Goodbye to P&O

[Al_W]

On 10/5/2023 at 4:29 PM, Ocean Mouse said:

Our 5 week roundtrip cruise to the Caribbean was due for final payment today. After our experience on our last cruise we have decided we will not be going.

This means losing our deposit but as we booked this cruise nearly two years ago the money is long gone and its loss is not regretted. Far less painful than forking out another £8k+ for something we would not enjoy 

So an aft facing balcony cabin on deck D should be available shortly. I hope it finds a good home

Same for us after 3 P&O cruises over the last 18 months on Azura and Britannia we cancelled our Arvia March 2024 Caribbean cruise, didn’t think P&O deserved it our balance payment of £6700. When I called to cancel P&O couldn’t have been less interested in our decision to cancel so I only assume they will easily fill our room.
 

We have booked a celebrity Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale, cheaper than P&O and inc drinks and WiFi on Beyond in an infinite balcony, so will be interesting to see how it compares. 

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Same for us after 3 P&O cruises over the last 18 months on Azura and Britannia we cancelled our Arvia March 2024 Caribbean cruise, didn’t think P&O deserved it our balance payment of £6700. When I called to cancel P&O couldn’t have been less interested in our decision to cancel so I only assume they will easily fill our room.
 

We have booked a celebrity Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale, cheaper than P&O and inc drinks and WiFi on Beyond in an infinite balcony, so will be interesting to see how it compares. 

Does your price comparison include the cost of flights?

[Al_W]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

Does your price comparison include the cost of flights?

Yes… Virgin PE outbound, Economy delight back, and 2 nights hotel in Fort Lauderdale £1000 cheaper than P&O

[EmilyJay]

We've just switched from Royal Caribbean to P&O. 

I love Royal, however, the itinerary's for the Caribbean are repetitive once you've sailed with them to the Caribbean a few times and like most cruise lines they've also been cost cutting.

 

Upon pricing winter cruises, P&O came up considerably cheaper with far better itinerary's. 

Our TA added up the cost of a Royal/ Celebrity Cruise + Hotel + Flights + Gratuities + Transport between MIA  airport -> Ft Lauderdale hotel and it was £1k more for a 1 week trip, than the 2 weeks we've got with P&O. 

It will be an interesting switch for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing the differences between the cruise lines and ofc will miss Royal Caribbean, but I just can't justify their prices at the moment. 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2023 by EmilyJay

[EmilyJay]

7 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Yes… Virgin PE outbound, Economy delight back, and 2 nights hotel in Fort Lauderdale £1000 cheaper than P&O

That's crazy! We just priced up a trip with Royal + Celebrity (7nt cruise) with economy BA or Virgin flights, with 1 night pre cruise hotel in Ft Lauderdale and it came up £1k more expensive than 2 weeks with P&O. You got a good deal there!! 

[Megabear2]

8 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Same for us after 3 P&O cruises over the last 18 months on Azura and Britannia we cancelled our Arvia March 2024 Caribbean cruise, didn’t think P&O deserved it our balance payment of £6700. When I called to cancel P&O couldn’t have been less interested in our decision to cancel so I only assume they will easily fill our room.
 

We have booked a celebrity Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale, cheaper than P&O and inc drinks and WiFi on Beyond in an infinite balcony, so will be interesting to see how it compares. 

Is that the Grand Cayman 14 night one or the 13 night Barbados route one by any chance?  There have been some good prices on the Iceman site for those two itineraries.

[Presto2]

17 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Same for us after 3 P&O cruises over the last 18 months on Azura and Britannia we cancelled our Arvia March 2024 Caribbean cruise, didn’t think P&O deserved it our balance payment of £6700. When I called to cancel P&O couldn’t have been less interested in our decision to cancel so I only assume they will easily fill our room.
 

We have booked a celebrity Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale, cheaper than P&O and inc drinks and WiFi on Beyond in an infinite balcony, so will be interesting to see how it compares. 

Lovely ships but the itineraries and flights put us off. Am sure you will enjoy Beyond ---- it if is like EDGE it is a beautiful ship. She will 'wow' you

[Presto2]

14 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Yes… Virgin PE outbound, Economy delight back, and 2 nights hotel in Fort Lauderdale £1000 cheaper than P&O

Were you in a suite with P&O? Crikey

[Megabear2]

Just now, Presto2 said:

Lovely ships but the itineraries and flights put us off. Am sure you will enjoy Beyond ---- it if is like EDGE it is a beautiful ship. She will 'wow' you

Hope so, I'm on her at Christmas before our jaunt on Britannia in January!

