Has anyone ever had a decent Vantage fare reduction?

[fantasy51]

Hi Babine. From what I've gathered on this forum, the Vantage/Getaway fares are just for the UK. Other countries have their own deals, but no doubt they will head towards the same big differences in the long run, with price changes according to when you book.

[granny red]

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.

 

Hi Babine. Cant help you re fares in North America but someone else may reply with some knowledge of it. Solo passengers in the UK seem to have the same trouble as you too. They cannot book a Getaway fare so are forced to pay a substantial amount also.:(

[Lanky Lad]

It's just a UK problem, we can't cancel without loosing our deposit unlike in the US. But with some of the differences in price it would be cheaper to cancel and loose your deposit. Then book a better grade of cabin. How can that be right?

 

The bit about not using the free shuttle bus is just to try to put people off booking getaway fares.

 

Come on Cunard stop treating us like idiots, we are not!

[Pennbank]

It's just a UK problem, we can't cancel without loosing our deposit unlike in the US. But with some of the differences in price it would be cheaper to cancel and loose your deposit. Then book a better grade of cabin. How can that be right?

 

The bit about not using the free shuttle bus is just to try to put people off booking getaway fares.

 

Come on Cunard stop treating us like idiots, we are not!

 

I believe that the option to select your Dining times is also being denied soon with the Getaway fare.

[old fool]

It seems that in both the USA and the rest of the world; the best odds of getting a reasonably low fare would be to book 60 - 90 days in advance; if your personal schedule permits taking a chance on availability.

 

This might be the best mix to be early enough to lock in air travel at a good price as well as a lower price on the cruise of choice.

 

30 - 60 days might be even better -- if you have the "chops" for it??

 

Comments on the likelyhood that this theory is reasonable, please.

[missfrankiecat]

It seems that in both the USA and the rest of the world; the best odds of getting a reasonably low fare would be to book 60 - 90 days in advance; if your personal schedule permits taking a chance on availability.

 

This might be the best mix to be early enough to lock in air travel at a good price as well as a lower price on the cruise of choice.

 

30 - 60 days might be even better -- if you have the "chops" for it??

 

Comments on the likelyhood that this theory is reasonable, please.

 

That has been the position for a good few years now, certainly here in the UK, where the reductions generally kick in about 90 days before departure, presumably at the point where the American customers can and do cancel without loss for the final time and Cunard have a clear picture of how a cruise is selling. What has changed is that for the first time singles and families are not permitted to take advantage of any lower rates because they are being loaded onto the Getaway fare and these are only available to couples. Assuming this is not just some random decision making by Cunard it seems to be a clear policy to discourage solo travellers (who on my calculation are paying 3.5 times the rate of a person traveling as one half of a couple on many trips) and families with young children sharing parents cabin. Presumably this is a commercial decision although it does seem to fly in the face of their past commitment to providing diversity of entertainment provision etc. It makes me very sad.

[Sikwemu]

It's just a UK problem, we can't cancel without loosing our deposit unlike in the US. But with some of the differences in price it would be cheaper to cancel and loose your deposit. Then book a better grade of cabin. How can that be right?

 

We cancelled and lost £700. We rebooked on the same cruise. Counting the £700 we lost it was still £100 cheaper and we sailed for ten days longer.

[babine]

Thank you all for the helpful information. All the best.

[MadScientist_01]

Just to throw this into the mix - our next trip is now past its payment date and well into Getaway territory - but the cabin grade we wanted for the trip comes up on a dummy booking as Sold Out, despite being available still in the Vantage fares - for us it was important to have what we wanted so no regrets on choosing the Vantage in this case, Getaway would not have worked for us.

 

I guess it really is about individuals deciding what is best for them and their holiday...

[iandjm]

Hi,

 

Please find attached the reply letter from Cunard after my letters to Peter Shanks, and meeting with the Hotel Manager on Queen Elizabeth (organized by Peter Shanks when I was on board)

 

I have to say it states the obvious and makes no effort to address the issues I brought up. Pretty poor to be honest.

