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Summer 2022 - Brochure Launch


majortom10
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I had my new cruise details from my T A and checked p and o account,the 2 .21 cruise gone replaced by the 2  new 22 cruises  but nothing from p and o with the actual ref no which I got a week later from my TA but they do show on my cruise personeliser 

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6 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Good for you for asking.  My TA did tell me that P&O are very bad at keeping their agents informed.  It was only seeing something on here which I copied to my TA that he emailed his contact and was told yes they could now use the FCC as the deposit.

Jean - I know you like your TA,  but it seems to me that yet again you are doing his job. Surely he should be monitoring these forums, plus professional TA forums,  and asking the questions himself, not waiting for you to tell him what to do. 

It seems he is quite happy to earn commission on your cruises, but let you do all the work!

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Just been one the phone to my travel agent. It seems that Cunard have charged my husband the correct fare, but they have given me a random £100 discount, and nobody can explain why..

 

The TA has said just to leave it - which I'm going to do, but as someone is scrupulous with my financial affairs, it does seem very strange. 

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Well much to our TA and our own surprise they’ve allowed us to transfer a B2B deposit and another deposit plus some FCC onto one cruise in 2022. When we initially asked the TA said it was highly unlikely they would so maybe they’re finally realising they’ve upset too many customers already and are softening their approach

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9 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Just been one the phone to my travel agent. It seems that Cunard have charged my husband the correct fare, but they have given me a random £100 discount, and nobody can explain why..

 

The TA has said just to leave it - which I'm going to do, but as someone is scrupulous with my financial affairs, it does seem very strange. 


Now that is odd!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thinking of changing a cruise for next autumn to summer 2022.  I realise we have probably missed the best prices, but are there still some decent prices available for some cruises?  We would have preferred a smaller ship, but thinking we may go for a good cabin, (balcony, perhaps rear facing), on one of the bigger ships, if the itinerary is of interest.  Any advice would be very welcome.

 

Edited by tring
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2 minutes ago, tring said:

Thinking of changing a cruise for next autumn to summer 2022.  I realise we have probably missed the best prices, but are there still some decent prices available for some cruises?  We would have preferred a smaller ship, but thinking we may go for a good cabin, (balcony, perhaps rear facing), on one of the bigger ships if the itinerary is of interest.  Any advice would be very welcome.

 

That's a pretty difficult question to answer, as no one has any idea as to what you consider to be a decent price. You also haven't said where you want to cruise. And if you want a smaller ship, you have only really two choices. 

Given the cancellations this week, I can only see prices increasing, so book early.  

 

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10 hours ago, wowzz said:

That's a pretty difficult question to answer, as no one has any idea as to what you consider to be a decent price. You also haven't said where you want to cruise. And if you want a smaller ship, you have only really two choices. 

Given the cancellations this week, I can only see prices increasing, so book early.  

 

Thanks for the reply.  The criteria for a replacement cruise really is a good price and destination could be anywhere.  We would even consider Iona if the price is right.  I think I have seen posts about the prices of the smaller ships having rising quite a bit since the launch a couple of weeks ago, so perhaps not a good idea, but am not sure it that is for all cruises on those ships.  DH read the new P&O transfer requirements which he said allow transfer to any cruise, though I am wondering if they really would allow a transfer of our one month cruise @ £5,000pp to a one week one which costs way less than that.  If so that would be mean we are transferring a risk of a very expensive disrupted cruise, to a much cheaper risk and could be summer 2022, when hopefully things will be settled.  If we go for a bigger ship though we would still book a balcony cabin because of the limitation of deck space on the bigger ships. 

 

Currently thinking a simple fjords may be as good as any as the proportion of sea days seems to be less, though we are be a bit wary of a big ship disgorging so many people into a small port.  Even Aurora/Arcadia are big considering most of our cruises, so somewhat difficult to gauge.  We were originally happy to continue with our September cruise, but it is beginning to dawn on us that we could still be restricted to shore tours when off the ship in the US and Canada, which is a no no for us and would not even be able to meet up with relatives over there as we hoped.  As you say other cruise prices will continue to rise, so waiting to see what happens does not now seem such a good idea.

 

We will search the website later, but just hoped for a bit of a pointer regards what would be best value at present.

 

EDIT

 

Just gone to the website of the agent we booked with to find they are now closed on Saturday and Sunday and P&O refuse to answer a question about any restrictions on what cruise we could transfer to  - are they really allowing a transfer to absolutely any cruise?

