Cunard Late Bookings

[9stilton]

I along, no doubt with many others, have fallen foul of making an early booking with Cunard only to find that they have reduced the cruise to crazy prices. I recognise that I have no recourse on the matter but having looked thoroughly into the current years costings I would seriously suggest to others that they fully consider waiting until later before depature before making a booking. If you follow the costings closely, by far the majority of cruises are being markedly reduced after the 8 week full payment date passes.

 

It seems that the over capacity in the cruise market is really beginning to show its face with most of the major cruise lines and if you are either flexible or prepared to take a small gamble there are big benefits to be achieved. This covers most grades of staterooms, as in my case they have crashed the prices of all grades giving customers not only great prices but the real chance of upgrading cheaply too.

 

The current situation of low bookings thus preclude Cunard from upgrading their regular (higher paying) passengers because of the attractive prices offered on balcony cabins.

 

I have been bitten this time --- but it is the last time I will pay such a premium to Cunard. I hope others don't fall foul of the current price crashes that are readily available.

[MadScientist_01]

I'm quite ambivalent about it all to be honest - I've paid full whack for some trips and taken advantage of reduced prices on others, so for me it all works out about even.

For example, I only get to really guarantee myself a holiday once every one or two years (if a big research contract comes in I sometimes skip a year to take it on) - but that means that I want a well-planned holiday of a certain standard when I know I want a break at a certain time, and I'm prepared to pay what it takes to guarantee that. Occasionally I'll find myself with some free time when I can book something last minute and I get to take advantage of the reduced offerings then (and some of these have included some nice cabins etc.).

 

I booked a vantage fare last year on-board for my next trip and had all of the usual spin - you'll get this OBC and that upgrade if the price drops etc. - which we now know is rubbish because they just change it to a Getaway fare and it negates what they tell you. But my thinking on it was - if I wasn't told any of this would I still have booked it? The answer was 'yes' so it didn't bother me. I can understand why some people were upset about it on the other thread but, as I said, I've taken advantage of the other side of it at other times.

 

These things will mean different things to different people depending upon their circumstances, whether they are flexible on dates, cabin expectations etc. Certainly the onus seems to be put more on the customer to find a good deal rather than the company to offer a good deal outright, but we're seeing that across a lot of companies and services these days.

[Jim Avery]

I agree. If you are locked in to dates and need a certain accommodation, booking early is the sure way to guarantee that. We usually wait as we can be fairly flexible. As was stated, the deals really start to flow after the final payment date. Our next cruise we booked 450 days out but it is on a very small ship on a new itinerary in a new region so we wanted what we wanted.:eek: In the Caribbean, we always wait for the last minute deals.:D

[pmb1]

I along, no doubt with many others, have fallen foul of making an early booking with Cunard only to find that they have reduced the cruise to crazy prices. I recognise that I have no recourse on the matter ...

I don't understand; I have always booked directly with Cunard and always an early booking. A few times, when months after booking I saw on-line that the fare had been reduced, I phoned Cunard and was given the benefit of the new fare, no questions asked. Granted, Cunard never contacted me first about any reduction and I phoned before the final payment date, but when I asked about any reductions Cunard always obliged.

[laktex]

I noticed the other day that even Getaway fares can increase in price - still cheaper than Vantage but illustrates the difficulty in knowing when best to book for the lowest fare.

[pepperrn]

I noticed the other day that even Getaway fares can increase in price - still cheaper than Vantage but illustrates the difficulty in knowing when best to book for the lowest fare.

And another catch, when flying is involved to reach or return from the ship. The Vantage fare and Getaway fares may include the flight (were needed), but I've heard of people booking Getaway fares very late and discovering that the flight to or from the ship has "sold out". They then had to book their own flight (at last minute prices :eek: ) or pay whatever is demanded of them as an additional charge: "we've used up all our booked seats, but we can get you on this flight for an additional £200" (or more) :eek: .

[Pennbank]

And another catch, when flying is involved to reach or return from the ship. The Vantage fare and Getaway fares may include the flight (were needed), but I've heard of people booking Getaway fares very late and discovering that the flight to or from the ship has "sold out". They then had to book their own flight (at last minute prices :eek: ) or pay whatever is demanded of them as an additional charge: "we've used up all our booked seats, but we can get you on this flight for an additional £200" (or more) :eek: .

 

Using Cunards UK website for the Getaway fares which need air are shown as

 

Book Cruise Only

or

Book Cruise with Flights and Transfers

 

its easy to do a dummy booking to see whats available.

