Prices going through the Roof!

[UncAl618]

My wife & I were planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our son & daughter-in-law in late August, on the Allure or Oasis. Every time I go on the RC website the price of the cruise has increased. Being the price went up so much I am thinking of other alternatives. I'm just wondering if the price will ever go down, because this is getting out of hand.

[ryano]

I know what you mean! My April cruise on the Freedom is currently 280.00 per person more for the same category than what it was when I booked!

 

I keep checking multiple times daily hoping for price drops until February 7 but everytime I look it seems it has gone up instead of down :o

[efields2]

August is a pretty popular time to cruise so I wouldn't expect prices to drop at this point.

 

If you can wait until after the kids go back to school, the prices are a little bit cheaper.

 

That being said, our October Oasis cruise has gone up since we book in June. Usually, the sooner you the book, the better price you will get. If the price drops after you book, you can get a price adjustment, as long as it's before final payment.

[UncAl618]

August is a pretty popular time to cruise so I wouldn't expect prices to drop at this point.

 

If you can wait until after the kids go back to school, the prices are a little bit cheaper.

 

That being said, our October Oasis cruise has gone up since we book in June. Usually, the sooner you the book, the better price you will get. If the price drops after you book, you can get a price adjustment, as long as it's before final payment.

 

Waiting for the kids to go back to school is an impossibility, being my daughter-in-law is a teacher. Thanks for your input.

[Beanie01]

August is a pretty popular time to cruise so I wouldn't expect prices to drop at this point.

 

If you can wait until after the kids go back to school, the prices are a little bit cheaper.

 

That being said, our October Oasis cruise has gone up since we book in June. Usually, the sooner you the book, the better price you will get. If the price drops after you book, you can get a price adjustment, as long as it's before final payment.

 

I'm a firm believer in booking early as well. I booked Allure for this Nov. back in Aug 2011. We got the "starting from" price of $749 for inside. About 2 mos. later, the starting price was $779, and now it's $849!

[Familygoboston]

Allure and Oasis rarely drop, even for what I think of as off season cruising. ( for instance our early December cruise on Oasis went up so much that my cousin paid the same for an N interior 6 months later as I did for a D1 balcony)

 

If you can be flexible about when you travel, don't need to fly to port, and have flexibility about what cabins you need, some of the older classes of ships drop after final payment. You can book something about a month or so before sailing. My Jewel cruise during Presidents weekend dropped $300 per cabin after final payment. ( but to buy the airfare last minute I would have had to pay $300 more per person, so it would never pay for me to wait, I upgraded my cabin instead!)

[njmomof2]

Now this is interesting. I'm sailing on Freedom during easter week (4/1-4/8) and they just put out a resident rate for my sailing and that's very unusual. I looked at the last 2 weeks of August on Freedom and the pricing is much lower than my April cruise...I could do an E2 balcony for only $140 more pp than my Cat L inside for this cruise.

 

I haven't been watching the pricing on August cruises overall to see if they are up, but they are much lower than April.

[yj2cute]

My wife & I were planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our son & daughter-in-law in late August, on the Allure or Oasis. Every time I go on the RC website the price of the cruise has increased. Being the price went up so much I am thinking of other alternatives. I'm just wondering if the price will ever go down, because this is getting out of hand.

 

Just curious, why didn't you book when you originally decided to go?

[liberiben]

I booked our Allure in June for this May, I booked a balcony for the same price as the inside is now.

[north29]

I have not seen any fuel adjustments added on, maybe they are just adding it to the cost of the cruises. Cruising is very popular right now, it may take a dip with the Concordia event, for people who listen to the Media.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I had an entire Oasis category disappear right in front of my eyes last week in a matter of 30 seconds. Seems like the Costa tragedy isn't stopping people from booking cruises!

[hollon]

Waiting for the kids to go back to school is an impossibility, being my daughter-in-law is a teacher. Thanks for your input.

what about fall break, will that work. my cruise is may 27 on the allure and the price for my cabin is 1000.00 more than when I booked. i think for these ships you need to book far out unless you can cruise anytime

[kruzerci]

You just have to have good timing when you book.

 

There are deals to be had, but I know what you mean about prices being through the roof for some times. We used to cruise in July and August and they have gotten so expensive, we have changed to May for our summer cruises. We always book over a year out and get good deals. Prices have gone nowhere but up since we booked our May 2012 cruise in May 2011.

 

On the other hand, we're going 7 nights on Navigator later this year for $600 P/p in a balcony, less than half of what we are paying in May.

[kruzerci]

I have not seen any fuel adjustments added on, maybe they are just adding it to the cost of the cruises.

