Downfall to booking cruise & excursions early

[avian777]

... I'm always reading comments from posters that are bitter about these last minute discounts and they will not book early. If Hal keeps making enemies it might find very few will book early.

 

Hmmmmm ... IMO that's comparable to a threat to cut off one's nose to spite her/his face ... and I doubt it will succeed in getting HAL to change its early booking policies or to increase the early booking incentives. JMO

Edited September 16, 2015 by avian777

[iancal]

I certainly do not get upset nor do I envy those who book early when the prices rise and they end up with the best cabin choice and the lowest category price.

 

Absolutely not. We simply vote with our feet and move on to another cruise or travel option. It is not an issue for us.

Edited September 16, 2015 by iancal

[serendipity1499]

I don't really understand the controversy here.

 

There are advantages to booking early. You get a guaranteed cabin, price, place on the cruise and all the security of making your plans for flights and vacations.

 

There are advantages to booking late. You get a shot at a great price, but you take a chance that the price may go up or that the cruise may sell out. You have to hope for the best on flights (which also may be better or worse by waiting).

 

The people who book early and complain seem to want it both ways. That doesn't make any sense. They seem to miss the fundamental point that an early booking and a last minute booking are two different products. HAL is trying to make a profit. They can't be blamed for charging a premium for a product that the marketplace values at a higher rate. You can't have it both ways. It's perfectly reasonable to choose to book early or to choose to book later. But it's unreasonable to think you should get the advantages of both.

 

A guaranteed spot on a future cruise is simply not the same thing as taking a gamble on the price and availability of a place on that cruise. I'm sure HAL does appreciate does appreciate your business. But that doesn't mean they should charge you less than what the market will bear. People are willing to pay more for the security of a guaranteed place. It's just good business to charge what they are willing to pay. I sympathize if you have personal circumstances that prevent you from being flexible and taking advantage of last minute deals, but those are the cruel facts of the marketplace. If you really think there's no difference between buying early or late, then I guess you should wait until the last minute and get one of those bargains. But don't be surprised when things don't work out the way you hoped. You might conclude that the price premium required to get a confirmed spot would have been worth it. A product consists of many attributes, including the timing of the purchase. You can get a great deal on Christmas tree ornaments the day after the holiday, but most people will pay extra to buy them earlier. The same for chocolates and roses after Valentines Day. I don't think it's realistic to complain about others getting a better price because you choose to buy early.

 

Two excellent posts.. Sounds like you are well versed about how a good Business operates!

 

We sometimes book early, pay a higher fare but get the cabin we want.. Sometimes we will book much later when we come across an excellent fare, but get stuck with a cabin which is not ideal for us.. We don't expect a refund, or compensation just because the price went down.. IMO it's ludicrous to expect compensation for getting what you want in the first place at a higher cost.. That's the way a good Business operates.. Sell early & high, sell the leftovers at a discount..

 

When I bought my last car it was late in the season & now I'm stuck with a car which I completely dislike! I now wish that I had either kept my older model (same type of car) or bought when the new ones came out instead of late the following year.. At least I would have a color I liked & not have been stuck with the leftovers! Yes, I would have paid more, but would be happier.. Now I'm stuck with this vehicle for another few years..:eek:

Edited September 16, 2015 by serendipity1499

[3rdGenCunarder]

A guaranteed spot on a future cruise is simply not the same thing as taking a gamble on the price and availability of a place on that cruise. I'm sure HAL does appreciate does appreciate your business. But that doesn't mean they should charge you less than what the market will bear. People are willing to pay more for the security of a guaranteed place. It's just good business to charge what they are willing to pay. I sympathize if you have personal circumstances that prevent you from being flexible and taking advantage of last minute deals, but those are the cruel facts of the marketplace. If you really think there's no difference between buying early or late, then I guess you should wait until the last minute and get one of those bargains. But don't be surprised when things don't work out the way you hoped. You might conclude that the price premium required to get a confirmed spot would have been worth it. A product consists of many attributes, including the timing of the purchase. You can get a great deal on Christmas tree ornaments the day after the holiday, but most people will pay extra to buy them earlier. The same for chocolates and roses after Valentines Day. I don't think it's realistic to complain about others getting a better price because you choose to buy early.

 

(bold is mine) This is what it comes down to, and it isn't just cruises. Some airlines charge a fee for early seat selection. Pay to sit where you want or gamble that you won't get the limited recline seat in front of the lavatories.

