P&O Cruises creates ‘no frills’ fare to drive premium bookings

P&O Cruises and Cunard are creating a ‘no frills’ Getaway fare in a bid to drive more customers to its premium Vantage fares.

For 2014 bookings on the two cruise lines, customers paying the Vantage fares will be able to choose their cabins and their dining options as well as enjoy complimentary shuttle buses where available and early booking discounts.

Meanwhile, those opting for the lower tariff Getaway fare will not get the added benefits and will have to pay 100% of the holiday cost at the time of booking.

Giles Hawke, sales & customer services director of parent Carnival UK, said: "We’re putting more restrictions around the Getaway fare.

"We want to give people good strong reasons to pay the Vantage fare. It’s not just a price issue, it’s a value for money one."

All ships bar the Adonia will now have single rooms – some singles even sporting balconies on the newly revamped Arcadia and both P&O and Cunard are introducing a range of fly-cruises in the Mediterranean for 2014.

Hawke added: "Some customers want to get straight to the sun rather than sail out of Southampton.

"Also once passengers get further north, they have to fly to Southampton anyway. They’d rather fly straight to the Med.

"The Med fly-cruises will appeal to ‘new to cruise’ passengers and we also have a body of existing cruisers who are interested.

"We believe there’s a market there that we were missing out on."

The cruise line is planning a ‘Mega Launch Blitz’, from next week, where office and field staff will visit high street agents with giveaways, scratch cards and Easter prizes.

Nearly 500,000 copies of a multi-branded mini brochure will be sent out covering all the ‘headlines’ for its 2014 programme and agents will receive a 20-page Guide to Launch with information on how to book, ship visits, fare benefits, cruise events and a launch calendar.

There will also be incentives to complete training modules on P&O Cruises 2014 and Cunard 2014 via www.completecruisesolution.com from March 22.

The two separate sales will be finalised from mid-April with one team concentrating on P&O Cruises and Cunard while the other supports Princess cruises.

Hawke said with the extra recruits, the overall sales force is 20% bigger so agents should find the support even more efficient.

He added: "Agents will notice a big increase in support across all the brands and better focus. We have increased the headcount.

"The number of agents selling our cruises have increased and we’ve just had our biggest ever Wave in terms of sales in January and February so we’re comfortable about demand."

The 2014 programme goes on sale on April 8.