P&O New Pricing

[Harry Peterson]

Is any bad behaviour linked to the increase in drinks packages? £50 a day, or whatever, and I’d hazard a guess there’s a temptation to try to get good value from it!

[mklions]

50 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Is any bad behaviour linked to the increase in drinks packages? £50 a day, or whatever, and I’d hazard a guess there’s a temptation to try to get good value from it!

Could well be the case! 

[PaulManchester]

4 hours ago, Glitterati said:

The “cut prices post Covid and hike them up once we hook newbies in” strategy has been going on across the industry. We got some great deals with Celebrity but now the prices have gone back to pre covid levels. Same with Virgin- new cruise line, drawing people in (including myself) and now they have slashed the OBC and increased prices. 
 

I wonder if P&Os decision- aside from finances- is to do with the bad behaviour that has been rife across some ships over the past couple of years. Reports of multiple people being kicked off ships for fights and drunken behaviour, abuse to guest performers (Gareth Gates) and a general “lowering of the tone”. I’m not saying it’s everyone, and it’s great that cruising has become more accessible for the masses, but “all inclusive Benidorm” behaviour has started to creep onboard. 
 

Passengers who can’t behave or abide by rules ruin it for the rest of the guests (and crew)

I’m not entirely sure that accessible pricing is the bête-noir that people like to believe it is. 
I remember a cruise in the late 1980’s where I had the misfortune to witness a rather well to do gentleman beating seven shades out of another gentleman and spitting on his victims wife after an argument in a very genteel bar onboard the QE2. 
Some people are just bad people and income/ professional life rarely , if ever, is a factor. 
 

Cruising is now an option for so many more people than it used to be and is all the better for it. 

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, mklions said:

Could well be the case! 

On the flip side, I’ve been on a few Celebrity cruises when drinks were included as standard and I did not witness the behaviour I’ve seen recently on P&O.

 

Maybe it’s a cultural things. British like to drink on holiday! The amount of people I’ve seen complaining on the Facebook groups about the limit of drinks they are allowed each day, as well as the 15 minute limit between orders. 
 

I can only speak what I have experienced across multiple lines recently. I’m not saying it’s the root cause. 

[mklions]

I think P&O are now targeting the mass market sectors where affordability is on the level of a half decent land holiday abroad, to which many working class people can afford.

 

I have no problem with that and I like the idea of more people being able to go on a cruise holiday, but it does sometimes attract the undesirables in our society, people who drink to much, get drunk and abusive.

 

As a traditional long term cruiser some of the things I have seen more recently are totally alien to what I expect from a cruise holiday. Football shirts being worn in the MDR, chair hogging, foul language, kids running around the buffet area bumping into people, I can go on.

 

P&O standards have plummeted along with the general service and quality of food. Benidorm at sea is what it has been called on many occasions and I for one am beginning to agree with this statement.

Take a look at the various reviews posted around the web and you will see for yourself what people are saying.

Maybe it's time to look elsewhere, pay a little more and get a cruise similar to how P&O used to be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, mklions said:

I think P&O are now targeting the mass market sectors where affordability is on the level of a half decent land holiday abroad, to which many working class people can afford.

 

I have no problem with that and I like the idea of more people being able to go on a cruise holiday, but it does sometimes attract the undesirables in our society, people who drink to much, get drunk and abusive.

 

As a traditional long term cruiser some of the things I have seen more recently are totally alien to what I expect from a cruise holiday. Football shirts being worn in the MDR, chair hogging, foul language, kids running around the buffet area bumping into people, I can go on.

 

P&O standards have plummeted along with the general service and quality of food. Benidorm at sea is what it has been called on many occasions and I for one am beginning to agree with this statement.

Take a look at the various reviews posted around the web and you will see for yourself what people are saying.

Maybe it's time to look elsewhere, pay a little more and get a cruise similar to how P&O used to be?

I think that bad experiences tend to be reported much more frequently than good ones, which does influence our thinking.  From our own experiences I don't believe that we are seeing an increase in bad behaviour on our cruises, or in excessive drinking. Maybe we are just more tolerant, or possibly not observant enough.

[Eglesbrech]

3 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

Is any bad behaviour linked to the increase in drinks packages? £50 a day, or whatever, and I’d hazard a guess there’s a temptation to try to get good value from it!

Fred offers drinks packages for £25 pppd with no limit on the number of drinks per day and you don’t see bad behaviour there so I would doubt it is down to drinks packages as such.

 

Virtually everyone on Princess has a package and most on RCI and Celebrity and again while there is bad behaviour occasionally the same bad behaviour could occur with the same people if they just keep ordering drinks (or topping up glasses from handbag bottles, which yes I have seen).

 

Back to pricing P&O is a business and they will do what they need to with regard to turning a profit. That will mean a change to their pricing strategy from time to time. Customers will see if the price for the product offered suits them and if does book and if not go elsewhere.

[Bazrat]

I must be missing all the fun to be honest never seen any problems on any of the p&o cruises I have been on, saying that never seen any on the Marella cruises we have been on.

