Caribbean Reductions

[davecttr]

If a ship like Ventura is sailing with 500 empty cabins I hope P&O realise that those cabins should be in the lowest grades as everyone on board who wants to has been moved upward for free if they were early bookers or for a fee for those booking late.

 

As is well known it is easy to put prices down but very difficult to put them up again, especially if supply is outstripping demand.

 

Are they going to dump cabins in desperation? Even the 'chavs' we all don't want to see on our cruise are effected by the recession and if they get a cheap cabin they probably won't have many pennies to spend onboard. They could sell blocks of cabins abroad. Say 100 cabins in russia etc etc ;)

[Lovemychoos]

I have to say I feel a little sad if this is the case. Is this all the result of the appalling marketing catastrophe of the Vantage Fare price promise and/or dissatisfaction with the P&O product?

 

I have to say Kevin, that after 30+ cruises with P&O, I would say in our case it was both.

 

After cruising at least twice a year since 1995 with P&O, I cannot even start to get my head around the fact that booking early meant you ended up paying more for a lower standard cabin than someone booking late. I never had a problem with what I'd paid, but it annoyed the hell out of me that early bookers weren't given the chance to upgrade to a better cabin, and then the lower cabin grades were sold off cheaper. If this had been done, I'm sure no-one would have cared a jot about 'late' deals.

 

We also became a bit dis-heartened with the quality of P&O, mainly food and entertainment. The staff have always been wonderful on any cruise we've been on, so no problem there as far as we were concerned.

 

After trying Celebrity, we did go on Oriana on the 175th Anniv cruise, and couldn't believe the difference we felt. Purely a personal thing for us, but Celebrity suits us now much better, and wins hands down.

 

Sad really, as we absolutely loved P&O, but we probably won't be booking with them again.

 

Lou

[kevinyork]

I have to say Kevin, that after 30+ cruises with P&O, I would say in our case it was both.

 

After cruising at least twice a year since 1995 with P&O, I cannot even start to get my head around the fact that booking early meant you ended up paying more for a lower standard cabin than someone booking late. I never had a problem with what I'd paid, but it annoyed the hell out of me that early bookers weren't given the chance to upgrade to a better cabin, and then the lower cabin grades were sold off cheaper. If this had been done, I'm sure no-one would have cared a jot about 'late' deals.

 

We also became a bit dis-heartened with the quality of P&O, mainly food and entertainment. The staff have always been wonderful on any cruise we've been on, so no problem there as far as we were concerned.

 

After trying Celebrity, we did go on Oriana on the 175th Anniv cruise, and couldn't believe the difference we felt. Purely a personal thing for us, but Celebrity suits us now much better, and wins hands down.

 

Sad really, as we absolutely loved P&O, but we probably won't be booking with them again.

 

Lou

 

Thanks for your very insightful comments. That makes sad. I hope P&O recover their position and sort out who their market actually is.

 

After 5 P&O cruises, 2 with RCI and 1 with Celebrity......we feel at home with Celebrity and will always choose her when the dates and itiniary match. But we would consider P&O again if the price was right AND we were not made to feel like second class citizens by them dictating when we must eat (early saver deals).

Edited December 8, 2013 by kevinyork

[Thejuggler]

To be fair Celebrity also dictate when you can eat as you can only have freedom dining if you pay gratuities up front with your booking and this is regardless of when you book and how much you pay.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Thejuggler

[Lovemychoos]

To be fair Celebrity also dictate when you can eat as you can only have freedom dining if you pay gratuities up front with your booking and this is regardless of when you book and how much you pay.

 

Which, with all due respect, has got nothing to do with discounted prices on cabins !

 

If you book late with Celebrity, you can still chose traditional dining, and you don't have to pre-pay gratuities.

 

The main difference, certainly for us, if that if you book early, and a better grade cabin goes on sale for very little more than you have paid, you can up grade. Maybe if P&O did that, they wouldn't have the back-lash they have at the moment with so many disgruntled ex-bookers

[sammydo]

So the rumours were true then. We were on Ventura for the two weeks previously to you and were told by some passengers(on Baltic tier apparently) that they were offered a further two weeks at no extra charge. Dismissed it at the time as an urban myth being bandied around but they also quoted the 2000 passenger figure as you have done. Seems that the Caribbean is being flooded with both Azura and Ventura out there, especially in the run up to Christmas. Will probably wait to book next years cruise. Even with the new fare tiers I'm guessing there will be bargains to be had with both ships out there again next winter

 

Yes, and apparently the same for the cruise that has just left barbados today, but as expected the cruise that follows is the xmas cruise, which is full. One couple i spoke to had been offered to stay on board for further 2 weeks at a price of £300,..but they declined. They had paid 999 for the 2 weeks and offered inside, outside or balcony,which obviously they opted for the balcony, which they were given on B deck, so they were very happy., but as already has been said, not sure how P&O are going to change this, as with all these bargains, many people are still going to take the chance and wait for last minute bookings next year,...just a vicious circle, the more last minute bargains there are, the more people are going to wait to take advantage of them. As i said ...time will tell !!!!

