P and O price promise worthless, do not book early

I booked a cruise on a P and O ship after being assured that if the price for the cabin grade I booked was reduced I would get either additional onboard spend or free cabin updgrade. I believe this is common practice on a lot of cruise lines. There was only one booking option for this type of cabin (advantage fare) when I booked this. I was given a choice wtih this booking of free car parking, free transfer or a small amount of on-board spend. I selected the on board spend. I paid the remainder of the balance by the required date and then not long after I received e-mails offering the cabin grade that I had booked at over £200 per person less (getaway fare), this was not available when I booked originally. I phoned reference the price promise and was told that although it was for the same cabin it had several differences, one, you could not choose your cabin and I would not receive the onboard spending. I would have have happily booked with this lower price and lost the extra's if It had been available at the time. I am very unhappy and feel that I have been cheated and mislead by P and O. I will never book early again. It has been made worse as I note that a new e-mail came today and I believe that now P and O have again reduced the price, so they have now reduced the total price by over £400 per person.

Is there anything I can do? I have spoken to P and O and they are adamant that as it is not exactly the same fare (without the extras) the price promise does not stand and you can still book with the same extra's at the price I paid originally. I would not have booked it when I did, without the price promise and I feel P and O have found a loop hole to get around the problem. Please do not make the same costly mistake I have.:(

If you scroll down, you'll find several threads on this very subject.

It may be worth a complaint to the ASA who have recently castigated Fred Olsen for operating a very similar misleading scheme.

Good luck.

Annie

As Annie C says might be worth trying the Advertising standards authority and a well construced letter to david.dingle@carnivalukgroup.com telling him of your intentions.

Its a well known fact that cruise companies offer many various discounts, special offers and late deals. They may dress them up in all sorts of ways but they have always happened and will always upset someone.

Presumably you booked your cruise at a price you were happy with so why worry about it, paying full price and booking early means you get exactly what you want, waiting for the offer prices means you may get a cheap deal or you may end up with a poor cabin choice/location.

a few weeks back I sold a few shares i had because the price was good, I f i had sold them this week they would be worth nearly £200 more, Annoying but thats life:(

There were people on our previous Caribbean cruise who had paid £1000 less than we had but we had planned exactly what we wanted and thats what we got for our money.

P&O have obviously upset quite a few people with this particular scheme but try not to worry about it and just enjoy your holiday:D

Steve

P.S We have just booked a getaway one week trip on Azura to Norway for only £1100 for the pair of us, its pot luck if we get a crap cabin or even a cabin upgrade, we shall see...:)

I booked a vantage fare a year ago for sailing in July and have been given a substantial amount of OBC , which I am happy with, as my price came down.

There are quite alot of people that are not happy with the situation that they find themselves in.There are many poeople who don't have the options of when they book so it is not as easy as some people think.

Wilson2579 , can i ask if your booking in July was before the introduction of Vantage fares ?

Its a well known fact that cruise companies offer many various discounts, special offers and late deals. They may dress them up in all sorts of ways but they have always happened and will always upset someone.

 

Presumably you booked your cruise at a price you were happy with so why worry about it, paying full price and booking early means you get exactly what you want, waiting for the offer prices means you may get a cheap deal or you may end up with a poor cabin choice/location.

 

a few weeks back I sold a few shares i had because the price was good, I f i had sold them this week they would be worth nearly £200 more, Annoying but thats life:(

 

There were people on our previous Caribbean cruise who had paid £1000 less than we had but we had planned exactly what we wanted and thats what we got for our money.

 

P&O have obviously upset quite a few people with this particular scheme but try not to worry about it and just enjoy your holiday:D

 

Steve

 

P.S We have just booked a getaway one week trip on Azura to Norway for only £1100 for the pair of us, its pot luck if we get a crap cabin or even a cabin upgrade, we shall see...:)

I'm not sure how many posts on this subject it takes before the right end of the stick is grasped, but am close to despair. The objection of most customers, plus the ASA, is not to last minute discounting but to deliberately misleading headline price promises. In the past I have had no sympathy with those who moaned about late bookers getting deals but this is completely different.

Not personally affected as I have previous experience of Getaways and have booked a bargain again this year. However, my sense of decency and fair play is pretty appalled.

Annie

I booked a vantage fare a year ago for sailing in July and have been given a substantial amount of OBC , which I am happy with, as my price came down.

Yes, you booked at the original brochure price before the Vantage fares were introduced and brought down some prices. This was a one-off situation that is unlikely to be repeated, but got Carnival some good publicity.

