An increase in marketing?

[daiB]

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

As I have never had the chance to go to a cocktail party  (whatever that is) I suppose that in future I must avoid Arcadia!

Seriously - I know you are a host, but is that  a serious reason for disliking a ship?

The cocktail party in question is for everyone and is called the captains welcome party. It’s where you get the free P&O booze. Held on the first or second sea day on every ship.

As Sharon says it is held round the pool whilst not ideal I like it better than when it’s held on Ventura/Azura/Britannia as it is then in the atrium and only a very small %of those present can actually see the Captain  therefore they chatter. On Arcadia most people can see and hear the Captain.

[daiB]

14 minutes ago, snaefell said:

P&O don't even seem to visit Liverpool anymore,don't know about other ports but I'm not sure we are going to see any suitable terminal built at Liverpool in my lifetime,the use of the Cunard building seemed a wonderful idea but they seem to have found that they can't afford it anymore,sadly.

Since I have been cruising they never visited Liverpool very often at all. They tend to leave the round Britain cruises to Princess.

[snaefell]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Wasn't there a press release recently about a new cruise terminal building being planned for Liverpool?

There always seems to plans & promises for a cruise terminal in Liverpool,like there was for trams,I think there's more chance of the Liver Birds flying away!

The plan to use the Cunard Building,IMO,seemed wonderful,there was reasons given that it was at the wrong end of the landing stage but the landing stage was/is on it's last legs & was overdue for replacement anyway,but it seemed too big a job to rebuild it with the cruise ships berthing at the other end apparently.

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, daiB said:

The cocktail party in question is for everyone and is called the captains welcome party. It’s where you get the free P&O booze. Held on the first or second sea day on every ship.

As Sharon says it is held round the pool whilst not ideal I like it better than when it’s held on Ventura/Azura/Britannia as it is then in the atrium and only a very small %of those present can actually see the Captain  therefore they chatter. On Arcadia most people can see and hear the Captain.

I obviously missed it. Obviously Sheila doesn't share your opinion about the venue, as she has blacklisted Arcadia because of it.

[daiB]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

I obviously missed it. Obviously Sheila doesn't share your opinion about the venue, as she has blacklisted Arcadia because of it.

Do you mean Sharon, as it happens I agree with some of her points but no venue is ideal. Aurora is possibly the best as it’s held in Carmens and the Crows Nest and the Captain has to un between the two.

[wowzz]

24 minutes ago, daiB said:

Do you mean Sharon, as it happens I agree with some of her points but no venue is ideal. Aurora is possibly the best as it’s held in Carmens and the Crows Nest and the Captain has to un between the two.

Sorry, yes I did mean Sharon. Got my Sharons and Sheilas confused.,

[wowzz]

48 minutes ago, snaefell said:

There always seems to plans & promises for a cruise terminal in Liverpool,like there was for trams,I think there's more chance of the Liver Birds flying away!

The plan to use the Cunard Building,IMO,seemed wonderful,there was reasons given that it was at the wrong end of the landing stage but the landing stage was/is on it's last legs & was overdue for replacement anyway,but it seemed too big a job to rebuild it with the cruise ships berthing at the other end apparently.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/heres-liverpools-new-50m-cruise-16804018

This is one of the articles I was thinking of.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

P&O don't even seem to visit Liverpool anymore,don't know about other ports but I'm not sure we are going to see any suitable terminal built at Liverpool in my lifetime,the use of the Cunard building seemed a wonderful idea but they seem to have found that they can't afford it anymore,sadly.

We live in the north but are happy to sail from Southampton especially when going south, it seems pointless adding on an extra day's sailing just to avoid the travelling down.

It might be worthwhile sailing from Hull for the fjords or Baltic cruises, but Liverpool is really a non starter,  even for transatlantics Cunard sail from Southampton. However P&O would probably need to home port one of their ships in Hull to make it viable, and I don't see that happening.

Edited September 22, 2019 by terrierjohn

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We live in the north but are happy to sail from Southampton especially when going south, it seems pointless adding on an extra day's sailing just to avoid the travelling down.

It might be worthwhile sailing from Hull for the fjords or Baltic cruises, but Liverpool is really a non starter,  even for transatlantics Cunard sail from Southampton. However P&O would probably need to home port one of their ships in Hull to make it viable, and I don't see that happening.

I agree, P&O have an established system in place in Southampton,  and it makes no sense to base even one ship  in a Northern port.  

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

We live in the north but are happy to sail from Southampton especially when going south, it seems pointless adding on an extra day's sailing just to avoid the travelling down.

It might be worthwhile sailing from Hull for the fjords or Baltic cruises, but Liverpool is really a non starter,  even for transatlantics Cunard sail from Southampton. However P&O would probably need to home port one of their ships in Hull to make it viable, and I don't see that happening.

The same pointless extra day spent going north when travelling to Norway, Iceland the Baltic’s etc.

 

 

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

I agree, P&O have an established system in place in Southampton,  and it makes no sense to base even one ship  in a Northern port.  

It may make sense if they can’t fill all the new capacity without deep discounting. They may of course fill the ships easily, only time will tell.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

The same pointless extra day spent going north when travelling to Norway, Iceland the Baltic’s etc.

 

 

I didn't say it did not have merit, only that I doubted P&O would ever consider it.

[Eglesbrech]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I didn't say it did not have merit, only that I doubted P&O would ever consider it.

I very much doubt it myself but I do wonder why they don’t at least try it. Fred Olsen fills their ships from Rosyth at a ridiculously high mark up, as does Marella from Newcastle.

[Harry Peterson]

So long as Carnival can fill their ships from a single southern base,  they will.  Sound business sense.

 

But the day may come when they can't. Indeed that may already be the case. 

