As Predicted - P&O having to discount Fjord cruises

[Selbourne]

Received an email from our TA today advertising balcony cabins for 6 consecutive Iona 7 night Fjord cruises (commencing 15th April), plus 2 Britannia ones, at £494pp for a balcony cabin (just over £70 pppn). 
 

As many of us have long predicted, last minute offers will be necessary to fill the family ships outside of school holidays, especially with the repetitive itineraries. 
 

I’m not knocking it. We love the Fjords and may have been tempted ourselves if we didn’t have other things planned (and a Fjord cruise on Iona in August) but, as I say, entirely predictable. 

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Received an email from our TA today advertising balcony cabins for 6 consecutive Iona 7 night Fjord cruises (commencing 15th April), plus 2 Britannia ones, at £494pp for a balcony cabin (just over £70 pppn). 
 

As many of us have long predicted, last minute offers will be necessary to fill the family ships outside of school holidays, especially with the repetitive itineraries. 
 

I’m not knocking it. We love the Fjords and may have been tempted ourselves if we didn’t have other things planned (and a Fjord cruise on Iona in August) but, as I say, entirely predictable. 

Hmm - might be tempted if the same offers are available in September.

[TigerB]

We're cruising in June.  The prices they are quoting now is £300 less than when I last checked three weeks ago, so that's quite good.

Our grade is now £150 more than we paid at the back end of 2021, but with £160 more OBC than we got. So, we're £10 worse off. Right, I'm going to call to cancel our cruise and book again!😉

[purplesea]

We're on Britannia in September and having just checked the price is about £400 more with £10 more OBC, so at present we have the better deal.

[davecttr]

Just checked and now £130 cheaper than when I booked. I have a single inside on deck 16 which was fine last time.

[Durie1989]

Hi,

We are new to cruising and just booked the Iona for the 3rd June doing the Fjords as the offer looked good but can see since we booked a few days ago its gone down by £100. I wish I had checked this forum first 🤔

We have a balcony on the 10th floor with £160 OBC and paid £1,044pp

I have seen people mention that when they checked in there room had been upgraded, what's the chance of this happening ? 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Hmm - might be tempted if the same offers are available in September.

I suspect that they will release cheap Iona Fjord cruises in batches, or have a rolling programme. The latest Iona one is currently 20th May. I suspect that the June ones will be discounted in 4 to 6 weeks time. July and August probably won’t be a problem for them due to school holidays. You will probably be lucky in September, although discounts may not be as heavy as (less popular) April and May. 

[Selbourne]

15 minutes ago, purplesea said:

We're on Britannia in September and having just checked the price is about £400 more with £10 more OBC, so at present we have the better deal.

See previous post. The biggest discounts won’t be until a month or two before departure - always after balance due date!

[Selbourne]

Sorry - should have said in the first post - the P&O website wasn’t showing these very cheap prices when I looked earlier. Seems as though one or more preferred TAs have been given first dibs. So comparing what people have paid to what is shown on the website is (for now) misleading. Cheaper prices are available. 

[TigerB]

3 minutes ago, Durie1989 said:

Hi,

We are new to cruising and just booked the Iona for the 3rd June doing the Fjords as the offer looked good but can see since we booked a few days ago its gone down by £100. I wish I had checked this forum first 🤔

We have a balcony on the 10th floor with £160 OBC and paid £1,044pp

I have seen people mention that when they checked in there room had been upgraded, what's the chance of this happening ? 

 

Annoying when that happens, isn't it?  I try to be pragmatic and think that if I'm happy with the price I paid then that's it. If it goes up or down afterwards then so be it. It doesn't stop me checking and second guessing myself though, that's just human nature.

 

To answer your question about a possible upgrade, check out this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2925169-upgrading-cabin-on-board-from-inside-cabin-to-balcony/#comment-65045328

 

If your cruise is below capacity, you may strike it lucky.

[Durie1989]

I know, I shouldn't have looked but have these urge to check in the hope its gone up and I have saved some pennies 🤣

I will check out that link for the upgrade chat, thank you :-)

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

We're cruising in June.  The prices they are quoting now is £300 less than when I last checked three weeks ago, so that's quite good.

Our grade is now £150 more than we paid at the back end of 2021, but with £160 more OBC than we got. So, we're £10 worse off. Right, I'm going to call to cancel our cruise and book again!😉

See post #7 and #9

[Selbourne]

16 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

I try to be pragmatic and think that if I'm happy with the price I paid then that's it. If it goes up or down afterwards then so be it. It doesn't stop me checking and second guessing myself though, that's just human nature.

That’s the best approach. We have to book at launch to secure an accessible balcony cabin and, prior to this year, prices have never been lower than the price we paid at launch. That’s all changing now though, as P&O have so much more capacity to fill. The repetitive itineraries won’t be helping either.
 

The two future P&O cruises that we have booked are unlikely to drop much from what we paid, as one is in August and the other is below our new P&O maximum of £200 per night for a balcony cabin (and that’s for a Superior Deluxe as well). Both cruises are currently more than we paid, but that might change a month or so prior - but not by very much I suspect. Also, the chances of getting an accessible balcony cabin at that late stage will be negligible. 

[TigerB]

14 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

See post #7 and #9

 

I read those after I had posted. The point of my post was that cabins in our grade for the cruise in June are £300 cheaper than they were three weeks ago, but still £150 more than we had paid.

Reading your post (#7) again, is it your understanding that they may be subject to a further reduction in a few weeks?

