Has anyone ever had a decent Vantage fare reduction?

[daiB]

Why would you want to move to a different cruise company when they all do the same thing. All cruise companies sell off the unsold cabins cheaply at the end of the booking period. From the cheapest to the top end, Silversea and the like. Recently I have seen a Seabourn cruise reduced fro £12000+ down to £2500. So it is happening now on all lines and has happened for years on all lines.

 

So why change cruise lines to find yourself in the same position.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[iandjm]

Why would you want to move to a different cruise company when they all do the same thing. All cruise companies sell off the unsold cabins cheaply at the end of the booking period. From the cheapest to the top end, Silversea and the like. Recently I have seen a Seabourn cruise reduced fro £12000+ down to £2500. So it is happening now on all lines and has happened for years on all lines.

 

So why change cruise lines to find yourself in the same position.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

Hi,

 

The cruise line I have booked with for next year honour price drops up to the final payment date, and are far more flexible with regards to paying to upgrade after you have made the final payment. I found basically Cunard did not want to know when I asked about similar things on my QE booking.

 

Ian

[iandjm]

Just been looking at an example of what you folks are discussing 14 day cruise on QWueen Elizabeth.

 

Vantage fare for Balcony £2029

Getaway fare balcony £899

 

Is that something to bring a smile to the faces of the folks paying out the full fare?

 

I guess the answer is to pay the fare you are happy with and never look again at any adverts for that cruise.

 

good advice, accept even Cunard email you offers for cruises you are already on. Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!

 

Ian

[glojo]

Me thinking aloud

 

I can understand the need for trying to sell off all the spare accomodation and I wonder if it would not be as painful if these Gateway fares were only available to a customer whose last Cunard cruise was a full price one?

 

That way it is an incentive for loyal customers to stay with the company and if we want a Gateway fare then we can only apply if we are 'in credit' with the Vantage cruises?

 

Just me throwing an idea into the pot

[iandjm]

Me thinking aloud

 

I can understand the need for trying to sell off all the spare accomodation and I wonder if it would not be as painful if these Gateway fares were only available to a customer whose last Cunard cruise was a full price one?

 

That way it is an incentive for loyal customers to stay with the company and if we want a Gateway fare then we can only apply if we are 'in credit' with the Vantage cruises?

 

Just me throwing an idea into the pot

 

Hi,

 

Makes good sense. Also how about offering those already booked, who have paid good money for lower grade cabins a free / paid upgrade before you start offering new bookers superior cabins for half the fare the early bookers paid?

It would certainly make people feel better about booking early and would after all reward the people paying Cunard more money. I know if I was paying £40 / £50 a night an inside or outside cabin would be more than acceptable.

[daiB]

Hi,

 

The cruise line I have booked with for next year honour price drops up to the final payment date, and are far more flexible with regards to paying to upgrade after you have made the final payment. I found basically Cunard did not want to know when I asked about similar things on my QE booking.

 

Ian

 

Well yes because they have to I the US and have introduced it over here no. However most of the concern is the drop after final payment ie within the last 3 month. At this point all cruise lines do exactly the same try to sell off the cabins which are left cheaply. As I said In my last post. Most offer far deeper discounts than Cunard or P&O which are effectively the same company.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[lucky white heather]

Why would you want to move to a different cruise company when they all do the same thing. All cruise companies sell off the unsold cabins cheaply at the end of the booking period. From the cheapest to the top end, Silversea and the like. Recently I have seen a Seabourn cruise reduced fro £12000+ down to £2500. So it is happening now on all lines and has happened for years on all lines.

 

So why change cruise lines to find yourself in the same position.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

Fortunately there are other cruiselines out there who do honour their promises to early bookers... nor do they discriminate openly against solo travellers. By offering lowest possible fares to 2 people willing to share but charging the highest possible fare if you go solo because the system is that getaway fares are not applicable to you , is unfair.

The price is astronomical for solos not being able to access getaway fares.

I spoke to a lady who looked at the fare for this cruise the day before we left to join the ship.The fare for a solo at the Vantage price was £2,200.The getaway fare for 2 coccupants of a balcony cabin was at that time 2 x £699.

 

She had looked at the price for oceanview cabins and as soon as she put in to travel as a solo traveller the getaway fares disappeared from the screen.

