I see that Cuba is now in Polynesia???

[PrincessPete]

I saw the advert in today's Daily Mail for Fred's new Caribbean program in January 2022 (from a well-known TA with three letters in their name)  and see that the cruise visits six Polynesian islands!

Err, Cuba, Jamaica, St Kitts etc??

It was obviously cut and pasted wrongly from an advert for the real Polynesia - but does no-one proof read them??!!

Moving on to a serious question, the prices do seem really high to me, for example £3899 as the lead in price for a balcony for what is essentially a two week Caribbean cruise, albeit with the added interest of staying in Cuba -onboard the ship, no hotel stays included.

(Not all inclusive so no drinks included, just gratuities and a miserly amount of OBC).

Looking at alternatives to CMV  I am studying Fred's itineraries although, as I put in another thread, the allowing of smoking on  balconies is a deal breaker at the moment.

Were that to change I still feel that these prices are considerably in excess of Princess or P&O's Caribbean prices.

I would be very interested if any Fred regulars have any comments on the prices and whether they have shot up due to the current situation and the number of people with future cruise credits etc.

Kind regards. Peter

[marylizcat]

Balcony prices are always particularly high on Fred because their ships only have a few. However, their prices in general have seemed very high to me in recent, pre-virus, times. I think they are pricing themselves nearer to the level of Oceania and Azamara, who also sail older, smaller ships.

[ovccruiser]

I have sailed both Princess and P & O as well as Cunard and Fred Olsen, depending on itinerary, my favourites are Fred and Cunard with Fred a slight lead. The smaller ships do make for more interesting trips and usually visit much closer into the various venues. Agreed the price difference between Fred and CMV is a little higher, but smaller ships usually command higher prices unfortunately.

[Britboys]

Fred's prices for fairly standard itineraries are only a little expensive. I am (hopefully) doing a 9 night cruise to Kiel next June with a cruise buddy and we are paying £166 pppn in the cheapest outside, with tips included and £75pp obc. Balcony cabins, solo fares and less common itineraries really seem to increase the prices. I looked at one of the Cuban cruises in Jan '22 and for the cheapest inside cabin it is £251 per night. The new cruises being advertised for 2022 & 2023 are unusual itineraries with very big prices. I just looked at a 34 night USA & Canada cruise in 2023 (round-trip from the UK) and the cheapest inside single on that is £282 per night!  By comparison, my 39 night World Cruise sector on Arcadia next year that has just been cancelled worked out at £264 per night in the cheapest outside cabin grade with £270 obc - but that also included two long-haul flights and an overnight in a hotel.

I am happy to pay a premium to sail on a smaller ship but the premium is looking rather large on some of Fred's sailings.

[Britboys]

7 hours ago, marylizcat said:

Balcony prices are always particularly high on Fred because their ships only have a few. However, their prices in general have seemed very high to me in recent, pre-virus, times. I think they are pricing themselves nearer to the level of Oceania and Azamara, who also sail older, smaller ships.

But Azamara prices include all-inclusive beers, wine & spirits plus speciality coffees.

[Britboys]

Re your thread title Peter, I also love it when they move Cartegena in Spain to Colombia...

[marylizcat]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

But Azamara prices include all-inclusive beers, wine & spirits plus speciality coffees.

Well, obviously one is allowing for that! Oceania usually give you an option of including drinks at meal times ‘free’. We have sailed with them several times and they are pretty similar to Fred apart from freely available lobster, which I don’t like anyway! Entertainment much worse than Fred.  Onboard prices etc are much higher of course, being American.