Edited by tring
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14 minutes ago, tring said:

Thanks for the reply.  The criteria for a replacement cruise really is a good price and destination could be anywhere.  We would even consider Iona if the price is right.  I think I have seen posts about the prices of the smaller ships having rising quite a bit since the launch a couple of weeks ago, so perhaps not a good idea, but am not sure it that is for all cruises on those ships.  DH read the new P&O transfer requirements which he said allow transfer to any cruise, though I am wondering if they really would allow a transfer of our one month cruise @ £5,000pp to a one week one which costs way less than that.  If so that would be mean we are transferring a risk of a very expensive disrupted cruise, to a much cheaper risk and could be summer 2022, when hopefully things will be settled.  If we go for a bigger ship though we would still book a balcony cabin because of the limitation of deck space on the bigger ships. 

 

Currently thinking a simple fjords may be as good as any as the proportion of sea days seems to be less, though we are be a bit wary of a big ship disgorging so many people into a small port.  Even Aurora/Arcadia are big considering most of our cruises, so somewhat difficult to gauge.  We were originally happy to continue with our September cruise, but it is beginning to dawn on us that we could still be restricted to shore tours when off the ship in the US and Canada, which is a no no for us and would not even be able to meet up with relatives over there as we hoped.  As you say other cruise prices will continue to rise, so waiting to see what happens does not now seem such a good idea.

 

We will search the website later, but just hoped for a bit of a pointer regards what would be best value at present.

 

EDIT

 

Just gone to the website of the agent we booked with to find they are now closed on Saturday and Sunday and P&O refuse to answer a question about any restrictions on what cruise we could transfer to  - are they really allowing a transfer to absolutely any cruise?


Obviously none of us know for certain, so it’s pure speculation, but my thoughts, for what they are worth, are these. I’m not surprised that prices have risen slightly since launch. P&O will know that savvy cruisers are aware that launch prices are usually the cheapest you will ever get any specific cruise, so will book as soon as they can. Maintaining that perception causes a rush of bookings at a time when they desperately need a cash inflow, so it suits them to adopt a ‘business as usual’ impression. Also, for the foreseeable future, passenger numbers will be restricted, so that also helps supply and demand, which affects prices. Once P&O receive a good slug of bookings for any cruise, they will feel confident increasing prices, as some who hesitated at launch will panic and book, again helping cash flow. So that’s the bad news.
 

HOWEVER, we are not in normal times. Those booking at launch and since will be, in the main, seasoned cruisers who know the product and have got their head around the potential restrictions that may apply to cruises for some time. This group are an increasingly small proportion of the market that P&O needs to rely on for future cruises (especially with the largest ships) and I would venture to suggest that the majority of their target ‘new to cruising’ market aren’t rushing to book a cruise at present. Far too much uncertainty, not just about what they have read in the media about the risks of the virus on cruise ships, but their own job security etc. Also, whilst we are all hopeful that the pandemic will be well and truly behind us by 2022 and all restrictions lifted, none of us know that for sure. So you are buying an uncertain product in very uncertain times. That’s quite a plunge. 
 

My theory, therefore, is that once things return to ‘normal’ (which we all sincerely hope will be before summer 2022) and P&O can sail at full capacity, they will struggle to fill ships such as Iona, week after week doing the same 7 day fjords cruises. We are hoping that we might be able to go on Iona in 2022, but don’t intend to book until we are vaccinated and know for certain that all restrictions are lifted. Until that time, cruising isn’t for us, so we won’t book now. If that means we have to pay a bit more nearer the time then that’s a small price to pay, in our view. However, for the reasons given above, I’m not certain that we will have to.

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3 hours ago, Selbourne said:


Obviously none of us know for certain, so it’s pure speculation, but my thoughts, for what they are worth, are these. I’m not surprised that prices have risen slightly since launch. P&O will know that savvy cruisers are aware that launch prices are usually the cheapest you will ever get any specific cruise, so will book as soon as they can. Maintaining that perception causes a rush of bookings at a time when they desperately need a cash inflow, so it suits them to adopt a ‘business as usual’ impression. Also, for the foreseeable future, passenger numbers will be restricted, so that also helps supply and demand, which affects prices. Once P&O receive a good slug of bookings for any cruise, they will feel confident increasing prices, as some who hesitated at launch will panic and book, again helping cash flow. So that’s the bad news.
 

HOWEVER, we are not in normal times. Those booking at launch and since will be, in the main, seasoned cruisers who know the product and have got their head around the potential restrictions that may apply to cruises for some time. This group are an increasingly small proportion of the market that P&O needs to rely on for future cruises (especially with the largest ships) and I would venture to suggest that the majority of their target ‘new to cruising’ market aren’t rushing to book a cruise at present. Far too much uncertainty, not just about what they have read in the media about the risks of the virus on cruise ships, but their own job security etc. Also, whilst we are all hopeful that the pandemic will be well and truly behind us by 2022 and all restrictions lifted, none of us know that for sure. So you are buying an uncertain product in very uncertain times. That’s quite a plunge. 
 

