New Cruise Release up to April 2022

[towny44]

Have been looking at 19 nights in a balcony cabin for 2021. I notice the prices seem reasonable but they are only offering £75 on board credit per person. Last time we had £200 each.
Swings and roundabouts.
Lindsey

I don't think I have ever had £200 OBC for a balcony at launch, at least not for the last 6 years.
I do seem to remember 2 years ago that a cruise on Aurora, that we had booked, had the OBC increased to about that level before the launch offer finished but that was after fluid pricing had led to a £500pp increase.

[david63]

I see that P&O are back to their old tricks.

It clearly states in the email, and online, that there is a 10% discount for "past guests" - no it's not it's 5%. I have just done a dummy booking as a guest on line and then as myself and the difference is only around 5%

[Kendhni]

David, could the dummy booking be triggering the '5% exclusive newcomer saving'. In which case I would only expect 5% difference between a newcomer and past guest. Mind you it makes me wonder who is paying the full price? Bit of a binary option there.

[Stephen]

Just been looking at a 2021 princess cruise online. Terrible website layout. Had it costed with our regular travel company. Apart from a piddly amount of discount off the price there were no other perks at all for the cruise we were looking at. Looks like it's good old P&O for us, even if we have to abandon a round Britain cruise on our specific date.

[Whynd1]

Well have pre registered as would like an aft balcony cabin on Arcadia.

2021 is a long time ahead and anything can happen,but generally prices are cheest when first out.

Lindsey

[david63]

David, could the dummy booking be triggering the '5% exclusive newcomer saving'. In which case I would only expect 5% difference between a newcomer and past guest. Mind you it makes me wonder who is paying the full price? Bit of a binary option there.

Probably Ken - but that is not what it says, or at implies.

What I will say from what I have looked at is that the "bottom line" price is certainly no more than in previous years and if anything slightly less.

[towny44]

Just been looking at a 2021 princess cruise online. Terrible website layout. Had it costed with our regular travel company. Apart from a piddly amount of discount off the price there were no other perks at all for the cruise we were looking at. Looks like it's good old P&O for us, even if we have to abandon a round Britain cruise on our specific date.

The prices on Princess for round Britain cruises are eye watering, presumably because there is high demand from Americans. However on the Grand Princess cruises there is currently an offer that prices a Balcony cabin the same as an OV one, which then gives you a very reasonable price for a balcony.

[towny44]

David, could the dummy booking be triggering the '5% exclusive newcomer saving'. In which case I would only expect 5% difference between a newcomer and past guest. Mind you it makes me wonder who is paying the full price? Bit of a binary option there.

Probably Ken - but that is not what it says, or at implies.

What I will say from what I have looked at is that the "bottom line" price is certainly no more than in previous years and if anything slightly less.

That's very much in line with their recent launch offers, the year they had problems, however, they forget to tell their TA's that this was the case, which led to all the confusion and lots of extra OBC.

[towny44]

Just been browsing through the new cruises and we are disappointed that very little is floating our boat. Since cruises from Southampton are now our only overseas holidays, and we rarely take excursions anymore, our main aim is to find 14 day cruises with the maximum number of ports which enable us to get off and walk into the town, no tender ports if possible because Mrs T cannot pass the step over test, and no overnights which are wasted on us.
Unfortunately for us Britannia outside school holidays does the same Med cruise itinerary with both Rome and Florence as useless ports, then during school holidays it does much better itineraries, no Rome or Florence, replaced with Ajaccio, Ibiza and Villefranche, that leaves us with only Ventura or possibly Oceana. Arcadia's accessible cabins are too small and we've done Aurora and for us it's just not worth its premium pricing. I'm sure we will find something but its looking like Canaries yet again, it's a good job we quite like the Canaries.

[Gill W]

Doing the Vin Ordinaire type cruises in quick succession is fine but the BIG BOY ones like Worldie Segments or the Americas should be done on an annual basis for maximum enjoyment ….. for us anyway.

That's my general thinking - the QV cruise we've booked for October 2021 is not really big boy in terms of itinerary and length, as it goes to Venice and is 19 days long, but the step up to Britannia Club makes it special for us.

If we did the 55 night Arcadia cruise in January 2022, that would be very big.

I've asked for quotes on the Arcadia and Ventura cruises anyway, and will think some more

[GillD46]

Life is short and we don’t know what is going to hit us, as I know only too well, so I say go for it.

[barney]

Absolutely Gill.
We visited uncle on Monday last.
Suddenly past away on Tuesday aged 74.
Total shock.

[JoanneB]

Life is short and we don’t know what is going to hit us, as I know only too well, so I say go for it.

