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Sounds like Fred may have delayed his plans to stopping smoking for a year. It is not going down at all well with people who have booked suites in that time frame, having been told that the balconies around will be non smoking at the time of their cruise. Quite a mess, I would certainly be insisting on cancelling if in that situation. Reminds me of when we booked a cruise with a flexible dining option, (as they were doing), then being told that we would need to be on a set sitting basis. We accepted that without a lot of quibble as soon after COVID and wanted the cruise anyway, as was far easier to do those short cruises from a local port. We do not intend to make any more fresh Fred bookings though unless a flexible dining option becomes a reality as we found the set sitting time very restrictive on a recent cruise, (despite our well placed table for two), having got use to flexibility provided by other cruise lines.

Maybe they are going over to buffet embarkation lunches, but we were on Aurora for a 37 night b2b in Aug/Sept (a one week with few higher tier members and a 30 night Canada/USA when there were a lot of high tier members). The first cruise embarkation lunch was a lovely waiter service one, yet the second cruise only had a buffet. I suspect the difference depends on how many high tier members are on a cruise, which would also mean the bigger ships will have less high tier members, than will the smaller ships of course.

Yes the difference in price does vary along with the benefits. All a case of deciding at the time, but taking into account all risks which is the point I was making. With select you would have been able to change the booking, so the charge to the agent for cancellation would not have bern an issue, though TBH that was not a major amount considering the full price of a cruise. Prices and perks vary whilst a cruise is on sale, with the net differences between fare types varying considerably. Sometimes the obc and and perhaps parking or transport cost actually make a select fare better value before taking into account other advantages such as choosing dining type, cabin and other perks. All personal choice though as you say and can depend on price difference at the time of booking. It is always worth taking time to read the T&C's though, whatever you book or buying goods.

I think P&O will let you change if on a saver fare, but they do charge a fee, which I do not think is charged for a select fare booking. I would also be wary of your agent - suspect they would lop a cost on to do that as well. Also, unless you booked at a good price, or it is a popular cruise which has sold out, there would not be any incentive for someone to buy the cruise from you instead of through the normal channels, unless you sold it at a reduced price. That would rather defeat the point, given the amount of your deposit and admin fee loss otherwise. If you did book at a good price,then perhaps worth a call to your agent who should be able to tell you how selling a cruise on would work (if they are prepared to allow that) and see if they can get permission from P&O for the cruise to be sold. P&O do not usually talk to customers directly about a booking made through an agent. Overall there are a lot of advantages in booking a select fare which are well worth considering before you make any bookings another time. Booking a saver may give a price advantage at times, but otherwise there will likely be occasions when you just have to accept any loss incurred in doing so, hence you need to factor in that potential loss as well.

It is true that you would not be legally entitled to cancel, but they would need to both refund the cost of premium seats, plus add some compensation as well. If it is a P&O cruise, booked on a select fare, I am thinking you will be able to change the cruise for a different cruise though if it is more than, (is it 90 days?), prior to the cruise date.

If you book premium and it is not supplied, you would legally be entitled to a refund plus compensation, though sadly it would not be enough to cancel a flight/holiday.

Thanks for that information, I think you are right in everything you said. We only did a bid once and was on an Azamara cruise when we bid for a balcony from an outside. The balcony was a tad nearer to the front than we would have chosen, but not right at the pointy end and we were sailing in the Med for a week with ports every day, so no real risk there anyway. We were surprised to find their room service breakfast meant the waiter brought the tray out to the balcony, put a white table cloth on the dining sized table and proceeded to set everything out on the table. They are largely American of course. We tipped, but having been to the US since, suspect we must have given him less that the going rate. We do have a well placed sea view on a select fare, which we booked on Aurora last September, since there were no balconies available. We have got a massive obc, parking for the 19 nights and our dining choice, which we will keep, so not bad at all and we would be happy to stay there.

Thanks for that, interesting to see the numbers. Our cruise may be similar, so those minimum bid prices look pretty good to me. If you ask to pay for an upgrade, then they charge you the price you would have paid on booking (not that balconies were available when we booked. That £2,000 we were quoted to upgrade from a sea view to a balcony makes the £490 only 25% of that cost and we may get a better offer as in a sea view at present. Whether we would want to take the risk of a bad cabin and actually pay for that privilege will make us think hard though. After all we will still get the same cruise in every other way and there are a good number of the basic balconies directly under pool deck which I understand can be a problem. I see that there are no deluxe balconies available on our cruise at present and on your cruise no balconies of any sort, nor any sea views. May always become available though. We should here fairly soon now.

I saw a Dr on a Fred ship a couple of months back and the base price was more like £100, or a tad below that. I saw a Dr on P&O ship several years ago now and sure I paid more than £65 then. I think you are being a tad optimistic, regards that price.

Btw there is no cooling off period when booking a cruise on line or over the phone as there is an exclusion for holidays in that legislation.

