tooleman56 Posted July 21, 2014 #1 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Did a cursory check this morning on the HAL website to see current prices for our Oct. 8 Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam. Balcony price (VH) is listed at $4,199, SY is $3,499 and SC is $4,499. What do these prices suggest in terms of the ship filling up, etc? Are there few balcony cabins remaining? We booked a VE guarantee, should we expect an upsell offer at some point. I know it's too early for that since it's still about a week or so from final payment deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted July 21, 2014 #2 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Did a cursory check this morning on the HAL website to see current prices for our Oct. 8 Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam. Balcony price (VH) is listed at $4,199, SY is $3,499 and SC is $4,499. What do these prices suggest in terms of the ship filling up, etc? Are there few balcony cabins remaining? We booked a VE guarantee, should we expect an upsell offer at some point. I know it's too early for that since it's still about a week or so from final payment deadline. How long is your cruise? Hard for us to judge pricing without this information. As to the VH being so high (I assume the $4199 is not a typo), this would mean that HAL does not want to sell any more cabins in this category at this time (I think VH is often used as a "promotional" category). DaveOKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooleman56 Posted July 21, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Dave, it's the 11-day Mediterranean Explorer, from Rome to Barcelona. The VH price isn't a typo and you are correct, VH price listing has been the highest balcony price all along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted July 21, 2014 #4 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Dave, it's the 11-day Mediterranean Explorer, from Rome to Barcelona. The VH price isn't a typo and you are correct, VH price listing has been the highest balcony price all along. My next cruise is an 11 day Panama Canal in an SY and the current price is $2099 for that and $2999 for SC. Hope this helps. Of course the Med. cruises are normally more expensive. If you want to see how many cabins are still open, do a "pretend" booking on the HAL website. It will show you the cabin numbers you have to select from for each sub-category (like SY, SS, SC, SB, SA, VH, VG, etc. Keep in mind that it only shows a maximum of 6 cabins per category (you can see if there are more by using the bottom button to check if a particular cabin is still available). Also, since HAL sells "guarantees", some of the cabins shown my sort of already be sold, but not yet assigned. For example, you see 6 SC cabins to select from, but if HAL has already sold 5 quarantees, there is really only 1 cabin left. DaveOKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooleman56 Posted July 21, 2014 Author #5 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I'll be curious to see where the prices go this time next week, after this weekend's final payment deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted July 21, 2014 #6 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I'll be curious to see where the prices go this time next week, after this weekend's final payment deadline. Very often you will see a drop within a week or two (it generally does not happen right after the final payment date). The whole "best time to buy" game is a tough one. What I like to do is wait for a sale/promotional offer with a reasonably good price and I book in a category I would be comfortable in, but lower than what I would like to get. That way, if prices fall after final payment and I like the price, I can call HAL ask to upgrade my booking to a higher level cabin, often for little (or no) more money. DaveOKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted July 21, 2014 #7 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Very often you will see a drop within a week or two (it generally does not happen right after the final payment date). The whole "best time to buy" game is a tough one. What I like to do is wait for a sale/promotional offer with a reasonably good price and I book in a category I would be comfortable in, but lower than what I would like to get. That way, if prices fall after final payment and I like the price, I can call HAL ask to upgrade my booking to a higher level cabin, often for little (or no) more money. DaveOKC Dave, do you book with a PCC at HAL? Just wondering if the price does fall after final payment you ask them for OBC or an upgrade if possible and they decide? Also, if they say no to either of those is that when you ask if there is a reasonable upsell? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted July 21, 2014 #8 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Dave, do you book with a PCC at HAL? Just wondering if the price does fall after final payment you ask them for OBC or an upgrade if possible and they decide? Also, if they say no to either of those is that when you ask if there is a reasonable upsell? Thanks. I use a PCC at HAL. I try to ask for one or the other, depending on what I really want and how far out it is before sailing. Usually I do not worry about an upsell until we get within 4 weeks, as the likely response is to pay the full difference in fare (which I may do on occasion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PathfinderEss Posted July 21, 2014 #9 Share Posted July 21, 2014 You shouldn't see any up sell/upgrades being offered until about two weeks out from your actual cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catl331 Posted July 21, 2014 #10 Share Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) You shouldn't see any up sell/upgrades being offered until about two weeks out from your actual cruise. I'd say around four to three weeks for upsells, two weeks for free upgrades ... Edited July 21, 2014 by catl331 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz chic Posted July 21, 2014 #11 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I'd say around four to three weeks for upsells, two weeks for free upgrades ...[/color][/size] I agree. The last few upsells I've seen started at least a month before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianbear Posted July 21, 2014 #12 Share Posted July 21, 2014 I use a PCC at HAL. I try to ask for one or the other, depending on what I really want and how far out it is before sailing. Usually I do not worry about an upsell until we get within 4 weeks, as the likely response is to pay the full difference in fare (which I may do on occasion). Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted July 21, 2014 #13 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Your welcome and good luck! DaveOKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvertoGold Posted July 22, 2014 #14 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) I don't understand this. I looked up this cruise and the CND pricing is: VH 2098 + tax SY 3205 + tax SC 3998 + tax Quite different! So what is this about? Our upsells were 12 and 11 days out. Edited July 22, 2014 by SilvertoGold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbay Posted July 22, 2014 #15 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Sailing on the Noordam tomorrow. Booked VH guarantee and got VD. Cabin assigned 9 days before cruise. Starting July 7 we have had 3 upsell offers. The last was Friday July 18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooleman56 Posted July 23, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Tbay, would you mind sharing what the upsell offers were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbay Posted July 25, 2014 #17 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Sorry for not getting back to you. I am on the Noordam and didn't have internet access. First offer. $1251 for Neptune. $399 for SS Second offer. $999 for Neptune. $299 for SS Third, after we were already traveling. $699 for Neptune (I think) $249 for SS All offers are per person. We ended up in a VD in a good location (VH guarantee) and are happy. Also happy to report this cabin has working A/C, unlike the cruise on the Noordam in the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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