Time for a change from P&O and Cunard

In all the years I have been selling cruise holidays, April has been the month where P&O and Cunard release their brochures for the following year. It has happened this way for as many years as I can remember, and in the cruise industry April is always a very very busy month. This year however there has been a big change and it has been announced that the 2018 programme will go on sale in September of this year!

The launch campaign is always a very strong one from P&O and Cunard with passengers booking early receiving benefits such as extra discounts, on board credit, car parking. Booking at launch gives you your first choice of cruise/cabin/dining and is very popular with those loyal cruise customers. Booking in April for the following year is early but many customers choose to book this way and it has become the norm in the industry. I have customers who I book year after year at launch time and they wouldn’t book their cruise any other way than when it goes on sale that very first morning in April.

Over the years I have been selling cruises I do think that some customers who say five years ago would always book at launch time have decided to hold back. Over time we have seen the introduction of the saver and early saver fares, or getaway fares as they were first called. These fares are released much closer to the sailing at a highly reduced rate. Ok so you don’t get your choice of cabin or your dining time but some customers have decided this is the way to go to save money. I think that both P&O and Cunard have lost lots of customers who would have booked at launch time to these late deal offers, with customers not wanting to pay brochure prices. In such a growing industry this was always going to happen and it’s about choice I think…customers can choose to book at launch with all the early booking benefits or they can hold off and book last minute.

I do have to say is September of the year before just too early? Personally I think it might be and I have a feeling that it maybe for our customers. There is forward planning which I’m all for, but is this taking it one step too far.

Of course this decision won’t have been taken lightly and such a big change has to be one they believe is positive and the right move for them at this current time…..the question many people will have is why and why now? The reason that springs to my mind is that they want to get the 2018 bookings in earlier than their competitors….are they trying to entice those passengers that would book maybe with Princess or Royal Caribbean before they have a chance to launch their new brochures.

Or is it just simply time for a change, will this change create positive publicity for the cruise lines and place P&O and Cunard in customers minds. It’s going to get people talking, whether they like the new launch dates or not, and as they say no publicity is bad publicity. Perhaps it will attract new cruise customers, and maybe for those loyal customers out there booking a few months earlier won’t make that much difference.

Only time will tell if this new launch time is going to prove successful for them and I wonder could it be the beginning of other cruise lines following and changing when they release their new brochures. Will you be booking your P&O or Cunard cruise for 2018 in September? I would as always love to hear your thoughts and if you would like more information on the 2018 programme watch this space.

Thanks Abbi