HAL BIG PRICE INCREASE?

[crusinbanjo]

Mrs Banjo and I were looking at the 10 day Adriatic cruise leaving Venice in early May.  When last I looked, the price for a Neptune suite was $3500, for restricted fare.  Today I went to book it and the price is $4500.  Could not believe that.  Sadly, I guess we’ll be looking at other options for May 2019 that don’t include HAL.

[sevenseasnomad]

19 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

Mrs Banjo and I were looking at the 10 day Adriatic cruise leaving Venice in early May.  When last I looked, the price for a Neptune suite was $3500, for restricted fare.  Today I went to book it and the price is $4500.  Could not believe that.  Sadly, I guess we’ll be looking at other options for May 2019 that don’t include HAL.

The prices go up and down all the time.  You may want to check some local TAs or online TA sites which may beat HA's price and give you some perks that HA won't include, such as OBC. 

 

Have you considered another category?  If the itinerary is the main reason you're booking, and you aren't picky about your cabin, you may be able to snag a bargain.  On the other hand, if you must have a suite, then you may have to pay for the privilege.  That's a popular itinerary; we've taken it once on a 24-day, hitting almost all of those ports.  It is so port-intensive that we hardly knew we were in an inside cabin because we were so tired, yet exhilarated by the wonderful sights and historical places we toured.  Just our expenses for the tours (and most of them were private vendors) ran close to $4,000 for two people, so keep in mind your other expenses besides the cabin cost.  Add to that the airline price.  It's not a cheap itinerary by any means.

 

Also, remember that suites can sell out early, or you could luck out as we did once.  On one cruise, apparently the suites weren't selling well at all because for 48 hours HA dropped the price to less than $1,000.  Since DH and I were already looking at one Caribbean itinerary, I was checking HA daily.  When I saw that lower price, I jumped and was on the phone to HA within seconds.  I couldn't believe the inventory left that we were offered, and we booked and paid within a few minutes.  When I checked back a couple of days later with the website, all the suites were sold out.  We considered ourselves fortunate that I just happened to check the site when I did. 

Edited October 28, 2018 by sevenseasnomad

[CruiserBruce]

Supply and demand...did Explore4 get added? That would be about the right add on price for Explore4.

[Hlitner]

Princes usually go up right before a promotion such as Explore 4 :).  In fact, we often find that booking when there are no promotions is how you get the best deals.  Its amazing at how many folks get suckered by the word "SALE" without paying a lot of attention to what they are getting for their money.

 

Hank

[*Miss G*]

Check back when the Explore 4 promo is over for better pricing.  Explore 4 time is always higher priced.  I find the best pricing is usually during the cyber sale or when the itinerary first comes out.  It’s not a hard and fast rule though. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

42 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Supply and demand...did Explore4 get added? That would be about the right add on price for Explore4.

I think you nailed it. 

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, crusinbanjo said:

Mrs Banjo and I were looking at the 10 day Adriatic cruise leaving Venice in early May.  When last I looked, the price for a Neptune suite was $3500, for restricted fare.  Today I went to book it and the price is $4500.  Could not believe that.  Sadly, I guess we’ll be looking at other options for May 2019 that don’t include HAL.

 

Likely a promotion (such as Explore4 was added to your sailing).  Since there is not "free lunch", they normally increase the base fare at the same time.  As others have mentioned, you can wait for the current promotion to end and recheck prices then OR you can call your HAL or TA rep and ask for the fare WITHOUT the current promotion (sometimes it is alot lower).  Further, your restricted fare may have been non-refundable, so it would be lower priced.

[mustgo]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Princes usually go up right before a promotion such as Explore 4 :).  In fact, we often find that booking when there are no promotions is how you get the best deals.  Its amazing at how many folks get suckered by the word "SALE" without paying a lot of attention to what they are getting for their money.

 

Hank

When do they usually have the "cyber" sale?

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you are working with a private TA, have him/her call HAL and ask what the price would be without Explore4 or any other promotion that is going on right now.

 

Also make certain that you have refundable deposits.

 

Keep us updated.

[TAD2005]

That increase in price sounds like the bump in price due to Explore-4.   The Signature Beverage Package (SBP) is $51.70 per day, per person, including the 15% service charge.   So, a 10 day cruise for 2 persons with Explore-4 added on would cost an extra $1020.   As other have said, there is no free lunch.   When Explore-4 is added to a cruise, most times, the price increases by approximately $50 per day/per person.    You should ask your TA or PCC to price this cruise without the Explore-4 promotion.    If this is an very port intensive cruise, a port every day, then the SBP may not pay for itself anyway.   Other than the SBP, Explore-4 only provides a Pinnacle Grill dinner and reduced fares for 3rd/4th passengers in the cabin.   95% of Explore-4 is the SBP. 

