UK staycation cruise details launched

[brian1]

27 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Yes the 779 is a bit more reasonable,1199 is for the maiden, all in balconies. I doubt they will have much trouble filling them .

You're forgetting the cheapo ones are probably "Gary free".

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

I do wonder how P&O, Princess and Carnival are going to fill these cruises. By removing most of the population under 50, they are also removing any over 50 who had children under 18 or grandparents wanting to travel with grandchildren. Some of the more elderly passengers may be put off if they have been shielding all year, so they may be hesitant. 
 

Also a lot of people on here are not happy with the price, so again I ask: who will be filling these ships?!

Did I read somewhere that the government has allowed these cruises to go ahead on the condition that there are 1,000 passengers maximum? If so, I suspect that they will pretty much fill these cruises, even though I agree that they have little appeal and are overpriced. There are some people who are desperate to go on a cruise ASAP at any cost, others who feel that the prices are reasonable and more still who have left it too late to get UK holiday accommodation this summer, so will take this as there’s no other option for them. 

[Harry Peterson]

“You’ll wake each morning with a new view beyond your balcony.”

 

Ha!  😆

[zap99]

9 minutes ago, brian1 said:

You're forgetting the cheapo ones are probably "Gary free".

I was having a chuckle at that whilst doing my extensive research into these ultra cheap cruises. Target 50pppn. 7 night cruises for 350 in a balcony. I found one. 3 nights for £101. That's no meals and a luxury reclining chair but it's on Brittany ferries new ship. No Garry in that either 

Edited March 17, 2021 by zap99

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Did I read somewhere that the government has allowed these cruises to go ahead on the condition that there are 1,000 passengers maximum? If so, I suspect that they will pretty much fill these cruises, even though I agree that they have little appeal and are overpriced. There are some people who are desperate to go on a cruise ASAP at any cost, others who feel that the prices are reasonable and more still who have left it too late to get UK holiday accommodation this summer, so will take this as there’s no other option for them. 

If that figure is true, P&O would lose less money by just having the ships floating at anchor!

[indiana123]

Trying to register now.  Holding on for ages.   I'm wishing myself luck!!!😀

Edited March 17, 2021 by indiana123

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

“You’ll wake each morning with a new view beyond your balcony.”

 

Ha!  😆

Yes, that made me smile too, but be fair Harry. The sea conditions can vary considerably, especially in the English Channel 😉 

[wowzz]

Please, we've already got three threads going about this. We don't need another one!

[Son of Anarchy]

15 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

I do wonder how P&O, Princess and Carnival are going to fill these cruises. By removing most of the population under 50, they are also removing any over 50 who had children under 18 or grandparents wanting to travel with grandchildren. Some of the more elderly passengers may be put off if they have been shielding all year, so they may be hesitant. 
 

Also a lot of people on here are not happy with the price, so again I ask: who will be filling these ships?!

i wonder the same.  Not in a position to cruise until August at the earliest anyway, so we're just going to wait and see if prices are reduced nearer the time.

[zap99]

34 minutes ago, brian1 said:

You're forgetting the cheapo ones are probably "Gary free".

Might book a 779 one. Not desperate as some keep saying, not at any cost. Just another holiday to add to the mix. Once Greece and Spain open up a couple of fly cruises may tempt instead. No rush, I will try and control my desperation 🤣

Edited March 17, 2021 by zap99

[No pager thank you]

43 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve now had an email from P&O which refers to the fact that we were booked on the Iona maiden cruise. Molecrochip had suggested that we might get priority for the revised maiden cruise, but that isn’t the case. We will get an extra £100 per cabin OBC if we book the Arvia maiden. Big deal!

 

BBC breakfast discussing this now and saying P&O cruises will definitely be no children, no people who haven’t been vaccinated and no people who haven’t had the second jab. They showed the clip of Paul Ludlow saying that they expect the government to have some form of vaccine passport by then but, if not, ask your GP for a letter. They are mocking this saying that GP’s are rather busy at present. Simon Calder then said that many people are describing these ‘no stop cruises’ as swapping one form of lockdown for another. Whilst these cruises don’t appeal to us, that seems a little harsh!

