Aussies being ripped off, price gorging and the ACCC.

[GandM-nq]

If you do not like the simplistic view I take on life and a holiday, then fine, I can live with that.

 

What do you do when you go to the car dealer to buy a new car? Jump up and down to get the same car price as other countries or pay what you think is an acceptable cost?

 

Again Keagle, you show you have totally misunderstood this whole thread.

 

Lets assume your car yard will sell you a brand new car for $22,000 and yet an American right behind you is offered the same car for $11,000. That is, the american is buying the same car FROM the the same car yard. And you are happy to suck it up and pay your money when the American gets his same car for half the price? That is acceptable to you?

 

When it is the purchase of exactly the same room, there shoul be no difference in pricing based on which country of citizenship you are from. Whether you live in Sydney or Brisbane or New York, the same room, same ship, same cruise should be the same price for all. This is what the thread is about.

[6andy6]

Looks like America will have some new residence soon.

I bet the prices for food and fuel are not the same in America as they are in Australia either.

If you do not like the cost of a cruise do not book it. It's not rocket science and we do not live in any other country other than Australia. Take the good and the good and move on in your life. The stress can not be worth it.

 

People like you that 'just put up with it because its all too hard' are the reason this country is up the ****e creek with no paddle. No one changes anything if the people just sit back and are willing to go along like little sheep and pay it.

 

No wonder we pay outrageous prices from everything from food to electricity to imported electronics. Cos 'we live in Australia' and we need to take the good wth the bad. What good we ever had is disappearing in the review mirror cos no one wants to stand up and Rock the boat anymore.......it's just easier to bend over, grab your ankles and enjoy a good rogering. Then say 'thank you sir, can I have some more' :-)

 

Point out the good next time....it's rapidly disappearing!

[rugbypopsie]

Again Keagle, you show you have totally misunderstood this whole thread.

 

Lets assume your car yard will sell you a brand new car for $22,000 and yet an American right behind you is offered the same car for $11,000. That is, the american is buying the same car FROM the the same car yard. And you are happy to suck it up and pay your money when the American gets his same car for half the price? That is acceptable to you?

 

When it is the purchase of exactly the same room, there shoul be no difference in pricing based on which country of citizenship you are from. Whether you live in Sydney or Brisbane or New York, the same room, same ship, same cruise should be the same price for all. This is what the thread is about.

 

Absoloutely!!! Its as simple as that...

 

Sue

[Pushka]

People like you that 'just put up with it because its all too hard' are the reason this country is up the ****e creek with no paddle. No one changes anything if the people just sit back and are willing to go along like little sheep and pay it.

 

No wonder we pay outrageous prices from everything from food to electricity to imported electronics. Cos 'we live in Australia' and we need to take the good wth the bad. What good we ever had is disappearing in the review mirror cos no one wants to stand up and Rock the boat anymore.......it's just easier to bend over, grab your ankles and enjoy a good rogering. Then say 'thank you sir, can I have some more' :-)

 

Point out the good next time....it's rapidly disappearing!

 

Yup. Letting others rip you off has nothing to do with having a simplistic take on life. Maybe it's Gerry Harvey posting.

 

 

 

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[paddingtonbear]

I think some make out like it's a special case though when so many businesses do it in some form or another.

 

It can range from the more commonly accepted pensioner discount, which became senior discounts. Why should age cause someone to pay less for the same number of people (aside from say essentials when they're on a pension)? Then you have things like petrol stations from the same chain selling for vastly different prices just a few km apart when rent isn't the issue. Why do those driving through Rushcutters Bay pay 20c/l more for fuel than those in Redfern? Airlines do it. Supermarkets and veggie shops do it. And many others do it, in various forms.

 

Basically it happens everywhere and, while it's annoying, it's just a factor of demand and companies seeking to maximise their profit.

 

OTOH, some people make massive bargains out of it when the companies sell below cost for the same reason. People don't get het up about that, but that's not sustainable for business either, so it's just swings and roundabouts to me. If you're happy with the price, you pay and if you're not you don't. Getting stressed because you didn't get the absolutely best deal isn't worth it.

