They're having a laugh

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

Butlins wow that proves we we’re part of the riffraff, all we could afford when we was younger was a day out at Dudley Zoo, and if we was lucky we would share a bag of chips on the way home.

I was 13 when my late mam and dad took us to the Costa Brava Spain for the first time.

Can't believe that was 50 years ago.

Graham 

Edited August 25, 2020 by grapau27

[kalos]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

I was 13 when my late mam and dad took us to the Costa Brava Spain for the first time.

Can't believe that was 50 years ago.

Graham 

 

When I was 13 my  late mam and dad (Bless em ) would allow me to stand outside 

the travel agents window looking at posters of the Costa Brava for five minutes 

[Bazrat]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

When I was 13 my  late mam and dad (Bless em ) would allow me to stand outside 

the travel agents window looking at posters of the Costa Brava for five minutes 

I wish we could have afforded to look  in the window 🙁☹️😫🥺

[Adawn47]

2 hours ago, kalos said:

 

When I was 13 my  late mam and dad (Bless em ) would allow me to stand outside 

the travel agents window looking at posters of the Costa Brava for five minutes 

When I was 10 I used to spend the every 6 weeks summer holidays with my Gran in Staines. It was the highlight of my year, better than any overseas holiday. 🥰

Avril

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by Adawn47

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

When I was 10 I used to spend the every 6 weeks summer holidays with my Gran in Staines. It was the highlight of my year, better than any overseas holiday. 🥰

Avril

 

I used to live near there in Shepperton. 

It's even better now it is 'Staines on Thames'...😊

They have a statue of a roll of lino in the city centre? 

Thrilling place😊

Andy 

 

[Jennizor]

We have two cruises booked for next year. Iona in February and Azura in June. Still not decided if we will go on either at the moment. If P&O continue to hike up the prices, I suspect those who are not sure about cruising will have their minds made up for them. Thankfully, if we decide to go on our 2 cruises, we will only be paying the price at launch.

[Adawn47]

7 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

Back in the 50s, when we made our annual escape from the cardboard box in which we lived, I used to spend about 6 weeks every summer in Staines too.

 

It was then a terrible bottleneck on the car journey from North London to Devon.😟

I remember the long coach ride down from Yorkshire, No M1 then. Where were you in Staines?

Avril

[AnnieC]

Just now, Adawn47 said:

I remember the long coach ride down from Yorkshire, No M1 then. Where were you in Staines?

Avril

In the Staines traffic jam, usually for about 6 weeks.🤣

 

Every year we would finally arrive at our destination, having set off at about 5am and arrived some time in the late afternoon, my father would say "Jolly good going - managed to average 30 mph". Staples Corner, Chiswick, the Blackwall Tunnel - I've spent weeks there as well.

 

 

[AnnieC]

4 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I remember the long coach ride down from Yorkshire, No M1 then. Where were you in Staines?

Avril

I used to go up to West Yorkshire from London a lot with my mother when my grandmother was still living there, but we went by train on 'Mallard'. I fear this is horribly ageing... And I remember the M1 opening, and watched the M25 being built from my office window...

 

Oh dear!

[Clodia]

One of my earliest memories was watching a Cunard ship edge into the Pier Head in Liverpool. I told my Dad that when I was grown up i was going on one of those, and he replied that they were "Only for rich people, not for the likes of us". I was determined to cruise from that moment on; perhaps explains why I've done over 30 now. And it does sound as if we are heading back to "only for the rich" with the prices changing as they are.

[Britboys]

I do however think the price hikes will be temporary. It will be interesting to see the 2022 launch prices but assuming things are back to normal virus-wise by 2023, I think prices will have then levelled out again.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

I do however think the price hikes will be temporary. It will be interesting to see the 2022 launch prices but assuming things are back to normal virus-wise by 2023, I think prices will have then levelled out again.

I agree. I fear that the current price inflation driven, I believe, by the fact that there are a lot of people with 125% FCC to use, may well extend to the next launch, as those who aren’t desperate to go on a cruise in 2021 ‘at any cost’ will still be looking to use it up. There will, however, be a countering factor, in that a large number of the ‘new to cruising’ market (or potential market), plus lots of established cruisers who remain concerned about the virus / insurance / social distancing factors etc will no longer be considering cruises, yet there’s an awful lot of capacity to fill. Thankfully, the FCC can be used right up to the end of 2021, so possibly as many as 3 launches away, and I simply cannot see P&O being able to sustain high prices for all of that time, especially with their current cash burn caused by the refunds. 

[Esprit]

As I haven't spent out on this year's cruise (cancelled Enchanted Princess) the money will simply go towards the same cruise next year (at the inflated price) and a Virgin cruise (aboard Scarlet Lady for a week) in the Autumn. Over the two year period I'm no worse off money wise, and trying out Virgin that I perhaps wouldn't have considered pre Covid. Happy days!

[terrierjohn]

54 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I agree. I fear that the current price inflation driven, I believe, by the fact that there are a lot of people with 125% FCC to use, may well extend to the next launch, as those who aren’t desperate to go on a cruise in 2021 ‘at any cost’ will still be looking to use it up. There will, however, be a countering factor, in that a large number of the ‘new to cruising’ market (or potential market), plus lots of established cruisers who remain concerned about the virus / insurance / social distancing factors etc will no longer be considering cruises, yet there’s an awful lot of capacity to fill. Thankfully, the FCC can be used right up to the end of 2021, so possibly as many as 3 launches away, and I simply cannot see P&O being able to sustain high prices for all of that time, especially with their current cash burn caused by the refunds. 

 Competition will as always dictate pricing, but as long as the restricted numbers are necessary I cannot see that pre covid pricing will enable cruise lines to operate at break even, never mind the necessary profits to pay for future investments.

