Price Drops?

[jt58203]

Not much is mentioned here about price drops. If a price drops, can one call their TA (or HAL if booked directly) and get a price adjustment, or do people automatically get upgraded or ???

[pms4104]

Not much is mentioned here about price drops. If a price drops, can one call their TA (or HAL if booked directly) and get a price adjustment, or do people automatically get upgraded or ???

I am not aware of any auto-refund/rebat/whatever program.

 

It is up to you and your T/A, if you used one, to monitor prices and to request any fare adjustment, should there be a price drop prior to final payment due date.

 

Yes, it is worth checking ... when we saw a price drop of some $500/person, we asked our T/A to refare us. Had we booked directly with HAL, I would have made my request directly to them.

[patseacruiser]

If you are before final payment and find a price drop you call your travel agent if you booked through one or HAL if you booked directly. If you booked through HAL they will not call you to tell you there is a price drop and it doesn't refare you automatically - it's up to you to catch it. If you have an honest travel agent they may catch it before you and call HAL for a refare but either way it is your responsibility to find it.

[Cruisin'Lady]

I was curious about this question too. Ty for the answers. Now I have more to add to the question...how many times can you take advantage of a pricedrop??

 

I just booked yesterday and today an upgrade to a veranda is $100pp less than it was yesterday. I had booked the lowest MM catagory thinking I will most likely upgrade. Once they are dropped to the prices do they stay dropped till final payment (which happens to be on 9/20)?? Or is there a possibility of it dropping further? And if I upgrade today will I be able to take advantage of another price drop if one comes about next week?

[pms4104]

deleting duplicate ... sorry.

[pms4104]

I was curious about this question too. Ty for the answers. Now I have more to add to the question...how many times can you take advantage of a pricedrop??

 

I just booked yesterday and today an upgrade to a veranda is $100pp less than it was yesterday. I had booked the lowest MM catagory thinking I will most likely upgrade. Once they are dropped to the prices do they stay dropped till final payment (which happens to be on 9/20)?? Or is there a possibility of it dropping further? And if I upgrade today will I be able to take advantage of another price drop if one comes about next week?

On one sailing a couple of years ago' date=' we requested and got 3 price drops. None of them as close to final pay as you are.

 

As long as you are before the final payment date, you may request any price drops ... [b']unless[/b] that new promotional pricing is for new bookings only.

[airlink diva]

On my 2008 cruise, my Maasdam sailing the price drop a rather large amount about seven months before the cruise. I admit going on my travel agent (and others) website at least once or twice a month to check pricing. When I saw the large price difference, I called my travel agent and she got me a $700 drop on the cruise (I did a thread about this last year). She also did something that no other travel agent ever did, a got money back after my final payment. Last August I noticed a credit from HAL for a little over $100. I called my travel agent to ask why was HAL giving me a credit. She got me another drop!! I'm willing to bet that this will never happen again on a cruise.

On my cruise this year (not on HAL), I purchased the cheapest cabin just to go on the cruise (I booked a 1A on Carnival). The price went down on the cruise and my agent didn't get me money back (the pricing for a solo cruiser in an inside cabin compare to an outside cabin was under $100),but moved to a outside cabin mid-ship on a great deck!!

I'm lucky to have a great travel agent that take care of her clients.

[ProfessorMom]

Speaking of price drops. One of the TA websites that sends me information sent me an update about a three-day sale on HAL starting tomorrow (Wednesday the 9th). My cruise isn't one of the ones listed so I didn't read the details carefully. Hope it is luckier for the rest of you.

[CowPrincess]

Just to be the party-pooper.... we've never had a price drop, and I check obsessively. Sigh....

[pms4104]

Speaking of price drops. One of the TA websites that sends me information sent me an update about a three-day sale on HAL starting tomorrow (Wednesday the 9th). My cruise isn't one of the ones listed so I didn't read the details carefully. Hope it is luckier for the rest of you.

We just made final payment Friday.

I just checked the 3-day sale prices, which include our sailing,

and we certainly must have gotten a darn good deal

because, as was the case for all of HAL's 3-day sales this year,

our price still is cheaper than what's currently being promoted.

Hopefully others will reap a handsome benefit with the sale.