 

there were just so many empty cabins as we looked out from our balcony, and the tamarind was never busy after dinner, just a handful of people, and the same on deck 15, when they had a group on up there, just a few people sat listening to the music,..i felt really sorry for the guys on stage, almost playing to themsleves, and they were really good too.

 

I also think they need to change their routes a little, the itinary for next year, is pretty much the same again as this year..what happened to mexico, jamaica, grand cayman, aruba, to mention a few.......i love aruba, but they havent been there this year and its not availble next year either.

 

I totally agree with Bee-ess, they need to come up with something different, to keep us all interested, before they lose even more loyal

passengers.

[the english lady]

Thanks. But although you can request your preference apparently you are bottom of the list when they allocate the dining and you cannot change it. Its just not worth the risk for us. Freedom dining is most popular. We would be happy with 2nd sitting but couldnt handle first sitting.

 

Strange thing is, allocating a dining preference cost them nothing but P&O are desperate to make the standard fare appear better than their offer prices so they restrict dining choice. In my opinion they have shot themselves in the foot.[/quote

I was under the impression that no choice dining came in in April ,when the Select fares start. Just looked at a March Caribbean, and getaway t and c has no mention of dining, so it will be it was before. you will be asked your pref and in the lap of the gods as to whether you get it.

Personally I think they will still ask from April onwards about dining pref, whether you get it depends on your fare , select/early saver/nearly free.

[bee-ess]

I was under the impression that no choice dining came in in April ,when the Select fares start. Just looked at a March Caribbean, and getaway t and c has no mention of dining, so it will be it was before. you will be asked your pref and in the lap of the gods as to whether you get it.

Personally I think they will still ask from April onwards about dining pref, whether you get it depends on your fare , select/early saver/nearly free.

 

Yes, we have just booked March 8th and all 3 dining options were available and ours has been confirmed so they are all available.

Edited December 9, 2013 by bee-ess

[geecee1]

If a ship like Ventura is sailing with 500 empty cabins I hope P&O realise that those cabins should be in the lowest grades as everyone on board who wants to has been moved upward for free if they were early bookers or for a fee for those booking late.

 

As is well known it is easy to put prices down but very difficult to put them up again, especially if supply is outstripping demand.

 

Are they going to dump cabins in desperation? Even the 'chavs' we all don't want to see on our cruise are effected by the recession and if they get a cheap cabin they probably won't have many pennies to spend onboard. They could sell blocks of cabins abroad. Say 100 cabins in russia etc etc ;)

 

 

 

Dave, hope you are joking about the Russians. Spent two weeks amongst them in Cyprus, talk about rude,miserable and tight.!!!!!!

 

A few chavs may liven the place up. I was brought up in council house so qualaify I may

[kevinyork]

Its interesting reflecting that they pulled Azura from the Caribbean last winter only to scrap the intended World cruise/Southampton winter departures and sent her back to the Caribbean for half the winter and have put her there this winter and next. Now it seems demand isnt there for these fly cruises possibly due to the Price Promise debacle encouraging late bookings.

 

They must be very worried about Brittania if bookings dont pick up. Whilst a new ship tends to generate more interest this may be to the detriment of Ventura and Azura.

[davecttr]

Its interesting reflecting that they pulled Azura from the Caribbean last winter only to scrap the intended World cruise/Southampton winter departures and sent her back to the Caribbean for half the winter and have put her there this winter and next. Now it seems demand isnt there for these fly cruises possibly due to the Price Promise debacle encouraging late bookings.

 

They must be very worried about Brittania if bookings dont pick up. Whilst a new ship tends to generate more interest this may be to the detriment of Ventura and Azura.

 

to fill Brittania they might have to dump 2 of the smaller ships, pity really as I like Oceana.

 

They also need to devise means of getting people to book early. Apart from the choice of dining time (which is way down my list) you have choice of cabin. Hardly worth hundreds or thousands of pounds though.