[pepperrn]

Using Cunards UK website for the Getaway fares which need air are shown as Book Cruise Only or Book Cruise with Flights and Transfers its easy to do a dummy booking to see whats available.

Thank you Pennbank :) ,

In the three cases I know of (all booked close to sailing date), the bookings were made on-line (Cunard website) following the second of your suggestions "book cruise with flights and transfers".

In all three cases (this was over last winter) when reaching a certain stage in the process the website told the people concerned to call Cunard direct: They did and were then offered the choice of arranging their own flight or booking with Cunard at additional cost (from £100 to £215 per person) as "there are no seats available on the flight".

In one case a member of a family (who decided to go with his family one day after the other three members of the family had booked) was offered a flight home with a different airline at an additional £100, despite the fact that he would be sharing a cabin on board the ship with one of the other three. So he paid up... but was aware that he had paid £100 more than the rest of his family for the same holiday :mad: .

All best wishes,

[Wacktle]

I don't understand; I have always booked directly with Cunard and always an early booking. A few times, when months after booking I saw on-line that the fare had been reduced, I phoned Cunard and was given the benefit of the new fare, no questions asked. Granted, Cunard never contacted me first about any reduction and I phoned before the final payment date, but when I asked about any reductions Cunard always obliged.

 

Are you in the UK? If so, you must be unique, I think.

[pmb1]

Are you in the UK? If so, you must be unique, I think.

Nope, the US. I didn't realize that this was a UK-only thread, sorry for butting in.

[SALAD MUNCHER]

Nope, the US. I didn't realize that this was a UK-only thread, sorry for butting in.

 

 

Don't worry, it's not a UK only thread. It is just that the 'laws' regarding travel bookings are different here in the UK than they are in the USA, therefore your T&Cs are different. Here once you have booked, generally that's it..tough luck!! lol :)

[Wacktle]

Don't worry, it's not a UK only thread. It is just that the 'laws' regarding travel bookings are different here in the UK than they are in the USA, therefore your T&Cs are different. Here once you have booked, generally that's it..tough luck!! lol :)

 

Thanks for explaining what I actually meant! I thought that if the person getting the refund was a UK-based customer, then he/she must be the only person to achieve this. As you say, we have to pay what we've agreed to pay at the outset, or cancel and lose our deposit.

[Jimsgirl]

Many of the deals are "New bookings only" even in the USA, and if you already have a booking you cannot get the reduced fare.

 

There have been several occasions where this has happened to myself (not a whine simply putting the facts)

 

I think booking with any cruise line , any which way, is like crossing a minefield, you hope that your method is the "good" one. Sometimes you "win" and sometimes you "lose".

[balf]

but I've heard of people booking Getaway fares very late and discovering that the flight to or from the ship has "sold out".

 

Logically if you book and pay for a cruise which includes flights, the percentage of the payment that you have made that covers the flight should be refunded and should match the price of the replacement offered. It's easy to forget that consumer protection applies to cruise companies as well, and a County Court judge would take a dim view in this case.

 

And if they can do this on a Getaway (punishment) what's to prevent them doing it with a Vantage?

 

David

[pepperrn]

Logically if you book and pay for a cruise which includes flights, the percentage of the payment that you have made that covers the flight should be refunded and should match the price of the replacement offered. It's easy to forget that consumer protection applies to cruise companies as well, and a County Court judge would take a dim view in this case. And if they can do this on a Getaway (punishment) what's to prevent them doing it with a Vantage? David

Quite. One of the three passengers I mentioned above (post #8) told me: after she had paid extra to get a flight home (as all the flights were "fully booked for your cruise, sorry, but we can get you on x airline for x supplement") a few days later she called Cunard again to point out that they were still advertising the cruise including flight at the same Getaway fare she had been denied. When in reality anyone trying to book now would have to pay a large supplement as the advertised flights were sold out. The person she talked to said "we don't control the website, and we tell people you can make your own arrangements or pay the supplement, your choice". Once the flights were full she expected them to pull the "fly/cruise" area and only allow people to access "cruise only" bookings. Sounds all wrong to me... :mad: .

[BlueRiband]

..after she had paid extra to get a flight home (as all the flights were "fully booked for your cruise, sorry, but we can get you on x airline for x supplement") a few days later she called Cunard again to point out that they were still advertising the cruise including flight at the same Getaway fare she had been denied...

 

In the States this is called ''Bait and Switch'' - where a low, low price is advertised but when a customer attempts to buy the low price item it is unavailable while a higher priced ''upgrade'' is available.

 

The agent doesn't operate the web site, but it's inexcusable that space availability is not automatically updated in real time.