 

We tend to book cruises early rather than wait for the last-minute bargains, partly because we want to choose where our cabin is. The other reason is that we aren't near a port that has ships we want to sail on, so to get to a bargain last-minute cruise, we'd probably pay high last-minute airfares. OTOH, I have been known to buy Christmas tree ornaments on Dec 26, and I used to go to Lord & Taylor on Feb 15 because I knew the Godiva valentine boxes would be 50% off. :D

[cruz chic]

Prices go down after final payment date based on the supply of cabins left. There are people who cancel the day before final, you know.

 

The "incentive" to book earl is the chance to get exactly what you want (cabin, dining, excursions, etc.) which late bookers don't get. To compensate THEM, they are often "thrown a bone" in terms of promotions (which, as we've seen, really don't save them anything).

 

I booked a cruise in March, 10 days before it left. I got everything I wanted:confused:.

Edited September 16, 2015 by cruz chic

[cruz chic]

Hmmmmm ... IMO that's comparable to a threat to cut off one's nose to spite her/his face ... and I doubt it will succeed in getting HAL to change its early booking policies or to increase the early booking incentives. JMO

 

Huh?

[iancal]

HAL know their customers.

 

I have no doubt that HAL's pricing policies and logarithms have been established to maximize revenue on each sailing. That is the name of the game.

 

We may question the logic but I have no doubt that HAl has experimented with tweeking/adjusting their pricing formulaes to determine if more revenue can be realized.

[cruz chic]

HAL know their customers.

 

I have no doubt that HAL's pricing policies and logarithms have been established to maximize revenue on each sailing. That is the name of the game.

 

We may question the logic but I have no doubt that HAl has experimented with tweeking/adjusting their pricing formulaes to determine if more revenue can be realized.

 

That begs the question, why does Hal offer much deeper discounts at the end than its competitors? It's all fine and dandy to talk about coats, chocolates, cars, meat, dresses etc which have no bearing on the price of a cruise and are a totally different animal. Maybe it would be valid if we were talking prices after the ship has sailed. Celebrity also gives lower prices for far out for cruises that I've looked at. They don't give away the farm at the end. It's one thing to throw out "Hal must know what they are doing" but it sure doesn't appear they do.

Edited September 16, 2015 by cruz chic

[kazu]

Different products? Maybe for some. If you take a guarantee it most certainly is not. Early bookers are committing to the cruise line early. How is wanting it both ways? Shouldn't Hal appreciate it? What if everyone booked at the last minute and they had a empty ship until the end. Yeah, that would work. Same tired old argument.

 

Agree Cruz Chic.

 

We booked our O cruise very early as O makes it attractive to book early. I also paid early because of my fears of the USD exchange rate to Canadian (good move it turned out).

 

The only frustration was this was the only sailing without the new unlimited internet perk offered for our category on every other sailing. Weird, but true.

 

About 4 months ago, O offered the sailing with the unlimited internet and a small OBC. I emailed my TA and they already had it in place ;) Some on the roll call got it and some didn't but the perk was added for many.

 

I think O knows how to run a business too since the top categories on our cruise are on wait list only (different from HAL where we wait for upsells).

 

So, maybe those that book early should be given some of the goodies given out after the fact as long as their category isn't sold out?

 

There is no right answer to this, but one should feel valued for committing early IMO.

 

Those that book early are not asking for the "give away prices" that can happen at final payment, just the perks that may be added as the ships try to sell cabins.

[chloes nana]

agree cruz chic.

 

We booked our o cruise very early as o makes it attractive to book early. I also paid early because of my fears of the usd exchange rate to canadian (good move it turned out).

 

The only frustration was this was the only sailing without the new unlimited internet perk offered for our category on every other sailing. Weird, but true.

 

About 4 months ago, o offered the sailing with the unlimited internet and a small obc. I emailed my ta and they already had it in place ;) some on the roll call got it and some didn't but the perk was added for many.

 

I think o knows how to run a business too since the top categories on our cruise are on wait list only (different from hal where we wait for upsells).

 

So, maybe those that book early should be given some of the goodies given out after the fact as long as their category isn't sold out?

 

There is no right answer to this, but one should feel valued for committing early imo.

 

Those that book early are not asking for the "give away prices" that can happen at final payment, just the perks that may be added as the ships try to sell cabins.

exactly!!!!

Edited September 16, 2015 by chloes nana

[cruz chic]

Agree Cruz Chic.

 

We booked our O cruise very early as O makes it attractive to book early. I also paid early because of my fears of the USD exchange rate to Canadian (good move it turned out).

 

The only frustration was this was the only sailing without the new unlimited internet perk offered for our category on every other sailing. Weird, but true.

