Need help with Allure vs Getaway. Price reasons

[alanme123]

Hi Everybody,

 

I have some decision problems for which cruise go on on with my SO. My planned trip will be around Sept 14 and I am looking at the NCL Getaway or the RCCL Allure. Now I want to keep in mind that I am on a tight budget and want to spend as little as possible. The interior stateroom in the Allure cheapest would be 1900 including tax. This is pretty much my limit. The Getaway is around 1500-1600.This is a significantly cheaper than the Allure.

 

I am wondering if the prices would go down further later on? I really want to go on the Allure (I went on the Oasis with family a few years back and thought it was great). Or should I just settle for the cheaper NCL option??

 

Some advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

[Akheila]

both are good ships. Settle on what will make you happy. Don't count on prices going down. If they do this close to sailing (I'm assuming that you meant sept 2014) you wouldn't likely get a price reduction anyway.

 

When choosing a cruise I always recommend choosing the lowest category you would be happy with, and of course within your budget. Both companies have good deals on right now.

 

If you will be worried about costs the whole time then perhaps you've answered what you should do. Is there another factor that could sway you in one direction? Different itinerary?

[Cruisegirl6]

Please consider what I am going to say, I am 51 took my 53rd cruise last month on the Allure....we went on the Breakaway the Getaways sister ship last year and trust me out of all my cruises the Getaway we hated the most out of all the cruises we taken...there are too many negatives, we went on the Allure last month and she is THE BEST SHIP WE EVER BEEN ON.

[alanme123]

What was so negative on those ships compared to the Allure/Oasis? I am looking for reasons to justify the higher costs on the Allure.

 

Also, this will be Sept 2014 and the itineraries on both ship would be similar. Both the Eastern Caribbean. Now that I am here, what is the main difference between the Western and Eastern Itineraries? Sorry for the many questions!

[Biker19]

Since you've waited this long why not a couple of more weeks until after final payment? That's when prices may drop. Check cabin inventory daily and observe the trend. If availability is going up, prices will drop.

Edited June 19, 2014 by kemenyg

[alanme123]

Since you've waited this long why not a couple of more weeks until after final payment? That's when prices may drop. Check cabin inventory daily and observe the trend. If availability is going up, prices will drop.

 

 

I have considered doing that, but I am afraid that the price will increase instead. Where would I get information regarding cabin availability? I heard that websites charge for this type of information. Would September be a mid-low season?

 

Also, if I purchase now and they lower the price later, can I get it price-matched?

[Biker19]

Virtually all online TA sites show available cabins. None will show more than 15 cabins in a category per deck - that's limited by RCI.

 

Price matches/drops only happen till final payment - after that you are stuck with whatever you paid.

[alanme123]

To us, the rooms don't really matter. We're not first time cruisers so we are looking at the guaranteed interiors. Should I wait a little bit for a deal or just do it now? Our sailing is for Sept 14th for Allure.

[Biker19]

I would definitely wait. The price trend for that sailing has been down. RCI offered both the Y and X GTY rates just two days ago. The Z inside GTY rate was slightly lower 6 months ago but I'm betting will go down further. Plenty of insides left.

[Biker19]

Just for reference the same cruise last year had its lowest Z GTY rate on 8/27 and again on 9/11 at $649/pp. The prices did not drop until about 3 weeks out from sailing.There were also senior/military/police discounts closer in to sailing. That seems to be the trend for all the sailings as all Allure sailings inside the final payment period offer those.

Edited June 19, 2014 by kemenyg

[Merion_Mom]

Allure is on the weekly Tuesday sale for June and July. My crystal ball tells me that if sales are soft in the summer months, you are likely to find good prices for September.

 

Monitor this every Thursday night. The prices become available on Tuesday of the following week. But they are for NEW BOOKINGS. So you can't book now and get a price drop later. You have to play a game of chicken with the pricing.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

[alanme123]

Allure is on the weekly Tuesday sale for June and July. My crystal ball tells me that if sales are soft in the summer months, you are likely to find good prices for September.

 

Monitor this every Thursday night. The prices become available on Tuesday of the following week. But they are for NEW BOOKINGS. So you can't book now and get a price drop later. You have to play a game of chicken with the pricing.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

 

Wow thanks for the information guys! This is really helpful. For that sale date, would playing this game of chicken be threading dangerous waters? What happens if I book now, and the price drops like you said it may. They will just tell me I cannot match the price?

[Biker19]

Right - there are no price matches after final payment. The one thing you could do is upgrade inside the final payment period.