[scomar]

As I said in my post earlier today http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1056069 I actually was just thinking of upgrading from guar VF to guar VE even though there was no price drop on HAL website I was going to pay the for the upgrade. It was only when I called HAL directly (I booked directly) that I found out I could get the upgrade for free. So even though the price drop is not posted there may still be something if you call. Although my final payment is not due untill 9-29 I have already paid in full. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

[Ron Don]

Looked today and found out that today's rates for a SC were $100 less than our SS that we booked 6 months ago. Called HAL......to no avail.....special pricing for new bookings only (I already made final payment), if I wanted the SC, I would have to cancel and re-book with cancellation charges.... not worth it. Might try and call back to see if I can get a different agent.

 

Boo Hoo!!

[Bill HaHa]

I had a price drop on my 10/02/09 cruise from $3599.00 pp to $2299.00 pp as I was making my final payment. Then a couple of days later I noticed it had dropped again down to $1999.00 pp. I called my TA who informed me that Hal had already issued a credit to my credit card for the difference. I thought HAL was very professinal about it. I could not have been happier

[doclove]

On my last cruise I saw that the price dropped and called my TA. They had to cancel my booking and rebook with HAL, but there didn't seem to be any problems with that.

 

I just had my TA look up today to see if my price dropped before I make my final payment today. Unfortunately, no price drop for me.

 

As a side note, years ago there was a website that did a good job of tracking price drops. I think that website went offline a few years back. I have created my own website now that will chart cruise prices and very shortly will email you if the price drops so you don't have to keep checking yourself. I don't want to break forum rules, but if you do a google search for "cruise price watch" you should be able to find the site. It is completely free except for a little advertising on the site.

[dandro]

When there was a price drop in a category above what we had originally booked, we called our TA and she contacted HAL and we were able to get a free upgrade, no refare necessary.

[donh1]

At the risk of being called cynical, paranoid and also a money grubber I'll throw in my two cents worth. If you look at HAL's brochure you will see that the SZ, VH , N and NN are listed as N/A ( not available ). Why do they do this???? It is simple. When they have a genuine sell off not just the 3 day "lets keep everybody interested" sales event they market those guarantee cabins . They sell a lot more guarantee cabins than what is available in the lowest categories. There are very few N/A cabins so those persons making that purchase are very likely going to get upgraded somewhat even though they booked late. Most have no place to go but up. Meanwhile anyone crying foul is told that the cabin they purchased is a higher category.

 

The whole process usually begins shortly after the final payment date. If they do it earlier they run the risk of a select few informed people canceling there cruise and re-booking at the new cheaper price. If the ship is really not selling well sometimes it appears to be done before the 75 days. The cruiseships all sail full and if you are lucky enough and flexible enough there are some real good deals to be had. No doubt being flexible does present some challenges for most because you have to deal with time off and airline bookings. There is nothing wrong with what Holland America does but understanding it makes some people wiser consumers. This whole process only applies during the less busy time of year. If you are going in prime time and the ship is selling well then this does not apply. The whole thing hedges around a persons willingness to take what is given to then in the guarantee category purchased.

[IRL_Joanie]

On my last cruise I saw that the price dropped and called my TA. They had to cancel my booking and rebook with HAL, but there didn't seem to be any problems with that.

 

I just had my TA look up today to see if my price dropped before I make my final payment today. Unfortunately, no price drop for me.

 

As a side note, years ago there was a website that did a good job of tracking price drops. I think that website went offline a few years back. I have created my own website now that will chart cruise prices and very shortly will email you if the price drops so you don't have to keep checking yourself. I don't want to break forum rules, but if you do a google search for "cruise price watch" you should be able to find the site. It is completely free except for a little advertising on the site.

 

Looks really good so far:) I have it bookmarked and will keep checking.

[jt58203]

On my last cruise I saw that the price dropped and called my TA. They had to cancel my booking and rebook with HAL, but there didn't seem to be any problems with that.

 

I just had my TA look up today to see if my price dropped before I make my final payment today. Unfortunately, no price drop for me.

 

As a side note, years ago there was a website that did a good job of tracking price drops. I think that website went offline a few years back. I have created my own website now that will chart cruise prices and very shortly will email you if the price drops so you don't have to keep checking yourself. I don't want to break forum rules, but if you do a google search for "cruise price watch" you should be able to find the site. It is completely free except for a little advertising on the site.

 

Wow! Did the search & found the website. It's AWESOME!!! Thanks so much for sharing. The data is invaluable.