I feel like a victim, not a customer.

[happy 2 b cruising]

We have seen the whining posts..."

 

I don't appreciate my comments being characterized as "whining."

 

I started this thread to address only the effects of substantially reducing prices immediately after final payment-not to open another philosophical thread about early versus late booking.

 

Seems, though, that the thread has taken a different direction. I have been lectured, admonished, illuminated, and insulted. I actually had someone inform me that cruise lines are in business to make money-what a revelation! What would we do without these self appointed voices of reason and keepers of all knowledge :rolleyes:.

 

I have no problems whatsoever with price fluctuations-only the timing of big drops the day after final payment. happy 2 b cruising gets it.

 

Happy sails to you

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

Cruise Critic boards are about sharing thoughts and getting advice, never a need to attack the poster on what their personal thoughts are.

[Terpnut]

Bluboro,

How does one book a CC cabin for $675???

That was his reasoned or perceived value after discounting the $1,100 cabin fare for the $425 beverage package.

[S.O.C.I.O.C.A.T.s]

I sent a letter to Bayley CEO on this very topic and got back boilerplate without any concern. Their marketing strategy is to keep prices high and use perks as incentives to fill cabins. Early bookers are taken for granted and oftentimes skinned alive in pricing. Only solution I see is to book your air early and save and wait to book the cruise at the last moment and get the perks. Like some of the above have mentioned, you are taking the chance the cruise will be popular and be fully booked early. But that does not appear to happen often.

[Terpnut]

I sent a letter to Bayley CEO on this very topic and got back boilerplate without any concern. Their marketing strategy is to keep prices high and use perks as incentives to fill cabins. Early bookers are taken for granted and oftentimes skinned alive in pricing. Only solution I see is to book your air early and save and wait to book the cruise at the last moment and get the perks. Like some of the above have mentioned, you are taking the chance the cruise will be popular and be fully booked early. But that does not appear to happen often.

The only suggestion I have for your strategy is that you still book a cruise early (because you have nothing to lose but the time value of your deposit money). Just track inventory and pricing, and be prepared to cancel and rebook after final payment!

[phyllisrf]

Thanks, Terpnut.

 

WVUFan, I believe we will be cruising with you on 11/30.

[chefcaw]

From my experience, your cruise booking window works well for the lowest airfare. Especially if you live near a major hub (Atlanta in your case), often there are airfare sales around 3-4 months out anyhow. Once you are inside of 30-45 days out, then it is really hard to score low airfare. But for cruisers working that 75 day final payment window, I find it's perfect for low airfare!

The irony is that under the current cruise booking and payment policy, early bookers are protected! All of your deposits or payments are 100% refundable up to 75 days prior to sailing! The problem, and the lesson that needs to be learned by most here, is that most people here are too timid and fail to cancel their original booking! The cruise lines nearly always raise their prices slowly approaching final payment--I believe to give the customer the illusion that they should keep their booking. Then after final payment, it's POOF and prices drop like a brick. So the lesson is: book early if you want (nothing lost by doing so), but follow the supply and demand diligently, be prepared to cancel that early booking, and rebook after final payment! You can have your cake and eat it too, but you must be diligent and act.

 

 

 

This is exactly what we do on all the cruiselines. Yes, I have cancelled and rebook some cruises because I felt the prices were going to drop after final payment

 

Chris

[Dunelm]

Of course prices go up or down all the time. If you wait to book, you may not get a great deal and you might not sail (ship is full). You may also wait and get a great deal if the ship hasn't sold well. It can happen both ways. I've booked both ways. Booking way in advance lets you select a cabin in a favorable location. Last minute bookings have cabins that may not be in a good location. It is a gamble. In either case, book a cruise at a price that works for you. Do NOT look at prices again after the final payment. It could make you angry. Also, never ask or tell anyone what you paid for your cruise. It will only make one of you angry. Just relax and enjoy the cruise.

 

Thanks for your great advice!!!

[phoenix_dream]

Terpnut, we are going to have to agree to disagree on the definition of 'timid', as most definitions I can find are a little more demeaning than simply being risk adverse (and as a 25 year insurance veteran, I am well acquainted with the concept of risk:D). But I'll accept that the intent was not to insult and move on.

