Is there a day in the month we should watch for price changes?

[screamin400]

I read somewhere that the price changes would happen today but I see nothing new. Could just be my two cruises. Is that a certain day of the month that Royal changes pricing or just check it once a week or so? I understand that the closer to cruise day the more often I should keep an eye on it.

[molly361]

Price changes can happen any day of the week and at any time of day.

 

They can last for hours or they can last for days.

 

Our flash sale for our upcoming Christmas cruise the price drop lasted for around 2 hours.

 

One other time I checked prices while at work and when I got home for lunch around an hour later to call them it was gone.

Edited November 16, 2014 by molly361

[CFC]

I watch prices, track in Excel, and use a price tracking tool. I have not seen any days of the week or time of day patterns for lowering prices. As expected, final payment and 56 days before departure, when 50% kicks in, you see activity.

 

It is best to check daily and hold a cruise fare as soon as you see a price you are happy with. The good ones can be available for just a few hours.

 

 

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[JasonV1]

Google "cruise price tracking", click on the one with "fish" in the name, click "finder" on that site, and find your cruise.

 

Click on one of the cabin categories to load a page that shows all of the price changes for that category.

 

You'll quickly learn that prices can change at any time, and often. Click on the "deals" link at that site to see a list of all drops as they are found, it's a lot.

[fun!cruiser]

We booked a cruise past June and have been tracking the changes every day. The prices dropped low couple of Thursday's ago for maybe for a few hours. Fortunately I noticed and went from an inside to a superior balcony with 600$ promotional obc! So keep looking as the change can happen anytime.

 

 

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[jtdlmc]

The current "sale" ends today so the prices might be lower tomorrow :)

[Clarea]

I read somewhere that the price changes would happen today but I see nothing new. Could just be my two cruises. Is that a certain day of the month that Royal changes pricing or just check it once a week or so? I understand that the closer to cruise day the more often I should keep an eye on it.

Once a cruise gets within around 6 weeks, you can watch this link for deals:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

This would help if you are making a new booking, or possibly to upgrade your stateroom on an existing booking. The prices usually take effect on Tuesday, or Monday if you are a C&A member.

[jewopaho]

If there was a specific day, date and time for prices to drop, wouldn't everyone be waiting for it? We probably get this question more than any other here. Simply put, it's a crapshoot ... about as much predictability as timing the stock market. I've gotten a couple of last-minute deals through alerts from my TA ... but I've also booked cruises over a year out, and seen prices continually rise. So I've essentially given up ... if I like what I see, and am comfortable with what it costs, I book it. My TA will alert me of any price adjustments, but that's as far as I'll go ... much better things to do than "stalk" the Internet in the hope of saving a few bucks, which doesn't happen most of the time anyway.

 

Al

[screamin400]

Thanks for the help folks. I signed up for a cruise watch service. I have two cruises booked right now so drops could become important. Thanks again.

[ATC cruiser]

Once a cruise gets within around 6 weeks, you can watch this link for deals:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

This would help if you are making a new booking, or possibly to upgrade your stateroom on an existing booking. The prices usually take effect on Tuesday, or Monday if you are a C&A member.

 

 

I booked a JS on Vision last summer 82 days in advance. The price was $400 cheaper than the above web page ever was. But I have seen some fantastic deals on that web page. I really think it's just supply and demand. If you see a cruise, at a price you like, book it. If you book early, use one of the price tracker websites that tracks the prices automatically and sends you an email. That's much easier than always doing dummy bookings. If you see a price drop you need to grab it fast, because it can disappear quickly.

 

 

Aft Cabins Rule

[marci22]

The cruise price alert services work best if you link it to your phone. I have missed a few good drops because I wasn't checking my mail for whatever reason.

 

Other times I tend to 'watch' if I am looking for price drops: Friday evenings, Saturdays, Sunday mornings. Day before a holiday or holiday weekend, holidays. The week after final payment is due. The following weeks after final payment is due. If I am really looking to upgrade for cheaper or get a last minute cruise, I will check every day in the weeks before sailing, morning and evening.

[wieslaw]

....... I understand that the closer to cruise day the more often I should keep an eye on it.

 

To some point that is true that the closer to sailing the more the prices will change ........ but not always will they go down.

 

I also have been looking at the prices for my sailing in first part of dec, 2014...... and the prices were all over the scale ...... sometimes down a lot..... and up by 50% or so ..... and down again.

I just checked now ( 3 week to sail date) and the prices went up from the previous week...... so who knows when is the best time.

[orville99]

Price changes always occur on a day that ends in "Y":D

 

Seriously, though, there is no apparent rhyme or reason for when RCL does anything, so it's best to watch constantly.

[Canadian Cruiser98]

I agree with many of the other posters here. Royal Caribbean doesn't really have any sort of pattern which they follow for price drops. When major price drops do occur, they are often very short-lived and hushed. What I would recommend to you is to find an itinerary you like, book it (provided it is with someone who has a price drop guarantee) and then just wait it out. There is a very high chance that the price WILL drop at some point, and the most important thing is to be persistent with checking the prices. If not every day, check the prices every other day. Using this strategy, our sailing's price has gone from 5600 to 4800, plus some OBC.

Also forgot to mention, the longer you book before the sail date, the more chance there is that there will be price drops.

[pcur]

We seem to be talking apples (sales) and oranges (price drops) in this thread.

 

I've found that the sales tend to start mid-month, or end of the month. Put a big ISH after those, meaning the 15-ish and the 30-ish. Right now they had one sale end 11/16, and another start 11/17. How long they last is clearly stated, but they extend them (much to our annoyance) frequently. The "sales" tend to cause prices to actually increase to offset the obc, free gratuities, beverage packages they tack on to the "sale".

 

 

Price drops occur any day, any time. Just check your prices every day, if not twice daily. You get into a rhythm with them, and saving the search page as a favorite in your browser helps a lot. I name the favorites with the cabin category, base price, and total for two. This way I can easily spot a price drop. I've tried the fish web site and found they are frequently not accurate.

[wieslaw]

... I've tried the fish web site and found they are frequently not accurate.

 

I noticed that too ..... I do not kow how often they miss something, but they did miss about two or three drops on my sailing ..... two were for military and one for seniors.

 

But it still is a good web site.

[spazzyjanet]

I have a question on the "Fish" site. If there is a line through a particular category for your sail date, does that mean that that category is sold out? It looks like the D2 price has gone down, but that D1's are sold (line through them). Also, I can't simulate booking D1's anymore. Can you claim a price drop on your category if your category is sold?

Edited November 17, 2014 by spazzyjanet

[Clarea]

...Also, I can't simulate booking D1's anymore. Can you claim a price drop on your category if your category is sold?

If a category is sold out, then there's no price on the category, so no price drop to give.

[screamin400]

Got 200 obc this morning for our Oasis cruise :)