 

If Cunard needs to sell off cabins cheaply at the last minute and insiste 2 people must travel to get the low getaway price... solo travellers will definitely feel discriminated against because they could be willing to pay the going rate for the cabin 's current getaway price but don' t have that option .

The vantage fare is grossly more than the 2 person occupancy getaway fare...why?

 

This is the nub of the argument..not the selling off of unsold cabins at low prices..... we accept that. Every cruiseline does that but without this restrictive system that Cunard has started to operate.

[daiB]

Do not argue with that at all, but that was not the point I was answering.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[lucky white heather]

Do not argue with that at all, but that was not the point I was answering.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

As far as I understand it , the not honouring of promises given to early bookers is the secondary part of the same problem this thread is discussing. If you are assured on booking that if the price is dropped you will be offered a, b, and c as a "sweetener" ( my word, not Cunard's) in order to get your booking early and the company does not follow through on that promise I would also feel shortchanged.The prices are open to everyone to see so it is easy to check whether they have dropped (or gone up as sometimes happens) prior to sail date so you can easily check out what is happening and THE EXPECTATION IS THE PROMISES MADE TO YOU WOULD FOLLOW In DUE COURSE if those specified circumstances apply.

 

It seems that hasn't been the case so you can understand why people feel this is unfair and would not want to allow themselves to be short changed again so book with a cruiseline they know do not operate the Cunard way.

IF you have to organise your holiday a year in advance why would you trust a company that might continue to short change you after offering something they don't deliver to get your early booking even when the circumstances obviously show they should have ?

[iandjm]

As far as I understand it , the not honouring of promises given to early bookers is the secondary part of the same problem this thread is discussing. If you are assured on booking that if the price is dropped you will be offered a, b, and c as a "sweetener" ( my word, not Cunard's) in order to get your booking early and the company does not follow through on that promise I would also feel shortchanged.The prices are open to everyone to see so it is easy to check whether they have dropped (or gone up as sometimes happens) prior to sail date so you can easily check out what is happening and THE EXPECTATION IS THE PROMISES MADE TO YOU WOULD FOLLOW In DUE COURSE if those specified circumstances apply.

 

It seems that hasn't been the case so you can understand why people feel this is unfair and would not want to allow themselves to be short changed again so book with a cruiseline they know do not operate the Cunard way.

IF you have to organise your holiday a year in advance why would you trust a company that might continue to short change you after offering something they don't deliver to get your early booking even when the circumstances obviously show they should have ?

 

Too true. I still cannot see why offering sensibly priced paid upgrades to the early bookers would not be a good idea too. They would get some extra revenue from us and still get the £499 and £599 fares from the Getaway bookers.

I am sure next years bookings will show the cruise lines what people really think.

[daiB]

As far as I understand it , the not honouring of promises given to early bookers is the secondary part of the same problem this thread is discussing. If you are assured on booking that if the price is dropped you will be offered a, b, and c as a "sweetener" ( my word, not Cunard's) in order to get your booking early and the company does not follow through on that promise I would also feel shortchanged.The prices are open to everyone to see so it is easy to check whether they have dropped (or gone up as sometimes happens) prior to sail date so you can easily check out what is happening and THE EXPECTATION IS THE PROMISES MADE TO YOU WOULD FOLLOW In DUE COURSE if those specified circumstances apply.

 

It seems that hasn't been the case so you can understand why people feel this is unfair and would not want to allow themselves to be short changed again so book with a cruiseline they know do not operate the Cunard way.

IF you have to organise your holiday a year in advance why would you trust a company that might continue to short change you after offering something they don't deliver to get your early booking even when the circumstances obviously show they should have ?

 

Well you neatly missed the point I was making again. I agree with you about the problem of the single cruiser. And you agreed with me about the cheap deals after the final payment at 3 month.

 

The people who have most concern are those who booked after the Vantage fares were announced and before it was clear there were to be getaway fares with different conditions.

 

As with P&O if you want to book a cruise with Cunard you book very early to get the discounts available then or you wait until the getaway fares but do not book in the middle. However you run the risk that the cruise you want will not go to getaway.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[lucky white heather]

Well you neatly missed the point I was making again. I agree with you about the problem of the single cruiser. And you agreed with me about the cheap deals after the final payment at 3 month.

