Best prices right before final payment or right after???

[waterbugohio]

Just wanted some opinions as far as prices right before vs. right after final payment?? I know you never know for sure, but just wanted some experiences.

 

We were looking to do a land vacation this year, but the budget won't allow. So we are thinking of cashing in our RCI visa points and doing a free 4 night or taking the $$ off a 5 night. Would be looking at either the Jewel 11/11 or the Liberty 11/10

 

I am assuming final payment date for both of these cruise would be sometime this week.

 

Should we take our chances and wait till the end of the week????

[waterbugohio]

Anyone?

[marci22]

Have you been watching prices? It's hard to know what is a 'good' price unless you know the opening prices or if you have been watching for drops along the way.

 

Are there are lot of cabins open? If so, I would wait for a 'better' price than you have been seeing. I don't think prices necessarily drop 'right' before or 'right' after. In my experience, they drop several months ahead of time and categories sell out, or they drop a couple of weeks after final, say 6-7 weeks before sailing. ymmv.

 

Definitely watch the Tuesday sales after final payment is due. Don't book the weekend prior (to a Tues sale) unless you see a great price: you may get mad when you see your cabin on clearance on the Tuesday sale, and that is new bookings only.

 

What categories are you interested in?

[marci22]

Jewel seems to have better availability: there are many choice cabins left. Liberty has less availability, although there are still quite a few D2s left.

[xxoocruiser]

All pricing is based on Supply and Demand . There's no set rule as to when the best prices occur.

[renee1222]

The prices on Jewel for balconies, outside and inside are all currently at the lowest pricepoint that has been offered for that sailing. So, basically, the prices originally started out low, increased, and have already dropped to where they began. If you book now you will get a good rate. Will they drop further after final payment? Possibly, but again, it's no guarantee. I would book the cheapest cabin that you would be satisfied with and then watch for the possibility to upgrade after final payment if prices drop further.

 

The prices for the Liberty sailing are still a good bit higher than they started at. If there are fewer rooms available on this sailing, prices might not drop significantly....no guarantee. And, less availability means fewer cabin choices for you to choose from.

 

If it were me, I would snag a cabin on the Jewel and then watch for possible upgrades.

[marci22]

If you book now you will get a good rate. Will they drop further after final payment? Possibly, but again, it's no guarantee.

 

There are so many cabins left on Jewel so close to final, I think it is pretty much guranteed that prices will go down, but we don't know how much, or when.

 

They won't sell the rest of those cabins by increasing prices, or even keeping prices the same.

[waterbugohio]

Thanks everyone. I know its just a guessing game, just wanted some opinions.

 

Will probably at least wait until Thursday to see if anything comes on on the new Tuesday sales flyer.

 

One question, what site is everyone using to see how many cabins are open? Is this something that is just open to TA's or is there a site that shows all open?

[renee1222]

To see how many cabins are available, you have to do dummy bookings for each cabin category. It is a little time consuming, but after checking just a few categories you can usually get an idea if there are "lots" or "few" cabins left. Just go through the booking process through the "select a stateroom" step and click to see all available staterooms for that category. Then go back and change to a different cabin category and so on.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Every cruise is different ..

[waterbugohio]

To see how many cabins are available, you have to do dummy bookings for each cabin category. It is a little time consuming, but after checking just a few categories you can usually get an idea if there are "lots" or "few" cabins left. Just go through the booking process through the "select a stateroom" step and click to see all available staterooms for that category. Then go back and change to a different cabin category and so on.

 

thanks, just did a dummy booking for the 11/10 Liberty sailing on one of the large internet TA sites. I show over 58 balcony cabins left. That seems like alot to me, but not sure.

 

I am assuming final payment is 60 days out correct? Which if I am counting right would be today.

 

Will see what the prices do in the next day or two and make my decision

[xcell]

I agree every cruise is different but I would assume prices would drop if there rooms available ...a lot. Example upcoming sept 29 for 4 in a balcony I thought the price could get lower than $3000 but today it's $2600. It's not my d1 hump cabin but I don't care, that's like $500.

 

If the cruise time is popular doubtful. If there are more rooms than cruisers then something has to give...

