Eglesbrech

Others have covered most of the major areas for comparison pretty well but here are some odd bits of information.

Cunard

If you select Queen Mary2 there is a wonderful planetarium and a walk through time line museum onboard.

Cunard have quirky things like a jigsaw that everyone puts in a few pieces as they pass.( removal of the jigsaw if one of the first signs that they have a bug onboard so it is a good barometer)

They do a ship tour telling you the history of the line. They have kept bits and pieces from other ships over the years and if you like history this is interesting to hear about. (It was best on the old QE2 when you could even see where first class ended and 2nd / steerage began)

The ships have lovely dance floors, we even had a Ceilidh onboard one cruise with full ceilidh band which we have never had on P&O.

The Grills experience is excellent so if you are booking a suite, in my opinion Cunard is the much better choice as there are many more perks than on P&O and the food is really good in the queens grill.

I like the library / book shop

There is more sense of occasion at the afternoon teas in the way it is done, music etc

P&O

Again just my opinion but the pay for select restaurants are better. More choice and more interesting eg Sindu

There is more sense of fun at the sail away (not everyone's cup of tea but many enjoy).

There is less snobbery, I have met one or two truly obnoxious snobs on Cunard who think they own the ship because they are in a suite and treat the staff poorly but not so on P&O.

I have generally found the cruisers in P&O a more chatty bunch.

The big advantage as others have said is the pricing in pounds.

Both provide a good holiday, it just depends on your personal preferences. Overall in my opinion Cunard provide a better overall product but then you tend to pay more for it as well.

Yes that would work especially for those who don't drink, don't go to the shows and arrive by coach.

 

Not going to happen.

 

 

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Meant as a bit of fun Dai, of course it is not going to happen but then neither are a lot of the other things people are discussing here. P&O wil do what they do and we can all like it or lump it.

Here is a radical thought, scrap the whole loyalty system altogether. In some way we all pay for it anyway. Use the money saved for other purposes eg to improve the embarcation system or reduce the bar prices or bring on big name acts to the theatre.

How many of you would immediately stop cruising with P&O if they removed your loyalty benefits, such as they are? I would suspect precious few as you sail with them for the product not the paltry benefits.

Loyalty benefits had their place back in the day when people took one cruise a year or every few years. Now many people that you speak to on ships (and indeed can gather from on this forum) can take several cruises a year so loyalty grades that used to take years of cruising to reach are reached much more quickly. Then they have to move the goalposts again and again - that annoys customers.

Go for the Big Bang, get rid of the whole system.💣

Well the one thing we can be certain of is that whatever changes they make there will be some happy and some unhappy people.

The debates on the old p&0 site the last time the loyalty club changed were quite heated as P&O made some astonishing concessions for some grades but not for others. Some people near to the gold grade reported that after complaining they got bumped up to Carribean but the line did not do this for any of the other levels. I must admit that i was peeved at that as we just missed a level by less than some of the "goldies" and then the goal posts moved quite a bit. I dont however base a booking primarily on the loyalty scheme anyway.

Some of the "perks" that people had been used to getting were removed at some grades eg invite to the party was moved up a grade so you were cordially no longer invited

You can't keep all of the people happy all of the time as they say. :):(

Yes it makes perfect sense that they will only fill in the deck and cabin once they are allocated but the category is different. You have paid for a specific minimum category and that used to show in that section.

In the "olden days" of cruising a guarantee meant just that, you would get on the ship but could be allocated a cabin anywhere from the smallest inside to (in theory) a suite. Guarantees are now sold by a specific category eg inside, outside, balcony etc and then by specific minimum grade within that category related to location. Thats the bit that now appears to be missing.

A guarantee cabin used to be so much more fun in the old days as you could dream of being allocated something special, though it rarely happened. Now I suppose you can at least guarantee the minimum grade you want.

Thanks for the insight LandC. I don't know how popular the one we are interested in might be. Time will tell.

Glad it's not just me then. :)

It seems a strange way to go about it putting out so little information but they will have their reasons no doubt. They may be holding back the changes until the early booking period for the new brochure is over to avoid confusion?

We don't have many points on Fred so nothing much to lose. We just missed out with P&O at their last change and I was peeved and yes Tring I believe they are changing again in the near future. Hopefully Fred's changes don't cause the bitterness the P&O ones did.

Did I miss the changes? (The answer is obviously I did)

I don't remember hearing about this and if you search there is still information about the old Blue grade etc is the new system in or just coming in?

Have the benefits changes as well.

Extract from FAQ:

"In response to feedback from our Oceans members, we have rebranded our Oceans Loyalty Club, and introduced two new levels.

The entry level has been changed to Bronze, and all current Blue members have been converted to this level.

The levels of membership are as follows:

Bronze - 1-30 points

Silver - 31-100 points

Gold - 101-250 points

Platinum - 251-500 points

Diamond Elite - 500+ points"

I know that there are no guarantees re pricing on any cruise line but I would be interested in views about what Fred is like re fluid pricing?

Is it best to book early to secure the cruise or is the price likely to fall like a brick after the "early booking" period as is sometimes does on other lines making the "early booking discount" a joke.

For those who have traveled a lot with the company what has been your experience?

