Last minute deals

[Poppy6879]

I am thinking of booking a short 4 night break in December on P and O Arcadia.

Current price is £339.

I think we should book the cruise now, but my partner wants to wait, saying we will get a better deal nearer the time.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

The cruise is to Amsterdam.

[Fionboard]

Must be per person, saver, inside. Surely cannot get cheaper than this?

[Britboys]

The short, pre-Christmas breaks seem pretty popular usually...

P.S. Don't expect Amsterdam to be very traditionally Christmassy. It doesn't have great Christmas Markets like Germany and Belgium do. I was there last December and was very disappointed in that aspect. Still a lovely city though and I was really lucky to get a gorgeous cold but sunny day.

[Harry Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Britboys said:

The short, pre-Christmas breaks seem pretty popular usually...

P.S. Don't expect Amsterdam to be very traditionally Christmassy. It doesn't have great Christmas Markets like Germany and Belgium do. I was there last December and was very disappointed in that aspect. Still a lovely city though and I was really lucky to get a gorgeous cold but sunny day.

But New Year’s Eve is WILD!!!  We used to take our kids there every year from Boxing Day to 2 January. Escaping family commitments.

[Britboys]

8 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

But New Year’s Eve is WILD!!!  We used to take our kids there every year from Boxing Day to 2 January. Escaping family commitments.

And let's not even mention Queen's/King's Day! The Dutch like a party...

[Poppy6879]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

Must be per person, saver, inside. Surely cannot get cheaper than this?

All of the above!!!

[Selbourne]

If it’s £339 per person, that’s a total of £678, which equals £169.50 per night. That doesn’t sound at all cheap to me for an inside on a Saver basis. After deducting the OBC, we have been able to book balcony cabins on our next 3 P&O cruises for between £172 and £187 a night on a Select basis, with all the benefits that go with it - and free parking on top of that. 

[Poppy6879]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

If it’s £339 per person, that’s a total of £678, which equals £169.50 per night. That doesn’t sound at all cheap to me for an inside on a Saver basis. After deducting the OBC, we have been able to book balcony cabins on our next 3 P&O cruises for between £172 and £187 a night on a Select basis, with all the benefits that go with it - and free parking on top of that. 

Selbourne, where do you find these deals? Do you have to book super early, or is it because you are a regular traveller you get better deals? 

I went to my local travel agent and there price was identical to what P & O are offering on there website!!!

[Jazzytelly]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

If it’s £339 per person, that’s a total of £678, which equals £169.50 per night. That doesn’t sound at all cheap to me for an inside on a Saver basis. After deducting the OBC, we have been able to book balcony cabins on our next 3 P&O cruises for between £172 and £187 a night on a Select basis, with all the benefits that go with it - and free parking on top of that. 

Yes but is that on Arcadia or Aurora as they are always more expensive. Deals on the other ships come up quite often. 

[LifeonMars]

Some Travel agents will give you a discount if asked,  Special offers are sometimes sourced by the Travel Agent from the  Cruise Brand .

There is an on line only CruiseTravel Agent in the UK  which you book purely on line and all dealings are dealt with on the www, they  also have a phone  based agency under a different name  were you can speak with a human although prices can be but not always slightly higher. They also have a forum.  They often have great offers. You just have to shop around.

Edited June 4, 2023 by LifeonMars

[Poppy6879]

10 minutes ago, Jazzytelly said:

Yes but is that on Arcadia or Aurora as they are always more expensive. Deals on the other ships come up quite often. 

Hi Jazzytelly, it is on Arcadia.

I didn't realise these were more expensive than the rest of the fleet!!!!

I will bear that in mind in future!

[LifeonMars]

6 minutes ago, Poppy6879 said:

Hi Jazzytelly, it is on Arcadia.

I didn't realise these were more expensive than the rest of the fleet!!!!

I will bear that in mind in future!

also with the P&O Ships that visit Amsterdam for the Overnights, Ventura seems to have nearly Two nights in Port arriving around 5pm on 1st sea Day  leaving around 11.30pm after the overnight stay., for a sea day back home. Whilst the others have a seaday getting to Amsterdam arrive early morning of 2nd day and leave Port the following Morning, to Get back to Southampton the next day.