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 Competition will as always dictate pricing, but as long as the restricted numbers are necessary I cannot see that pre covid pricing will enable cruise lines to operate at break even, never mind the necessary profits to pay for future investments.

You could well be spot on with that John. I guess that it will take quite a while to find the ‘tipping point’ where they can get away with hiking prices yet still ‘fill’ cruises at the new lower capacity levels (if that’s what happens). Clearly those with FCC will be skewing that tipping point at present. Once that has washed through it will simply be a case of supply and demand and I can’t help but feel that, at current prices, P&O will have more capacity than they can fill for a good few years once social distancing subsides and getting ‘bums on berths’ and relying on on-board spend will be key. 

[Denarius]

A slightly different issue, but relevant to those of us who cruise alone. Single supplements.

When I first started sailing on my own P&Os single supplements could be as low as 25% and were rarely more than 50%. They were published in the brochure. Those days are long gone, and I suspect that the single supplement is currently approaching 100%. In contrast, Saga charge an effective 50% supplement on their many single cabins. Which is probably why I as a solo cruiser found them extremely competitive vis a vis P&O when looking for a replacement for my cancelled Oceana cruise and why I booked them instead!

[Clodia]

Yes I am going to try Saga when things get going again. I am stuck with P and O till early 2022 because of the number of cancelled cruises this year, but I tried Silversea last year, liked it very much and have another booked for the end of 2021. Saga sounds like good value with a 50% supplement instead of near 100%. 2 of my rebooked cruises with P and O are with a friend so prices weren't too bad.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, Clodia said:

Yes I am going to try Saga when things get going again. I am stuck with P and O till early 2022 because of the number of cancelled cruises this year, but I tried Silversea last year, liked it very much and have another booked for the end of 2021. Saga sounds like good value with a 50% supplement instead of near 100%. 2 of my rebooked cruises with P and O are with a friend so prices weren't too bad.

We are on Saga (hopefully) next March for the first time.

I have a sneaking feeling that Saga will pick up quite a few ex P&O customers if P&O carry on increasing prices. I would also imagine that speciality dining and drinks prices will also be increasing, giving Saga yet another advantage. 

[Denarius]

2 hours ago, Clodia said:

Yes I am going to try Saga when things get going again. I am stuck with P and O till early 2022 because of the number of cancelled cruises this year, but I tried Silversea last year, liked it very much and have another booked for the end of 2021. Saga sounds like good value with a 50% supplement instead of near 100%. 2 of my rebooked cruises with P and O are with a friend so prices weren't too bad.

The new Saga "Spirit of ...." ships each have over 100 single balcony cabins. These are priced at effectively a 40% or (usually) 50% supplement per person over the equivalent twin cabin. I do not know if Saga offer twin cabins for single occupancy.

[Britboys]

7 hours ago, Denarius said:

A slightly different issue, but relevant to those of us who cruise alone. Single supplements.

When I first started sailing on my own P&Os single supplements could be as low as 25% and were rarely more than 50%. They were published in the brochure. Those days are long gone, and I suspect that the single supplement is currently approaching 100%. In contrast, Saga charge an effective 50% supplement on their many single cabins. Which is probably why I as a solo cruiser found them extremely competitive vis a vis P&O when looking for a replacement for my cancelled Oceana cruise and why I booked them instead!

But do you normally have a balcony cabin on P&O? As someone who usually has an inside cabin when sailing solo, in the past I have found Saga very expensive by comparison. Last time I looked, 14 nights on Saga was £4000 plus, whereas the 18 nights I had booked on Aurora for this October was roughly £2500.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Britboys said:

But do you normally have a balcony cabin on P&O? As someone who usually has an inside cabin when sailing solo, in the past I have found Saga very expensive by comparison. Last time I looked, 14 nights on Saga was £4000 plus, whereas the 18 nights I had booked on Aurora for this October was roughly £2500.

I suppose the issue is, do you want an interior or a balcony cabin.? .  Personally,  I would pay the extra for a balcony.

On Saga you won't pay for drinks, or speciality dining,so conservatively that would save you £500 over a 14 night cruise. Plus no travel costs, so another £100 saving,  so suddenly the cost of a balcony cabin is only £900 or so more on Saga, and even less if you gave your own insurance. 

[Britboys]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I suppose the issue is, do you want an interior or a balcony cabin.? .  Personally,  I would pay the extra for a balcony.

On Saga you won't pay for drinks, or speciality dining,so conservatively that would save you £500 over a 14 night cruise. Plus no travel costs, so another £100 saving,  so suddenly the cost of a balcony cabin is only £900 or so more on Saga, and even less if you gave your own insurance. 

I really don't need - or actually feel I want a balcony. I spend so little time in my cabin on a cruise that I would rather spend that £900 on another week's holiday somewhere.

[wowzz]

12 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I really don't need - or actually feel I want a balcony. I spend so little time in my cabin on a cruise that I would rather spend that £900 on another week's holiday somewhere.

Andrew - obviously your choice, and I fully understand your decision. However, SHMBO says,  no balcony, no cruise! 

[Harry Peterson]

7 hours ago, Britboys said:

I really don't need - or actually feel I want a balcony. I spend so little time in my cabin on a cruise that I would rather spend that £900 on another week's holiday somewhere.

In your position I'd do exactly the same - makes sound sense.  We spend a fair bit of time in the cabin though, and for us space and a balcony are essential.

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

In your position I'd do exactly the same - makes sound sense.  We spend a fair bit of time in the cabin though, and for us space and a balcony are essential.

Agree totally on all points, and one advantage of needing an adapted cabin is that standard balcony cabins are bigger than all except suites, although I would prefer not to need one.