 

That might give the proposed new terminal at Hull a chance as one of two smaller Carnival bases pulling in from the midlands northwards and concentrating on those destinations more accessible from Hull than Southampton. 

[terrierjohn]

46 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I very much doubt it myself but I do wonder why they don’t at least try it. Fred Olsen fills their ships from Rosyth at a ridiculously high mark up, as does Marella from Newcastle.

To make it viable as an alternative to Southampton would require home porting one ship  there for a summer season, and transferring most of the Baltic sailings and a lot of the fjord cruises onto this one ship. Currently P&O share these cruises across their full fleet giving a choice to their small ship as well as big ship clientele, whether one ship could satisfy all their passengers is debatable, and this is why I don't believe it will happen anytime soon.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

To make it viable as an alternative to Southampton would require home porting one ship  there for a summer season, and transferring most of the Baltic sailings and a lot of the fjord cruises onto this one ship. Currently P&O share these cruises across their full fleet giving a choice to their small ship as well as big ship clientele, whether one ship could satisfy all their passengers is debatable, and this is why I don't believe it will happen anytime soon.

Excellent and well considered answer.  Hull, Newcastie etc, are inaccessible for the majority of UK cruisers,  and, apart from the fjords or the Baltic,  are not suitable for cruises to the Med or Canaries. 

[Harry Peterson]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Excellent and well considered answer.  Hull, Newcastie etc, are inaccessible for the majority of UK cruisers,  and, apart from the fjords or the Baltic,  are not suitable for cruises to the Med or Canaries. 

I think you're overlooking the number of people from north of London to Scotland who regard Southampton as inaccessible! And for that reason they choose alternative holidays, meaning Carnival lose out altogether. 

 

Much more available money up here than you might think, too. Lower house prices and rents = more holiday spending.

[wowzz]

54 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I think you're overlooking the number of people from north of London to Scotland who regard Southampton as inaccessible! And for that reason they choose alternative holidays, meaning Carnival lose out altogether. 

 

Much more available money up here than you might think, too. Lower house prices and rents = more holiday spending.

 

At the end of the day P&O,  Princess, etc are going to continue to use Southampton until there is an impact on the bottom line. Hull, Newcastle,  Liverpool  are just as inaccessible to many people as Southampton is. 

[Harry Peterson]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

At the end of the day P&O,  Princess, etc are going to continue to use Southampton until there is an impact on the bottom line. Hull, Newcastle,  Liverpool  are just as inaccessible to many people as Southampton is. 

I don't disagree with you.  But making your cruises inaccessible to half the country when there are so many other holiday and indeed cruise options available isn't necessarily the best option in difficult times.

 

Using two ports would undoubtedly widen the market. 

[Les_ldh]

5 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I don't disagree with you.  But making your cruises inaccessible to half the country when there are so many other holiday and indeed cruise options available isn't necessarily the best option in difficult times.

 

Using two ports would undoubtedly widen the market. 

Harry, I couldn’t agree with you more.

[AndyMichelle]

41 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I don't disagree with you.  But making your cruises inaccessible to half the country when there are so many other holiday and indeed cruise options available isn't necessarily the best option in difficult times.

 

Using two ports would undoubtedly widen the market. 

A view from the South...

As you say Harry, difficult times. 

P&O have an established set up and core passenger base in the South, would they risk disturbing that? 

I have not yet been on a half full ship from Southampton and until the cruises stop selling at a reasonable price, I can't see much changing. 

I agree that it would be good for lots of people, but I obviously would continue to look for options down here. 

Andy

Edited September 23, 2019 by AndyMichelle

[Josy1953]

24 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

A view from the South...

As you say Harry, difficult times. 

P&O have an established set up and core passenger base in the South, would they risk disturbing that? 

I have not yet been on a half full ship from Southampton and until the cruises stop selling at a reasonable price, I can't see much changing. 

I agree that it would be good for lots of people, but I obviously would continue to look for options down here. 

Andy

You are correct Andy.  As a regular cruiser living in Stoke I would welcome cruises from Liverpool but cannot see it ever happening because the ships are sailing full from Southampton. 

 

Why would any company change something that is working well at the moment.  There is also a cost to consider, most cruises are sailing south from Southampton so Liverpool departures on the same itineraries would require an extra day in sea day at the beginning and end of each cruise.  We will just have to accept that it is what it is and continue to spend the pre-cruise night in Southampton

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I don't disagree with you.  But making your cruises inaccessible to half the country when there are so many other holiday and indeed cruise options available isn't necessarily the best option in difficult times.

 

Using two ports would undoubtedly widen the market. 

I think we all agree with this Harry, but at present P&O are not struggling to fill their ships sailing from Southampton, and bear in mind their current fleet size differences, and the loyalties these generate. 

I would think that once the 3 medium sized old ladies are sold off, leaving only the large younger ladies in service things may start to look different to P&O, and at this point they might re-think their Southampton only policy.  But I imagine that is at least 8/10 years away, and I don't think I will still be cruising by then. 

[Eglesbrech]

The big difference about northern sailings is that they tend to run both full and at a sustained price for the cruise company. P&O are selling off cruises in the next couple of months for £399 for a week. Even sailings embarking from as far north as Dundee sell out fast (its a lovely little port and starting to bring in ships for the V&A etc)

 

Move that ship to a more northern port and it would sell cabins at a more realistic price, even late in the year. 

 

If they were selling everything they would not need to bombard pax with emails every other day and post at least once a week. As I said above only time will tell.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Eglesbrech said:

If they were selling everything they would not need to bombard pax with emails every other day and post at least once a week.

I don't think you can make that assumption. The marketing department will have a budget, which will be spent regardless of how the cruises are selling. As we all know in business, if you have a budget, you need to spend 99.9% of it, otherwise next year your budget will be reduced !!