My theory, therefore, is that once things return to ‘normal’ (which we all sincerely hope will be before summer 2022) and P&O can sail at full capacity, they will struggle to fill ships such as Iona, week after week doing the same 7 day fjords cruises. We are hoping that we might be able to go on Iona in 2022, but don’t intend to book until we are vaccinated and know for certain that all restrictions are lifted. Until that time, cruising isn’t for us, so we won’t book now. If that means we have to pay a bit more nearer the time then that’s a small price to pay, in our view. However, for the reasons given above, I’m not certain that we will have to.

 

Thank you very much Selbourne for your detailed and thoughtful reply.  TBH it is pretty much along the lines I have been thinking, though panic had set in recently.  Perhaps good that we cannot do anything until Monday at the earliest, though as our thoughts are to reduce the amount of cash we are gambling on at present (cost of the cruise), we may well continue with our plan.  The alternative would be to sit on it for longer to see if the cruise is cancelled, but the converse of that is we could find ourselves back to the original transfer policy, so we could not reduce the cost of our cruise on transfer before balance payment date, or we would perhaps have to go with restrictions we do not want on the cruise.  The best option for us would be if P&O did cancel the cruise, which would mean a refund or perhaps a small sweetener to accept another cruise or FCC, but with a deposit of £500 it would be a sweetener that would hardly be worth worrying about.

 

I do see your point and will bear it in mind if we decide to go with one of the bigger ships, particularly Iona, though I do wonder if any reductions (that we also feel are fairly likely) will be on a saver basis, which is not something that appeals to us.

 

The good point is that I did manage to speak to P&O by pretending our cruise is booked with them and I was told that we could change for a much cheaper cruise at present, so looks like a one weeker which would be more bearable under restrictions, if they are still present. 

Edited by tring
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14 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Thank you very much Selbourne for your detailed and thoughtful reply.  TBH it is pretty much along the lines I have been thinking, though panic had set in recently.  Perhaps good that we cannot do anything until Monday at the earliest, though as our thoughts are to reduce the amount of cash we are gambling on at present (cost of the cruise), we may well continue with our plan.  The alternative would be to sit on it for longer to see if the cruise is cancelled, but the converse of that is we could find ourselves back to the original transfer policy, so we could not reduce the cost of our cruise on transfer before balance payment date, or we would perhaps have to go with restrictions we do not want on the cruise.  The best option for us would be if P&O did cancel the cruise, which would mean a refund or perhaps a small sweetener to accept another cruise or FCC, but with a deposit of £500 it would be a sweetener that would hardly be worth worrying about.

 

I do see your point and will bear it in mind if we decide to go with one of the bigger ships, particularly Iona, though I do wonder if any reductions (that we also feel are fairly likely) will be on a saver basis, which is not something that appeals to us.

 

The good point is that I did manage to speak to P&O by pretending our cruise is booked with them and I was told that we could change for a much cheaper cruise at present, so looks like a one weeker which would be more bearable under restrictions, if they are still present. 


You are welcome. We don’t book Savers either, but one thing worth keeping in mind about Iona is that she will be 100% Freedom Dining, so one of the major reasons for booking Select (to guarantee getting your dining choice) is lost with her. Still doesn’t stop you getting a bum cabin that nobody else wants though 😂 

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27 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

My cruise for October 2022 on Aurora is still the same price as on lauch, although the Arcadia cruise at a similar time has gone up, probably because it's Greek Islands.

Thanks Jean, useful to know it is not across the board.

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On 11/28/2020 at 2:32 PM, Selbourne said:


You are welcome. We don’t book Savers either, but one thing worth keeping in mind about Iona is that she will be 100% Freedom Dining, so one of the major reasons for booking Select (to guarantee getting your dining choice) is lost with her. Still doesn’t stop you getting a bum cabin that nobody else wants though 😂 

 

Well "bin" and done it today.  We are now booked on Iona for the last June sailing next year, rather than 2022 as we do not want to have certain medical details still on our annual insurance policy for the next year (we have to declare anything within 6 months of booking any holiday), though have also been able to get rid of a couple of small medical issues which would have needed to be declared for our N. America cruise since we booked it last year.  Have got a rear facing balcony on deck 14 with a slightly bigger balcony than most if the deck plans are accurate, but still the second cheapest balcony price.  We may consider a land trip to Canada next Autumn if the situation allows.

