Deployment schedule: let the guessing begin!

[fish6]

My D1 balcony on Serenade is exactly half the cost of a D1 on Anthem. I understand Anthem is a significantly newer ship but no.

 

Exactly! I am going to stay put in my JS 1100 and our kids next door in a D1 for $4000.00 less than a 12 day Western sailing in a FJS (4 of us stuck together 1 cabin) on the Anthem. Our Serenade cruise is one day less but much nicer Southern ports and we start off/end off in warmer weather too in FLL.

 

I'm glad the Quantum prices were not this high last year when we booked! At least we can say we sailed this class of ship once!

Edited April 25, 2014 by fish6

[CRUISEBOY305]

Well, we've also discussed going on Vision out of Tampa next fall. We can take the auto train and book a JS for 10 nights and still not spend as much as a D1 on Anthem which we'd take the train to also. We also looked at Freedom for the same time period, but those are the same old tired itineraries we've done several times, although we love that ship. Decisions, decisions....

 

I'm sticking with my Serenade cruise in jan 2016 and will be booking Navigator when I'm on Vision this July. As for the rest of 2016, will wait and see. I'm definitely not paying that much for Quantum or Anthem. Looking at the shorter 8 and 7 day cruises, I don't think I paid that much for the Oasis when she first came out.

[jst4fun715]

So I can see that the Radiance is listed in Cruisingpower for at least the first three trips out of Sydney in Oct 2015 (listed, but not available for booking yet), but nothing yet for the transpacific from Vancouver to Sydney. Anyone have any "inside info" as when that may be released? I was hoping it would show up when the others did. :(

[Beachammo]

Well, we've also discussed going on Vision out of Tampa next fall. We can take the auto train and book a JS for 10 nights and still not spend as much as a D1 on Anthem which we'd take the train to also. We also looked at Freedom for the same time period, but those are the same old tired itineraries we've done several times, although we love that ship. Decisions, decisions....

 

Vision outta Tampa is the best kept secret in the RCCL universe. Don't tell too many people.

 

Shelton

[madelk]

So I can see that the Radiance is listed in Cruisingpower for at least the first three trips out of Sydney in Oct 2015 (listed, but not available for booking yet), but nothing yet for the transpacific from Vancouver to Sydney. Anyone have any "inside info" as when that may be released? I was hoping it would show up when the others did. :(

 

2 of those sailings are Charters - "Rock the Boat 5" and "Cruising Country 5"

 

Edit: Open for booking through the charter agent and expensive....

Edited April 26, 2014 by madelk
See edit

[madelk]

I hate when they do that. I know it's because they don't want to post the sky high prices we all know they have. I'll contact my TA about it, but honestly, we shouldn't have to just to find out the prices. Time to see if they'll let us move our Quantum dummy booking for next April to Anthem for Nov2015. Or to another cruise which from what I hearing about prices may be cheaper to go to FL and go on Vision instead. Never been to Tampa and there's an itinerary we like so we'll see.

 

Now I don't want to start a fight or be rude so forgive me if my theoretical question comes across that way.

 

Based on a standard supply-and-demand theory, is there any chance that all these "dummy bookings" that the keen cruisers are booking super early are in fact driving up prices? I know you all state that you'll watch the prices and take advantage of price drops or cancel or move to another sailing if the price doesn't get better; but what if all of these early bookings didn't happen? Would RC not then be faced with the question of why they have a near empty ship and then perhaps bigger discounts would be seen? Or perhaps everyone should "book" inside cabins only so they run out of those and are then forced to entice super cheap (or free) upgrades? :rolleyes:

 

Like I said - this isn't meant to be insulting - I'm just genuinely curious what those who have been around for longer think - I admit I have very little knowledge when it comes to the US market and this is only the second year I've watched for the new release cruises.

[Coralc]

Now I don't want to start a fight or be rude so forgive me if my theoretical question comes across that way.

