Vantage and Getaway fares are going

[davecttr]

Whats all this about then. It has been reported on another forum that Vantage and Getaway fares will cease to be from next March???

[Mervyn and Trish]

Not heard that other than now Dave, but if it is true I'm sure a lot of people will be pleased to end the confusion. And no doubt P&O will be pleased too, to close a route to cheap fares which has undoubtedly hit early bookings and revenue. Lhope it is linked to a complete review of the pricing policy with better incentives for committing early.

[Suekersh]

It will be interesting to see what new scheme they replace it with.

There will still be cheap last minute cruises whatever they do.

Sue

[Dancing Queen]

It will be interesting to see what they come up with

[oldbluefox]

According to some of the comments I have found on the internet the Vantage/Getaway structure may be under review and may be broadened into 3 main categories:
1. The full brochure fare enabling you to book a specific cabin, have guaranteed dining arrangements, highest priority for upgrades.
2. A discounted fare where you can choose the cabin grade and broad location but not be given a specific cabin on booking, lower priority for dining arrangements and a lower priority for upgrades. A higher deposit but not full payment when booking.
3. A more highly discounted fare, similar to the current Getaway policy - full payment on booking, no priority on dining arrangements etc.

There seems to be nothing from P&O so all of this could be conjecture.

[Kendhni]

It is probably only going in name since Vantage/Getaway names have become 'tainted' ... despite the difference being very clear I am not convinced the execution was done in good faith with the promises (perceived or otherwise).

The bottom line is that no matter what comes out there will always be a fluid price for those that book early and a heavily discounted fluid price for those that wait until the last minute ... what will be interesting will be what do they do for those that book early but there is some later discounting.

[davecttr]

I found the reference on the Cunard section of cruiscritic and it was originally found on cruisecouk which is a online travel agent so it looks as if it could be a premature release of information as apparently they have pulled it!

this is it:

Price promise, Vantage and Getaway fares will go for sailings from 24th March 2014
New pricing structures will be coming in
Vantage fare and associated benefits will now be called P&O Select Fares and Cunard Select Fares
Intermittent campaigns will be run with offers like double upgrades
Some reduced fares may still come along from time to time and these will be called Savers


looks like smoke and mirrors to me.

[towny44]

I would be happy if P&O were to use the same pricing system as Princess; only 10% deposit which is fully refundable up to 6 months before the cruise, and only £150pp deposit if you use an on board purchased FCC, as well as full price matching of any new offer in that period, including keeping the original incentives as well as any new ones.
Both lines are owned by Carnival so it seems stupid to have such differing pricing policies, but somehow I doubt it will happen.

[Dancing Queen]

Sounds as if not a lot will change other than 'new wording'

After the vantage/getaway fiasco unless they are going to offer something really good for early bookers I can't see people being taken in, at the end of the day there were many who thought they would benefit with upgrades / obc if the vantage fares were reduced only to find this didn't happen if it went to getaway ( and yes I know it was in the small print )

I shall look forward to March 2014 to see what they offer which will encourage me to book early, having lost out to the tune of 7k on a cruise booked 18 months in advance a couple of years ago it will have to be something 'very special' otherwise I will just take my chances and wait ...there is lots of choice out there !!!

[BrianI]

Information published in TTG digital


P&O Cruises and Cunard Line have revamped their fares in time for the spring 2014 season.



The new premium value headline fares available are called the P&O Cruises Select Price and the Cunard Fare, both of which offer value with flexible booking conditions.

The fares will be available on 100,000 cabins across 200 cruises and replace the Vantage Fares structure.

The fare will still allow customers to specify their cabin numbers and give them the highest priority choice of dining time and table size, as well as cabin upgrades should they become available.

The fares are also inclusive for shuttle buses where available in ports of call and include a choice of either onboard credit, car parking or coach transfers.

Meanwhile the Early Saver fares are available for 90,000 cruises on 178 cruises, but must be booked 90 days before departure.

Customers will still be able to choose the grade and location of their cabin, although the exact number of the cabin will remain at the discretion of the cruise operators.

Other promotional fares will be introduced occasionally but will offer no choice of cabin, dining time or table size and other restrictive booking conditions.

Carnival UK chief commercial officer Gerard Tempest said: “From value-packed lead fares to tantalising early savers and other limited availability deals, customers will be able to experience our ships on a fare type that is most suited to their needs.

“We listened to our travel agents as part of our Agent Matters programme and have developed a fare structure that will allow them more opportunities to convert customers at all booking lead times.

“Importantly, this initiative will help agents to replace lower-priced late bookings with more profitable earlier-booking business.”

The new fare structures will be introduced for the spring 2014 programme, while the old Vantage and Getaway Fare structures will be used for all cruises departing up to the start of the programme.
http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/general- ... 52.article

Brian

[david63]

On the face of it that sounds like what was in place before Vantage/Getaway came into existence.

It also does not sound too dissimilar to the Vantage/Getaway options that are there now other than the "new" Getaway will have to be booked 90 days pre cruise after which it will be "bargain basement" time.

The one thing that may come out of this is less fluidity of prices.