 

They should try free drinks packages worth about £200 per person per week, plus onboard packages such as....buy 36 pints for the prices of 24 etc etc. Only available to select cruisers of course.

 

Now that they are offering no single supplement deals to solo cruisers to fill those cabins they need to raise their game to attract even more solos. Do what some other cruise lines do and have a 'social hostess' who organises events such as hosted breakfasts, lunches and dinners in addition to the ordinery coffee mornings. Free drinks too.

[geecee1]

Yes, and apparently the same for the cruise that has just left barbados today, but as expected the cruise that follows is the xmas cruise, which is full. One couple i spoke to had been offered to stay on board for further 2 weeks at a price of £300,..but they declined. They had paid 999 for the 2 weeks and offered inside, outside or balcony,which obviously they opted for the balcony, which they were given on B deck, so they were very happy., but as already has been said, not sure how P&O are going to change this, as with all these bargains, many people are still going to take the chance and wait for last minute bookings next year,...just a vicious circle, the more last minute bargains there are, the more people are going to wait to take advantage of them. As i said ...time will tell !!!!

 

there were just so many empty cabins as we looked out from our balcony, and the tamarind was never busy after dinner, just a handful of people, and the same on deck 15, when they had a group on up there, just a few people sat listening to the music,..i felt really sorry for the guys on stage, almost playing to themsleves, and they were really good too.

 

I also think they need to change their routes a little, the itinary for next year, is pretty much the same again as this year..what happened to mexico, jamaica, grand cayman, aruba, to mention a few.......i love aruba, but they havent been there this year and its not availble next year either.

 

I totally agree with Bee-ess, they need to come up with something different, to keep us all interested, before they lose even more loyal

passengers.

 

 

 

Not only do they need to cater for loyal passengers, they also need to attract new ones,

The OV ships were launched to attract a new type of cruiser i.e Mrs Geecee and myself.

In our 60's we thought we would never cruise but were soon hooked on the the Caribbean, going 3 times in 2007/2008/2009. On virtually every occasion.n the ship was full.

Doing 7 day round trips out of Barbados, enabled busy people to go for just one week. In fact in 2007, we were there in February and were surprised how many families flew out for half-term week.

Thomsons still offer this alongside a cruise and stay deal. They are able to charge more and fill a smaller ship.

Maybe now that Marlow and her gang have gone, the new management should revisit this scenario.

How about putting a smaller ship ,say, Oceana out there for the winter alongside Ventura or Azura offering a more casual holiday. This has to be better than the big ships sailing half full.

They might even have a brainstorm and call her OV3

[bee-ess]

Not only do they need to cater for loyal passengers, they also need to attract new ones,

The OV ships were launched to attract a new type of cruiser i.e Mrs Geecee and myself.

In our 60's we thought we would never cruise but were soon hooked on the the Caribbean, going 3 times in 2007/2008/2009. On virtually every occasion.n the ship was full.

Doing 7 day round trips out of Barbados, enabled busy people to go for just one week. In fact in 2007, we were there in February and were surprised how many families flew out for half-term week.

Thomsons still offer this alongside a cruise and stay deal. They are able to charge more and fill a smaller ship.

Maybe now that Marlow and her gang have gone, the new management should revisit this scenario.

How about putting a smaller ship ,say, Oceana out there for the winter alongside Ventura or Azura offering a more casual holiday. This has to be better than the big ships sailing half full.

They might even have a brainstorm and call her OV3

 

Great Idea - carrying all the formal clothes on the charter allowance is a pain. I think filling 2 big ships out there is a problem for them.

[joeholiday2]

Plenty of choice for the "british" cruiser over there next winter.

 

P&O have 2 big ships.

Fred has 1 and Thomson 2.

I see a price war developing if they can't fill them.

 

With the exception of the Dream they are doing the same old ports...

[geecee1]

Plenty of choice for the "british" cruiser over there next winter.

 

P&O have 2 big ships.

Fred has 1 and Thomson 2.

I see a price war developing if they can't fill them.

 

With the exception of the Dream they are doing the same old ports...

 

 

 

 

 

As long as I am in the Caribbean I don't really mind which ports. Been to Antigua 4 times and have yet to do Nelson's dockyard, similarly not done the railway on St Kitts or the rain forest on Dominica.

Love the Boatyard on Barbados, Rodney Bay on St Lucia, Grand Anse on Grenada et al.

Would like to go to Tobago. Guadalupe and Martinique not on my favourites list but as long as the ship calls at Tortola and St Maarten I am happy!!!!

