alanme123

Now you just made me go and check if I got allocated.. haha. I booked a guarantee ocean view for the Allure in September 2014.

I am not sure if this will help, but I was looking at the Allure sailing on 9/14 for weeks and then got a X cabin for 850pp + 200OBC. I caught this short sale Saturday 7/5 morning and it only lasted a few hours before it hiked up again to the prices now.

I'm not sure if this is a good price, but from the trend of the prices it was the lowest for a ocean view balcony.

Yes I was aware of that, however looking at the RCL website the room that I got assigned is probably the best choice. It is on the boardwalk level and near many things.

For some reason, the UK site only had the XN cabins available so I cannot look if there is other cabins open.

I got a D4 Cabin (6694). It is a connecting stateroom. Is this a good assignment?

Thank you for reassuring me that this is a good deal fellows.. The price jumped a little bit but at the end I know that this deal is one of the better ones I will be able to get.

As for the TA, I believe I cannot transfer now either. I am still happy with this outcome. Can't be too greedy :)

I just went ahead and booked the Category X cabin for the Sept 14th sailing! the 200 OBC was convincing enough and for 850pp for a oceanview balcony I am happy with this price.

I know that this price may drop lower later on, but I rather get this over with and I am happy with the price for this type of cabin anyways.

Now I am wondering, since this is past the final payment date, will I still be able to transfer my booking to a TA? I had to book this over RCL because my TA was not open during the weekend.

Thanks everybody for the input! I am sure we will have fun on this ship..

September 7th you can get a balcony on Allure for 2 for around $1000 each

Category x is the guarantee oceanview balcony. I can only do.the 14th sailing, but 7th X category is even cheaper. 799 pp!

Anybody thinks the deal now is good? I also get 200 obc!

Wow looking at the cruise prices now, it lowered a lot. X category for 850 pp now. Should I still wait?

Looking at the 9/14/2014 sailing on the allure.. Prices just increased by a few hundred..

Anybody think these prices will go back down?

I just realized that the BOGOHO sale just ended too. Each ticket is around 1200 each just for inside now.. I will highly assume that these will go down soon haha.. Almost surprised me when I checked the prices today.

As expected the price trend is downward for the 9/7 sailing (prices dropped yesterday) but still up for the 9/14 sailing (final payment not till this week).

 

You will likely have price swings weekly (or daily as you saw over the weekend) - expect the sailing to show up on the Tuesday special soon. I expect a sale this weekend for 4th of July. The prices will keep going down in the categories with the most inventory. To get an accurate picture of the inventory go to RCI's UK site - it shows all cabins available. The only issue now is price vs. cabin location. The price for an L inside for example will likely bottom out around 600-700/pp (last year's 9/8 sailing bottomed out at $629 the week before sailing - prices didn't drop below $900 till late July) but the locations of those cabins will become less and less desireable.

 

I'd wait at least until your sailing shows up on the Tuesday special (less than 60 days out). The only uptick in prices will likely be at the very end - the last week. If you see a sale for something like an L or M for $600 I'd jump on it - there might be an odd instance of something lower, but by that time cabin location may be very poor.

 

P.S. I'm also waiting to book a 9/7 sailing on a different ship.

Thank you very much for your advice. Right now I have managed to get a guaranteed inside cabin (z) on hold for 24 hours. the price for that is 1850ish plus tax. I think that you are correct about the price jumping a little. I will wait as well and hope that it will be like the 9/7 sailing and go down suddenly.

Hi guys,

I am looking at the cruise prices every day now, and just yesterday and today the September 7th and 14th sailing just increased prices to around 920 per person. What should I do now?? Will this keep increasing??

EDIT: I am confused now.. Please someone explain to me what is happening below:

Prices for 9/7/2014:

June 29th

Morning: 699 lowest

Evening: 929 lowest

This price stayed here today until now, which is:

June 30th

Evening: 779 lowest

Now this is starting to happen to the Sept 14th sailing, which I am looking at. The interior guarantee is already sold out (Category Z) and the lowest price is now 929. Now can some RCL Expert advise me what is happening and what my next move should be to get the lowest price?

I think I have pretty much decided to go with the Allure because I can only make this trip once in the near future. I will wait until after the final payment date as most people on here said because it is low season. If there are any questions I will definitely ask here and keep you guys updated!

Thanks for the help guys!

I just want to make a quick note:

The allure sailing reduced to 1,863.98 as of today from 1923.98. Is this a sign that they cannot sell out the cabins and I should wait even further?

