Select Price or Saver price ?

[Interestedcruisefan]

49 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

We have never struggled to spend the OBC but have bought a few things we may not have usually bought or taken the odd ships tour. We don't drink a lot and to be fair P&O drinks are relatively cheap. Our biggest outlay on P&O is usually Costa. Ironic that we now get the 10% Peninsular discount but don't get much opportunity to use it, but no bill is still better than 90% of a bill.

I take it you guys don't pay for internet on board?

[majortom10]

We struggled with amount we had last week on Iona which was what was given by P&O when booked and Shareholder benefit. Not big drinker's but did buy some at night and bottles of wine on formal nights, don't do excursions so was a real struggle. Ended up buying items on last day that would normally never buy.

[majortom10]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I take it you guys don't pay for internet on board?

The holiday app on Iona that is free didn't work ,a lot of the time so would not pay £12 per day for internet onboard. Not that desperate to have internet and was nice to not have it for a fortnight.

[terrierjohn]

40 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Send some credit my way!!

 

Lol

 

Can you change currency at guest services with OBC?

Unfortunately that's not possible, and I don't think it is possible to gift it to someone else.⁰

[amajaa]

41 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Send some credit my way!!

 

Lol

 

Can you change currency at guest services with OBC?

I don’t think you can but I would also be interested if someone does know the answer to this as we have loads to use on the next cruise and also never eat in speciality restaurants or use spa. We do not really want to do any excursions but might have to 

[yorkshirephil]

43 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I take it you guys don't pay for internet on board?

I very rarely do, odd occasion I may pay for the odd day if I need to keep up to speed with something when crossing the ocean. 

[bobstheboy]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

We struggled with amount we had last week on Iona which was what was given by P&O when booked and Shareholder benefit. Not big drinker's but did buy some at night and bottles of wine on formal nights, don't do excursions so was a real struggle. Ended up buying items on last day that would normally never buy.

That sounds awful. Poor you !!😁😁

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I take it you guys don't pay for internet on board?

Don't need to. When in 4/5G range we use roaming. When at sea, can do without for a day or two. £12 a day...no chance.🦐

[majortom10]

11 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

That sounds awful. Poor you !!😁😁

Yes it was terrible.

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Can you change currency at guest services with OBC?

Nice try ! No.

[Fionboard]

Internet is £30 for last 5 days remaining on Aurora. 

[jeanlyon]

3 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I take it you guys don't pay for internet on board?

No, definitely wouldn't pay for that.  Can do without for the days at sea and then use wifi in the port.

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 hours ago, zap99 said:

Don't need to. When in 4/5G range we use roaming. When at sea, can do without for a day or two. £12 a day...no chance.🦐

The potential cost of data roaming scares me!

 

But that's probably down to ignorance on my part!

 

 

[zap99]

2 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

The potential cost of data roaming scares me!

 

But that's probably down to ignorance on my part!

 

 

I have European roaming ( at the moment ). DW had worldwide roaming. Just make sure you don't connect with the maritime network

 

[Cheshire Blue]

Thanks to all for the helpful responses on this.  Seem to have gone a bit off topic (discussions as to using OBC etc - but that's helpful as well). 

 

Back to topic - consensus appears to be that provided the additional cost of Select fare is matched (or nearly) by the additional benefits - OBC offered / Car Parking etc - then the Select price is a no brainer (so as to ensure you avoid the "noisy" cabins etc).  

 

Several people comment that the addition for Select (over and above the Saver fare) is not usually very much. 

 

However in the cruise we are looking at - the additional price (per cabin) is £1200 and with only £520 OBC per cabin offered, this looks like poor value to me (at least from a financial perspective). 

 

We are also likely to be cruising with friends and so will require two cabins.  Whilst they don't need to be next to each other - would prefer them not to be at opposite ends of the ship / on different decks.  On this basis I assume we are stuck with the expensive Select price ? 

 

How likely is is that P & O will launch a better promotion for Select prices (i.e. with additional OBC / benefits) so bridging the gap between the Saver Fare and the "net" Select Fare - which at present is the £680 I referred to above ?     Cruise is not until November 2023 (and not yet full) but unsure as to the usual schedule for promotions by P & O ? 

 

Any further thoughts welcomed.   

