What's the best way to get the best price? Any tips?

[CMar00]

Hi!

 

I've never been on Celebrity before but I am considering it for Alaska next year. Looking to book in the next week or so.

 

What is the best way to get the best deal, in your experience? Through a travel agent, booking online or by calling? I'm looking for a balcony cabin going to Seattle round trip, probably in May.

 

I called and have a brochure on the way.

 

Thank you!

[CaroleSS]

We have always booked waaay in advance. Unless you live near the port, waiting for those last minute deals will cost you in the airfare.

 

We book through a TA, but do so in conjunction with a Celebrity special. Also, shop around. X controls the prices, so every website will show you the same price, but each TA can offer OBC as an incentive to book through them.

 

You can also find websites where you can bid on cruises - although I've never found them to be a bargain. Google is your friend.....

[rjrpar]

Book very early, watch for price drops, and get a good TA who will give you OBC or prepaid tips. We usually get about 9-10% of the cost of the cruise from our TA in some type of credit.

[njsonja]

sleep with the captain?

[Cruising5650]

sleep with the captain?

 

Does that really work? Think he wants a guy like me?!? lol

[njsonja]

hey, it's like the lottery, you never know! <wink>

[Cruising5650]

Any ships have a female captain? That might make it a little more worth my while. lol

[njsonja]

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/royal-caribbean-international-names-first-female-captain-of-a-major-cruise-ship-58142532.html

[justcrusn]

You will get the best price if you wait until after final payment and watch the tuesday specials.

prrices are heavily discounted then, HOWEVER, you will not get any promotions or special offers. You might not get a deal on airfare. You will get the "leftover" cabins that nobody else wanted. You risk the cruise being sold out and perhaps not even going.

 

IF you can live with the disadvantages, wait to book.

 

On the other hand if you need to plan for time off, shop airfare etc., book early and watch for a possible price drop. There are web sites that will monitor the prices for you and alert you if they change. Just google it.

[Lsimon]

You will get the best price if you wait until after final payment and watch the tuesday specials. ...

 

This is a reasonable strategy, subject to justcrusn's list of disadvantages, if you are booking during a time period when the ships don't usually sail full. But if you are sailing during a high demand period such as the Caribbean during spring break or Europe sailings during late July and August, then you may find that prices go up and not down and that selection gets very thin as the sail date gets close.

[lovestx]

While I am not a seasoned cruiser, I have found the using that competing cruise site (you'll have to Google for it) gives me lots of TA's to consider with varying OBC and other perks. It requires so close attention to detail (sometimes one of the agent will quote a price for a lower priced cabin than you have requested), but in three out of three times booking this way, I have gotten what seemed like a good price plus excellent OBC. The first online TA I used left the company and I was assigned a more brusque replacement but he got the job done and knew his stuff. The second online TA gave good service and OBC and gave us 4 bottles of wine in our stateroom and my most recent experience is giving me great service and large amount of OBC.

 

I did try to give my second online TA the opportunity to book my third cruise (thinking she earned my loyalty)...but she never responded to my personal email. Oh well.

[fortinweb]

We book early to get the cabin we want, and lock the dates so I can apply for vacation time in a highly competitive work environment. Since we are on the West coast, most or our cruises are either cross country or overseas, so waiting for the last minute won't work with the higher fares we'd pay. We use a third party web service (google "cruise price drops" and it will be at the top of the page) to monitor the price drops for us. For less than a dollar per cruise, the service will monitor as many cabin categories as we want for a specific sailing date. Over the last five years we have saved over $4,000 by snagging price drops on the three cruises we used this service for. We've seen prices drop and then go back up again as final payment approached, only to see prices stabilize after with zero or very little change afterwards. Waiting doesn't guarantee better prices.

[A Sixth?]

This is a reasonable strategy, subject to justcrusn's list of disadvantages, if you are booking during a time period when the ships don't usually sail full. But if you are sailing during a high demand period such as the Caribbean during spring break or Europe sailings during late July and August, then you may find that prices go up and not down and that selection gets very thin as the sail date gets close.

 

Second that. It depends on the time of year and the rarity of the route.

 

We book AWAY in advance for our Caribbean late Dec/early Jan cruise and snipe late May/ early June deals.... so far it's worked.

[h20cruzer]

He will sleep with anyone as long as you are easy!!!! Hahaha

[AnnaMiami]

I've called a few agents to see if they offer OBCs with the current Thanksgiving sale, and was told by them that no promos are combinable. I was initially going to piggyback onto my cousins' passage certificate for the OBCs, but when I called Celebrity after the promo came out, I was told that the Passage OBC can not be combined with the Thanksgiving promo - is that definitely the case with all TAs?

[Lsimon]

I've called a few agents to see if they offer OBCs with the current Thanksgiving sale, and was told by them that no promos are combinable. I was initially going to piggyback onto my cousins' passage certificate for the OBCs, but when I called Celebrity after the promo came out, I was told that the Passage OBC can not be combined with the Thanksgiving promo - is that definitely the case with all TAs?

 

This would be the case for a Celebrity cruise from any source as long as we're talking about promos and discounts funded by Celebrity.

But there are a lot of TA's who will give you a small OBC or other promo, like prepaid gratuities, which they cover themselves out of their own commission. You'll only find these by shopping around. Of course the problem you might run into is that you might not know the service level of the TA you call. Also, ask about misc fees as some TA's charge fees for any changes such as a cabin change or cancellation where as many do not.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Lsimon