[Kendhni]

I am not really seeing the difference (apart form in the name) ?????
I notice they don;t seem to mention fluid pricing however I suspect that it will remain.

[david63]

I notice they don;t seem to mention fluid pricing however I suspect that it will remain.

Hopefully it will not be as volatile

[Dennis The Menace]

This looks to me like they are leaving themselves open to some unhappy customers again ;

One of the few categories of cruiser p&o didnt pee-off over the whole vantage/getaway disaster, was those early bookers who did so because they wanted to know which cabin they would be in. These cruisers knew they would be paying more than getaway/late deals, but did so knowing that they would a)have the cabin they wanted and b) would at least get the traditional early bookers discount.

Now, if you want to book early to get a specific cabin, you won't even get the early bookers discount.

Seems a bit off when, through the whole getaway debacle, it was these same early bookers who effectively paid way over the odds compared to those able to go on the getaway deal.

It's hard to please everyone i know, but these continual, and drastic, changes in policy makes you wonder if their marketing dept just get legless in a very dark room and blindly poke away at a board full of policy ideas suggested by the local infants school.

[davecttr]

The numbers don't add up.

they are offering 190,000 cabins on up to 200 cruises

P&O and Cunards 10 ships have 10,700 cabins

That is 2,140,000 cabins for 200 cruises.

So how are they going to price the remaining 1,950,000 cabins?

last minute discounts perhaps?

[jacksparrow]

I wonder what will happen to the single travellers, will they be ignored as usual.....

Also if the price goes down are they continuing with the extra obc?

As usual all the goalposts are changing

[lioness]

Sorry, MOB - didn't see this thread. I;'m with Ken, don't see much difference personally.

[Gill W]

One of the few categories of cruiser p&o didnt pee-off over the whole vantage/getaway disaster, was those early bookers who did so because they wanted to know which cabin they would be in. These cruisers knew they would be paying more than getaway/late deals, but did so knowing that they would a)have the cabin they wanted and b) would at least get the traditional early bookers discount.

.

Ah, that'll be me then. I book early for the reasons mentioned and I have to book my holiday at work way in advance, so I want to be sure that I've got a cruise to go on.

I'm hoping that these new fares where you can still book your cabin number will be at least comparable to the current Vantage fares. I wouldn't be impressed if they were considerably more than they are now.

Also, these early booking saver things - I see that they are available up until 90 days before sailing. So what happens if the ship is not fully booked 90 days prior to sailing? I expect this is where the 'occasional special promotion' thing will come into play - in other words last minute bargains.

If a person isn't too fussed about what cabin or dinning sitting they are on, I can't really see them booking an early saver more than three months before the cruise - I reckon most people in that group will just wait for the late bargains as normal.

I had been hoping for real and tangible benefits for early booking.

They seem to have made an even bigger dog's dinner of it all.

I do want to go on the Britannia maiden, but after that we'll see what's going on then. But I feel as if I'm reaching the end of my patience with these fare structures.

[Manoverboard]

Sorry, MOB - didn't see this thread ....

No problem, just keeps all the comments in the one place

[arcadialover]

It surely can't get any worse than it is currently.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Let's face it. Once upon a time the price was the price, it didn't go up, it didn't go down, and generally speaking it was a higher one in real terms than today.

Since then every couple of years they change the structure and we have a bit of a moan about it and remember the good old days (the same happens with ships. One day in the future Ventura, which got a lot of stick in her first year, will be "the good old days").

It'll be the same this time. It might be better, it might not, and some will be saying "gosh it was so much better with Vantage and Getaway fares!"

My principle has remained constant throughout. I look at the price. If I like it I book. If I don't, I don't. And once booked I don't worry too much about what anyone else pays. I'm a bit rusty on my Bible these days but I'm sure there was a parable of some sort along these lines.

The one thing I do do if someone has found a better deal than me is to look and learn to see if how they did it might work for me next year. I'm just coming round to maybe looking out for a Getaway next year and look what happens!

[david63]

Whatever system is introduced now or in the future you can be sure of two things:

1 - there will be winners and losers

2 - there will be moaners and gloaters

[Mervyn and Trish]

Whatever system is introduced now or in the future you can be sure of two things:

1 - there will be winners and losers

2 - there will be moaners and gloaters

Moaners among cruisers? Forsoothe kind sire, surely you must be jesting with us? I cannot believe it would happen. (Now where's the smilie thingy for irony?)

[oldbluefox]

Whatever the outcome I am none too concerned where I am on the ship and can cope with any dining arrangements if the price is right. Having now experienced Getaway I am happy to be flexible and book later rather than sooner. You do miss the security of knowing your holiday is assured but this is compensated for by the thrill of tracking down what you want and, of course, the price difference. I'm quite happy to wait. No more Vantage fares for me but agree there should be more perks available to those who book early.

[Dark Knight]

I have never bothered about either , as they really don't apply to us
if we want all the bells and whistles, we book early
if it is a last minute cheapie .we book a few weeks before and take what we get, knowing we saved a few quid
no big deal either way.
cant see what all the fuss was about to be honest