Fred Olsen lower fare policy

[timetravellers]

Can anyone tell me whether Fred Olsen offers has a refund policy if your fare drops after booking? I know RCL do this. My TA ignored my email asking the question.

 

We've booked a short cruise on the Balmoral next year and the price dropped a week later.

 

Gail

[the english lady]

we have travelled twice.paid what we thought was a good price for type of cabin we had. I know just before we went round the uk on Balmoral you could get a superior suite for what we had paid for a grade a superior. I don't think they do drop proves..i don't think any uk ones do. us might. the only way you could do it would be to cancel your booking..and rebook and hope the lower price means you do not have lose out after cancellation charges. If your TA ignored you i would guess they do not want to lose any more of their commission (which would be where they lower the price from)

[merecat]

The only time I,ve had a cruise price dropped was with P&O for a November cruise,otherwise you will probably find you are upgraded to a better cabin.

Olsen does do this and I,ve always found his last minute deals very good.:)

[merecat]

Just an addon Olsen will let you move one booking without penelty whereas P&O ,Cunard charge £100.:)

[Norfolk Brit]

The only time I,ve had a cruise price dropped was with P&O for a November cruise,otherwise you will probably find you are upgraded to a better cabin.

Olsen does do this and I,ve always found his last minute deals very good.:)

 

Your travel agent really needs to address your concerns. As merecat says, an upgrade seems the most likely option, but your agent needs to push for this.

 

As an aside, Olsen seems to be pretty expensive (many cruises comparable in price with Cunard); judging by my inbox, which is heaving with Olsen offers, perhaps they are overpriced.

[merecat]

and if you get the upgrade ,don,t take the first one offered ,stick out for abetter cabin in a better position.:)

[timetravellers]

Thank you for your comments.

 

I have now read the Fred Olsen terms and conditions and it states that a significant price drop may be passed on at the discretion of Fred Olsen. The price has dropped by 31% which I consider significant. I have emailed my TA today and will see what they have to say.

 

I know the cruise is only a 2 night break across the Channel but it is a difference of £90 for the 2 of us.

 

Anyway, if you don't ask you don't get! I'll let you all know what happens.

 

Gail

[gerden]

The lesson to learn here, is if you can book your cruise as late as possible, in most cases you will save quite a lot. Brochure prices are a joke don't be fooled by them. I have cruised for many years. And have saved hundreds of pounds by booking late. Sometimes you lose out if the cruise sells out but in my experience most times Ive been lucky. :D

[Deeliteful]

I was told (in a very snotty mail from FO Customer Services/Marketing Department) that they do not give refunds or upgrades if the price drops. Her premise was it's like buying something in a shop and then seeing it on sale.

 

It convinced me to stay with RCL and Celebrity as they do honour price drops plus I am still very unhappy with the way we were treated by FO when they cancelled our cruise within 48 hours of our due date of cruising (for us it was 24 hours as we were travelling to Southampton the day before).

 

It would take a heck of a lot to convince me to travel with them again.

 

End of rant!! Sorry!

 

Pat

[timetravellers]

This may well be our first and last Fred Olsen cruise then!

 

I spoke to the TA yesterday. She said FO are reluctant to give a refund. However, it seems they (the TA) may price match. Waiting for a call back.

 

Will let you all know what happens!

 

Gail

[petergoesrock]

Without being funny, you were presumably happy with the price when you paid, you got what you wanted, the cruise, cabin, dining allocation etc.

 

So why are you so annoyed about the price dropping after you'd booked? The price of just about everything you and me buy varies, sometimes daily, but would we go back to Tesco, Shell, Barclays to ask for a refund, I doubt very few of us would, and we'd be even less likely to never use them again if we didn't. Consider how airlines fill there planes, they have so many seats at so many prices, and when sold that's it.

 

This summer just gone, we'd decided we wanted to take our son to Norway, we knew what cruise we wanted, what cabin we wanted and we had to have first sitting. So we booked about 13 months ahead. I know for certain we could of got the same cruise and grade for less if we'd left it to the last minute, but we weren't prepared to take that risk. We paid our money and took our choice. If it's certainty you need, then you need to book early, if you're after a bargin then leave it till the last minute. You can't really expect both can you?

[the english lady]

agree with you. as I said earlier if we had left till last minute we could have got a superior suite, but would we have got the late seating we wanted and would we have got a table in Spey on Balmoral. For various reasons we cannot do early seating and eating in Spey made the cruise for us,that is one of the reasons we liked Balmoral so much. I always think if you go for late bargins you get what no one else wanted. We wanted superior a grade cabin without a lifeboat stuck in front of the window. we paid a little (and i mean little) more and picked the exact cabin we wanted.

