Price Drop on Edge

[kearney]

There are still quite a few veranda cabins available on both the Dec 9 and 16th 'maiden' voyages.... Looking at one of the online TA sites ... looking across all veranda classes there are over 100 on the 9th sailing and 150 on the 16th. Prices are holding steady... for E3 about $2179/pp before taxes... on Celebrity they have 2 perks. I paid $1999 back in April... prices for this class cabin jumped to $2479 and stayed there for several months... slowing coming down a bit.. but pretty much holding around the $2179 level. Also on the 16th sailing there have been a stubborn 150 plus veranda cabins remaining. It will be interesting to see if the price comes down closer to sailing or if they allow the ship to sail with a fair number of empty cabins... to maintain premium price.

[C-Dragons]

There are still quite a few veranda cabins available on both the Dec 9 and 16th 'maiden' voyages.... Looking at one of the online TA sites ... looking across all veranda classes there are over 100 on the 9th sailing and 150 on the 16th. Prices are holding steady... for E3 about $2179/pp before taxes... on Celebrity they have 2 perks. I paid $1999 back in April... prices for this class cabin jumped to $2479 and stayed there for several months... slowing coming down a bit.. but pretty much holding around the $2179 level. Also on the 16th sailing there have been a stubborn 150 plus veranda cabins remaining. It will be interesting to see if the price comes down closer to sailing or if they allow the ship to sail with a fair number of empty cabins... to maintain premium price.

 

I don’t think X plans on sailing full for the Inaugurals.

[TMLAalum]

There are still quite a few veranda cabins available on both the Dec 9 and 16th 'maiden' voyages.... Looking at one of the online TA sites ... looking across all veranda classes there are over 100 on the 9th sailing and 150 on the 16th. Prices are holding steady... for E3 about $2179/pp before taxes... on Celebrity they have 2 perks. I paid $1999 back in April... prices for this class cabin jumped to $2479 and stayed there for several months... slowing coming down a bit.. but pretty much holding around the $2179 level. Also on the 16th sailing there have been a stubborn 150 plus veranda cabins remaining. It will be interesting to see if the price comes down closer to sailing or if they allow the ship to sail with a fair number of empty cabins... to maintain premium price.

 

I don’t think X plans on sailing full for the Inaugurals.

 

The cruise following our 12/16 cruise also has many empty cabins. Depending on pricing, we may just have to book that as a B2B. We're also considering 4 RCCL cruises departing the 23d from Florida's Atlantic coast, again with price as the main factor.

[vtcruising]

I don’t think X plans on sailing full for the Inaugurals.

Though I've been on a few ships within the first few months after their inaugurals, I have never been on a new class of ship for inaugurals or pre-inaugurals. I was interested in your comment about not having full inaugurals. I am on 2 pre-preview cruises (of the 4 non-revenue pre-inaugural cruises) and have read that those cruises are usually about 50-60% full (purposely). I assumed, if true, that it was in part because it is complimentary and in part because they wanted the staff/crew to have less guests to deal with on their first cruises on the new class of ship.

 

I am also on the first for revenue cruise on Dec1 and that has many staterooms, including several suites, available. I wondered if that was because it is quite pricey for a 3 night cruise (though it is proportional to an Edge 7 night) or if they also wanted to have less guests on these cruises while getting things up and running.

 

I guess I thought that they would try to fill the inaugurals since they are higher-priced. It was interesting to hear that they may not want those to sail full.

[kearney]

Interestingly the inaugural cruises are considerably cheaper than later cruises. While there will be bugs... being new and all.... both sailings will have the CEO and all kinds of extra stuff... to make them a bit more special... So I find in interesting that they are not full and that the prices are ALMOST reasonable... vs later cruises.... so Dec 16 E3 $2179; Jan 13 $3149/pp; Feb 24 $3199/pp; Mar 24 $3049/pp sampling of Eastern Car. intinerary

[vtcruising]

Interestingly the inaugural cruises are considerably cheaper than later cruises. While there will be bugs... being new and all.... both sailings will have the CEO and all kinds of extra stuff... to make them a bit more special... So I find in interesting that they are not full and that the prices are ALMOST reasonable... vs later cruises.... so Dec 16 E3 $2179; Jan 13 $3149/pp; Feb 24 $3199/pp; Mar 24 $3049/pp sampling of Eastern Car. intinerary

Interesting... when the first inaugural (Dec 16) was rolled out, it was more expensive than my January cruise, so I assumed they still were more expensive. Glad the prices came down! If the Edge completion is delayed for some reason and my preview cruises are canceled, hopefully they will still have a cabin for us at a reasonable price. :D

[C-Dragons]

Though I've been on a few ships within the first few months after their inaugurals, I have never been on a new class of ship for inaugurals or pre-inaugurals. I was interested in your comment about not having full inaugurals. I am on 2 pre-preview cruises (of the 4 non-revenue pre-inaugural cruises) and have read that those cruises are usually about 50-60% full (purposely). I assumed, if true, that it was in part because it is complimentary and in part because they wanted the staff/crew to have less guests to deal with on their first cruises on the new class of ship.

 

I am also on the first for revenue cruise on Dec1 and that has many staterooms, including several suites, available. I wondered if that was because it is quite pricey for a 3 night cruise (though it is proportional to an Edge 7 night) or if they also wanted to have less guests on these cruises while getting things up and running.

 

I guess I thought that they would try to fill the inaugurals since they are higher-priced. It was interesting to hear that they may not want those to sail full.

 

As I mentioned on another thread, bringing out a new class of ship is hard work and can be very stressful for the crew. That is why X chooses their most experienced crew members to transfer to a new ship. During the first cruises the staff are working for the first time with guests on board. When the Solstice came out it was much larger than the M-class and a totally different design. Many of the staff told us it was difficult for them to adjust partly because everything was so spread out. We heard lots of complaints from other guests about how slow service was especially when it came to room service and in the dining rooms.

Fewer guests on the first cruises help the staff to “find their rhythm” and adjust to a brand new ship. Since the first guests are usually very excited they have a lot of expectations, so the bar has been set high. We have learned from experience that the most important thing we can do is be patient. 😊

[vtcruising]

As I mentioned on another thread, bringing out a new class of ship is hard work and can be very stressful for the crew. That is why X chooses their most experienced crew members to transfer to a new ship. During the first cruises the staff are working for the first time with guests on board. When the Solstice came out it was much larger than the M-class and a totally different design. Many of the staff told us it was difficult for them to adjust partly because everything was so spread out. We heard lots of complaints from other guests about how slow service was especially when it came to room service and in the dining rooms.

Fewer guests on the first cruises help the staff to “find their rhythm” and adjust to a brand new ship. Since the first guests are usually very excited they have a lot of expectations, so the bar has been set high. We have learned from experience that the most important thing we can do is be patient. 😊

 

I agree! I have low expectations for service. I look at my preview cruises as an adventure of discovery, not as the usual pampered, relaxing cruises. We expect glitches and will try to support the staff while they are learning (much as we have done when we have a new waiter or cabin attendant). We've talked about it on our roll calls, but I will go back and mention it again, now that we are closer. :D