WRC Boats Moving To Nbd For Next Season?

[NorfolkNog]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

Mustn't forget the excellent pubs

And that too! 

[RS2021]

Hoseasons appear to show no availability for either Faircraft Loynes or Barnes Brinkcraft next year. Have they both left the agency?

[JennyMorgan]

3 minutes ago, RS2021 said:

Hoseasons appear to show no availability for either Faircraft Loynes or Barnes Brinkcraft next year. Have they both left the agency?

It wouldn't surprise me, Hoseasons does appear to have forgotten its roots and I suspect that both yards are big enough to fend for themselves, even if they do link up with other yards.

[DAVIDH]

1 hour ago, RS2021 said:

Hoseasons appear to show no availability for either Faircraft Loynes or Barnes Brinkcraft next year. Have they both left the agency?

Definitely showing up for me: 
https://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/united-kingdom/the-broads/wroxham-horning?adult=2&child=0&infant=0&nights=7&range=3&pets=0&start=04-09-2021&sortorder=5

[marshman]

Don't forget that whilst at Ferry, Len removed his boats from Hoseasons and did it on his own. I doubt the gulf between them at that time has been bridged and he could well do it again.

[RS2021]

6 hours ago, DAVIDH said:

Definitely showing up for me: 

Strange, showing for me now. Must have been a glitch earlier 

[RS2021]

As predicted by many people, NBD have gone All Inclusive. Also one class of boat has disappeared from their website, presumably retired to make way for the newer WRC boats. No sign of those yet though...

[WherryNice]

49 minutes ago, RS2021 said:

As predicted by many people, NBD have gone All Inclusive. Also one class of boat has disappeared from their website, presumably retired to make way for the newer WRC boats. No sign of those yet though...

Fair Ambassador? It has appeared on NBS website,listed as coming soon....

[RS2021]

20 minutes ago, WherryNice said:

Fair Ambassador? It has appeared on NBS website,listed as coming soon....

Fair Senator had disappeared from the website. Fair Ambassador is still there, but I think they did have a few of them, so maybe just selling one.

[Captain]

Yes there were 3 Fair Ambassador s. One I believe went end of 2019 replaced by Fair Consort, looks like another is going end of 2020 via Nbs, leaving 1 on hire for 2021 of these popular oldish timers dating from 1990-2 the oldest boat in the Faircraft fleet. I believe their popularity and relative affordability has kept them on fleet longer than many newer boats. The lack of new small low height affordable boats has probably helped to.

Neil

[Broads01]

I think all inclusive pricing is a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it makes pricing much simpler. On the minus side, you can end up paying for lots of fuel you don't use. I have Fair Duke booked for next year which I booked a couple of months back before the pricing policy changed. My booking specifies £130 fuel deposit and ordinarily I get a chunk back even though I like cruising plenty of hours each day. I hope I still get a refund at the end of my trip. 

[Vaughan]

I had not heard of this but an all inclusive package has been an option for large yards in France for many years now and is taken up by at least half of customers.  I must say that I have often seen customers arrive for their holiday on a boat which has cost them 2 or 3 thousand Euros in August, being rather disgruntled at having to fork out another 3 or 4 hundred for various extras when they arrive!  A lot of people prefer to know exactly what their holiday will cost, even if they understand that it might be a few Quid more that way.

I do think though, that it should be an option, rather than an overall booking policy.

I have just looked on the NBD website and they are indeed announcing all inclusive for next year.

Hoseasons, however, seem to tell a different story.  I have just enquired to book Fair Viscount for a week in April next year and the quote I was given shows damage waiver and fuel deposit as extras.  There is a little window that advises me to book soon as pricing policies may change.  Perhaps that is what it means!  I was also interested to see that there appears to be a great deal of availability on their website, for next Spring.  That is not what we have been led to believe by the press.

I was also very amused to see all the photos of the older Faircraft boats, in Hoseasons website, with Blakes emblems on the bows! They can sack the "continuity girl" for that one!!

[MauriceMynah]

I might get shot down for this but I can't help but wonder about the different way the hire yards treat diesel and LPG.

It seems that LPG which is an all inclusive commodity, is being replaced by supplying 240v equipment which, if running of inverters or generators, uses diesel (non inclusive. This is normally explained by telling people that LPG is dangerous stuff highly likely to explode any minute.

[ChrisB]

Why not do the same as hire cars and have a "Full Tank Policy" you go off full and bring it back full or it is topped on your return and you pay for what you have used.

[Vaughan]

11 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

This is normally explained by telling people that LPG is dangerous stuff highly likely to explode any minute.