We have still heard from no one who has been definitively told by P&O or Cunard that they have OBC or anything else as a direct result of a Vantage fare reduction.

Annie

The objection of most customers, plus the ASA, is not to last minute discounting but to deliberately misleading headline price promises.

 

Annie

IMHO

Deliberate deception

Cb

There are many many people who have been caught out by P&O's 'price promise' who are now looking at other cruise lines having become disillusioned by P&O.

See the thread I started on this.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1832235

It is interesting that Carnival brought this in to stop all the complaining about people getting cheap deals near the cruise date.

Whatever the system they use, there will always be late deals to fill unsold cabins.

Gan Canny

Dai

:cool:

See the thread I started on this.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1832235

 

It is interesting that Carnival brought this in to stop all the complaining about people getting cheap deals near the cruise date.

 

Whatever the system they use, there will always be late deals to fill unsold cabins.

Gan Canny

Dai

 

:cool:

That's a more mellow response from you than usual Dai, are you getting too exhausted from defending the indefensible, or is there maybe a change of heart in sight?

All these posts about Vantage etc are getting a bit boring, I'll be glad when people start posting about their super cruise experiences :)

That's a more mellow response from you than usual Dai, are you getting too exhausted from defending the indefensible, or is there maybe a change of heart in sight?

Only indefensible in your eyes John. I have said what they have done wrong. But now it is still clear, you have a choice.

I still think that what we have now is little different to that we had before.

Gan Canny

Dai

There's a massive difference to what went before. Passengers have been coerced into booking early at a price, on the promise that if the price falls you will get a refund in the form of on OBC. It's apparent P&O had no intention of dropping Vantage fares, just calling them Getaway and reducing what they see as benefits of Vantage over Getaway.

It seems the only passengers to date who have benefitted from the extra OBC are ones who had booked very early for this year and before Vantage was introduced.

P&O aren't the only ones with a cute marketing team. A friend has just booked a cruise and he believes he has a BOGOF offer. He hasn't as he has paid £100 a night for two on a cruise which my parents paid about £50 per night each for last year.

There's a massive difference to what went before. Passengers have been coerced into booking early at a price, on the promise that if the price falls you will get a refund in the form of on OBC. It's apparent P&O had no intention of dropping Vantage fares, just calling them Getaway and reducing what they see as benefits of Vantage over Getaway.

 

It seems the only passengers to date who have benefitted from the extra OBC are ones who had booked very early for this year and before Vantage was introduced.

 

P&O aren't the only ones with a cute marketing team. A friend has just booked a cruise and he believes he has a BOGOF offer. He hasn't as he has paid £100 a night for two on a cruise which my parents paid about £50 per night each for last year.

No not true. As I have said there are a group of people who booked between the introduction of Vantage and when it was made clear that there would be getaway fares whom would have a grievance but the system is now clear and transparent. Remember some people are reporting that they have been given more OBC than they first thought,

There is also no guarantee that there will be any getaway fares at all. The getaway for our cruise in June is only down by £100 and the one in September for our cabin grade there is no availability now and this has been the case for some months.

Gan Canny

Dai

:cool:

There's a massive difference to what went before. Passengers have been coerced into booking early at a price, on the promise that if the price falls you will get a refund in the form of on OBC. It's apparent P&O had no intention of dropping Vantage fares, just calling them Getaway and reducing what they see as benefits of Vantage over Getaway.

 

It seems the only passengers to date who have benefitted from the extra OBC are ones who had booked very early for this year and before Vantage was introduced.

 

P&O aren't the only ones with a cute marketing team. A friend has just booked a cruise and he believes he has a BOGOF offer. He hasn't as he has paid £100 a night for two on a cruise which my parents paid about £50 per night each for last year.

Before I part with any of my money for a holiday-and usually it's for me a lot I look into things. From when I first started cruising, when I was told never ever book the brochure price I have kept an eye open to see whats out there and can I do better. I am slightly confused by all these people who say I booked a cruise for a sqillion and now it's only half a sqillon. I was promised money back. Before anyone handed over their money (remember no one makes you book a cruise-it's not something you HAVE to do) did they not at least look at the brochure or on line or even talk to the TA ,and think hang on what's this 2 fare thingy.

As Dai has posted many times things are very clear now, you book at vantage and have choices ,or you wait for getaway (which may not happen for the cruise you want) and have no choices.

