Australia/New Zealand price drops?

[Hazelnut1106]

Looking at a couple of Diamond Princess cruises being offered the end of 2014 or early 2015 in Australia and/or New Zealand. Prices seem rather high. Does anyone have experience with price drops for cruises down under? Or are those cruises always generally higher when you look at the cost per person per day?

[Kinkacruiser]

Looking at a couple of Diamond Princess cruises being offered the end of 2014 or early 2015 in Australia and/or New Zealand. Prices seem rather high. Does anyone have experience with price drops for cruises down under? Or are those cruises always generally higher when you look at the cost per person per day?

 

 

Yes, higher prices than US. The auto-tip is included and we also have a much smaller market base. You'd be hard pressed to find a $100 pp price at all on Princess chips. Best suggestion would be to try after final payment date (75-80 days) precruise. The Christmas cruises on the Diamond seldom drop in price.

[Kinkacruiser]

Yes, higher prices than US. The auto-tip is included and we also have a much smaller market base. You'd be hard pressed to find a $100 pp price at all on Princess chips. Best suggestion would be to try after final payment date (75-80 days) precruise. The Christmas cruises on the Diamond seldom drop in price.

 

My apologies - the autotip is not included on the Diamond . That's only been made available for us on the Dawn, Sun and Sea Princesses (based in Australia).

[NearEnough]

We used to be able to depend on price drops and, as stated, if you wait until after final payment, you may get a bargain. But in recent times, with the increasing number of Aussies/Kiwis cruising and the number of cruise ships sailing fairly static, you would be more likely to miss out. We've done a couple for about AUD110 a day on special offers but have noticed recently this has increased quite a bit

[azbirdmom]

We cruised on the Diamond in January 2013 and our price dropped by almost half between the time we booked and the time we cruised. I don't know if you can count on that though. It seems like some of the prices are staying stubbornly high this year, but it's anyone's guess where things will go. We were taking the trip regardless of what happened with the price, and saving the extra $$ was a very nice unexpected bonus.

[Hazelnut1106]

Thank you for the prompt replies. Don't exactly like the prices but the NZ 14 day itinerary RT Sydney is just what we have been looking for. Unfortunately it is over the Xmas holidays so I don't expect to see any break in those prices. But I guess we can place our deposits and hope for a 'miracle'. :D We are also thinking about the 28 day Australian cruise in Nov. (Most likely our only trip to that part of the world and want to see as much as we can.)

[ozmonkeyboy]

Thank you for the prompt replies. Don't exactly like the prices but the NZ 14 day itinerary RT Sydney is just what we have been looking for. Unfortunately it is over the Xmas holidays so I don't expect to see any break in those prices. But I guess we can place our deposits and hope for a 'miracle'. :D We are also thinking about the 28 day Australian cruise in Nov. (Most likely our only trip to that part of the world and want to see as much as we can.)

 

We travelled on the Diamond Princess Aust/NZ Xmas cruise last year and it was very close to being sold out at final payment due date, and then sold out not longer thereafter. The chances of a price drop are very slim due to the popularity of this particular cruise - being both a Xmas and NY cruise.

In my opinion, the 2014 itinerary is even better than last years Xmas cruise (being round trip from Sydney), but the price is definitely steeper as well.

If you are happy to travel later in January on the normal Aust/NZ 12 day one way itineraries, the prices will be much more reasonable. As always, just depends on what itinerary appeals most and the time you wish to take the cruise.:)

[Hazelnut1106]

I have looked at the 12 day NZ itineraries in Jan or Feb but I do like the fact that the 14 day Dec itinerary has more stops in NZ plus it becomes a little more convenient for us to spend some extra days in Sydney when combining the Nov Australia cruise with the Dec NZ cruise. Just will probably have to accept the higher holiday prices (and some family unhappiness when we tell them that we won't be home for Xmas and Thanksgiving too!)

[sayaguru]

My apologies - the autotip is not included on the Diamond . That's only been made available for us on the Dawn, Sun and Sea Princesses (based in Australia).

 

It's only Australians that have the auto tip (they don't trust us to pay it). :eek:

 

As mentioned the amount of Aussies cruising has increased. I was only talking about this at work yesterday. A few years ago I knew of no-one that cruised. At work this Christmas half the staff were cruising.

Christmas-January holidays are very busy.

 

I did the 14 day NZ from Sydney return. It was fantastic. Great itinerary. It was on Royal Carribean but I know others that hjave done it on Princess. Highly recommended. Some wonderful scenery.

And leave from Sydney. What more could you ask for?:D

[tml1230]

I have looked at the 12 day NZ itineraries in Jan or Feb but I do like the fact that the 14 day Dec itinerary has more stops in NZ plus it becomes a little more convenient for us to spend some extra days in Sydney when combining the Nov Australia cruise with the Dec NZ cruise. Just will probably have to accept the higher holiday prices (and some family unhappiness when we tell them that we won't be home for Xmas and Thanksgiving too!)

 

my wife and i share your thoughts and logic….for us it'll be a B2B2B on the diamond (that little 5 dayer between the 2 cruises) …i suspect the kind and wonderful passengers from Australia will keep everyone entertained !

we can't wait...