Cruise Pricing: Few Deals like the Good Old Days

[ptrpanpens]

Thanks Shawn

 

That must have been the Brilliance TA. I remember I changed cabins about 5 times on that cruise and finally ended up with a balcony 2 doors away from my original cabin but about $1,500 less! Lol.

 

It pays to watch the prices especially as it gets closer to final payment and also monitor cabin availability on the web sites that show it.

 

I think you are also on the Vision TA next year so hope to meet you then.

 

Anne

[grandgeezer]

We booked a Bermuda Cruise departing early May 2016 on the weekend of final payment. We had friends already going on this cruise and were joining them. They were all in Aqua Class; however the price of Aqua was more than we could justify for this unplanned somewhat spur of the moment need to get away cruise. It was close to $600 per person more. We booked a standard balcony which included the drink package and a $300 OBC. I looked at pricing everyday after we booked hoping the price of Aqua Class would come down. About 2 weeks later the price of AQ bottomed out and we were able to upgrade for $125 per person ($25 more than the normal price we would pay to upgrade, but it was worth it to dine with the rest of the group). We were able to book the A2 and get the free upgrade to A1 since we are Elite and we kept our perks also as the promotion included 2 perks. And as an added bonus which wouldn't apply to an everyday booking, our travel agent who is also a friend and was on this cruise, surprised us with an additional $150 OBC. Long story short, book what you will be happy with and then constantly check pricing to grap an upgrade. I check pricing on almost every cruise I have booked daily or at a minimum every other day. Also, join your roll call and pay attention to it. I was on a transatlantic cruise a few years back that Ptrpanpens was also on and I found out about a couple price reductions from her posting it on the roll call.

 

How did you get the upgrade from A2 to A1? That Elite benefit is normally available at time of booking, not later on due to price reductions. Your post said you booked a standard balcony.

[Marelaine]

I'm happy with the cruise I booked during wave season - 7 night W. Caribbean in March, 2C balcony cabin, $1099/pp, our 2 perks= 2 classic bev packages, $400 ob credit per room.

 

Compare that to our first cruise in 2010 - 7 night E. Caribbean during hurricane season, 2A balcony, $849/pp, no perks. We purchased one classic bev package and one classic non alcohol package. That first cruise cost more than the March 2017 cruise.

 

 

The 'included' perks are a good deal for us because we'd buy them either way. No complaints, here.

[OBX-Cruisers]

Appears from all the ongoing comments that the "deals" are out there and being patient and watching the pricing can really pay off.

Will follow your lead(s) and do the same surveillance of the travel agency sites for a cruise preferably on X in January.

[thyme2go]

I'm reading this and people are talking about 'good prices' but how do you know they are good other than they are lower than what you paid already? Is there a breakdown somewhere that gives a per person cabin charge (no perk's, port charges, fee's, etc) per day for each category of room? For example is $200 pp a good rate for AQ in Alaska this summer? I realize this doesn't accommodate all the factors, but is an effort to try and strip the room out of all the "other stuff". I've seen HAL and Princess enough to have an idea of 'good prices' on those lines. Celebrity just seems expensive and after final payment is a good strategy on all cruise lines........but rates also go up as the ship reaches capacity so even that can be confusing if there is no baseline. Does this even make sense or exist in the real world...........????:confused:

[ShawninFL]

Thanks Shawn

 

That must have been the Brilliance TA. I remember I changed cabins about 5 times on that cruise and finally ended up with a balcony 2 doors away from my original cabin but about $1,500 less! Lol.

 

It pays to watch the prices especially as it gets closer to final payment and also monitor cabin availability on the web sites that show it.

 

I think you are also on the Vision TA next year so hope to meet you then.

 

Anne

 

Yes it was Brilliance and yes we're booked on the Vision next year too. Look forward to meeting up.

 

Shawn

[ShawninFL]

How did you get the upgrade from A2 to A1? That Elite benefit is normally available at time of booking, not later on due to price reductions. Your post said you booked a standard balcony.