[Orsino]

Note that "right after" final payment is due is not necessarily going to be a day or two after final payment is due. It might take a week or two to see a good price drop (i.e., 45 days from sailing).

[SGM Arty]

It is tough to say unless you have been following the prices for a particular cruise. The one thing I have to worry about is airfare prices. I might get a great deal on the cruise by waiting but may have to pay up on airfare at the last minute.

[CCAustin]

I am leaving on a Royal cruise next week- It was a Tuesday deal around the 45 day prior mark. In this case it was still under booked and was a Tuesday deal again 2 weeks later. I believe it was again just this Tuesday. If there are a lot of cabins and you don't have a specific preference, I'd definitely wait for a one day sale.

 

Another tip- If you've booked ahead and see your cruise drop drastically after final payment... You won't get a refund, but have your travel agent ask for an upgrade, especially if a better cabin is now going for what you paid.

[jbman7722]

I am a loyal to royal cruise addict. If you see a lower listed price before final payment is maid they will lower your price.. If you already maid the final payment they will give you the refund in your on board account. Have done this several times..and actually got it changed 3 times on the same cruise.

[moswinner]

We have always paid for our cruises well in advance, sometimes it pays and sometimes not. We got a good deal on a P&O cruise to see the Northern Lights in 2014, Free Parking and £200 OBS. On the other hand we feel we paid well over the odds on Azura for P&O's 175th anniversary as the price dropped after we booked.:eek:

 

We have on several cruises heard people say that they got a "Last minute bargain", So we thought we would give it a go and have been waiting for the prices on the Inde for 6th Oct to drop and hey ho as of today its "Sold out" so rather shot oneself in the foot.:confused:

[ThaiManCity]

1. Princess Diamond Asia relocation cruise in September 2010, we booked last minute, less than 15 days before cruise. Price was rock bottom.

 

2. RCI Mariner of the Seas, Holy land and Greek islands cruise in March 2011, booked around six months before cruise. Happy with the air fare, itinerary and cruise price.

 

But cruise price kept dropping again and again, we paid extras to upgrade twice.

From the beginning of a promenade cabin to a balcony,and ended in a suite !

 

3. Costa Magica eastern Mediterranean in April 2011, booked last minute. Price was reasonable, but not cheap. It was a back to back cruise, so no choice.

 

4. MSC Poesia New England and Canada cruise in September 2012, booked a 14 days back to back cruise, liked the itinerary, USA east coast land tour, cheap air fare . Booked around final payment, price was quite low, shot up later.

 

5. HAL Ryndam 21 days Canary island and eastern mediterranean cruise in April 2012, booked when price was rock bottom at around 45 days before cruise.

 

6. HAL Noordam 20 days back to back eastern and western mediterranean cruise in July 2012, price was low.

 

But price of balcony cabin for the first half of the whole cruise dropped further. But could not pay to upgrade. Should have booked as two separate cruises, so could pay to upgrade half of the cruise.

Booked the cruise at around 20 days before cruise.

 

7. RCI Voyager of the seas, 18 days Southern Australia and NZ cruise in November 2012. Booked the cruise last week on a one day sale.

Happy with the low balcony cabin.

 

 

 

 

To summarized the points in my opinion:

 

1. Check for special sale flash price, one day sale, the cruise, hotel and airfare, book at this rate is normally the lowest.

 

2. Track the price of the cruise that you are interested, book when you are happy with the cruise price level.

 

3. If the price dropped after you have booked, pay to upgrade or negotiate.

If not possible, just live with it. Think of the cruise price as gold spot market.

Ups and downs, difficult to predict. Even if the price drop you can still enjoy the cruise.

 

4. Book a back to back as two separate cruises, do not book as one long cruise. Just in case the price in one of the cruises dropped, you can pay to upgrade that certain part.

 

5. Last minutes sales are normally cheap, but airfares and hotels are normally higher. More hectic in planning and visa rush.

 

 

 

 

Hope it helps.

[ThaiManCity]

On a few cruises that I followed, they were sold out. So missed the chance to book the cruise.

 

 

On MSC Poesia cruise last year, I booked about six months in advance when the price of balcony cabins dropped sharply. It did not go any lower, in fact when nearing the cruise days, price went up.