If I am paying vantage fares then I fully expect to always have my choice of dining. If the only way of guaranteeing that is to not sort out the dining arrangements until after vantage fares are finished then so be it. Also next year as no choice of dining is written into the T and C for getaway fares I would take it you cannot change it when onboard. Then I guess the group of 4 (family or whatever) who book 2 cabins ,which turns out to be on different decks ,at opposite ends of the ship, may also find themselves of different dining sittings. Will they then complain that having paid half of what I have paid for the same cruise they are not happy with the golaposts...ofcourse they will, as you cannot keep everyone happy all the time.

I notice people keep on saying paying for shuttle buses will create a 2 tier cruise experience. Fred has had this for quite some time, and I don't remember reading anywhere their ships are 2 tier (suites and high loyalty members get them free)

We booked in January for an August cruise. Yesterday we found out that the price was £200 less for each passenger on getaway prices. I phoned to check with P&O as booked direct with them, they advised they could not meet that price now, but we were given on board credit as a gesture of goodwill, no where near the saving I might add. However for us with a child to consider we were not able to cancel and rebook at the cheaper price as we could end up on different decks ( parenting skills cannot transfer more than a door or across a corridor I believe). So for us we have the rooms we want at a price we were happy to pay - but now also have OBC for a few bottles of wine with dinner!:D

Some years ago I spent a little time in the double glazing industry! No doubt you have all heard them say they will not be beaten on price for a 'Like for like' quote

The reality is they never ever honor that,as there is always some small difference in the spec' of window frame, or the door handle is a different quality:D

They also had so called special offer brochures printed for everything, so no matter what the customer wanted you could tell them how lucky they were and whip out that weeks 'special offer' for the 40% off Oak colour frames with brass handles:p or the free conservatory furniture for one week only!

I left after a short time because I was horrified at the sales scams in that industry.!!

Its not just the cruise industry that plays cleverly with words!!

Not sure how relevant this story is, just wanted to share it with you LOL:)

Before I part with any of my money for a holiday-and usually it's for me a lot I look into things. From when I first started cruising, when I was told never ever book the brochure price I have kept an eye open to see whats out there and can I do better. I am slightly confused by all these people who say I booked a cruise for a sqillion and now it's only half a sqillon. I was promised money back. Before anyone handed over their money (remember no one makes you book a cruise-it's not something you HAVE to do) did they not at least look at the brochure or on line or even talk to the TA ,and think hang on what's this 2 fare thingy.

As Dai has posted many times things are very clear now, you book at vantage and have choices ,or you wait for getaway (which may not happen for the cruise you want) and have no choices.

If I am paying vantage fares then I fully expect to always have my choice of dining. If the only way of guaranteeing that is to not sort out the dining arrangements until after vantage fares are finished then so be it. Also next year as no choice of dining is written into the T and C for getaway fares I would take it you cannot change it when onboard. Then I guess the group of 4 (family or whatever) who book 2 cabins ,which turns out to be on different decks ,at opposite ends of the ship, may also find themselves of different dining sittings. Will they then complain that having paid half of what I have paid for the same cruise they are not happy with the golaposts...ofcourse they will, as you cannot keep everyone happy all the time.

I notice people keep on saying paying for shuttle buses will create a 2 tier cruise experience. Fred has had this for quite some time, and I don't remember reading anywhere their ships are 2 tier (suites and high loyalty members get them free)

Excellent post, totally agree - especially the bolded bit.

Why thank you.

I have had a brilliant idea that I have posted on another forum, where the discussion was biscuits..

Now how about if you booked vantage fares you got priory crumbles et all, and if you booked getaway you got the current fare.

Would the above draw you back to vantage fares?????

YES.............DON'T BOOK EARLY...............not even a Getaway. We did that last month and today the price has dropped a further £340 EACH!!!! Guess there's nothing I can do now, or is there perhaps even though I know the T&C's???

There are some absolutely amazing fares about now so that tells us all the state of the overloaded bed space cruise market.........

Sadly you only have a choice if you are travelling as a couple. We like a family cruise and the only choice is book at the vantage price or travel with another company. At the moment another company looks like getting the money again.

today the price has dropped a further £340 EACH!!!! Guess there's nothing I can do now, or is there perhaps even though I know the T&C's???

No, there is nothing you can do, having booked too soon. You knew what you were doing, got it wrong, and were not misled.

I've been arguing a pretty strong case on behalf of those conned by Vantage fares (not me) for a while now, but your post is really not helpful to anyone and does nothing for the cause of those really duped.

Annie:(

I wonder how long it will take the idiots at P&O corporate HQ to find out the number of empty cabins on sailing is increasing. Then they will have the bright idea of solving the problem by banning solos and families from booking them......er....hold on a minute :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: