Longer Cruises

[Eglesbrech]

I have my eye on a lengthy cruise but can’t book it yet. I have to juggle several other things to get that amount of time free and that won’t happen until into next year. Consequently we will end up booking in the middle of the booking period, which is traditionally the most expensive time (or hanging of until the last minute to book)

 

For  those of you who have done these longer cruises are the prices fairly stable (apart of course from early booking advantages which we won’t get). Do they drop towards sailing?

 

Due to the length of the cruise there are many sea days. Are P&O better at filling the time on these longer cruises with activities than they are on standard length cruises, anything extra added to keep pax amused?

 

Any other sage tips for longer cruises, things to take, things to do?

 

 

[terrierjohn]

14 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I have my eye on a lengthy cruise but can’t book it yet. I have to juggle several other things to get that amount of time free and that won’t happen until into next year. Consequently we will end up booking in the middle of the booking period, which is traditionally the most expensive time (or hanging of until the last minute to book)

 

For  those of you who have done these longer cruises are the prices fairly stable (apart of course from early booking advantages which we won’t get). Do they drop towards sailing?

 

Due to the length of the cruise there are many sea days. Are P&O better at filling the time on these longer cruises with activities than they are on standard length cruises, anything extra added to keep pax amused?

 

Any other sage tips for longer cruises, things to take, things to do?

 

 

We have to book all our cruises early and have never seen our launch prices bettered. Our long cruises have been round trip Caribbean plus a longish Med cruise on Aurora, the only Caribbean cruises that had reasonable late offers were the bog standard Island cruises, the one which included New Orleans just went up and up, and the Aurora cruise doubled in price.

So my advice would be to get your holiday time sorted out PDQ and try and book on launch.

[Eglesbrech]

25 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We have to book all our cruises early and have never seen our launch prices bettered. Our long cruises have been round trip Caribbean plus a longish Med cruise on Aurora, the only Caribbean cruises that had reasonable late offers were the bog standard Island cruises, the one which included New Orleans just went up and up, and the Aurora cruise doubled in price.

So my advice would be to get your holiday time sorted out PDQ and try and book on launch.

Thanks John. It might be worth while waiting until 2021 then, booking at launch and taking the chance of sorting out the time / losing the deposit.

[Ranchi]

Depends ( no help at all!). We have done two Soton to Soton transatlantic cruises. The first was NY , East coast & Canada. We booked early and prices held well. We have followed these cruises since and they seem to do that still. 

The second was a Caribbean and we got that at a ridiculously low price just before sailing. We hadn’t planned it but it was too good a price to pass up. 

Interestingly, it was the only P&O cruise where we were disappointed in the standard of service- quality and variety of food etc.  I can’t help thinking that the lack of pennies coming in for that cruise (due to low price & also that many passengers had transferred onto it as a compensation for an aborted Aurora cruise) affected standards. It was such that we were quite concerned with regard to our summer cruise that year ( no need, all was good.)

So, if the price is manageable; go for it and never look back. If you feel you paid a lot for it then comfort yourself in the thought that if you’d got a bargain then you might have ended up with chewy beef and vanilla ice cream every night. 

Last point; on the Caribbean trip fruit supplies were getting low towards the end. I think it’s fair to say that fruit variety and quality suffers towards the end of longer cruises.

 

Edited September 17, 2019 by Ranchi

[Britboys]

I think another factor that might affect price is the itinerary.  If it is something that happens every year or a couple of times a year (such as a Caribbean round-trip) then there might be more chance of getting a late bargain.  I recently booked a 39-night itinerary from San Francisco to Hong Kong in early 2021.  I would have got a better price if I had booked it 6 months previously when on a cruise but I really wasn't ready to do it then.  I am of the school that thinks if you are happy with the price at the time, then just book it.  Of course the other factor for me is that this will be a solo cruise and that also affects the price.

[daiB]

6 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We have to book all our cruises early and have never seen our launch prices bettered. Our long cruises have been round trip Caribbean plus a longish Med cruise on Aurora, the only Caribbean cruises that had reasonable late offers were the bog standard Island cruises, the one which included New Orleans just went up and up, and the Aurora cruise doubled in price.

So my advice would be to get your holiday time sorted out PDQ and try and book on launch.

 

Totally correct, our long Caribbean cruises have followed this pattern. Also the longer Aurora cruises 17/18/19 nights usually in October.

