ASA about to rule on cruise pricing advertisements

The consumer watchdog is particularly concerned about ‘Reader Offers’ advertisements for Fred Olsen Cruises on the basis the comparison between the full brochure price and the Reader Offers price was misleading. The complainants have pointed out that virtually no cruise is ever sold at the full price, and so the discount saving described in the advertisement is inflated.

Most major cruise lines do offer huge discounts, anything up to 45%, on their brochure prices, but if the ASA rules against the advertisement, it will be saying that the cruise industry breaks the advertising code by overstating how much customers can save by buying at the discounted price because nobody ever pays the full price for a cruise.