Edited June 4, 2023 by LifeonMars

[Megabear2]

So far this year the biggest reduction in prices has generally occurred 10 weeks before sailing.  There was a big flurry of price cuts in April, some of which dripped down to a few later sailings.  A quick look at the current state of play shows overall prices are no longer going down to the "silly" levels that were occurring 6-7 weeks ago. Iona, as an example, was offering entry fares of £399 for saver insides on a fair number of Norway 7 night cruises.  These are now £599.  

 

Arvia 14 night Med cruises have maintained their entry level price at between £799 and £899.  These cruises currently look the only non movers at present.

 

Arcadia has one or two longer journeys at bargain fares but overall her prices are remaining stable with no drops on her European voyages since the beginning of May when the 21 night Iceland/Norway price became the bargain.

 

Aurora has good lead prices for Norway 12 nights, everything else remains more or less stable.

 

Britannia has had little price movement on any sailings apart from her upcoming Caribbean season.  Overall for the quality of the offering her Norway sailings in particular look good value at the moment as do her three Med sailings in July and August.  Most of the prices for Britannia appear at entry level to be good value.

 

Ventura prices are very stable and have been for several months.  She is offering the very popular Canaries cruises and the Spanish/Portuguese itineraries and these have been selling well all year, presumably to sun seekers and families.  Since April not seen many changes in price for her save the odd £100 either way.

 

Azura well the big difference here has been the extremely well booked voyages which were at one point around £2800 entry price have dropped out and the normal price starting at around £799 for 7 nights ome the norm again, with one or two cheaper options in June. The good news is everything on sale is now back to including flights whereas as previously some were cruise only. For 14 nights £1,099 is now the lowest entry price.  The Azura pricing fluctuates enormously dependent on the itinerary as those sailings to the more "interesting and rare ports" in Greece/Croatia/Italy carry a premium which since they went in sale appear to be driven by passenger demand, presumably those looking for a variety of destination.

 

Tomorrow is the last day of the current OBC special offer.  Generally as one of these ends there is a price correction, often of several hundred pounds.  It will be interesting this time as availability is definitely shrinking in the next 3 months or so.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Poppy6879 said:

Selbourne, where do you find these deals? Do you have to book super early, or is it because you are a regular traveller you get better deals? 

I went to my local travel agent and there price was identical to what P & O are offering on there website!!!

Sadly no special treatment, beyond the 5% discount that I now get from my TA and some shareholder OBC 😂 

 

The cruises at those prices are two on Ventura and one on Britannia. I have seen cheaper prices again on the mega ships (Iona and Arvia) but we have some reservations about making any bookings on either of those until we have been on Iona in August (as you may have seen, whilst a few reviews are glowing, an equal number are not). We wish to try for ourselves first. 
 

We used to book at launch when prices were always at their lowest and were never bettered thereafter. Our November Ventura cruise was one of those. That’s all changed now though. The other two cruises were booked more recently. Megabear2 has given a very good summary of what has been going on with prices. We booked Britannia just after balance due date. P&O will rarely drop prices significantly before then so as to avoid people who booked with a small deposit from cancelling and re-booking. The other cruises are well before balance due dates, but prices were low, so if they do drop further it won’t be by loads. Plus, we need an accessible balcony cabin, so can’t always leave it until the last minute. We were lucky with Britannia and had a choice of two, yet when we had enquired about that cruise on two occasions in the months before they were sold out. Whatever the reasons (cost of living crisis etc) some people are obviously having second thoughts when the balance looms. 
 

When we looked at summer 2025 launch prices, most were more expensive than the same cruises have been selling for this year, so we didn’t book any. We also aren’t sure if we will do as many P&O cruises by then (having since discovered Cunard and wanting to try Saga). We have 4 P&O cruises on 3 different ships over the next 10 months and these will be our first P&O cruises since Covid. We want to see how many of the changes that have been made impact on our cruise experience before committing longer term. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, Jazzytelly said:

Yes but is that on Arcadia or Aurora as they are always more expensive. Deals on the other ships come up quite often. 