 

The difference is that you can choose to drive to Redfern and buy cheaper petrol.

Some of the cruise lines make it very, very difficult (yes, it is possible) to buy a cruise for the same price as is offered to US and Canadian citizens.

 

The only thing we can do, according to the ACCC, is to do whatever we can (use the internet) to get around these restrictive trade practices. They were also referring to apple hardware prices, CD's and Videos etc etc etc. When there is enough of an outcry from Australians the practice will change.

[The_Big_M]

The difference is that you can choose to drive to Redfern and buy cheaper petrol.

 

Yes, but that's because putting greater impediments isn't worth it or practical for relatively lower value transactions.

 

There are similarly products which are sold at lower prices to locals e.g. Tasmanians get free entry to MONA whereas others pay, and people around the theme parks get cheaper pricing, and others pay more.

 

They're just other forms of preferential discounting like age based discounts. Nobody has yet answered why older people should get lower prices for the same cruise as younger people. It's also price discrimination. Great for those who get it, pretty unfair for those who don't.

 

As said, it's everywhere. While governments could outlaw it entirely people would then complain about not having a free market so in the meantime, companies offer discounts to some groups as they think they get benefit - and at the same time charge more for other groups where there's high demand, or capacity to pay, or who are less able to take an alternative. What, you missed check-in by 1 minute on Tiger...? that's another $80 plus a higher fare to transfer you across to the next flight, thank you very much.

 

None of it's actually based on fairness, equity, or reaonableness. Sometimes if it gets really bad, there'll be some form of pressure to crackdown - but basically it's the capitalist system at work!

[dougo in oz]

They're just other forms of preferential discounting like age based discounts. Nobody has yet answered why older people should get lower prices for the same cruise as younger people. It's also price discrimination. Great for those who get it, pretty unfair for those who don't.

 

Not all older people get discounts ... for some companies or venues it's age based, for others you must have a Seniors Card and for many you must have a Centrelink Card.

 

I think "seniors discounts" have been given for years in recognition that many were pensioners and had a limited income ... that may change in the future given that Super is compulsory and more barriers will be put up to stop self funded retirees getting Centrelink benefits ... well that's my take on it.

 

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year !!

[fishtaco]

If you do not like the simplistic view I take on life and a holiday, then fine, I can live with that.

 

What do you do when you go to the car dealer to buy a new car? Jump up and down to get the same car price as other countries or pay what you think is an acceptable cost?

 

The cruise industry in Australia is increasing at a great rate, more than 30% in 2011. So regardless of what may look as unfair to some, it is not making cruise companies change their fare structure as Australians are cruising in greater numbers. Maybe if cruise numbers where increasing less, then fares may come down, but why charge less when people pay more.

 

The ACCC might be a bit more concerned if a person who lives in Sydney was paying half the cost of someone that lives in Brisbane, but that is not the case as they pay the same for the cruise.

 

Again, this is just the way I see things. No one is being forced to like my view on the subject, or anything else that LTUAE throws at me.[/quote

 

You are not correct!

 

I paid for a 12 night cruise departing from Fremantle W.A with P&O Australia and I live in W.A. Once aboard I quickly learned why there were so many Queenslanders on board! They had paid half the price WA cruisers paid and had free airfares thrown in to boot,these prices were not on offer ever for those who booked in WA:confused:

 

Den

[Mikey22]

I shop around and I do not feel I have ever paid too much for a cruise.

I have never paid anything like some people pay for a Cruise.

I can travel on reasonably short notice.

I do not have not much preference on Cabin location.

Our last Cruise was on VOS around NZ, how is under $1000 pp for a 14 day cruise outside cabin too much?

 

Customers have the choice where to spend their money.

[keagle]

The ACCC might be a bit more concerned if a person who lives in Sydney was paying half the cost of someone that lives in Brisbane, but that is not the case as they pay the same for the cruise.

 

You are not correct!

