comcox Posted February 14, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 14, 2020 When cruising with U.S. cruise lines if there is a price drop before the final payment is due, you can request the new price. Does that work with P & O as well? My final payment is due at the end of the month and I noticed the price is now £85 cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suebiker Posted February 14, 2020 #2 Share Posted February 14, 2020 No - I'm afraid we don't have price drops here. Wish we did!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine0138 Posted February 14, 2020 #3 Share Posted February 14, 2020 With P&O you need to cancel and then rebook, so that means the price drop has to be big enough to cover the lose of your initial deposit to make it worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawn47 Posted February 14, 2020 #4 Share Posted February 14, 2020 I always look for a price that I'm happy with and that I consider to be good value for the cruise I'm interested in. Book it and never check the price again. I'd send myself barmy keep checking all the time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Sharon Posted February 14, 2020 #5 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Sadly, no. The only UK cruise line I aware of that offers this is Saga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiB Posted February 14, 2020 #6 Share Posted February 14, 2020 1 hour ago, comcox said: When cruising with U.S. cruise lines if there is a price drop before the final payment is due, you can request the new price. Does that work with P & O as well? My final payment is due at the end of the month and I noticed the price is now £85 cheaper. The difference is down to the difference between US and UK consumer law. In the US the cruise line has to refund by law, in the U.K. they don’t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted February 14, 2020 #7 Share Posted February 14, 2020 3 hours ago, daiB said: The difference is down to the difference between US and UK consumer law. In the US the cruise line has to refund by law, in the U.K. they don’t. Correct. Which is why we live in “ rip off Britain”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine0138 Posted February 14, 2020 #8 Share Posted February 14, 2020 I have had some great reductions with US lines and once many years ago on Royal I got around £350 back and a cabin upgrade after I had made my payment that never happened again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen@stoneyard.co.uk Posted February 14, 2020 #9 Share Posted February 14, 2020 P&O are not very good at this. I think you have to cancel and rebook. Be careful also if yo have a cheap deposit offer from a travel agent. I believe it is the full deposit amount that is lost but I could be wrong. I would definitely check. Some UK cruise lines can be reasonable. I got a fifty pound onboard credit from CMV for a three night trip on Astoria. They phoned me unsolicited, and said that they has a special promotion on. They felt existing bookings should get the same benefit. I almost dropped the phone. On another occasion I have had a free upgrade on CMV. I rang up and asked how much it would cost and was told they would do it for free. Unknown to me they had reduced the price of the cruise for new booking significantly so it did seem reasonable. I have with Cunard cancelled, lost my deposit, rebooked. It allowed me to switch from a junior suite to a full suite for the same price. Cunard gave me a free upgrade to a Penthouse which made up for the loss of my deposit. I did not know about Saga. A line I would like to try. Thank you. Best wishes, Stephen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted February 14, 2020 #10 Share Posted February 14, 2020 It's an interesting concept. I have a cruise booked for October this year on Arcadia. At present the price is £1100 pp more than I paid. Ours was £1349 pp, it is now £2499 pp. So should someone booking now ask if they can have the price we paid on launch? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset cruise fan Posted February 14, 2020 #11 Share Posted February 14, 2020 This is not the first time this question has been asked and I know it is done by the American cruise lines but I do find it a strange concept. Where else would you demand a refund if the price changes, you certainly won't get a refund from a rail or airfare which both have fluctuating prices. If you've agreed a price and were happy with it then leave well alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted February 14, 2020 #12 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Well exactly! although my fare is an unbelievable deal £1349 for 19 days per person, I am quite sure that about 3 weeks before, there may be some deals because others have cancelled for whatever reason. That doesn't bother me. I got a good deal when I booked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted February 14, 2020 #13 Share Posted February 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Dorset cruise fan said: This is not the first time this question has been asked and I know it is done by the American cruise lines but I do find it a strange concept. Where else would you demand a refund if the price changes, you certainly won't get a refund from a rail or airfare which both have fluctuating prices. If you've agreed a price and were happy with it then leave well alone. It is an interesting observation, there are lots of examples one could give where price reductions would not be offered, but we seem to live in a compensation world nowadays where people seem to demand price parity. And yet when this inevitably leads to a lowering of standards, the same people are the first to cry foul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorset cruise fan Posted February 15, 2020 #14 Share Posted February 15, 2020 We only demand price parity if the price goes down. We're not going to generously offer to match a higher price. I have visions of trying this (being re-fared down) with Ryanair and seeing what the reaction would be. I don't know why a cruise company which equally reacts to supply and demand would behave any differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted February 15, 2020 #15 Share Posted February 15, 2020 12 hours ago, terrierjohn said: It is an interesting observation, there are lots of examples one could give where price reductions would not be offered, but we seem to live in a compensation world nowadays where people seem to demand price parity. And yet when this inevitably leads to a lowering of standards, the same people are the first to cry foul. I don’t think it’s so much price parity as a matter of equality. I don’t mind so much if we all just retain the price we paid at the time we booked, as you quite rightly say standards will fall when the prices do. It is however a bit annoying being on the same ship where some passengers get the sometimes