 

Based on a standard supply-and-demand theory, is there any chance that all these "dummy bookings" that the keen cruisers are booking super early are in fact driving up prices? I know you all state that you'll watch the prices and take advantage of price drops or cancel or move to another sailing if the price doesn't get better; but what if all of these early bookings didn't happen? Would RC not then be faced with the question of why they have a near empty ship and then perhaps bigger discounts would be seen? Or perhaps everyone should "book" inside cabins only so they run out of those and are then forced to entice super cheap (or free) upgrades? :rolleyes:

 

Like I said - this isn't meant to be insulting - I'm just genuinely curious what those who have been around for longer think - I admit I have very little knowledge when it comes to the US market and this is only the second year I've watched for the new release cruises.

 

You have to wonder about that....because US bookings get their deposit back if they cancel before final payment.

 

And on expensive cruises, there is usually a mass defection and many newly opened cabins when final payment approaches.

 

We usually try to book early on a sailing on a stateroom and sailing that we plan to go on. We have to balance price with category and we haven't ever (knock on wood) cancelled a cruise because the price DIDN'T drop. They are cruises that we plan to go on.

 

We like longer itineraries and for the last few years, early booking has resulted in an acceptable price. And the prices seem to have gone up after that.

 

If RCL releases a new itinerary or ship with very high prices, we would have to check our budget. It very well might skew the prices if a lot of people book when the prices are very high. And as far as new ships are concerned, we have no desperate need to sail on them when they are first released.

 

We still haven't been on the Freedom or Oasis class because itineraries are of some importance to us. :)

[springaussie]

For someone who can see cruising power is Voyager and Explorer loaded in for the Australia 2015/16.

Thanks

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Case1096]

Now I don't want to start a fight or be rude so forgive me if my theoretical question comes across that way.

 

Based on a standard supply-and-demand theory, is there any chance that all these "dummy bookings" that the keen cruisers are booking super early are in fact driving up prices? I know you all state that you'll watch the prices and take advantage of price drops or cancel or move to another sailing if the price doesn't get better; but what if all of these early bookings didn't happen? Would RC not then be faced with the question of why they have a near empty ship and then perhaps bigger discounts would be seen? Or perhaps everyone should "book" inside cabins only so they run out of those and are then forced to entice super cheap (or free) upgrades? :rolleyes:

 

Like I said - this isn't meant to be insulting - I'm just genuinely curious what those who have been around for longer think - I admit I have very little knowledge when it comes to the US market and this is only the second year I've watched for the new release cruises.

 

Not rude at all, a very similar situation is happening right now on Disney. People have 18 months to sail otherwise they lose their onboard booking bonus. There were a lot of these dummy bookings that were clogging up the supply. So now Disney has instituted that restriction and they are driving up the prices by reducing the overall supply available for the discount. In the end I think RCCL and Disney will fail with their recent changes to the onboard booking programs.

[mconthehighseas]

Thank you Shelton! Those Vision itineraries beat the ones out of Galveston by a mile!

[mommabean]

For someone who can see cruising power is Voyager and Explorer loaded in for the Australia 2015/16.

Thanks

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

No.

[springaussie]

No.

 

Thanks

[BND]

Now I don't want to start a fight or be rude so forgive me if my theoretical question comes across that way.

 

Based on a standard supply-and-demand theory, is there any chance that all these "dummy bookings" that the keen cruisers are booking super early are in fact driving up prices? I know you all state that you'll watch the prices and take advantage of price drops or cancel or move to another sailing if the price doesn't get better; but what if all of these early bookings didn't happen? Would RC not then be faced with the question of why they have a near empty ship and then perhaps bigger discounts would be seen? Or perhaps everyone should "book" inside cabins only so they run out of those and are then forced to entice super cheap (or free) upgrades? :rolleyes:

 

Like I said - this isn't meant to be insulting - I'm just genuinely curious what those who have been around for longer think - I admit I have very little knowledge when it comes to the US market and this is only the second year I've watched for the new release cruises.

 

Well, since the LA onboard Grandeur told us to do it to get the obc since bookings for fall 2015 weren't open yet...

 

I'd say no, it has no impact on supply and demand since on any one cruise I doubt there are that many dummy bookings.

 

We have never done this before, nor have we ever had a price drop after booking and we always book at least a year out. So, in my opinion your premise has no basis in fact.

