No more Future Cruise Deposit ☹️

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, MCC retired said:

Called the phone # (Purser) listed to make an appointment with the Future Cruise desk ,  was told FCD no longer available. Also no mention of FCD in daily activities or forms outside of Future Cruise desk , so I did not go farther.

They possibly don't mention them in Daily Programme or forms outside your stateroom because they don't want UK cruiser's to know that you can still possibly buy them because we have been stopped from purchasing FCDs for over 2 years.

[Bell Boy]

4 hours ago, MCC retired said:

Called the phone # (Purser) listed to make an appointment with the Future Cruise desk ,  was told FCD no longer available. Also no mention of FCD in daily activities or forms outside of Future Cruise desk , so I did not go farther.

Was the Purser's desk aware you are a 'US resident' 

Not too sure why the 'Pursers desk' have got involved and are apparently now responsible for answering questions on behalf of the Voyage Sales Office .

This is something new and very irritating  considering they have no background into sales ,  however, I just by pass them , walk-in and speak  directly to the wonderful Dragana, Yo Yo or their colleagues, whenever I notice they are not engaged with another guest . 

[MCC retired]

2 minutes ago, Bell Boy said:

Was the Purser's desk aware you are a 'US resident' 

Not too sure why the 'Pursers desk' have got involved and are apparently now responsible for answering questions on behalf of the Voyage Sales Office .

This is something new and very irritating  considering they have no background into sales ,  however, I just by pass them , walk-in and speak  directly to the wonderful Dragana, Yo Yo or their colleagues, whenever I notice they are not engaged with another guest . 

The phone # that you call for a Sales appt is the Purser.

Sales Office was always busy when I walked by so I followed procedure for appointments.

I recall there use to be Forms in a rack by the Sales Office in the past ?

I confirmed with Cunard today that FCD”s are indeed available onboard ☹️

[majortom10]

Can only talk about QM2 but all appointments with Voyage Sales and if you telephone given in Daily Programme if they are occupied with other guests then the call is directed to Pursers Desk but they never answer as so short staffed.

[nez168]

I bought a FCD for $300 on Oct 10, 23 without making any reservation for a cruise.

[sogne]

When I asked  onboard with future sales I was told they are available in USA because of differing consumer laws

[majortom10]

6 minutes ago, sogne said:

When I asked  onboard with future sales I was told they are available in USA because of differing consumer laws

They have used that excuse with me for the last 2 years onboard and with communications with executive office in UK and it's nonsense. Initially told me FCDs had been stopped for everyone and after proving it hadn't changed to differing markets and consumer law on US. They got in such a mess with differing excuses in the end just ignored me. Basically it's a case of US cruisers get better treated by Cunard than UK cruiser's. They can still purchase FCDs and also get free drinks packages and gratuities when they book a grill suite which we don't get in UK. It is there loss because I now cruise less with Cunard than in the past due to their actions.

[Victoria2]

Cunard ships are apparently enjoying amazing bookings, so any lack of FCDs is obviously not hurting the company at all, unless of course most of the bookings are from the US! 🙂

[D&N]

6 hours ago, majortom10 said:

They can still purchase FCDs and also get free drinks packages and gratuities when they book a grill suite which we don't get in UK.

Can you quote like for like packages available for purchase today from the US in USD and from the UK in GBP that illustrate that claim?

 

I did a comparison recently between our 2025 booking and buying the same from a US agent and I think US travellers were being asked to pay about 20% more. It looks to me as if they actually pay for their so called free packages in the overall price.

[NE John]

1 hour ago, D&N said:

Can you quote like for like packages available for purchase today from the US in USD and from the UK in GBP that illustrate that claim?

 

I did a comparison recently between our 2025 booking and buying the same from a US agent and I think US travellers were being asked to pay about 20% more. It looks to me as if they actually pay for their so called free packages in the overall price.

I was just typing that nothing is “free”. Plus, the US Grills’ drinks package covers up only to $12 so it’s a shrunken offer compared to the full Drinks Package.
I can’t get my Old Fashioned at $12.30 covered under the US Grills Drinks package. 
I still appreciate the offer with also gratuities covered. I still leave more tips to the staff on top of what’s covered. 