As per previous post, the 3 cruises I referred to were on Ventura and Britannia. We could have booked even cheaper cruises than those on Arvia and Iona,but have some reservations based on the reviews. Hopefully our August cruise on Iona will reassure us that we needn’t worry 🤞

 

You are of course correct that the adult only ships are usually significantly more expensive although, as Megabear2 points out, there have even been some very cheap cruises on those (again, after balance due date). We don’t like Arcadia (even though we love Aurora) but could have been tempted with the Iceland cruise had it not clashed with another holiday.

[Chrisdriving]

We are on Arcadia in Aug/ Sept for 16 nights, obstructed outside.

£2798 for 2 adults select price with £480 spending.

Saver fare is £1000 cheaper.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Chrisdriving

[LifeonMars]

18 minutes ago, Chrisdriving said:

We are on Arcadia in Aug/ Sept for 16 nights, obstructed outside.

£2798 for 2 adults select price with £480 spending.

Saver fare is £1000 cheaper.

 

Back in May , you could get Iceland/Norway Arcadia Aug/Sep sailing   £1149 solo  on line TA Price  for unobstructed Balcony Saver Fare (EF Guaranteed)

Edited June 4, 2023 by LifeonMars

[tring]

16 hours ago, Britboys said:

And let's not even mention Queen's/King's Day! The Dutch like a party...

 

We had a great time in Amsterdam on St Patrick's day 2022.  Found a German bar having a St Patrick's night.  The city was buzzing as well.

 

Came back with covid though, but it was worth it.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by tring

[Cathygh]

I think that now P&O are offering upgradeafter fis nal payment, they will hold prices if this is successful, and may be drop prices nearer to saling date. It is too early to tell.

[Chrisdriving]

2 hours ago, LifeonMars said:

Back in May , you could get Iceland/Norway Arcadia Aug/Sep sailing   £1149 solo  on line TA Price  for unobstructed Balcony Saver Fare (EF Guaranteed)

Prices for this one have been all over the place, we booked early March but have been watching them, indeed some good saver prices popping up but want select.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Chrisdriving

[bobstheboy]

Good prices away from P&O.  Silversea offering today by an online TA  Flights from London to Fort Lauderdale early December. 10 nights Caribbean cruise in Varanda suite and fly back from Barbados. Lead price is £5999, offered at £2999. Usual Silversea service, limousine from home to airport, All drinks and specialty restaurants in suite dining, butler  etc. If I hadn't been gong away early Jan I would be booking .

[tring]

2 hours ago, Cathygh said:

I think that now P&O are offering upgradeafter fis nal payment, they will hold prices if this is successful, and may be drop prices nearer to saling date. It is too early to tell.

 

Is the upgrade something you have no say about though, meaning they could move you to a less desirable location if you do not tick "no automatic upgrade" when you book?

 

 

[Selbourne]

14 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Is the upgrade something you have no say about though, meaning they could move you to a less desirable location if you do not tick "no automatic upgrade" when you book?

 

 

Yes and no! The free upgrade system (which I believe still exists) means that you could be ‘upgraded’ without you agreeing, unless you have specified ‘no upgrades’. As you have alluded, P&Os idea of an upgrade can be to the same type of cabin in a more central position, but it may be less desirable as it could be affected by noise etc. Same risk even if you are upgraded to a better type of cabin, as you get what is left (which could easily be in a poor location). 
 

However, things are a bit more confused now that P&O have also introduced a new ‘bid to upgrade’ system, where you are offered the opportunity to bid for a possible upgrade. I don’t know who gets offered this. It may include those who said no to auto upgrades. Perhaps someone can confirm? The minimum bid prices currently seem very high though, often being pretty close to what people would have paid for the higher grade in the first place!

[Megabear2]

Do we know of anyone who has bid?  Can't find anyone to date who did so.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Megabear2

[Cathygh]

4 hours ago, tring said:

 

Is the upgrade something you have no say about though, meaning they could move you to a less desirable location if you do not tick "no automatic upgrade" when you book?

 

 

Sorry for not being clear, and the typos.

P&O are now emailing passengers after final payment offering the chance to bid on an upgrade. If your bid is succesful then you are allocated a new cabin in the category you bid for, with no choice of location.