 

 

But most of the time, I prefer to book a cruise when I felt the price is rock bottom which is between 20 - 60 days before embarkation.

[Torontoyyz]

I booked Trans Atlantic with Celebrity paid full 100% mark up for single and paid in full, the day after final deposit rooms came open and the price of my stateroom dropped $680.-- Celebrity had agents not trained and/or on a need to know basis and they rarely want to get a Supervisor - looks bad on the quota system. I was told on the cruise itself that the $680 should have been available to me to upgrade on this same cruise. I was not told this and the money/upgrade was lost. So if passports, air flights are at the ready then find out the final deposit date - then look after that - sometimes a travel agent will look for you with an on board credit to boot. Celebrity rarely gives on board credits or discounts, rarely for 55+ and for Canadian citizens.

[moswinner]

In my previous post I said we were waiting for a last minute deal on Independence of the seas only to see that it was "Sold Out". I phoned our TA to thank them for saying they would inform us if a late deal came up and told them it was now "Sold out", the lady said "leave it with me and I will get back to you" After an hour she rang back and said she had secured a cabin. So the message is, if your chosen cruise is flagged as "sold out" don't give up, contact your TA and see what they can come with.:D

[littlelamb814]

I would keep waiting. Our cruise just dropped almost 50% of what we paid and we have 45 days til we sail. I have learned my lesson to NEVER book early with RCCL and lose over $700 with the 3 cabins we booked. :mad:

 

Especially since you have 2 different cruises you are watching you will be able to get on 1 of them no problem and hopefully at a cheaper price.

 

I thought booking early would have been a cheaper route. I was wrong.

[reney313]

I have booked most of my cruises after final payment and found it to be cheaper, unless you book far in advance. Generally speaking (no hard/fast rule, of course), I have noticed that the rates are low, then higher from about 6 months out until after final payment, then they drop again....sometimes not as low as they were 6+ months out though. Sometimes much lower (but that seems to be more rare).

 

Generally, guarantee cabin rates will become available after final payment which are normally way less then purchasing a specific cabin.

 

Of course, it all depends as you already know....but if I were this close to final payment to book I normally do wait and generally have seen it drop. Rarely have I seen a cruise I'm watching raise after final payment....although that certainly can happen. Especially if they have a sale one day that you miss.

 

On our upcoming November cruise, we booked 6+ months in advance and got a great rate. It went up and up and up and up....We had one family member that decided to join a few months ago. I recommended she wait to book until final payment because the rates were so high (but I did tell her it was not a guarantee and could even go up more). I have been checking nearly every day since then for her and sweating as it kept raising. The day of final payment, I noticed a substantial decrease for over 55. She got a promenade cabin as a solo for $600 less than my parents paid for the same cabin when we originally booked. The next day the over 55 rate was gone and it was more than double the cost (and $300 more than what my parents paid--so a saving of $900 by noticing that one day!).

 

So...I guess I have to say to make sure to do dummy bookings every day and ensure you have any special rates you could be offered (over 55, military, if applies and your state). Also make sure you are looking at all of the categories. The special rate may only apply to specific categories. And if there is a guarantee available it may only be there for that day depending on how many book (and if a lot book, then it can raise the prices the next day).

 

Good Luck!

[waterbugohio]

lol, don't worry, I am checking everyday (well actually several times a day) Have the RCI app on my phone and it takes me less then a minute to check!!

 

We have booked our airfare, so we no longer have the option of two cruises. We are locked into the Liberty on Nov. 10.

 

The promo's going right now would amount to $100 and I don't want to lose those. Will I want to wait, I am just getting antsy!! I know we are going, but there is just something about actually having it booked!! Kinda like an addiction!!

 

I have checked the site that shows the history of prices and will agree, most generally it looks like prices on most cabins are about at what they were 6-8 most out. Then they went up and now are back to the same (or lower)

[Kool Kist]

Expedia is great for NCL

Travelocity is great for Carnival

 

That 4th month before a cruise sailing has always been my sweet spot where I've always gotten my best deals, but like others have said it is about supply and demand.

 

I recently got an outstanding deal on a 7 day cruise to Mexico. $669 pp for a balcony and $150 shipboard credit. Expedia. So good my brother and his wife booked a cabin on our voyage.