Pricing Bermuda for next year

[tinker]

I was comparing quotes for Bermuda next year and all of them exactly the same. Not going until the fall so assume I need to wait for the cruise line itself to adjust the price?

 

Only difference I am seeing are some agencies throwing in perks like on board credit or travel insurance. Is this the best I can do?

[Cachecara]

I went on this cruise last Labor Day week. I waited until late July to book the cruise watching for a price reduction. At that time it did go down in price, so that I was able to book a class 5 at $830 pp vs. $1060, it was on the Europa deck which is the deck I wanted and I also picked out the particular room I wanted. Had I waited a few weeks longer into August, I think it went down further, but I was hesitant to wait longer and risk not getting the type of stateroom I wanted.

Labor Day week for whatever reason, had only about 600 passangers aboard --which is about 2/3 what they normally have, so I was able to have a great room selection into the end of July. Had the cruise been fuller, that probably would not be the case. I know for a fact, the following 2 weeks cruises were full, however an inside cabin went down to $400 pp for the rest of the season. That was a GREAT bargain!! Upgrading to the lowest class oceanview I think was $500 pp.

So, I guess the answer to your question is, yes bargains can be had the later you wait--however, you may take a risk in not getting the particular room that you want.

Personally, it was a great cruise, I hope to go again this fall--and No, I have not booked yet for the above reasons.

[canderson]

I was comparing quotes for Bermuda next year and all of them exactly the same. Not going until the fall so assume I need to wait for the cruise line itself to adjust the price?

 

Only difference I am seeing are some agencies throwing in perks like on board credit or travel insurance. Is this the best I can do?

With the rare exceptions of those agencies that actually BUY the inventory up front (and they're smart enough to avoid "depreciating" cruises whose prices go down), the remainder are able only to simply pass along current pricing of the cruise line, and Celebrity created some policies last year that were aimed at forcing agencies to offer identical pricing (e.g., no rebates of commissions to create lower fares). Even the perks have come under scrutiny.

 

I certainly don't follow all of the itineraries and their price histories... only the ones in which I'm personally interested. You'll need advice from a broad spectrum of people who know whether a given itinerary typically drops in price each year. If the itinerary in which you're interested typically doesn't drop as sail date approaches, you might as well book earlier to provide some better chance of getting your preference in cabins. If, on the other hand, there's been a drop in pricing on a consistent basis (it's not quite as common as it once was, BTW), then it would make sense to wait -- much as the cruise lines hate this.

 

One thing I know for certain -- there are some itineraries where the odds of an INCREASE after initial release due to capacity bookings are about 99%, especially certain European itineraries, but I don't follow Bermuda. Perhaps a few of the several travel agents we have here on a regular basis will chime in with their experience?

[ocngypz]

The Bermuda rates are too high....period.

 

Wait.

 

If you are flexible and can travel within 30-60 days, you'll save tons of money.

[mahdnc]

The Bermuda rates are too high....period.

 

I am guessing that with only one Celebrity ship doing Bermuda in 2006, that pricing will not be as good as in the past (relatively speaking).

[ocngypz]

For the past 5 years Bermuda sailings have been on a downslide. With more ships.. and newer ships offering sailings from New York and New Jersey and at times at much more competitive rates.....Bermuda has lost it's luster among folks wishing to cruise during the summer from the Northeast.

 

We discussed Bermuda 2006 price points at a Celebrity seminar in October. All were in agreement, DSM's and agents alike, that the price points were too high for the low demand on inventory.

 

Keep in mind many folks sailed to Bermuda because that is where the Northeast ships were going in the summer months. This is no longer the case.

 

It's a whole new summer cruise market!

[mahdnc]

ocngypz,

 

Makes sense. I will admit that as much as my family would love to do a Bermuda cruise, I haven't pulled the trigger because of cost. On top of that, it was even more difficult to persuade our friends to go for the same reason.

 

I also take it that given that market outlook, we will not see Celebrity doing anything more than sending Zenith to Bermuda for the foreseeable future (no second ship, no bigger ship, etc)?

