Things that once were at P & O but are now… GONE!

[Selbourne]

4 hours ago, zap99 said:

Bournemouth Central.

Sorry - replied before seeing that you’d already answered! 😂 

[showingdiva]

5 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Room only no doubt

No travel or entertainment included

 

 

Oh I don't know.   Anyone who has stayed at West Quay will have witnessed a game of someone not realising the key card has to be scanned before the lift doors open on the way up.

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I do have to disagree with this

 

The little things that P and O (and some other cruiselines) no longer provide are nowhere near the two thirds drop in price for entry prices to cruise nowadays compared to when they were available

 

The drop in prices in real terms far exceeds anything that's been lost?

 

And the fact tips are also included now just compounds that even further

 

I think it's a bit unfair on P and O to suggest the value of items no longer provided comes anywhere close to the drop in prices for cruising in real terms

 

Have you guys seen the levels of tipping now required on other cruise lines?

 

NCL are now charging 20 pounds per person per day for tips. 25 pounds per person per day if you are in a suite for example!!

 

I genuinely believe P and O doesn't get another credit for its reduced pricing and lack of tips needed compared to the past

 

Instead people focus on things that used to happen that no longer do. And these things are quite insignificant in comparison IMO

I have seen the level of tipping as american lines are my cruise of choice. But my last few celebrity cruises have had the drinks, WiFi and tips bundled in at £50 a day. Which is the same price as the P&O premium drinks package alone.
 

My sister has paid £420 for an 4 night mini cruise in an interior to Amsterdam on Ventura. No wifi, drinks or OBC.

 

i have paid £317 for a 3 night cruise to Bruges on Virgin Voyages. So a similar price point per day, but I also get £100 OBC, all soda is included and WiFi. They also don’t charge for tips as they pay their staff well and give them lots of perks.  And all the various food which is just outstanding and at no extra cost. The equivalent 4 night to Amsterdam on Virgin was the same price as P&O. 

P&O is obviously appealing to a different market now and that’s fine when the price is cheap. But when it’s the same price as other lines that include a lot more it feels odd.  
 

 

 

 

[daiB]

On 12/9/2023 at 8:57 PM, Eddie99 said:

£999pp for an inside cabin on a one week fiords cruise

(inflation takes that to £1580 equivalent)

 

There is really no comparison between prices when we had a band and ticker tape send off, *savouries* after dessert, crumble biscuits and a Stilton wheel

Pays your money, takes your choice

 

Savouries lasted about 18 month they were never a regular feature.

[Eddie99]

Ah - I must have started during a golden period  🙂. The £999 fiords trip was our first and was September 2010

 

I think current prices are stunning.  Having been fortunate to enjoy 10 years pre-Covid, and having tried many other lines, I think we are probably ready to leave P&O now (but who knows.  Iona in the new year will be *interesting*). Those people still happy with the current P&O offer are getting a really good deal

[daiB]

18 hours ago, zap99 said:

I just had a quick browse. Plenty of P&O cruises at less than £200 pn for a balcony

That’s not fair using actual facts in a discussion.

[Trevor Fountain]

P&O are a million miles away from my first cruise with them in 1992, however it is an unfair comparison as I can book a balcony cabin today for less than I was paying for an outside cabin back then.

[PJ's]

On 12/10/2023 at 3:21 PM, mklions said:

Suite guests previously had a nice box of White Company lotions to take home should they wish, these have now gone.

Also daily canopies from the butler, these have now gone to canopies only on formal nights.

Even suite guests are being squeezed!

Little things but noticeable.

Suite guests still get a small box of 2 larger size lotions whereas before they got 4 small lotions. We did on Britannia in September 2023 but canopies are now only on formal nights. 

[zap99]

33 minutes ago, daiB said:

That’s not fair using actual facts in a discussion.

Facts are not normally used here...so. ..Our first P&O cruise was Britannia in the Caribbean in November 2018. £2218 each in a balcony. 5 years later not much change.

 

Ps predictive suggested I didn't want to say not much. I really wanted to say " nut Bush ".🤣

[zap99]

6 minutes ago, PJ's said:

Suite guests still get a small box of 2 larger size lotions whereas before they got 4 small lotions. We did on Britannia in September 2023 but canopies are now only on formal nights. 