[timetravellers]

I am actually very happy with the price we paid. However, I am aware over on the RCL boards that it is the norm to ask for a price reduction if the price does indeed go down.

So I thought I would just test the water and see what would happen.

 

My response about never cruising with FO again was the comment about the snotty email. There are nice ways of saying no to a customer, it doesn't have to be snotty.

 

I doubt whether we will get the price reduction. But I work on the theory that if you don't ask, then you don't get.

 

If I do get, then I shall have more to spend on my next cruise whichever cruise line it may be, including FO.

 

Gail

[warringtonian]

We went on a FO cruise a couple of years ago and two weeks after booking it they sent us a mailing showing a price drop and free parking. When we phoned FO they said to ask our TA, who claimed that they had got nowhere. I then wrote to FO telling them not to send us any more mailings as we wouldn't be going with them again and they immediately changed their mind and gave us the special price. The trouble is that you don't know if the reluctance to pass on a price drop is due to the TA or the cruise line.

[balf]

. The trouble is that you don't know if the reluctance to pass on a price drop is due to the TA or the cruise line.

 

THE TA probably has little leeway to reduce the price unless FO offers a reduction. We never book with Fred early, the early prices are way too expensive for what is in reality a budget cruise line, and with the market as it is now I don't believe you miss out on much choice by booking late.

 

We also are constantly bombarded by mails from on line agencies with at some times unbelievable offers.

 

David.

[monas queen]

I have found the following quote on a different forum. Rgrettably its origins are not known.

 

"Cruise-holiday bargains not what they seem

Massive discounts on cruises exposed as con after leading line Fred

Olsen admits to not selling a single cruise at full price for a year.

 

Massive discounts on cruises were exposed as a con last week after

leading line Fred Olsen admitted it had not sold a single cruise at

full price for a year. The closest the operator had come was a

Christmas voyage sold at a whopping 37.5% off the brochure rate.

 

Fred Olsen argued that it was forced to offer the bogus discounts

because the practice was so widespread. "It's become prevalent across

the industry," said the company's managing director, Mike

Rodwell. "Back in the mists of time, we did sell at brochure prices,

but the market expected more and more early-bird discounts, then late

deals, and eventually they met in the middle. The big American

operators started it and the rest had to follow."

 

The company made the admission after the Advertising Standards

Authority ruled that an agent had sold Fred Olsen cruises at

misleading prices. "The ruling is pretty clear and we will be

altering our price structure," Rodwell said. "But the whole industry

needs to move on, too. The practice of quoting high prices so you can

then offer a huge discount implies that the consumer isn't very

sophisticated, which isn't true these days."

 

As Fred Olsen came clean, other lines clammed up. P&O, which has been

offering "up to 47.5% off the full brochure fare" on its website,

said, "We can confirm that we have sold cruises at full price" — but

was unable to say how many. The American cruise giant NCL declined to

comment. Silversea, which has been offering "savings of up to 50% on

previously published fares", was unable to find an official to

comment — as was Crystal, which has been advertising savings of 35%.

 

Regent Seven Seas was prepared to speak and told us: "We publish two

prices in our brochure — a `brochure fare', which is used as a

benchmark but never actually charged, and an `offer fare', which is.

This has been our strategy for the past few years."

 

The company said that when further reductions were advertised in the

press, the higher price had been previously charged to customers.

 

Just one line, Royal Caribbean, categorically denied the practice,

saying it did not publish a maximum rate "and therefore customers do

not buy our cruises at what appear to be heavily discounted prices".

 

The Passenger Shipping Association, which represents the cruise

industry, was no more forthcoming than most of its members. "This is

a commercial matter for individual lines," it said. "We are unable to

comment."

 

Consumer watchdogs were more vocal. "This sort of pricing — what we

call `baited advertising' — is a breach of the law," said Bruce

Treloar, of the Trading Standards Institute. "Published prices must

be accurate, and if nobody actually pays them, they clearly aren't.

Repeat offenders could be fined or even imprisoned. If it really is

the industry norm, we're going to stamp it out — because consumers

are being misled.""

[timetravellers]

I am actually very happy with the price we paid. However, I am aware over on the RCL boards that it is the norm to ask for a price reduction if the price does indeed go down.

So I thought I would just test the water and see what would happen.

 

I doubt whether we will get the price reduction. But I work on the theory that if you don't ask, then you don't get.

 

Gail

 

Well, I finally got a response from my TA today. They have spoken with FO but the lower price is for Guarantee cabins. These cabins are, apparently, the ones with most vibration and noise and come without choice of restaurant and dining sitting. So the price stands.

 

Never mind. I am sure we will still have a good time.