 

The people who have most concern are those who booked after the Vantage fares were announced and before it was clear there were to be getaway fares with different conditions.

 

As with P&O if you want to book a cruise with Cunard you book very early to get the discounts available then or you wait until the getaway fares but do not book in the middle. However you run the risk that the cruise you want will not go to getaway.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

 

There is no risk the cruise you want will not go to getaway fare..the two fare systems are offered simultaneously..getaway is not restricted to last minute bookings only. They were introduced last year when they took off the guarantee cabin bookings choice.

If you wanted to book you could choose either vantage or getaway to suit yourself right from when any cruise was available.

We used getaway ourselves last year for a cruise sailing in November but we booked earlier ..It isn't used to sell unsold cabins..it is choice at booking of which price you want ....vantage with a deposit and final payment or getaway ..100 % payment at booking ..no changes allowed ,no refund, no extras.

So I don't know how I am missing the point?

[daiB]

There is no risk the cruise you want will not go to getaway fare..the two fare systems are offered simultaneously..getaway is not restricted to last minute bookings only. They were introduced last year when they took off the guarantee cabin bookings choice.

If you wanted to book you could choose either vantage or getaway to suit yourself right from when any cruise was available.

We used getaway ourselves last year for a cruise sailing in November but we booked earlier ..It isn't used to sell unsold cabins..it is choice at booking of which price you want ....vantage with a deposit and final payment or getaway ..100 % payment at booking ..no changes allowed ,no refund, no extras.

So I don't know how I am missing the point?

 

No that is not how it works now. Getaways have just been released for August thats just over 3 months away.

 

The point you missed was me agreeing with you.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

[Ray66]

There is no risk the cruise you want will not go to getaway fare..the two fare systems are offered simultaneously..getaway is not restricted to last minute bookings only. They were introduced last year when they took off the guarantee cabin bookings choice.

If you wanted to book you could choose either vantage or getaway to suit yourself right from when any cruise was available.

We used getaway ourselves last year for a cruise sailing in November but we booked earlier ..It isn't used to sell unsold cabins..it is choice at booking of which price you want ....vantage with a deposit and final payment or getaway ..100 % payment at booking ..no changes allowed ,no refund, no extras.

So I don't know how I am missing the point?

 

If you look at cruises from September onwards (and some in August) they are only offered as Vantage fares.

[lucky white heather]

No that is not how it works now. Getaways have just been released for August thats just over 3 months away.

 

The point you missed was me agreeing with you.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

 

Have they changed the system in response to poor volume of bookings and want to force guests to choose vantage then?

Why would they do that? They get the full payment up front with getaway even if the guests don't even board the ship and can offer the cabin for re-sale again if they have been told the guests are cancelling for illness or whatever other reason and won't be travelling.

 

100% Money in the hand for getaway is worth more to Cunard.

 

The guest could decide to drop an original vantage booking of deposit and final payment .....minus 90 days out from sail date .....and then choose getaway (simultaneously also minus 3 months from sail date) and save themselves a fortune.

All the vantage guest would sacrifice is the cabin of choice and any OBC ......which is perhaps a better deal from the vantage guest's viewpoint.

[daiB]

Have they changed the system in response to poor volume of bookings and want to force guests to choose vantage then?

Why would they do that? They get the full payment up front with getaway even if the guests don't even board the ship and can offer the cabin for re-sale again if they have been told the guests are cancelling for illness or whatever other reason and won't be travelling.

 

100% Money in the hand for getaway is worth more to Cunard.

 

The guest could decide to drop an original vantage booking of deposit and final payment .....minus 90 days out from sail date .....and then choose getaway (simultaneously also minus 3 months from sail date) and save themselves a fortune.

All the vantage guest would sacrifice is the cabin of choice and any OBC ......which is perhaps a better deal from the vantage guest's viewpoint.

 

Sorry nothing has changed at all. The system is the same as it started last year.

 

Your last suggestion has been going on for years.

[old nutter]

This issue is entirely one of price/performance transparency - or at least the lack of it.

