Fjords: Cunard v P&O

[buchanan101]

27 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I'm with exlondoner     I don't think you can book that far ahead and quite frankly, even if you could, I wouldn't.

That's a lot of money to lose if the ship's itinerary changes.

I can book according to that site (it's a 3rd party site), but as exlondoner suggests it IS only 4 months out according to this site https://www.norwaysbest.com/the-flam-railway/round-trip-with-the-flam-railway/

 

And the official price is 1000NOK for 2 x returns in March 23 - which is £84! I will never, ever look at RailNinja again!

 

Thanks both for the very valuable advice! 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by buchanan101

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, buchanan101 said:

I can book according to that site (it's a 3rd party site), but as exlondoner suggests it IS only 4 months out according to this site https://www.norwaysbest.com/the-flam-railway/round-trip-with-the-flam-railway/

 

And the official price is 1000NOK for 2 x returns in March 23 - which is £84! I will never, ever look at RailNinja again!

 

Thanks both for the very valuable advice! 

 

 

You are very welcome. I thought the price was a little steep but seeing how my '23 refill diary has leapt up 25% on a certain river site since Dec '22, nothing would surprise me, price wise these days! Sadly!

 

 I might wait 'til Feb to buy it as a personal protest!  😁

[buchanan101]

19 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

You are very welcome. I thought the price was a little steep but seeing how my '23 refill diary has leapt up 25% on a certain river site since Dec '22, nothing would surprise me, price wise these days! Sadly!

 

 I might wait 'til Feb to buy it as a personal protest!  😁

WRT prices - surprisingly I don't think Cunard prices have gone up much; the QA fjord cruise I am looking at is the same price essentially as a 2023 QV one. Given maybe 10% inflation, that's actually quite a good deal.

 

Still, they have 45% more cabins to sell now by my rough maths... (3000+2000+2000+2600)/(2000+2000+2600)

[naturelovergirl]

2 hours ago, buchanan101 said:

..but IS such a package available for train plus one of those other trips? 

I was on a different online forum talking about my love of Flåm and the best things there I had seen when we went on our independent first trip to Norway in 2017. (When I went to Norway with Cunard we did not go to Flåm)

 

A fellow Cunarder said that she got to see the sights I talked about on a Full-Day excursion purchased through Cunard. 
All of that was pre pandemic… but I would assume that Cunard will offer some full-day excursions- They usually do in their ports.

I typically find that Cunard does a good job not price gouging their ship sponsored excursions.

I’ve always seen them as very fair.

 

Norway is expensive, just is. 

I will always give the advice to budget and spend your money on experiences in Norway- get out of the ports and see the wonders.

 

it is so magnificent!

 

[buchanan101]

4 minutes ago, naturelovergirl said:

I was on a different online forum talking about my love of Flåm and the best things there I had seen when we went on our independent first trip to Norway in 2017. (When I went to Norway with Cunard we did not go to Flåm)

 

A fellow Cunarder said that she got to see the sights I talked about on a Full-Day excursion purchased through Cunard. 
All of that was pre pandemic… but I would assume that Cunard will offer some full-day excursions- They usually do in their ports.

I typically find that Cunard does a good job not price gouging their ship sponsored excursions.

I’ve always seen them as very fair.

 

Norway is expensive, just is. 

I will always give the advice to budget and spend your money on experiences in Norway- get out of the ports and see the wonders.

 

it is so magnificent!

 

OK - so far not bought any excursions through Cunard (only done one crossing) - I am skeptical about them not gouging as all I have to go on is the prices they charge for transfer from Brooklyn to Manhattan - easily well over double the price of a pre-booked car if you DIY (ended up taking a green cab for 1/3rd of the Cunard price).  But hopefully you are correct as it sounds like an organised one day trip - as long as it includes the train - in Flam would be great!

[naturelovergirl]

@buchanan101

They certainly will tack on some extra money… paying for the convenience, of course… 

It is very good that you are savvy and will look at the cost of booking independently. We are always comparison shopping… and we are also very independent.

But

The excursions we bought from Cunard in Norway in 2019 were good and worth the convenience..

Right now the Cunard Alaska cruise I am planning for 2023, the excursions I’ve booked through them so far are fair.

I also booked independently as well for experiences in Norway… and am doing so for Alaska as well.

We typically do a mix.

 

Also if any of your ports are tender ports… excursions bought through the ship are helpful.