 

BTW, I was a econ major in college (didn't finish lol, but I took up through econ 300 level classes) and understand supply and demand. The fact is, outside of unusual itineraries ships rarely sell so fast that there would be any impact. Every ship sails at almost or at 100% full (% of cabins booked, not numbers of people necessarily) and the closer we get to a cruise and cabins fill, rarely do we see prices go up much, if at all. RCI pricing has more to do with what the market will bear than supply and demand.

[yj2cute]

Now I don't want to start a fight or be rude so forgive me if my theoretical question comes across that way.

 

Based on a standard supply-and-demand theory, is there any chance that all these "dummy bookings" that the keen cruisers are booking super early are in fact driving up prices? I know you all state that you'll watch the prices and take advantage of price drops or cancel or move to another sailing if the price doesn't get better; but what if all of these early bookings didn't happen? Would RC not then be faced with the question of why they have a near empty ship and then perhaps bigger discounts would be seen? Or perhaps everyone should "book" inside cabins only so they run out of those and are then forced to entice super cheap (or free) upgrades? :rolleyes:

 

Like I said - this isn't meant to be insulting - I'm just genuinely curious what those who have been around for longer think - I admit I have very little knowledge when it comes to the US market and this is only the second year I've watched for the new release cruises.

 

Not rude at all and very on point. I said the exact same thing when Liberty prices from Cape Liberty were announced. Many people posted that the prices were too high and that they booked and would watch for a price drop. And if they didn't come down they would cancel. I posted that that strategy was flawed because the cruise line has no reason to lower prices if the ship is booked. I only book at a price I'm willing to pay.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

Edited April 26, 2014 by yj2cute

[BND]

Not rude at all and very on point. I said the exact same thing when Liberty prices from Cape Liberty were announced. Many people posted that the prices were too high and that they booked and would watch for a price drop. And if they didn't come down they would cancel. I posted that that strategy was flawed because the cruise line has no reason to lower prices if the ship is booked. I only book at a price I'm willing to pay.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

 

I think that if prices are high when cruise dates are announced that that shows the cruiseline hopes the demand will be high and is basing prices on what they think the market will bear, not on demand because they can't know the demand BEFORE it's announced which they'd have to to announce them that high. They will drop prices if bookings aren't happening fast enough. They are constantly watching how fast a ship is selling and adjust prices based on that, which shows what people are willing to spend, not demand perse.

 

Supply and demand is more complex than that which is why I doubt the small percentage of dummy bookings have any impact at all. Unlike, say, gasoline for your car which you have to have, no one HAS to go on a cruise. So, supply and demand can and does affect gasoline prices as it's a pretty simple formula. There are several steps in the process from drilling to wholesale pricing to retail. In the case of cruising, the line offers a price, people either buy a vacation or they don't. Everyone still drives when fuel prices go up, but plenty of people don't vacation if they can't afford it. So, while the idea of supply and demand sounds good, it's not the same thing at all when talking about a cruise vacation (or any other vacation at that).

Edited April 26, 2014 by BND

[mommabean]

Not rude at all and very on point. I said the exact same thing when Liberty prices from Cape Liberty were announced. Many people posted that the prices were too high and that they booked and would watch for a price drop. And if they didn't come down they would cancel. I posted that that strategy was flawed because the cruise line has no reason to lower prices if the ship is booked. I only book at a price I'm willing to pay.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

 

Although if enough people do this and a large percentage of them cancel the day before final payment is due, the prices will drop drastically right after final payment date. Which makes for a lot of mad people who see the prices drop right out from under them right after they pay the cruise off.

 

It has happened to me and I've seen it happen so much that I am now beginning to wait to book cruises at the last minute unless it's a "must do" cruise. I've noticed flights don't change much in price so paying $30 or $40 more for a flight makes no difference to me when I save hundreds on a cruise.

 

We actually booked our cruise sailing out of Panama just 3 weeks prior to sail date and got a GS for $1299pp for a full week. My kind of deal. :D

 

Gina

[yj2cute]

Although if enough people do this and a large percentage of them cancel the day before final payment is due, the prices will drop drastically right after final payment date. Which makes for a lot of mad people who see the prices drop right out from under them right after they pay the cruise off.

