Did P&O Order the Wrong Ships?

[emam]

4 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

We had a magic guy on independence a few years ago, during the day, at pool and Buffets he did magic tricks was fun and people loved it. Kinda like street magic. Really worked well and everyone was talking about the interaction. 

 

Let's hope he stays on there and doesn't move over to P&O ☺. Nothing worse than trying to have something to eat and someone coming up to your table and playing magic tricks. It's a good job they have different types of ships so we can chose which one to go on. 😊

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, emam said:

 

Let's hope he stays on there and doesn't move over to P&O ☺. Nothing worse than trying to have something to eat and someone coming up to your table and playing magic tricks. It's a good job they have different types of ships so we can chose which one to go on. 😊

 Much rather have that than Gary Barlow crooning over a meal and making me regurgitate!

 

[zap99]

2 hours ago, emam said:

 

Let's hope he stays on there and doesn't move over to P&O ☺. Nothing worse than trying to have something to eat and someone coming up to your table and playing magic tricks. It's a good job they have different types of ships so we can chose which one to go on. 😊

There was a table magician on Iona in October. We avoided him.

[zap99]

27 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

 Much rather have that than Gary Barlow crooning over a meal and making me regurgitate!

 

Did he do something to upset you. 🤔

[wowzz]

Just to get back to my earlier post.

Many posters on here profess thier love of smaller ships,  yet FO cannot fill one of their ships, and consequently pull the ship out of service. 

Seems that in reality no one wants to sail on an old small ship anymore. How long can Fred survive? 

[yorkshirephil]

13 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just to get back to my earlier post.

Many posters on here profess thier love of smaller ships,  yet FO cannot fill one of their ships, and consequently pull the ship out of service. 

Seems that in reality no one wants to sail on an old small ship anymore. How long can Fred survive? 

I think it is more to do with charging a premium price for an average product.

[Megabear2]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

 Much rather have that than Gary Barlow crooning over a meal and making me regurgitate!

 

We love Gary!!!! Bring him on ...

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I think it is more to do with charging a premium price for an average product.

I agree - but so many seem to think that Fred can do no wrong !

[Yorkypete]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

Did he do something to upset you. 🤔

Yes---he sang!!!!

[Yorkypete]

32 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just to get back to my earlier post.

Many posters on here profess thier love of smaller ships,  yet FO cannot fill one of their ships, and consequently pull the ship out of service. 

Seems that in reality no one wants to sail on an old small ship anymore. How long can Fred survive? 

They have not pulled the ship out of service, they have cancelled 4 cruises.

[Ardennais]

20 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

I think it is more to do with charging a premium price for an average product.

I think you’re right. We would love to sail with FO from Liverpool but the prices are too high. 

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Yorkypete said:

They have not pulled the ship out of service, they have cancelled 4 cruises.

The ship has been pulled out of service due to insufficient demand - and yet so many posters on here are adamant that P&O are ignoring those who dislike large ships. Yet Fred cannot fill a small ship .

[ann141]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The ship has been pulled out of service due to insufficient demand - and yet so many posters on here are adamant that P&O are ignoring those who dislike large ships. Yet Fred cannot fill a small ship .

I think it is the price and lack of balconies. There are a couple of Fred cruises we are interested in but the price is more than we want to pay. Recently Fred has been significantly reducing the price before sailings which means that people are put off booking early. Fred's price for a balcony is similar to sagas( also small ships) but with a lot more included in the price.I think if Fred brings back the 3 for 2 offer or includes drinks and tips, more people may book

[davecttr]

6 hours ago, ann141 said:

I think it is the price and lack of balconies. There are a couple of Fred cruises we are interested in but the price is more than we want to pay. Recently Fred has been significantly reducing the price before sailings which means that people are put off booking early. Fred's price for a balcony is similar to sagas( also small ships) but with a lot more included in the price.I think if Fred brings back the 3 for 2 offer or includes drinks and tips, more people may book

Launched in 2020 Bolette and her sister have a woeful lack of balconies, in fact they resemble older style designs with a large number of outside cabins on the promenade deck and no balcony cabins. There is a deck of Balcony suites with a premium price and a deck of proper suites.

