Princess 2016 launch 19th March

[towny44]

Just been browsing a Bolsover e-mail link showing the Princess 2016 Europe sailings. Emerald Princess doing Med, Baltic and Canaries from Southampton and Caribbean Princess doing British Isles cruises from Southampton.
However their launch prices are high, British Isles cruises balcony prices are around £2500 for 12 nights, and Med cruises are similar price for 14 nights with Baltic up to £2700. Although they are giving Captains Club members £100pp discount their baltic price is way above the £2000 we paid for a 2B balcony on Eclipse for 2016.
Since P&O is also a Carnival line it does not auger well for their launch prices.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Interesting Towny. It will be interesting to see what P&O 2016 prices look like, Cunard too. We paid only just over £2000 each for Superior Deluxe Balcony on Britannia for the 14 day Maiden so if their prices do follow Princess that'll be a major hyke. We're hoping to do a transatlantic QM2 and maybe 7 nights on Adonia in 2016 and maybe a P&O Caribbean in 2017. Have to wait and see but I guess it won't be long now. I wonder what info and/or bargains (or not) may be available on board Britannia next month.

[Manoverboard]

£1,249 for 14 nights in a Balcony cabin to the Canaries on a Food n Wine themed cruise seems cheap to me, a brand new ship should surely be sold out for this one ?

http://www.pocruises.com/b506/?search=true

[Dark Knight]

Celebrity price for a 14 night 2B Balcony with all drinks and tips included was £2150, which seemed reasonable value

Mobymod, perhaps the new ship is not what people ,esp Pando cruisers, wanted from their new ship and lowering prices is going to be the only way to keep it full?

[Mervyn and Trish]

That is a bargain, though that is the Saver Price for an ordinary balcony. Great if you're not bothered about the frills. The current Select Price for a Superior Balcony is considerably more than we paid for the Maiden. I suspect there aren't a lot of cabins left and they're probably the ones most people won't consider.

[Jan Rosser]

Thanks for the info John - I am going on my second Princess trip in May not having sailed with them for about 8 or 9 years - impressed with almost all aspects of my last cruise with them last year but don't find them cheap - I know its the flippin single supplement.

I nearly choked when I saw that M&T are paying roughly the same as me for my Christmas cruise on Britannia and I'm not in a superior balcony cabin although it is a midship balcony £3900 for me - I must be bonkers - don't say it Batty

The problem is school holidays and finding a cruise to fit into the slot so it's not necessarily P&O as first choice it's whoever fits the bill and that is why we are going on Princess again in May. One perk from this trip is free transport for my son and family which is worth almost £400 to them.

[towny44]

Jan, don't forget to keep your eye on your May Princess price, they will honour price drops as I know only too well. In fact I would check their current offer due to end 28th Feb, they are offering monster amounts of OBC and fairly reasonable prices for 2015 sailings.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I do think our reaction to prices is amusing - and I include myself in that.

If a price is low we sometimes think it's a sign of good value, such as our Britannia price or Batty's Calamity deal. On other occasions when we see a low price we regard it as a sign that ship is failing and desperately selling off cabins to stave of bankruptcy.

If prices look high we see it as a sign of superior quality, or alternatively reckon we are being ripped off and can get a better bargain somewhere else - which brings us back to the low prices again.

We are a bit fickle at times I fear. I guess the answer is we want low prices for ourselves but not for anyone else!

[qbman1]

Celebrity price for a 14 night 2B Balcony with all drinks and tips included was £2150, which seemed reasonable value

" Stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap...." ??

[Dark Knight]

the word is reasonable, not cheap, big difference

[Manoverboard]

That is a bargain, though that is the Saver Price for an ordinary balcony. Great if you're not bothered about the frills. The current Select Price for a Superior Balcony is considerably more than we paid for the Maiden. I suspect there aren't a lot of cabins left and they're probably the ones most people won't consider.

Sorry old chap there is no such thing as an ' ordinary ' balcony cabin, most people cannot afford them at the top end price, indeed if at all and I certainly do not agree about the lack of frills either. We all get the same food, entertainment and in cabin facilities on a cabin for cabin basis.

As it happens we have a P&O cheapo cruise booked in a balcony cabin and have saved sufficient money to book, if we so wish, an excursion in every Port and select dining for our usual number of nights with enough left over to pay the lions share of the bar bill ... that is not second best nor a problem as far as we are concerned.

[qbman1]

the word is reasonable, not cheap, big difference

Sorry, but I fail to see the difference. If it's a bargain price, you can call it reasonable if you like, but it's still cheap ! I detect a touch of hypocrisy creeping in here.

[Mervyn and Trish]

the word is reasonable, not cheap, big difference

Sorry, but I fail to see the difference. If it's a bargain price, you can call it reasonable if you like, but it's still cheap ! I detect a touch of hypocrisy creeping in here.