[mcrcruiser]

And the cruise lines keep adding to the pricing with these sale items ;which are NEVER Free 

[acrowe]

TBH, the price of cruising compared to other options if quite a lot less and can be done on a small budget depending on the cabin one picks. Some have more capital and spend a bit more..kudos to them if they do so. Felt like chiming in as there is so much negativity here, especially against HAL, who still offers an awful lot for the money. I certainly don't fault them for wanting to make a buck. That is what they are in it for after all. Some of these cruises are available for less than $100 per person per day.. given what one gets, that is an incredible value. It's less than staying at a Super 8 and eating at McDs everyday!

We see so many complain about paying gratuities..my lord, these people work so hard and deserve it. If I can go on a cruise, I have no problem spending 25-30 bucks a day for all they do. I certainly like being paid for my efforts. 
 

I am mostly a lurker here, but WOW, the complaints are plenty.

Edited October 29, 2018 by acrowe
added more content

[chill6x6]

Same thing happened to the Rotterdam cruise I'm looking at.....it went up about $500.  HAL has two prices....one with Explore 4 and one that's an "exclusive" non-refundable rate that's about $1000 less after logging in.  I'm gonna wait and see if it goes back to what it was.

 

Funny thing about the Explore 4 package....It's really not a good deal at ALL...  2X Pinnacle Grill dinners, 2x beverage package, + $200 more OBC...for about $1000....

[Andi Land]

12 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

Mrs Banjo and I were looking at the 10 day Adriatic cruise leaving Venice in early May.  When last I looked, the price for a Neptune suite was $3500, for restricted fare.  Today I went to book it and the price is $4500.  Could not believe that.  Sadly, I guess we’ll be looking at other options for May 2019 that don’t include HAL.

Call and ask them to price it for you at the Advantage Fare.  This is the price without the E4 added and it’s still refundable. 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Even if the pricing does not come down, if you compare HAL’s fares to those of similar itineraries /accommodation on Celebrity, Royal, Princess and NCL I think you’d be surprised how “reasonable” $4500pp is by comparison.

Edited October 29, 2018 by AtlantaCruiser72

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 10/28/2018 at 9:57 AM, crusinbanjo said:

Mrs Banjo and I were looking at the 10 day Adriatic cruise leaving Venice in early May.  When last I looked, the price for a Neptune suite was $3500, for restricted fare.  Today I went to book it and the price is $4500.  Could not believe that.  Sadly, I guess we’ll be looking at other options for May 2019 that don’t include HAL.

I just checked the 5/5/19 sailing of the Veendam - the SB Neptunes are sold out, which would maybe explain why the SA pricing has gone up.  There are only 2 SA Neptunes available for booking as of today - SA003 & SA006.  If you want a Neptune on this sailing I would book ASAP.  There are NO Neptunes available for the 22 day collectors cruise, so space really is that limited!

 

That said there were 4 pricing options for the SA Neptunes (not taking in account any special Mariner pricing you may qualify for).  Explore4 $5099pp, Advantage Fare $4699pp, Non-Refundable deposit Fare $4499pp, Open/Promo Group rates (only through select travel agencies) $4049pp.

 

[joekerstef]

On 10/28/2018 at 1:13 PM, mustgo said:

When do they usually have the "cyber" sale?

Cyber sale is around thanksgiving, i think the week after (to coincide with cyber monday). We have refared cruises during cyber sale last two year, have always done better fare-wise and have picked up prepaid grats and i think some minimal OBC.

[mustgo]

9 hours ago, joekerstef said:

Cyber sale is around thanksgiving, i think the week after (to coincide with cyber monday). We have refared cruises during cyber sale last two year, have always done better fare-wise and have picked up prepaid grats and i think some minimal OBC.

Thanks for the info.

[iancal]

We see prices fluctuate multiple times on a target cruise  on a regular basis.  Inside and outside of the final payment window.  The only way is to determine what a competitive price is and then watch for it to hit.

 

We pay no attention to so called sale prices, free bundled items, duty free,  2 for 1, final sale or any other meaningless phrase.  The only price that counts to us us the net, net bottom line price.    Indeed, as the OP points out we have priced many an advertised sale or special price only to find that the math shows that the cruise fare is special for the cruise line but higher for us.    So much so that we usually delete without reading them any more.