[wowzz]

7 hours ago, ann141 said:

but with a lot more included in the price

As a matter of interest, what is included in Fred's price that is not in the Saga price ?

Given that the Saga  price includes a balcony,  premium drinks, tips, speciality dining, excursions and entertainment,  I'm struggling  to  think about what else Fred could offer.

[ann141]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

As a matter of interest, what is included in Fred's price that is not in the Saga price ?

Given that the Saga  price includes a balcony,  premium drinks, tips, speciality dining, excursions and entertainment,  I'm struggling  to  think about what else Fred could offer.

We recently went on a short cruise with Fred which had a free drinks offer and sometimes they offer OBC. Fred wouldn't be our first choice because we prefer newer ships but we tend to choose based on the itinerary and Fred has some places that we haven't previously visited.We have Saga cruises booked for October and February but would consider Fred if the prices drop

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, ann141 said:

We recently went on a short cruise with Fred which had a free drinks offer and sometimes they offer OBC. Fred wouldn't be our first choice because we prefer newer ships but we tend to choose based on the itinerary and Fred has some places that we haven't previously visited.We have Saga cruises booked for October and February but would consider Fred if the prices drop

So, it looks as if Fred doesn't offer anything extra compared to Saga ? Indeed, unless there is a drinks offer, Fred actually offers less.  

[ann141]

Just now, wowzz said:

So, it looks as if Fred doesn't offer anything extra compared to Saga ? Indeed, unless there is a drinks offer, Fred actually offers less.  I agree but we would be willing to book if the price is slightly lower or if drinks, tips etc were included in order to visit new places

 

[ann141]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

So, it looks as if Fred doesn't offer anything extra compared to Saga ? Indeed, unless there is a drinks offer, Fred actually offers less.  

Re reading my original post , I obviously worded it incorrectly as I meant that it was Saga who offered the extras

[wowzz]

29 minutes ago, ann141 said:

Re reading my original post , I obviously worded it incorrectly as I meant that it was Saga who offered the extras

That now makes sense. Thanks.

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

They have not pulled the ship out of service, they have cancelled 4 cruises.

That is correct they have cancelled 4 cruises on Bolette due to insufficient bookings to make the cruises worthwhile to operate with high fuel prices. They will carry out technical work which was scheduled for 2023 during that period and the ship will return to service for the Christmas cruise.

 

[Bill Y]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

Launched in 2020 Bolette and her sister have a woeful lack of balconies, in fact they resemble older style designs with a large number of outside cabins on the promenade deck and no balcony cabins. There is a deck of Balcony suites with a premium price and a deck of proper suites.

Bolette in fact entered service in 2000 as HAL's Amsterdam.

 

Some years ago an ex colleague who professed to like small ships announced he was going on Ventura, P&O's largest at the time, I thought that you would only go on small ships! ah but the cheap balconies.

[jeanlyon]

Some like new big ships and some, like us, would prefer an older small ship any day.  So once Aurora goes, it will be Fred for us.  Just waiting the return of a friend who has just been on Bolette.  Will see how she liked it.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

That is correct they have cancelled 4 cruises on Bolette due to insufficient bookings to make the cruises worthwhile to operate with high fuel prices. They will carry out technical work which was scheduled for 2023 during that period and the ship will return to service for the Christmas cruise.

 

Pulled out of service or cancelled four cruises - amounts to the same thing. 

An indictment of FO management that at a time when other cruise lines are sailing close to capacity,  that they cannot find enough passengers for four cruises !

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Some like new big ships and some, like us, would prefer an older small ship any day.  So once Aurora goes, it will be Fred for us.  Just waiting the return of a friend who has just been on Bolette.  Will see how she liked it.

If they cannot find enough passengers now, will they still be around in the future ?