bye bye oceana

[Adawn47]

14 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

They will get rid of all the medium sized ships I'm afraid.  That will be the end of cruising for us.  Fred is too expensive unless they have some deals.

I couldn't agree more. I've been looking at Fred this morning for 7 nights Fjords in May. Significantly more expensive than November's 19 night Arcadia that I was looking to probably replace.

Avril 

[Britboys]

23 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

...our next cruise is on Iona in November...

You hope... If Iona is delayed as long as Carnival Mardi Gras, she may not be handed over until December. I hope for you that is not the case.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

So it's confirmed.  Well, only 2 ships left for us now, but don't think I will be going on my April cruise on Aurora.  In fact I won't be cruising until there is a vaccine.  Just not worth the risk.

 

Just booked a holiday to Scotland in September.

I hope the locals won't mind a grockle in their midst.

[Monorail Orange]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

More of a distant cousin to Aurora I think 😄. Pretty much the same size and age but very different in every other respect.

Sorry, I meant Adonia (now Sea Princess).

35 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

They will get rid of all the medium sized ships I'm afraid.  That will be the end of cruising for us.  Fred is too expensive unless they have some deals.

I think they'll just re-classify Azura and Ventura as mid-size.

[wowzz]

P&O/Carnival have obviously decided that the P&O offering is going to concentrate on the larger, mass market sector.

For those of us that prefer the smaller ships,  that leaves certain Princess ships in the Carnival stable. 

So Saga and Viking now on for us, once Arcadia goes. Aurora seems overpriced for a balcony cabin. 

[Britboys]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

P&O/Carnival have obviously decided that the P&O offering is going to concentrate on the larger, mass market sector.

For those of us that prefer the smaller ships,  that leaves certain Princess ships in the Carnival stable. 

So Saga and Viking now on for us, once Arcadia goes. Aurora seems overpriced for a balcony cabin. 

Or for those of us that can't afford Saga and Viking, hopefully Fred Olsen and CMV will still be afloat...

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Or for those of us that can't afford Saga and Viking, hopefully Fred Olsen and CMV will still be afloat...

The only way we can afford Viking and Saga will be to have less total holidays per year. Quality over quantity.

Fred balcony cabins are horrendously expensive, and CMV reviews are less than stellar, so will have to give them a miss.

[tring]

27 minutes ago, wowzz said:

P&O/Carnival have obviously decided that the P&O offering is going to concentrate on the larger, mass market sector.

 

 

 

I understood that was the way they were going for a long time.

[terrierjohn]

51 minutes ago, tring said:

So sadly one of three  medium sized ships down.  Anyone any idea which will be the next?  I hope Aurora stays until last as we are not at all keen on Arcadia.

Arcadia has 68% balcony cabins, Aurora only 43%, which probably makes Arcadia more profitable than Aurora, and it is 5  years younger.  So be prepared to be disappointed.

[tring]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The only way we can afford Viking and Saga will be to have less total holidays per year. Quality over quantity.

Fred balcony cabins are horrendously expensive, and CMV reviews are less than stellar, so will have to give them a miss.

 

I have no personal experience of Viking or Saga, but I would definitely choose Fred over CMV if all was equal.  CMV do seem more adventurous on some itineraries though, so we would consider them for certain itineraries.  They also have more port calls on some itineraries, whilst Fred seems to be doing more sea days now - another point for CMV IMO, but on a take it as it is basis with the ports being more important than the on board experience.

 

No real indication of Fred's future plans, though he has been very good regards customer service so definitely keeping his reputation up.  I expect he could be rubbing his hands with glee at the ongoing loss of P&O mid sized ships and uncertainty about CMV - though things not looking so bad for CMV as they were.  Fred may well be able to continue with his higher prices and less offers needed as long as he can offer something a fair bit cheaper than the "Luxury" brands. 

[tring]

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Arcadia has 68% balcony cabins, Aurora only 43%, which probably makes Arcadia more profitable than Aurora, and it is 5  years younger.  So be prepared to be disappointed.

 

Thanks for the reply.  I see your point, but will not stop me being disappointed.

[daiB]

My understanding is that Oceana is a casualty of COVID. She would have gone in the next year or two but the Virus has brought on the evil day sooner.




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[zap99]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

I couldn't agree more. I've been looking at Fred this morning for 7 nights Fjords in May. Significantly more expensive than November's 19 night Arcadia that I was looking to probably replace.