[Megabear2]

1 minute ago, Bazrat said:

I must be missing all the fun to be honest never seen any problems on any of the p&o cruises I have been on, saying that never seen any on the Marella cruises we have been on.

Welcome home!  Glad to hear from you again.

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, Bazrat said:

I must be missing all the fun to be honest never seen any problems on any of the p&o cruises I have been on, saying that never seen any on the Marella cruises we have been on.

Nice to hear from you Bazrat.

 

I can’t see I’ve seen problems that often, a handful of times over hundreds of cruises and you could see issues in a hotel bar just as easily.

[Bazrat]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Welcome home!  Glad to hear from you again.

Thankyou we did our TA but wish we didn’t, the cruise was full of people doing vlogs so constantly seeing people walking around with cameras, we never felt like we had any privacy but that might have just been us.

[Bazrat]

5 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Nice to hear from you Bazrat.

 

I can’t see I’ve seen problems that often, a handful of times over hundreds of cruises and you could see issues in a hotel bar just as easily.

Thanks 

[NavyPanda]

On 1/14/2024 at 4:16 PM, sweep2907 said:

Not sure about anyone else but it appears the company are finally not lowering their prices last minute to ridiculously cheap prices. I've had a look through last minute deals over next few weeks and hardly anything under £100pppn.

 

It would be nice to return to the old days where you had confidence booking early,knowing prices wouldn't drop way below what you paid. In return it would be lovely just to see standards right slightly towards what they were even 4 or 5 years ago. Anyone else noticed this?

 

I've been looking at some pricing data which I saved from last year. Comparing prices at 26 Feb 23 (I have nothing earlier than that) vs 15 Jan 24.

 

If we look at the Top 40 cruises on sale ranked by price per night. In Feb 2023, 10 of the Top 40 cheapest cruises were within 60 days of sailing. Today, only there are only 4 in the Top 40.

 

This does suggest that P&O aren't lowering their prices at the 'last minute' quite like they used to. Instead, it could be argued they are lowering them earlier instead! 

 

In terms of overall pricing, not a lot has changed. The cheapest cruise to book last February on a per night basis was as 14 night Iona cruise sailing 23-Nov-24 for £699 (£49.93/night). Today, the cheapest is another 14 night Iona cruise sailing 6-Dec-25 for £729 (£52.07). Given inflation is currently 4%, this is exactly the price you would expect. Effectively, there has been no change in the 'cheapest'.

 

Looking another way at the Top 40 cheapest per night, last February the mean price per night was £59.32, the range £49.93-£64.14 and median £60.83. Whereas today, the mean is £63.55, the range £52.07-£69.93 and median £64.21. This is about 5-6% increase, which given inflation is around 4% (and previously a lot higher) means that there has effectively been very little increase in pricing. 

 

Finally, looking at overall pricing (of all cruises on sale) for the cheapest cabin. In February, the mean was £100.86/pn, the median £92.79/pn. Today it is £106.37/pn with the median being £99.86/pn. Again, just above inflation.

 

Will be interesting to see what the situation is like at the end of February when 'Late' Saver fares for late April and May will be on sale, when the two ships will be back from the Caribbean and Arcadia is back from her world cruise (world cruises and Caribbean tending to be more expensive per night) 

 

Also, out of the 817 cruises currently on sale, 429 of them are under £100/pn. 

Edited January 15 by NavyPanda
add figure

[sweep2907]

7 hours ago, Glitterati said:

On the flip side, I’ve been on a few Celebrity cruises when drinks were included as standard and I did not witness the behaviour I’ve seen recently on P&O.

 

Maybe it’s a cultural things. British like to drink on holiday! The amount of people I’ve seen complaining on the Facebook groups about the limit of drinks they are allowed each day, as well as the 15 minute limit between orders. 
 

I can only speak what I have experienced across multiple lines recently. I’m not saying it’s the root cause. 

Think you've hit the nail on the head there. It's a British culture thing getting your moneys worth on a package. Hence why Spain, Greece and other countries have limited drinks daily to combat yobbish British behaviour. 

[showingdiva]

10 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Fred offers drinks packages for £25 pppd with no limit on the number of drinks per day and you don’t see bad behaviour there so I would doubt it is down to drinks packages as such.

 

 

Not long after I started working on cruise ships in my home port, I was propositioned by an old salty sea dog on Braemar, who wanted to take me back to his cabin for a drink.    I told him I don't get paid enough for that .... in fact, I don't get paid at all.   The crew were helpless laughing (mainly at the look on my face).   

[Bazrat]

Just out of interest how come nobody ever films any of this bad behaviour, occasionally you do see some videos of the more extreme ones from various cruise lines but all those bloggers onboard never seam to film them.

[Harry Peterson]

3 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Just out of interest how come nobody ever films any of this bad behaviour, occasionally you do see some videos of the more extreme ones from various cruise lines but all those bloggers onboard never seam to film them.

Maybe because they’d prefer not to get punched?

