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El Cheapo Cruises Thread

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Kiwi Kruzer

Kiwi Kruzer

Posted
Posted

There are some good deals out there , but my suggestion is to not limlit yourself to just price alone.

Some of our best cruises have been on the "luxury lines" where we have been pampered and felt we were really on something special......

and before you jump up and down and say we cant afford those sort of cruises,

I will add that we waited until super specials came up and we cruised for example , on a Regent Seven Seas ship , for the same price as we would have paid for a balcony on Princess.

They are not always there , but are very worthwhile looking into when they do come up.

 

 

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woodyren

woodyren

Posted
Posted
There are some good deals out there , but my suggestion is to not limlit yourself to just price alone.

Some of our best cruises have been on the "luxury lines" where we have been pampered and felt we were really on something special......

and before you jump up and down and say we cant afford those sort of cruises,

I will add that we waited until super specials came up and we cruised for example , on a Regent Seven Seas ship , for the same price as we would have paid for a balcony on Princess.

They are not always there , but are very worthwhile looking into when they do come up.

 

 

 

Great advice. If you spot one please post it on here. To be honest I never even check their prices but would love to experience one of their cruises if the price was right.

 

Can you give us a ball park pricing for a few of the Regent cruises you took so we can get a feel for cost. I for one don't know what a Princess balcony costs as I refuse to even look because they do not allow me the choice to book with a USA TA.

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Kiwi Kruzer

Kiwi Kruzer

Posted
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You wont find the price on any of those ships by looking on US TA sites. The fares I am talking about are ones that are released to the local market to fill any space either to or from our shores, and they are usually advertised in the local papers by the cruise line themselves and you just go to any local TA and book.

However , I have noticed lately that local "big boys" , are muscling in on the action and are being appointed "Reps" or "Wholesalers" so the bookings have to go through them and they get a cut of the cake and the prices are not as good these days as they used to be.

 

 

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circuitrider

circuitrider

Posted
Posted

Booked on Oct 22 Celebrity Century. Could not find any deals with more than two in a cabin (cost nearly three times as much to have three in a cabin vs just two), so it'll just be me and my daughter sailing this time.

 

Cost was about the same in US vs Australia. After the currency conversion, it cost about $5 more to book direct with Celebrity Australia (though their site caused some issues, that's a rant for another day). About $895AUD vs $829USD. Now, if I had gone through a US TA that's know for having the "best price" on "cruises", I would have received $25 obc. I think I'll make up the difference by being able to buy obc at parity.

 

BTW, this was a past passenger promo, but not senior. Gratuities not included. We're going for the cruise itself and not the ports, though I'm sure we'll do something fun in Sydney before the cruise, and maybe hit the zoo in Adelaide. Just lots of good food, some good shows, and lots of kids club (and me catching up on my reading).

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rkmw

rkmw

Posted
Posted (edited)

another good price is the Carnival Legend 6/11/14 with an inside guarantee for $619 pp with $150 obc from an OZ online site.....its an 8 night cruise

Edited by rkmw
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goodycruising

goodycruising

Posted
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For Concierge Guarantee on Celebrity Solstice on 26th October 2014 - 8 nights to South Pacific, around $1150 pp. Not incl grats. It was showing a similar rate to the balcony guarantee, and the inside guarantee is about $300pp less.

 

It is in the pick your perk promo which ends 31st aug, but we got some sort of captain's club discount instead, so happy with that. :)

 

Not the cheapest bargain, but for Concierge we thought it was worth a closer look. I know cabins on Solstice are not different in size from balcony to concierge to aqua.

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rkmw

rkmw

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Posted
Excellent value Bob saw it available with some others for cruise only from $976pp if we weren't heading to Europe 3 Dec would have grabbed this one...not many ports a nice cruisey cruise....

 

Shiona its a good price but they say it may not be a direct flight but this is what you get

 

 

What's Included?

 

Your holiday includes,

 

• One way flight from Sydney

• One night pre cruise stay in Singapore staying at the V Hotel Lavender or similar

• Thirteen night cruise on Royal Caribbean's 4 star rated ship the Voyager of the Seas on full board basis

• All port fees, taxes, food and entertainment

 

Transfers and gratuities are not included

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woodyren

woodyren

Posted
Posted
14 nights on Millenium. March 1 st 2015. Hong Kong to Hong Kong, visiting Taiwan and Vietnam .

Balcony guarantee $1399 plus taxes from a big US agency. Come and join us :p

 

I have been watching this for a while. Like the itinerary and price is good.

 

Does the two days mentioned as Hanoi (Halong Bay),Vietnam mean that Millennium is cruising Halong Bay or is it berthed there?

 

I can see $1399 for Balcony Gty and 2C and 2B are even a little cheaper than that. Taxes are $107 so around $1500 US for 14 days in a balcony is a great deal.

 

Did your cruise come with the PYP or 1,2,3 Go deal?

 

One big agency had a sale this week offering all three as I posted earlier.

 

How cheap have you found the airfare to HK?

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

Posted
Posted

Qantas has a sale on at the moment.

Offer details

–– Offer Booking Period: 00.01 am (AEST) 13 August 2014–11.59pm (AEST) 27 August 2014, subject to availability.