 

I do think that careful monitoring of the capacity and trending of a particular cruise will give you a fairly decent idea as to whether the prices will rise or fall after final payment. I also feel that there are certain cruises for which waiting is a foolish move. I can only speak of my own experiences - due to work scheduling, we generally must cruise the Caribbean (occasionally Alaska or West Coast Mexico when it was available), and we often have to cruise at fairly popular times. I can tell you that on my 30+ cruises (20+ of which have been on Celebrity) there are literally only a couple of times where the prices dropped post-final payment (my DH always looks - I guess he likes to torture himself:)).

 

I also feel that with current airline capacity and pricing, what may have been a good strategy years ago may no longer be so, most especially for those who have limited flexibility on dates. IMHO for Caribbean cruises the flights to the popular embarkation cities are tightly booked a considerable amount of time beforehand. I have looked into last minute cruises out of FLL or MIA when I have seen some of these last minute cruise sales, and found that airfares from Chicago typically would run from $700 on up, with very limited seating. And as to waiting longer to go to Puerto Rico?? Forget about it! Maybe it's the time of year we go, but this has been my experience.

[Hstergo]

So next time book last minute and hope for the best. Just don't belly ache if you don't get the cabin you want.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I sent a letter to Bayley CEO on this very topic and got back boilerplate without any concern. Their marketing strategy is to keep prices high and use perks as incentives to fill cabins. Early bookers are taken for granted and oftentimes skinned alive in pricing. Only solution I see is to book your air early and save and wait to book the cruise at the last moment and get the perks. Like some of the above have mentioned, you are taking the chance the cruise will be popular and be fully booked early. But that does not appear to happen often.

 

This is no different then buying a car, mrsp are high, but there are a ton of rebates on the price

People will remember that the price was $xxxxx in couple of years but will not remember the peaks they got, so the price will not look that bad

 

I wish I could book on Celebrity website for the same price they sell the trip to the travel agency :rolleyes:

[blueboro]

Bluboro,

How does one book a CC cabin for $675???

 

Creative accounting like Congress:). Obviously I paid more than $675 pp but the value I am getting with the $150 OBC and a $700 beverage package at no cost takes about $850 off of the cruise fare...or provides $850 of value at no additional cost.

[Shake]

I've learned to book low and look to upgrade after final payment. Use the system to my advantage. Book and OV and look for better after final payment. In January, we upgraded from a cat 4 to a Suite gty. Just $400. Well worth the risk. For our November cruise we booked a RCI promenade cabin. We just make sure we buy the minimum we can live with if things don't go our way.

 

They change the system, live and learn.

 

If they remove the upgrade ability, I'll wait until after final payment to book and book from a port with more than one cruise line and ship sailing.

 

With this strategy wouldn't it best to book through the cruiseline since most TA's usually run out of available inventory after final payment?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

That was his reasoned or perceived value after discounting the $1,100 cabin fare for the $425 beverage package.

 

I have 14 night , 1b at $1150 with a $750 drink package , is that a good deal :confused:

[jagoffee]

We have seen the whining posts..."

 

I don't appreciate my comments being characterized as "whining."

 

I started this thread to address only the effects of substantially reducing prices immediately after final payment-not to open another philosophical thread about early versus late booking.

 

Seems, though, that the thread has taken a different direction. I have been lectured, admonished, illuminated, and insulted. I actually had someone inform me that cruise lines are in business to make money-what a revelation! What would we do without these self appointed voices of reason and keepers of all knowledge :rolleyes:.

 

I have no problems whatsoever with price fluctuations-only the timing of big drops the day after final payment. happy 2 b cruising gets it.

 

Happy sails to you

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

Good points. Sometimes we do not think about the potential for our posts to be insulting.

 

I understand your frustration with the timing of the cost reduction. You have a lot of cruises, so do you see this situation often? What type of cabin do you usually book?

 

I like to book early to get my choice and I monitor the pricing closely. I take advantage of the reductions and I do notice a lot of fluctuations many times up. I have seen a drop after final payment for my category, but not often.

 

I have booked a few cruises after the final payment was due, but I prefer booking early. I could see how waiting until late will give one the lowest price as long as the actual cruise and cabin is not a high priority.