I would agree that stopping smoking on balconies would leave anyone who has booked a balcony as they wanted to smoke there entitled to a refund, plus compensation as well. Presumably Fred has considered that and decided the lack of smoking will help with booking those cabins - or will there be some tweaking of the plans. jojo1947 seems to have had a firm confirmation of it now though. I have better things to do than ring Fred about this myself, must admit. I have also seen people in the past complaining that smoking was allowed on balconies as they had booked a balcony and had not even considered that smoking may be allowed on any cruise line now. True Fred have always said smoking is allowed on balconies, but it is not always easily picked up for new to Fred people. We would not book anything without reading the T&C's, but let's face it, a lot of people would not bother. I had been wondering if smoking on balconies will affect any insurance Fred may take out against fire in his ships, which could be more of a issue than some cancellations. You may be better placed to know if they are likely to take out such insurance on their ships. I have always reckoned that allowing smoking gave Fred a USP for his balconies, but whether that advantage is still of an overall benefit compared to getting bookings from those who would avoid such balconies is perhaps less clear. I have seen a short copy of the Q3 2023 accounts posted elsewhere and that stated Samantha will be in post by 1sy Feb at the latest. I think the original announcement mentioned February, but did not give an exact date. Interesting if Peter Deer's job has already changed though. As you have said in the past though, I doubt she would be that involved in the day to day running of the company initially as she will be wanting to assess the company at that stage.

I do not wish to mention my source, but certainly one which I would consider very reliable or I would not have reported it here in the first place. I am pretty sure the dates mentioned were after the WC on 17th April for Borealis and much nearer the beginning of the month for the others. I do not believe there is anything secretive about it, so Fred may well confirm that if you wish to ask. I should think he will be wanting to inform people booked in those cabins pretty soon, (if not already), since balance payment dates will have already passed for those earlier cruises, if those dates are to be adherred to. We will see.

Just joined you on the roll call and clicked follow to get notifications of any other posts.

We were on Aurora in September to Canada/US. We had a crew member go AWOL in Boston, our first US port, so no crew, (even the captain), were allowed off in any US port after that. We were told by crew members it always happens, but usually in New York. They also reckoned the person who went AWOL must have had it all arranged before arriving their, though not even his friends had any incline it might happen. Thanks for your blog, I have not been replying to the other posts with praise as do not want to lengthen the thread too much but it is excellent. We are particularly interested in ports which we will be visiting on Ventura next January. New Orleans is out first US port then, so will be fun. Took until mid afternoon to clear everyone there last year! We are hoping to book a walking tour asap after arrival in the hopes that will help, but tours not available yet. So sorry to hear about your problems in Port Canaveral, it is surprising just how behind the times the US are.

Same cabin certainly would be lost from what I had heard, but any cabin in our current grade would be a acceptable to us. We would not risk that though anyway. We had upgraded with Azamara and could not go back. If I get access to T&C's, will post here.

We asked and for us to upgrade from a top grade outside to a mid fore balcony would be £2,000pp and just a tad less than than that for the cheapest balcony. A deluxe balcony would cost at least £2,500pp, so another £5,000 for the two of us. If we can get a good reduction on that, may take a gamble. Hopefully will know soon.

Thanks for that wording. Someone has said though, that it said if he did not pay for the upgrade, he would revert to his original level, just not the same cabin exactly. Stall a risk, no matter how you look at it.

No we are in the 26th April departure, which starts as yours returns I think, so perhaps we will get something within a couple of weeks. Thanks for mentioning it. When you say you were unimpressed, do you mean the minimum bid prices were very high? I am expecting that to an extent, but may still be lower than we would need to pay for a full price upgrade. We are still a bit uncertain if we would bid though.

Yes, should be better or deck one midships as an alternative and that is a tad cheaper. The prom deck is above deck two, though Fred do not allow running or power walking on prom deck so should be OK and I have seen some comments suggesting nothing is heard from above. I suspect there may be some noise at times though. Also, be aware that some cabins have adjoining doors to the next cabin, so may have some noise transmission through that, though again we have not been in one of those cabins. We tend to be extremely fussy about cabin location though as we live in a very quiet area, so I am easily disturbed by the slightest of noise. DH will sleep through quite a lot though 🙂 Overall the deck one and two cabins are well spoken of by a lot of people and they are big, well appointed cabins. The kitchens are on deck four between mid and rear lifts, so can cause a disturbance to deck three cabins underneath that. Hope this helps and you are happy with your choice, Barbara

I have no first hand knowledge of this, but it is reported elsewhere that it is to be stopped this April. The new CEO will be starting very soon, (1st Feb at the latest apparently). I wonder what other changes will happen as time goes by now.

No lifeboats are above deck three. The restriction is from the structure of the ship which comes down completely for some fairly long sections to the back and possibly front as well. You will still see a bit obliquely if you are right by the window and look sideways. Must have a fair bit of light restriction. Those cabins to the rear probably have a fair bit of noise from propellers or thrusters if going into a port early morning, but we have not been in them ourselves.

True, Though it is usually a case of feeling cool when you first go indoors, but after a while, especially overnight, you really appreciate the A/C being at reasonable room temperatures rather than really hot. You can usually choose the temperature in your cabin.

We have not been on Arvia, but I suggest, as with all other ships, the temperatures inside will feel cold when it is hot outside, largely because you have adapted to he hot outside temperatures. So need to have extra layers to hand.

Oh dear we were a little hopeful that we may get a reasonable minimum bid price for our 19 night Med on Aurora in April. A paid upgrade from top grade sea view to a mid fore/mid aft balcony would cost £2,000pp and just a tad less than that for the lowest grade of balcony. So more like £2,500pp or above for a deluxe balcony. If we hear about upgrade bids I will report back, but may not be offered for our cruise as fairly well booked. At what stage do you get invited to make a bid? We have just paid our balance last week.

They do call NW Spain, "Green Spain" and that is not without reason. We once had a similar day in a little visited port along the same coast as Vigo, though it was Sept or October. It was a good port though. You do need to be prepared for all weathers there.