 

About 4 months ago, O offered the sailing with the unlimited internet and a small OBC. I emailed my TA and they already had it in place ;) Some on the roll call got it and some didn't but the perk was added for many.

 

I think O knows how to run a business too since the top categories on our cruise are on wait list only (different from HAL where we wait for upsells).

 

So, maybe those that book early should be given some of the goodies given out after the fact as long as their category isn't sold out?

 

There is no right answer to this, but one should feel valued for committing early IMO.

 

Those that book early are not asking for the "give away prices" that can happen at final payment, just the perks that may be added as the ships try to sell cabins.

That's it in a nutshell. People want to feel valued.

[avian777]

HAL know their customers.

 

I have no doubt that HAL's pricing policies and logarithms have been established to maximize revenue on each sailing. That is the name of the game.

 

We may question the logic but I have no doubt that HAl has experimented with tweeking/adjusting their pricing formulaes to determine if more revenue can be realized.

 

As any accountant could tell you, this a case of incremental revenue-driven pricing. HAL legitimately cares more about its revenues and bottom line than it does about customers feeling "valued". Thanks.

Edited September 16, 2015 by avian777

[sail7seas]

Agree Cruz Chic.

 

We booked our O cruise very early as O makes it attractive to book early. I also paid early because of my fears of the USD exchange rate to Canadian (good move it turned out).

 

The only frustration was this was the only sailing without the new unlimited internet perk offered for our category on every other sailing. Weird, but true.

 

About 4 months ago, O offered the sailing with the unlimited internet and a small OBC. I emailed my TA and they already had it in place ;) Some on the roll call got it and some didn't but the perk was added for many.

 

I think O knows how to run a business too since the top categories on our cruise are on wait list only (different from HAL where we wait for upsells).

 

So, maybe those that book early should be given some of the goodies given out after the fact as long as their category isn't sold out?

 

There is no right answer to this, but one should feel valued for committing early IMO.

 

Those that book early are not asking for the "give away prices" that can happen at final payment, just the perks that may be added as the ships try to sell cabins.

 

 

Good post !

 

[iancal]

Cannot comment about percentage discounts however our experience is that In many instances when we have booked inside the final payment window HAL was certainly not the cheapest.

 

On two of our Med cruises Hal (Noordam)was 30 percent higher for a balcony gty than Celebbrity was for a specificity extended balcony cabin. We wanted to try Noordam but could not justify the difference since the itinerary and days were almost identical. Princess was even higher than HAL at the time we booked. No idea about pricing after we booked.

 

This past Feb we looked at RCIand HAl for a last minute cruise from OZ. Day for day, HAL was simply too rich by half.

 

Yet for Alaska 7 days, HAL has been the lowest priced for last minute bookings, some as low as $299' for the past two years. Princess was a very close second.

 

just our experience in watching//booking various markets. Of course mileage will always vary based on sailing and days to embarkation.

 

percentage off list has no impact on us. We only focus on the bottom line..what we have to pay. The list price is noise level and is often a grossly inflated number.

Edited September 17, 2015 by iancal

[avian777]

... percentage off list has no impact on us. We only focus on the bottom line..what we have to pay. The list price is noise level and is often a grossly inflated number.

 

I completely agree with this post - thanks.

[dakrewser]

percentage off list has no impact on us. We only focus on the bottom line..what we have to pay. The list price is noise level and is often a grossly inflated number.

 

Unfortunately, most people focus on how much they are "saving" - not only with cruise fares but with all of their purchasing. Just look at any Macy's or Target ad.

[Host Walt]

... We only focus on the bottom line..what we have to pay. The list price is noise level and is often a grossly inflated number.

 

Our approach is to add everything together including all taxes and port charges, tip charges, on board spending activity, everything. Then we subtract any OBC's we may be getting. Then we divide that total by the number of days to come up with a per diem.

 

That becomes the lowest common denominator as we compare any deals we come across. (Air fare is a factor as well, but because it is a one time expense, it must be considered independently.)

 

That approach essentially incorporates dakruiser's observation that the "percent off" fiction makes any sense at all. (Off topic but I wish Macy's and Target would stop with the silly 99 cent price endings that mean absolutely nothing any more.)

Edited September 17, 2015 by Host Walt

[Randyk47]

I do look at the price I pay, which can include various incentives from OBC's to cash, compared to the published rate and that can be expressed as a percentage saved. However, that's actually done when I start shopping around for the best deal I'm going to get for a specific cruise (i.e., ship, itinerary, date, and cabin category). The decision, and whatever other tangible and intangible analysis and thought goes into that decision, has been made now I'm just working on the bottom line.

