Why is the Miracle so cheap for summer sailings?

[cruisinbanddirectors]

We are considering our options for our summer cruise this year and one that keeps coming up is the Miracle out of NY. To be honest, it's not our favorite itinerary (DH is not a real beach person), but we can't ignore the great fares. Right now it's running $849 for a balcony (on an 8 night cruise) for a mid-June sailing.

 

Our question is, why do you think it's that cheap? Why doesn't this sailing book enough folks to demand higher prices?

 

What would you do? Book a 7 night like the Valor for slightly more money with a bit better itinerary for us or would you take advantage of the great fares on the Miracle for another night and a slightly less stellar itinerary?

 

Just curious to hear some thoughts...

[pe4all]

Could be because most NYC/Long Island schools aren't out until the last week of June, (and probably the same for NJ, and surrounding states) and they need to drum up business. The prices go up after that time period.

[booyey]

I'd do the Miracle. I sailed on it once and thought it was a beautiful ship.

[nybumpkin]

I'm with pe4all - schools are still in session, both in NY and NJ. I know my kids aren't out of school until June 24.

 

We've sailed on both Miracle out of NYC and Valor out of Miami. Of the two cruises, I preferred Miracle - I like sea days and Miracle gives you four of them. Valor only gives you two sea days. I'm not sure whether you are looking at Eastern or Western on Valor, but by the time we got to our fourth port on Valor we were exhausted.

[cruisinbanddirectors]

I hadn't thought about schools still being in session. We get out June 4th and that's late around here.

 

If we did the Valor, we'd go the Eastern route.

 

Glad to hear the good reviews of the Miracle. We've done the Legend twice, so we know we'd love the layout!

[Irishlinny]

We loved our Miracle cruise so much last May, we booked again for the same time this year! We prefer Spirit Class ships with the open aft Lido deck and less crowds, so that's a big plus. We are also very happy to just hang out at the beach, so it works for us. But if you think the ports won't be good for your DH, then maybe don't do it just for the price. If he needs to run around on tours, etc, the only place he can really do that will be Nassau. That coupled with 4 sea days...would it put him over the edge?!:eek: We loved the ship and the staff...they were stellar!

[masterboater]

My theory: The Miracle is a Spirit Class ship which has a type of Balcony cabin called an "Obstructed View" balcony. This is due to life boats just at the base of your balcony which obstruct your view of the ocean directly below. Your view out towards the horizon is not obstructed so this type of room really is a fantastic deal.

 

The point? Well, other ships do not have this type of obstructed view balcony and thus, tend to have slightly more expensive rates for their baseline balcony rooms. I suspect that if you were to compare a Spirit class' non-obstructed balcony room to another ship's baseline balcony room, the rates would be similar.

[KroozFoolz]

I hadn't thought about schools still being in session. We get out June 4th and that's late around here.

 

If we did the Valor, we'd go the Eastern route.

 

Glad to hear the good reviews of the Miracle. We've done the Legend twice, so we know we'd love the layout!

If the weather we have "enjoyed" this week in Middle Tennessee continues, we may not be out of school by then! :eek:

[golfadj]

I cannot not comment on pricing but can tell you we have sailed on the Miracle twice with great results and will be sailing on her again in just over two weeks.

[buzz2400]

I sailed on the Miracle Sept 2009. I don't think it matters that the kids are in school. When we went we were very amazed at the elderly people on board. So I don't think the reason so cheap is because school is in session. Re: the obstructed balcony. Yes the lifeboats are in front of you but you still see outwards. This was my first balcony cruise and it was terrific to sit out on the balcony by myself. About the itinery. We have sailed on about 6 cruises now. We are very sick of the Bahamas, so much that the last time we didn't even get off the ship.

 

You need to weigh what you want to really do versus the cost. If you are only paying a small price for the cruise and don't really like the itinerary but still want the relaxation, then go. If money is tight, you don't get to go on too many vacations, then I would pay more and do an itinerary that you reallly want to visit.

 

I will say going out of NY was very stress free vs. having to take a plane some where to get on the cruise. (I live in CT).