[wowzz]

Without wishing to reopen the old balcony versus inside debate, I strongly believe that for longer cruises it is imperative to select your cabin, regardless of balcony, seaview, inside. 14 days in a cabin plagued with noise from public areas may be just about bearable,  but on  a 35 day cruise you will be counting every hour until the cruise ends.

[daiB]

Eglesbrech asked.

Due to the length of the cruise there are many sea days. Are P&O better at filling the time on these longer cruises with activities than they are on standard length cruises, anything extra added to keep pax amused?

 

We find that the standard of guest speaker improves, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon, for each crossing so 4 in all. The long sea days mean that there are more classes, bridge, craft etc. And the choir also is very popular often with over 100 members.

[Eglesbrech]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Without wishing to reopen the old balcony versus inside debate, I strongly believe that for longer cruises it is imperative to select your cabin, regardless of balcony, seaview, inside. 14 days in a cabin plagued with noise from public areas may be just about bearable,  but on  a 35 day cruise you will be counting every hour until the cruise ends.

Sage advice, I could tolerate a little noise for a few days but not for longer and with all these seas days a balcony would be essential, for me anyway.

[Eglesbrech]

17 minutes ago, daiB said:

Eglesbrech asked.

Due to the length of the cruise there are many sea days. Are P&O better at filling the time on these longer cruises with activities than they are on standard length cruises, anything extra added to keep pax amused?

 

We find that the standard of guest speaker improves, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon, for each crossing so 4 in all. The long sea days mean that there are more classes, bridge, craft etc. And the choir also is very popular often with over 100 members.

Interesting, I enjoy attending the guest lectures so that would appeal. 

[oxygenbanditnot]

Eglesbrech, I see you have had lot's of posts. What time of year and what grade of cabin would you be interested in?

Since you ask if prices drop toward's sailing, I am assuming you would be interested in low cost.

So, from my point of view:-

I tend to look at inside cabins. To manage 3 hol's a year, I have to budget.

I have wanted to do 35 day Caribbean round trip for a while, so in the 2 years leading up tp retirement and the 2 since; I have loosely followed typically the January cruise. Circumstances stopped me to date.

Have at least twice in the 6 months before each one seen prices of £1999 each (£57pppn)

Also, out of interest, today have seen E926N, 35 days Oceana November 2019 at £1899(54pppn).

I am aiming for Jan 2021 for my 70th birthday, it includes USA ports. If the price is not good enough I will aim for the Feb one.

 

[wowzz]

We booked Ventura to the US and Caribbean for Jan 2021 in early April this year. The nett price (after deducting obc) for a deluxe cabin was £9300 for the two of us. Checking just now, the obc has significantly increased, but so has the cabin cost, giving a nett cost of £10,500. I suppose by playing a waiting game until close to sailing, we might get a better price than we have paid,  but as I alluded to earlier,  we have chosen a cabin which hopefully will be quiet, and, almost as important,  we have freedom dining. I'm not going to worry about saving the odd couple of hundred pounds, when I  might end up with a poor cabin and fixed dining.

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, oxygenbanditnot said:

Eglesbrech, I see you have had lot's of posts. What time of year and what grade of cabin would you be interested in?

Since you ask if prices drop toward's sailing, I am assuming you would be interested in low cost.

So, from my point of view:-

I tend to look at inside cabins. To manage 3 hol's a year, I have to budget.

I have wanted to do 35 day Caribbean round trip for a while, so in the 2 years leading up tp retirement and the 2 since; I have loosely followed typically the January cruise. Circumstances stopped me to date.

Have at least twice in the 6 months before each one seen prices of £1999 each (£57pppn)

Also, out of interest, today have seen E926N, 35 days Oceana November 2019 at £1899(54pppn).

I am aiming for Jan 2021 for my 70th birthday, it includes USA ports. If the price is not good enough I will aim for the Feb one.

 

 

For that length of cruise a balcony in a reasonable position and we are looking at Autumn/ winter. Thanks for the details re costs, useful.

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

We booked Ventura to the US and Caribbean for Jan 2021 in early April this year. The nett price (after deducting obc) for a deluxe cabin was £9300 for the two of us. Checking just now, the obc has significantly increased, but so has the cabin cost, giving a nett cost of £10,500. I suppose by playing a waiting game until close to sailing, we might get a better price than we have paid,  but as I alluded to earlier,  we have chosen a cabin which hopefully will be quiet, and, almost as important,  we have freedom dining. I'm not going to worry about saving the odd couple of hundred pounds, when I  might end up with a poor cabin and fixed dining.

