Help on pricing and booking timing please.. A404

[wingnutta]

OK, me and the wife have been discussing this at length and are still nowhere near to a decision, we hope you in-the-know people can offer some advice please.. Bare with me - its a long one! ;)

 

Situation: Me, wife and aunty & uncle are wanting to go on A404 (Azura - Caribbean Feb 2014). Current Balcony price is £2249 WHEREVER i look - no problems with that at all! Its a vantage fare and i am fully aware of all the issues regarding getaway fares. I got a really great price for Sep 2011 cruise by a rep for carnival group (random call) who did us a really great deal - tried her again but alas she no longer works there. So i called up P&O direct to ask what was the best price. Heres the confusing bit - she said as wife and i have cruised with them before the price of £2249 was right (no discount there then!), however the price for aunty/uncle was £27xx (forget exactly) as they are first time cruisers. My surprise at this is because ANY other website quotes the £2249 price for EVERYONE without even knowing if we are members of a loyalty scheme!! - So it makes it look like P&O are giving me some proper duff prices with no loyalty discount thrown in (Wasnt happy at all with that call!) Was she wrong or would all the other websites change the price the further i got down the booking chain as it were?? I want to call again but need some ammo from you guys first! (Done 2 x P&O cruises before)

 

Secondly: I am happy to pay the circa £2249 price for all (with vantage benefits), but wifey wants to wait for a potential getaway fare? Do getaway fares only come out a certain time beforehand or is it a case of whenever P&O feel like it?? Do getaway fares come up for caribbean cruises at all????

 

I want it booked now but if your advice is wait a bit longer (I worry too much about them selling out - and we cant change the dates of our time off work) - as it wont defo sell out now - maybe sep or something - then i will wait but i honestly dont know what to do for the best??

 

Any help is greatly appreciated...:)

[Mr Blue Sky]

Hi Wingnuttta

 

If it helps in your decision to wait or book now, getaway fares incur

Port shuttle bus fares, no buses required in Caribbean applies more to

Europe, you are also assigned a set dining time, plus not notified of

Cabin number till 2 weeks before departure date, Also according to P&O

Website they select certain dates /routes for getaway fares.

 

Think you have to weigh up if you prefer a certain location on ship ,would you

Like prem seats on flight out, as they go pretty quickly , good luck

If you do go ahead, we are 22 Feb on Azura, there is a roll call set up if you would like to join us.

 

 

Mrs Blue Sky

[ParCan]

My personal advice.

If you Book now you will get Charter Flights. That means you get off the plane, Into a bus and onto the boat. No Barbados Airport / Customs / Immigration formalities to complete. You will not see your luggage until it arrives outside your Cabin.

 

You can chose where you are on the ship. The Time or Freedom Dining you wish to have.

 

If this was a 2 or 3 night cruise I would suggest a getaway. This is a 2 week 'trip of a lifetime' Make it the best 2 weeks you can by removing all sources of stress !

 

Book it online and you will pay the Web Price for the 1st timers and your price if you have a loyaty club number (May well be the same price).

 

Azura is a wonderful ship with a great crew.

[wingnutta]

@ Mr Blue Sky - Yeah i was aware of those thanks.. If it does get booked i will defo join the roll call be assured of that! :) We havent had the best of luck family illness wise lately and we are both worried about having to cancel if something else goes wrong and we lose our deposit.. probably being silly but we have been burned a lot.. hopefully we shall be on that roll call. ;)

 

@ Parcan - Are you saying if we did a getaway fare (IF they did come up) do you not get charter flights then??? Wasnt aware of that one! - Interesting! Wifey and i have done Azura before and thats why we want to do it again - to show it off to aunty/uncle as we had such a great time in the Med..

 

Do caribbean cruises sell out this far ahead??? I think wifey would prefer to wait till Sep time to book but i would just hate it if we were only left with outside etc.. i ONLY want to do a balcony in the caribbean (personal choice).

 

Oh decisions decisions lol... :(

[ParCan]

Hi.