The cruise personaliser seems to have changed for guarantees. You used to get

Deck : to be assigned

Cabin: GUA

Category : eg balcony GD, or Inside PD etc

Now the third section is empty and shows neither the type of cabin or the grade booked. Anyone else experienced that?

We have only ever been assigned a cabin a few weeks before sailing so interesting to hear that others are getting them earlier. It does add to the anticipation.

Being a complete anorak I have also noticed that the lower grade attractively priced cabins disappear for while then come back on sale. Presumably they bump someone up and then resell the cabins.

Oh for a crystal ball.

It will be interesting to see if the pattern of cruise port visits change post Brexit. It could well hit places like Gib or Guernsey as there are nicer ports to visit and the advantage they have now may be lost.

Some of the "stragglers" have probably just boarded.:)

Hope this makes life easier for the crew rather than having to shout out cabin numbers time and again.

Taking this back to the OPs topic about loyalty yes it's interesting to compare what one cruise line does with another but they are all generous compared to other travel companies.

We travel regularly with one company on land based holidays and there is no recognition at all for repeat customers and no expectation that there should be. They provide a product and if you like it you buy it.

Re your last Para. I have noticed this comes up on the Princess/RCI boards on here. As well as P&O.

 

 

I can see why and in some ways it makes sense to offer choice. It also ties in with what airlines now do as well. Cheap price to fly and if you want the champagne and the hot meal that used to be included, you pay for it.

Just for interest how many of us would pay an extra 25% to get P&O back to where they perceive it was 15 years ago. Probably a bit more 'stuffy'. Better food. Or actually, despite any misgivings, are we basically happy with the product.

 

 

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I would pay more if the standards improved again. Unless P&O is running a charity they must be cost cutting in some way. The reason I think that is based on pricing:

We are booked for a cruise this December. I looked back my records and we booked the same cruise, to the same ports, on the same ship with the same cabin grade in December 2008 and is cost £20 more 9 years ago!

So, many years ago the same product was actually more expensive. Now I am no economist but I do know that everything else in life has got more expensive over that period of time.

To make up for (my perception) that the standard food onboard is not as good as it once was I tend to book the speciality restaurants for several nights onboard or go to the Glass House so I suppose in some ways I am electing to pay the difference for a better standard.

Perhaps that is now the business model, get onboard for a low cost and then pay for the upgrades you want?

Thank you both, really helpful.

We are about to book for 2018 and as I have not been on the Balmoral before I am looking for advice. Having read a few reviews / blogs that suggest some of the cabins are a bit noisy can anyone suggest the best cabin area to pick to avoid this?

We are looking at an inside but don't mind which grade if we can avoid the noise.

Any assistance appreciated.:)

Well I have learned something new, I was looking for the "do not upgrade" and could not find it and now I know why.

I had selected a grade I was happy with, which was half way up the choices - I would have been as well taking the very bottom one and paying less.

Hey ho we are not too picky about location anyway and as we seldom if ever get an upgrade chances are it will be in the area we selected anyway.

I do however think that P&O should make this clearer to those booking. It is very clear that you don't get perks and that you don't get to select a cabin number there is however nothing to indicate that they can change the grade level you picked. Why would anyone select anything other than the very cheapest one otherwise (by cabin type)

I book a cruise by where I want to go, when I want to go and the best relative price to get there. Relative being quality of ship, food, entertainment etc.

Loyalty perks are a nice bonus. It not a deal breaker as they can (and frequently do) change. We just missed out when the last P&O loyalty scheme change kicked in and yes it annoyed me but it did not stop me booking a future cruise with the company if the overall package suited me.

Relativley perks can lose their value very quickly by comparison eg

The 1pm embarkation with P&O is worthless when compared with the 11am standard boarding on Celebrity.

The free bar before dinner drinks on Celebrity is worthless when compared with the ability to bring a bottle onboard to drink while dressing for dinner on P&O.

The main reason for booking a cruise holiday is that I want to enjoy it.

That said if 2 lines are offering the same sort of package I will book with the one offering the best perks and that is seldom P&O.

Ventura D deck aft allocated 3pm. (Boarded nearer 4pm)

Perhaps we should compile a spread sheet.

Thanks Dai.

It will be interesting to see what they do this time.

P&O were supposed to be looking at the loyalty scheme last year and then it all went quiet. Has anyone heard any scuttle about when / if it will change and what the changes might be?

If I had to wait I would not turn up early. That is the point. The people on FB saying it works are not in suites or high tier.

 

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I did not turn up early, I turned up at the allocated time which was ridiculously late and was still made to wait until well past that time. That is not a moan, it is a fact from my experience of the new system to date. Other people have had other (better) experiences. I hope that I have the same the next time.

I follow the P &O rules however as a matter of opinion I do not see the need for such late boarding in the first place when other organisations with bigger ships manage the whole process better and quicker.

I don't think it helps that there is very little to see or do in Southampton particulalry if you have been there multiple times before. It is not the nicest of places to kill time, now if P&0 were to leave from Edinburgh;p

Even if it is not included in your fare the ships shuttle bus service is not expensive in fact usually great value compared to a taxi. (There can however be lengthy queues for them depending on the port and the time you choose to go at).

Don't think they are going for fine dining.

 

 

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I was answering the question asked.