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Cunard Fare vs Early Saver Fare


babs135
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I've looked at the benefits of the two fare prices and wonder if there is any really strong reason for booking the more expensive Cunard Fare. We've always got the dinner sitting we want and as we have only ever done transatlantics the shuttle bus perk doesn't apply. Not too bothered about cabins, we are only too happy to be on board and the other perks whilst nice we can also live without.

 

However, DD has just started a new job and one of the perks she gets is 5% discount off a number of cruise lines including Cunard. This will be off the Cunard Fare so back to my question. Would we be better taking the discount or waiting to see what the Early Saver Fare is?

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None of us can know what the Early Saver fare will be. Or if it even will be offered. If a sailing is selling well then Cunard has no incentive to offer discounts.

 

You have to decide if selecting your stateroom and having "top of the food chain" preference for dining allocation are more important or if the potential for saving money is more important. (Early Saver fares are category guarantee only. Then you might be one of the posters who come here to lament that they are sailing soon and still don't have a cabin allocation.)

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We went saver fare last Nov ,roundtrip transatlantic ,was good price but the cabin was to little. Have booked a balcony this time with Cunard fare, and have received 400$ obc plus free coach travel, work,s out same as last year but with a Balcony ,sweet.

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On our two way Transatlantic, our first Cunard trip, we booked an early saver fare.....we were allocated an interconnecting cabin which was a disaster....it was like sharing a cabin with strangers, we could hear every word and television from very early morning to very late at night!!!! We were asked our preference for dining which was first sitting but were given late sitting which we managed to change after four days. So in hindsight we would have booked Cunard fare!

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As usual it all depends. Back in January I booked full fare V833 BE grade for £1300. It is now on sale for £1639 with the saver fare at £1367 so the great saving not what it would seem. I have five cruises booked, all pretty early on, and all have continued to rise in price with the saver fares never less than my initial full fare.

 

DJ.

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Then you might be one of the posters who come here to lament that they are sailing soon and still don't have a cabin allocation.

 

LOL. This could be me, but I'm not lamenting, just impatient!! However, we don't sail until January so plenty of time for me to return to this thread and lament :D:D

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If it's more important for you to pick out a cabin and know your going then the Cunard fare, if you don't mind what cabin you have or your willing to gamble booking a late deal with the possibility of loosing a cabin because you waited too long then the Early Saver/Saver Fare.

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I have just received an email from Cunard offering extra OBS for bookings in a period that covers V833. For a BE the price has gone up £100 each in the last week but you get £130 ($175) each back in OBS. So, again, not quite the deal it seems but a bit better than last week.

 

DJ

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We have just today booked on the QM2 for the Norwegian Fjords June 2018. As non UK passport holders (even though we live in Ireland less than an hour's drive from Northern Ireland) we have paid a whopping €350 each extra by having to book through their international section :o:o I strongly queried this, but although the answer I got was very polite, I was basically told that's it :rolleyes: We are going anyway, but that leaves a bad taste.

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Guest SilverHengroen

As others have said, whether the CF is worth it over the SF varies greatly depending on how high the discount is, what grade of cabins are on offer, how high a value you place on the specific benefits offered with the CF etc etc. Sometimes it can be a stonking deal going saver, sometimes it makes sense to pay a little more to get a specific type of cabin for a specific cruise, sometimes the difference is so negligible that it’s worth going Cunard fare for the extra benefits.

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As others have said, whether the CF is worth it over the SF varies greatly depending on how high the discount is, what grade of cabins are on offer, how high a value you place on the specific benefits offered with the CF etc etc. Sometimes it can be a stonking deal going saver, sometimes it makes sense to pay a little more to get a specific type of cabin for a specific cruise, sometimes the difference is so negligible that it’s worth going Cunard fare for the extra benefits.

 

Swings and roundabouts comes to mind. We booked an early saver fare in February for our cruise in January and the price is laughably good. So good in fact that when I tell people what we paid (only if they ask!) I love watching their reaction ;p. Apoplexy comes close :D

 

That's why I asked the question. To pay Cunard Fare or not, that is the question (with apologies to a certain Mr. Shakespeare)

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If you book the Cunard fare with a Travel Agent you may also get some of their commission, but no chance on a saver fare. I would never entertain a saver fare if there are many ports of call and a shuttle bus is needed,the fares soon add up.

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This question appears on this board so many times and quite simply, there is no easy answer. Each person must work out what is best for them and which fare suits their requirements. Whilst on the board the QE a few weeks ago, we booked a cruise on the QV for next August. We chose the Cunard Fare which gave us - our chosen stateroom, our dining time, our choice of table size and even where we would like the table of our choice. In addition we were given $550 obc each and we had our own TA's details shown on the booking who, the following day, whilst still on board, gave us an discount on the fare of £198 per person.

 

All in all, a happy bunny and I will not be spending the next 10 months checking to see my booking details or wait for my details to be confirmed to see if I have a good deal. I have a good deal, we made our choice, we're happy and as we say - "each to their own".......

 

David.

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Re my earlier post of a few minutes ago on this topic, forgot to mention that Cunard also gave us free coach travel from the North of England to the ship in Southampton - just keeps getting better......

 

David

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For those that may need to book Solo fares , It is best checking both fares as sometimes the Cunard fare is cheaper than the Early Saver or Saver fare, especially were flights are involved. The same applies to booking the new solo cabins, Check the sole occupancy of a double stateroom against a solo stateroom and again the doubles sometimes work out cheaper.

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Thanks for the further comments. I think we are leaning slightly toward the Cunard Fare.

 

While we are on the Queen Elizabeth in January we will have a word with the people in the bookings department and look at the Future Credit scheme. Do we have to give them the name of a travel agent in case we decide to go down that route rather than book direct with Cunard?

 

And are there any (obvious) questions we should be asking?

 

Can't believe I'm taking about a cruise in 2019, but the San Francisco back to Southampton via Iceland on the QE sounds fab and I suspect that one could sell out quickly.

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Thanks for the further comments. I think we are leaning slightly toward the Cunard Fare.

 

While we are on the Queen Elizabeth in January we will have a word with the people in the bookings department and look at the Future Credit scheme. Do we have to give them the name of a travel agent in case we decide to go down that route rather than book direct with Cunard?

 

And are there any (obvious) questions we should be asking?

 

Can't believe I'm taking about a cruise in 2019, but the San Francisco back to Southampton via Iceland on the QE sounds fab and I suspect that one could sell out quickly.

 

Future Cruise Deposits are explained here

https://ask.cunard.com/help/before-you-sail/FCD

No you do not need to given them a name of a Travel agent.

If you book on Board in the Future Cruise Office, you may get further onboard Credit, It is worth asking.

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Thanks for the further comments. I think we are leaning slightly toward the Cunard Fare.

 

While we are on the Queen Elizabeth in January we will have a word with the people in the bookings department and look at the Future Credit scheme. Do we have to give them the name of a travel agent in case we decide to go down that route rather than book direct with Cunard?

 

And are there any (obvious) questions we should be asking?

 

Can't believe I'm taking about a cruise in 2019, but the San Francisco back to Southampton via Iceland on the QE sounds fab and I suspect that one could sell out quickly.

I think you would have to give the name of your T/A when booking on ship, other wise it may go to straight to Cunard,you should get $200 o.b.s. each with booking on ship, also some commission from your T/A.;p

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