Kind of my point in my post above. We adjust the language to suit the point we're making.

[Mervyn and Trish]

That is a bargain, though that is the Saver Price for an ordinary balcony. Great if you're not bothered about the frills. The current Select Price for a Superior Balcony is considerably more than we paid for the Maiden. I suspect there aren't a lot of cabins left and they're probably the ones most people won't consider.

Sorry old chap there is no such thing as an ' ordinary ' balcony cabin, most people cannot afford them at the top end price, indeed if at all and I certainly do not agree about the lack of frills either. We all get the same food, entertainment and in cabin facilities on a cabin for cabin basis.

I know you're only be provocative Moby, but what I meant by "ordinary" is that Britannia has a number of variations on balcony cabins; without sofa, with sofa, single, superior deluxe. The ones in this offer are the "ordinary ones" - the cheapest balcony cabins on the ship. The others are not in the offer and are considerably more expensive.

As for "most people cannot afford them at the top end price" well it seems sufficient people can, because only these "ordinary" ones are available as Savers.

And I agree entirely that we all get the same food, entertainment, in cabin facilities, but these are what I'd call basics. The "frills" that encourage us to book Select Fares are being able to choose your own cabin (essential for us with Trish not being a good sailor and there's no point saving money if she feels unwell for the entire cruise) and choosing dining preference (for us not essential but highly desirable). And the monetary perks of parking or OBC reduce the cash difference too.

But as I said at the beginning, a good offer if you don't want the frills or a sofa!

[Dark Knight]

QB

If I wanted cheap. I would wait to book 2 weeks before, sailing on any ship, any itinerary and go for about £500 each
reasonable is £2000 each for what we got, it is not cheap by most standards, unless of course you are a slum landlord from Oxford?

[Mervyn and Trish]

QB

If I wanted cheap. I would wait to book 2 weeks before, sailing on any ship, any itinerary and go for about £500 each
reasonable is £2000 each for what we got, it is not cheap by most standards, unless of course you are a slum landlord from Oxford?

So can we now change your P&O catchphrase to "Pile em high, sell it reasonable"?

[Dark Knight]

You could , but under the trade descriptions act ,you may be fined or imprisoned for false advertising

[Manoverboard]

.... But as I said at the beginning, a good offer if you don't want the frills or a sofa!

So ... the first edition brochure price for a deluxe balcony cabin was £2,099 and now an ordinary one is presently selling at £1,249. It will drop further and that will offset the parking / OBC perks.

An £850 difference ... tell me, do you get to take the sofa home with you when you disembark ?

[Mervyn and Trish]

No but I like my comforts while I'm there. I don't take the toilet home either but I wouldn't book a cabin without one!

[towny44]

.... But as I said at the beginning, a good offer if you don't want the frills or a sofa!

So ... the first edition brochure price for a deluxe balcony cabin was £2,099 and now an ordinary one is presently selling at £1,249. It will drop further and that will offset the parking / OBC perks.

An £850 difference ... tell me, do you get to take the sofa home with you when you disembark ?

The £1249 price will be for obstructed view non sofa balconies, and there are 6 grades of these, either with the lifeboat sharing the balcony with you, or a forward one with a steel balcony rather than a see through glass front; of course you could be lucky and get an upgrade, but unlikely with 6 grades of obstructed balcony.
The lowest category non sofa balcony without an obstruction is HF grade, you would need to check on line for that price, but it will likely be quite a bit higher.

[Manoverboard]

... The £1249 price will be for obstructed view non sofa balconies ...

I do appreciate that although we will not be booking one of them.

Some pax however will be most grateful to get any sort of a balcony cabin at this price point regardless of the fact that the lifeboat may be cranked up from time to time during the daylight hours ... tis no big deal in reality.

We book cheapo deals for cruises that include umpteen repeat Ports and will only pay top dollar for new and innovative itineraries. For some, inc M&T, the difference in cost is reasonable and acceptable but I merely make the point that many folk do not have the income to make such choices and will need instead to book a cheapo balcony cabin albeit with a potential £40 jab from the Doc and no sofa to make their cruise equally enjoyable to them.

We make the mistake that others will want the same as we do ourselves whereas this is absolutely not the case.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Wouldn't argue with a word of that. Horses for courses and personal choice. Not for us but a great deal for someone else

[Dark Knight]

Viva La Difference
we have not had a balcony cabin yet, as we normally book an outside,for a bit of daylight. I am interested to see if a balcony is worth the extra cost and if it makes a difference to the way we do our cruise, such as ordering room service etc ?
should be fun

[Mervyn and Trish]

Somewhere to sit and escape the riff raff while taking the air.

[Manoverboard]

Somewhere to sit and escape the riff raff while taking the air.

As long as one doesn't occupy a cabin adjacent to a smoking chav of course ... cough, cough