 

The days when Celebrity gave us an OBC for the difference was really nice and a competive advantage. Now I do not think any cruises line that regularly adjust prices offers that benefit.

 

Enjoy your cruises.

[ceba]

Well now I am on Bob's side of the issue but with a different product. Got done mowin the yard, cleaned up and was knoting the tie. The wifester was sitting on the couch with the grocery ad in hand with that 'LOOK' on her face. After 32 yrs I know the "L:mad::mad:K" so I had to ask, 'whats up honey?'

 

Darn Safeway! ( we did all our July 4th shoping last Sunday to avoide the rush this week ) they have hot dogs on sale BOGO, and if you buy mustard, ketchup, and mayo on the same check you get a pound of ground beef free, and a loaf of bread for 99 cents. OK, so just take your reciept to the service desk and get it fixed, cant, not good on previous purchases. So go to Kroger next time, nope, dont like their meat, and they dont double and triple coupons or have double gas reward points. I can see it now, one of these days the fridge will be empty cause we are waiting fo the right sale ad to hit the porch.

 

clever. And sums it up for me.

[fortinweb]

Which specific dozen or so cruises are you monitoring? If you have been following peak season cruises (i.e. Caribbean, summer Europe, etc.) for the past several months, you will know that many sailings experienced massive price drops after final payment. My main message is that, whereever the cruise lines have moved their ships for peak season (again I'm talking specifically Caribbean or Europe here), there has been massive over-capacity, poor sales and thus huge fire sales after final payment. So using my strategy, you are more likely to keep your early booking, and less likely to rebook after final payment for repositioning, shoulder season or exotic itineraries with limited competition.

 

I am not currently monitoring any Celebrity cruises, but can refer to the last two Celebrity cruises I have taken because I haven't deleted the booking info yet: Reflection's Med cruise from Oct 21 to Nov 4 last year, and Constellation's Baltic cruise from Aug 22 to Sep 3, 2011.

 

Oct 21 2012 Reflection 14 night Med:

 

Original price for a 1B balcony booked July 12, 2011 = $2,799 pp ($5,598 total)

Final price before final payment = $1,629 pp or $3,258 total ($2,340 drop before final payment)

Lowest price after final payment = $1,599 pp or 3,198 total ($60 lower = 1.09%)

 

Not much movement AFTER final payment.

 

Aug 22 2011 Constellation 12-night Baltic

 

Original price for a C2 balcony booked June 19, 2009 = $2,949 pp ($5,898 total)

Final price before final payment = $2,369 pp or $4,738 total ($1,160 drop)

Lowest price after final payment = $1,999 pp or $3,998 total ($740 drop = 20.01%)

 

I don't have accurate info on my other cruises, but do remember the general price comparisons, which I have mentioned in my previous post.

 

Oh, and almost forgot - due to booking these two cruises through a TA we have worked with many times in the past, we also received between $200 and $300 OBC per stateroom for these two cruises, making the final price even less. I'm not aware of this benefit being available for last minute bookings.

[muffin]

I seem to have a misconception. I thought that when a new offer comes out after final bookings , and it says for new bookings only in the small print, it meant just that. I thought the cruisline would check new bookings against the roster of people who had cancelled their bookings the day or two before final payment was due. Since we HAVE to use our own names there was no way to get a new booking if you had just cancelled a week or 10 days before.

What about if you use a TA? Are they duty bound to tell you you can't do this, or am i misunderstanding completely.

[Terpnut]

With this strategy wouldn't it best to book through the cruiseline since most TA's usually run out of available inventory after final payment?

Cruise lines and TA's pull from the same inventory so there are no such drawbacks to using a TA. In fact, there are many advantages to using a good TA: onboard credit, faster with price drops, can fight to get you promos, etc. Mine is so good, she helped with my original booking, cancellations, rebookings, got me a price drop, then got me upgraded, then helped get a promo I didn't even think I qualified for, and handled many other issues for me. No way X would've done half of that for me! :)

I am not currently monitoring any Celebrity cruises, but can refer to the last two Celebrity cruises I have taken because I haven't deleted the booking info yet: Reflection's Med cruise from Oct 21 to Nov 4 last year, and Constellation's Baltic cruise from Aug 22 to Sep 3, 2011.