 

Ian

[iandjm]

here is the attachment

cun let.pdf

[Wacktle]

here is the attachment

 

 

Many thanks for making this available. Cunard must think their customers are extremely dim if they feel the need to merely regurgitate what is on the website and in the brochures. Clearly there's no point in anyone raising this further with them. The only way forward is to vote with our wallets.

[iandjm]

Many thanks for making this available. Cunard must think their customers are extremely dim if they feel the need to merely regurgitate what is on the website and in the brochures. Clearly there's no point in anyone raising this further with them. The only way forward is to vote with our wallets.

 

I totally agree. Three cruises booked with Celebrity already :)

[transatlantic fan]

Have Cunard said how much the shuttle bus would be?

Thanks

[Whitemarsh]

I knew Ian Thorpe had retired from swimming, but I had no idea he was working with Cunard.

[iandjm]

Have Cunard said how much the shuttle bus would be?

Thanks

 

I have not heard anything, but I can imagine the scenes at the bus doors!

[Ray66]

Have Cunard said how much the shuttle bus would be?

Thanks

 

The following information is taken from the UK forum about shuttle buses and cost examples:

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38480955&postcount=2

[Happyboating]

I have just found this in my bookmarks:

 

http://www.cunard.co.uk/cruise-deals/vantage-fares/

 

If you scroll down you can watch a small video that shows Peter Shanks explaining the new (as they were when I bookmarked the page) Vantage Fares.

[electra2008]

We recently moved south and hoped that being close to S'hampton we would be able to access some of these deals. I had been looking at a Med trip including Venice end of May, but it never went down popular places,date? C sent me a brocheur with a round UK 10 days for Just over £1700.00 for 2 of us half price, so off I went and booked it. Balcony 10 days QE. One tip don't go with CC go with Debit card as once you say to the Travel Agent yes, You CAN'T change your mind so cost me about £30 extra for CC charges, but can live with that, this time :o

Was looking at Tranatlantic earlier for next year but after reading a lot of these posts will wait till early next year. Will be interesting where this balcony is I thought a good test to see if it really does matter to me where I am located.

[glojo]

We recently moved south and hoped that being close to S'hampton we would be able to access some of these deals. I had been looking at a Med trip including Venice end of May, but it never went down popular places,date? C sent me a brocheur with a round UK 10 days for Just over £1700.00 for 2 of us half price, so off I went and booked it. Balcony 10 days QE. One tip don't go with CC go with Debit card as once you say to the Travel Agent yes, You CAN'T change your mind so cost me about £30 extra for CC charges, but can live with that, this time :o

Was looking at Tranatlantic earlier for next year but after reading a lot of these posts will wait till early next year. Will be interesting where this balcony is I thought a good test to see if it really does matter to me where I am located.

Well done but shop around as there are travel agents that do not take any charges when we use a credit card.

 

So good tip would be to shop around ;)

 

Well done for getting that cruise you wanted.

[BlueRiband]

Interesting perspective from an industry insider here. (Please don't shoot the messenger!)

[Jayneykul]

Is there really any point writing to Cunard to complain. When Mr Shanks failed to reply to my post in Q&A above I wrote to him raising my complaint and he hasnt even bothered to reply. We had purchased a voucher on our cruise on the QV for a future cruise I think using the vantage fare but dont think we will bother using it as clearly looking at the postings above it is not the deal it was made out to be. Althought we really enjoyed our cruise on the QV we didnt get anywhere near the same level of customer service that we have wih celebrity

[Whitemarsh]

Interesting perspective from an industry insider here. (Please don't shoot the messenger!)

 

Yes, very interesting, and quite sad too. I wonder if these are the same people littering the internet with their endless complaints and negative reviews?