 

I paid for a 12 night cruise departing from Fremantle W.A with P&O Australia and I live in W.A. Once aboard I quickly learned why there were so many Queenslanders on board! They had paid half the price WA cruisers paid and had free airfares thrown in to boot,these prices were not on offer ever for those who booked in WA:confused:

 

Den

If you have proof then go to the ACCC.

 

Mind you, it could have been something associated with a TA special, a group special or any other number of reasons.

[The_Big_M]

Not all older people get discounts ... for some companies or venues it's age based, for others you must have a Seniors Card and for many you must have a Centrelink Card.

 

I agree, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. Some people get it and some people don't. It's also not the case that every US person always gets a cruise here in the same cabin class cheaper than an Australian... :-)

 

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year !!

 

To you too!

 

Regarding the comment on the discounted offer for Queenslanders, I remember the marketing of those cruises and agree there were the free flights thrown in for East coasters (not just Queenslanders).

 

I believe the cruise fare itself was available at the time to anyone, but free flights from certain cities were also thrown in. A couple of things to note:

- other cruiselines have also run this sort of offer e.g. Celebrity

- other cruises had this offer e.g. P&O also ran this deal for sailings out of Sydney for example, offering free flights from other capitals

 

Lastly, I doubt there would be any issue from the ACCC. As mentioned earlier, prices are different for the same product, whether fruit or fuel or alcohol in different locations all the time. And this sort of thing is also practiced very often in the US for cruising with specials offered to residents of different states ONLY all the time. Location based pricing is the norm there (not something they specifically do against Australians).

[fishtaco]

I agree, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. Some people get it and some people don't. It's also not the case that every US person always gets a cruise here in the same cabin class cheaper than an Australian... :-)

 

 

 

To you too!

 

Regarding the comment on the discounted offer for Queenslanders, I remember the marketing of those cruises and agree there were the free flights thrown in for East coasters (not just Queenslanders).

 

I believe the cruise fare itself was available at the time to anyone, but free flights from certain cities were also thrown in. A couple of things to note:

- other cruiselines have also run this sort of offer e.g. Celebrity

- other cruises had this offer e.g. P&O also ran this deal for sailings out of Sydney for example, offering free flights from other capitals

 

Lastly, I doubt there would be any issue from the ACCC. As mentioned earlier, prices are different for the same product, whether fruit or fuel or alcohol in different locations all the time. And this sort of thing is also practiced very often in the US for cruising with specials offered to residents of different states ONLY all the time. Location based pricing is the norm there (not something they specifically do against Australians).

 

The cruise price in perth for this sailing was still being advertised and charged at the much higher price right until the last that is without even taking into consideration free flights for eastern staters! I know this for sure because we had late comers who were going to book at the last moment and decided not to,their price was slightly higher than mine that i booked way in advance and nowhere near the low price advertised and paid for by those (mainly from Queensland) who paid up to almost half my fare.

 

Den

[2morecruises]

Interesting read from a South Floridian's perspective.

 

Maybe the price differential is a matter of "Supply & Demand".

 

Demand for a AUS/NZ cruise here in the US of A might not be as strong where as someone who resides in Oz is licking their chops to hop on board, (Cruise lines' booking software/pricing programs probably know this) hence the short supply theory is factored into the price.

 

But then maybe I'm just full of horse manure making these comments since I'm not sure what happens cruise fare wise, when folks from Oz book a Caribbean Cruise.

 

BTW, I'm booked on a Jan '14 Solstice AUS/NZ 14 night adventure. As of this day airfare is currently higher than my cruise fare.

 

2MC

[Kiwi Kruzer]

BTW, I'm booked on a Jan '14 Solstice AUS/NZ 14 night adventure. As of this day airfare is currently higher than my cruise fare.2MC

 

 

That's what we face when we book a cruise up your way. The airfare is "generally" higher than the cruise.

The other hassle we have , is if we book a cruise from say the States to sail home, we have to book a one way fare and that is usually the equivalent of a return fare.

Differential pricing is something that Australians and NZers seem to have difficulty getting their heads around. Its just like the Regional pricing that has gone on in the States since cruising began and is now just starting up down this way.