I gave you a "laugh" as you have dug up several old "chestnuts" in the same post!

Traditionally, the high price of diesel, compared to a roadside filling station has been excused as it also contains the cost of "consumables" such as gas and lub. oil, which are not charged separately.  That is quite reasonable and as there are still very few electric cooking boats, is still valid in my view.

At least on the Broads, you are charged for the actual consumption of diesel, when the tank is filled up.  When you are charged for diesel by the hour, that is different!  The engine uses far less fuel when ticking over in neutral charging the batteries, than it does when charging across Breydon at 8MPH, but the hourly rate to the customer is still the same!

As for the fear of gas exploding; I think that may be "for marketing purposes only".

[finny]

Every time I have hired on the canals it's been an all inclusive price which is fine - you know where you stand financially and I think Vaughan has touched on something .since selling my boat going back to the convenience of hiring the first place I look and has been for a while is to the all inclusive ferry marine subject to boat requirements or availability 

Finny

[RS2021]

10 hours ago, Broads01 said:

My booking specifies £130 fuel deposit and ordinarily I get a chunk back even though I like cruising plenty of hours each day. I hope I still get a refund at the end of my trip. 

Me too. We had booked for 2020 back in 2019 and paid just before COVID hit. We took the option to transfer to 2021. I suspect NBD will have a number of customers in this category. Like you we usually get a healthy chunk of the £130 back. I don't mind all inclusive, but do like to know what you are signing up for when comparing prices and booking. 

I have to say that when we got refunds before from NBD it was always in cash which surprised me - I would have expected an electronic transfer on the credit card etc. I can understand if NBD have been using cash, it will mean a lot less cash on site. Perhaps it was always a good way of distributing cash received from trip boat passengers to save going to the bank with all its charges. Now if more customers have gone cashless they would need to get cash from the bank to refund fuel deposits.

[RS2021]

4 hours ago, Vaughan said:

There is a little window that advises me to book soon as pricing policies may change.

I thought it always said that. A bit like '25 other people are looking at this boat right now'. Pressure sales tactics. One of the aspect of internet shopping I don't like.

[vanessan]

14 minutes ago, RS2021 said:

I thought it always said that. A bit like '25 other people are looking at this boat right now'. Pressure sales tactics. One of the aspect of internet shopping I don't like.

One of the modern sales tactics that annoys me too. Particularly when the ‘25 other people are looking........’ is usually right on top of the picture of the product I want to look at!

[DAVIDH]

The tactic has been outlawed (seemingly) in cases where the site was telling you about bookings/interest against all dates, not just the one you were looking at. The Hoseasons banner is passive and stays there irrespective of any changes which may or may not happen. I guess the Hoseasons site will catch up with the all inclusive pricing and alter their rates accordingly. It's a busy time for them at the moment, loading/removing 2021 accommodation/rates for boats, cottages, lodges and holiday parks across the UK, 

As an exercise, I looked at the price of Fair Chancellor, 7 nights 24th April
NBD price = £1490.00 all inclusive rate

Hoseasons = £1359.00 hire charge
                           150.00 fuel 
                             45.00 damage waiver
                      £1554.00 total

So you can see all inclusive is £64 cheaper. That could be explained by less allowance for fuel.

[SwanR]

I looked at Fair Consort on NBD's website earlier. New updated centre cockpit launched this year or last year ... can't quite remember. But it came up as less than £1100 for one week mid-October all-in. That seemed like a very fair price to me.

[CambridgeCabby]

4 minutes ago, DAVIDH said:

The tactic has been outlawed (seemingly) in cases where the site was telling you about bookings/interest against all dates, not just the one you were looking at. The Hoseasons banner is passive and stays there irrespective of any changes which may or may not happen. I guess the Hoseasons site will catch up with the all inclusive pricing and alter their rates accordingly. It's a busy time for them at the moment, loading/removing 2021 accommodation/rates for boats, cottages, lodges and holiday parks across the UK, 

As an exercise, I looked at the price of Fair Chancellor, 7 nights 24th April
NBD price = £1490.00 all inclusive rate

Hoseasons = £1359.00 hire charge
                           150.00 fuel 
                             45.00 damage waiver
                      £1554.00 total

So you can see all inclusive is £64 cheaper. That could be explained by less allowance for fuel.

Plus the car parking 

[DAVIDH]

12 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

Plus the car parking 

I did think of that, but wasn't sure if they were already charging for it.

[CambridgeCabby]

They certainly used to charge it as an extra 

[RS2021]

Current policy is 1/2 cars free depending on the size of boat