Getaway Fares?

[YORKI1]

I have been checking the cost of a cruise (M223 QM New England & Canadian Sojourn 1)) 21 September 2012 and notice that Cunard are today offering Getaway Fares on it.

 

Can any regular Cunard cruisers interprete this, eg is the cruise not selling.

 

Thank you.

[Ray66]

The following link is showing normal voyage-only fare at £2,274. The Getaway voyage-only fare is showing £2,299. So is actually slightly dearer.

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/Voyage-Results/?voyagenumber=M223

[YORKI1]

The following link is showing normal voyage-only fare at £2,274. The Getaway voyage-only fare is showing £2,299. So is actually slightly dearer.

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/Voyage-Results/?voyagenumber=M223

 

Yes, I noticed the fare.

 

My question is why are Cunard offering Getaway Fares, eg is the cruise not selling.

 

Thank you.

[Ray66]

I don't know the answer to that. What I can see for the New England/Canada cruise is:

 

14th September - 7 nights T/A has getaway fares

14th September - 18 nights doesn't have Getaway fares

14th September - 25 nights has Getaway fares

21st September - 11 nights has Getaway fares

21st September - 18 nights doesn't have Getaway fares

[Norfolk Brit]

The cruise we're on in two weeks hasn't sold well and a couple of days ago Cunard introduced 'getaway' fares. Up until then (in the UK) the fares on Cunard's website were significantly higher than those on many travel agents' sites. Cunard has finally brought them down, via getaway, to roughly the same level that the agents have been advertising for weeks.

 

As the Americans say, go figure. Sorry if this doesn't answer your question, but cruise lines move in mysterious ways.

 

Mary

[periscope10]

I spotted the Getaway fares on the Cunard website today. As you say “cruise lines move in mysterious ways.” For this deal it appears you have to accept a guarantee cabin and pay the full amount at booking. It also says the best available fare, meaning currently it is the best, so my understanding is that next week or the week later it could be better. Possibly the current financial climate has meant a fall in passenger bookings so Cunard are looking for ways to fill any empty spaces.

I booked through a local travel agent just four weeks ago and was told it was the best fare I was going to get but I had to pay the full fare at the time of booking and accept a guarantee cabin. I was told this was a special Cunard promotional offer. This sounds like the same deal as Getaway to me. Now usually I book and don’t check prices again as I know they might change. However I checked the website for the travel agent today and found that had I waited four weeks I could have saved £600. I contacted the agent a few minutes ago and was told pretty much that it was my hard luck, cruise prices change all the time. I said I had been advised by their agent that I was getting the best deal possible. The agent I spoke to today told me that it was probably the best deal available at that particular time and denied they would have told me it was the best price I was going to get. I felt somewhat deceived or at best mislead. They advised me to write a letter of complaint to the store manager. I am doubtful that would prove to be very helpful.

Regular cruisers know that fares fluctuate but this is getting extreme as the prices seem to change almost weekly. It appears that the battle of fair fares will rage on and we will continue to gamble over when to book and who to book with.

It takes some of the shine off the experience but whatever, I will move on through yet another learning curve and look forward to a great cruise experience, after all I was happy with the price when I booked it.

Carol

[Norfolk Brit]

 

Regular cruisers know that fares fluctuate but this is getting extreme as the prices seem to change almost weekly. .

Carol

 

Actually, they don't. This time, just for fun, I've monitored prices for weeks on Cunard's website and have discovered that they change (almost) daily, albeit sometimes by a small amount. So does availability as they upgrade and spread passengers around the different cabin categories.

 

The knack is knowing when a good per day price for your favoured cabin type appears, either by email or website from travel agents, or direct from Cunard; certainly in the UK it's almost always considerably cheaper to book via a t/a, particularly for late deals.

 

The good news for anyone who pays more than those booking later is that their chance of getting a worthwhile upgrade is increased.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Mary:)

[pepperrn]

The good news for anyone who pays more than those booking later is that their chance of getting a worthwhile upgrade is increased. Mary:)

 

Mary, you're correct of course :) . And it has happened to me, more than once.

I think there are a couple more benefits of booking early.

You are more likely to get your choice of table size, esp if you want a table for two. The earlier you book, the better your chances, so I understand.

Your choice of cabin; late bookers might get an unwanted cabin over G32, under the Lido/Kings Court or with a connecting door.

There might be a few more benefits... let me think...

 

Of course, it is everyone's choice, do I want to risk paying more than others for the same voyage for a few benefits, or save money (possibly?) by waiting for prices to drop... or discovering they have gone up... or finding the sailing has sold out.

 

However, on one occasion, having booked early, a group of twelve (eleven and me!) discovered that the prices on the booked QM2 cruise had dropped so much that it was far cheaper to cancel, lose deposits and instantly rebook, saving many thousand £ in the process. The TA arranged everything, not only did the twelve friends get the six (now empty) cabins much cheaper (seriously, exactly the same cabins) but a week later the TA called to say that the group had all been upgraded (from six inside D Grade... to three A Grade and three B Grade balcony cabins).

 

Mary, very best wishes,