[majortom10]

59 minutes ago, NE John said:

I was just typing that nothing is “free”. Plus, the US Grills’ drinks package covers up only to $12 so it’s a shrunken offer compared to the full Drinks Package.
I can’t get my Old Fashioned at $12.30 covered under the US Grills Drinks package. 
I still appreciate the offer with also gratuities covered. I still leave more tips to the staff on top of what’s covered. 

Even if it's a shrunken offer only covering drinks up to $12 that is all the drinks that we have onboard and we have to purchase. Plus don't forget the free gratuities which adds up to a considerable amount for 2 people over 14 nts. So with free gratuities that cost UK cruiser's nearly $500 and then prices of drinks and 15% service charge which you also don't pay as included in drinks package. Sorry but I still think US cruisers are treated better than UK cruiser's.

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Even if it's a shrunken offer only covering drinks up to $12 that is all the drinks that we have onboard and we have to purchase. Plus don't forget the free gratuities which adds up to a considerable amount for 2 people over 14 nts. So with free gratuities that cost UK cruiser's nearly $500 and then prices of drinks and 15% service charge which you also don't pay as included in drinks package. Sorry but I still think US cruisers are treated better than UK cruiser's.

but what about base fares?

Any comparisons?

[D&N]

At 8:25pm on December 20th 2023;

I could book Q6 suite 10005 on M515 June 13th 2025 NYC to SOU on 2 sharing basis.

For £7,398 with triple onboard spend from UK. Gratuities of $231 would be additional.

For $11,398 with "Explore with More offer" from USA. That equates to £9,001 at the 8:25pm exchange rate.

 

£1,603 cheaper from the UK.

 

I don't know how much the onboard spend for a Q6 on M515 is. Perhaps someone could add that information (that I can then triple) to help the comparison?

 

I don't know what the "Explore with More offer" includes for a Q6 on M515. Can anyone provide that information?

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by D&N

[exlondoner]

19 minutes ago, D&N said:

At 8:25pm on December 20th 2023;

I could book Q6 suite 10005 on M515 June 13th 2025 NYC to SOU on 2 sharing basis.

For £7,398 with triple onboard spend from UK. Gratuities of $231 would be additional.

For $11,398 with "Explore with More offer" from USA. That equates to £9,001 at the 8:25pm exchange rate.

 

£1,603 cheaper from the UK.

 

I don't know how much the onboard spend for a Q6 on M515 is. Perhaps someone could add that information (that I can then triple) to help the comparison?

 

I don't know what the "Explore with More offer" includes for a Q6 on M515. Can anyone provide that information?

 

Thank you for providing some hard facts.

[Host Hattie]

[D&N]

32 minutes ago, D&N said:

At 8:25pm on December 20th 2023;

I could book Q6 suite 10005 on M515 June 13th 2025 NYC to SOU on 2 sharing basis.

For £7,398 with triple onboard spend from UK. Gratuities of $231 would be additional.

For $11,398 with "Explore with More offer" from USA. That equates to £9,001 at the 8:25pm exchange rate.

 

£1,603 cheaper from the UK.

 

I don't know how much the onboard spend for a Q6 on M515 is. Perhaps someone could add that information (that I can then triple) to help the comparison?

 

I don't know what the "Explore with More offer" includes for a Q6 on M515. Can anyone provide that information?

 

Thanks to Hattie for the UK offer.

I've found a US agents site that claims the Explore with More includes; $100 OBC p/p total $200; One speciality meal (I believe not Verandah) $20 p/p pre-booked total $40; drinks 7 days for two (up to $12.00) pre-booked $980; gratuities included 7 days for $231.

I believe UK would be; $1,100 OBC total; meal $40 extra; drinks $980 extra (up to $13.50); gratuities $231 extra.

 

I've converted everything to GBP at same exchange rate and result is:

From UK: £7524.14

From US: £8843.09

 

So I suggest if anyone thinks they will get a better deal from the US they should go ahead and contact a US agent or call Cunard on their US number.

 

If anyone knows that the information given by that US agent's site is wrong, please let me know. I'm not even sure you would get the offer as that site gives validity up to May 2025.