They have X number of charter flight seats. Once they are sold they are sold. You go on a BA or Virgin flight and have to do the whole Airport thing.

 

It's possible that Getaways could be out as early as October. The headline price savings will depend on how much you value the cost to you in other areas.

[BrianI]

There have been good offers in recent years on Caribbean cruises so its likely that there will be more next season. However if you want a specific date there is a remote chance you may be unlucky. The price includes flights whether you book Vantage or Getaway and flights are from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham for this cruise. There are usually two planes from Gatwick and Manchester and one from Birmingham. It could be that some departures may get booked up and you may have to from another airport. This last year P&O have booked a few people on scheduled flights with BA rather than one of the charters. This may be because the charters were full or maybe they cancelled one due to few bookings and it was cheaper to put a few passengers on a scheduled flight. I dont believe it was a result of a Getaway fare.

The advantage of the charter is that all people on the plane are going on the cruise and you come down the airplane steps straight onto a bus on the tarmac and go straight out of the airport to the ship. Your luggage is offloaded onto a lorry and delivered to your cabin later.

On a scheduled flight you have to go into the airport building, reclaim your luggage and go through immigration and then P&O will meet you and take you to the ship.

Brian

[daiB]

@ Mr Blue Sky - Yeah i was aware of those thanks.. If it does get booked i will defo join the roll call be assured of that! :) We havent had the best of luck family illness wise lately and we are both worried about having to cancel if something else goes wrong and we lose our deposit.. probably being silly but we have been burned a lot.. hopefully we shall be on that roll call. ;)

 

@ Parcan - Are you saying if we did a getaway fare (IF they did come up) do you not get charter flights then??? Wasnt aware of that one! - Interesting! Wifey and i have done Azura before and thats why we want to do it again - to show it off to aunty/uncle as we had such a great time in the Med..

 

Do caribbean cruises sell out this far ahead??? I think wifey would prefer to wait till Sep time to book but i would just hate it if we were only left with outside etc.. i ONLY want to do a balcony in the caribbean (personal choice).

 

Oh decisions decisions lol... :(

 

 

 

OK, a few points,

 

First the fares, I cannot see there being any discounts at all as you are in the middle of the booking period.

 

It is very difficult to say whether or not there will be any getaways for this cruise, however as it stands at the moment it would be very unusual if there were not. You know you may end up at different ends of the ship as you will have no control of your cabin choice.

 

With regard to the flight, I am not aware of any reason why you would not get a on one of the charter flights but there has been a review recently where someone had been put on a Virgin flight, which was fine but when they landed they had to go through Barbados immigration which took for ever. The poster claimed he had booked through P&O in the usual way. I do not know if P&O are now using scheduled flights for the last few bookings.

 

Perhaps others have this information.

 

If you can get a getaway you will save quite a bit of money.

 

My advice has always has been book early or book late and not in the middle. At the moment you are in the middle.

 

Hope that helps but only you can make the decision.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[kersh]

The getaway deals for the Caribbean cruises last season were mainly for the pre Xmas cruises. There were some cheaper prices in Jan & Feb but not fantastic bargains to make up for your lack of choice. The biggest discount was in March for the transatlantic.

 

As this sounds like it is a must do cruise for you I would book it and look forward to it. The C deck balconies are just fantastic in the Caribbean as you have part of the balcony under cover so some shade and the rest open for sunbathing. If you wait for a getaway you can't choose your cabin or even your grade of cabin. Your choice will be limited to, inside, outside, balcony or suite. It is pot luck where in the ship you will be and your friends may well be on a different deck at the opposite end.

 

Now that you have missed the initial early booking slot there won't be any difference in price of the cruise (other than a price rise) until much nearer the time and only if getaways are available. Because the pax already booked would get a refund of OBC if the price dropped before the getaway was announced there is little to no chance of that happening on the Caribbean cruises.

 

We were on the TA in March and it was not just a few pax who were put on schedule flights. A lot of pax travelling from Gatwick were on either BA or Virgin. One family travelling as a 4 booked late but 2 of them were on BA and the other 2 on Virgin.

