Cruise prices

[PropShaft, Palatine of Lancashire]

I wrote a few years ago when big ugly ships were being turned out, and they are still being turned out only bigger!! that small ship cruise operators will slap on a premium if we want traditional cruising and it looks like I was correct as Fred Olsen's prices have shot up, and with the Covid layoff the prices, in general, do not seem to have come down at all as most operators look to have put prices up a little for limited short 4, 5, and 7-night cruises which in my view are not cruises but short breaks, but I guess that is all we can expect for the time being.
Any thoughts on prices and the direction in which the industry is heading anybody?

[carol, welwyn garden city]

It amazes me what some people pay for a cruise, but hey ho it's their money they can spend it how they wish!!

I don't really pay to much attention to prices per se. If I think it's good value for money, and somewhere I want to go, then I will book.

The round Britain cruises have all come down in price since they were first launched. Ships don't want to be sailing empty. I think things will settle down once cruising is up and running again!! After all there are a lot of new very large ships, they will have to attract customers some how! .................................................. .Carol

[Topdeck, London]

There is still the cheaper stuff out there if you look.

Posted last week £50pppn.

the desire to fill ships will return.

[Mrs M]

The cruises we have booked were of a reasonable price, but prices seem to have increased significantly over the months, if accommodation is still available in the grades we have booked.

[Moonraker, Royal Wootton Bassett]

I don't know how typical this is but we've booked a Princess cruise to Norway/North Cape for August 2022 which is in effect a re booking of the cruise that was cancelled last year. It's the same cruise line, same cabin category, same time of year, and almost the same itinerary. The price is 52% higher that our 2020 booking. For this time only we didn't care. If the 2022 cruise goes ahead it will be our first for almost 4 years - we didn't cruise in 2019 for non Covid reasons - so the holiday pot is healthy but we will be more assiduous next time around.

[PropShaft, Palatine of Lancashire]

I know that quite a few companies were doing more short cruises before Covid hit because it must be more profitable, while FO was charging more and cutting down to 13n which is a big rise, they also have more short trips in the brochure so having had 2 P&O cruises cancelled we have booked on Fred's new Bolette for October and paid far too much, a price which normally I could not justify and I don't think we will pay so much again soon, Topdeck points out a £50 per night offer, very good if its where you want to go but I find generally it's not and we are selective it has to be somewhere warm and 14n to justify the travel hassle

[Malcolm, Essex]

If people vote with their wallets, prices will drop.

I looked at Olsen's latest fares and though "No Way". They are not even a luxury product.

[Haworth, Wokingham]

If people vote with their wallets, prices will drop.

I looked at Olsen's latest fares and though "No Way". They are not even a luxury product.

Spot on Malcolm, we won’t be booking at the current combination of price/itinerary

[Topdeck, London]

I know that quite a few companies were doing more short cruises before Covid hit because it must be more profitable, while FO was charging more and cutting down to 13n which is a big rise, they also have more short trips in the brochure so having had 2 P&O cruises cancelled we have booked on Fred's new Bolette for October and paid far too much, a price which normally I could not justify and I don't think we will pay so much again soon, Topdeck points out a £50 per night offer, very good if its where you want to go but I find generally it's not and we are selective it has to be somewhere warm and 14n to justify the travel hassle

If you go back a few years the short taster cruise were very reasonable, then they crept up to £100pppn and they were selling well.


I feel the current UK market is a bit swamped with shorties so we should see some price movments,

The big change will be when travel is possible, eg if the EU open up to UK vaccinated on the same terms as Schengen countries that opens up cruising from med/canaries ports and UK demand will drop off.
(MSC include testing so that is not an issue for their cruise but may be a cost if return testing is required by UK authorities).


IT has always been the case that demand varied by cruise and that is shown in pricing.

the current P&O 50pppn is not a lot different to the other available this year and some are fairly decent itinerary(if they go ahead)

[PropShaft, Palatine of Lancashire]

the shorties are no good to us as it's not worth the travel hassle and expense, and I have noticed that quite a few itineraries which used to be 14n have been cut down so the price rise combined with a day or two less which is another price rise and when the cost of travelling to the port usually Sot'n or Dover is added both runs which we do enjoy, the expense adds up

[ilovesunshine, east yorks]

I was tempted with a cruise to nowhere on the new Virgin ship sailing out of Portsmouth. 4 nights in a balcony cabin £599. But we don't want to be the oldest singers in town. Seems to be aimed at much younger saviors than us although it is adult only.

[sandraggg, Newcastle]

I was tempted with a cruise to nowhere on the new Virgin ship sailing out of Portsmouth. 4 nights in a balcony cabin £599. But we don't want to be the oldest singers in town. Seems to be aimed at much younger saviors than us although it is adult only.

Maybe it will attract a different demographic for these UK sailings?

[ilovesunshine, east yorks]

Maybe it will attract a different demographic for these UK sailings?

Yes I was wondering if that may be the case. I must say the safety protocols sound very comprehensive. All passengers must have had both vaccines at least 2 weeks prior to sailing. The ship will only be 60% full, cabins will be fogged between cruises and all luggage sanitised before loading.
I really like the sound of a brand new ship.
Some innovative ideas. Shake your phone 3 times and a bottle of champagne will be delivered to you wherever you are on the ship. The balcony has a comfortable hammock as well as chairs
Some of the entertainment sounds interesting, if a bit dodgy!
No main dining room, a selection of 20 smaller eating venues instead, all serving different cuisine.

[sandraggg, Newcastle]

I watched a YouTube video on Scarlet Lady and it was explained that the company deliberately used designers who had not previously designed cruise ships.

Not sure whether that is a plus or minus but the design certainly looks very different.

Not sure I like the phone shaking thing. I often shake mine to see if it will work better. I could unintentionally rack up quite a bar bill!

[Mrs M]

Yes I was wondering if that may be the case. I must say the safety protocols sound very comprehensive. All passengers must have had both vaccines at least 2 weeks prior to sailing. The ship will only be 60% full, cabins will be fogged between cruises and all luggage sanitised before loading.
I really like the sound of a brand new ship.
Some innovative ideas. Shake your phone 3 times and a bottle of champagne will be delivered to you wherever you are on the ship. The balcony has a comfortable hammock as well as chairs
Some of the entertainment sounds interesting, if a bit dodgy!
No main dining room, a selection of 20 smaller eating venues instead, all serving different cuisine.

Go for it.

I used to be a Virgin Gold FF until we started spending our time at sea rather than TAs [air] to the US. The crew were lovely. Friendly and approachable. The Virgin marine venture does nothing for us as we're confirmed Cunard mariners but as a diverting few days, should be fun.