For first-time cruisers with P&O Cruises or Cunard, you may be unsure of which perk you would like to add at the time of booking. On most roundtrip Southampton sailings the P&O Cruises Select Fare or the Cunard Fare will give you the option of Onboard Spending Money, Car Parking at Southampton or Roundtrip Coach Transfers.
Whilst the decision may come down to pure convenience for you, we thought we would take a look at which is potentially the best value.
Which Perk Is For You?
We’ve made a few assumptions about our hypothetical travellers, so our examples below are based on 2 adults, sharing the lead grade of balcony stateroom, and travelling from Blackpool.
P&O Select Fare
P&O Cruises – 35-night cruise, roundtrip Southampton (based on N501, 3rd January 2025 on Ventura)
- Onboard Spending Money – £300 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £160 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Onboard Spending Money
P&O Cruises – 7-night cruise, roundtrip Southampton (based on G503, 22nd February 2025 on Iona)
- Onboard Spending Money – £80 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £124 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Coach Transfer
P&O Cruises – 14-night cruise, roundtrip Southampton (based on K507, 30th March 2025 on Arvia)
- Onboard Spending Money – £120 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £160 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Coach Transfer
The Cunard Fare
Cunard – 35-night voyage, roundtrip Southampton (based on M503, 11th January 2025 on Queen Mary 2)
- Onboard Spending Money – $490 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £160 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Onboard Spending Money
Cunard – 7-night voyage, roundtrip Southampton (based on V502, 2nd January 2025 on Queen Victoria)
- Onboard Spending Money – $150 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £124 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Coach Transfer
Cunard – 14-night voyage, roundtrip Southampton (based on M508, 13th April 2025 on Queen Mary 2)
- Onboard Spending Money – $230 per stateroom
- Parking at Southampton – CPS quote is £160 per car
- Return Coach Transfer from Blackpool – CruiseConnect quote is £232 for two travellers
Best Value: Coach Transfer
In Summary
As you can see from our examples above, for holidays of 7-14 nights the coach transfers are the best value option, but that will depend on where in the country you’re travelling from. That being said, even coach pick-up points south of Birmingham will be at a value in excess of £90 per person.
Sailings of longer than 14 nights will more than likely benefit more from onboard spending money, but again that can be dependent on the stateroom type you’re booking.
However, for the sheer convenience of parking outside the cruise terminal and strolling across the car park to join your ship, we definitely don’t blame anyone for picking the car parking option! Even on your disembarkation day, you can enjoy a final cruise breakfast, and then hop in your car for the journey home. You’re on no-one else’s schedule, and you even get to pick the drive-time music!
Whichever option you pick, we recommend asking for all of the options from our Cruise Experts. Keep in mind that during some promotions there may be additional onboard spending money available; so you can enjoy more than one perk! Call the team on 02380 658 386, or start your cruise search here!
Perk extras were correct at time of publish – 24 January 2024. Amounts/Costs are subject to change and availability.
