Trying to understand pricing

[Ms BumbleBee]

I realize this is specific to my cruise and probably varies but I am still puzzled.  I am on the Joy for a May cruise to Alaska and the ship is not sold out.  Since final payment there has been a bit of shifting but for the most part every category is open except for the Haven and some a couple in each main category.  What is interesting is prices have gone down Mini Suite and below significantly but Concierge and the two Haven categories have gone up.  Significantly up since the week of payment.

 

I am trying to understand why unless it is because they try to fill Concierge / Haven with bidding versus outright purchase.  I am in Concierge and was looking at Haven but the price has gone up $1000 more per person then what it was at payment date. I start to wonder if they are jacking up prices to get higher bids and are less interested in getting new people on for these categories and instead attempt to get upgrades to spend more and fill the lower prices with people looking for a last minute deal.

[4774Papa]

1 hour ago, Ms BumbleBee said:

I realize this is specific to my cruise and probably varies but I am still puzzled.  I am on the Joy for a May cruise to Alaska and the ship is not sold out.  Since final payment there has been a bit of shifting but for the most part every category is open except for the Haven and some a couple in each main category.  What is interesting is prices have gone down Mini Suite and below significantly but Concierge and the two Haven categories have gone up.  Significantly up since the week of payment.

 

I am trying to understand why unless it is because they try to fill Concierge / Haven with bidding versus outright purchase.  I am in Concierge and was looking at Haven but the price has gone up $1000 more per person then what it was at payment date. I start to wonder if they are jacking up prices to get higher bids and are less interested in getting new people on for these categories and instead attempt to get upgrades to spend more and fill the lower prices with people looking for a last minute deal.

I think NCL is more likely to sail with empty cabins that cut its prices that much.  NCL has done a lot of things that are driving us away to other lines in the last three years.

[BirdTravels]

NCL never sails empty. Their Yield Management system will continually adjust prices to maximize revenue on the cruise. (Just like any airline). If a cabin class is in high demand, and the computer thinks that they can sell the room at a higher retail price, the price goes up. If the computer thinks that rooms will remain empty at the current price, the rates go down. 
 

NCL does not hold rooms for bidding. There is no business rationale to hold a room for a discounted rate when you can sell it for full price. 
 

There will always be a big difference between the cost of Concierge rooms and Haven rooms. Concierge rooms are just bigger balcony rooms with a few minor perks (La Cucina for breakfast and lunch). They don’t even meet the standards of non-Haven suites on small ships. 

Edited February 23, 2020 by BirdTravels

[Ms BumbleBee]

43 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

NCL never sails empty. Their Yield Management system will continually adjust prices to maximize revenue on the cruise. (Just like any airline). If a cabin class is in high demand, and the computer thinks that they can sell the room at a higher retail price, the price goes up. If the computer thinks that rooms will remain empty at the current price, the rates go down. 
 

NCL does not hold rooms for bidding. There is no business rationale to hold a room for a discounted rate when you can sell it for full price. 
 

There will always be a big difference between the cost of Concierge rooms and Haven rooms. Concierge rooms are just bigger balcony rooms with a few minor perks (La Cucina for breakfast and lunch). They don’t even meet the standards of non-Haven suites on small ships. 

 

I understand that - what I am saying is that all prices mini suite and below have gone down significantly and the Haven and Concierge have jumped since final payment.  If they are not trying to get higher bids  then it makes no sense why the inventory numbers of available rooms for Concierge and Haven have stayed about the same in the last month while the prices keep climbing vs the other categories going down and rooms filling up.

 

I moved from a mini suite to a Concierge right before final payment when Concierge actually went down so the difference between my Mini Suite and Concierge was $4 a person.   For me the higher deck and a bit more room was worth it.  I don’t really care about the perks.   Then after final payment they went up $500-$1500 more than when I made my change.  Only reason I really noticed

[Ms BumbleBee]

1 hour ago, 4774Papa said:

I think NCL is more likely to sail with empty cabins that cut its prices that much.  NCL has done a lot of things that are driving us away to other lines in the last three years.

I hope they do - more room for us but they raised the prices significantly on these right after payment and they are still sitting unclaimed.  I assume that once bidding starts they will fill up.

[adam_s_allen]

I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Haven rooms go down in price. There just isn’t that many rooms in comparison and if they don’t get sold at full price I’m sure they have lots of bids to upgrade to them.

[klscaz]

1 hour ago, adam_s_allen said:

I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Haven rooms go down in price. There just isn’t that many rooms in comparison and if they don’t get sold at full price I’m sure they have lots of bids to upgrade to them.

The Haven rooms were reduced this week on my 4/18 transatlantic cruise on the Escape. Lots of availability.

[smplybcause]

You also have to take into account there's less total of haven rooms. I'm making up numbers but if there 50 Haven rooms but 1000 minisuites and both are only 80% booked that's only 10 Haven rooms yet 200 minisuites. Haven are harder to sell at a higher price point but selling 200 is harder than selling 10. 

 

Plus if they discount Haven too much that could potentially be a lot of obc they pass out to those that booked before final. 

[FranknBeans]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

NCL never sails empty. Their Yield Management system will continually adjust prices to maximize revenue on the cruise. (Just like any airline). If a cabin class is in high demand, and the computer thinks that they can sell the room at a higher retail price, the price goes up. If the computer thinks that rooms will remain empty at the current price, the rates go down. 
 

NCL does not hold rooms for bidding. There is no business rationale to hold a room for a discounted rate when you can sell it for full price. 
 

There will always be a big difference between the cost of Concierge rooms and Haven rooms. Concierge rooms are just bigger balcony rooms with a few minor perks (La Cucina for breakfast and lunch). They don’t even meet the standards of non-Haven suites on small ships. 

 

I agree totally.   Ncl will also offer incentives and price reductions to cruises out of say Miami as my relatives often sail at reduce prices out of MI. as they have a condo there. So I would imagine they do the same from other ports.

 

Cruise prices all over are getting expensive. We used to do 24 to 28 days a year now we are down to 14.

Edited February 23, 2020 by FranknBeans
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