Price Reduction

[Dwalkerdave]

Maybe a silly question but here goes.

 

if the price drops can you contact P&O and ask for a cabin upgrade if you can now get a better cabin now for less than when you booked ? Or would they base it on the better grade price when you booked ?

 

also how about if you go from say balcony to suite, is that also the same on pricing as above ?

 

thanks.

[madster66]

Hi .. As far as I understand any request to upgrade your cabin will be based on the pricing that was in place when you booked your cruise. I have only done this when the price was much higher currently than when I booked but am fairly certain it applies either way. 

[Eglesbrech]

British cruise lines are generally not very helpful when it comes to price drops and P &O is just the same. Any upgrade that you request will be at the price point on the day you booked.

 

The only exception to this is if they phone and offer you a paid for upgrade at a good rate.

[jenny wren]

We have in the past cancelled our cruise , losing the deposit, and rebooking at the cheaper price and still been several hundred pounds better off!!   You do need to do the sums carefully though!!

Edited December 16, 2018 by jenny wren
Spelling

[daiB]

The only way it can be done is to cancel your booking and start again. Only you can do the sums to see if it is worth it.

 

it you are asking  take it you booked your cruise at an expensive time.

[daiB]

3 minutes ago, jenny wren said:

We have in the past cancelled our cruise , losing the deposit, and rebooking at the cheaper price and still been several hundred pounds better off!!   You do need to do the sums carefully though!!

 

Snap.

[Dwalkerdave]

33 minutes ago, daiB said:

The only way it can be done is to cancel your booking and start again. Only you can do the sums to see if it is worth it.

 

it you are asking  take it you booked your cruise at an expensive time.

Yes bad choice on the time I booked but it is always a gamble. At the moment the deposit is more than the difference so it wouldn’t make sense to re-book. 

[daiB]

8 minutes ago, Dwalkerdave said:

Yes bad choice on the time I booked but it is always a gamble. At the moment the deposit is more than the difference so it wouldn’t make sense to re-book. 

The general perception now is that it is best to book very early. Ie as soon as possible.

[Son of Anarchy]

13 hours ago, jenny wren said:

We have in the past cancelled our cruise , losing the deposit, and rebooking at the cheaper price and still been several hundred pounds better off!!   You do need to do the sums carefully though!!

 

Done that as well ourselves. Even after losing our deposit we saved about £800!

 

When we've asked about possible upgrades, prices have always been based on the price at the time we booked.

[steelerannie]

On 12/16/2018 at 7:13 PM, Dwalkerdave said:

Maybe a silly question but here goes.

 

if the price drops can you contact P&O and ask for a cabin upgrade if you can now get a better cabin now for less than when you booked ? Or would they base it on the better grade price when you booked ?

 

also how about if you go from say balcony to suite, is that also the same on pricing as above ?

 

thanks.

We asked about this for our recent cruise. The price went down so much it was only£55 per person  for a balcony cabin than what we’d paid for an inside. I contacted p and o and basically was told tough luck!! Spoke to a couple who’d paid less than £999 for a 2 week Caribbean cruise in a balcony, booking 2 weeks in advance. We’re going to leave it till the last minute in future.

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, steelerannie said:

We asked about this for our recent cruise. The price went down so much it was only£55 per person  for a balcony cabin than what we’d paid for an inside. I contacted p and o and basically was told tough luck!! Spoke to a couple who’d paid less than £999 for a 2 week Caribbean cruise in a balcony, booking 2 weeks in advance. We’re going to leave it till the last minute in future.

That’s one approach, certainly, and there are some great deals around which will more than compensate for the trivial extra courtesy bus charges.

 

You may not get your choice of dining, but a word with the maitre d’ should resolve that.

 

However, what you won’t get is the pleasure of anticipation, the certainty of knowing you’re going on a particular cruise, and a choice of cabin. There’s also the risk of getting one of the less pleasant cabins that nobody really wants.

[jeanlyon]

And you might not get the cruise at all!!  We booked one for October 2020 on launch.  Paid £1320 for an inside cabin for 19 nights.  It is now standing at £2299 pp!!  Now 2 weeks before there may well be the odd cabin going for what we paid or less, but I couldn't possibly take a chance like that.  Dogs to organise, leave from work.  I don't mind someone paying less than me if I am totally pleased with the price I paid.

Edited December 21, 2018 by jeanlyon

[john watson]

On 12/16/2018 at 7:39 PM, Eglesbrech said:

British cruise lines are generally not very helpful when it comes to price drops and P &O is just the same. Any upgrade that you request will be at the price point on the day you booked.

 

The only exception to this is if they phone and offer you a paid for upgrade at a good rate.

 

I do not think  "British cruise lines"  are the problem.  In my opinion it is more of a universal way we contract to buy things in the UK, particularly travel related items where the sums of money are very large.

