Strange Select Booking

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I have just made a Select booking for Aurora to Norway on the 22 nd of April. It will be my first cruise on P an O for fifteen years. I have always wanted to try Aurora.

 

I was given on board credit, told about free shuttles and offered my choice of dining. I booked the cheapest outside cabin grade. The odd thing was I was told the cabin was on a guarantee basis which I don't mind. I thought the whole thing about Select was that you selected the cabin. Is this unusual.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[jasperado]

Hi

P and O only release a certain amount of numbererd cabins for sale for each grade per promotion, so even the last promotion will have all classes of cabins available.

When the grade's allocation is met,that grade goes on "guarantee" and an actual cabin number is not available but a cabin of that grade will be guaranteed so the customer will not be "short-changed", might even get a slight upgrade.

In this instance I would tick the "consider me for upgrade box" but not if I had a full select booking where I could choose my actual cabin.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

Thank you for that information.

 

In a further twist on the voyage personalise my bed configuration and dinning (I wanted Late on Club) were all wrong. I have corrected them all but I wonder why I spent my time telling the travel agent.

 

Aurora looks a lovely ship. Such a wide variety of public rooms compared to many ships. Despite being on four cruises to Norway I had never been to Flam so that will be good.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

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[tartanexile81]

Hi Stephen and welcome to cruising. Just wondered if that was actually your email address? If so you might want to change it to avoid getting spam etc

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

It was my email address years back. I used it for Cruise Critic when people did not tend to worry about the internet. It is not my email now.

 

I owned the domain. Over the years I had several substantial offers for it. In the end I did not sell it and eventually let it lapse.

 

Thank you, Stephen.

 

 

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Edited November 15, 2016 by stephen@stoneyard.co.uk

[terrierjohn]

Thank you for that information.

 

In a further twist on the voyage personalise my bed configuration and dinning (I wanted Late on Club) were all wrong. I have corrected them all but I wonder why I spent my time telling the travel agent.

 

Aurora looks a lovely ship. Such a wide variety of public rooms compared to many ships. Despite being on four cruises to Norway I had never been to Flam so that will be good.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

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I think I would re-check the booking Stephen, I always understood that guarantee cabins were only sold as saver fares, and with your choice of bed and dining wrong in the CP, I think you need to get P&O via your TA to sort it out.

[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I think I would re-check the booking Stephen, I always understood that guarantee cabins were only sold as saver fares, and with your choice of bed and dining wrong in the CP, I think you need to get P&O via your TA to sort it out.

 

 

That is what I thought but they may have sold the allocation. Here is the relevant parts of my confirmation:

 

"In addition to the general terms and conditions Select Price fares carry further terms. Please see table below:

 

AvailableAt all times, on all cruises, subject to cabin availability.

CabinFull choice of cabin location from available inventory, cabin number allocated by cruise line

DiningFirst priority sitting choice, confirmed prior to boarding subject to availability

Table sizeRequests prior to boarding

Deposit15%

Payment termsAs per standard terms and conditions

Cancellation chargesAs per standard terms and conditions and transfers permitted subject to booking conditions

Shuttle busIncluded at ports where there's a charge

 

Cabin: Deck to be allocated."

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

 

 

 

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Edited November 15, 2016 by stephen@stoneyard.co.uk

[shallwe]

Apart from the 'Select' bit, it sounds like your TA pressed all the wrong buttons. I would take it up with them as it's doubtful that P&O will want to get involved directly with you.

 

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[stephen@stoneyard.co.uk]

I am less than happy with my travel agent but they have previously been good. I corrected everything on the Voyage Personaliser.

 

I don't mind a guarantee as I am quite relaxed about which cabin I end up with. The difference in price between LF (guarantee only) and LD (pick a cabin) grades was over 30%. The difference between Select and Saver was less than the onboard credit.

 

I am really pleased to be trying Aurora. My last P and O was in 2002 on Oriana. A similar itinerary too.

 

Thank you, Stephen.

 

 

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[Scriv]

This is now a relatively new thing over the last year and my family have had 3 bookings where we booked the low grade in the category with a Select Fare but got a Guarantee cabin allocation.

 

However, on each occasion when it came to it we were allocated a much higher grade in the category and were very pleased each time.

 

I think that you are high priority in the pecking order when they come to allocating the Guarantee cabins ie before the Early Savers and definitely before the later Savers.

 

So don't worry, I'm sure you will be very pleased - but it is a bit of a strange thing to get your head found, I agree.

 

And PS You will love that cruise - and Flam :)

Edited November 16, 2016 by Scriv

[Cruise Puss]

Do not be worried. As jasperado has already said, they do have 'Guarantee' cabins within the Select bookings. It just 'guarantees' that you will get the 'category' of cabin you have booked, ie. inside.