Quite agree Gill we were always going to fly Concorde next year and now we can't. Mind you quoting that to ourselves is costing a fortune on holidays, but it's only money and what else are you going to do with it!

[GillD46]

Absolutely Gill.
We visited uncle on Monday last.
Suddenly past away on Tuesday aged 74.
Total shock.

Sending condolences barney.

[Stephen]

Absolutely Gill.
We visited uncle on Monday last.
Suddenly past away on Tuesday aged 74.
Total shock.

Sending condolences barney.

Same here barney.

[barney]

Cheers guys.
It really was, as they say, out of the blue.
Our consolation is that we saw him the day before and it was very quick.
Mrs Bs only Uncle so will be sadly missed.

Lesson.
Do what you can while you can.

[Whynd1]

Sorry to hear that Barney.
Take care

Lindsey

[Jan Rosser]

Sorry for your loss - it is a shock when it is unexpected and I should know unfortunately but you are right in what you say "do what you can while you can" - life is too short - if the opportunity arises go for it fellow cruisers

[Gill W]

Absolutely Gill.
We visited uncle on Monday last.
Suddenly past away on Tuesday aged 74.
Total shock.

Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that. My cousin’s wife died a few weeks ago, aged 73, although she’d been ill for a few years. Still seems too young though.

[Happydays]

I booked a cruise on Queen Victoria a few weeks ago for October 2021, which is a lot more expensive fare than our average.

Therefore I wasn't looking for anything in this latest P&O brochure, but two cruises for early 2022 have caught my eye.

There a 35 night cruise in February 2022 on Ventura. (we were last on Ventura in 2012). The usual ports in the USA are included (e.g. New Orleans and Miami), but instead of the usual Caribbean islands, there are Roatan, Belize, Bermuda and the Bahamas, all of which would be new to us.

Then there's a 55 night cruise on Arcadia in January 2022 (last on Arcadia in 2014) which has Bermuda and Bahamas, Caribbean, Central America and the Amazon. Lots of new places for us.

We have the money saved up, so the funds are there if we decided to do one of these cruises.

But I'm wrestling with the thought SHOULD we do two major cruises (QV and Ventura/Arcadia) within a 3 - 4 month period, or should we wait a bit longer. But if we waited, the perfect cruise might not come along again. Plus, you never know what's around the corner, and I don't want to be in a position where I regret not doing something when I had the chance.

we are currently having a think about it

As someone used to say to me "no pockets in a shroud" I think if you can then do it.
We know of many instances where friends/ relatives have regrets about not doing something when they had the opportunity then ill health prevented them from doing so!

[Suekersh]

Doing the Vin Ordinaire type cruises in quick succession is fine but the BIG BOY ones like Worldie Segments or the Americas should be done on an annual basis for maximum enjoyment ….. for us anyway.

That's my general thinking - the QV cruise we've booked for October 2021 is not really big boy in terms of itinerary and length, as it goes to Venice and is 19 days long, but the step up to Britannia Club makes it special for us.

If we did the 55 night Arcadia cruise in January 2022, that would be very big.

I've asked for quotes on the Arcadia and Ventura cruises anyway, and will think some more

Gill we have given our TA our pre reg for the Arcadia Amazon. We were looking at the world cruise on Aurora but the itinerary is not great especially the latter half. As we want an aft balcony Arcadia we need to book early.

[Whynd1]

Sue

I totally agree with you concerning the world ruise itinerary. Not that I am going but was totally underwhelmed by it.
Hope you get the cabin you want.

[Gill W]

Doing the Vin Ordinaire type cruises in quick succession is fine but the BIG BOY ones like Worldie Segments or the Americas should be done on an annual basis for maximum enjoyment ….. for us anyway.

That's my general thinking - the QV cruise we've booked for October 2021 is not really big boy in terms of itinerary and length, as it goes to Venice and is 19 days long, but the step up to Britannia Club makes it special for us.

If we did the 55 night Arcadia cruise in January 2022, that would be very big.

I've asked for quotes on the Arcadia and Ventura cruises anyway, and will think some more

Gill we have given our TA our pre reg for the Arcadia Amazon. We were looking at the world cruise on Aurora but the itinerary is not great especially the latter half. As we want an aft balcony Arcadia we need to book early.

Well, we've taken the plunge and have given our details to our TA.

I've always enjoyed reading your cruise reports, so it'll be fun to read about what I'm actually experiencing, in real time

[barney]

Yep !

I've done it too.

I have know idea how we will be able to find the time to go, but it's booked anyway.

Haven't told Mrs B yet, but there's plenty of time

[Stephen]

Where to barney.