price drop

[tayjay2001]

Booked my cruise before Xmas on fos in April for 3 of us. I'm gutted to see that the price of the cruise has dropped by 600 British pounds on both rcl and viva voyage sites. How disheartening is this and it's For am interior cabin which is what we have got. If I hadn't paid the full balance I would be having something to say but as it is I've had it.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Host Jacquelyn

[Clarea]

Booked my cruise before Xmas on fos in April for 3 of us. Booked through viva voyage. I'm gutted to see that the price of the cruise has dropped by 600 British pounds on both rcl and viva voyage sites. How disheartening is this and it's For am interior cabin which is what we have got. If I hadn't paid the full balance I would be having something to say but as it is I've had it.

I don't know about UK booking rules, but we are sometimes able to upgrade our stateroom, even after final payment, if the price drops enough.

[UCF_Knight]

The only constant about cruise pricing is you can always count on wild fluctuation.

Edited March 14, 2014 by UCF_Knight

[JasonV1]

Don't watch prices after final payment unless you are looking to upgrade, trust me on this.

 

Remember that the boat needs to sail full, and that is what they are trying to make happen right now.

 

You could always wait until last minute to book, but that doesn't guarantee anything. What I've seen is that prices only really drop (significantly) when there is significant inventory within a category. When there is 1-2 cabins left in a given category the prices tend to stay high (in my experience).

 

Example: Right now on my upcoming Allure cruise (16 days away) there is one Crown Loft and 3 Grand Suites left. The prices on those are still high (more than their historical lowest price for this sailing by a good bit). On the other hand, there are 15 Junior Suites left, and those *have* seen historical lows over the last week. The same applies to insides on the same sailing, those categories with high inventory dropped in price by quite a bit, but those with only a few cabins remained expensive (by comparison). Even balconies were cheaper than outsides last week, even with both types of cabin available (just different inventory levels)!

Edited March 14, 2014 by JasonV1

[mulan1123]

Also keep in mind, that the stateroom locations may not be where you want them to be.

[Essexlass2]

Booked my cruise before Xmas on fos in April for 3 of us. Booked through viva voyage. I'm gutted to see that the price of the cruise has dropped by 600 British pounds on both rcl and viva voyage sites. How disheartening is this and it's For am interior cabin which is what we have got. If I hadn't paid the full balance I would be having something to say but as it is I've had it.

 

Our cabin price has dropped by over £500 and when I rang RCI this morning looking for an upgrade, on-board credit, etc, etc, something, anything, all they would tell me is that if I had bought a television at the same time I bought our forthcoming cruise, I wouldn't be asking for a refund of any sort!!!! :(:mad: Hardly a comparison anyway as I politely pointed out before I put the phone down on her :mad::mad:

 

Thankfully, we haven't yet paid our final balance so we could cancel (no refund of deposit in UK) and rebook and still be in pocket, but one thing is for sure, we won't be booking any future cruises in UK again and definitely not early. We usually book late and have never been disappointed, but this cruise was, at New Year, being booked up quite quickly. Lessons learned! ;)

Edited March 14, 2014 by Essexlass2

[Clarea]

Our cabin price has dropped by over £500 and when I rang RCI this morning looking for an upgrade, on-board credit, etc, etc, something, anything, all they would tell me is that if I had bought a television at the same time I bought our forthcoming cruise, I wouldn't be asking for a refund of any sort!!!! :(:mad: Hardly a comparison anyway as I politely pointed out before I put the phone down on her :mad::mad:

 

Thankfully, we haven't yet paid our final balance so we could cancel (no refund of deposit in UK) and rebook and still be in pocket, but one thing is for sure, we won't be booking any future cruises in UK again and definitely not early. We usually book late and have never been disappointed, but this cruise was, at New Year, being booked up quite quickly. Lessons learned! ;)

Seems a bit rude. :confused:

[critterchick]

I thought that UK passengers could take advantage of price drops after final payment - when did that change?

 

Also, as suggested, see about upgrading to an oceanview or higher category, if the price has also dropped for them.

 

I turn off my price drop alerts for the category we're booked in as soon as final payment has passed, but I keep looking at higher categories, just in case.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Our cabin price has dropped by over £500 and when I rang RCI this morning looking for an upgrade, on-board credit, etc, etc, something, anything, all they would tell me is that if I had bought a television at the same time I bought our forthcoming cruise, I wouldn't be asking for a refund of any sort!!!! :(:mad: Hardly a comparison anyway as I politely pointed out before I put the phone down on her :mad::mad:

 

Thankfully, we haven't yet paid our final balance so we could cancel (no refund of deposit in UK) and rebook and still be in pocket, but one thing is for sure, we won't be booking any future cruises in UK again and definitely not early. We usually book late and have never been disappointed, but this cruise was, at New Year, being booked up quite quickly. Lessons learned! ;)

 

It has been Royal's policy for several years now. Not sure why you had to take your frustration out on the CSR.

 

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[Elizanessie]

Our cabin price has dropped by over £500 and when I rang RCI this morning looking for an upgrade, on-board credit, etc, etc, something, anything, all they would tell me is that if I had bought a television at the same time I bought our forthcoming cruise, I wouldn't be asking for a refund of any sort!!!! :(:mad: Hardly a comparison anyway as I politely pointed out before I put the phone down on her :mad::mad:

 

Thankfully, we haven't yet paid our final balance so we could cancel (no refund of deposit in UK) and rebook and still be in pocket, but one thing is for sure, we won't be booking any future cruises in UK again and definitely not early. We usually book late and have never been disappointed, but this cruise was, at New Year, being booked up quite quickly. Lessons learned! ;)

 

Call again and request to speak to someone in Resolutions or to a Manager.

[Elizanessie]

I thought that UK passengers could take advantage of price drops after final payment - when did that change?

 

Also, as suggested, see about upgrading to an oceanview or higher category, if the price has also dropped for them.

 

I turn off my price drop alerts for the category we're booked in as soon as final payment has passed, but I keep looking at higher categories, just in case.

 

Policy changed in the UK a couple of years ago...it is really difficult (nearly impossible) to get a price drop even before final payment now in the UK.

[Essexlass2]

Call again and request to speak to someone in Resolutions or to a Manager.

 

I already did that without success. We live and learn :rolleyes:

[Essexlass2]

It has been Royal's policy for several years now. Not sure why you had to take your frustration out on the CSR.

 

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Because her manner was rude and unhelpful. Maybe I was not the first person to ring for the same reason, but that is no reason to be so offhand.

[Alohaaloha]

Policy changed in the UK a couple of years ago...it is really difficult (nearly impossible) to get a price drop even before final payment now in the UK.

 

 

I've never known a British TA apply a price drop. That's why we now book with an American T A- the discounts and price drops make such a huge difference to the price in comparison to British T A's.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Essexlass2]

I've never known a British TA apply a price drop. That's why we now book with an American T A- the discounts and price drops make such a huge difference to the price in comparison to British T A's.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

Yep, we shall be doing the same from now on :D