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

I read those after I had posted. The point of my post was that cabins in our grade for the cruise in June are £300 cheaper than they were three weeks ago, but still £150 more than we had paid.

Reading your post (#7) again, is it your understanding that they may be subject to a further reduction in a few weeks?

It’s pure guess work, as it’s obviously a case of supply and demand. June is more popular for the Fjords than April and May, but as it’s still off peak for a monster family ship I very much suspect that there will be deals to be had, as they will probably struggle to fill the ship outside of school holidays without some really good ‘bums on seats’ offers. The profit will then come from the on board spend. They might be just via selected TAs though. Best not to look once you’ve booked!

[yorkshirephil]

It is not just P&O, some great deals from the UK with various lines.

[Josy1953]

We book when we are happy with the price and then don't look at the prices afterwards because it seems to be a path to madness.  We also always say no upgrade because we are particular about where on the ship our cabin is. 

After cruising for over 40 years we know the potential problems with various cabins eg: with public spaces above or below or near to the lift / stairs lobby, close to the launderette, overlooked from balconies above.

[TigerB]

20 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

That’s the best approach. We have to book at launch to secure an accessible balcony cabin and, prior to this year, prices have never been lower than the price we paid at launch. That’s all changing now though, as P&O have so much more capacity to fill. The repetitive itineraries won’t be helping either.
 

The two future P&O cruises that we have booked are unlikely to drop much from what we paid, as one is in August and the other is below our new P&O maximum of £200 per night for a balcony cabin (and that’s for a Superior Deluxe as well). Both cruises are currently more than we paid, but that might change a month or so prior - but not by very much I suspect. Also, the chances of getting an accessible balcony cabin at that late stage will be negligible. 

 

We are in the same boat as you, with the accessible cabin conundrum, so book as early as we can.

We always used to pay off the balance early, but have changed that approach with our last two booked cruises, given that fare prices sometimes reduce a fair bit as time goes on. Having secured those two cruises with a total deposit of £100 each, we don't intend to pay anymore until the balance is due, so I can monitor price fluctuations until the last possible moment and act accordingly.

 

Now that I'm retired, and we can go away at the drop of a hat, we are going to take another different approach to cruising. We intend to have two 'in the bag' that we really want to do each year, and look at deals close to sailing for others. Yes, accessible cabins are traditionally as rare as rocking horse poo close to sailing, but with the larger ships, it isn't a given that all will be sold. If we get one then fine, if not then that's also fine. It's not as if I would have wasted any annual leave.

[TigerB]

10 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Best not to look once you’ve booked!

 

That is always my policy.................................................in an ideal world!

However, sometimes I may be sat while our lass is watching a programme I'm not into, and in my boredom I may look for something to do that doesn't require me to lift my backside off my chair. That's when the little fella on my shoulder says, "Hey, just have a look at that cruise and see if it's cheaper"!  I try not to, but he is so persuasive. Perhaps I need therapy!🙄

[Son of Anarchy]

Had the email from the TA.  Prices look good for a balcony.  However, we do feel that maybe Iona is a bit too big for the fjords and all the hassle she had last season there, so a no for us.

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

We book when we are happy with the price and then don't look at the prices afterwards because it seems to be a path to madness

I agree, but when booking with Princess, you can refare, and keep your original cabin,  so it is worth keeping your eye on the fares in that case. It does cost £50 pp though ! 

[TigerB]

1 minute ago, Son of Anarchy said:

However, we do feel that maybe Iona is a bit too big for the fjords and all the hassle she had last season there, so a no for us.

 

Funny you should say that. I was researching our ports the other day and in doing so looked at a Google image of Iona docked in Hellesylt. She is about three times longer than the jetty and dwarfs the village.

[Selbourne]

10 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

Now that I'm retired, and we can go away at the drop of a hat, we are going to take another different approach to cruising. We intend to have two 'in the bag' that we really want to do each year, and look at deals close to sailing for others. Yes, accessible cabins are traditionally as rare as rocking horse poo close to sailing, but with the larger ships, it isn't a given that all will be sold. If we get one then fine, if not then that's also fine. It's not as if I would have wasted any annual leave.

That is, literally word for word, our approach now! We have two P&O cruises booked for this year and one (with Cunard) booked for next year. Was hoping that our 2nd 2024 cruise would be with Saga but launch prices are more than we are prepared to pay. None of the current P&O 2024 cruises appeal enough to warrant the current prices but, if closer to sailing the prices plummet, who knows. The problem will be accessible cabins though. 

[TigerB]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

That is, literally word for word, our approach now! We have two P&O cruises booked for this year and one (with Cunard) booked for next year. Was hoping that our 2nd 2024 cruise would be with Saga but launch prices are more than we are prepared to pay. None of the current P&O 2024 cruises appeal enough to warrant the current prices but, if closer to sailing the prices plummet, who knows. The problem will be accessible cabins though. 

 

Yes, that's the problem with accessible cabins. However, I hope things change a little in our favour with the larger ships and them perhaps struggling to fill them.  On our last trip, when we had no problem upgrading to another accessible cabin, I discovered one near our new cabin was empty and our new neighbours, and the neighbours of our first cabin, were able bodied and didn't require accessible cabins; both said they were on saver fares and were allocated them just before cruising. So, that could be a positive for the future; time will tell. 

[Cathygh]

If P&O are struggling to fill the bigger ships I bet they are going to let Azura or Ventura go. Azura probably and then some other cruise line can sort out that sewage smell.