£673 A Night…

[750XL]

I see Norfolk Broads Direct have a late cancellation for 3 nights starting tomorrow…. For £2020!  Over £673 a night.

Almost fell off my chair when I saw the price

 

 

https://www.broads.co.uk/boats/fair-courier/?unit_id=1569&arrival=2021-07-30&departure=2021-08-02&duration=259200&adults&children=0&arrival_time=14%3A30%3A00&fbclid=IwAR1-MBx2eCVD6sd3ilW5zamWlslkN3YBcNdrfC_9es8fHgvXlmC0eATxeVQ

[ChrisB]

You can stay at Claridges for £656 per night at present.

[Scotty]

You would have thought maybe cut price 🤔 so atleast they make a few hundred quid instead of it not making sitting there 

[CambridgeCabby]

I suppose the proof will be whether it is rented out or not in the end .

Seems an excessive rate to me but NBD know their market well and IMHO wouldn’t advertise at this price if they didn’t feel it was realistic 

[MauriceMynah]

40 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

You can stay at Claridges for £656 per night at present.

Yes, but YOU try getting Claridges under Potter Heigham bridge.

[Chelsea14Ian]

55 minutes ago, 750XL said:

I see Norfolk Broads Direct have a late cancellation for 3 nights starting tomorrow…. For £2020!  Over £673 a night.

Almost fell off my chair when I saw the price

 

 

https://www.broads.co.uk/boats/fair-courier/?unit_id=1569&arrival=2021-07-30&departure=2021-08-02&duration=259200&adults&children=0&arrival_time=14%3A30%3A00&fbclid=IwAR1-MBx2eCVD6sd3ilW5zamWlslkN3YBcNdrfC_9es8fHgvXlmC0eATxeVQ

If they like I can cook for them,I'll only charge £200 a night

[andyg]

They got a few harsh comments on fb earlier. Ridiculous price nice boat or not...

[RS2021]

26 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

If they like I can cook for them,I'll only charge £200 a night

Sounds about the right price. Skipper for them as well and you could make it £300...

https://beaconparkboats.com/blog/hire-a-skipper

[Regulo]

I'll arrange to meet them at every mooring, touch forelock, bow low, and generally grovel about while assisting in tying up. They can tip me £100 a time. Let's face it, they'll be rich b*****s if they can pay that!

[tim]

On on top of that they want to charge  you a fiver for a dog life jacket!

At Pacific it’s free!

Sorry but that’s sheer profiteering!

[750XL]

This year with the boom in 'staycations' and people not having any other choice, I can imagine the boatyards may find people willing to pay this much for a break on the Broads.
 

However, I certainly can't see them filling these type of boats year after year once those who can afford it, get back to their luxury breaks in the Maldives, Dubai, etc etc...

Will they be impressed at their 3 nights away, unable to get on any moorings at Horning, Ranworth, etc? Probably not in my opinion! 

[RS2021]

I remember a few years ago there was a total solar eclipse in Cornwall. Many self catering cottages put up their prices to silly levels expecting very high demand. Some filled them some didn't, but the regular customers went elsewhere and many found they liked it elsewhere so didn't come back the following year. There is very much a short term gain at the moment. I hope it doesn't result in longer term pain for the hire companies.

[Ray]

I guess there is a business model where hire prices average over a boat's lifetime to recover purchase plus overheads plus x% profit. Last year would have crashed the model and I wonder if some businesses, not just boat yards, are trying to average out their shortfall over last year and this rather than the longer term. You can understand the temptation with the Staycation being seen as temporary rather than a trend.

I'm no business man, I have no idea if this is actually happening or whether it's a good idea if it is. I suspect though that anyone paying that amount for a short break isn't likely to be a repeat customer any time soon.

I wish all local businesses well as they navigate this crisis, whatever their strategy no one is forcing the customer to buy and the survival of Broads business is to the advantage of us all.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Theres no doubt,  that many will pay over the odds.However they can also kill the Golden Goose.That may happen when holidays overseas open up again.

[andyg]

15 minutes ago, Ray said:

I guess there is a business model where hire prices average over a boat's lifetime to recover purchase plus overheads plus x% profit. Last year would have crashed the model and I wonder if some businesses, not just boat yards, are trying to average out their shortfall over last year and this rather than the longer term. You can understand the temptation with the Staycation being seen as temporary rather than a trend.