 

Most people quite rightly seem to have focussed on the price promise element of the Vantage fares. There are a lot of other things that are different between them and the Getaway prices. The main problem is that the differences are not clearly laid out in the publicity blurb. The Ts and Cs that you see when either booking a Getaway or in the full Ts and Cs are headlines only. In this case, the "small print" showing the real differences is not even visible.

 

The Getaway Fares are not really fares at all in fact, they are sale offer promotions. That means that any possible benefits such as special OBCs are not applicable at all to Getway promotions. There are some well hidden booking codes that apply to Getaway promotions (I refuse to think of them as Fares because they are not strictly such, they are no more than good old fashioned Sales). Also, as far as I see things the Vantage Fares may well be Fares, but there is nothing to stop Cunard calling them promotions as well if they want to and then they can use the hidden code system to pick and choose access to additional benefits if they want without anyone noticing at booking time. It is all well and good listing the non-applicability of any benefit in sale promotions by giving the codes that are not applicable, but unless you know what code you are being booked on you will never know until you ask why it isn't being applied to you.

 

I have no problem with Cunard having a fixed-price fare (let's call it the Catalogue Fare - oops hadn't it used to be something like that???) and not dropping it as cruises fail to fill all booking slots as they approach departure. They can make grand gestures about giving you some Cunard vouchers (not refunds by the way) if the price goes down. You can then use those vouchers on the cruise to spend some money that you may or may have done anyway. Lets call that fictitious money "OBC" to avoid having to pay anyone back any real cash. Then if the cruise is not full as it nears departure, they can offer "Sale" prices and spell out ALL of the things that are not included in the price in a comprehensive list. Then anyone who wants to make a proper comparison between the Catalogue Fare and the Sale price can see at a glance what they are forfeiting in exchange for the lower price - no messing, no complaining, no unhappy cruisers.

 

This revolutionary concept of telling customers what they are paying for is how retail works in the UK. The current "smoke and mirrors" approach used in the Vantage and Getaway marketing ploy is sailing as close to the wind as it is possible to do without losing all of your forward motion. Maybe it will be discontinued soon before Trading Standards or the ASA notice what is going on and force some charging transparency and then we can all see what we are buying and the need to these discussions would go away.

[Pennbank]

Totally agree with your comments and I do indeed feel 'had' :(

 

Try being a solo passenger with Cunard and get had x 3 :eek:

[Pennbank]

I am rather annoyed at the Vantage and Getaway fare structure too. Can anyone supply me an email address for Peter Shanks so that I can vent my anger.:mad:

Thanks in advance.:)

 

UK.Reservations@cunard.co.uk

 

If you mark it for his attention, it will get answered by his secretary, mine did.

[iandjm]

peter.shanks at carnivalukgroup dot com

[granny red]

UK.Reservations@cunard.co.uk

 

If you mark it for his attention, it will get answered by his secretary, mine did.

 

 

Hi email sent & answer received. Not much help but glad that I voiced my opinion. I will book late for my next cruise though.;) I did read on Cunard website somewhere that from November 2013, all Getaway passengers wont be able to use the free shuttle buses. Cant imagine how they will sort that out.:confused:

[granny red]

peter.shanks at carnivalukgroup dot com

 

 

Hi emailed that too but no reply as yet. Thanks:)

[fantasy51]

I wrote a letter a couple of months ago about solo travellers not being able to access Getaway fares, and in response I was phoned by a member of customer services who said she'd been given the task of collating responses to that change. I'd included phone number and email address in the letter.

[iandjm]

Hi email sent & answer received. Not much help but glad that I voiced my opinion. I will book late for my next cruise though.;) I did read on Cunard website somewhere that from November 2013, all Getaway passengers wont be able to use the free shuttle buses. Cant imagine how they will sort that out.:confused:

 

I guess that makes Getaway passengers second class. Nothing like alienating even more customers.

 

Ian

[babine]

Can someone please clarify whether the vantage/getaway structure applies in North America? The fares that come us when I look at them on the Cunard.com web page are on their own, uncategorized. Thanks.

 

I have tended to book well in advance in the past, and I notice this year, when considering my normal transatlantic timing, the price is up by at least a thousand dollars. I'm a single traveller, and am also facing having to pay more than 200% for my cabin. I can understand paying 200%, but it is a real drag (and unaffordable) to pay more than this for my single supplement.