 

We did originally book the standard balcony, but upgraded 2 weeks later to Aqua. We paid the A2 price and were giving an A2 cabin, but the next week I received an email from TA saying he called Celebrity to arrange the Elite benefit upgrade and we were now in an A1 cabin. It wasn't anything I asked for or expected. He just did it.

[ptrpanpens]

Yes it was Brilliance and yes we're booked on the Vision next year too. Look forward to meeting up.

 

Shawn

 

No last minute deals on that cruise I'm afraid. Very popular cruise.

 

Anne

[grandgeezer]

We did originally book the standard balcony, but upgraded 2 weeks later to Aqua. We paid the A2 price and were giving an A2 cabin, but the next week I received an email from TA saying he called Celebrity to arrange the Elite benefit upgrade and we were now in an A1 cabin. It wasn't anything I asked for or expected. He just did it.

 

Sounds like you found a special travel agent, good for you.

[CruiseNewby47]

YUP - maybe every other day. USUALLY, you can, due to price reduction for Concierge and/or Aqua, move up at minor upcharge. Suites seem to hold firmer prices. If not using TA, try CapnClub number for change.

 

I always buy basic veranda and move up later as opportunities arise but you have to be watching. Recently switched to reduced-price Family Veranda that momentarily popped up 3 weeks before sailing near my basic veranda price.

 

If you switch to a senior, residency type rate, you lose your BBB perks. GOOD LUCK

 

I did not know about these. I booked a C2 cabin after final payment (kind of a last minute decision; couldn't decide where/what to go/do!) and I never looked at prices again -- but maybe I had a good deal since it was after final payment? I guess I will never know. :-)

 

Is this something you can do online if you booked directly through Celebrity? Can you upgrade online or do you call them if you see a price drop you want to take advantage of?

 

So much to learn!!!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

November...14 nights on Celebrity Constellation (Ocean View) $489pp with $250 OBC from Shareholder Benefit.

 

17 April... 15 nights on Celebrity Constellation (Inside) $599pp with $250 OBC from Shareholder Benefit.

 

Those are with military rate, at least the April 17 is

 

For Canadians the rate for the April 17 is $719 CAD which is $551 USD

I wonder if the April 17 will get as low as the Nov 14 cruise ?

Could you book using only one name , and if it goes down again, cancell and have your partner book it at the lower fare , if it is before FPD ? :confused:

[Cruizen Susan]

Yes prices are up but we have found some good deals it just takes a bit of searching. While some may not use the value of the "included" perks for us it works. So when I can get the Go Best perks and a price break on the fate I am a very happy camper:)

 

I totally a agree. While I may be paying a bit more sometimes, at least I don't get a $1500 tab at the end of the cruise!! :)

[north29]

Cruises/Land tours, etc. What was, for us, any kind of travel adventures of 3 weeks to a month were between $5k and $8K are now between $10 and $15K or more. However, traveling on you own, and staying a week or more in a special place and touring the local area is still a reasonable adventure, even if you have to rent a car.

Having said that, one Travel Agency we have used has around two week hub and spoke tours to many places with B and D daily including air and transfers for less for about $2800 PP when we did one it was $2300,

[ShawninFL]

When it comes to cruising I would accept that pricing overall has increased, but I continue to see deals all the time. You just have to be diligent in your travel searches and be flexible. If you have a job that only allows you take off at a specific time or you want to go to a specific destination, then you probably will see higher prices as you're going to have to luck out and find the needle in the haystack. Additionally, I believe it also depends on what you normally spend money on while on the actual cruise. If you don't normally spend money on the ship with regards to alcohol, specialty restaurants, casino, shore excursions, etc, then you also are going to find "deals" harder to find. Those that would normally buy a drink package or end up with a $300 or above bill at the end of the cruise are probably finding more deals when factoring all those expenses. They may pay more than usual upfront, but are very near what they've been paying in the last couple years when adding all expenses up. I rather enjoy ending everything I like to do on a cruise and getting a final bill for less than $100 for a week.