[pe4all]

I was actually very curious about the pricing, so I just went to take a peek. The balcony cabins start from $849 (mid June, as op said) and raise up as the summer goes on, till late August, when they drop again. (school in session in many places) I don't think the $849 price is that cheap - one reason I have only sailed out of NY once (even though I live here) is that the cruise prices are much more than they would be sailing out of Florida at the same time. Adding in airfare, it is still cheaper to sail from Florida. (can get some 7/8 day sailings for $600-$709 for a balcony) I loved the ease of sailing from NY - but for a family of 4 it usually is still more cost efficient sailing from Florida. (and they have better itineraries from there!)

[Relayer]

Sailed on the Miracle this past Nov. 1st cruise on a Spirit Class and we loved it!

Have to agree with previous posters. The 8 day cruise, Southern Caribbean in our case, will eliminate a large section of prospective cruisers. The average age was probably a bit higher than our other cruises with considerably fewer kids. No bother for us as we love peace and quite!

 

All of the balconies on the Miracle are not obstructed. Just the ones over the life boats. There are regular balconies on either side of the boats. Price wise we just booked the Valor, aft extended, and found overall the Valor W. Caribbean to be less expensive than comparable cats. on the Miracle, You are of course comparing a 7 day to an 8 day cruise.

 

Anyhow.....snowy cold here in NC. Any cruise, anywhere, anytime would be real nice about now. Is March really going to happen??!

[cruisinbanddirectors]

If the weather we have "enjoyed" this week in Middle Tennessee continues, we may not be out of school by then! :eek:

 

 

Boy isn't that the truth!

 

 

I definitely wouldn't do the obstructed view balcony. We've cruised Spirit class before and have already had that discussion. Actually to get an aft right now it's running right at $3000 for the 3 of us...not a bad price for the 8 day cruise I didn't think.

 

As far as airfare goes, flying out of Nashville, the prices to NYC vs. Florida are pretty comparable.

 

In an ideal world, we would fly to San Juan and do the Southern Caribbean itinerary...we loved it last time we did it...but the airfare is rediculous right now. I REALLY wish the Miracle did the itinerary it does in the winter year round. There would be no debate.

 

I guess it comes down to DH deciding if he thinks he can handle all the "beach ports."

[PA Dutchman]

$800+ for a balcony is not cheap, you can get better prices for a balcony. $500 to $695 for a 7 day cruise is cheap. If you can go anytime you can find those prices.

[MrPete]

You should only worry if the prices are that low in the summer.

 

That sail date is still a couple of weeks off the local's "off" season.

[cruisinbanddirectors]

$800+ for a balcony is not cheap, you can get better prices for a balcony. $500 to $695 for a 7 day cruise is cheap. If you can go anytime you can find those prices.

 

 

Those are pretty rare when we can go since we both teach. We're pretty much restricted to summer sailings (though we could have gone on one this week since we have been out all week for snow :) )

 

I wish we could cruise when it was cheaper.

[jandjfun]

In my opinion, unless you really love the ship, you should go with the better itinerary. Why go some place your husband isn't going to like just to save a little money.

[buddylover]

In my opinion, unless you really love the ship, you should go with the better itinerary. Why go some place your husband isn't going to like just to save a little money.

 

I'm with you Janet. I think the itinerary where you both will be pleased is more valuable. But as an aside, I don't think $854 for a balcony (obstructed or unobstructed) is cheap......other than our Miracle cruise coming up, we have NEVER paid that for our balconies (all of which have been unobstructed). I think that the prices on Carnival are going up, up, up and are not cheap at all anymore. That's why we booked our first RCI cruise at the end of the year, it was far cheaper than Carnival.

[madgally]

We are considering our options for our summer cruise this year and one that keeps coming up is the Miracle out of NY. To be honest, it's not our favorite itinerary (DH is not a real beach person), but we can't ignore the great fares. Right now it's running $849 for a balcony (on an 8 night cruise) for a mid-June sailing.

 

Our question is, why do you think it's that cheap? Why doesn't this sailing book enough folks to demand higher prices?

 

What would you do? Book a 7 night like the Valor for slightly more money with a bit better itinerary for us or would you take advantage of the great fares on the Miracle for another night and a slightly less stellar itinerary?

 

Just curious to hear some thoughts...

 

Due to the quality compaired to the other lines quality.