They will keep the rain off the toffs gowns.

[PJ's]

12 minutes ago, zap99 said:

They will keep the rain off the toffs gowns.

Ha ha...sorry didn't notice spelling. That's predictable text.

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, PJ's said:

Ha ha...sorry didn't notice spelling. That's predictable text.

Gets me regularly. On a different thread it tried to change Trebor...to Trevor. Completely urined the joke.🤣

[Interestedcruisefan]

3 hours ago, Glitterati said:

I have seen the level of tipping as american lines are my cruise of choice. But my last few celebrity cruises have had the drinks, WiFi and tips bundled in at £50 a day. Which is the same price as the P&O premium drinks package alone.
 

My sister has paid £420 for an 4 night mini cruise in an interior to Amsterdam on Ventura. No wifi, drinks or OBC.

 

i have paid £317 for a 3 night cruise to Bruges on Virgin Voyages. So a similar price point per day, but I also get £100 OBC, all soda is included and WiFi. They also don’t charge for tips as they pay their staff well and give them lots of perks.  And all the various food which is just outstanding and at no extra cost. The equivalent 4 night to Amsterdam on Virgin was the same price as P&O. 

P&O is obviously appealing to a different market now and that’s fine when the price is cheap. But when it’s the same price as other lines that include a lot more it feels odd.  
 

 

 

 

Some unusual choice of cruises there though

 

Price compare Celebrity in the Caribbean to P and O and I imagine the difference is very significant before you even add in the tips

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Some unusual choice of cruises there though

 

Price compare Celebrity in the Caribbean to P and O and I imagine the difference is very significant before you even add in the tips

It’s just varied! 
 

2 weeks B2B on the Beyond came in at cheaper than 2 weeks on Britannia. 
Beyond: aft sunset balcony, premium drinks, WiFi, tips, $600obc: £2500pp. 
 

Flight to Miami was less than £700, and we had drinks, tips and WiFi included

Britannia: standard balcony, £400 OBC, £3200pp (booked in 2021, it has almost halved in price since)
 

Since then celebrity prices have gone up and P&O have gone down, but there was a time over Covid when it was actually more expensive to go on P&O.  

[Megabear2]

26 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Some unusual choice of cruises there though

 

Price compare Celebrity in the Caribbean to P and O and I imagine the difference is very significant before you even add in the tips

I'm cruising the Caribbean with Celebrity over Christmas as a replacement for an Arvia booking made on release, my Celebrity booking was made in March this year.  The Celebrity booking was made during several offers but is 13

 

nights on Beyond, flight provided by Celebrity air (I picked an American Airlines direct to Miami but had a lot of choices including premium and Virgin/BA flights). The offer I booked had premium drinks, wifi, gratuities and speciality dining x 4 included.  There was also an offer of 75% off 2nd passenger.  The headline price was high, however after adding on 2 night stay in Fort Lauderdale (again our choice) the whole package for an infinity balcony came in at £6,893 for two.  The Arvia cancelled cruise departing 22/12 in an overlooked curve balcony was to cost £7,100 (OBC £500). This cruise however was changed to Britannia departure on 13/1 and became a deluxe balcony, premium economy package at a cost of £7,300 (OBC £620). Personally I'd say not much between all three offerings price wise but clearly the Celebrity offering is all inclusive whereas even with the OBC the P&O offerings aren't.

 

The pricing of any cruise in any category is very much a case of hitting the "sweet spot" and with every line it is impossible to actually say "x" or "y" is better priced.  A great many of the special offers are very much out of season - a lot of the cheap prices people are offering are either early season or late.  There's nothing wrong with that and great offers are there.  However much of it is luck when you move away from the headline prices.

 

Selbourne's wonderful offer on his 65 night cruise is one of those cases.  That cruise and fare lasted literally a couple of days as people snapped it up. Another example was the Princess Canadian/US cruise in September, again not selling so well so some crazy pricing for a week or two.  Then we had the "fire sale" solo fares from P&O on the 21 night Icelandic cruises and the other unexpected solo fares on Aurora which became a talking point earlier this year.