[4774Papa]

When it comes to cruising I would accept that pricing overall has increased, but I continue to see deals all the time. You just have to be diligent in your travel searches and be flexible. If you have a job that only allows you take off at a specific time or you want to go to a specific destination, then you probably will see higher prices as you're going to have to luck out and find the needle in the haystack. Additionally, I believe it also depends on what you normally spend money on while on the actual cruise. If you don't normally spend money on the ship with regards to alcohol, specialty restaurants, casino, shore excursions, etc, then you also are going to find "deals" harder to find. Those that would normally buy a drink package or end up with a $300 or above bill at the end of the cruise are probably finding more deals when factoring all those expenses. They may pay more than usual upfront, but are very near what they've been paying in the last couple years when adding all expenses up. I rather enjoy ending everything I like to do on a cruise and getting a final bill for less than $100 for a week.

 

 

Picking up a cruise a few days or even few weeks before the cruise may appeal to some people, but I like to plan ahead for our trip. The cruise is usually only a part of the trip,, since we do a pre and/or post land trip. Also, we don't cruise the caribbean, so a flight close to the sailing time is usually expensive.

 

The drinks packages don't appeal to us, since we generally don't start drinking alcohol until 5PM. We drink more wine than anything else. Also, we are elite and take full advantage of the happy hour. Therefore, our bar bill for a two week cruise for both of us usually does not exceed $250. I am amazed when I read that some people justify buying the drinks packages because they drink a dozen or more drinks a day. Providing the packages to so many people also leads to more intoxicated people, which can be rude. It is not so bad on Celebrity, buy my Son did a three day NCL cruise and said the drunks were unbelieveable.

[hvbaskey]

We noticed that on our upcoming cruise it was eligible for a Resident's offer.

 

We had a Sky Suite booked - so that came with Go Best. In order to take advantage of the Offer - we had to give up the Go Best (all 4 perks).

 

We crunched the numbers and realized that even having to pay the gratuities, we were still ahead, as we are not big drinkers.

 

The savings was $1760 CAD and even if we paid $500 in tips, that is still over $1200 in our pocket and we will NOT go through that in drinks - especially now that we have Michael's available to us.

 

We still retained $200 USD OBC - which we can use for internet ...

 

The big loss was drinks (and again, we "might" have one glass of wine per night) and the OBC (giving up $600 USD) - however, as one poster said, would rather have the cash (savings) vs. the coupon (OBC).

 

Saying all of that - we were on the fence for a very long time before we actually accepted the Resident's offer. However, in the end, we examined our lifestyle and realized the offer was too good to pass by.

 

Heather

[Mparis184]

Is it just my delusion or have the prices of cruises gone up significantly when paired with all of those "free perks"?

 

I have started getting emails from various online travel companies with their Fourth of July Sales events common at this time of year now that the usual Wave Season sales are pretty much behind us.

Although I started with X and found prices, well "very pricey" other cruise lines have started adding "free perks" to their cruises and prices in terms dollars/person/day are substantially up from my target pricing for Caribbean cruises and particularly for Veradah and higher cabins that we prefer.

 

Is this delusional on my part or are there good deals to be had that I am missing for the start of 2017 in particular?

 

You are 100% correct. The cruise prices with the perks aren't really a bargain. My husband is constantly reminding me that the cruise lines are in business to make money and they are not giving anything FREE it is all hidden in the bottom line cost of the cruise. Their packages have increased and even their inside prices without perks have also gone up. As soon as I saw them adding the drink packages, etc I knew all their prices would be going up, it's an excellent marketing tactic that is obviously working to benefit the cruise lines.

[karena1]

I still see deals.

 

a lot depends on when you book. We got a great deal on Summit for April 2017 which includes the bev pkg. That same cruise now is more than double what we paid for it

 

I typically book as soon as itins are out for longer cruises. Then watch and see if any price breaks. It is rare. Once in a blue moon the price goes down, mostly it just goes up so I am glad I book early.

[greydog]

I'm reading this and people are talking about 'good prices' but how do you know they are good other than they are lower than what you paid already? Is there a breakdown somewhere that gives a per person cabin charge (no perk's, port charges, fee's, etc) per day for each category of room? For example is $200 pp a good rate for AQ in Alaska this summer?

 

May, Sept are 'cheapest' AK cruise times - summer gets much higher, unless you take chance on 'last minute' reductions on unsold inventory 5 weeks out - but then your airfare will be up.

