POA Cost!

[mufc99]

We have just had a quote for the Pride of America for 2015, for the same period we went in 2013 and cannot believe the price now is $1,000 per person more!

Has anybody else noticed this dramatic price increase?

 

Looks like we will never board the POA again! :-(

[punkincc]

BOOK EARLY to get a better price. And I mean way early. Even a couple years out. You can cancel and rebook right up to final payment, if a better price comes along.

 

BOOK OFF SEASON. There is really no off season for weather in Hawaii as it's pretty much the same year round, but some months of the year have much higher rates such as summer due to family vacations and also the prime winter months when the whales are there, Jan, Feb, and March, and it is cold in many areas at home. Take a look at a rate chart and pick the week with the lowest rates.

 

BOOK AN INSIDE. You might have to go with a lower room category than you usually book on other cruises. Every single day is a port day, and there are two overnights, so do you really need a $$ balcony when you might be off the ship for 8 or 12 hours at a time? Save some money and book an inside. This ship sails full on every sailing. You probably have a chance at a free upgrade to OV in the last few weeks as they shuffle people around and try to make room for last minute bookings.

 

BOOK with a TA. Consider booking with a TA for perks like extra OBC, free dinners, etc. It all adds to the bottom line.

 

Add these things together and you can get a significant savings. It may cost a little more than the average Caribbean cruise, and take much more planning, but it is Hawaii, and it is so worth it.

Edited November 17, 2014 by punkincc

[greatlakesgirl]

book early to get a better price. And i mean way early. Even a couple years out. You can cancel and rebook right up to final payment, if a better price comes along.

 

Book off season. There is really no off season for weather in hawaii as it's pretty much the same year round, but some months of the year have much higher rates such as summer due to family vacations and also the prime winter months when the whales are there, jan, feb, and march, and it is cold in many areas at home. Take a look at a rate chart and pick the week with the lowest rates.

 

Book an inside. You might have to go with a lower room category than you usually book on other cruises. Every single day is a port day, and there are two overnights, so do you really need a $$ balcony when you might be off the ship for 8 or 12 hours at a time? Save some money and book an inside. This ship sails full on every sailing. You probably have a chance at a free upgrade to ov in the last few weeks as they shuffle people around and try to make room for last minute bookings.

 

Book with a ta. Consider booking with a ta for perks like extra obc, free dinners, etc. It all adds to the bottom line.

 

Add these things together and you can get a significant savings. It may cost a little more than the average caribbean cruise, and take much more planning, but it is hawaii, and it is so worth it.

this! ^^^ :) :)

Edited November 17, 2014 by greatlakesgirl

[mufc99]

We were hoping of a repeat holiday of our last one and we are not prepared to take an inferior room or dates that dont suit.

 

Another family member did the same cruise this year and also paid a similar price to what we paid last year.

 

There is something going on with NCL pricing and they are obviously confident of getting away with charging customers well over $3,000 each for the 7 day cruise.

[PCWalton1]

We were hoping of a repeat holiday of our last one and we are not prepared to take an inferior room or dates that dont suit.

 

Another family member did the same cruise this year and also paid a similar price to what we paid last year.

 

There is something going on with NCL pricing and they are obviously confident of getting away with charging customers well over $3,000 each for the 7 day cruise.

 

Simple supply and demand. Economy improves, more people travel for vacation.

[agabbymama]

I agree with the OP. Our last trip to Hawaii, I looked at POA. Soon changed our plans to VRBO and rented 3 bedroom houses for the 4 of us. We stayed 5 days on Hawaii and 5 days on Oahu. My husband did the cooking, so I was able to relax and enjoy at a fraction of the cost of what POA wanted. We had a rental car and drove everywhere around the Islands. Great Trip!

[mufc99]

I have had a closer look into it - seems like the further away you book, it is now more expensive.

Book it for next week and you can get it quite cheap, tho a balcony will probably have a lifeboat blocking your view!

 

Think I will just save up the money, take a chance, and wait for a date when the price is more reasonable.

