Big Jump in Cruise Price = Bad Sign?

[A&L_Ont]

3 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

I'm not proud, I'll take help wherever I can find it.  

Admitting is the first step.  You are on the road to recovery. 😉😂

[ipeeinthepool]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Good is a relative term and I wasn’t referring to good prices.  This cover station was referring to the massive price increases for some ships.

 

take a look at this pricing for Oasis.  Up until the end of March it’s almost $3000 pp then starting in April it drops.  Many ships are like this now.  Most likely the high priced sailings will not sail.

 

As far as great deals, those are few and far between but there are still reasonably priced sailings out there.  Maybe not for the ship or itinerary and time you want but there are some. 

 

Thanks for the clarification.  I'm still not sure I understand the benefit to Royal for raising prices on cruises that they will likely cancel.  On the surface, some people suggest that this practice allows RCL to hold more of your money because they need the cash reserves.  However if fewer people book at the higher prices the total amount of funds they hold for these cruises could be much less.  In addition, when they do cancel and provide the 25% bonus, that increases the amount of bonus they eventually need to pay.  It's a curious pricing strategy, particularly when the RCL cruises are looking much more expensive than similar cruises from other cruise lines.

[Ken at the beach]

3 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Thanks for the clarification.  I'm still not sure I understand the benefit to Royal for raising prices on cruises that they will likely cancel.  On the surface, some people suggest that this practice allows RCL to hold more of your money because they need the cash reserves.  However if fewer people book at the higher prices the total amount of funds they hold for these cruises could be much less.  In addition, when they do cancel and provide the 25% bonus, that increases the amount of bonus they eventually need to pay.  It's a curious pricing strategy, particularly when the RCL cruises are looking much more expensive than similar cruises from other cruise lines.

I look at it as they have raised the prices so drastically on some sailings that no one is going to book them and instead will look to lower priced options for that same time period.  Why would you book Oasis when you could book Harmony for half the price.  That way when they do cancel some sailings they have the few people that are booking on the ships they plan on sailing.

 

it’s basically a round about way of closing the sailings to new bookings without actually closing them. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[LuCruise]

So in conclusion...can count on yet another cruise being cancelled.  Sigh....

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

So in conclusion...can count on yet another cruise being cancelled.  Sigh....

Four nights on the Mariner in an inside on January 11, 2021 is now $1,923.  We are positive it is going to be canceled, and it does support that theory.

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

You might want to think about this:  

 

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
And Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

 

Unless people start reacting to the huge price differences, the prices will stay inflated.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/theloveboatlyrics.html

I agree but what are people to do if they have FCC’s?  I honestly think extremely inflated prices are there to discourage bookings.  

[Sunshine3601]

We have several sailings booked out of Cape Liberty from March thru Sept 2021 and all of them have gone up.  Some more than double the price.   They dont drop until september/october.  

Empress sailings out of NJ are very expensive!!

[Milwaukee Eight]

A ship sailing at 50% capacity or less is attractive to us. Especially on the Oasis Class ships. 
 

Wouldn’t one think with higher prices it could eliminate a fair amount  of frequent cruisers?  Maybe Royal should offer 4x points. 😇

 

M8

Edited November 23, 2020 by Milwaukee Eight

[firefly333]

8 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

We have several sailings booked out of Cape Liberty from March thru Sept 2021 and all of them have gone up.  Some more than double the price.   They dont drop until september/october.  

Empress sailings out of NJ are very expensive!!

I'd worry about any sailings out of ny just based on how carnival has blacked them out for so long into the future. Their booking engine easier than rcl for me., ny and calif will probably be among the last to restart. It takes more days to reach some place from ny, more cost to rcl. NY more closed down. I can go to Galveston and eat at a restaurant before my cruise I bet a lot easier than ny. 

[Sunshine3601]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'd worry about any sailings out of ny just based on how carnival has blacked them out for so long into the future. Their booking engine easier than rcl for me., ny and calif will probably be among the last to restart. It takes more days to reach some place from ny, more cost to rcl. NY more closed down. I can go to Galveston and eat at a restaurant before my cruise I bet a lot easier than ny. 