 

You probably already know that each 'category' of cabin has different 'grades' within it and, therefore, if you are upgraded, your cabin could be in a different location on the ship, ie. front, centre or back, so any 'upgrade' you may be given would be within the same 'category', but in a different location to what you originally booked. This differs slightly if you book the top 'grade' within that 'category' where you would be upgraded to the next 'category' up. Bit confusing to people who aren't aware!:)

 

We fell foul of this when we booked my Mother-in-Law in to the top grade of a balcony cabin, but near the back of the ship. We left the 'upgrade if available' on her booking thinking she would be upgraded to a mini-suite, but of course she wasn't, she was only 'upgraded' to a balcony cabin that was nearer to the centre of the ship! You learn! :rolleyes:

[groovechick]

Stephen, this procedure whereby P&O sell cabins at select fares but will not let you pick the specific cabin, only give you a "guaranteed", seems to be fairly routine now. I think it is wrong that P&O advertise a "perk" of Select fare as the ability to choose one's cabin and then don't let you do it but, hey-ho, that's P&O for you. We first encountered this when we booked our 2015 Christmas Caribbean cruise on Britannia in January 2014, when the cruises were first released. Our dining preferences and bed configurations were, however, correct on the Cruise Personaliser from the very start. We did not get a cabin upgrade in our category, we got exactly the grade we had requested. The position was good though, slightly aft of midships on C deck. I hope you have a lovely cruise - Aurora is by far my favourite ship so far.

[Florry]

When I was on Arcadia the cruise sales woman said upgrades are completely random and there is just an allocated number per deck. I think that maybe this was the case years ago perhaps when she worked shore-side but I don't think it's the case now. I think that they have invested in software which uses algorithms to allocate upgrades more fairly, in the last couple of years they seem to happen more frequently and we are generally happier. This would tally with the introduction of guarantee cabins, utilising software to work out the most profitable cabin allocation when one grade is selling well but perhaps grades above it have lots of availability, also perhaps upgrading popular cabins as they know they can fill them again without too much reduction. Another interesting thing, when I booked through a travel agent for a Princess cruise I was offered a pay-for upgrade to a suite, there was then some confusion which I won't bore you with, but the agent commented it was the first time they had ever been given suite upgrades, so I guess maybe cruise lines prioritise direct bookings in the process. The other thing that indicates some new software is the complex on board credit system, they clearly need to know the real revenue generated per cabin and per cruise. Of course we will never know how it works but my analytical mind enjoys thinking about it!

 

 

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[ChrisPBacon]

I would never book a Select fare, where I couldn't choose my cabin. Immediate cabin selection is the unique selling point in my opinion. Even on saver fares, I have always got the dining I want. Free shuttles? Well they aren't that relevant, particularly in the Caribbean. On board spend....always nice, but they aren't giving you that for nothing.

 

You are paying top dollar for a select fare, and they advertise the select fare as follows: "A full choice of cabin number and location available at the time of booking". This means that the only restriction on your cabin choice are those that are already sold....obviously. It's one of the first benefits they list on the select fare. It doesn't mean that they should be holding back certain cabins and releasing them when they see fit.

 

If I were you, I'd be back at my TA demanding that they speak to them and give you a choice of cabin. I don't agree that you shouldn't worry and you probably get a good cabin. Whilst that's likely to be correct, it's not the point. The point is that they sold you a select fare, often much higher than the saver fare and they are reneging on one of the main conditions of that fare.

 

Even if you're not that impressed with your TA....and let's face it.....who is, you should force them to sort this out. Unfortunately P and O are well renowned for not giving a stuff about customer service and your TA doesn't care, now they have your booking. But I'd push this all the way. You have to comply with the T and C's THEY put on your booking. Why shouldn't they stick to their side of the deal?

 

 

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[alanbab]

Worry not. We booked select guarantee cabin on Britannia cruise taken last April and we had a very nice upgrade to A deck. We paid for the lowest price balcony cabin and the cabin we were allocated would have cost substantially more had we booked that cabin at the start. Cruise was booked direct with P&O as was no cheaper to go through our agent who I understand now only receives a very small commission. Our friends have just been on Aurora and loved it. Enjoy.

[ChrisPBacon]

They can't upgrade everyone, if they have a lot of Select passengers on 'guaranteed' cabins. You should select your cabin and they can upgrade you if they wish, closer to the departure date. But we also know this is not how it works. Another benefit of the select fare is being first in the queue for upgrades. Nah....I'm sick of sitting at dinner and listening to someone who booked 3 weeks before the cruise, and booking the lowest grade balcony on a saver fare....and getting a suite. Or being upgraded to a balcony from an inside cabin.