[Snow Hill]

3 hours ago, Bazrat said:

Just out of interest how come nobody ever films any of this bad behaviour, occasionally you do see some videos of the more extreme ones from various cruise lines but all those bloggers onboard never seam to film them.

Because they might lose their access and freebies if they did. 

[Selbourne]

Just now, Harry Peterson said:

Maybe because they’d prefer not to get punched?

Exactly. One of the worst traits of our society nowadays is when someone is in distress, or a dangerous situation is occurring, rather than help folk feel that it is entertainment and stand around filming it on their phones.  
 

We tend not to stay up late, so would probably miss most incidents, but in all our cruises with P&O I can only recall two or three incidents of overtly drunken behaviour that would give cause for concern, which is far less than you’d see ashore in the ‘nighttime economy’. 
 

The one that always sticks in my mind was on Ventura around 6 years ago. We were in Metropolis and a guy in his 30s, who was on holiday with his wheelchair bound grandmother, was steaming drunk and making a real nuisance of himself. He approached a female singer who was performing in there and started telling her that she was “rubbish”, getting in her personal space and getting quite aggressive. Rather than reach for my phone I got up to intervene and protect her, but my wife stopped me for fear of what might happen, so I asked the bar staff to quickly call security. Thankfully they arrived rapidly and escorted him back to his cabin. 

[Cynthia Darch]

Thank God we made the move to Saga and yes the drinks are free but you never ever see anyone over the top or drunk. Delightful passengers with good manners, excellent service and superb meals. yes it cost a little more but we were always suite passengers so the price difference is small but Oh my goodness how P&O have gone done the tube since Carnival took them over. 

[zap99]

18 minutes ago, Cynthia Darch said:

Thank God we made the move to Saga and yes the drinks are free but you never ever see anyone over the top or drunk. Delightful passengers with good manners, excellent service and superb meals. yes it cost a little more but we were always suite passengers so the price difference is small but Oh my goodness how P&O have gone done the tube since Carnival took them over. 

Oh my goodness. What an advert for Saga you are.🤣

[PaulManchester]

48 minutes ago, Cynthia Darch said:

Thank God we made the move to Saga and yes the drinks are free but you never ever see anyone over the top or drunk. Delightful passengers with good manners, excellent service and superb meals. yes it cost a little more but we were always suite passengers so the price difference is small but Oh my goodness how P&O have gone done the tube since Carnival took them over. 

To be fair, I have zero problem with your view on this and therein lies the possible answer. 
For those who now think P and O are too cheap and attracting “the wrong type of passenger” there are dozens of alternatives that cost far more and attract a different type of fellow guest. 
 

Personally I think P and O get it far more right than wrong and I love the mix of people onboard but that’s only my opinion and the opposite view is equally valid. And easy to achieve. 
For those who don’t like travelling with people who remind them of Butlins or Benidorm Simply book a far more expensive cruise. 
It’s not difficult. 
But it’s always been thus and probably always will be. We’re British and we’re never happy if we’re not complaining and comparing ourselves to others. 
I used to hear variants of the same complaints 30 years ago about P and O and how they were “dumbing down to suit the masses” etc. 
They were, are, and always will be a mass-market, budget-mid tier cruise line. 
And they’re brilliant at it on the whole. All power to them. 
 

I’ll be trying a Saga cruise in a few years and I can’t wait. I love experiencing new things. Vive La difference.  

[sweep2907]

Not sure why people cast doubt over peoples claims of appalling behaviour. I've witnessed it 3 times, got involved once to help the victim and apologise I didn't film it for you.

 

Knowing someone who is Cruise Security Manager and not just one, they let me know exactly what goes on. Obviously P&O try and keep it quiet as doesn't give a great impression. Always dealt with swiftly, confine to cabin and handed over to police at next port and banned from cruise company for life.

[nosapphire]

I have seen the police vans lined up at some Canadian cruise terminals. When we asked a terminal worker what was going on, he "reassured" us that it was routine - the "big ships" always had passengers to be arrested on arrival. (Not sure if the one they were waiting for that time was Celebrity or RCL).

So the bad behaviour does go on, has been happening for years, and cruise ships are well versed in handling it.

Not spotted any brawls on Saga yet, but I have occasionally seen some rather undesirable behaviour from people who appeared to have over-imbibed.

I would hesitate to claim that all Saga passengers have very good manners.

Most do, some are atrocious.

And sad that during Noro outbreaks staff are needed on supervisory duty to make sure all passengers wash their hands before entering food venues.

 

[Josy1953]

We all need to realise that wherever we go there will be people doing things that we don't like and wouldn't do personally.  When DH and I see someone doing something that we don't like we either ignore them or get up and move away if it looks like things might get out if control, it is just not worth interacting with them.

l think that most of us who have been regular cruisers will have seen people escorted from the ship at some time.  I take the view that it is one incident and I won't let it spoil my holiday.

We have been on well over 50 cruises and probably seen less than a dozen incidents where someone has been lead away by the police.