[glojo]

Interesting perspective from an industry insider here. (Please don't shoot the messenger!)

Thank you for posting that link and is it based on research? It makes valid points and asks more questions than it answers.

 

If bargain hunters are not spending money whilst aboard the ship then does Cunard need to come up with a better answer?

 

If we don't complain then we just have to accept our fate or move on. Moving on can be an option for a significant majority of folks but if they do not complain before taking their dollars elsewhere, are we going to see even more of these bargain basement offers which in turn might see even more folks taking the exit.

 

To those that cruise on different cruise lines can they please compare numbers that use both the bars and casino on the different lines? Are these areas just as busy throughout the industry or are certain companies managing to fill these areas?

 

I ask this as some folks are suggesting this is where profits are made and I can understand that reasoning although I am more than willing to pay extra for a quieter experience.

 

To all those that write in and complain, I say well done and shame on Cunard for not replying

[Pennbank]

Thank you for posting that link and is it based on research? It makes valid points and asks more questions than it answers.

 

If bargain hunters are not spending money whilst aboard the ship then does Cunard need to come up with a better answer?

 

If we don't complain then we just have to accept our fate or move on. Moving on can be an option for a significant majority of folks but if they do not complain before taking their dollars elsewhere, are we going to see even more of these bargain basement offers which in turn might see even more folks taking the exit.

 

To those that cruise on different cruise lines can they please compare numbers that use both the bars and casino on the different lines? Are these areas just as busy throughout the industry or are certain companies managing to fill these areas?

 

I ask this as some folks are suggesting this is where profits are made and I can understand that reasoning although I am more than willing to pay extra for a quieter experience.

 

To all those that write in and complain, I say well done and shame on Cunard for not replying

 

I have travelled on a few other cruise lines and have found that the bars fill and so does the casino. Unless you are receiving a complete package including drinks then you are bound to have people trying to undermine the system. Like if the soda gun breaks down in a bar and the bar staff supply cans of soda, then I have noticed many more customers just ordering the free soda in the can. On a P&O cruise for 3 weeks at the beginning of this year (and my last) I noticed passengers pouring drinks from their handbags . These passengers appeared to be regular P&O passengers by they way they spoke of their love of the P&O cruise line.

(Worth Reading P&O Forums, there also up in arms about Fare Policy)

 

At the beginning of last Month I went on the NCL Breakaway across the Atlantic, again their bars and clubs were full, There were also plenty of passengers wearing their lanyards with keycard around the neck plugged into the fruit machines.

 

Perhaps I have been lucky with all my dealings with Cunard. I have written letters and complained and always received a reply back. I have been upgraded many times and always written back to thank the member of staff who solved my problem and then received another letter to say thank you for writing.

Cunard do appear to make catastrophic blunders now and again, take the 2009 on board credit fiasco were as mentioned on these forums UK passengers were able to get an extremely over the odds exchange rate against the $ for a while, which would have made a bank go bankrupt. And the more recent ban on Solo's, 3rd and fourth Passengers attempting to travel on a Getaway Fare and instead trying to make them book a Vantage fare at sometimes over 400 % extra.

These days in my opinion, you would have to be very very wealthy or have more money than sense to pay that much additional extra supplement. (Even for Cunard) This figure is documented again by forum members in these threads.

Also even the double occupancy UK passengers are now complaining about the vantage and getaway comparisons.

This came in as pre sales and shares fell. At least Cunard have now relented on t&c with regards to Getaway fares from 1st Sep. Whether is was due to falling pre sales profits or customer demand , that we will never be told.

Anyway who's grabbing a bar stool in the Commodore Club ? Although probably going to be extremely pleasant but humid out on deck at 22C.

sail away today to Boston on board QM2 from Redhook on the Anniversary of Queen Mary arriving in Manhattan on 1st June 1936

 

http://www.cruiseandferry.net/article/News/00687/QM2-celebrates-anniversary