P&O Carribean Advice - when to book

[Molldoll62]

We have cruised regularly, and have always booked well in advance, however, we now have a window of opportunity in January 2023 to go on a Carribean cruise with P&O, sailing on 6th January for either 15 or 22 nights sailing from Southampton and flying back from Barbados. As this is an additional holiday we hadn't factored into our spending, we want to hold off booking for as long as possible, as the end price will determine if we do actually go on the cruise. Do any forum members have any advice on when the best deals are available? We can hold our nerve as we are available during these dates. Any advice greatly.

[yorkshirephil]

2 minutes ago, Molldoll62 said:

We have cruised regularly, and have always booked well in advance, however, we now have a window of opportunity in January 2023 to go on a Carribean cruise with P&O, sailing on 6th January for either 15 or 22 nights sailing from Southampton and flying back from Barbados. As this is an additional holiday we hadn't factored into our spending, we want to hold off booking for as long as possible, as the end price will determine if we do actually go on the cruise. Do any forum members have any advice on when the best deals are available? We can hold our nerve as we are available during these dates. Any advice greatly.

In your position I would monitor the price as sometimes good deals are thrown up with lots of OBC if the cruise is not selling well, typically the best price would be around 2-3 months out when balance payments are due as some people will just cancel especially if booked on a low deposit and with the covid situation being a moveable feast. The problem is that what used to happen and what happens now is different, you need to decide how much you want to pay and how bothered you would be if you don't go. We have just had a a cruise to the med that wasn't planned but at the price we got for 2 weeks in the sun it would have been rude not to go.

[Megabear2]

I've just been looking at these.  Prices have dropped considerably.  My 16 December booking which I booked on launch day has until this weekend remained steady.  However my grade cabin is £1,000 cheaper today with £650 obc compared to my £620.  Cant do anything about it but I'm not very happy.

 

If you are looking at the 22 day Arvia be aware because there is no flight with it as they are sold out.  I wanted to book the return option of that one in March but again no flights.  I've noticed a few are cruise only - im looking at February and March options.

Edited October 17, 2022 by Megabear2

[Mad4WDW]

As Phil said things are different now compared to before covid. We've got an Arvia Caribbean booked which we originally booked on launch day. 22 months in advance.

BASIC COST

£2,717.00

£2,717.00

=£5,434.00

+ Birmingham Flights £200.00 =£5634

It came with £120 total cabin credit

 

I Cancelled it and rebooked on 13th September. The new price was £5404, we lost the first deposit of approx £250 so the net cost was approx the same but the new booking came with £750 cabin credit so we came out around £630 ahead. We're in the same cabin.

 

We've got another Caribbean booked for late 2023 which Ive also cancelled and rebooked saving hundreds on that one as well. 

 

Ive done the same with several Med and Canary Islands cruises for next year, all booked at launch, all rebooked with cheaper prices and hundreds in extra OBC. 

 

I also booked another Britannia Caribbean for this year that we got for £1199 each including the regional flights, that's madness its so cheap 

 

[Molldoll62]

Do you book direct with P&O?

[yorkshirephil]

21 minutes ago, Molldoll62 said:

Do you book direct with P&O?

We tend to do both depending on price, however for booking late we would tend to go direct. If you book with a TA and there are any issues P&O won't talk to you about many things just point you back to the TA which can be a bit frustrating especially with covid and continuous rule changes. I have heard of people mentioning on facecloth that some TA's had not told them about new rules and just told them to check the P&O website which can be contradictory depending how deep you dig. Obviously if everything runs smooth then great

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said:

We tend to do both depending on price, however for booking late we would tend to go direct. If you book with a TA and there are any issues P&O won't talk to you about many things just point you back to the TA which can be a bit frustrating especially with covid and continuous rule changes. I have heard of people mentioning on facecloth that some TA's had not told them about new rules and just told them to check the P&O website which can be contradictory depending how deep you dig. Obviously if everything runs smooth then great

Which seems perfectly fair since we book with a TA but all these changes are e-mailed to us from P&O, so anyone claiming they have not been informed are telling porkies.

Edited October 18, 2022 by terrierjohn

[wowzz]

From some posts on here, it appears that the P&O staff don't actually know the current situation on board either ! 

[Son of Anarchy]

34 minutes ago, wowzz said:

From some posts on here, it appears that the P&O staff don't actually know the current situation on board either ! 

Do they ever? 🤣😇

[Mad4WDW]

6 hours ago, Molldoll62 said:

Do you book direct with P&O?

We booked with a travel agent