Has anyone heard of SmartCruiser, maybe even Smart Cruiser? Well I am often asked why I do not show more prices on this site especially as I am going for the term cheap cruises. The reason is that prices change and I do not want to disappoint people by displaying prices that are wrong.
Today I got a call from a client, actually a potential client; in fact it was one of my four brothers. He had seen the price for the cruise he was interested in, the X014 P&O Cruises Oriana 12 Night Canary Islands Cruise 15 August 2010. SmartCruiser were claiming to be selling this for £1270pp which every cruise agent will tell you, is less than the cruise price minus all the commission earned for selling the cruise.
So based with this knowledge I filled out the contact form and awaited my email with the price of this cruise; it arrived £1404.21pp. So what happened to the £1270pp?
SmartCruiser like many other companies want you to fill the contact forms in on their websites; so do I. The difference is I am not advertising any prices I know I can’t match. They will often display prices that are fictitious, however you have been caught thinking you are getting something you are not and are then part of their Marketing system.
My promise to any potential client is, I will try and give you the cheapest price I can; if for whatever reason I can’t beat someone’s price I will tell you as there maybe a reason, the cruise agent might have a group on the cruise and therefore offer better benefits. Whatever it is, there is no point in beating around the bush. Sorry SmartCruiser, this is not good enough!