 

Overall prices are pretty stable across all lines.  If we are lucky enough to hit the right time we can all say our experience is for "x" to be cheap.  The truth is across an entire season the market has this year increased the cost of trips by an average 20% minimum.   Research by CC shows an increase of 43% for 2023!  No one line, including P&O, have not raised prices or made cuts to their offering.  Clever marketing and the lucky ones who've bagged a bargain can and will make people think cruises haven't risen in price which is naive but just what the lines want.  Yes there are definitely bargains and cruising remains great value but ...

 

https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/its-official-cruises-are-more-expensive-than-everheres-why-101623

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

4 hours ago, daiB said:

Savouries lasted about 18 month they were never a regular feature.

Funnily enough, that’s exactly the life expectancy of the canapés served in the suites - though I see that’s been cut back to just embarkation and celebration nights. Cut back by popular request this time though. 

[cruising.mark.uk]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

 

Overall prices are pretty stable across all lines.  If we are lucky enough to hit the right time we can all say our experience is for "x" to be cheap.  The truth is across an entire season the market has this year increased the cost of trips by an average 20% minimum.   Research by CC shows an increase of 43% for 2023!  No one line, including P&O, have not raised prices or made cuts to their offering.  Clever marketing and the lucky ones who've bagged a bargain can and will make people think cruises haven't risen in price which is naive but just what the lines want.  Yes there are definitely bargains and cruising remains great value but ...

 

https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/its-official-cruises-are-more-expensive-than-everheres-why-101623

 

 

Personally, I think that looking at 'overall' prices is fairly meaningless.  I suspect the majority of cruisers won't give two hoots about what prices are doing across the board; all they really care about is what is happening to the price they pay. It's a bit like salaries - news that average salaries have gone up 10% in a year is irrelevant to most workers - what they want to know is how much their salary has gone up.

 

I sense that many on this board who are retired or semi-retired have a great deal of flexibility about when, where and with whom they cruise.   That being the case, there are some fantastic prices around at the moment for those who are not tied to specific dates, cruise lines or routes and who are prepared to do a bit of homework to search for bargains, including lines less traditionally popular with UK cruisers such as MSC and Costa and also spreading to some of the 'luxury' lines (Seabourn had a sale with some ridiculously low prices last week).   

 

So, if posters on here say that the price of their cruises has gone down, that is the 'truth' for them, notwithstanding what CC or Timeout might have to say and regardless of whether they are cruising in or out of season . They are not being naive and they are not being fooled by marketing ploys.  Rather, they are being canny and informed consumers who are flexible and able to spot and jump on a bargain when they see it.  That's what my wife and I do and our cruises since semi-retirement have almost all been at lower prices than any we did in the 10 years prior to that.  We're very privileged to be in a position where we can make the best of low prices, but it seems from their posts that many others on here are in a similar position.  Long may it continue.

[Megabear2]

34 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Personally, I think that looking at 'overall' prices is fairly meaningless.  I suspect the majority of cruisers won't give two hoots about what prices are doing across the board; all they really care about is what is happening to the price they pay. It's a bit like salaries - news that average salaries have gone up 10% in a year is irrelevant to most workers - what they want to know is how much their salary has gone up.

 

I sense that many on this board who are retired or semi-retired have a great deal of flexibility about when, where and with whom they cruise.   That being the case, there are some fantastic prices around at the moment for those who are not tied to specific dates, cruise lines or routes and who are prepared to do a bit of homework to search for bargains, including lines less traditionally popular with UK cruisers such as MSC and Costa and also spreading to some of the 'luxury' lines (Seabourn had a sale with some ridiculously low prices last week).   

 

So, if posters on here say that the price of their cruises has gone down, that is the 'truth' for them, notwithstanding what CC or Timeout might have to say and regardless of whether they are cruising in or out of season . They are not being naive and they are not being fooled by marketing ploys.  Rather, they are being canny and informed consumers who are flexible and able to spot and jump on a bargain when they see it.  That's what my wife and I do and our cruises since semi-retirement have almost all been at lower prices than any we did in the 10 years prior to that.  We're very privileged to be in a position where we can make the best of low prices, but it seems from their posts that many others on here are in a similar position.  Long may it continue.

