Save me money on a cruise!

[Deleted User]

oligopoly wrote: »

Thomas Cook displays no cruises in the month this one is sailing! cruise.co.uk is the company my mother in law has used. I'll contact them to see if i can get it any cheaper.

Any other suggestions?

Still phone up Thomas Cook. You can also try these people - they have a lot of good online prices - https://www.vivavoyage.co.uk/

Viva Voyage have the price of the Suite as £9,312.00. I've had a 'proper' suite once.. and frankly, i wouldn't recommend your first cruise being in one. You won't want to go back to a smaller cabin.. those things are awesome.

We are doing a 2 week cruise this summer (August) with Princess (Who own P&O), 2 adults, 2 kids in a mini-suite.. costing £3,800. We got that on black Friday last year. A Mini-suite is basically an enlarged balcony room, with a sofa-bed that can sleep 2 kids. But it has a bath

daveyjp

Cruise companies use fluid pricing and it really is a case of booking when it is at a price you are happy paying. Get a price now and check every week or so and see how prices are changing. You've not said how the two cabins would be occupied. Two in each, or three in one and a single? This affects price.

By requesting cabins you will pay top whack prices on P&O as they have a two level pricing system. Ensure you chose no upgrade when booking, if not you could be moved away from each other. The £6,000 price works out at £107 a night which when considering you have a balcony cabin it doesn't look OTT.

Not all websites have all cabins available to book so you need to try a number, including direct with the company.

There are also other ships to the Med from the UK so consider other lines and compare prices.

stephb34

oligopoly wrote: »

Thomas Cook displays no cruises in the month this one is sailing! cruise.co.uk is the company my mother in law has used. I'll contact them to see if i can get it any cheaper.

Any other suggestions?

Thomas cook don't have any cruise ships they sell everybody elses. So they will sell this P+O cruise and usually they have a guarantee they will beat any written quote. No harm in trying TC on your local high street see what they say. Don't forget your mother in laws loyalty number.

loobs40

take a look at the cruise critic forums. There is a P&O forum so you may get some advice on there.


do you have to take the cruise during the school summer holidays ? outside the holidays may bring the cost down


6K sounds expensive to me for balcony and inside cabin for 4 people. Does the holiday include flights or are you sailing from Southampton

oligopoly

loobs40 wrote: »

take a look at the cruise critic forums. There is a P&O forum so you may get some advice on there.

ok thanks, will do.

loobs40 wrote: »

do you have to take the cruise during the school summer holidays ? outside the holidays may bring the cost down

That's just when we want the cruise to be but I take your point

loobs40 wrote: »

Does the holiday include flights or are you sailing from Southampton

the latter.

daveyjp

loobs40 wrote: »

take a look at the cruise critic forums. There is a P&O forum so you may get some advice on there.


do you have to take the cruise during the school summer holidays ? outside the holidays may bring the cost down


6K sounds expensive to me for balcony and inside cabin for 4 people. Does the holiday include flights or are you sailing from Southampton

I'm tracking two non P&O cruises at the moment for 3 passengers for two weeks, in one balcony cabin ex Southampton.

Both have been at over £6,000 when 'freebies' were offered, then once freebies disappeared dropped to just over £5k. They are now at £4,500 which is cheapest they have been but more than I am prepared to pay. Guaranteed fares have not yet been released for either.

blindman

oligopoly wrote: »

ok thanks, will do.


That's just when we want the cruise to be but I take your point


the latter.

Look at Vacations to go


They seem to offer last minute or discounted cruises from around the world

mickey234

When booking a cruise, do your research, prices vary so much.
We always compare prices between the US , EU and the UK before we commit.
Compare - USA - https://www.americandiscountcruises.com
EU - https://www.seascanners.com
UK - https://www.the-cruise-specialists.com or https://www.vivavoyage.co.uk
Obviously you need to check the exchange rate fluctuations in making your decision.

The only problem in booking via the USA is that Carnival Corp. who own a large number of the cruiselines prohibit non-american customers from booking them, these include P&O, Princess, HAL, Cunard just to name a few.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara are definitely available to book via the US without any problem at all. A few important advantage of booking via the States is - 1) Ability to cancel for full refund up to final payment stage, 2) Significant Booking incentives way above anything offered in the UK, 3) Price drops honoured up to final payment (UK you have to cancel to gain the new price and lose your deposit)

There is so much choice with the massive increase in cruise ship capacity that booking so far in advance in seldom in your interest unless you wish a particular cabin and departure date. Being flexible will save you £££ if you are able to delay your booking. P&O are renown for offering massive last minute discounts much to the annoyance of their customers. Remember their ships almost always sail FULL but the prices people vary as much as 60% for the same cruise and cabin- yes unbelievable !

Another cost saver is to look to https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk join your Roll Call for your cruise and join others in planning your own Port Excursions at much reduced prices, also getting much insider info on your cruise ship.

oligopoly

mickey234 wrote: »

There is so much choice with the massive increase in cruise ship capacity that booking so far in advance in seldom in your interest unless you wish a particular cabin and departure date. Being flexible will save you £££ if you are able to delay your booking. P&O are renown for offering massive last minute discounts much to the annoyance of their customers. Remember their ships almost always sail FULL but the prices people vary as much as 60%.

Thanks for all the points - good to know for next time (should there be a next time!) I like the concept - and likelihood of big savings -of last minute booking but in this case our requirements were very specific - the departure, cruise liner, destination and date were all pre-selected so inevitably we'd have less bargaining power. In the end, after looking round a few places, Thomson were the cheapest - which surprised us all. Deposit was placed yesterday - we're very excited and it's something off the list until the balance is due in Feb!

ibizafan_2

I realise that you can get a good price on a cruise by waiting (my brother does this, and says three months before is good). However, I like to choose my cabin, which is why we booked a Thomson cruise to the Caribbean next January ages ago, and paid extra to pick the cabin. It goes against the grain, because I like a bargain, but I've decided that cruises are a different case, and I'll suck up the extra! Mind you, we always book holidays months and months in advance, and up to now have always saved money.