Avril 

I seem to recall that Celebrity have some decent prices from Southampton to the fjords. We have been on silhouette and Eclipse. They are nice ships, standard is better than P&O. We are booked on Eclipse in Alaska next June. Sadly Gary won't be aboard.😁

[Britboys]

38 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The only way we can afford Viking and Saga will be to have less total holidays per year. Quality over quantity.

Fred balcony cabins are horrendously expensive, and CMV reviews are less than stellar, so will have to give them a miss.

Most of my P&O cruises are based on an inside cabin, so the price differential between Fred/CMV and Saga/Viking is significantly more. I sailed on CMV's Marco Polo 2 years ago and had a lovely cruise. Very happy to try them again.

[zap99]

22 minutes ago, tring said:

 

I have no personal experience of Viking or Saga, but I would definitely choose Fred over CMV if all was equal.  CMV do seem more adventurous on some itineraries though, so we would consider them for certain itineraries.  They also have more port calls on some itineraries, whilst Fred seems to be doing more sea days now - another point for CMV IMO, but on a take it as it is basis with the ports being more important than the on board experience.

 

No real indication of Fred's future plans, though he has been very good regards customer service so definitely keeping his reputation up.  I expect he could be rubbing his hands with glee at the ongoing loss of P&O mid sized ships and uncertainty about CMV - though things not looking so bad for CMV as they were.  Fred may well be able to continue with his higher prices and less offers needed as long as he can offer something a fair bit cheaper than the "Luxury" brands. 

CMV do BOGOF prices so must be cheaper than the others 😁

[Bazrat]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

You hope... If Iona is delayed as long as Carnival Mardi Gras, she may not be handed over until December. I hope for you that is not the case.

Think positive a smile is easy

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, zap99 said:

CMV do BOGOF prices so must be cheaper than the others 😁

Doesn't that depend on the initial  base price?

Also, the prices for balcony cabins are sky high. Looking at some of the itineraries there is not that much difference between Saga and CMV balcony cabins, especially when you take the Saga extras into account.

Edited July 7, 2020 by wowzz

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, zap99 said:

CMV do BOGOF prices so must be cheaper than the others 😁

But not when you sail as a solo! Don't get me started!🤬😀

[boogybaby]

We had a fantastic cruise on CMV Columbus, beat Fred by a mile.

[terrierjohn]

30 minutes ago, daiB said:

My understanding is that Oceana is a casualty of COVID. She would have gone in the next year or two but the Virus has brought on the evil day sooner.




Sent from my iPad using Forums

If we are to believe the  Appolloduck website, then there are lots of fairly new cruise ships for sale. All 4 RCL Radiance class are in there, as well as 2 of Celebrity's Millenium, another Princess Sun class and quite a few of the older RCL classes of Vision and Sovereign, most of which are now with other lines, and lots of Carnival's Fantasy class.

Finding buyers for most of these ships is going to be difficult at present.

Edited July 7, 2020 by terrierjohn

[daiB]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

If we are to believe the  Appolloduck website, then there are lots of fairly new cruise ships for sale. All 4 RCL Radiance class are in there, as well as 2 of Celebrity's Millenium, another Princess Sun class and quite a few of the older RCL classes of Vision and Sovereign, most of which are now with other lines, and lots of Carnival's Fantasy class.

Finding buyers for most of these ships is going to be difficult at present.

Yes and if you are short of money then selling a ship For someone else to use is going to bring in far more than the scrap value of one of their (Carnival) older ships. I have seen the sell on price being £164m as opposed to £10m as scrap.

 

Of course in the present situation when everything is up in the air, long term planning becomes very difficult.

[jeanlyon]

Our friend's view of CMV Marco Polo was that she would never sail with them again.  Awful service.  Plates removed before she had even finished.  She hated it.

[zap99]

41 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Doesn't that depend on the initial  base price?

Also, the prices for balcony cabins are sky high. Looking at some of the itineraries there is not that much difference between Saga and CMV balcony cabins, especially when you take the Saga extras into account.

But surely they wouldn't double the price for the first passenger would they?🤔. They wouldn't insult the intelligence of their customers. 😂

[zap99]

43 minutes ago, Britboys said:

But not when you sail as a solo! Don't get me started!🤬😀

My post was a bit tongue in cheek. At least I didn't get a WHAT😂. My wife needed a hearing aid for one ear. Boots offered buy one get one free.

[Son of Anarchy]

49 minutes ago, zap99 said:

CMV do BOGOF prices so must be cheaper than the others 😁

 

Unfortunately, they seem to double the price then do the BOGOF on the inflated price!