–– Applicable discounts: Refer to table below:

Asia (return) $40 $80 $80 $80 $100 $200



Travel Periods:



SINGAPORE AND BANGKOK: 13 Aug–18 Sep 14, 10 Oct–13 Nov 14, 02 Feb–03 Apr 15, 25 Apr–26 Jun 15 and 14 Jul–1 Aug 15,

HONG KONG: 13 Aug–5 Dec 14, 29 Dec–1 Aug 15,

 

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lizzy77

lizzy77

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Woodyren. Yes the price keeps going down. We booked an Aqua cabin and it's already gone down $500pp so happy with that.

The ship is docked in Halong Bay overnite, so 2 full days there. It's an interesting itinerary as we have been to lots of Asia but not some of these ports.

I booked it with a big US agency and they threw in the drinks package, free gratuities and some OBC. They did actually upgrade our drinks package to the premium but when the price was reduced they changed it back to the standard package. We were still happy with that as what we saved will more than pay to upgrade ourselves.

I haven't booked air as yet but will probably book with Qantas. Last price I saw was $980pp.

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goodycruising

goodycruising

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Posted (edited)

Well we are now experienced at doing an upgrade when prices drop. We thought we had a pretty good deal on Explorer of the Seas for Feb 2016 for a junior suite, and then the price dropped a little, so we were slightly miffed. Then it dropped a few hundred more, and being a year and a half out we thought that was too much to put up with. So we started having a look and for a few hundred more we were able to upgrade to a grand suite. We will not yet be diamond plus by that cruise, and we do enjoy the diamond lounge, but we have had the concierge lounge once and we feel that having the choice will be nice. The time we had a grand suite before we enjoyed using the extended room service menu as well as having a lovely big room. I know the economy is probably not real logical but we feel like we have gotten a good deal instead of being bitten by a price drop.

 

We even rang just once, had to hold for a short time, and the invoice was EXACTLY the way the person had quoted on the phone!!! I know you think I am making that up, but yes, a short phone call and correct price as discussed!

 

We weren't sure how we would go with doing that as the US rules are a little different to ours, but there you go! Price drops during a sale, grab an upgrade.

Edited by goodycruising
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woodyren

woodyren

Posted
Posted (edited)

goodycruising.

 

How could you have been bitten by the price drop?

 

If I read this right you booked with a USA TA. The price dropped a few times, once substantially.

 

Why didn't you just call them and get the lower price applied to the JS. Great that you ended up in a better class but it appeared you did so because you did not like the drop in value of your original JS. You could have got the price drop applied to the JS and then waited to see (right up to a couple of days before your cruise)if the price of the GS dropped further.

 

Again I am not sure I am reading what you said right but you got the GS for a few hundred more than the JS (the price you paid not the new lower price that sounds like it was $100's less than you paid) so in effect you paid more than a few hundred for the upgrade.

 

I am not disputing or questioning your decision but you have asked for advice and we are all learning from this great thread(my current favourite CC thread by the way) so I just want to insure you know the rules booking in the USA.

 

Again hope this makes sense. By the way if you want to you can always take back your JS if it is at the new lower price still. No penalty generally.

Edited by woodyren
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woodyren

woodyren

Posted
Posted (edited)

Good on you then. I have reread your post and I misinterpreted the last paragraph. Similar to how to work the US system after finals. Just because you can't get a price drop it doesn't mean you should stop searching for the bargain upgrades.

 

By the way I am jealous. Never had a suite, still searching for a bargain one though.

Edited by woodyren
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goodycruising

goodycruising

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oops, deleted part of my initial post in the edit. I was saying we have a small business and the cost of paying staff plus the cruise makes a cheaper cruise not quite the same for us. Plus after a cancer scare we want to do things we really enjoy. Not that an inside isn't fun, we just want to splurge. When we retire and have more time the longer trips and the prices will be more in our focus.

 

I see what you mean, I was a bit vague there, yes, I wasn't sure what we could achieve over here on the Au booking platform. We did look at US pricing, not through a TA, just on the company site, and for this cruise after taking into account the exchange, we were a couple of hundred better off, and we have a Future cruise cert in AUD that we should get some OBC with, as well as the cheaper deposit. So we didn't roll the price drop dice and go with the US option. We have found on previous trips that prices kept going up after we had found a good price for trips around this time of year. Even now, the trip is only slightly cheaper in US$, and then with the exchange, it works out more expensive. I think they are loading cruises a little on the US site so they can offer cheaper flights. Just a guess.

 

So yes, if we had gone with US TA, we could have kept the JS for a saving. We haven't tried a US one yet, but have spoken to others on board as well as on here about it. Haven't seen a good enough enticement until this cruise. We could still cancel this one in the closer future and then the other party book with a US TA closer to the trip maybe? What criteria do they use to see if you have cancelled and rebooked. C&A numbers of both parties? credit card?

Edited by goodycruising
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Mr Princess

Mr Princess

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Posted

Wife and I just booked a gty inside cabin on the Century for 8 nts Sydney to Port Lincoln, and return, for $448pp (seniors/past passengers), thru' an oz agent; ended up with a cat 9B on deck 9 :D.

We didn't worry about the 321 option, as we get the 'free' elite happy hour, and as shareholders, we get some obc as well.

Very good deal....we're happy!

MP

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