 

I think this has been going on for a while and may be the way of the future. I think with all the bad publicity cruising has gotten lately, a fuel supplement would be the last straw for potential new cruisers or budget cruisers.

[roe2ship]

I seriously doubt you will see prices drop for Oasis or Allure especially during summer months. Usually the longer you wait, the more you pay.

[sr5242]

My wife & I were planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our son & daughter-in-law in late August, on the Allure or Oasis. Every time I go on the RC website the price of the cruise has increased. Being the price went up so much I am thinking of other alternatives. I'm just wondering if the price will ever go down, because this is getting out of hand.

 

I feel you! I also am dying to try the allure but cannot do the pricing! And as a teacher I'm also stuck with school holidays!

[GaryNFla]

I won't do those prices either..I am jumping back on Celebrity for now. When RCI gets their pricing back I will come back..I know it is the same company but if I have to pay these prices then I am on Celebrity..

[SamFritz]

I feel you! I also am dying to try the allure but cannot do the pricing! And as a teacher I'm also stuck with school holidays!

 

I figure I'll have to wait until the Project Sunshine ships come out before I'll be able to afford an Oasis Class ship. That's what happened with the Freedom Class. It was always too expensive, until the Oasis set sail. So far, I've haven't had the chance to smell the "new ship smell."

[marci22]

Summer on Oasis or Allure is peak. They probably will continue to raise prices, but if you're travelling end of August, you will most likely see some drops about 7 weeks out. I saw some discounted Cs and Bs last summer. Recently I've been watching August 2012 Allure and the prices were cheaper than July. Of course you will still be paying more than for an older ship; it's all relative.

[franl24fan]

I always book a birthday cruise in early December, well before the holiday cruises, and my single surcharge is usually about 1.6 times the per person. For some reason, the Dec 8 and Dec 14 sailings I am looking at have single surcharges at double, and no senior or military discounts. the ships appear to be well short of fully booked. I was at a travel show and I asked an RCL rep about it, and she agreed that was very odd. She was supposed to bring it up with corporate and get back to me, will see if she does. I have plenty of time and I have other options.

 

Today was one of the few times I was able to jump on a last minute military discount on a 4 day cruise on the good old Monarch, even last minute deals are getting rare.

 

And all those "experts" said the Costa disaster would cause prices to drop. Not a chance, except maybe for Costa ships:)

[Phillies14]

My wife & I were planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our son & daughter-in-law in late August, on the Allure or Oasis. Every time I go on the RC website the price of the cruise has increased. Being the price went up so much I am thinking of other alternatives. I'm just wondering if the price will ever go down, because this is getting out of hand.

Oasis and Allure are the most sought after mega ships afloat and for good reason. Supply and demand dictates price. The freedom class ships may work for you pricewise? They are also IMHO fabulous ships...K.O. Near Philly:)

[Familygoboston]

I always book a birthday cruise in early December, well before the holiday cruises, and my single surcharge is usually about 1.6 times the per person. For some reason, the Dec 8 and Dec 14 sailings I am looking at have single surcharges at double, and no senior or military discounts. the ships appear to be well short of fully booked. I was at a travel show and I asked an RCL rep about it, and she agreed that was very odd. She was supposed to bring it up with corporate and get back to me, will see if she does. I have plenty of time and I have other options.

 

Today was one of the few times I was able to jump on a last minute military discount on a 4 day cruise on the good old Monarch, even last minute deals are getting rare.

 

And all those "experts" said the Costa disaster would cause prices to drop. Not a chance, except maybe for Costa ships:)

 

We always cruise in early Dec and we've noticed the prices and capacity have been up since they started their Damond's in December promotion. Maybe that has something to do with it?

[poblead]

My wife & I were planning to celebrate our 40th Anniversary with our son & daughter-in-law in late August, on the Allure or Oasis. Every time I go on the RC website the price of the cruise has increased. Being the price went up so much I am thinking of other alternatives. I'm just wondering if the price will ever go down, because this is getting out of hand.

 

We are booked allure July 29 -aug 5 and our prices went down slightly.. I just save $413 on my booking!

[franl24fan]

I hadn't thought about the Double Diamond being a factor in the prices, that makes sense, not that I like it. The prices were OK for this past December, but maybe they have reevaluated the demand and adjusted the prices for Dec 2012. I think I'll use one of my next cruise certificates to hold a good cabin, then see if prices drop before final payment.

[nydoll1]

I booked April 1, 2012 about 18 months ago, a d4 was 1400 per person. It is now double that. If you can book early do it, you can always cancel.