Hi everyone.
I need an urgent advice on this.
P&O Cruises have a sale which will end up at midnight.
I am just wondering if $849pp is a good price for a 12 nights cruise :
Thank you.
PS I can also add up that we wanted to visit NZ for the last 10 years or so. Thus this itinerary looks pretty good to me.
I heard that it's cheaper to get excursions from local firms than from the cruise company.
So, probably not much inclusions is not too bad.
Just thinking aloud.
Yeh I wouldn't pay for the cruise excursions. The only benefit is that if you're booked with them, the boat waits for you.
There are definitely people that have gone off and done their own thing and gotten stuck in traffic or whatever and not made it back to the boat.
They then either miss the rest of the cruise or race to the next port to catch up…
We went on a P&O cruise about 18 months ago, a 9 night trip to the south pacific.
The cost was about $349 pp, twin share, and we thought it was outstanding value, at under $40/night per person.
I've looked out for similar deals since and seen nothing, but you can get $50/night deals not infrequently.
Bear in mind this is on the Jewel, which is an old ship and if that bothers you, you might feel it's a little tired.
Also as above, 4 per room is a small space. We were never in the rooms other than to sleep, but if you are 4/room be prepared to hear, smell and almost feel the farts of the person in the opposite bunk. Just make sure you're all good friends.
I'd also consider that they are selling these early because it's hitting low season then - everyone has just had their long summer break and gone back to school and work, not many have time off.
I recall this year some excellent deals for cruises at that time on Carnival, at around the $50/night mark.
But that was without any onboard credit etc.
All in all, if you want to book something and have it set in stone, this is pretty good. You get $150 on board credit for that room which is handy for eg soft drink packages or whatever.
I would almost say I can guarantee you'll find something cheaper if you wait, but you'd have to be flexible with when you're able to get up and go… which many of us aren't
Yep, I think that is a great price. P&O are not as fun as Princess or Carnival cruises, take books, puzzles and things to keep you amused (LOL). I've done 3 very cheap/short P&O cruises this year (2 x pacific dawn, 1 x pacific aria) and you really need a lot of books to keep you sane. I see them as opportunties to catch up on reading LOL!!
So, if I paraphrase what you are saying, they do not have many on board activities like shows, etc. Am I right ?
do the ships have free wifi?
It will be great, but not as great if you did the cruise on a Princess or Carnival ship, that is all. There will still be shows and activities and you will be have a great time. I did a Carnival cruise first, and that set the bar very high for all future holidays and cruises, so I am a bit biased as Carnival was such a wonderful experience.
But yes, for that price do it. Fantastic price for NZ.
The other thing to know about P&O ships, is to make your dinner reservations (for the whole cruise) as soon as you get onto the ship ( I mean go to your room first, but go to the restaurant and book all your dinner reservations straight after).
Not sure what restaurants are on the ship you are going on.. but on the Aria.. there are three, waterfront (waterfront is on all P&O ships), plus Dragon Lady (asian restaurant) and Angelos (Italian). Some ships have these extra two free restaurants, some dont. If your ship has these extra restaurants, you will need to make bookings for them ASAP or else you will miss out on the whole cruise (and you need to book Waterfront aswell). You also want to make sure (unless you like sharing a table with strangers) that it will just be your family on your table. Their default is try to put you with other people to share a table.
I would avoid P&O cruises…on a scale between all the ships we get here in Australia i would rank them the lowest. Old ships, small, younger noiser crowd. Go either a Carnival (next level up), Princess or Royal Caribbean.
Some facts to consider:
But if you haven't been on a cruise before, do it - and you won't be disappointed.
Also people always say brand X is better than brand Y, which is completely FALSE. I would ask those people to compare the ship (in P&O's case - Aria or Eden being newer refurbished ships) the period of travel (ie. school holidays where there will be child to adult ratio is 10000:1) and destination (ok, in AU it's really south pacific or NZ).
Compare apples with apples … since it's pointless to compare an old Dawn Princess cruise to South Pacific with P&O during school holidays in summer to a NZ cruise with Princess on the massive Golden Princess in the middle of winter …
Most importantly. Be excited and have fun!!
Wifi expensive and slow.
Food crap.
Self contained floating caravan park.
But I think cruising is a great way to decide if you every want to go back to a place.
Do you like cruises and want to go on a cruise, or do you just see it as a convenient way of getting to NZ?
The price of $849 is per person based on 4 people sharing a room. If there are only two of you prices start from $1,049 per person.
Honestly I think cruises always sound like good value if cruising is your thing. At $849 it is only $70 a day for food, a place to sleep, and some entertainment on board. Bare in mind this price doesn't look to include much once you are off the boat in the different cities you stop at.