 

Oct 21 2012 Reflection 14 night Med:

...

Aug 22 2011 Constellation 12-night Baltic

...

I don't have accurate info on my other cruises, but do remember the general price comparisons, which I have mentioned in my previous post.

 

Oh, and almost forgot - due to booking these two cruises through a TA we have worked with many times in the past, we also received between $200 and $300 OBC per stateroom for these two cruises, making the final price even less. I'm not aware of this benefit being available for last minute bookings.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make you pull out all your old pricing information. I failed to notice you were talking about your past cruises--not recent ones. So we are talking about two totally different situations. Your (and my own) past cruise experiences no longer apply in today's pricing environment. All of my recent commentary applies to the last 6-12 months or so. There has been a major supply and demand imbalance in many of the prime cruise markets during peak season, i.e. Caribbean winter/spring and Europe in summer, that is currently resulting in too few staterooms being sold and massive fire sales being conducted to fill ships. As I have said in other posts, I have theorized that this is due to a "perfect storm" of industry over-capacity, poor global economy and low airline capacity/high airfares. And again, my recommendations on these forums is: to exploit this situation, one must not persist in thinking that booking early and keeping said booking until sailing is the best strategy. As the OP and many others have learned, you must realize when your booking is on a ship that is not selling well, and be prepared to cancel. Or be stuck with an overpriced stateroom with no wiggle room or negotiating position whatsoever.

 

I seem to have a misconception. I thought that when a new offer comes out after final bookings , and it says for new bookings only in the small print, it meant just that. I thought the cruisline would check new bookings against the roster of people who had cancelled their bookings the day or two before final payment was due. Since we HAVE to use our own names there was no way to get a new booking if you had just cancelled a week or 10 days before.

What about if you use a TA? Are they duty bound to tell you you can't do this, or am i misunderstanding completely.

I am not aware of any cruise line foolish enough to deny you a new booking (at a lower price and/or with a promo) after you have already cancelled another, earlier booking. The reality, whether you deal directly with the cruiseline or via a TA, is they need and want your business. So, at least in the U.S., I am not aware of any drawbacks to cancelling and then rebooking as long as you cancel BEFORE final payment! Or is this a Canadian thing?

[varoo]

Vent time.

 

After 27 credits (and two more cruises booked), you would think that I would feel like a valued and loyal customer. :rolleyes:

 

Well, maybe if they quit playing irritating pricing games. I understand that prices may go down after final payment depending on inventory. But, substantial reductions the day after final payment is due does nothing more than antagonize those who have already booked and make us feel like saps. l

Do you feel the same way about airline prices that drop after you have booked non-refundable airfare?

 

You can book early when you see what appears to be a good airfare price and select the seats you want, knowing that prices may go up or down after you book.

 

If you wait to book later, prices may go down, but they may go up and the best seats will most likely already be taken, although sometimes you can find a good seat at the last minute.

 

Yes, we have tried looking at those sites that give predictions of whether the price we are watching will go up or down, and find they are right about half the time and wrong the other half. (Sigh)

 

It would be nice to have a crystal ball. ;)

 

[Waihekean]

I have no problems whatsoever with price fluctuations-only the timing of big drops the day after final payment. happy 2 b cruising gets it.

 

Happy sails to you OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

:confused: I am very confused by this statement. Is it not logical that these sales prices occur after the cruiselines know how much stock they have sold?

 

Obviously, when they have too many cabins left as per their quota, then there will be a price drop. On the other hand if they have only small amount of cabins left prices will go up or remain the same:cool:.

[aquaclass]

I think we see this throughout the travel industry.

 

It is a guarantee when you fly to your cruise port of departure that the 20 people on the plane ALL paid a different price for their airfare. Some bought 6 months early, some later using some kind of promotion, others at the last minute to fill a seat bought their ticket cheap, or maybe there was only 1 seat left a month before the flight and that last seat sold for big $$.

 

It is a guarantee when you spend the night in port the night before your cruise leaves that the 20 hotel rooms around you ALL paid a different price for their hotel room.

