booked Early Saver. Perhaps I am just being inpatient and it isn't close enough to sailing yet?  If you booked Early Saver and were able to choose, how were you able to make your choice and how many days/weeks before sailing were you able to make your choice?

I have a feeling that this may be a case where P&O Booking documents say one thing but the reality is quite different!

It is not the end of the world if I can't choose the dining option, it would just be nice to know for future reference as I booked on the assumption I was unable to choose and would get what I was given.

A 'net' rate is where the travel agent puts together their own package instead of simply selling the official cruise + flight package from Cunard (you will know if its an official package because flights will be in your voyage personaliser and will probably be on your Cunard issued booking confirmation)

In your case, you presumably booked a flight + hotel + cruise.  Cunard would have sold the cruise part of the package at a discount as they don't have to provide flights and/or transfers. 

Can anyone confirm the specific benefits when using the Blue Light Card?

Can it be used with Early Saver or Saver bookings?

What time does open dining begin each evening? I've seen references to 6pm or 6:30pm. Does it vary by ship? 

There is an article on Money Saving Expert which you may find useful if you haven't already seen it.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/over65s-travel-insurance/

It may be worth trying to get quotes for annual travel insurance (but make sure that the maximum trip length is longer than 35 nights) as strangely this can sometimes be cheaper than just a single trip policy!

Another option (noted in the article) is that you can get a packaged bank account for a monthly fee (no more than £15/month) which includes worldwide travel insurance for multiple trips. However your husband's pre-existing condition will likely result in an additional premium, you will have to phone to find out how much this would be. However, again, it may be cheaper than a single trip policy when you do all the sums. 

Co-op's £15/month bank account would probably be the most straight forward for you. The maximum age is the day before the 80th birthday and maximum trip length is 45 days by default.

http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/currentaccounts/everydayextra

Policy document is here https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/assets/pdf/bank/currentaccounts/everyday-extra/travel-insurance-policy-summary-and-policy-document.pdf  Page 5 has the details of the number to call to get an idea of pricing for the pre-existing medical condition. 

Nationwide also do a bank account with travel insurance. However you have to pay £65 per person for over 70s and an additional fee for having a trip longer than 31 days. Still worth checking if you get an astronomical price from Co-op as it may still work out cheaper. 

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/flexplus/

More details here https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/flexplus/travel-insurance/ you can get a quote for medical conditions online or by phone. Details at the bottom of the page. 

Worth noting that the packaged bank account would cover both you and your husband. However the maximum cancellation is 'only' £5,000 per person from both.  Also, you don't have to use it as your main bank account, just make sure to pay in enough money each month to cover the monthly fee.

25 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Where because there is no way I would risk parking my car whilst on a cruise at West Quay multi storey open to the public with very little or no security.

Southampton City Council charges £4/day (£28/week) after the first day to park in one of three multi-storey car parks. (Pay on exit)

Cruise parking and long stay parking (southampton.gov.uk)

The ibis hotel car park can be booked for around the same price (£30/week) or for £70/month (Book in advance) 

Parking on West Quay Road, SO15. YourParkingSpace

Westquay multi-storey car park has already been mentioned and costs £5/day. (Pay on exit).

Parking in Southampton | Westquay Shopping Centre (west-quay.co.uk)

Yes, it is true that all the above car parks are open to the public and have little in the way of security aside CCTV.  However if (like me) you use a car primarily as a means of transportation and it is worth less than the cost of the cruise then the attraction of paying 3x the cost just to park somewhere more secure doesn't appeal. If you have a far more valuable car then paying more for a more secure parking location may worthy of consideration. 

For what it is worth, I have parked in the ibis car park and Westquay a number of times, all without incident. Worth noting that the cheapest option for car parking would be to park on a residential street without parking restrictions (if your cruise isn't too long). 

 Although there is still a single supplement, I can see at least two Aurora cruises which only have 20% supplement at the moment.

Fjords 10th June 2023 -  12 nights - £719 total for inside

Fjords 29th June 2023 -  12 nights - £779 total for inside 

24 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I know of one TA that offers that sort of discount, but no way would I deal with them - totally unethical company.

There are at least four different travel agents (under 5 different trading names) which give this size discount. I've used two of them repeatedly, without problems and received good service from them regarding refunds for 2020/21 cruises which didn't go ahead.

An alternative would be to get a quote from them and get P&O to price match.

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Anyone recently returned from a cruise and had the "see you soon" mailshot on there return home offering £100 OBC if they book another cruise. We received one on our return from Iona saying if we book by 31st May we would get it. Have since booked a balcony cabin on Arvia but now P&O have now said I cannot have the OBC. My TA, the one used by many on here, has been very poor in fact they have been totally useless and the person spoke to yesterday was very rude. We have 8 cruises booked with them and have booked dozens in the past and not very happy. Will be seriously consider using a different TA for future cruises. Their prices have not been as competitive as in the past with only 2% extra discount and their customer service has certainly declined.

If you're only getting 2% discount from your TA and you're now recieving poor service then you should definitely look elsewhere. 5-6% discounts are readily available if you know where to look.

Good news! This presumably means that Cunard believe that QM2 will be fixed shortly!

I received the same email, the following link shows the cruise on Cunard's own website

The British Isles Coronation Celebration Voyage (cunard.com)

Some very good prices (not a surprise given it will only be on sale for 4 days)

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Naughty naughty. Brace your self for incoming. There are some on here who get very agitated about folk who arrive earlier than their legitimate boarding time, let alone doctoring the documentation!

Just because one knows it is possible and knows how to do it, doesn't mean one has actually done it! 

For every cruise, I've arrived at the terminal towards the beginning of the embarkation process, between 12-1. Sometimes that has been 'on time', other times it has been early. Always boarded within about 30 minutes or so of arriving. I'm happy to be told to go away and come back at the proper time, as long as I can drop of my luggage first!

If you have reasonable computer skills, and the correct software, the time can be changed to one of your choice. Just make the change, print off the 'corrected' pdf and then you won't have to worry about arriving too early. 

It looks like the days of no single supplement are gone.  All cruises at the moment seem to have the standard 60% single supplement (which I feel is quite fair).

All except one cruise, British Isles B315N, 14 nights, Britannia 9th June 2023 where the single supplement appears to have been reduced to just 20%

Inside £719 for solo  (£599pp based on two)

Balcony £959 for solo (£799pp based on two)

Works out at £51.36/night (solo) direct from P&O.  Seen it with a travel agent offering a 6% discount making it £676 total or £48.29/night for a solo.

Very, very good pricing for a cruise in June for solo passengers. 

Of the 750 cruises on sale at the moment:

10 are under £50/night

28 are under £60/night (including the above)

120 are under £70/night (including all the above)

244 are under £80/night (including all the above)

The average (mean) cost per night for the cheapest cabin is £99.25, the median is £92.71. The most expensive per night is currently Caribbean (K326C) on Arvia at £304.14/night! 

All the prices are the P&O direct prices. Go to the right travel agent and you will save another 6% or 10% on Arvia cruises.

As this has been popular before, here is the current list of cruises under £60/night