Edited June 19, 2014 by kemenyg

[Esmerelda]

Me personally, I would hold out on purchasing anything on the Allure until about 6-8 weeks out from sailing. We have booked twice after final payment and gotten killer deals. One was on the Oasis. I ended up saving about $900 on that one.

 

Happy planning!

:p

[big al]

I have sailed both Oasis & Allure and have recently toured the Getaway...great ship and more to do than on the Allure as far as entertainment & dining goes..my good friend who's almost Diamond on RCI sailed the Breakaway last June and LOVED it...blew away RCI for food & entertainment he said..he just got off the AOS and said RCI has gone down hill soooo much...he says he would cruise the Breakaway/ Getaway in a heartbeat even over the Allure...another friend told me that while she liked the Allure, there wasn't much TO DO compared to the Epic & Getaway..love the Waterfront area ( promenade area with bars & restaurants OUTSIDE & can see the ocean- lovely!!) on the Getaway...Le Bistro ( French steakhouse) & Teppanyaki ( Japanese steakhouse) dining venues terrific and he loved O'Sheehan's 24 hour Irish Pub where food is free- great fish & chips and I hear the Illusionarium dinner show is fantastic...IF you like things to do and lots of shows & entertainment, go with the Getaway...and you'll save $400 and can put that towards excursions or some of those great restaurants....I am going on the Oasis in Oct., and I love those ships, but I can tell you that there was definitely more to do on the Getaway and I know I would NEVER be bored on her...just MHO...

 

Big Al

[Cruisegirl6]

All 7 of us went on both the Breakaway (sister ship of Getaway) and the Allure, all 7 of us adults said the Allure blows any ship we been on away! O'Sheehans is a joke past 10pm they change the menu to just 8 items, and if you have to be gluten free or have any other dietary need you won't get anything but french fries. I was unimpressed with the quality of O''Sheehans similar to the Johnny Rockets which we don't eat at either.

 

We all felt crowded on the NCL and the Allure holding more passengers, we NEVER ran into any crowds or felt there were too many people on the ship never.

 

If you using a blow dryer, you will blow the circuit up (happened to all of us women in our cabins) but they do provide you with a blow dryer on NCL you just have to sit on the little chair bench they have near the blow dryer and duck down because the cord is too short.

 

If you like meat carvings for the lunch buffet, NCL only gives you that once on the first day, otherwise there never is any meat carvings available.

 

If you go to the Cirque du Solil which we found they dragged the show out (that guy that tossed the rings for 15 minutes omgosh it really got old) but beware the dinner you get there is horrible, it was worst than banquet quality food that you get in the main dining room.

 

NCL to keep your electric going in the room you must be inside your room and place your shipboard card in the slot.

 

NCL Balconies are a lot smaller than the Allures beautiful spacious balconies.

 

Both ships provide you with a selection of specialty dining and both ships have wonderful shows/entertainment, but the Allure is definitely more upbeat during the night with the 80's parties, the motown parties, etc.

 

Love the Viking Crown Lounge on RC ships.

 

Pillows were all horrible on NCL, perhaps they changed them but all of our pillows were lumpy and flat.

 

Allure has a much friendlier staff overall.

 

The Pool on the NCL was tiny for all those people real small, the smallest we seen on any new ship.

 

I am sorry the Allure wins in so many ways.

[cvtnurse]

I would go with allure. it's one of the largest ships and the amenties are awesome. I really have been happy with RCL. I would not leet a couple of hundred dollars make a decision. Remember that cruise ships are not totally 100% all inclusive. There are gonna be some charges jsut like any resort. For me personally I need about $2000 flexibilty over said budget in case of emergency. Once I got stranded in Hawaii. TA screwed up my flight and the airline would not take care of us.Cost me $4000 for last minute flight home for me and DH.

[marci22]

Me personally, I would hold out on purchasing anything on the Allure until about 6-8 weeks out from sailing. We have booked twice after final payment and gotten killer deals.

 

I agree that if a sailing is not sold out, 6-8 weeks from sailing (for 5-7 night cruises in my experience) is a very good time to be looking for price deals.

[Cruisegirl6]

I am very picky to which deck and the location of my cabin is, therefore, on our main cruise for the year we always book right after our last main cruise and have a wide variety of selection of cabins to choose from.

As far as 5 night cruises, we book these up last minute or up to 2-3 months in advance as we don't really care where our rooms are its just a getaway for us.

 

If the location and deck is important to you wait for a good price and book, your always able to change if the price goes down (make sure when you do book your able to make changes with no penalties). I booked the wow sale with my cruise agent and are also getting $250 onboard credit, this is a great deal, but if the price of the cruise goes down lower my cruise agent will honor it and still give us the onboard credit. :D

 

I usually find the best deals between May and July 4th, then around September to October.

