Inconsistent Pricing Question

[taxmantoo]

We are booked on the October 24 Zuiderdam 10-day Sunfarer to the Panama Canal in an SY stateroom (and quite happy about it!). When checking prices and trying to find out if the ship was close to full or we might be offered an upsell to a Deluxe Suite, I found the HAL pricing very weird for this cruise and the preceding one on Octber 14.

 

On the October 14 cruise, a Premium Suite is approx $300 more than we paid for ours on the October 24 cruise. When looking at Deluxe Suites, it is the opposite...the October 24 sailing is approx $700 more than the October 14 sailing. Having a hard time understanding why one is more expensive and the other less expensive on same ship, same itinerary. If it depends on the date, then both should be more expensive or both should be less expensive? Anyone have any ideas?

[Randyk47]

I don't know if HAL has ever released or explained their pricing decisions. You'd think they have some kind of process, maybe even a computer program, that looks at basically the supply and demand for a particular cruise. Logically, for what that's worth, you'd assume that they take into account how close the cruise is to sailing, how many cabins have been returned by TA's holding blocks of cabins, forecasted weather conditions, cabin categories selling well versus those not selling, etc., etc. My point is that it's some kind of "black box" process with probably lots of parameters that in the end produces at least a suggestion to whoever controls cabin pricing decisions and then they have to make the final decision. I'd say if you figure this one out you might move on to how upgrades are handed out which is another mysterious process.

[sail7seas]

The pricing could vary due to whether one sailing is selling better than the other.

[travelgenie]

I know how frustrating this is, we booked the Panama Canal cruise on the Ryndam in September, using a promotion from a recommended internet travel service found right here on CC. I was satisfied with the price, which is why we booked but when looking the very next day the price was already reduced several hundred dollars. I called, was told that I booked a flash promotion, which no one told me about and had no idea what that was, other than we paid in full, and was told there was nothing they could do about it. I was not happy, called HAL and was told there was nothing they could do about it that it was up to the TA. I stewed for a couple of weeks, then saw that the price was again reduced, this time $600 pp for the same category which was a HH outside guarantee. I sent off several emails, to the customer service at HAL and the TA and we finally negotiated for no price adjustment but a higher category guarantee and some OBC. Since then, just this week, the price again has gone down, it is my own fault, I guess, for constantly checking, which is why I am going to stop checking as I do not want to ruin my vacation. My husband and I are small business owners, trying to keep our head above water in this tough economy and understand to stay in business you have to do, what you do, to survive knowing that TA's and HAL are doing the same thing. I have decided to get over it and am looking forward to our trip.

[califgary]

This hits home with me as well - after a similar experience I now book myself directly with the cruiseline because i constantly check fares and look for price reductions. I know most would argue a TA gets a better price and some perks per haps, but its worth a free bottle of wine to have control of my own reservation so I can take advantage of any price drops myself directly with a cruise line.

[ironin]

We are booked on the October 24 Zuiderdam 10-day Sunfarer to the Panama Canal in an SY stateroom (and quite happy about it!). When checking prices and trying to find out if the ship was close to full or we might be offered an upsell to a Deluxe Suite, I found the HAL pricing very weird for this cruise and the preceding one on Octber 14.

 

On the October 14 cruise, a Premium Suite is approx $300 more than we paid for ours on the October 24 cruise. When looking at Deluxe Suites, it is the opposite...the October 24 sailing is approx $700 more than the October 14 sailing. Having a hard time understanding why one is more expensive and the other less expensive on same ship, same itinerary. If it depends on the date, then both should be more expensive or both should be less expensive? Anyone have any ideas?

 

The answer almost always is simply "supply and demand." When certain categories are close to full, full, or oversold due to "guarantee" bookings, but other categories remain undersold, the price for the former often does not change when the price for the latter is adjusted to entice customers. For example, there are already sailings late next year where booking an inside cabin costs more than a decent outside cabin. One might think that there should be no big difference in prices between one sailing and the next, or the one before that, but supply and demand is at work here, too.

 

FWIW, almost all cruise lines do the same thing. (Until last week, one could book a transatlantic on Cunard in either way in the first two weeks of November for 60% of the fare in October or later in November. The fares on one of those sailings went up this week, probably because empty berths are filling. Same ship. Same itinerary.)

[cb at sea]

It's just like airline costs....day of week, time of day, etc...all affect the price. Same with cruises....one week may be more popular than another...hence, prices rise. Traveling is not like buying a can of peas!

[califgary]

Isnt that the truth! I paid over $750 to fly to Honolulu from San Francisco and 2 weeks later price went down to about $500! ARG!