Upcoming WOW sale must be affecting prices

[mrstay]

We booked last week for a cruise out of Colon for March 21, 2010. We booked a JS at $999 pp. Now that the WOW sale was announced ALL the cabin prices went up for all of the sailings. Now a JS is over $1600 and an inside is $799 pp, which was $479 last week. Looking at the entire availability for the sailings has not changed, must be the offer of the sale next week. What are your thoughts?

[just4kixx]

WOW! is right!

 

I know last night I saw an increase in our Independence Cruise for March which wasn't there earlier in the day... but not near the jump that yours is showing~

 

Guess we can forget about checking for price drops for a few weeks!!!

(And be glad we booked before the WOW sail :p)

 

A~

[BrendaInToronto]

Last night I noticed our Alaskan cruise for next September went up $50.00 per person from when I booked it 2 weeks ago.

[Mydnite]

There have been some significant increases in Jewel foer May/June, looks an increase of $500 per person more for balcony cabins.

[atanac]

We booked last week for a cruise out of Colon for March 21, 2010. We booked a JS at $999 pp. Now that the WOW sale was announced ALL the cabin prices went up for all of the sailings. Now a JS is over $1600 and an inside is $799 pp, which was $479 last week. Looking at the entire availability for the sailings has not changed, must be the offer of the sale next week. What are your thoughts?

 

Certainly makes those WOW sales seem like just a marketing gimmick to fool the inexperienced traveler. Sort of like those Buy 1 Get 1 Free offers where they charged you $5.98 for a six pack of coke and give you another one for free! :mad:

[H8mundays]

Our Freedom cruise just went up over $170 pp for our catagory cabin. Doesn't sound like the WOW sale is really "WOW"

[luckyprincess]

I think it actually depends. I booked the Freedom on the last WoW sale and the price has only increased since then and from my roll call I know it had gone down during the sale. As a matter of fact, its about $300 more per person for my cabin now!:eek: I'm so glad I booked when I did being that I only like hump cabins, especially because I'm only gold, so I don't get very many good deals. This one gave me $100 obc and I'm turning in another $100 obc via RCCL Visa points, so I made out pretty good....

It might just depend on the time of year or how soon you're booking...

[zoomerica]

Howdy,

 

I see folks getting OBC and such on price drops in your category....do they bill you if the price goes up??

 

Since I have you here, if I use a TA, will they check for drops or is that my responsibility? Likely will book direct, but you never know...

 

 

Thanks all, I have learned so much and will sea you all out on the see at some pint!! ;)

[julesbeara]

The price on our November 20th sailing has gone up also. Lots of cabins available so I'm hoping for a price drop before we sail.

[GP Cruiser]

We have a Cat M for our April 10th B2B on the Serenade of the Seas and the week of 4-10 10 went down $ 111.00 ea. and the following week 4-17-10 it went down $ 222.00 ea.:D

[houlacruiser]

Thankfully the cruise I'm going to book on Explorer hasn't gone up since the WOW announcement. I have noticed small changes in other prices though.

[dirtgirl]

Howdy,

 

I see folks getting OBC and such on price drops in your category....do they bill you if the price goes up??

 

Since I have you here, if I use a TA, will they check for drops or is that my responsibility? Likely will book direct, but you never know...

 

 

Thanks all, I have learned so much and will sea you all out on the see at some pint!! ;)

 

 

No, you don't get billed if the price goes up.

 

Your TA may check for drops, but not every day. I've always checked myself and notify them.

[bplazo]

Guess I will start looking for a cruise after the WOW sail.

[MrsPete]

WOW! I'm amazed at those price differences.

 

Speaking only for myself, I booked during the last WOW event -- was that in May? And I've watched the prices pretty carefully since then. They haven't budged, but then I'm sailing in prime season, summer. I suspect the prices vary more during off-season.

 

I wouldn't discourage anyone from booking during the WOW event. Go ahead and get the OBC, but then watch for price drops. If the prices have skyrocketed up recently, they'll likely come back down once the sale is over, and you can get a price match then.

 

I always assume that the price for which I book is my MAXIMUM price, and I HOPE (and watch) for a drop.

[insulationbabe]

Same with me dirtgirl - our Ta always watches, but I caught her the last time - and found out before her - I go on line about once a week and check for price drops, so far 2 cruises out of six have come down - with all these cruises booked, it takes a little while to check them out - but one cruise dropped 150.00 and the other 130.00 so it pays to check:)

[FLCruiseGirl]

The "WOW" is for the cruise line - not the passengers ;)

[MrsPete]

The "WOW" is for the cruise line - not the passengers ;)

As in WOW, some people will pay anything if you just label it a sale! Too funny.

[monicajay]

Newbie to RCCL booked during a WOW sale but not only did we not see a price change before or after, our ship sold out within weeks of booking. So I am thrilled to have my $200 OBC.

 

It would be very frustrating to see a sale but also see a higher price!

[luckyprincess]

As in WOW, some people will pay anything if you just label it a sale! Too funny.

Geez - I feel kind of offended, MrsPete, since I just said I booked during the Wow sale...:confused: As I said, it afforded me OBC that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten and the price has only gone UP in the five months since....and I got the exact cabin I wanted, which sell out pretty quick.... I didn't just mindlessly say 'oh, a sale (drool, drool) let me book...):rolleyes:

[MrsPete]

Geez - I feel kind of offended, MrsPete, since I just said I booked during the Wow sale...:confused: As I said, it afforded me OBC that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten and the price has only gone UP in the five months since....and I got the exact cabin I wanted, which sell out pretty quick.... I didn't just mindlessly say 'oh, a sale (drool, drool) let me book...):rolleyes:

Browze up a few posts. I booked during the May WOW sale for the very same reason: The on-board credit.

 

However, it seems undeniable that they are raising the prices on at least some of their cruises during these events. It is a time-honored sales technique: SAY it's a sale, and see if it creates a sense of urgency in people, see if it makes people want to buy. The cruise line wouldn't do it if it wasn't bringing them increased profits. Don't we see it at the grocery store all the time? An item that normally sells at a moderate rate for ninety-five cents flies off the shelf when it's on sale for 10/$10?

 

I'd say that the smartest thing to do is to book during a sale (a sale of any sort, WOW being one example) to get whatever carrot's being dangled -- BUT be aware that they may be raising prices, and you might get a good price drop later. By paying attention you can get the OBC and the price drop.

[luckyprincess]

Browze up a few posts. I booked during the May WOW sale for the very same reason: The on-board credit.

 

However, it seems undeniable that they are raising the prices on at least some of their cruises during these events. It is a time-honored sales technique: SAY it's a sale, and see if it creates a sense of urgency in people, see if it makes people want to buy. The cruise line wouldn't do it if it wasn't bringing them increased profits. Don't we see it at the grocery store all the time? An item that normally sells at a moderate rate for ninety-five cents flies off the shelf when it's on sale for 10/$10?

 

I'd say that the smartest thing to do is to book during a sale (a sale of any sort, WOW being one example) to get whatever carrot's being dangled -- BUT be aware that they may be raising prices, and you might get a good price drop later. By paying attention you can get the OBC and the price drop.

Ahh - I get it - I'm offended no more!:p True, I check every single day to see if the price has dropped but it's just climbed for my cruise...:)

[GottaLovePTO]

The price for the balcony cabin we booked on the Jewel for Feb 1, 2010 increased by around $1,000.00:eek: more than what we paid a little over a month ago. We paid around $2500.00 and it is now around $3,500.00. Very glad we booked when we did!

[cruiserbryce]

the cruise we are looking at on Mariner went down a couple weeks ago and hasnt went back up...hopefully it hangs on