Don't get lazy: keep an eye on those prices

[cruisegal40]

I  had a $500.00 price drop by lost $250.  in OBC. Still a savings of $250.00 not matter what.  I'll take that.

[Ashland]

On 6/10/2019 at 10:20 AM, Biker19 said:

Prices are more influenced by inventory levels, than any "promotion".

Unless it's the KSF...it certainly saved us $$'s for our next May cruise.

[Ashland]

On 6/10/2019 at 10:45 AM, molly361 said:

Just go on Royal's website and do a dummy booking for your ship, date and category

The only problem can be "category" available at times. My Snowbird October cruise the suite category has been sold out long ago. But we'll see what happens when final become due next month. Happy with my hump JS but we'll see if any category higher opens up.

[johnjen]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:17 PM, Tree_skier said:

This is good advice too.  I have saved quite a bit watching our excursion prices for our upcoming cruise.

So, we booked this upcoming cruise last year on Anthem....since it's a med, there's a total of SEVEN excursions.....it became a bit of a hobby habit, checking prices daily or a week or so....thus far we have saved $414.78 just by checking. It's like watching the stock market and I feel like I'm doing day trading again. Just this morning for example, the "Ancient Corinth/Canal Cruise in Greece is $62.99 and I paid $67.99 for each of us just less than two weeks back but I am not going to bother with canceling and re-booking it. 

[zooma]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:24 PM, cajinyank said:

on my may 16 2020 rhapsody cruise I booked a balcony last month and last wed it went down $100 then thur another $100. I checked on mon and it was now $500 cheaper. I switched to a corner aft junior sweet and the price is $ 250 cheaper than the balcony was. today it is back up a couple hundred. It pays to check everyday.

 

For all of you who are nimble about switching cabins for savings, do you just do that online by cancelling and starting a new booking, or do you call RC and have a rep do it? (Assuming you are not using a travel agent as of yet.)

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, zooma said:

 

For all of you who are nimble about switching cabins for savings, do you just do that online by cancelling and starting a new booking, or do you call RC and have a rep do it? (Assuming you are not using a travel agent as of yet.)

 

I don't think Royal's website allows cancelling a booking anymore, so you would have to call.

[dakram]

On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:54 AM, bouhunter said:

Checked our next 4 cruises thru Feb 2020.  They're all up 300.00-1,000.00+ from prices we locked in long ago.  Guess it still pays to book early

 

mine too for march2020 on oasis

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, zooma said:

 

For all of you who are nimble about switching cabins for savings, do you just do that online by cancelling and starting a new booking, or do you call RC and have a rep do it? (Assuming you are not using a travel agent as of yet.)

Be very careful about using the word "cancel" it may have more consequences than you think. 

 

If you need to change something with your booked reservation, that needs to be done by who booked your cruise or directly with RCI if you booked with them yourself. Call !!!!

[the fish]

I thought I was screwed.  I booked Harmony for two Boardwalk cabins (2L) for June 30 sailing only six months out (in January 2019) thru cruises only.  We had to get adjoining rooms and those Boardwalk cabins were the cheapest adjoining left on the ship. There were only two weeks that worked with our work/school schedule and we really wanted St. Thomas and Coco Cay. It was a whopping $3,882 a cabin with $75 OBC.  I felt crazy paying that but factors like not booking much earlier, limited schedule options, adjoining rooms, must-have ports, etc. were working against me.

 

Thank goodness for price checking.  Price drops over the following months got me down to $2,650 per cabin with $50 OBC.  That seemed like a fair price to me considering where I started and that we got the ports we wanted during one of the two weeks that worked best for our work/school schedules.  It took some work checking and calling but I finally got there.  Keep the faith.

Edited June 25, 2019 by the fish

[thrifty99]

We also keep an eye on all the pre-cruise extras we book ahead of time.  We just had 2 items drop in price last week for our upcoming Sep cruise on Harmony.  An excursion dropped $25 per person and the unlimited dining package dropped $25 per person.  For the 2 of us this saved $100.  I almost always find something in Cruise Planner drops in price before a cruise.  I keep a note on my phone with what I pay for each item on the Cruise Planner for each cruise.  Then it just takes me a few minutes a week to do a quick check of the current prices and make any changes if needed.  

[cajinyank]

5 hours ago, zooma said:

 

For all of you who are nimble about switching cabins for savings, do you just do that online by cancelling and starting a new booking, or do you call RC and have a rep do it? (Assuming you are not using a travel agent as of yet.)

I called my TA and he changed it. It only the second cruise i have used a TA i am getting some Inc with the price

[Esmerelda]

I’m going to post again.  We saved $450 off our September Allure sailing.  We saved $35 per night on our Hilton stay (2 nights), AND on our SW flights (2 one way tickets)...we got a credit of $45 each on our return flight and just the other day $34 each on our outbound flight.  So far, we are up to $678 that we have shaved off our trip.  CHA CHING😁