P&O website - Offered cabin selection

[leedavey]

Hi All,

I normally cruise with Thomson's (5 cruises) but DW wanted to try a newer ship with different ports of call. We thought that the nest step up in quality, while retaining a certain Britishness feel, would be P&O or Fred Olsen.

 

However what I have found is that you need to have a PhD in cabin selection with both, and an MSc in paranoia to book the best cabin (CC's deck plans a Godsend).

 

I was doing a dummy booking on P&O's website to price up a cruise on the Azura in June. Decided to pay full price to choose our cabin as we're both early birds and light sleepers. I was surprised that going through the 10 or so cabins that P&O offered in my grade (GC) they all seemed to have issues (on the L or R deck and next to facilities, or lifts, or under bars etc.).

 

At first we both felt it may be because the best cabins had all been taken. However after reading that deck C was a good deck to pick we tried selecting a number of deck C cabins, all of which were available.

 

What I would like to know is while I understand why P&O may want to move there 'less advantageous' cabins first, it does feel like sharp practice to me especially since I was prepared to pay a premium!

 

With Thomsons, alright I had to pay £42, but when I phoned after researching the best cabins, the Thomsons advisor offered me straight off the bat the, IMO, best cabins without me having to prompt them.

 

Like a lot of people on here we're prepared to pay a premium for a better service, location etc, what I'm not happy about is P&O asking me to pay a premium and then deliberately offering me the 'inferior' cabins.

 

I will still be booking with P&O and will enjoy my cruise, but I now understand I will have to be on guard with anything I'm told; and that P&O is not how it should be.

[jeanlyon]

Personally I wouldn't book through the website. i found the same thing. Only the cabins they want you to choose were there. I always book through an agent who can look to see all cabins that are available.

[Brayman]

I've never seen any "logic" in the cabins they offer and you may be right, but I always have a list of preferred cabins I would want and enter them one by one until I get one (not been unlucky yet!).

[sagaris]

Like Jean, we always use a TA as their advice and knowledge about the various cabins saves a lot of hassle.

 

Molly

[jeanlyon]

the only other way I have booked was on board. That got me extra OBC as well.

[chimaer]

I'm just about to book a cruise for the summer on Oceana. Are there possibly more cabins then the website is showing me then? We just want the cheapest cabin as we are only on for 2 nights and not planning on being in it much. They are showing 8 cabins for that catergory. How do I find out if there are more?

[BrianI]

The website only ever shows a small selection of cabins that are available. Undoubtably there will be more. As others have said, pick out a few cabins that you would be happy with and then phone a cruise specialist travel agent. The cost will be the same as booking on line.

Brian

[annieuk]

There are definitely usually more cabins available than are shown on the P&O site. We booked a cruise on Adonia for next September and when I looked on the website there was only one cabin in the grade we wanted showing as available. So I rang the TA we always use - a cruise specialist - and she was able to access the P&O booking site and told me there were quite a few available in our grade. So I would never book online with P&O - or any other cruiseline for that matter. We always use a cruise specialist.

[Scriv]

I rang P&O and asked for a particular cabin which did not feature on their availability chart and which I booked without any problem at all over the phone.

[daiB]

I rang P&O and asked for a particular cabin which did not feature on their availability chart and which I booked without any problem at all over the phone.

 

I think that is useful if you know in advance the cabin you want, and if you know the system. I would always advise going through a TA when you first book a cruise. Getting to build up a relationship with your TA can be invaluable.

 

However you should find a specialist and avoid the High Street as they do not know all the information you need to book a cruise if you have specific needs.

[tartanexile81]

We always use a specialist cruise agency and do a bit of research about cabins before we phone them to book. Like you we do dummy bookings and are always disappointed to see what cabins are on offer so try what others have suggested and tick the box to choose our own cabin trying out various numbers till we strike lucky.

 

Down the years we've worked with 2 different agencies and have a named contact at each and they do their best to get us the cabin we want, sitting for dinner etc. They will also hopefully offer perks such as extra OBC, but not much of a discount as P&O have clamped down a bit on that.

 

As light sleepers and early birds, on Azura you'd probably like B or C deck. Have a look at the deck plans and try and find one opposite other cabins rather than a white space which may be the crew stairs or stewards' storage which can be noisy. We prefer cabins towards the aft so there are fewer people passing. Azura's a lovely ship so hope you enjoy your cruise.

[kevinyork]

I think its a limitation of online cruise bookings. I have booked Celebrity three times in the last year and the agents site only shows 10 cabins from each grade. Ive used a german website and can see more availability and told the agent which to book.

[leedavey]

Thanks for the replies it seems that to be absolutely sure of getting the best available I will have to find a specialist travel agent.

 

It just does not seem to make sense to me. P&O should be encouraging people to book direct. If I buy direct then on a £4,000 cruise P&O get £4,000 income. If I go through an agent then P&O get some £3,500 income after paying commission (although I know that P&O also need to keep travel agents on side).

 

With cruise lines struggling to fill ships profitably why give away commission when you don't need to?

 

I'm sure P&O accountants believe they have worked out how best to extract as much income as possible from their customers.

 

I just wonder how many people have had a look, not been happy with the offered cabins and thought they were better off looging at an alternative cruise line. I have in the past and nearly did so again.

[adoniafan]

Just select a few cabin numbers and then enter that into cabin search and it will tell you if that is avaialable to book. For some reason P&O show the highest deck first as they are deemed to be the "better cabins".

Edited January 4, 2014 by adoniafan