 

Iona will be quite a culture shock as we have become used to the smaller Fred ships or ones like Azamara for most cruises in recent years, so about 5.5 times the number of passengers normally on board.  Nice cabin though and with both Olden and Geiranger, will have a lot of scenic cruising, (even if getting off the ship independently is restricted) and we can always do the Pulpit Rock boat trip in Stavanger, which we had earmarked for a future visit to there.  We could walk around deck a few time when docked up the two fjords rather than go ashore if need be, which will take a while on a ship of that size!!  We are booked on one of Fred's new ex HAL ships a couple of weeks later, so will be interesting to compare the two, both being likely to be the future for both lines in the long term.  Maybe we will migrate to the more expensive "luxury" lines beyond that, but we will see.

 

Thanks for the advice Selbourne and also thanks to Jean and Wozz for useful comments. 

 

Can anyone tell me how long it takes for a changed cruise to turn up on the P&O cruise presonaliser?

Edited by tring
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44 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Well "bin" and done it today.  We are now booked on Iona for the last June sailing next year, rather than 2022 as we do not want to have certain medical details still on our annual insurance policy for the next year (we have to declare anything within 6 months of booking any holiday), though have also been able to get rid of a couple of small medical issues which would have needed to be declared for our N. America cruise since we booked it last year.  Have got a rear facing balcony on deck 14 with a slightly bigger balcony than most if the deck plans are accurate, but still the second cheapest balcony price.  We may consider a land trip to Canada next Autumn if the situation allows.

 

Iona will be quite a culture shock as we have become used to the smaller Fred ships or ones like Azamara for most cruises in recent years, so about 5.5 times the number of passengers normally on board.  Nice cabin though and with both Olden and Geiranger, will have a lot of scenic cruising, (even if getting off the ship independently is restricted) and we can always do the Pulpit Rock boat trip in Stavanger, which we had earmarked for a future visit to there.  We could walk around deck a few time when docked up the two fjords rather than go ashore if need be, which will take a while on a ship of that size!!  We are booked on one of Fred's new ex HAL ships a couple of weeks later, so will be interesting to compare the two, both being likely to be the future for both lines in the long term.  Maybe we will migrate to the more expensive "luxury" lines beyond that, but we will see.

 

Thanks for the advice Selbourne and also thanks to Jean and Wozz for useful comments. 

 

Can anyone tell me how long it takes for a changed cruise to turn up on the P&O cruise presonaliser?


Sounds lovely. We like rear facing cabins as they are nice and quiet and you don’t get passing traffic late at night. We had multiple problems with a rear facing suite on Britannia, but none of those issues would be replicated with your cabin on Iona as there will be no soot and you are well above entertainment venues! Having been on all the P&O ships, I have to say that we don’t find the big ships to be much different in terms of volumes of people, as the bigger ships have more area and more venues to disperse the crowds. 

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7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:


Sounds lovely. We like rear facing cabins as they are nice and quiet and you don’t get passing traffic late at night. We had multiple problems with a rear facing suite on Britannia, but none of those issues would be replicated with your cabin on Iona as there will be no soot and you are well above entertainment venues! Having been on all the P&O ships, I have to say that we don’t find the big ships to be much different in terms of volumes of people, as the bigger ships have more area and more venues to disperse the crowds. 

 

There is somewhere called the club house which appears to open out onto the rear of deck 8 and we were a bit concerned as a search told me it is a P&O late night venue, but as you say deck 14 is a distance away (just two decks below pool deck).  We tend to avoid all entertainments and very rarely go to the shows, with a lot of our time spent in observation lounges with a pianist playing if anything.  Hence we will have our own outdoor observation lounge with a bottle of Bacardi and fair bit of diet coke taken on in Southampton and even a fridge to put it in when we want.  Wall to wall daylight and not too cold either at that time of year.  A few drinks and we may be in the disco late night (especially if we are restricted in getting off the ship the next day).  Good balcony for room service breakfast as well.

 

So for us the ship may not be too bad at all.  We went to the Baltic on Arcadia a couple years back in an outside cabin and found the whole ship very dark and dingy, so we may prefer Iona as she seems to be somewhat lighter in decoration.  Worth a look I think and glad we transferred while we could get that cabin, though I do suspect our other cruise has a chance of being cancelled eventually

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara.

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I’ve finally taken the plunge and reluctantly taken the decision to move my September 2021 Ventura Med cruise to June 2022 on Britannia. I can relax now as prices are rising by the day. I really like the Ventura itinerary (Naples, Sardinia and two days in Barcelona) but I didn’t want a poor experience if restrictions were still in place.

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