Thanks for the replies guys. I would love to stay in the Haven Suite but I don't have the budget for it. I am trying to find a reputable travel agent but I only know of two which is "E___a" and "T______y" (I'm not sure if I can post the names sorry). It seems like if I get a regular cabin, especially an inside I should be going for the Allure.

Thanks for the help guys!! Any other advice will be greatly appreciated!

So now acknowledging there will only be Allure here, should I still be gambling by waiting it out until last minute? I am inclined to do so..

Thank you for your suggestions! Do you mind going a little more in depth on how the ship, food, and entertainment was better on NCL than your time on Royal?

Hi Everybody,

I would like to start off by saying that I have also posted the same question on the RCCL Board. I just want some insights on the differences between these two ships. The sailing will be on September 13 or 14 of 2014. This is pretty last minute because I cannot afford to make plans so early in advance. I will be travelling with my SO and budget is a concern. However, I want to make sure that I make this trip worthwhile and unforgettable for her.

The pricing I got from NCL is around $1650 with tax, port fees included while the Allure is around $1950. I have been on the Oasis in 2011 with family and thought it was a very great ship. I really want to go on the Allure because its my SO's second time on a cruise ship (first time older, smaller Princess) and there may not be a chance to go on one later (visa implications). So if I travel on the Allure, I cannot expect to travel on the Getaway, vice versa.

My question is that what really benefits NCL over Allure? I am not looking so much into the ports as they will be similar and the rooms won't matter much to us because we are looking for the cheapest option which will be interior staterooms. My plan right now is that I wait until the "last minute" deals comes on because I want to save as much as possible.

Thank you in advance for your time and advice! I really appreciate it!

Wow!! I got a lot of responses after a night of sleep. I would like to thank all of you guys for replying to this. All of the advice really does help me a lot. I want to clarify that the budget I proposed is simply just preference. I do have a backup budget incase anything happens on top of that (emergencies, etc).

Yes, I have priced the Allure with the BOGO sale.

From what I am reading, I should be putting off the booking until "last minute". So in other words, I should be booking in july-august for any last minute deals (which hopefully will come...). I am willing to take that gamble and hope that I can get a much cheaper rate than now.

However, FLACRUISER99 mentioned that the Oasis will be going to europe, which I did realize when I was looking through the bookings. Will this have any big impact or is september really just an off season and it would not matter much? I was thinking holding back until last minute so then even if it rises up, I will just settle for the NCL or Freedom, which is not a bad choice as well.

Allure is on the weekly Tuesday sale for June and July. My crystal ball tells me that if sales are soft in the summer months, you are likely to find good prices for September.

 

Monitor this every Thursday night. The prices become available on Tuesday of the following week. But they are for NEW BOOKINGS. So you can't book now and get a price drop later. You have to play a game of chicken with the pricing.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Wow thanks for the information guys! This is really helpful. For that sale date, would playing this game of chicken be threading dangerous waters? What happens if I book now, and the price drops like you said it may. They will just tell me I cannot match the price?

To us, the rooms don't really matter. We're not first time cruisers so we are looking at the guaranteed interiors. Should I wait a little bit for a deal or just do it now? Our sailing is for Sept 14th for Allure.

Since you've waited this long why not a couple of more weeks until after final payment? That's when prices may drop. Check cabin inventory daily and observe the trend. If availability is going up, prices will drop.

I have considered doing that, but I am afraid that the price will increase instead. Where would I get information regarding cabin availability? I heard that websites charge for this type of information. Would September be a mid-low season?

Also, if I purchase now and they lower the price later, can I get it price-matched?

What was so negative on those ships compared to the Allure/Oasis? I am looking for reasons to justify the higher costs on the Allure.

Also, this will be Sept 2014 and the itineraries on both ship would be similar. Both the Eastern Caribbean. Now that I am here, what is the main difference between the Western and Eastern Itineraries? Sorry for the many questions!

Hi Everybody,

I have some decision problems for which cruise go on on with my SO. My planned trip will be around Sept 14 and I am looking at the NCL Getaway or the RCCL Allure. Now I want to keep in mind that I am on a tight budget and want to spend as little as possible. The interior stateroom in the Allure cheapest would be 1900 including tax. This is pretty much my limit. The Getaway is around 1500-1600.This is a significantly cheaper than the Allure.

I am wondering if the prices would go down further later on? I really want to go on the Allure (I went on the Oasis with family a few years back and thought it was great). Or should I just settle for the cheaper NCL option??

Some advice would be great. Thanks in advance.