Which is exactly the point I was making. Price perception, whether high or low, is a personal matter.  There are those on here who do not accept that the P&O product is anything other than the cheapest on the market and as a result shout down anyone who says they found a better deal on another line. As you say, on many occasions with research and flexibility it is relatively easy to find an excellent deal on virtually any line.

 

The point of my post was that it is not necessarily the case that the P&O price is superior to any other, in particular the challenges to people such as Glitterati on the cost of their Celebrity cruises.  Perception, well that's again down to when and how the individual wants to cruise. Of course a £499 7 night cruise looks and is indeed brilliant pricing but as many will be disbarred from being able to take it due to date restrictions it isn't really a typical offering.  

 

Advertising 7 night holidays from ... as cruise lines do is a great way to entice people in, the reality however is often totally different.

 

 

[yorkshirephil]

9 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Which is exactly the point I was making. Price perception, whether high or low, is a personal matter.  There are those on here who do not accept that the P&O product is anything other than the cheapest on the market and as a result shout down anyone who says they found a better deal on another line. As you say, on many occasions with research and flexibility it is relatively easy to find an excellent deal on virtually any line.

 

The point of my post was that it is not necessarily the case that the P&O price is superior to any other, in particular the challenges to people such as Glitterati on the cost of their Celebrity cruises.  Perception, well that's again down to when and how the individual wants to cruise. Of course a £499 7 night cruise looks and is indeed brilliant pricing but as many will be disbarred from being able to take it due to date restrictions it isn't really a typical offering.  

 

Advertising 7 night holidays from ... as cruise lines do is a great way to entice people in, the reality however is often totally different.

 

 

It is human nature to cherry pick to prove a point even if it can be short sighted. As someone who spends considerable time studying cruises and pricing looking for best options and no loyalty to any cruise line I find P&O do have some great deals but not always the best.

 

We wanted to go back to Canada and take in some US ports next year. Aurora was one option and Princess another as we felt Cunard was too expensive. We decided we would prefer a balcony which effectively ruled out Aurora which was £1300pp more for three days shorter holiday, even taking into account tips on Princess that is a saving of £2000 so we booked Sky  Princess.

[zap99]

19 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm cruising the Caribbean with Celebrity over Christmas as a replacement for an Arvia booking made on release, my Celebrity booking was made in March this year.  The Celebrity booking was made during several offers but is 13

 

nights on Beyond, flight provided by Celebrity air (I picked an American Airlines direct to Miami but had a lot of choices including premium and Virgin/BA flights). The offer I booked had premium drinks, wifi, gratuities and speciality dining x 4 included.  There was also an offer of 75% off 2nd passenger.  The headline price was high, however after adding on 2 night stay in Fort Lauderdale (again our choice) the whole package for an infinity balcony came in at £6,893 for two.  The Arvia cancelled cruise departing 22/12 in an overlooked curve balcony was to cost £7,100 (OBC £500). This cruise however was changed to Britannia departure on 13/1 and became a deluxe balcony, premium economy package at a cost of £7,300 (OBC £620). Personally I'd say not much between all three offerings price wise but clearly the Celebrity offering is all inclusive whereas even with the OBC the P&O offerings aren't.

 

The pricing of any cruise in any category is very much a case of hitting the "sweet spot" and with every line it is impossible to actually say "x" or "y" is better priced.  A great many of the special offers are very much out of season - a lot of the cheap prices people are offering are either early season or late.  There's nothing wrong with that and great offers are there.  However much of it is luck when you move away from the headline prices.

 

Selbourne's wonderful offer on his 65 night cruise is one of those cases.  That cruise and fare lasted literally a couple of days as people snapped it up. Another example was the Princess Canadian/US cruise in September, again not selling so well so some crazy pricing for a week or two.  Then we had the "fire sale" solo fares from P&O on the 21 night Icelandic cruises and the other unexpected solo fares on Aurora which became a talking point earlier this year.