significant price drop and others don’t. We have been in this situation on RCI and Celebrity and you can’t avoid knowing about it as it is openly discussed. It’s not so obvious on P&O as mainly British passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted February 15, 2020 #16 Share Posted February 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said: I don’t think it’s so much price parity as a matter of equality. I don’t mind so much if we all just retain the price we paid at the time we booked, as you quite rightly say standards will fall when the prices do. It is however a bit annoying being on the same ship where some passengers get the sometimes significant price drop and others don’t. We have been in this situation on RCI and Celebrity and you can’t avoid knowing about it as it is openly discussed. It’s not so obvious on P&O as mainly British passengers. It may be annoying but unless cruise lines are free to use whatever marketing ploys are necessary to fill the ship, then their revenue will reduce and profits will drop, and services will likely be even further reduced. We just have to accept these facts and hope the cruise gives us value for our money, even if someone else is getting a better deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted February 15, 2020 #17 Share Posted February 15, 2020 1 minute ago, terrierjohn said: It may be annoying but unless cruise lines are free to use whatever marketing ploys are necessary to fill the ship, then their revenue will reduce and profits will drop, and services will likely be even further reduced. We just have to accept these facts and hope the cruise gives us value for our money, even if someone else is getting a better deal. True, annoying but true. Celebrity are now no longer dropping prices towards the sail date. They have a bidding system for upgrades rather than selling them off cheaply to new bookers which is at least a bit fairer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted February 15, 2020 #18 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I don't care what anyone else pays, but if you think about it, as I booked at launch and got this cruise very cheaply, someone who pays the current price would be cheesed off that I paid almost half as much. It happens all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrierjohn Posted February 15, 2020 #19 Share Posted February 15, 2020 33 minutes ago, jeanlyon said: I don't care what anyone else pays, but if you think about it, as I booked at launch and got this cruise very cheaply, someone who pays the current price would be cheesed off that I paid almost half as much. It happens all the time. I think that's why I am likely to stay with P&O, their launch prices over the last few years have been much more competitive than the other Southampton based cruise lines, and then they have the best launch discounts as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawn47 Posted February 15, 2020 #20 Share Posted February 15, 2020 When we started cruising with P&O 10 years ago the best deals alway seemed to come just after the full payments were due and that lasted for a while. Then it became a game of chance. After taking the advice of some posters on here I booked my 2020 and 2021 cruises at launch and what good advice that was. The prices are now rising and if I'd waited they would have been out of my price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMichelle Posted February 15, 2020 #21 Share Posted February 15, 2020 47 minutes ago, terrierjohn said: I think that's why I am likely to stay with P&O, their launch prices over the last few years have been much more competitive than the other Southampton based cruise lines, and then they have the best launch discounts as well. I wonder if the fashion will change now they need to fill more spaces with the bigger ships? Surely if there is spaces, there should be late deals? Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adawn47 Posted February 15, 2020 #22 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I'm foolishly hoping that more people will decide to go on the larger ships and therefore lowering prices on the smaller. Can't see it happening but, hey ho I'm an optimist 😊. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted February 15, 2020 #23 Share Posted February 15, 2020 21 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said: I wonder if the fashion will change now they need to fill more spaces with the bigger ships? Surely if there is spaces, there should be late deals? Andy I think it might, at least for the big ships. It has swung back and forth over the decades from early booking being best as it is at present to massive last minute bargains that came up just after the payment date. Try reading some of the really old threads on here on the subject. P&O used to have their own cruise forum which some of the older hands on here contributed to but they shut it down. My guess would be that the constant posting about a last minute suite for the price of a balcony or balcony for the advertised inside cabin price may have been a contributing factor, among other things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMichelle Posted February 15, 2020 #24 Share Posted February 15, 2020 22 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said: I think it might, at least for the big ships. It has swung back and forth over the decades from early booking being best as it is at present to massive last minute bargains that came up just after the payment date. Try reading some of the really old threads on here on the subject. P&O used to have their own cruise forum which some of the older hands on here contributed to but they shut it down. My guess would be that the constant posting about a last minute suite for the price of a balcony or balcony for the advertised inside cabin price may have been a contributing factor, among other things. It might be happening already... We have just called our ta and upgraded from a low grade inside to balcony unrestricted for £70 each for our April cruise on Britannia, 7 nights... I wondered if it was more to do with the current climate, but payment date was mid Jan, before the real panic started. Andy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Eglesbrech Posted February 15, 2020 #25 Share Posted February 15, 2020 1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said: It might be happening already... We have just called our ta and upgraded from a low grade inside to balcony unrestricted for £70 each for our April cruise on Britannia, 7 nights... I wondered if it was more to do with the current climate, but payment date was mid Jan, before the real panic started. Andy Brilliant, glad you got the upgrade. The current health scare may have some influence on this but then again they may just have too many cabins to sell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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