Venting......

[Mudhen]

Just saw that Windstar discounted our cruise by 200$ per passenger. Of course, we're already booked, paid in full....sigh.

I know there isn't anything I can do about this (our TA tried) other than cancel and rebook which I'm not going to do, but it just doesn't

seem fair. Booking ahead (like they want you to do) means being penalized. I would've been (really) happy with a little

bone like a miniscule OBC.....

sigh.....guess I should just wait till the last minute.......

[msears101]

Sorry about that. It stinks when it happens

 

I have always been able to to get the "better" price with Windstar, even after final payment as close as 3 weeks before departure.  The one catch is that it is like a new booking - technically it is a cancel and rebook without penalty.  Previous perks are all lost, any new perks you will get.  

 

My other experience is that cruises tend to stay the same price, and just options are added and subtracted.  Sometimes at the last minute they do go on sale, and a few sales are real, but most time it is just adding and and deleting options that appeal to what different people want.

 

For me personally - I just book when the price and dates are right for me - so I never have buyers remorse.  I typically do "bare bones".  Most of their perks do not mean much to me.  So I have always "floated" down to the lowest price.

 

Booking late means fewer good cabin are available.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

So far no one has complained about the unfairness when the prices on their cruise go up 

[Mudhen]

I didn't think they could raise a price on a cruise that was already booked, much less paid in full......am I wrong on that?

[milepig]

Just now, Mudhen said:

I didn't think they could raise a price on a cruise that was already booked, much less paid in full......am I wrong on that?

 

I think Jazzbeau meant that we don't complain when we "got a deal" and would have paid more if we'd waited until later.

 

So, it's OK if the price later goes up and we paid less.

So, we shouldn't complain when the price goes down and we can'g get the lower price.

 

Once you're booked (even with just the deposit) WS will never change your price.

[Mudhen]

Thank you....got it. 

I guess it's like buying that wonderful sweater for full price, only to see it go on sale the day after you bought it!

However, I still like the sweater...ah, cruise(haha!) so I can deal!! Not liking it, but dealing!!!!

[jaxbandit]

I feel your pain!  My cruise was just discounted $1300 a person and I had also made my final payment.  I called Windstar and they will not do an adjustment without a 50% cancellation fee.  Unhappy....

[Mudhen]

OMG! I'm so very sorry! That's horrible! 

In that case, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.....

ugh....

[fishin' musician]

It's a crap shoot.  If you have the luxury of booking last minute you MAY be able to take advantage of unfilled staterooms that often get severely discounted after the final payment deadline.  The disadvantage may be the location of the stateroom and that air fares may be much higher.  The price of my upcoming cruise was cut in half... the emotional side of me is a bit testy, but the logical side says the price was fair when I plunked down the dough, so it remains fair and the fact that I can swing vacations like this is an incredible blessing. 

Edited June 10, 2019 by fishin' musician

[milepig]

24 minutes ago, jaxbandit said:

I feel your pain!  My cruise was just discounted $1300 a person and I had also made my final payment.  I called Windstar and they will not do an adjustment without a 50% cancellation fee.  Unhappy....

 

I the case of the sweater I'd just bring the receipt and ask for the sale price - in stores they'll often honor the price if the purchase was close - and one time a store gave me the price with a wink, saying "this stuff is all going on a 40% sale tomorrow, I'm putting in through now.

 

In the case of WS, the terms are very clear that once you've made the final payment you're done. Sometimes you lose. I tend to not look at the prices once I've committed since I know I'll just get a little upset.

[Misty Morning]

I would never book too far in advance unless it was a very special sailing I knew would likely sell out. Most of time we now book once the 90 day price guarantee expires

[milepig]

We almost always book when we’re leaving the last one, getting the recent cruiser credit. 

[drneal]

I started out over $5000/person

I followed it and got down to $4,000 pp

it felt like a lot of work to rebook and call and wait for a response

My last call was at 92 days out

they gave me $300 pp on board credit and the rest in a future cruise credit

 

the worst was when they cancelled my cruise after it was charted

They did right by me and gave me a credit and paid for the airfare change

 

I booked over a year out and paid a deposit and like Muden I don't want to feel like I should have waited. For $200 Windstar can give an on board credit and have a happy customer. Why should a passenger have a negative feeling before they step foot on the ship ?