 

It has happened to me and I've seen it happen so much that I am now beginning to wait to book cruises at the last minute unless it's a "must do" cruise. I've noticed flights don't change much in price so paying $30 or $40 more for a flight makes no difference to me when I save hundreds on a cruise.

 

We actually booked our cruise sailing out of Panama just 3 weeks prior to sail date and got a GS for $1299pp for a full week. My kind of deal. :D

 

Gina

 

Gina, If I could do that, I surely would. But not living in FL, and having to plan vacation in advance, I must plan my sailings and pretty much stick with them. So I must find something I'm happy with it, book it and watch. If a price drop comes, Hurray! If not, that's fine too because I booked at a price I was prepared to pay. But to book at a price one is completely unwilling to pay, then hope for a price drop and cancel if one doesn't come, just doesn't make sense.

[Dave85]

Gina, If I could do that, I surely would. But not living in FL, and having to plan vacation in advance, I must plan my sailings and pretty much stick with them. So I must find something I'm happy with it, book it and watch. If a price drop comes, Hurray! If not, that's fine too because I booked at a price I was prepared to pay. But to book at a price one is completely unwilling to pay, then hope for a price drop and cancel if one doesn't come, just doesn't make sense.

 

 

Same situation here, and I agree 100%.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Nabalab]

Does anyone know if there will be a Transatlantic on Anthem from Southampton to Bayonne in Oct/Nov 2016?

 

The original 14-night that was going to FLL is now cancelled (and still shows up on the RCCL website), so I was hoping yesterday they'd announce something to Bayonne - similar to what Quantum is doing later this year.

 

Thanks!

Edited April 26, 2014 by Nabalab

[Spring]

Does anyone know if there will be a Transatlantic on Anthem from Southampton to Bayonne in Oct/Nov 2016?

 

The original 14-night that was going to FLL is now cancelled (and still shows up on the RCCL website), so I was hoping yesterday they'd announce something to Bayonne - similar to what Quantum is doing later this year.

 

Thanks!

 

Yes.

It leaves Oct 27th, 8 days to Bayonne

[cruzingduo]

just saw some answered your question.

[Nabalab]

Yes.

It leaves Oct 27th, 8 days to Bayonne

 

Thanks so much. On the website, its not listed yet for sale. Hopefully soon.

[mommabean]

Gina, If I could do that, I surely would. But not living in FL, and having to plan vacation in advance, I must plan my sailings and pretty much stick with them. So I must find something I'm happy with it, book it and watch. If a price drop comes, Hurray! If not, that's fine too because I booked at a price I was prepared to pay. But to book at a price one is completely unwilling to pay, then hope for a price drop and cancel if one doesn't come, just doesn't make sense.

 

 

I'm just saying that apparently that's what many people are doing, the ones with flex time. It has caused me to give up and just wait it out by not even booking, because I, too, have flex time. :)

 

I realize many people can't do that.

[Spring]

Thanks so much. On the website, its not listed yet for sale. Hopefully soon.

 

I am booked on the Orig 14day to Fort Lauderdale, they told me yesterday they are working on what they will do for us, to see if we will stay on the new 8 day TA or not. Should have that taken care of by Wed and then it will be open to all.

[Beachammo]

Although if enough people do this and a large percentage of them cancel the day before final payment is due, the prices will drop drastically right after final payment date. Which makes for a lot of mad people who see the prices drop right out from under them right after they pay the cruise off.

 

It has happened to me and I've seen it happen so much that I am now beginning to wait to book cruises at the last minute unless it's a "must do" cruise. I've noticed flights don't change much in price so paying $30 or $40 more for a flight makes no difference to me when I save hundreds on a cruise.

 

We actually booked our cruise sailing out of Panama just 3 weeks prior to sail date and got a GS for $1299pp for a full week. My kind of deal. :D

 

Gina

 

I've seen it happen both ways....

 

Sometimes the price drops after final payment and sometimes the price just keeps going up from deployment.

 

I always book early (To secure that GREAT cabin) and if there are plenty of cabins left just before final payment....I may cancel and wait for the reduction.

 

I been known to check every cabin's availability 2 days before final payment. It's like a game. Some play "Candy Crush".......I play save bucks from RCCL! LOL

 

Shelton