[monkey@cruise]

No sense in booking it more than a year away when prices are so high. Think NCL is trying to test on how high they can sell their cabins for. I think eventually the price will come down. Just don't wait too long, all the good cabins will be gone. Sure, you can book it for next week if you are in Honolulu already, otherwise the airfare will be a killer (that is if you can even get a seat)!

[fitnessmouse]

I booked last july for next april. They had kids free offer and the total price is quite reasonable

[punkincc]

No sense in booking it more than a year away when prices are so high. Think NCL is trying to test on how high they can sell their cabins for. I think eventually the price will come down. Just don't wait too long, all the good cabins will be gone. Sure, you can book it for next week if you are in Honolulu already, otherwise the airfare will be a killer (that is if you can even get a seat)!

 

Everyone has their own strategy, but there is really no downside to booking way early.

 

If you are correct in your guess that prices will eventually come down, you can simply call and get the new price when that happens, right up to final payment. Even after final, there is the possibility of free upgrades or cheap upsells.

 

On the other hand, if you are wrong about prices coming down, at least you have locked in a lower price by booking early. After booking 18 months out, prices for our cabin never dropped below what we paid. I have seen countless people say that prices for their cabin were mostly higher at sailing than when they booked. I don't recall ever seeing anyone state that they were able to call and rebook for a lower price. Of course there may be last minute price drops in some categories after final and immediately prior to sailing, but unless you have nerves of steel, and do not have to book airfare well in advance to get a decent price, you are unlikely to be able to take advantage of those drops after final, as you pointed out.

 

Better IMO, to lock in today's rate well in advance, and then watch for a great sale, or a price drop.

Edited December 11, 2014 by punkincc

[bosnatis]

We booked in June of 2014 for a April 4, 2015 cruise on POA for 5 of us in an SD category suite for $10,643. In late July they had kids sail free and they adjusted my rate for a total of $9,153 and $250 OBC. I have checked every week for my cruise and other dates and it is around $12,000 for the same deluxe penthouse suite room 13002. Nor sure why prices have increased except to say supply and demand.

 

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[cb at sea]

You can do a land based vacation cheaper, and see more!

[MOcruiserman]

You can do a land based vacation cheaper, and see more!

 

At this point we're on the verge of switching to land-based. My wife likes the idea of a cruise, but NCL's prices are ridiculously high.

[Mrs. Squirrel]

NCL just seem high across the board right now for a lot of different future itineraries. :eek:

 

For our July 2015 Alaska cruise, NCL is now the most expensive inside of all their competitors. Our 2016 Getaway cruise is more expensive than a cruise on the Oasis or Allure for that same time period. That has never happened in all the years we've sailed NCL, as RCI 3/4th person pricing tends to be higher.

[mufc99]

I have done a couple of sample runs as if I was going to book with about 4 weeks to go, and I can get the cruise and flights at a decent price, similar to what we paid on our first trip.

 

The plan is to save up the full amount and just keep checking every month and if we get the right price, we will book it - if not somebody else will get our money! :-)

[KollaCruise]

I was on this cruise last week and I have been watching the prices for a few months now as I could only be on that particular sailing and boy did the prices come down towards the end !!!

 

Patience paid off big time. I paid for a B7 category big balcony what others are paying for that tiny cramped inside cabins.

 

This cruise is pricey as a crew member told me being on this ship gets them the best wages if they are not a US citizen which make me believe that the wages on this ship is higher and that is factored into the price we pay.

 

I seldom see this ship sells out. So that is why I waited and got a steal of a deal plus $ 150 OBC.

 

I will never book and pay way in advance.

[MOcruiserman]

I was on this cruise last week and I have been watching the prices for a few months now as I could only be on that particular sailing and boy did the prices come down towards the end !!!

 

Patience paid off big time. I paid for a B7 category big balcony what others are paying for that tiny cramped inside cabins.

 

This cruise is pricey as a crew member told me being on this ship gets them the best wages if they are not a US citizen which make me believe that the wages on this ship is higher and that is factored into the price we pay.

 

I seldom see this ship sells out. So that is why I waited and got a steal of a deal plus $ 150 OBC.