 

From what I see on CC I’m sure you’ll have a great cruise but for what it’s worth you’re not alone 

 

I doubt speaking to the main office will do much but perhaps it’s worth speaking to someone once your on the ship. Maybe you’ll get a bottle of wine or some other token of goodwill 

[milepig]

5 minutes ago, drneal said:

I started out over $5000/person

I followed it and got down to $4,000 pp

it felt like a lot of work to rebook and call and wait for a response

My last call was at 92 days out

they gave me $300 pp on board credit and the rest in a future cruise credit

 

the worst was when they cancelled my cruise after it was charted

They did right by me and gave me a credit and paid for the airfare change

 

I booked over a year out and paid a deposit and like Muden I don't want to feel like I should have waited. For $200 Windstar can give an on board credit and have a happy customer. Why should a passenger have a negative feeling before they step foot on the ship ?

 

From what I see on CC I’m sure you’ll have a great cruise but for what it’s worth you’re not alone 

 

I doubt speaking to the main office will do much but perhaps it’s worth speaking to someone once your on the ship. Maybe you’ll get a bottle of wine or some other token of goodwill 

 

This is classic why I use a TA. Apologies if you did and they failed you. Mine is like a dog with a bone and he had access to people at WS I don’t. 

[Cometman]

 

I booked our upcoming cruise 10 months before departure and weekly logged on to the website to see rate changes.

 

My initial cabin price pp was $4599, 3 months later it went to $3299,  2 months later $2999.... each time re-booked it- they changed me $50 fee pp each time, but gave that back to me in SBC. Average time on the phone with WS per change- 10 minutes. Totally worth my time.

 

Your TA won't do that for you, I always book directly with WS. I am 117 days out... looking each week for that last deal.

 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Cometman

[CruiseOrLand]

I don't have a problem with a vendor seeking to maximize their income from "wasting assets". It's simply important for US to learn how the price moves before you make an irrevocable decision.

 

We know that airline tickets virtually never go down as the departure date approaches. (In fact, there are reports of involuntary moves to middle seats for low-price early purchasers with seat assignments ...  It even happened to us in Business Class on Emirates!) But there are cases in the secondary market (I mean, Stubhub and the like, where someone other than the original vendor now owns the asset) where event tickets are much cheaper the day or night of the event, as "speculators" (or sports subscribers who plan from the moment of purchase, to sell half their subscription to "pay" for their own desired nights ... ) have to unload their product before its value evaporates.

 

After a year of getting Windstar emails and random visits to the website, you can get an idea of how their prices move. And as you age from working to retirement, your flexibility on time-decisions can increase. You can even get to the point where cancellation insurance is unimportant because the travel is so close-in. (You still need health and delay coverage, typically.)

[ducklite]

13 hours ago, Misty Morning said:

I would never book too far in advance unless it was a very special sailing I knew would likely sell out. Most of time we now book once the 90 day price guarantee expires

We always book the cheap seats cabins.  They sell out quickly, and this is where cabin choice can really impact your cruise due to noise, curve of the ship, etc.  For this reason we book early.  We do the same thing with airfare so we can choose the best seats.  There are only so many exit row and bulkhead seats with extra leg room (even for a price).  

[new_cruiser]

9 hours ago, Cometman said:

 

I booked our upcoming cruise 10 months before departure and weekly logged on to the website to see rate changes.

 

My initial cabin price pp was $4599, 3 months later it went to $3299,  2 months later $2999.... each time re-booked it- they changed me $50 fee pp each time, but gave that back to me in SBC. Average time on the phone with WS per change- 10 minutes. Totally worth my time.

 

Your TA won't do that for you, I always book directly with WS. I am 117 days out... looking each week for that last deal.

 

My TA does that for me. When I see a price drop during the Price assurance time, I drop her an email & she takes care of it. Plus, I get OBC from the TA. 

[milepig]

16 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

My TA does that for me. When I see a price drop during the Price assurance time, I drop her an email & she takes care of it. Plus, I get OBC from the TA. 