 

Carib cheapest between Thanksgiving and 1st two weeks Dec, then rates double+ for holidays.

 

S-class ships more expensive than M-class as general rule.

 

We book over a year out, onboard for lowest price, max other perks. Often change that booking 2-3 times later as my schedule changes.

 

If I get about $150 per day avg pp for entry veranda (with 1 BBB perk) I'm satisfied. I find the Concierge/AQ rate bumps from entry veranda too expensive.

 

Think how $150 pp per day compares to land. For 2, $150 for room, another $150 spend on 3 meals with drinks Good Luck

[Cruizen Susan]

I don't have to be an accountant to know that my next Equinox deal is a great one. Concierge hump cabin, with classic drink package, gratuities, $600 OBC. 10 nights in prime season Caribbean. $3700 total for 2 people which includes tax.

 

Twenty some years ago, we paid that much and had a very large bill at the end.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Cruisen'Susan

[grandgeezer]

May, Sept are 'cheapest' AK cruise times - summer gets much higher, unless you take chance on 'last minute' reductions on unsold inventory 5 weeks out - but then your airfare will be up.

 

Carib cheapest between Thanksgiving and 1st two weeks Dec, then rates double+ for holidays.

 

S-class ships more expensive than M-class as general rule.

 

We book over a year out, onboard for lowest price, max other perks. Often change that booking 2-3 times later as my schedule changes.

 

If I get about $150 per day avg pp for entry veranda (with 1 BBB perk) I'm satisfied. I find the Concierge/AQ rate bumps from entry veranda too expensive.

 

Think how $150 pp per day compares to land. For 2, $150 for room, another $150 spend on 3 meals with drinks Good Luck

 

When you are comparing rooms, make sure you are comparing apples with apples. That means the hotel room has to be about 190 sq ft with a bathroom just a little bigger than one on an airplane. Since you have many more choices on land, I'm sure you can find food and drinks for less than $150 too.

[ISABELLA]

Yesterday price for my March cruise on Equinox dropped by $400 ( resident rate) for a balcony. Just as I finished with my TA - price went up again.

I am so happy. I have been waiting for a base - no frills- pricing. And my TA pays my gratuities. Certainly pays to check pricing time to time.

Win -Win.

[richsea]

 

 

Celebrity used to emphasize attention to detail, but their new motto seems to be

 

Include the booze and they'll buy the cruise. :D

 

 

 

That is the state of Celebrity in a nutshell. Oh, for the good old days of 'attention to detail"

[richsea]

Are prices up?..absolutely. But there are still some deals to be had if you search enough & are flexible. Before the Istanbul debacle, I noticed that the prices were real low on any cruise either stopping or beginning there. Of course that has changed since the attack.

 

I think at this time, if you are flexible (retired), it pays to wait till the last minute & scoop up final days deals. We had our eye on a cruises that our extended family had booked a year ago, but thought it was too high & waited. sure enough, we booked 17 before sailing at a fraction of the cost.

[Cruizen Susan]

Are prices up?..absolutely. But there are still some deals to be had if you search enough & are flexible. Before the Istanbul debacle, I noticed that the prices were real low on any cruise either stopping or beginning there. Of course that has changed since the attack.

 

I think at this time, if you are flexible (retired), it pays to wait till the last minute & scoop up final days deals. We had our eye on a cruises that our extended family had booked a year ago, but thought it was too high & waited. sure enough, we booked 17 before sailing at a fraction of the cost.

 

I agree. We are not flexible yet and have to plan ahead, but booking on the ship and getting the exact itinerary, cabin and perks that we want, and then dealing with our TA for extra perks, always seems to work out. At least with Celebrity. RCI and NCL are not nearly as generous. Next year we are sailing NCL for 10 days from New York and it costs $$$ more than Celebrity for a less desirable itinerary and ship. It fits our schedule and no flight is necessary, so it will have to work. But not nearly as good a deal. Also, RCI never gives the drink package included and barely any other perks.

 

If we wait to the last minute, we would have to settle for what's left, and I don't like settling for a precious twice a year vacation.