 

Thanks  

 

 

[yorkshirephil]

5 minutes ago, Cheshire Blue said:

 

 

How likely is is that P & O will launch a better promotion for Select prices (i.e. with additional OBC / benefits) so bridging the gap between the Saver Fare and the "net" Select Fare - which at present is the £680 I referred to above ?     Cruise is not until November 2023 (and not yet full) but unsure as to the usual schedule for promotions by P & O ? 

 

Any further thoughts welcomed.   

 

Thanks  

 

 

I would say highly likely, we are already discussing this on a new thread. Of course there is a chance the price could go up but that seems to happen on the smaller ships or one off cruises. How much do you want to do this cruise is what is important as you could wait and the cruise could be full. People seem to be more confident in booking and some ships are cruising at capacity especially with the deals currently on offer.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Cheshire Blue said:

and not yet full

How do you know that ?

[FamilyCruiserUK]

I honestly dont think the need to be close to one another is that important. Not only can you have first hand accounts of different areas of the ship but think of the exercise going room to room. For us the select like you said has to be cost effective when you include parking, OBC etc 

[Cheshire Blue]

18 hours ago, wowzz said:

How do you know that ?

Lots of cabins are available to choose when doing a mock Select booking (although I appreciate it could be that there are lots of Saver / Guarantee type bookings already in the system - which have not yet been allocated - so maybe almost full) ?   

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Cheshire Blue said:

Lots of cabins are available to choose when doing a mock Select booking (although I appreciate it could be that there are lots of Saver / Guarantee type bookings already in the system - which have not yet been allocated - so maybe almost full) ?   

Exactly - there could be hundreds of saver reservations out there,  which will not show when you make a mock booking,  so it is entirely possible that the cruise in question is almost sold out.

[Selbourne]

I think that some people get suckered a bit by the big OBC promotions. P&O have long had a habit of low cruise price with low OBC, or higher cruise price with higher OBC. As the net cost (cruise price less OBC) generally works out about the same, IMHO it is far better to get a lower cruise price than having to buy things that you don’t really want (such as rip off excursions or overpriced items in the shops) just to use up OBC!

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I think that some people get suckered a bit by the big OBC promotions. P&O have long had a habit of low cruise price with low OBC, or higher cruise price with higher OBC. As the net cost (cruise price less OBC) generally works out about the same, IMHO it is far better to get a lower cruise price than having to buy things that you don’t really want (such as rip off excursions or overpriced items in the shops) just to use up OBC!

Fair point. I guess we would normally spend around £40  - £50 per day between us on drink, plus £100 for speciality diningduring the cruise, so, taking our shareholder obc into account, once the promotional obc exceeds the £700 or so mark (14 day cruise) we have money to "burn". But Mrs W does seem to always find something to buy,  and the quality of the wine at dinner certainly improves.

Edited March 22, 2023 by wowzz

[MrsTW]

I do the homework and look at the offers.
 

Next month’s cruise on Ventura Select worked out cheaper by about £100 taking into account OBC and parking. We have been given more OBC and had an upgrade. Definite good choice made. 

 

For Aurora in the summer, Select worked out not much more than Saver so chose that as cabin and dining chosen and there’s a few shuttles needed so they’re included. 
 

Iona in December was a big difference so Saver chosen. 
 

 

[GSPG]

Sorry as there probably a number of threads on Saver v Select Prices.

 

The cruise I am looking at on Britannia, the Saver entices you in at £1,798 for two people for a standard balcony. The select price then wants to add a whopping £1,380 on top bringing the total to £3,178 for two.

Granted you get £480 per cabin to spend and the other extras like booking your own room, priority dining etc choosing the Select option.

 

But I was wondering just how big a gamble would it be to take the saver rate. I assume in the first instance they can’t downgrade you to a Fully Obstructed balcony as you specified and went in for the standard balcony?

 

Are there ‘bad’ standard balcony rooms on Britannia that could spoil your holiday?

 

 

[showingdiva]

£900 to choose a cabin is ridiculous.   Personally, I always want to choose my exact cabin in my exact preferred location, and this is just another example why I am not booking P&O at present, albeit one that is not as far up the list as some other reasons.   I don't mind paying a bit extra to get selected benefits, but that amount is almost another cruise.

 

To anyone whose priority is not specific location, I can imagine that Saver is perfectly adequate.   Most of the posts on the topic seem to summarise that Saver cabins are the ones Select passengers don't choose for a number of reasons, like under a promenade deck, restaurant, theatre, pool area or in the case of Iona / Arvia, Deck 8.