[ocngypz]

I shouldn't think so. The RCL Voyager class ship is handling the Mega-ship to Bermuda for the corporation.. then there is also Empress OTS.. and then Zenith. MSC plans on sending one of their ships in 2007... Crown Princess is making a stop on its sailings from NY........

 

No, I don't see more Celebrity tonnage in Bermuda.

 

Last July, if you were flexible, Zenith was running all sorts of inside and oceanview gty's... and that's high season!

 

I expect the same for 2006 as well.

[Cachecara]

There are quite a few posters who took Zenith to Bermuda last summer. From what I read here--we all had a wonderful time!

I watched the pricing on that cruise all summer and finally booked the last week of July--we were planning on going in Sept all along and felt we couldn't get a better deal on price and still get the desired cabin--we wanted a particular oceanview. For a class 5 it was $860/person down from 1060.

Had I booked 2 weeks later it would have been 560 for the same room--the rest of the season!! That is less that what a normal week at the Jersey shore runs us. So go figure Bermuda or Wildwood. Hmmmm--Bermuda or Wildwood. No brainer. ;)

What attracted me to Celebrity was that it was a 7 day vs a 5 day cruise for a comparable price on Voyager. Again--no brainer.

I am hoping that the same deal will exist for this summer. BTW--I think the crew told me that the only cruise not full that summer up until Labor Day week, was the one I was on which was the Labor Day cruise.:)

Had a marvelousssss time.

[mahdnc]

Because we have 2 school age chldren, we are not as cabin flexible (want an outside quad) and we cannot sail to Bermuda during the offseason. So those are 2 pricing strikes against us from the start.

 

Case in point: back in Jan 2004, after finally getting settled down from our move to Chicago, my wife gives me the green light to go ahead and book a Celebrity cruise. Our desire is to book a Bermuda cruise (new itinerary for us, sail out of NYC, and a chance to try out Horizon/Zenith for the first time). I ended up booking Zenith for mid Jun 2005 for 4 people in a Cat 4 quad for $4000. While I am not thrilled about the value compared to past cruises (smaller cabin, no balcony, older ship), I am happy that at least this time I was able to book a quad during the high season as I have been shut out many times before in the past when Bermuda shopping). A few days later, I ditched the booking in favor of a 10 day Horizon cruise out of Tampa in a Horizon Suite during our school's 2005 Spring Break. A larger cabin on a longer cruise during a holiday week on a similar ship for the same price (although we had to wait 10 months). After we had taken that cruise I saw some decent Happy Hour deals for Bermuda 2005 cruises but we had already spent our vacation money/time for the year and air fare for 4 people was going to be expensive since we could not get freq flyer tix with such little lead time......

[smeyer418]

Its interesting because the prices were up in 2005 considerably from 2004. I paid under 450pp for a week in 2004. There was no special like this in 2005. I also went in an Owners suite on another ship same year for more but about 1/3 of the original price. If you believe that the supply will be high you should wait. If you belive that there will be a great demand, then look for a special now that suits you needs. I am flexible so I can wait. Also I don't need airfare so the price can be very reasonable. The ships going to Bermuda except for the really high end ones are about the same. The Voyager class ship that does go(or at least went last year), doesn't spend enough time in Bermuda to interest me.

[ocngypz]

Its interesting because the prices were up in 2005 considerably from 2004. I paid under 450pp for a week in 2004. There was no special like this in 2005. I also went in an Owners suite on another ship same year for more but about 1/3 of the original price. If you believe that the supply will be high you should wait. If you belive that there will be a great demand, then look for a special now that suits you needs. I am flexible so I can wait. Also I don't need airfare so the price can be very reasonable. The ships going to Bermuda except for the really high end ones are about the same. The Voyager class ship that does go(or at least went last year), doesn't spend enough time in Bermuda to interest me.

 

 

Actually, prices were lower in 2005 than 2004 overall. Quite a number of passengers on my sailing in Oct paid exactly what you did..some less.

I had clients sailing in July and August in oceanview staterooms for less than $800pp including port and tax and free motorcoach from New England, NY, NJ and PA.