 

 

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[Scriv]

It does seem a lot fairer these days, Chris. You don't hear that so much now and nice upgrades do seem to being allocated a lot better - ie to those who have paid more and booked earlier first.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Scriv

[bee-ess]

They can't upgrade everyone, if they have a lot of Select passengers on 'guaranteed' cabins. You should select your cabin and they can upgrade you if they wish, closer to the departure date. But we also know this is not how it works. Another benefit of the select fare is being first in the queue for upgrades. Nah....I'm sick of sitting at dinner and listening to someone who booked 3 weeks before the cruise, and booking the lowest grade balcony on a saver fare....and getting a suite. Or being upgraded to a balcony from an inside cabin.

 

 

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We have booked lots of saver fares and whatever they were called before and always received upgrades to better grade cabins but always within the same cabin type. I'm not sure that they ever upgraded savers to a different cabin type. The system seems a lot fairer now and when you take OBC into account the saver fare doesn't seem so attractive as it once did.

Edited November 16, 2016 by bee-ess

[alanbab]

They can't upgrade everyone, if they have a lot of Select passengers on 'guaranteed' cabins. You should select your cabin and they can upgrade you if they wish, closer to the departure date. But we also know this is not how it works. Another benefit of the select fare is being first in the queue for upgrades. Nah....I'm sick of sitting at dinner and listening to someone who booked 3 weeks before the cruise, and booking the lowest grade balcony on a saver fare....and getting a suite. Or being upgraded to a balcony from an inside cabin.

 

 

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Agree they can't upgrade everyone but I do think they may give preference to those who booked direct with P&O - its been the case with us twice. Our next cruise is on Ventura in one of the larger (yes overlooked) balconies and we have opted for NO upgrade.

 

Re your comment : Nah....I'm sick of sitting at dinner and listening to someone who booked 3 weeks before the cruise, and booking the lowest grade balcony on a saver fare....and getting a suite. Or being upgraded to a balcony from an inside cabin. - we select Freedom dining and a table for 2 every time we "meet our new found friends" in bars and lounges - its easier to make a quick escape!!

[artemis10]

Worry not. We booked select guarantee cabin on Britannia cruise taken last April and we had a very nice upgrade to A deck. We paid for the lowest price balcony cabin and the cabin we were allocated would have cost substantially more had we booked that cabin at the start. Cruise was booked direct with P&O as was no cheaper to go through our agent who I understand now only receives a very small commission. Our friends have just been on Aurora and loved it. Enjoy.

 

We always book with an agent and get a minimum of 5% discount on all cruises. You can get 4% cash back if you book direct with P&O through Quidco

[Scriv]

alanbab, if this is the case, at the risk of folk shouting me down, I don't begrudge that at all.

 

People who book with TAs usually get good discounts which you don't get from P&O direct, but it would be nice to think there were some benefits of booking direct.

[ChrisPBacon]

Agree they can't upgrade everyone but I do think they may give preference to those who booked direct with P&O - its been the case with us twice. Our next cruise is on Ventura in one of the larger (yes overlooked) balconies and we have opted for NO upgrade.

 

 

 

Re your comment : Nah....I'm sick of sitting at dinner and listening to someone who booked 3 weeks before the cruise, and booking the lowest grade balcony on a saver fare....and getting a suite. Or being upgraded to a balcony from an inside cabin. - we select Freedom dining and a table for 2 every time we "meet our new found friends" in bars and lounges - its easier to make a quick escape!!

 

 

 

We always do freedom dining, so not stuck with the same people. But the stories are the same. We booked late AND got an upgrade. I have no problem with someone paying half the price I paid, if they left it late and took a chance. Good luck to them. I accept that and it's better the cabin is sold. But an upgrade as well?

 

I've only ever had one upgrade and it was on a saver fair. Never had one on a select fare but I think you may have hit on a good point. We've mainly booked through a TA, and perhaps that's the key.

 

 

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[ChrisPBacon]

alanbab, if this is the case, at the risk of folk shouting me down, I don't begrudge that at all.

 

People who book with TAs usually get good discounts which you don't get from P&O direct, but it would be nice to think there were some benefits of booking direct.

 

 

 

Think I'll book direct in future. Only once did I get a further discount from my TA, and it was when they had an 'event' with the P&O Rep in attendance.

 

 

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[Scriv]

But we must all remember that none of us really know how the Upgrade Fairy works .. As long as I am in at least the category I have paid for, I am happy :)

Edited November 16, 2016 by Scriv

[ChrisPBacon]

But we must all remember that none of us really know how the Upgrade Fairy works .. As long as I am in at least the category I have paid for, I am happy :)

 

 

 

Same here.

 

 

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