 

I will never book and pay way in advance.

 

I'm going to use the same strategy. Booking way in advance works for some ships but definitely not for the POA.

[Azera]

We are going on the POA Jan 23rd and still haven't booked the cruise itself. (Everything else is booked) Prices are still falling for that cruise and I have been stalking it since summer. If we had booked it months out like we did airfare it would have been substantially more. I will probably go ahead and book it today or so just because the most it is going to drop is another $200 total and that is within range for me to just have it done with. :)

[punkincc]

We are going on the POA Jan 23rd and still haven't booked the cruise itself. (Everything else is booked) Prices are still falling for that cruise and I have been stalking it since summer. If we had booked it months out like we did airfare it would have been substantially more. I will probably go ahead and book it today or so just because the most it is going to drop is another $200 total and that is within range for me to just have it done with. :)

 

Wow, you have nerves of steel! You are sailing in a prime time of year for Hawaii. Someone said this ship never sells out but I find that hard to believe.

 

Be aware that even though cabins may be empty, the ship ( or a particular area of the ship ) can still reach max capacity due to more cabins booked to max capacity with many families doing Hawaii together. Once the max # per a particular lifeboat station, or the ship, has been reached, no passengers can be added even if a room is empty. There were recent postings about this situation ( not the POA ) where someone wanted to add a passenger to their cabin and could not due to lifeboat cap already at max. This is something I had never considered as a possibility.

 

Hope you are successful, and enjoy your cruise!

[Imalismom]

I was on this cruise last week and I have been watching the prices for a few months now as I could only be on that particular sailing and boy did the prices come down towards the end !!!

 

.

 

I am cruising on the July 18, 2015 and the prices started coming down last week.. Now, I don't expect them to get as low as what we paid as we booked way in advance, AND we have a two bedroom AFT suite and according to POA there is only one of them left - but I wanted to point out that prices are coming down, at least for our week. (Sorry for the run on sentence)

[Freehike]

We booked our 10/2014 trip in 12/2013. I watched the prices like a hawk over the course of the year and they went from what we paid, up to over $1200 more pp, only to wind up $300 less pp 2 weeks out. I managed to get them to price match with a short phone call.

 

It was amazing to see the wild swing in pricing but it all worked out in the end.

 

I'd have a hard time paying $3000 pp for the POA. It was a decent time but I still describe it to everyone as a floating Motel 6.

 

 

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[punkincc]

We booked our 10/2014 trip in 12/2013. I watched the prices like a hawk over the course of the year and they went from what we paid, up to over $1200 more pp, only to wind up $300 less pp 2 weeks out. I managed to get them to price match with a short phone call.

 

It was amazing to see the wild swing in pricing but it all worked out in the end.

 

I'd have a hard time paying $3000 pp for the POA. It was a decent time but I still describe it to everyone as a floating Motel 6.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Wow, never saw a motel 6 with a huge outdoor lounge on the aft with a sea view, or dozens of bars, restaurants, and entertainment choices. Where is this Motel 6 you speak of?;)

[KollaCruise]

The POA is forsure not comparable to a Motel 6. This is incorrect info.

 

It was our 1st cruise on Norwegian having done 9 other cruises before in the last 8 years and after reading on here, I had low expectations.

 

But boy were I pleasantly surprised as to what the POA had to offer !

 

The ship is in great shape. I can highly recommend the ship and its crew.

 

All this badmouthing of the POA is totally unfounded.

 

Its a quality cruise well worth it.

[chris153]

They are having a sale right now. Not sure for how long, i think 24 hours. OUr March cruise, balcony cabin just went down a total of $1100. But since it is after final booking and I booked through a travel agent, I can get nothing back.

But if you are quick, you can grab a cruise right now for a comparable price of a carribean cruise. Good Luck!

[fayerussell]

Yes, we have a March cruise and our balcony cabin is almost $1200 less than what we paid. Chance you take but makes me soooooo mad!!!!!! :( Great for the people who waited last minute though. Kinda makes you wonder why you booked so far ahead. Didn't do us any good......