[Al_W]

2 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

That's crazy! We just priced up a trip with Royal + Celebrity (7nt cruise) with economy BA or Virgin flights, with 1 night pre cruise hotel in Ft Lauderdale and it came up £1k more expensive than 2 weeks with P&O. You got a good deal there!! 

We cancelled Arvia and booked Beyond when we got back from our May Baltic cruise. Have booked cruise, flights and hotel separately and saved. Just need to sort out our own transfers. 

[Al_W]

Just now, Presto2 said:

Were you in a suite with P&O? Crikey

Nope central balcony

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Hope so, I'm on her at Christmas before our jaunt on Britannia in January!

Oh stop it ---- have you been on an EDGE class before? 

[Presto2]

Just now, Al_W said:

Nope central balcony

Am stunned - that's some bargain

[Al_W]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Is that the Grand Cayman 14 night one or the 13 night Barbados route one by any chance?  There have been some good prices on the Iceman site for those two itineraries.

It’s a 10 night cruise Barbados route. Only downside is 2 days at sea either side. But happy to give it a go and have enjoyed all our solstice class cruises with celebrity 

[zap99]

16 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Yes… Virgin PE outbound, Economy delight back, and 2 nights hotel in Fort Lauderdale £1000 cheaper than P&O

But isn't that cruise 10 nights at $2,500 pp + flights

[Al_W]

Just now, Presto2 said:

Am stunned - that's some bargain

I was amazed how much we could save we booking everything separately, more risk obviously but having the hotel at the front helps with any flight delays. 

[Presto2]

Just now, Al_W said:

It’s a 10 night cruise Barbados route. Only downside is 2 days at sea either side. But happy to give it a go and have enjoyed all our solstice class cruises with celebrity 

This class ship make the Solstice class look 2nd class. Enjoy and send us all pictures 🙂

[terrierjohn]

19 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Yes… Virgin PE outbound, Economy delight back, and 2 nights hotel in Fort Lauderdale £1000 cheaper than P&O

And is it a 14 night cruise?

[Al_W]

1 minute ago, zap99 said:

But isn't that cruise 10 nights at $2,500 pp + flights

We paid £3900 for cruise and then flights and hotel on top. P&O was costing us near £7000 prem flights which we now know would not have happened. 

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, Al_W said:

Nope central balcony

And you paid £6700+ deposit?. Wow, no wonder you cancelled.

[Al_W]

3 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

And is it a 14 night cruise?

Nope but adds hotel stay 

[Al_W]

2 minutes ago, zap99 said:

And you paid £6700+ deposit?. Wow, no wonder you cancelled.

Yes booked it while on Azura so had the extra obc in hindsight it was expensive so only lost £100 as the deposit is lower

[Megabear2]

Just now, Al_W said:

Yes booked it while on Azura so had the extra obc in hindsight it was expensive so only lost £100 as the deposit is lower

Was that a deluxe balcony fare?  We originally had an Arvia Christmas cruise booked on launch  overlooked large balcony at £7100 no PE.  I cancelled in May and we have Beyond booked over Christmas 13 nights for nearly £1,000 less.  The Arvia deposit moved to a deluxe PE flight Britannia January cruise but that is still just over £7100 but I'm using my last FCC and a refund from my disastrous Arvia cruise towards that one.

[Megabear2]

21 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Oh stop it ---- have you been on an EDGE class before? 

Yes, on Edge herself.  I'm hoping my OH likes it, it's a bit different to what he knows.  He's just had me booking us another 28 day Cunard fly cruise for September 2025 while the £99 flight offer is on. I'm not sure what's come over him!

[Al_W]

12 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Was that a deluxe balcony fare?  We originally had an Arvia Christmas cruise booked on launch  overlooked large balcony at £7100 no PE.  I cancelled in May and we have Beyond booked over Christmas 13 nights for nearly £1,000 less.  The Arvia deposit moved to a deluxe PE flight Britannia January cruise but that is still just over £7100 but I'm using my last FCC and a refund from my disastrous Arvia cruise towards that one.

Not delux just top standard balcony with premium flights, I think it was a day at sea and had too many pina colada’s 🍹🤪😂