Do RC Prices Ever Come Down?

[Cinders411]

Hello to all. I am a new cruiser on RC. Have only cruised Carnival in the past but, was looking for something different. I booked a Jr Suite on Freedom of the Seas last June. I paid $1449 per person for our Oct cruise. I have been checking RC site ever since looking for the elusive price drop. Even with the WOW sale, the per person price is $1454.12 although there is a $100 OBC. The sale price is still more than I originally paid per person. I am not complaining as I booked the cabin I wanted but, was just wondering is there a best time to book in order to get a better deal? Happy cruising! : )

[megr1125]

My crystal ball is in the shop, but sometimes they do, sometimes they do not.

 

There is no way to tell, it's all up to the revenue department and you'll have to just keep checking..

 

Asking if prices ever come down is like asking if the seas will be rough or if the Kardashians will ever get out of the news....:eek::D

[Clarea]

There's no predicting prices. We've had a few price drops recently, but mostly the prices have gone up on the cruises we have booked. We caught some significant price drops on cruises in 2015 and 2016 due to the current BOGOHO promo, but other than that, nothing major drops.

[Cinders411]

Okay. I guess I was asking if there is a best time to book for the best deal. I was thinking maybe farther out would not be as good as a month or two before the cruise. I will look this year at the prices for Oct in Aug/Sept and see if they are less than I paid. I realize to do that you take a chance on not getting the cabin or location you prefer.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Cinders411

[Clarea]

Okay. I guess I was asking if there is a best time to book for the best deal. I was thinking maybe farther out would not be as good as a month or two before the cruise. I will look this year at the prices for Oct in Aug/Sept and see if they are less than I paid. I realize to do that you take a chance on not getting the cabin or location you prefer.

No pattern that I've been able to see.

[Sitzmark]

Okay. I guess I was asking if there is a best time to book for the best deal. I was thinking maybe farther out would not be as good as a month or two before the cruise. I will look this year at the prices for Oct in Aug/Sept and see if they are less than I paid. I realize to do that you take a chance on not getting the cabin or location you prefer.

 

 

If the prices come down after you book, you should be able to get the lower price as long as you haven't passed your final payment date.

[leaveitallbehind]

I guess I was asking if there is a best time to book for the best deal.

 

There will be varying opinions on that from book early to wait until after final payment date.

 

The drawbacks to waiting until after final payment IMO is usually a limited selection of staterooms and locations with given itineraries and if airfare is involved, possible price and availability issues there as well.

 

With early bookings, RCI will freeze the booked price against any future price increases while honoring price decreases, which is a win-win IMO.

 

The only drawback to that is if prices drop after final payment RCI does not provide a credit or OBC for reductions for existing bookings, so you are locked into your final price. They will allow paid category upgrades past final payment which can be attractive.

 

There really is no "best time" to book relative to predicted pricing, as pricing is always based on supply and demand, which can vary. IMO it is just a choice of which way best suits you. We typically book early and monitor pricing prior to final payment for decreases as we like to have as much choice and flexibility with our bookings on itinerary and stateroom choices.

Edited June 4, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[negc]

IMO, the best time to book is when you find a desired stateroom at a price that you feel is reasonable. Any subsequent price changes are of little import since, until final payment, you are protected against any price increases and RCI will honor any price decreases that you are eligible for. If you find a price that you are happy with, book it and don't spend a lot of time overanalyzing the line's pricing patterns.:)

[masspector]

No pattern that I've been able to see.

 

Since you say you mostly sail Carnival I will tell you this nugget that I was told a few years ago that seems to hold true generally.

 

I was told that Carnival tends to offer great prices far out on their cruises and that RCCL offers better prices closer to the cruise date (IE after final payment).

 

Of course Carnival has the Early Saver fare that is cheap and offers OBC after final payment if the price drops. RCCL does not have this. It is actually one of the things that I do not like about RCCL, although I prefer their ships. I feel it is cheap of RCCL to drop the price like a rock after final payment to fill the ship and not offer customers that have had their money tied u for months anything. I think they used to do OBC after final payment but not since I have sailed them.

 

Personally I book based on the price at the time of booking. If it is what I am willing to pay, I book. I do not book high and then hope for price drops.