 

It is a guarantee that the 20 staterooms on your cruise ship close to yours ALL paid a different price for their stateroom. Some booked in advance, some booked in advance and watched for a price drop before final payment, some booked with Capt Club, or shareholder credit, some paid the "full catalogue price", others bought from an internet site, some at the last minute to fill a room (if there were rooms).

 

Personally, I hope that in each catagorty by paying attention and watching for deals, that the price I pay is in the bottom half.

[phoenix_dream]

..... ..

I am not aware of any cruise line foolish enough to deny you a new booking (at a lower price and/or with a promo) after you have already cancelled another, earlier booking. The reality, whether you deal directly with the cruiseline or via a TA, is they need and want your business. So, at least in the U.S., I am not aware of any drawbacks to cancelling and then rebooking as long as you cancel BEFORE final payment! Or is this a Canadian thing?

It has been a number of years, but I can tell you that this absolutely did happen to us, and it happened on Celebrity. We could have re-booked, but were told we could not book at the new rate on the same ship for the same dates - we could only keep our previous rate. Whether this still happens I cannot say, but I know for a fact it is something we were told at the time. Now, whether we could have called back and spoken to someone else and gotten a different answer? Who knows - chances are good that we could have. But the foolish cruise line was in fact Celebrity.

[Terpnut]

Do you feel the same way about airline prices that drop after you have booked non-refundable airfare?

 

You can book early when you see what appears to be a good airfare price and select the seats you want, knowing that prices may go up or down after you book.

 

If you wait to book later, prices may go down, but they may go up and the best seats will most likely already be taken, although sometimes you can find a good seat at the last minute.

 

Yes, we have tried looking at those sites that give predictions of whether the price we are watching will go up or down, and find they are right about half the time and wrong the other half. (Sigh)

 

It would be nice to have a crystal ball. ;)

 

The situation is not really comparable. The problem this year is that cruise fares have often dropped more than 50% within days after final payment. The OP is frustrated and upset (legitimately IMO) because mere days after the cruiseline has secure his non-refundable final payment, they begin to almost literally give away staterooms to others.

 

Airlines also don't employ the bizarre concept of fully refundable deposits until 75 days prior and then once the clock strikes midnight, your money magically and instantly transforms to partially to totally non-refundable! Most airline fares by contrast are mostly non-refundable and there are known, fixed change fees. Or you can pay more for a refundable and changeable ticket. no such option for cruises.

 

In addition, cruise fares are higher than your typical air fare so price fluctuations are more costly for the cruise passenger. So a price drop of 40% to 60% is a huge and non-trivial hit in both percentage and absolute terms.

 

:confused: I am very confused by this statement. Is it not logical that these sales prices occur after the cruiselines know how much stock they have sold?

 

Obviously, when they have too many cabins left as per their quota, then there will be a price drop. On the other hand if they have only small amount of cabins left prices will go up or remain the same:cool:.

You are correct that this is entirely logical and my point has been that people need to keep themselves informed as to how a sailing is selling so you can act when a fire sale is likely to happen. To me, the sales problems and fire sales are entirely foreseeable!

[Terpnut]

It has been a number of years, but I can tell you that this absolutely did happen to us, and it happened on Celebrity. We could have re-booked, but were told we could not book at the new rate on the same ship for the same dates - we could only keep our previous rate. Whether this still happens I cannot say, but I know for a fact it is something we were told at the time. Now, whether we could have called back and spoken to someone else and gotten a different answer? Who knows - chances are good that we could have. But the foolish cruise line was in fact Celebrity.

Actually it (meaning X refused a new booking after you cancelled) didn't happen to you because you never cancelled! I refuse to believe, if you had cancelled prior to final payment, that X would've subsequently refused your new booking because that simply defies common sense.

 

It sounds like you got a customer service agent who gave you a bunch of BS and you accepted it! These days, if there is a new promo or lower price, and it is before final payment, your X agent or TA will usually just add the promo and/or make the price adjustment--no need to play the cancel/rebook game.

[muffin]

Thanks for the clarification. It never really made sense to me that I COULDN'T rebook for exactly the reasons you note. I am not sure I would use the last minute escape if I really wanted a certain cruise,, but it is nice to know I could. The question of course is will I win at roulette?

As we have to worry about airfare and dates too it is a bit more of a gamble. Thx