 

When contacting P&O it is helpful to speak with the concierge department, during their limited hours: 0843 374 0001

 

 

 

Regards John

[Eglesbrech]

8 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

I do not think  "British cruise lines"  are the problem.  In my opinion it is more of a universal way we contract to buy things in the UK, particularly travel related items where the sums of money are very large.

 

When contacting P&O it is helpful to speak with the concierge department, during their limited hours: 0843 374 0001

 

 

 

Regards John

 

Your right, I expressed it badly and should have said British bookings. People in the US can get price drops and in the UK we don’t.

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, john watson said:

When contacting P&O it is helpful to speak with the concierge department, during their limited hours: 0843 374 0001

 

Regards John

But check carefully first with your call provider - 0843 calls can give rise to hefty charges.  And shame on P&O for still using these numbers to increase their profits - actually unlawful under the EU Consumer Rights Directive when calling a retailer or provider with a query about goods or services they've already bought.

 

 

[jeanlyon]

I use a site called "say no to 0870" and this is what comes up for that number 0800 0523840   Try that one.

[john watson]

21 hours ago, docco said:

But check carefully first with your call provider - 0843 calls can give rise to hefty charges.  And shame on P&O for still using these numbers to increase their profits - actually unlawful under the EU Consumer Rights Directive when calling a retailer or provider with a query about goods or services they've already bought.

 

 

 

I am a bit pragmatic about this sort of thing.  If you pay £20 on a phone call that gets you a better deal which could be financially assessed as a £300 improvement, it's worth it.  It is not a sensible strategy to call for general information. You need to have all your thinking predetermined and a "route one" to goal devised.

 

Regards John

[terrierjohn]

14 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

I am a bit pragmatic about this sort of thing.  If you pay £20 on a phone call that gets you a better deal which could be financially assessed as a £300 improvement, it's worth it.  It is not a sensible strategy to call for general information. You need to have all your thinking predetermined and a "route one" to goal devised.

 

Regards John

"I didn't get where I am today by paying too much for phone calls". 

[majortom10]

51 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

I am a bit pragmatic about this sort of thing.  If you pay £20 on a phone call that gets you a better deal which could be financially assessed as a £300 improvement, it's worth it.  It is not a sensible strategy to call for general information. You need to have all your thinking predetermined and a "route one" to goal devised.

 

Regards John

Thats fine but if you phone the 0843 number at cost to you and you dont get any luck with a discount then you are losing even more money. There is no guarantee so freephone number for me every time.

[ann141]

8 hours ago, john watson said:

 

I am a bit pragmatic about this sort of thing.  If you pay £20 on a phone call that gets you a better deal which could be financially assessed as a £300 improvement, it's worth it.  It is not a sensible strategy to call for general information. You need to have all your thinking predetermined and a "route one" to goal devised.

 

Regards John

Are you hinting that if we specifically phone the concierge dept (rather than the normal customer services number) we might have more chance of an upgrade for a reasonable price than paying the difference at the time the cruise was booked?Or is that just my wishful thinking!?

[john watson]

1 hour ago, ann141 said:

Are you hinting that if we specifically phone the concierge dept (rather than the normal customer services number) we might have more chance of an upgrade for a reasonable price than paying the difference at the time the cruise was booked?Or is that just my wishful thinking!?

 

Yes, they have people there who probably have a bit more authority.  You cannot guarantee anything but I believe a polite well structured call from oneself can work.  I am obviously not 100% certain but cruise lines seem to have information on passengers for marketing purposes and I suspect they know more than "how many times you have sailed" but also feedback from on board staff.

 

Regards John

[ann141]

4 minutes ago, john watson said:

 

Yes, they have people there who probably have a bit more authority.  You cannot guarantee anything but I believe a polite well structured call from oneself can work.  I am obviously not 100% certain but cruise lines seem to have information on passengers for marketing purposes and I suspect they know more than "how many times you have sailed" but also feedback from on board staff.

 

Regards John

Interesting.Thank you 🙂

[Selbourne]

Is the suggestion here that people can blag a cheap upgrade by calling P&O? If so, is that a new thing, as I have never heard of it? As far as I was aware, upgrades are either free (allocated by P&O when the passenger had said ‘yes’ to automatic upgrades) or at the price differential based upon the prices on the date you booked (if requested by the passenger). A third way is when some passengers are offered, for example, an upgrade to a suite for a nominal fee of circa £100 per passenger. I have know this to happen, but it is always initiated by P&O and not at the request of the passenger. Has the system changed or have I been oblivious to a forth route?

[john watson]

12 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

"I didn't get where I am today by paying too much for phone calls". 

 

Yes TJ

[slug33ukuk]

We have just changed our booking as the price was reduced by £400pp for an inside cabin...we sent a friendly email to Princess who informed us we could cancel and re book for £100 admin fee and lose some OBC, ~(they only do it once) We then booked and selected an OUTSIDE CABIN kept £500 obc and still saved over£200 pp...gotta be happy with that.