 

What ever you decide have a great cruise.

 

Sue

[wingnutta]

Ah thats some brill info there guys - thankyou very much. It is a kinda must do holiday for the family but we are not opposed to saving a few quid!

Wifey has seen all the info you have provided and we have come to the decision that we will go into a few different Travel Agents and see if the deals they come up with maybe have some better extras (Doubt it but no harm in trying eh! - we appreciate the base fare wont change)

If they all come up with the same price i think we will just book it soon anyway. We would rather have the peace of mind that its booked and done and try not to focus on the potential for getaway fares.

Hell i dont mind another cruise line but the missus and aunty want the dressing up that P&O tend do demand rather than choice (if you get my drift - i really want to try a NCL one but wifey having none of it :D)

 

Again.. thankyou for help and advice :)

[wingnutta]

Ok, well we booked the cruise today!.. Happy with the price (getaway was only £100 cheaper - was surprised by that!) Simply cannot wait now..

 

Mr/Mrs Blue sky, you said a roll call was setup but i cannot find it in the Azura roll call section.. am i missing it?? :confused:

 

Cheers

[Twickenham]

Mr/Mrs Blue sky, you said a roll call was setup but i cannot find it in the Azura roll call section.. am i missing it?? :confused:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=579

[Mr Blue Sky]

Ok, well we booked the cruise today!.. Happy with the price (getaway was only £100 cheaper - was surprised by that!) Simply cannot wait now..

 

Mr/Mrs Blue sky, you said a roll call was setup but i cannot find it in the Azura roll call section.. am i missing it?? :confused:

 

Cheers

 

Hi,

Yes follows Twicknhams link, it appears to have fell off the page ,look

Forward to catching up there very quiet on our thread, :confused:

 

Thanks Twickenham :)

 

Mrs Blue Sky

[wingnutta]

lol.. ok.. i must be missing something.. I clicked on the link and it takes me to the Azura roll call section, but alas i see no option anywhere for a page 2 or 3 etc... Using Chrome and tried Safari but still no good... this is weird!!! :(

 

edit: went into the thread via looking at posts by Mr Blue Sky

[Twickenham]

lol.. ok.. i must be missing something.. I clicked on the link and it takes me to the Azura roll call section, but alas i see no option anywhere for a page 2 or 3 etc... Using Chrome and tried Safari but still no good... this is weird!!! :(

 

Couldn't find an option for page 2/3 either...

 

Scroll down to the bottom - there should be a box titled "Display Options"

 

3 menus: Sorted By - Sort Order - From The -

 

If the 'From The' says 'Last Month', click on arrow to change to 'Beginning', and you'll get all roll call threads in the section... 7 pages worth.

[wingnutta]

Yep that sorted it.. Thankyou!! :)

[gadabout60]

I know you have booked now but I found this post on another forum a useful analysis

 

http://www.cruises.co.uk/673-cruise_chat/36793-getaway_v_vantage_fares_p_o_analysis.html

[soobs]

Very interesting analysis, it's easy to say what a sad person I think what a fantastic hobby it is surprising what comes out when collating stats.

What I would like to know if anyone does what prices were paid for the pre-Xmas Caribbean cruises on Azura and Ventura? at the moment they are 1199 on getaway I am hoping they will come down a bit more the closer we get.

 

I cannot book yet as our insurance company won't cover us for cancellation unil 8 months after my parent health problems so hoping for a bargain.

 

Can anyone help with last year?? we paid 1399 for Azura March 2013

[gadabout60]

Very interesting analysis, it's easy to say what a sad person I think what a fantastic hobby it is surprising what comes out when collating stats.

What I would like to know if anyone does what prices were paid for the pre-Xmas Caribbean cruises on Azura and Ventura? at the moment they are 1199 on getaway I am hoping they will come down a bit more the closer we get.

 

I cannot book yet as our insurance company won't cover us for cancellation unil 8 months after my parent health problems so hoping for a bargain.

 

Can anyone help with last year?? we paid 1399 for Azura March 2013

 

Sorry don't have any clues on pre Christmas ones