I'm no business man, I have no idea if this is actually happening or whether it's a good idea if it is. I suspect though that anyone paying that amount for a short break isn't likely to be a repeat customer any time soon.

I wish all local businesses well as they navigate this crisis, whatever their strategy no one is forcing the customer to buy and the survival of Broads business is to the advantage of us all.

I don't think last season was the total disaster some might think it was. Yes a painful year, April may and June were lost granted, how many yards put their staff on furlough so reduced labour costs, the reduction in vat plus other government incentives. Followed by 17 weeks of yards being  fully booked 12 of them weeks were high season so not a total loss. 

[SwanR]

This is exactly why it's short breaks for us in March or October at the moment. Not prepared to pay those kind of prices.

[marshman]

I have it on good authority that one well known yard made more money in 2020 than in 2019 - you should not always assume that you can guess these things!!

[RS2021]

9 hours ago, marshman said:

I have it on good authority that one well known yard made more money in 2020 than in 2019 - you should not always assume that you can guess these things!!

This does not surprise me as andyg says yards able to keep their costs down by taking advantage of Government offers should not have faired badly at all last year. As for this year, well any UK holiday business which can't make money this year should really question why it is in business. However, any business which gets a sudden influx of new customers can, if they don't handle it well, have problems in the future. Boom can easily lead to bust. If you don't give these new customers an experience they want at a price they want to pay, then you suddenly have a lot more bad publicity which will affect future sales. Your old regular customers don't come back and your shiny new ones are simply a flash in the pan. I wouldn't worry too much about comments on speciality forums like this, but if that adverse publicity goes viral on mainstream social media these days then that can have serious consequences for a business. What you really want is all those new customers singing your praises on social media. Any yard which can achieve that would really be showing its handled these strange times well.

[Smoggy]

I have a feeling most people that flock to Mediterranean beach resorts every summer will find a broads boating holiday disappointing specially when they buy the idea of idly cruising from pub mooring to pub mooring at leisure,  it just isn't like that in summer.

[marshman]

Not sure it ever was like that - other than in peoples imaginations!!!!!

[JawsOrca]

That certainly is a lot of money for a few days.. I felt weird spending £380 for 3 nights with Marthams so I would never justify that.

It maybe a tad unfair to conclude it's profiteering from the pandemic though considering if you search on the website it shows the same price for next year, so perhaps that's the cost the boat justifies although again I can't see how.

These post on facebook do seem to always face negative comments which can be quite funny to watch considering some are clearly aiming for positive advertising..

Personally I don't understand why such last minute availability isn't offered with a heavy discount, surely it's far better to get something from the boat than have it sitting in the yard? but what do I know.. Perhaps yards could do the odd deal though perhaps to our key workers who have worked so selfishly over the last few years.. Bust always follows boom.. I know I'm looking forward to jetting of to the sun next year (or the year after)!

[floydraser]

Are last minute discounts a thing anymore? If someone managed to get a good discount you can bet they would be straight onto social media to shout about it which would in turn, wind up those who had just paid full price. Bad publicity.

There was something like it a few years ago with cruises, where well off people who had paid a fortune found themselves mixing with the not so well off who had managed to bag a bargain.

[gancanny]

  onslow and daisy,  

[750XL]

1 hour ago, JawsOrca said:

Perhaps yards could do the odd deal though perhaps to our key workers who have worked so selfishly over the last few years.. Bust always follows boom.. I know I'm looking forward to jetting of to the sun next year (or the year after)!

Hoseasons, Barnes Brinkcraft and Herbert Woods all give 10% off with the 'Blue Light Discount' scheme for emergency workers, I suspect the other yards probably do as well?

We've actually just recently booked with Herbert Woods taking advantage of the 10% multi-week discount, in addition to the Blue Light Card 10% discount. All in all, almost £200 off the holiday which I thought was a good deal! £998 for 11 nights in October.

[andyg]

6 minutes ago, 750XL said:

Hoseasons, Barnes Brinkcraft and Herbert Woods all give 10% off with the 'Blue Light Discount' scheme for emergency workers, I suspect the other yards probably do as well?

We've actually just recently booked with Herbert Woods taking advantage of the 10% multi-week discount, in addition to the Blue Light Card 10% discount. All in all, almost £200 off the holiday which I thought was a good deal! £998 for 11 nights in October.

I didn't know that, il be giving them a call as Kim ( my wife ) is a nurse and has the blue light card, thanks for the info