I think we will see a lot more price differentials between the Australian States in the future.

It will be interesting to read the comments then:D

Perhaps the thread titles in the future will read .......

Why can people in Sydney cruise cheaper than those in Brisbane ? and vice versa.:D

 

[antipodean99]

Two comments..

 

Firstly get it right, it's not "price gorging", it's price GOUGING.

 

Secondly, here is a most basic principle of economics:

a price of a product ( any product) is determined by what the market is willing to pay for it. There is no more to it.

Obviously the price is correct since the product (i.e. cruises) is selling quite well last time I checked.

[6andy6]

Two comments..

 

Firstly get it right, it's not "price gorging", it's price GOUGING.

 

Secondly, here is a most basic principle of economics:

a price of a product ( any product) is determined by what the market is willing to pay for it. There is no more to it.

Obviously the price is correct since the product (i.e. cruises) is selling quite well last time I checked.

 

Yup.

 

And that's why Aussie retailers are squealing like cut pigs because the consumer isn't willing to pay it.....and more and more is buying from overseas.

 

In this day and age you can only hide behind smokescreen pricing and such wonky economic theory's for so long. Thanks to the net you are soon found out and it costs the company more. For example no longer will I book a cruise so far ahead.....so by dropping the fare for late comers and not passing anything on to the early birds (even a comp meal at one of the speciality restaurants) who were also told 'your getting it cheap' you solidify the culture of discounting which u actually want to avoid.

[rkmw]

Yup.

 

And that's why Aussie retailers are squealing like cut pigs because the consumer isn't willing to pay it.....and more and more is buying from overseas.

 

In this day and age you can only hide behind smokescreen pricing and such wonky economic theory's for so long. Thanks to the net you are soon found out and it costs the company more. For example no longer will I book a cruise so far ahead.....so by dropping the fare for late comers and not passing anything on to the early birds (even a comp meal at one of the speciality restaurants) who were also told 'your getting it cheap' you solidify the culture of discounting which u actually want to avoid.

 

there is some Aussie TA's that will pass on any price drops so if the cruise line drops their price we should receive it too....i book with a TA that gives the price drop and they reckon they have employed a person to monitor the prices

[Kiwi Kruzer]

....and then you will get the RSL's going direct to the cruise lines , block booking and passing on discounts to their members.....

 

I dont hear any screams about that.:rolleyes:

 

In America the AAA ( American Automobile Association) have their own travel section with amazing prices that are passed on to members.

 

[Rassa]

there is some Aussie TA's that will pass on any price drops so if the cruise line drops their price we should receive it too....i book with a TA that gives the price drop and they reckon they have employed a person to monitor the prices

 

So now they know we are not mugs, willing to accept anything they tell us because we talk to the yanks on our cruises who get all the benefits. If you search around in Oz you will find, for example HAL, offering cheap prices to us as those in the States but yet HAL is still denying us access to buying cruises from the States. HAL also does not offer us the cheap prices until a later date than to the North Americans.

 

What Aussie TA's now have to do, is do away with the 6 month cancellation fee cost and until that happens, I will book through the States. I can't see why I cannot have the benefit of cancelling 3 months before if I cannot travel due to health reasons - and that is usually the only reason I cancel, rarely do I change my mind and don't tell me to buy travel insurance - I get it free with the gold card.

 

It's time we Aussies had expectations like our USA friends.

Rosie

[The_Big_M]

For example no longer will I book a cruise so far ahead.....so by dropping the fare for late comers and not passing anything on to the early birds (even a comp meal at one of the speciality restaurants) who were also told 'your getting it cheap' you solidify the culture of discounting which u actually want to avoid.

 

Except the increasing demand and 'fear of missing out' will avoid that culture of discounting.

 

I think every cruise I've booked the price has gone up after I booked, and for my upcoming ones, 1 is steady/close to sold out, the second is sold out, and the third is still available but my category and many others are already sold out (e.g. all oceanview are gone), and prices have only risen since it was launched.