 

Overall prices are pretty stable across all lines.  If we are lucky enough to hit the right time we can all say our experience is for "x" to be cheap.  The truth is across an entire season the market has this year increased the cost of trips by an average 20% minimum.   Research by CC shows an increase of 43% for 2023!  No one line, including P&O, have not raised prices or made cuts to their offering.  Clever marketing and the lucky ones who've bagged a bargain can and will make people think cruises haven't risen in price which is naive but just what the lines want.  Yes there are definitely bargains and cruising remains great value but ...

 

https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/its-official-cruises-are-more-expensive-than-everheres-why-101623

 

 

I may be ,as you say naive, but I have records going back to 2008, which show the prices we paid back then are similar to today. About £2000 for 2 weeks in a balcony to the med and  a bit more to the Caribbean.  Obviously PE flights push it up a bit more. Just pre covid we paid £5400 on Britannia to the Caribbean Inc PE, this year it was the same. Look at real prices, not somebody else's report and you may conclude I am not quite so naive. 43% ?. Bah ,humbug.

[zap99]

20 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm cruising the Caribbean with Celebrity over Christmas as a replacement for an Arvia booking made on release, my Celebrity booking was made in March this year.  The Celebrity booking was made during several offers but is 13

 

nights on Beyond, flight provided by Celebrity air (I picked an American Airlines direct to Miami but had a lot of choices including premium and Virgin/BA flights).

 

https://www.timeout.com/usa/news/its-official-cruises-are-more-expensive-than-everheres-why-101623

 

 

Apples and pears. You are taking a £7k+ fly cruise and quoting " an authoritative" report from CC published by Time out in America. It concludes that 5 night Caribbean cruises are now $726 which is 43% more than 2019. As not many folk here do short cruises to the Caribbean,  we may consider , perhaps naively that it is not relevant.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

Apples and pears. You are taking a £7k+ fly cruise and quoting " an authoritative" report from CC published by Time out in America. It concludes that 5 night Caribbean cruises are now $726 which is 43% more than 2019. As not many folk here do short cruises to the Caribbean,  we may consider , perhaps naively that it is not relevant.

I assume that demand for cruises from North American passengers must have improved significantly otherwise the cruise lines would not be increasing their prices. 

Let's hope this trend does not spread across the pond.

[zap99]

22 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I assume that demand for cruises from North American passengers must have improved significantly otherwise the cruise lines would not be increasing their prices. 

Let's hope this trend does not spread across the pond.

Most things do eventually.  DW's Christmas present arrived from California. That came very quickly. I get a few emails with US based cruises. TBH, I haven't noticed much difference in prices from earlier years, but don't study them too closely.

[Megabear2]

3 hours ago, zap99 said:

Apples and pears. You are taking a £7k+ fly cruise and quoting " an authoritative" report from CC published by Time out in America. It concludes that 5 night Caribbean cruises are now $726 which is 43% more than 2019. As not many folk here do short cruises to the Caribbean,  we may consider , perhaps naively that it is not relevant.

I understood this to be a general discussion not me or anyone making definitive statements.  I was simply offering as others have done examples of fare types.  I would have thought the type of people who read this forum are more than able to make their own mind up on whether prices have risen or fallen.  However the 20% rise I mentioned was actually the figure mentioned by Paul Ludlow in an article with a travel agent publication as the price rise that was expected to be in line with Carnival creditor's expectations.  You'll note I mentioned with an explanation mark the rise quoted by CC (which is the one in Time Out), that was intended to indicate I thought the statement somewhat extreme.

 

 

 

[zap99]

36 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I understood this to be a general discussion not me or anyone making definitive statements.  I was simply offering as others have done examples of fare types.  I would have thought the type of people who read this forum are more than able to make their own mind up on whether prices have risen or fallen.  However the 20% rise I mentioned was actually the figure mentioned by Paul Ludlow in an article with a travel agent publication as the price rise that was expected to be in line with Carnival creditor's expectations.  You'll note I mentioned with an explanation mark the rise quoted by CC (which is the one in Time Out), that was intended to indicate I thought the statement somewhat extreme.

 

 

 

So we are not so naive after all

🤣