 

Gail

[Norfolk Brit]

Well, I finally got a response from my TA today. They have spoken with FO but the lower price is for Guarantee cabins. These cabins are, apparently, the ones with most vibration and noise and come without choice of restaurant and dining sitting. So the price stands.

 

Never mind. I am sure we will still have a good time.

 

Gail

 

I think your t/a or Olsen may have been a little economical with the truth. Guarantee cabins can be the one in the grade that no-one else wants. However, many believe that an upgrade to a better grade cabin is more likely, and this happened to us the only time we had a guarantee.

 

We have just booked another, have got the dining time we want, and the restaurant we want.

 

Mary

[Kez100]

Same here. We had a guarantee and were allocated an outside plus we had our choice of dining sitting which may have been a coincidence.

 

We have just booked an inside with known cabin number and paid more as we have booked early. I said I didn't mind being upgraded and moved from that cabin if they wanted but it didn't sound very hopeful.

 

That's ok, I don't expect anything but it seems odd to upgrade a guarantee and not an early booker who pays more.

[Norfolk Brit]

Same here. We had a guarantee and were allocated an outside plus we had our choice of dining sitting which may have been a coincidence.

 

We have just booked an inside with known cabin number and paid more as we have booked early. I said I didn't mind being upgraded and moved from that cabin if they wanted but it didn't sound very hopeful.

 

That's ok, I don't expect anything but it seems odd to upgrade a guarantee and not an early booker who pays more.

 

As this thread has been resurrected, I'll add a little now that I've actually been on the cruise, and had first-hand experience of a guarantee cabin. The first thing to mention is do not book a guarantee unless the cabin grade offered is one that you are prepared to accept - you will not necessarily be upgraded; we booked a Superior Suite (at an amazing price:)), that's what we expected to get, and we were right. However, we got one of the better SS grades, in the pre-stretch part of the ship, with a bath. We also got the dinner sitting we wanted in the Spey Restaurant, as requested; however, we wanted late sitting and there was a wait-list for the early sitting, so late bookers may not get this; having said this, our trip left on 4 January when most younger people were back at work after the Christmas break, so I would imagine the average age may have been greater than usual and older people often like to dine early.

 

On our cruise, the guarantee cabins were allocated on arrival at the port, so if there had been a problem there was little room for negotiation at this late stage.

 

Mary

[Kez100]

Yes, absolutely. We had never cruised when we booked the guarantee and we were perfectly happy to just be able to go on a cruise which we had wanted to do for our honeymoon 15 years before and couldn't afford then. The price we paid was the same as we were quoted 15 years ago and this time we had two children! Guarantees are brilliant ways to get on board but you certainly have to go with a flexible head on. I was surprised how many people complained when one guarantee got a different grade cabin to another guarantee. Also, I was surprised how many of those same guarateerers were not intending to give the gratuity 'because they couldn't afford it'. That upset me actually, and I had to work hard to keep my mouth closed.

 

The great treatment we got from FO means we have rebooked, and earlier, and we are taking family who have booked a suite. So, our 2008 deal has paid off for FO!

[MrsTW]

I am actually very happy with the price we paid. However, I am aware over on the RCL boards that it is the norm to ask for a price reduction if the price does indeed go down.

So I thought I would just test the water and see what would happen.

 

My response about never cruising with FO again was the comment about the snotty email. There are nice ways of saying no to a customer, it doesn't have to be snotty.

 

I doubt whether we will get the price reduction. But I work on the theory that if you don't ask, then you don't get.

 

If I do get, then I shall have more to spend on my next cruise whichever cruise line it may be, including FO.

 

Gail

 

I have had some snotty letters from FO too :mad: One was an insensitive letter when a mini cruise was cancelled. The next was when I queried the small offer given to book an alternative cruise.

 

I complained to those at the top :p Had an apologetic letter in return and a phone call apologising as well :D

 

I did book another cruise and loved the ship and crew and have consequently just booked another mini cruise ;)

[Robbo123]

We have done it both ways with FO, book early, pay the price, which were happy with, but it guarantees the cabin, sitting, airport (if flying), and with the opening discounts, they are often competitive.

 

Also done it the late way - 2 or 3 weeks before departure - get a very limited choice, but type guaranteed, take the meal sitting on offer, and hope you get an airport (if necessary) you can get to. The booking later was considerably cheaper (and the times we booked it this way they were great).

 

Comes down to if you are happy with the price, then you have a deal you want - same as buying a car, TV etc., look around you may always find cheaper, but not always get what you exactly were looking for.

 

Also had to change a cruise one time with FO, and as stated earlier, not a problem, the TA contacted FO, cruise was changed (even got a better cabin and cheaper price) in amatter of moments, for no extra charge