Prices for 3 & 4th person

[MCAT48]

Usually whenever I booked I've seen it being some amount less for the 3rd + guest inad cabin. Now when trying to book with Ncls new site there is no option that I see to see the break down of the prices.

 

When I goto the date I want it shows 699 for an inside, then when I put in how many pax, click the lat box, and put in my state the price drops to 609. Great! It does this for each catergory. For a family oceanview it's like 724 But when I chose my catergory I want (family) it seems as though I'm paying the same price for all four people. That's not what is annoying me really.

 

The annoying this is that the online TA I booked with has 3rd and 4th person at 449 and the first two @ 949. And somehow ncl is $100 more than the TA when it shows the final price?

 

Is it the norm now that they show a reduced price when you put in the information to make you think you are getting a deal for having more people on a cabin when in reality you are paying more in the end? Is there a way to see how much they are charging for the third and fourth passenger without booking directly with them? On the old website it showed how much for each pas. I believe.

 

Is it common for a TA to have a cheaper rate for the 3rd and 4th pas? I've never noticed that in the past when comparing prices.

[Demonyte]

Yep, NCL shows total price divided by persons in the cabin on the new site and there is no way around it (other than using the old site at www5.ncl.com if that still works).

 

However from my experience I'd say that it's completely normal to get a little cheaper price in total from TAs compared to NCL directly so nothing new there (the $100 difference mentioned is just few percents).

 

I can always get easily about 10% cheaper price (or equivalent in OBC) by asking my TA directly, however they are not allowed to publicly advertise prices that differ significantly from NCL's own pricing.

[dexddd]

Other than the new site stinks in many ways, that is one of the first things I noticed with the 3/4 pricing and that really stinks as well. The other really annoying thing is that you have to scroll down and down to see pricing for a period of time plus the pricing "wraps" for the cabin categories to the far right. I haven't tried pricing on the 5 site. Overall the changes to the website have found me visiting it less and going direct to my TA site.

[TSUmom]

Guess I am glad I booked our 2 bedroom Suite before these changes. I don't think my sis in law would like the fact that she would pay the same as us and have the second bedroom and small bathroom when we will have the large room and big bathroom. Personally I think she got a bargain, $499 for an 11 day Med cruise!! I would sail with another couple in the smaller room at that price:)

[Demonyte]

Guess I am glad I booked our 2 bedroom Suite before these changes. I don't think my sis in law would like the fact that she would pay the same as us and have the second bedroom and small bathroom when we will have the large room and big bathroom. Personally I think she got a bargain, $499 for an 11 day Med cruise!! I would sail with another couple in the smaller room at that price:)

 

The way they currently present prices online doesn't change anything, it's just a gimmick to make first two passengers appear cheaper when there are more than two in the cabin. The base formula for the prices has not changed (pricing is based on double occupancy, extra pax pay X each [which varies by the cruise and/or current occupancy rate of the ship]).

Edited October 25, 2013 by Demonyte

[TSUmom]

The way they currently present prices online doesn't change anything, it's just a gimmick to make first two passengers appear cheaper when there are more than two in the cabin. The base formula for the prices has not changed (pricing is based on double occupancy, extra pax pay X each [which varies by the cruise and/or current occupancy rate of the ship]).

 

 

Got it - but it still looks better for the 3rd person in a two bedroom suite to pay less....

[MCAT48]

well if this is the new way ncl is going to charge cabins I hope my ta doesn't pick up this too

every mock booking I did the price was always 100$ more for 4 people on ncl.

[TravelDiva88]

well if this is the new way ncl is going to charge cabins I hope my ta doesn't pick up this too

every mock booking I did the price was always 100$ more for 4 people on ncl.

 

That's because TA's discount further from NCL's prices. I'm paying $80 less total for my upcoming trip I booked through my TA, PLUS getting 3x as much OBC as was available through booking directly, AND getting a (cheap) bottle of wine as a gift from my TA.

[cj'smom]

Just did a booking on the 11 day Sun to the S. Caribbean. Oddly, because the fare was so greatly discounted, the 3rd and 4th person in a cabin were actually more than the first two. They only applied the discount fare to the first two guests. Easy way to solve the problem though -- we just booked two cabins instead of one so we all got the discount rate (and the bonus of not having 4 people in one cabin)! So, it may pay to price it out both ways. Also, we too found a slightly cheaper rate through a TA and got 3 times the OBC.

[Demonyte]

Just did a booking on the 11 day Sun to the S. Caribbean. Oddly' date=' because the fare was so greatly discounted, the 3rd and 4th person in a cabin were actually more than the first two.[/quote']

 

This is not unusual either, the prices for pax >2 do rise above normal double occupancy rate once the life boat capacity is nearing maximum capacity for the selected muster station area because if there are 3rd and 4th passengers in many cabins, they need to leave some cabins completely empty in order to comply with the safety rules of SOLAS.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Demonyte

[Delawarealan]

Carnival has always done it that way. What I do when researching is to look at the price for 2 people, then change the number of people and calculate the difference. It is a pain, but it's just a bump in the road on the way to a nice cruise.

 

Delawarealan

[dexddd]

I tried the 5 site and there they still show it the old way.

[4774Papa]

I really think the new NCL website doesn't allow you to compare prices for different cruises at different dates as easily.

Also, as pointed out, the suite pricing doesn't show the same if you add a third or fourth person.

I may just irritate them by calling my favorite cruise consultant and making them go through many pricing options before I make a selection.

[SeaShark]

Who would have thought that a $1200 cruise priced at:

 

(Old Way) 1st Guest($500) + 2nd Guest($500) + 3rd Guest($200)

 

as opposed to

 

(New Way) 1st Guest($400) + 2nd Guest($400) + 3rd Guest($400)

 

would cause such a problem!

 

 

It must be something new in the Math. :rolleyes:

[MCAT48]

That's because TA's discount further from NCL's prices. I'm paying $80 less total for my upcoming trip I booked through my TA, PLUS getting 3x as much OBC as was available through booking directly, AND getting a (cheap) bottle of wine as a gift from my TA.

 

I just thought this was strange because every other time I've done cruises with this company's the prices have been equal the only dif. Being any OBC or on board offerings now each cruise is 100$ Difference.

[ccletzgo]

adding 3d and 4th to a quad after final payment. The first two fares hold for there original rate?

[shelly11]

So if you only book 2 people now is it cheaper? That's the way it appears. If so I'll just book more rooms vs putting everyone in one room. I' liked seeing what guest 3 and 4 were being charged.

[Demonyte]

So if you only book 2 people now is it cheaper? That's the way it appears. If so I'll just book more rooms vs putting everyone in one room. I' liked seeing what guest 3 and 4 were being charged.

 

The pricing shown on the site is total price divided by the number of passengers in the cabin.

 

So if we assume that normal price for 1st and 2nd passengers is $700pp and extra persons (3rd and up) are $400pp:

 

- for 4 people, it would show ($700+$700+$400+$400) / 4 = $550pp

- for 3 people, it would show ($700+$700+$400) / 3 = $600pp

- for only 2 people, it would show ($700+$700) / 2 = $700pp

 

So the actual price for first and second passenger doesn't change at all even though it is displayed as an average for all passengers on the website.

 

In some rare cases (depending on the occupancy rate on a specific cruise) there could be an situation where base price is lower than extra person price, but I think that those cases are quite far and between.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Demonyte

[shelly11]

I checked some prices and figured it out. It's just making more work for me. I'm trying to plan a group cruise and we will have different numbers of people in each room. So instead of seeing all the prices I have to click 2 people, then 3 then 4. (hey ncl, i can divide the price evenly myself)