 

If you have complete flexibility (i.e. don't work/study), and don't mind the cost of airfares if necessary you can wait until a bargain pops up, although even those last minute sell-outs have been going up in price lately. However, if you prefer to choose your cruise, taking the above action is very likely to mean you'll just pay more. And the cruise lines will be quite happy about that! :-)

 

Of course, there'll always be some cruise which comes up late in the day and which has cheap prices and of course if you booked that particular one earlier, you could get a better deal later. But on the whole, holding off to booking late just limits your choices a lot and may well result in paying more if you decide you really want to cruise.

[dougo in oz]

So now they know we are not mugs, willing to accept anything they tell us because we talk to the yanks on our cruises who get all the benefits. If you search around in Oz you will find, for example HAL, offering cheap prices to us as those in the States but yet HAL is still denying us access to buying cruises from the States. HAL also does not offer us the cheap prices until a later date than to the North Americans.

 

What Aussie TA's now have to do, is do away with the 6 month cancellation fee cost and until that happens, I will book through the States. I can't see why I cannot have the benefit of cancelling 3 months before if I cannot travel due to health reasons - and that is usually the only reason I cancel, rarely do I change my mind and don't tell me to buy travel insurance - I get it free with the gold card.

 

It's time we Aussies had expectations like our USA friends.

Rosie

 

I agree with you Rosie about the 6 month cancellation - I think it is outrageous.

 

But re HAL denying bookings in the States, they are following the directions of Carnival Corp Head Office, as other other Carnival Corp lines ... who incidentally own around half of the world's cruise lines....but you probably know that already !:o

[Pushka]

I think we all knew the word was gouging but none of us can change the title.

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

Not all, as it's also in some posts.

[fishtaco]

Not all, as it's also in some posts.

 

I dont want to sound "mean" in any way so please dont take offence but you always seem to be defending cruise lines/Ta,s plus pricing,s and justifying everything they do price wise for "everyone"?

 

I have noticed it in many other threads as well over a long period of time too.

 

Your explanations and justifications come across as genuine but I am at a loss to see why you think your defence and Justifications are "correct" and others are "incorrect"?

 

Your personal experience with booking cruises overseas and at Home seem to always come up "Trumps" for "you" and this may be true for the way 'you' organize your travel arrangements?

 

But!

 

I just dont get it? you cannot acknowledge the other side of the coin!

 

Like I said in an earlier post "Why on EARTH Would a cruise from Australia cost $400 pp more if booked from Australia than it would if booked from USA"?

 

This cannot be justified in my opinion in any way and I think its totally wrong! and to add, RCI have left a very bad taste in my mouth "forever" and to the sum of $800AU an amount that you may well have quite happily swallowed up in your travel arrangements but an amount I will be forever spitting out in disgust.

 

Den

[avalon007]

Prices seem to fluctuate all the time I find, probably based on supply & demand. I would assume they have a computer that calculates pricing based on a pre set formula that may even take into account the number of hits on their website pages, calls to their booking offices etc, etc.

 

We booked our repositioning cruise about 2 months ago as the price was going up a around $100 a week at that stage & the cabin grade we wanted was starting to become scarce.

 

Today the price has now dropped around $1200 ($600pp) for the same cabin category that we booked. (less choice of cabins of course)

 

So I have asked my T/A to contact Royal & do her best to get us the discount.

 

I wil be dissapointed if I don't get it, but then again if the price of something I bought for Christmas is cheaper this week I can't complain, as I chose to buy it then to not miss out. Pricing in part is about timing.

Some price drops you can get others not if they are part of a sale for new bookings only for example, so fingers crossed.

 

Yes I agree it would be nice if all prices started at the same place for each cruise in each country, but I guess the variables within each country that affect pricing are not consistent between countries at any given time either, so it's hard to know if you are comparing an Australian price to a peak or trough in the American prices.

 

The only way to truly compare would be to have an American track prices on the same cruise as an Australian, when the cruise was first released onto the market up to sailing date.

 

That would be an interesting exercise!