A cabin for next to nothing?

[Tarquin]

A few years back, on a now defunct general travel forum, an elderly gentleman put a post up about his epic journeys around the world for silly money.

 

With no commitments, no ties, all the time in the world and a ready packed suitcase, he would contact the cruise companies and make it known that he would happily fill an empty cabin within hours of departure........if the price was right.

He spoke of £3k month long cruises being advertised for £2k which, as the clock ticked and time ran out he would secure for a few hundred pounds.

'Better they have a full ship and my onboard spend than empty cabins' he would say.............

 

Does anybody know if this sort of thing still happens?

[Harry Peterson]

Prices can and do drop quite substantially just before a ship sails, but dynamic pricing over the last few years has cut out most, if not all, of those last-minute bargains that used to happen - very accurate computer predictions have more or less got rid of them.

 

Not so long ago you could pick up 14 nights for around £499 at the last minute, but I suspect those days are gone now.

[the english lady]

I also think security has stopped the very last minute run up and join the ship at a moments notice.

 

[Pink-belle]

We booked late Thursday afternoon to sail on Britannia today, certainly not a last minute “bargain” Fluid pricing has seen in end to that, in my recent experience  best rices seem to be at launch.

 

i did ask P&O how late you can book and he told me he had booked people on the same day as sailing, if there is room they will take your money, but prices can go up as well as down.

 

very happy to be sailing today, but not the usual relaxing start to a cruise, still got things to do before we set off to Southampton. Just printing e tickets and luggage labels.

[yorkshirephil]

Since we retired we have had some good deals as we can go at late notice. As already said the offers are fewer and farther between than they used to be. You do get the occasional cruise at £40-£50 per night, but they tend to be on the cheaper lines such as CMV, Costa, MSC or Pullmanar. We went last year for 33 nights to the Caribbean and paid £1500, 2 of our table companions got the cruise the week after for £1350 (2 weeks before the cruise) the cruise was not full but the price never went below £1350 to tempt anyone to fill the last few cabins. So maybe the cruise line sets a minimum to discourage people to hang on for a lower price? You also have to remember you will only usually get what's left as the best cabins and preferred dinner seating will have been booked.

[Tarquin]

Thank you all.

 

This is not for me, but for a friend who could do with a cheap break with fairly certain known costs.

[wowzz]

40 minutes ago, Tarquin said:

Thank you all.

 

This is not for me, but for a friend who could do with a cheap break with fairly certain known costs.

I would contact a couple of specialist cruise agencies, and keep in touch with them on a regular basis regarding possible last minute offers. However,  I think the days of getting a last minute bargain are long gone  - the dreaded algorithms have put paid to that.

[Selbourne]

I only have knowledge of P&O, but on our first cruise (Oriana 1996) there were people at the terminal with packed cases who had not booked on the cruise and were hoping for cancellations and no shows! As to what sort of deals they had or, indeed, whether or not they even got on the cruise, I have no idea!

 

In recent years (and I should stress that I am only referring to Select prices) the launch prices have never been bettered prior to launch. Whilst there is some logic to the assumption (still held by many) that fluid pricing should mean that it will be possible, at some time or other, to grab a bargain for less than the launch price, the facts have never supported this. Some of this myth was fuelled by a cruise price tracker website (no longer in existence) but the info on this site was inaccurate. Much to my frustration, we have to book at launch in order to secure an accessible cabin (I don’t want to have to book holidays more 2 years in advance) and the price tracker sites often showed that prices had fallen below launch price. The issue was that we had always paid less than the quoted launch price and less than the lowest shown on the tracker!

 

Others will be better placed to comment on Saver fares. We don’t book them as we want specific cabins and dining, not what is left over. We also wouldn’t want to cruise in an inside cabin and I suspect that there is the odd bargain to be had with these. However, the Select price we have paid at launch (for a specific cabin and confirmed first choice dining) has often been less than the Saver prices closer to launch for uncertain cabin locations and dining. 

 

If P&O adopted fixed pricing, with the same price from launch right through to sail date, we would cruise more, including at short notice (now that we are retired). However, as they don’t, I can’t bring myself to book a cruise when I know that the price was so much cheaper at launch.

 

I do predict, however, that all of this may change with the arrival of Iona and Iona 2 (whatever she will be called). With 5500 beds to fill every week or two on very repetitive cruises, with a lot of traditionalists refusing to go on them, I think that there could be some last minute bargains, even though Iona is offering much cheaper cruises than the other ships to start with. 

[Officeboy]

On 8/17/2019 at 12:22 PM, yorkshirephil said:

Since we retired we have had some good deals as we can go at late notice. As already said the offers are fewer and farther between than they used to be. You do get the occasional cruise at £40-£50 per night, but they tend to be on the cheaper lines such as CMV, Costa, MSC or Pullmanar. We went last year for 33 nights to the Caribbean and paid £1500, 2 of our table companions got the cruise the week after for £1350 (2 weeks before the cruise) the cruise was not full but the price never went below £1350 to tempt anyone to fill the last few cabins. So maybe the cruise line sets a minimum to discourage people to hang on for a lower price? You also have to remember you will only usually get what's left as the best cabins and preferred dinner seating will have been booked.

Looking at a well known USA travel site there are discounts up to 85% and not necessarily near sailing time, sadly UK cruisers cannot take advantage of some of the well known lines offers   

[happy v]

Selbourne I totally agree about booking so far ahead.

I've just mentioned it on another thread.

[mickey89]

On 8/27/2019 at 11:05 AM, Officeboy said:

Looking at a well known USA travel site there are discounts up to 85% and not necessarily near sailing time, sadly UK cruisers cannot take advantage of some of the well known lines offers   

That only applies to Carnival Corp. owned lines.  All other are easily booked via the US.