[kevinyork]

Told a friend about the getaway deals and they booked a Jan cruise on Azura. They went onto the P&O site to reserve seats and found only 4 seats had been reserved in Economy. Now I know many dont reserve seats but 4 out of around 250 people with only a month to go?

[daiB]

Told a friend about the getaway deals and they booked a Jan cruise on Azura. They went onto the P&O site to reserve seats and found only 4 seats had been reserved in Economy. Now I know many dont reserve seats but 4 out of around 250 people with only a month to go?

 

That's cos most people do not book their seats. Remember only a very small % of cruisers every read these boards or anything else on the net.

 

With over 500,000 cruisers and between 5000 and 10000 Internet viewers.

[CCFC]

I see the 15 night cruises Jan - March are being offered at £999 now and the trans-Atlantic back to Southampton in March is down to £799.

 

I wonder if they will put their bar prices up to cover the low upfront cost, can only be a matter of time?

[kevinyork]

That's cos most people do not book their seats. Remember only a very small % of cruisers every read these boards or anything else on the net.

 

With over 500,000 cruisers and between 5000 and 10000 Internet viewers.

 

Dai. Please. Dont embarrass yourself. When we last went on a P&O Caribbean late availability we booked our seats and over half the seats were prebooked.

[daiB]

Dai. Please. Dont embarrass yourself. When we last went on a P&O Caribbean late availability we booked our seats and over half the seats were prebooked.

 

Sorry not embarrassed at all by anythig you say.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Regarding the booking of seats on the aircraft, my wife and I along with two friends are due to fly out from Glasgow on 28/02/2014 to join Ventura. I went on line to book my seats 12 weeks from departure which is the norm however CP would not allow me to do so informing me that I was to early, my TA then contacted P&O on my behalf and was informed the seat booking would not be available until Christmas Day 9 weeks before departure. In the past we have always had to book our cruise 18 months to two years in advance to ensure a flight from Scotland in particular Glasgow, cruises to the Caribbean with flights from Glasgow in January to March 2014 have been advertised the last two weekends in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail travel section at the Getaway price first weekend £1000 second weekend £1249,so yes Getaway prices do go up as they sell cabins.Last year we did a Getaway Transatlantic on Azura which increased £200 between seeing the advert and booking. My attitude to the Getaway Fare is if you can take advantage good on you but if you have to book early to ensure flights etc is my choice. We are now heading for our 12 th cruise with P&O and on 5 of them we have received either cabin upgrades or been allocated increased OBC,on our last cruise (Feb2013) we were upgraded from standard Balcony to Superior Deluxe Balcony which was most acceptable. Our cruise for 2015 has been booked since April 2013

[dee_laah]

No matter how I try to get into my P&O Cruise Personaliser

I cannot get in. All I get is "Cannot find validation summary

element “Form Validation Summary” Make sure you’ve put

element with this ID into your HTML document. What is this

'gobbledegook'. I have been trying all day today. I had no

problem getting in before although I must add that I was

asked to register no less than 3 times because they

either did not have my details or my wife's details. Considering

how much money one pays this is pretty poor show on any

view. P&O this is not the way to treat your customers!

I'm using windows8.1 and cannot access my CP using IE, I get the exact same message, but it works perfectly on CHROME.

Hope this helps

[Sanjam cruisers]

Select Windows 8 Desktop view and Start Internet Explorer.

In IE 10 you need either a Command or Menu bar so that you can select the Tools option. If you have neither, right click an empty area in the header and select the bar(s) you would like.

Visit one of your problem websites.

On the new bar, select Tools>Compatibilty View settings.

Confirm your problem website is shown in the Add this website: box and select Add>Close to close the window and you will have no more problems with that site (I hope!!!)

Repeat the process for any other websites exhibitting the Select Windows 8 Desktop view and Start Internet Explorer.

In IE 10 you need either a Command or Menu bar so that you can select the Tools option. If you have neither, right click an empty area in the header and select the bar(s) you would like.

Visit one of your problem websites.

On the new bar, select Tools>Compatibilty View settings.

Confirm your problem website is shown in the Add this website: box and select Add>Close to close the window and you will have no more problems with that site (I hope!!!)

Repeat the process for any other websites exhibitting the problem.

 

I had accessed my CP with no problem yesterday,when I tried to get in today 25/12/13 I got the same message,on searching the net I came across the above which I used and it corrected the problem.I was using windows 7.I hope this info is of use to you.