It's All In Your Sailaway Sun

[DAVIDH]

The dates they are highlighting are April, May and June. There's still lots to sell in April and May (apart from Spring Bank), but June is very limited now. It's an affiliate site (like mine). Anyone who books through it, generates a commission for The Sun. 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/14659988/norfolk-broads-boating-holidays-boats/

[Dan]

Is it all a bit of a nonsense?

The link I followed showed Dream Gem at the top cheap but fully booked (didnt they remove/sell all these after last year) and then Serene Gem (not run since 2019 I don't think) and Tropical Gem (same or year earlier)

Dan

[Happy]

The Sun did this years ago.  Boatyards pulled out all the old s......s and people hired them cheap.  The boats were so bad 

(as I seem to remember) I am sure it put off new hirers for good.  I feel sure it did not do anyone any good!  

[Broads01]

Intriguing how boats that are no longer available seem to be, well, available as Dan says. Looks very Richardsons-focussed from the quick look I had.

[Cheesey69]

Well since I bought Tropical Gem and sitting in her now this could be interesting 🤔 

[DAVIDH]

2 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Intriguing how boats that are no longer available seem to be, well, available as Dan says. Looks very Richardsons-focussed from the quick look I had.

They're not available. They come up as a general search as the enquiry date - 17th April, has already passed. When you go to look for availability, there is none. In fairness to The Soaraway Sun, It's Hoseasons that should have removed them from their database. The boats which show up for the May dates are the same as if you go direct to the Hoseasons site. 

[Broads01]

1 minute ago, DAVIDH said:

They're not available. They come up as a general search as the enquiry date - 17th April, has already passed. When you go to look for availability, there is none. In fairness to The Soaraway Sun, It's Hoseasons that should have removed them from their database. The boats which show up for the May dates are the same as if you go direct to the Hoseasons site. 

Ah so Hoseasons are being their usual sharp, on the ball selves then.

[DAVIDH]

That's about the size of it.

Despite all the hype about this being a staycation year - and most dates from Spring Bank are well booked now, there's still a surprising amount of availability up until then, including for the May Day holiday. 

[SwanR]

Herbert Woods late availability came up as an ad on my Facebook newsfeed yesterday. I took a look but the prices they wanted for a 3 night weekend were too much for me. And they were adding a £150 fuel deposit just for the 3 nights!

[Captain]

It does amuse me that in this age of instant news and social media that boats that were sold in 2018/19 are still appearing on website searchs for Hoseasons and to be fair Richardsons and a few others as well. Appreciate it may not be a 5 minute job to remove but surely it can't be that difficult, after all the old school paper copy can be updated once a year and it only appears to take a few days or weeks to add boats!

Neil

[Broads01]

2 hours ago, SwanR said:

And they were adding a £150 fuel deposit just for the 3 nights!

That's over the top. A 3 night break gives 2 1/2 days cruising at the most. I think if you went full throttle the whole time you'd still not spend that much.

[DAVIDH]

4 hours ago, SwanR said:

I took a look but the prices they wanted for a 3 night weekend were too much for me. And they were adding a £150 fuel deposit just for the 3 nights!

The fuel deposit is the same for 7 nights. I've noticed Barnes Brinkcraft and Bridgecraft have the same model, where the fuel deposit is fixed irrespective of the number of nights booked. Seems crazy to me when customers are comparing prices of boats, perhaps with a reduced fuel deposit required elsewhere. If I put my cynical hat on, maybe I would think it's an attempt to get a sizeable chunk of money upfront. 

[grendel]

or that it just makes everything simple when the client returns, if the same fuel deposit is made then the hire company dont have to look up the amount that was paid, just pay back any remainder depending on fuel usage, after all the boat starts with a full tank every time, so if they know that £150 has been paid, its easy to calculate the refund.

[Broads01]

4 hours ago, grendel said:

if they know that £150 has been paid, its easy to calculate the refund.

That's understandable but I'm not a fan of policies set up for the convenience of a business at the expense of the customer.

[grendel]

is it any less fair than adding £150 to the price and saying no charge for the amount of diesel used. one way or another you will end up paying

[Mouldy]

 

2 hours ago, grendel said:

is it any less fair than adding £150 to the price and saying no charge for the amount of diesel used. one way or another you will end up paying

Frankly, I wouldn’t ever contemplate hiring from a yard that has an ‘all inclusive’ pricing policy.  In all my years as a hirer, I have never used more than the fuel deposit paid and have always had a refund.  As Grendel pointed out, adding £150 to the price of your holiday that you pay and receive nothing back, must surely be a worse option than paying a fuel deposit and receiving a refund for unused fuel.

Yards that offer ‘all inclusive’ pricing must err on the side of caution when calculating projected costs.  As an example, several years ago we were moored at Great Yarmouth YS, waiting for the mist to lift to allow safe passage across Breydon.  Whilst we were waiting I got chatting to the crew of a Barnes hire boat and our paths crossed several times during the course of the week, including at the end of the holiday when we bumped into them in McDonalds in Hoveton, where we’d called in for breakfast.  The skipper said that he was shocked at his fuel bill, which amounted to £264 for the week, well above the fuel deposit, causing him to have to pay extra.  On the other hand, I had a refund from mine and our net bill was circa £100.  We’d been as far as Norwich as well as most of the Northern rivers, almost exactly where the other crew had been.

I cannot see how the ‘all inclusive’ pricing can be set for such extremes and personally feel that those who chose not to cover much mileage during the course of a holiday, are penalised by paying far more than necessary for their fuel.  Each to their own, obviously, but I much prefer to pay for what I’ve used, not what I might have used.
 

 

[Captain]

I have to agree with Mouldy. I don't have a problem with inclusive pricing for most things as security waivers, parking etc are effectively compulsory so it's pointless making them additional and in my opinion should be included in all prices, Pacific already do this. Fuel should be based on use otherwise light users will effectively be subsidising heavy users, it's simply not fair that someone who cruises around flat out with the heating on all the time pays the same as someone who is frugal goes with the tides and only cruises small area. 

Neil

[YnysMon]

Personally I liked having the all inclusive package. If you are normally frugal on fuel and get a substantial refund on a fuel deposit then perhaps it would work out an expensive option, but when we first hired from Ferry Marina (back in 2016?) the comparison of similar boats from other yards showed a substantial saving once you'd taken into consider the extra deposits/insurance costs. When we were hiring we cruised as much as possible, so the first year we hired with NBD we only got just over £20 back.