[DeeDee Groff]

This is why I'm glad I have my own local TA. She got the same answer as OP when she called her HAL rep. about our upcoming Oosterdam 3 day Pacific Coast cruise. We were originally booked in a Category F to save some $$. She pressed saying that we were loyal customers and had taken several upsells. The answer was still no, but she kicked it up a level. We ended up with a SZ guarantee for $40. apiece! Now the SYs are under the Lido, but hey, that's better than 3 cabins from the showroom. She did this on her own. I didn't ask her to. She knew that we were in France at the time and just went ahead and did it. AND she paid the $80 from the company's funds and won't let me pay her back.

 

I'm normally cool with being happy with my decision about when I book. We book both early and late. And I have a great TA!

 

Totally agree!

 

Not intending to start WWIII here, but the TA routinely gets discounts of at least 15% from what HAL or Princess offers on their respective websites or over the telephone. Don't know if a factor is that the cruise being booked is over 21 days.

[iancal]

We do the same, reduce it to total cost per day. It is one reason why we do not want anything but OBC rebates from our TA. NO wine, flowers, whatever.

 

The only exception is once in a while we happen to book a cruise where our TA agency has a group booking. That sometimes translates into a slight cabin upgrade (usually in name only) and/or a complementary third party shore excursion.

 

We view booking a specific cruise like buying a commodity item. The product is standard, the only variable is cost and the level of service that we require from our TA.

Edited September 18, 2015 by iancal

[3rdGenCunarder]

Cannot comment about percentage discounts however our experience is that In many instances when we have booked inside the final payment window HAL was certainly not the cheapest.

 

On two of our Med cruises Hal (Noordam)was 30 percent higher for a balcony gty than Celebbrity was for a specificity extended balcony cabin. We wanted to try Noordam but could not justify the difference since the itinerary and days were almost identical. Princess was even higher than HAL at the time we booked. No idea about pricing after we booked.

 

This past Feb we looked at RCIand HAl for a last minute cruise from OZ. Day for day, HAL was simply too rich by half.

 

Yet for Alaska 7 days, HAL has been the lowest priced for last minute bookings, some as low as $299' for the past two years. Princess was a very close second.

 

just our experience in watching//booking various markets. Of course mileage will always vary based on sailing and days to embarkation.

 

percentage off list has no impact on us. We only focus on the bottom line..what we have to pay. The list price is noise level and is often a grossly inflated number.

 

Do you remember which class of HAL ship you were looking at? We try to get balcony cabins, and I've found the per diem in a Neptune suite on a Vista ship comes out to be less than on an "S" class. Even the Vista "suite" (hardly a suite IMO) on an "s" seems pricy compared to similar size cabins on other lines. Maybe it's because the S ships don't have regular balcony cabins? (Which is that the "vista suites" really are)

[POA1]

(Off topic but I wish Macy's and Target would stop with the silly 99 cent price endings that mean absolutely nothing any more.)

 

Thanks for posting that! We prefer an honest to goodness cash price savings over any OBC. While OBC is nice, we know that our TA - and I assume it's pretty universal - doesn't pay $1 for a dollar's worth of shipboard credit. Cash in pocket is worth more than a future OBC to us. If we were in a country with a falling exchange rate, it would be even more important.

 

We might be in the minority, but I'd rather pay $4,500 per person for a $5,000 pp cruise than pay $5,000 and get a $600 OBC. (I realize that there are plenty of instances where people have gotten both a discount and OBC, but I'm trying to keep it simple.)

[dakrewser]

We might be in the minority, but I'd rather pay $4,500 per person for a $5,000 pp cruise than pay $5,000 and get a $600 OBC. (I realize that there are plenty of instances where people have gotten both a discount and OBC, but I'm trying to keep it simple.)

 

So you prefer a $4500 bottom line to a $4400 one? Looking for a new house? I've got one with absolutely no OBC involved!

;)

[avian777]

... I'd rather pay $4,500 per person for a $5,000 pp cruise than pay $5,000 and get a $600 OBC...

 

Sorry, but I don't "get" your math on this one ... as I calculate it, you'd be $100 better off with the $5,000 fare/$600 OBC deal than with the straight $4,500 fare, and I'm not even adding in the time value of money which, of course, would make the $5,000/$600 deal even better ...

[3rdGenCunarder]

So you prefer a $4500 bottom line to a $4400 one? Looking for a new house? I've got one with absolutely no OBC involved!

;)

 

Those are two different bottom lines. If you typically don't use the spa, have several drinks per day, or book shore excursions after boarding, $600 in OBC might be more than you would need. OK, you can find ways to spend it, but will you buy stuff you really want or will use?