[MandyMooToo]

Another vote here for Allure but of course take it with a grain of salt (as you should all votes/reviews) as I have never been on an NCL ship before. My husband sailed NCL previously and hated it, I had to convince (read: force) him to go on another cruise after that. It has been years so things may have changed but he will not even consider NCL. We have been on Oasis and loved it! There was so much to do that we could not get everything done that we wanted in one week so we are on Allure this summer since they are so similar. We have found that either booking way in advance and watching for price drops or booking very close to sail date gets you the best deal. That is only our observation YMMV. Good luck with whatever you decide and please come back to let us know how it went. So many people come here to ask for this type of advice but then never head back to the forums to give their 2 cents after the cruise!

 

Also, as for extra money/costs during the cruise, we had a bill at the end of around $100-150 I think for our cruise on Oasis last year and that was with two 17 year old boys. Actually over half that bill belonged to them. I had lunch at Giovanni's one day and we had a romantic late lunch/early dinner at Izumi which was where the rest was spent. Had we not done those things the cruise would still have been amazing and we would not have spent a dime more than the cost of the cruise. You don't have to spend more to enjoy it. We go on excursions but we book privately after doing research for safe, reputable companies so the cost is much lower. There are risks booking outside the ship of course but if you look at reviews and such you can make a good decision.

[cynt]

I would wait last minute - either cruiseline will have cabins and at low prices. I got the best deal ever for the Allure last year. Boardwalk cabin one person $700ish. Booked end of August for my September sailing. Prices seemed to drop like crazy.

 

I haven't cruised NCL yet. But if you look at my signature I cruise all lines. I'm not loyal to anyone but RCCL is my fav because it was my 1st. What stands out about the Allure is the different neighborhoods, as they call them to be entertained, eat or relax. The neighborhoods are spread out all over the ship so you're not on top of one another. I loved this concept. AOS is a big ship. It's really long. Loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

Edited June 19, 2014 by cynt

[nelblu]

Have you priced the Allure with the BOGOHO sale.

[big al]

Hi Everybody,

 

I have some decision problems for which cruise go on on with my SO. My planned trip will be around Sept 14 and I am looking at the NCL Getaway or the RCCL Allure. Now I want to keep in mind that I am on a tight budget and want to spend as little as possible. The interior stateroom in the Allure cheapest would be 1900 including tax. This is pretty much my limit. The Getaway is around 1500-1600.This is a significantly cheaper than the Allure.

 

I am wondering if the prices would go down further later on? I really want to go on the Allure (I went on the Oasis with family a few years back and thought it was great). Or should I just settle for the cheaper NCL option??

 

Some advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

Make sure you put this up on the Norwegian section..you don't want ( as you've seen already) too many RCI cheerleaders posting without seeing who has cruised both...it seems a bit one-sided , doesn't it? I have cruised RCI ( Diamond) ,Carnival ( 6x), NCL ( 5X), Disney ( 2x) and Celebrity, HAL & Princess 1x each...I have found food in the MDR on RCI has gone down hill ( Disney the best IMO) , and I go by what my friends & relatives tell me, not what I read here...food is sooooo subjective, so I only mention what I felt about the food...remember- put this on the NCL section..you will get some more imput...discount anybody who has not been on both...

 

Big Al

[FLACRUISER99]

Allure is on the weekly Tuesday sale for June and July. My crystal ball tells me that if sales are soft in the summer months, you are likely to find good prices for September.

 

Monitor this every Thursday night. The prices become available on Tuesday of the following week. But they are for NEW BOOKINGS. So you can't book now and get a price drop later. You have to play a game of chicken with the pricing.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Don't forget Oasis is going to Europe cutting the supply of cabins so prices may hold.

[alanme123]

Wow!! I got a lot of responses after a night of sleep. I would like to thank all of you guys for replying to this. All of the advice really does help me a lot. I want to clarify that the budget I proposed is simply just preference. I do have a backup budget incase anything happens on top of that (emergencies, etc).

 

Yes, I have priced the Allure with the BOGO sale.

 

From what I am reading, I should be putting off the booking until "last minute". So in other words, I should be booking in july-august for any last minute deals (which hopefully will come...). I am willing to take that gamble and hope that I can get a much cheaper rate than now.

 

However, FLACRUISER99 mentioned that the Oasis will be going to europe, which I did realize when I was looking through the bookings. Will this have any big impact or is september really just an off season and it would not matter much? I was thinking holding back until last minute so then even if it rises up, I will just settle for the NCL or Freedom, which is not a bad choice as well.