[marci22]

Hello to all. I am a new cruiser on RC. Have only cruised Carnival in the past but, was looking for something different. I booked a Jr Suite on Freedom of the Seas last June. I paid $1449 per person for our Oct cruise. I have been checking RC site ever since looking for the elusive price drop. Even with the WOW sale, the per person price is $1454.12 although there is a $100 OBC. The sale price is still more than I originally paid per person. I am not complaining as I booked the cabin I wanted but, was just wondering is there a best time to book in order to get a better deal? Happy cruising! : )

 

I would at least call and ask for the obc. You will pay $5 more pp but you still come out ahead. *Note this is not combinable with a C&A balcony discount, if you got one.

Edited June 4, 2014 by marci22

[BillOh]

There's no predicting prices. We've had a few price drops recently, but mostly the prices have gone up on the cruises we have booked. We caught some significant price drops on cruises in 2015 and 2016 due to the current BOGOHO promo, but other than that, nothing major drops.

 

This summarizes most of the answers so far. I was able to get a significant price drop in Allure's inaugural season. I ended up with a huge OBC for that trip, but not one too big my wife couldn't beat down! Two of my price drops appeared to come about because of other news in the industry. My memory is foggy, but I think a significant price drop occured in 2012 on my Jewel cruise because of Costa Concordia. (I know someone will look that date up and double check me ;) We had booked an Ocean view and ended up with a D1. I got a price drop shortly after one of the two Carnival cruises that stranded people. Not sure if it was Triumph or the one that was towed to San Diego.

 

Oddly enough, no price drop came about after the Grandeur fire when I was watching my price on my last Jewel cruise, but that ship sailed full.

Edited June 4, 2014 by BillOh
typo correction

[luvscruising2007]

We like to book early. A few times we have found price drops a couple of months after we booked. Then we watched as prices increased. I still watch for price drops, but our next cruise just goes up and our category is sold out. Had we waited we would have to book a different category and pay at least twice what we paid.

[racerxspeedy]

Hello to all. I am a new cruiser on RC. Have only cruised Carnival in the past but, was looking for something different. I booked a Jr Suite on Freedom of the Seas last June. I paid $1449 per person for our Oct cruise. I have been checking RC site ever since looking for the elusive price drop. Even with the WOW sale, the per person price is $1454.12 although there is a $100 OBC. The sale price is still more than I originally paid per person. I am not complaining as I booked the cabin I wanted but, was just wondering is there a best time to book in order to get a better deal? Happy cruising! : )

 

 

No one can predict the future, but Jthe current JS prices for Freedom Oct 2015 appear lower than the JS 2014 prices. On top of this I believe todays prices are up from the start of the BOGOHO sale.

 

I agree with booking the best room selection early and watch for a price drop.

 

Many of us here booked great rooms for 2015+ when the new itineraries were announced, an then recieved major price drops with the BOGOHO.

 

There's still time for you - maybe another price drop will come on your cruise. RC has price changes more than Carnival seems to.

 

Best of luck!!!

[tserface]

You might want to check out this feature of Cruise Critic. It's very handy and easy to use. I put a bookmark to the query for our next cruise and I can check the prices in one easy click in my browser.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/price-drop/

 

Tom

[YadaYadaJodi]

Here's my pricing story for my current cruise booked for

Halloween week - Navigator of the Seas out of Galveston - D balcony

 

1 - leaving TA discount out of equation because it would be same

2 - leaving port taxes/fees out

3 - deducting any OBC rec'd from Royal

4 - averaging price per person

 

a - DH over 55

b - Texas residents

c - 2nd RCCL cruise=Gold C&A

 

10/26/2014 Departure:

Booked in March (Balcony for OV price promotion)

D2 - $770/pp

Current price - 6/4/2014:

D2 - $1001/pp (have seen up to $1051/pp since we booked)

10/25/2015 & 10/18/2015 Departures:

Current price - 6/4/2014 (BOGOHO promotion):

D2 - $567.50/pp

D1 - $558/pp (LESS than D2)

So have to agree with advice above - if it's a good price to you book it - if not wait. $770 for a balcony was good for us. Looks like we could save money booking over a year in advance - at least this year. But at least we booked when we did because prices have just gone up since.

YMMV

Edited June 4, 2014 by YadaYadaJodi

[trev71]

Ive been on 5 cruises with royal. My first ever price drop was on my last cruise. It happened about 3 1/2 months before my cruise. It was a good one. I am going to be watching like a hawk again for my next cruise.

 

 

Thanks tserface for that awesome site i have it bookmarked now :) I used to do it the old fashion way and check two times a day lol

Edited June 4, 2014 by trev71

[ehfl]

Sometimes prices go up. Sometimes they come down. Sometimes they stay about the same.