 

Same here. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Ditto.  If you think TAs don't do this, you have dealt with poor TAs.

[milepig]

And they even have a TA program that they've recently enhanced. I stumbled across this when searching for something else;

 

https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/windstar-launches-new-travel-agent-rewards-program

 

Sorry about the obnoxious overlay ad.

[Bluebird2x]

I feel the pain of the OP.  If you are fairly new to this game, it can feel sort of random re how different cruise lines handle this.  My story:  booked 7 months out with the knowledge that WS had some kind of price assurance policy, but hazy on details.  Three weeks later, I spotted a $300 price drop on my cabin and contacted my TA (why don’t they have an auto program to check price drops?).  She contacted WS, got new invoice for new price with the $50 charge and credit back.  Sounds good.  94 days out, they drop the price another $700...this time, not easy...first sent me only a credit for next trip that was way below what I would have expected.  Read price assuance policy carefully and found one place on website says 90 days and another 120...either way, should have been better.  Eventually my TA was able to speak with a different WS person who was taken aback at how we were treated and immediately issued $300 on board.  I am happy. Then a few weeks later, I look again and yet another big price drop, bring it $1300 below what I had paid...I figured, so what..live and learn, don’t book early etc.  Then, I get an email offering a cabin upgrade for another $200, which would have had me paying even more than what others were paying, I suggested they give me a free upgrade and sell my lower cost cabin to someone looking for a bargain, and they did!

[Petoonya]

It's probably stupid but I book what I book and don't look back- at least that much. Bluebird 2X is probably a lot smarter. We last booked  Wind Spirit of which there are probably not a whole lot of price drops but my agent was able to get a few helps. Overall I feel within reason the cruise and price is what I was willing to pay so oh well. Not that I DIDN'T WATCH up to the end, but it would not have made a difference if I couldn't have obtained the best price. Just wanted to go! But learning a lot from everyone here.

[Host Jazzbeau]

27 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

It's probably stupid but I book what I book and don't look back- at least that much. Bluebird 2X is probably a lot smarter. We last booked  Wind Spirit of which there are probably not a whole lot of price drops but my agent was able to get a few helps. Overall I feel within reason the cruise and price is what I was willing to pay so oh well. Not that I DIDN'T WATCH up to the end, but it would not have made a difference if I couldn't have obtained the best price. Just wanted to go! But learning a lot from everyone here.

 

I book cruises as soon as they open up [I'm fully booked for 2020 except for one land trip that hasn't opened the 2020 books yet, but that's not so important because there is no cabin selection on a land trip].  If the price goes down, I try to get the discount and have sometimes profited very nicely [especially on a Celebrity cruise in the Med the year of the first Paris terrorist attack] but I really don't expect anything – especially from the smaller lines like Windstar or Ponant.  Securing the exact cabin I want and being able to line up airfare and shore excursions is more important that getting the lowest price onboard.  And – much more often than seeing prices go down, I have happily watched them go UP or have my cabin category sell out. So I will continue to book early and let the chips fall where they may.  If the price was fair when I booked, it is still fair now [even if others get a bargain].

[westchestermom]

This just happened to us. We waited until what we thought was the last minute (less than three weeks before sailing) and, on June 12th, booked the cabin we wanted, which was on sale for $1,999pp so no past cruiser discount. Three days later, on June 15th, that category (probably the other cabins at that level we didn't book 😞 ) was advertised for $200pp less than what we paid. I immediately called my TA who called Windstar and they offered nothing. I wasn't asking for a price adjustment, just something to recognize that we were talking about 3 days and that this is our 4th Windstar cruise. I know it's not 20, but geez, I thought maybe they'd throw in laundry or a little OBC to keep a previous customer happy.

 

I emailed Guest Services (only for post-cruise issues apparently), was shunted to Reservations Management, and told they would contact my TA, which they have yet to do. Of course ,we did get a good deal, and I'm thrilled we're going, but even today they told my TA (she called them) that the ship was sold out and I went online and saw then offering availability in three separate price categories. Won't keep me from sailing Windstar but it's left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well, I'm sure the beauty of Alaska will more than compensate!