Again thanks for the details re potential costs, it gives me a good benchmark. A few hundred pounds in neither here nor there as you say, as we would also want freedom dining. A few thousand pounds difference would however really annoy me and I know that it would, hence the research and seeking information from the helpful folks on here.

[kenhem]

31 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Again thanks for the details re potential costs, it gives me a good benchmark. A few hundred pounds in neither here nor there as you say, as we would also want freedom dining. A few thousand pounds difference would however really annoy me and I know that it would, hence the research and seeking information from the helpful folks on here.

We are on a 28 day Caribbean cruise on Arcadia in a balcony cabin next month. We booked on release in September 2017 and paid £2600pp after allowing for OBC. Once it started going up it reached £4500 per person, allowing for OBC about a year ago and has since gradually dropped but was still £900pp dearer for a similar grade cabin when the cruise sold out last month. The longer cruises seem to sell well from what I've seen and there are generally only 5 to 6 of them per year.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, kenhem said:

We are on a 28 day Caribbean cruise on Arcadia in a balcony cabin next month. We booked on release in September 2017 and paid £2600pp after allowing for OBC. Once it started going up it reached £4500 per person, allowing for OBC about a year ago and has since gradually dropped but was still £900pp dearer for a similar grade cabin when the cruise sold out last month. The longer cruises seem to sell well from what I've seen and there are generally only 5 to 6 of them per year.

First of all, I'd say that you got an excellent price by booking early.

I think you are correct in saying that the longer cruises, because there are obviously fewer of them, are in relatively high demand, especially at launch.  Conversely,  by their very length,  it is difficult to sell them cheaply close to departure date,  as the majority of casual cruisers cannot suddenly free up 5 weeks. Therefore,  setting appropriate pricing is difficult. 

What I have noticed, is that on our particular  5 week cruise,  is that the suites sold out almost immediately on launch. I appreciate that this is of little interest to most of us with limited budgets: however,  if I was in charge of P&O revenue management,  I would be seriously looking at my pricing policy. If my most expensive cabins are selling out that quickly,  I have obviously dramatically underpriced them.

[Mysticalmother]

15 hours ago, wowzz said:

First of all, I'd say that you got an excellent price by booking early.

I think you are correct in saying that the longer cruises, because there are obviously fewer of them, are in relatively high demand, especially at launch.  Conversely,  by their very length,  it is difficult to sell them cheaply close to departure date,  as the majority of casual cruisers cannot suddenly free up 5 weeks. Therefore,  setting appropriate pricing is difficult. 

What I have noticed, is that on our particular  5 week cruise,  is that the suites sold out almost immediately on launch. I appreciate that this is of little interest to most of us with limited budgets: however,  if I was in charge of P&O revenue management,  I would be seriously looking at my pricing policy. If my most expensive cabins are selling out that quickly,  I have obviously dramatically underpriced them.

We booked on launch a 19 night on Arcadia in a full suite for October 20. Cost was £3554 pp ( select) with £195pp OBC....so net cost £3359 each. Suites were sold out fairly quickly  and only mini suites are now available ( although they were shown as sold out a while ago...) ...the “ saver “ fare is currently £4869 for a mini suite...with OBC £355, giving net cost of £4514. So a mini suite is currently costing over £1k more than we paid for a full suite, so you could be right. Even a midship deluxe balcony is currently more than we paid! 

But I am happy! We dont normally book suites with P & O, but seem to have got this at a very good price by booking early.

[davecttr]

A few years ago I was looking at a 14 night Caribbean cruise. The TA asked if I liked sea days, yes I said. They offered me a 24 night return cruise to the Caribbean for £130 more than a 14 nighter with flights , yes, £13 per night. It was on Oceana and we called at the Azores on each crossing.

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, davecttr said:

A few years ago I was looking at a 14 night Caribbean cruise. The TA asked if I liked sea days, yes I said. They offered me a 24 night return cruise to the Caribbean for £130 more than a 14 nighter with flights , yes, £13 per night. It was on Oceana and we called at the Azores on each crossing.

Excellent. When did you book that - early, last or in the middle?

[davecttr]

IIRC it was September for the cruise in January