Price Change Surprise....yikes

[panzafit]

So I looked up pricing for a cruise July 2019 yesterday and went home and discussed with the family who gave the go ahead.

 

Today I go online and each room category is anywhere from $250-$300 more per person then it was yesterday.

The sale didn't change. Is this typical? Should I wait until tomorrow to see if there is a different type of sale? I know sales don't typically change the price too much but a $250-$300 per person hike in price for a cruise more than a year away on the same sale it was yesterday seems a bit excessive.

 

So now only half the family wants to go at that price. I've never seen this happen before on the same promo so I was a bit in shock.

[SRF]

It is possible that a lot of people booked under the sale price, so the rates went up as the ship got fuller.

 

Also, make sure you were comparing apples, were both rates for a non-refundable or refundable deposit? That can substantially change the rate.

[SilkySal]

That really doesn't surprise me as I've seen it happen many times and not sure how they do it.:confused: We have a group cruising this October and noticed a price drop yesterday. Our early bookings saved over $300 and the later bookings saved over $500 by calling RCI to re-price the cruise; losing the minimal OBC was a no-brainer!;) Some wanted to wait until the weekend to call and I advised them to call immediately cause I've seen these price drops only last for a few hours. Glad we called quickly!:cool:

[geomancer]

That big of a change sounds like something else changed. Like refundable vs non-refundable like mentioned. Or when you first looked it was for 2 per cabin and now you're looking for 3-4 per cabin.

 

 

When I booked an Alaskan cruise over a year out, I checked it near daily for weeks to try and catch a price break. Never happened, but the price never changed by more than $20-100 total for the three of us, so like $7-$33 per person. Always more expensive. Caribbean cruises might be more volatile though. Seems to be tons of competition in that space.

[Getting out there]

Prices go up and down all the time

[ONECRUISER]

As ship fills, prices usually go up. Many times can be due to lower Cats filling up. One cruise I booked 2 months ago has almost doubled for same Cat cabin if was to booked today. Was $5089, now $9550. Though rare this much does happen... OP, your cruise is peak vacation time, 3/4 passengers can be lot higher. When my kids were young, a summer cruise was $799ea for first 2 passengers and 3/4 in same cabin was another $1099ea. At times I just got 2 cabins rather then one when traveling with my kids...

[molly361]

That really doesn't surprise me as I've seen it happen many times and not sure how they do it.:confused: We have a group cruising this October and noticed a price drop yesterday. Our early bookings saved over $300 and the later bookings saved over $500 by calling RCI to re-price the cruise; losing the minimal OBC was a no-brainer!;) Some wanted to wait until the weekend to call and I advised them to call immediately cause I've seen these price drops only last for a few hours. Glad we called quickly!:cool:

 

Good advise- Years ago I saw a price drop while at work and by the time I got home at lunchtime to call to get it adjusted it was back up again. Lesson learned