The vaccine passports (if they do happen) will likely be app based. 

 

I would hazard a guess and say that a fair proportion of the passengers who could travel on these cruises will not be smartphone users...quite something when even BBC Breakfast asks questions!

 

However, no doubt the P&O market research will have picked that up - probably in the same great survey where they have banned families from their family friendly ships.

[indiana123]

I'll go on another then!"

[No pager thank you]

3 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Might book a 779 one. Not desperate as some keep saying, not at any cost. Just another holiday to add to the mix. Once Greece and Spain open up a couple of fly cruises may temp instead. No rush, I will try and control my desperation 🤣

Free car parking too zap...🤣

[zap99]

1 minute ago, No pager thank you said:

Free car parking too zap...🤣

Normally a couple of hours at Gunwharf, but to meet the 50pppn budget we may need to hitch hike 

[Guest]

Just now, Selbourne said:

Did I read somewhere that the government has allowed these cruises to go ahead on the condition that there are 1,000 passengers maximum? If so, I suspect that they will pretty much fill these cruises, even though I agree that they have little appeal and are overpriced. There are some people who are desperate to go on a cruise ASAP at any cost, others who feel that the prices are reasonable and more still who have left it too late to get UK holiday accommodation this summer, so will take this as there’s no other option for them. 

Ah I didn’t realise that. That will certainly be an empty ship! I do wonder if they are not allowing insides to be booked based on the fact the prices they were quoting were balconies.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, janny444 said:

I notice that price is from £449 so price could be a lot more during school holidays £449 is definitely not a tempting price for me especially as on the first cruise(s) you will be a " Guinea pig" . We pay £100 pppn on select price for balcony cabins....we are paying £81pppn ....balcony cabin...for our Iona cruise in October... select fare with coach transfer ... so £150pppn is no giveaway price ....£50pppn would have been slightly more tempting....maybe.... but I am sure there are some who are " desperate" to cruise again so  that they will pay the inflated price

Wow, what a super bargain you got. Cheapest balcony showing in the web site is 849 for a saver.£121 pppn. Iona in October.

[MX-Drew]

Sorry can't be bothered to read the whole thread but has Selbourne and others admitted they got it wrong with the three months from May 17th as a startup date?

[wowzz]

15 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Sorry can't be bothered to read the whole thread but has Selbourne and others admitted they got it wrong with the three months from May 17th as a startup date?

Three months from the date new cruises are announced, so not wrong at all!

[Selbourne]

20 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Sorry can't be bothered to read the whole thread but has Selbourne and others admitted they got it wrong with the three months from May 17th as a startup date?

No, because I never said that! I said 3 months to get the ships going from a standing start, not based upon what I know, but what those in the industry had said. Not 3 months from 17th May. They are actually taking 4 months which is longer still. 

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

No, because I never said that! I said 3 months to get the ships going from a standing start, not based upon what I know, but what those in the industry had said. Not 3 months from 17th May. They are actually taking 4 months which is longer still. 

Right again Selbourne!

[tring]

54 minutes ago, zap99 said:

 No Garry in that either 

I do not understand the "Garry" reference, although obviously become a standing joke - does it refer to Gary Barlow?

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Right again Selbourne!

 
Unlike some others, I know that you aren’t being sarcastic 😉 

[The Yorkshire Cruiser]

I was up for a sailing but expect I won't have had both shots of the vaccine in time (27).

 

Guess it looks like work all summer and fingers crossed for Arcadia end of October.

 

 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

 
Unlike some others, I know that you aren’t being sarcastic 😉 

I have been known to be sarcastic, but not on this occasion.

[P&O SUE]

On 3/17/2021 at 10:03 AM, tring said:

I do not understand the "Garry" reference, although obviously become a standing joke - does it refer to Gary Barlow?

Yes Gary Barlow, zap became quite obsessed about him performing on Iona originally!