[NE John]

33 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

I would rather have a less expensive fare and the extra onboard spending $$$ vs the Grills Drinks Package/Grats included combo. 
UK gets a better deal!

With that said, I got an amazing “Call In” deal directly from a Cunard email promo to Alaska for June 2024. Prices increased a lot now compared to that weekend special. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by NE John

[majortom10]

4 minutes ago, D&N said:

Thanks to Hattie for the UK offer.

I've found a US agents site that claims the Explore with More includes; $100 OBC p/p total $200; One speciality meal (I believe not Verandah) $20 p/p pre-booked total $40; drinks 7 days for two (up to $12.00) pre-booked $980; gratuities included 7 days for $231.

I believe UK would be; $1,100 OBC total; meal $40 extra; drinks $980 extra (up to $13.50); gratuities $231 extra.

 

I've converted everything to GBP at same exchange rate and result is:

From UK: £7524.14

From US: £8843.09

 

So I suggest if anyone thinks they will get a better deal from the US they should go ahead and contact a US agent or call Cunard on their US number.

 

If anyone knows that the information given by that US agent's site is wrong, please let me know. I'm not even sure you would get the offer as that site gives validity up to May 2025.

If you book that cruise with FCD which you have already purchased then you would get an extra $800 OBC.

Edited December 20, 2023 by majortom10

[bluemarble]

I've spent the last couple hours taking up the challenge to compare US and UK fares, comparing like-for-like as much as possible. I arbitrarily picked one voyage on each of the four ships departing January 2025 and one voyage on each of the four ships departing July 2025 (for a total of eight voyages). I examined the fares for both Princess Suites and Queens Suites between the Cunard US and Cunard UK websites. I let Cunard pick the least expensive cabin in those categories and in every case both the US and UK websites picked the same cabin for me on the same voyage.

 

On the US website, I selected the "Explore with More" fare when available. That fare is generally less than the "Cunard" fare and offers perks such as OBC and a free meal voucher in the Kings Court/Lido Alternative Dining venue (a value of $20 per person). That's in addition to the Grill Suite Offer which provides the pre-paid Hotel and Dining Service Charge and the Drinks Package up to $12 per drink.

 

On the UK website, I selected the "Cunard" fare which is all that's available for Grill Suite Bookings. I am factoring in the extra OBC that is currently being offered on UK bookings.

 

All these calculations are per cabin based on double occupancy. I've reduced all these calculations to the average net cost per night across all eight of the voyages I examined.

 

OK, enough of the preliminaries. Here is what I found.

 

Princess Suite (US)

Average fare/night = $1,149.53

- Average OBC/night = $21.12

- Average value of Meal Voucher/night = $4.56

Average net cost/night (US) = $1,123.85 (not counting drinks package value)

 

Princess Suite (UK)

Average fare/night = £718.52

Average fare/night in US$ (at £1 = $1.27) = $912.52

- Average OBC/night = $95.14

+ Hotel and Dining Service Charge/night = $33.00

Average net cost/night (UK) in US$ = $850.38

 

 

Queens Suite (US)

Average fare/night = $1,498.20

- Average OBC/night = $26.24

- Average value of Meal Voucher/night = $4.56

Average net cost/night (US) = $1,467.40 (not counting drinks package value)

 

Queens Suite (UK)

Average fare/night = £974.36

Average fare/night in US$ (at £1 = $1.27) = $1,237.44

- Average OBC/night = $129.18

+ Hotel and Dining Service Charge/night = $33.00

Average net cost/night (UK) in US$ = $1,141.26

Edited December 20, 2023 by bluemarble

[D&N]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

If you book that cruise with FCD which you have already purchased then you would get an extra $800 OBC.

OK that would narrow the gap in favour of UK to £686.18.

[D&N]

19 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

If you book that cruise with FCD which you have already purchased then you would get an extra $800 OBC.

11 minutes ago, D&N said:

OK that would narrow the gap in favour of UK to £686.18.

 

If you take the FCD into account on @bluemarble's QG calculations along with the inclusive meal and drink offers the UK still gains by at least $67/day.

 

I'm sure there must be a very odd time that a deal will favour the US, but consistently anyone making a direct comparison finds it to be the other way round.