P&O and Cunard to scrap the Getaway?

After a few years of Getaway Fares/ Vantage Fares (Price protected promise) and lots of very unhappy cruisers it looks like P&O have finally realised (or agreed) that this fare structure just is not fair for many of their loyal customers.

It has always been frowned upon among the travel industry when Getaway Fares are added to a cruise as we all know there are many great customers out there that have booked on the Vantage Fare with a Price Protection Promise that are about to get a right kick in the teeth. Why?

Because that Price Promise is not worth the paper it is printed on and there is no way around it. The T&Cs are well worded that any other Fare that comes out is not applicable to the Vantage Fare (The only fare option at the time of booking) and then the ladies and gents at Carnival have a well worded script that basically equates to this-“tough, your customers have booked and where happy with the price at the time, now move on”.

Even today I have had a unhappy client as his cruise has come down in price and he is not entitled to any promises made by Carnival.

So what is going to happen now?

Is this the end of cheap deals with P&O and Cunard?

Will their customer service start to improve again if everyone is paying more?

Will their ships stay in port longer?

I hold my breathe in anticipation.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am glad that so many people have had a great deal, I am glad that so many deals are out there to be had, it just should not be at the expense of those that have already paid full whack for it.

Have you been ‘done over’ by the Vantage Fare Price Promise? Or maybe you have had a great late P&O deal. Let me know what you think to the new price structure that starts Monday morning.

Hopefully everyone will be happy again.