Cape Liberty is in New Jersey.   They regularly do 4 to 7 night sailings to Bermuda, bahamas and canada.  

Of course they usually have 9 to 12 night sailings to caribbean but we all know they arent allowed to start.

Cape liberty is a very easy port for many to drive to.  

I'm in Pa about a 2 hr drive to cape liberty or baltimore.  

[LuCruise]

Oasis out of NJ leaving the same day as our 5 night Freedom still seems to be "reasonably" priced.

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Cape Liberty is in New Jersey.   They regularly do 4 to 7 night sailings to Bermuda, bahamas and canada.  

Of course they usually have 9 to 12 night sailings to caribbean but we all know they arent allowed to start.

Cape liberty is a very easy port for many to drive to.  

I'm in Pa about a 2 hr drive to cape liberty or baltimore.  

I still would guess that area will be behind florida and texas. I could be wrong, but still the news indicates that whole area of the NE is more locked up than florida and texas. I havent been there true, just how the news sounds. .. though texas we still have a big problem on the mexico border to solve that the vaccine wouldnt help if mexicans crossing in daily. 

 

But then all my cruise prices went up when they announced double pts in 2021, seemed to lift all prices of my cruises. 

 

All prices are up imo.

[travelhound]

On 11/22/2020 at 8:11 AM, LuCruise said:

We have a 5 night Bermuda cruise booked end of August.  Since booking, I have noticed that price for this cruise changes regularly...usually for the better.  

Today however, there is a huge increase in price and our room is almost $1500 more than we booked.

 

Is this a bad sign? 

 

Maybe they want to prevent more bookings as the cruise is unlikely to sale?  It's a 5 night but not sure if Bermuda is unlikely to open for cruise ships.

 

Or maybe it's just getting close to the maximum capacity to allow for social distancing?

 

Or maybe they are getting ready for Black Friday "sales" so they can put it on sale and have it be close to current price?

 

I understand it going up and down by small amounts, but $1500 is a huge change (and it's not just our stateroom category...it has increased across the board)

It's supply versus demand.  The cruise ships are getting full.

[Sunshine3601]

41 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I still would guess that area will be behind florida and texas. I could be wrong, but still the news indicates that whole area of the NE is more locked up than florida and texas. I havent been there true, just how the news sounds. .. though texas we still have a big problem on the mexico border to solve that the vaccine wouldnt help if mexicans crossing in daily. 

 

But then all my cruise prices went up when they announced double pts in 2021, seemed to lift all prices of my cruises. 

 

All prices are up imo.

I'm in Pa and no lockdowns here, yet.  I can go to a bar or indoor dining, gym salon.  Kids at school, etc. Same for NJ.   

Sure if cases continue to worsen as I suspect they will after Thanksgiving then we may restart restrictions.

We just dont have the weather for restaurants to survive with outdoor dining and everyone inside bars and restaurants is a proven problem with covid.

But like everyone else we wait for the vaccine.  

Of course rcl will start up with sailings out of Florida first for many reasons but I expect rcl will be sailing out of  NJ by next Spring,,,April or May is my guess right now.  

Edited November 23, 2020 by Sunshine3601

[Ken at the beach]

2 hours ago, travelhound said:

It's supply versus demand.  The cruise ships are getting full.

Not even close to being full for the vast majority of sailings

[travelhound]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Not even close to being full for the vast majority of sailings

I can't speak for all ships, but on our sailing the categories are filling up.  There is very little availability left on the ship.  I have been checking daily, hoping for a price reduction.

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Oasis out of NJ leaving the same day as our 5 night Freedom still seems to be "reasonably" priced.

I was just playing and trying some mock bookings and some weeks in July are more expensive than middle/end of August for the 5 nighter to Bermuda on Freedom.     I'm booked on Freedom for a b2b 5 nights each then a 9 nighter to Canada in September.     No idea whether we will be allowed to do a b2b yet and no idea whether they will change the 9 night to a 7 night or cancel.      A lot can happen in the next 9 months, hopefully for the better!  

I'm happy with the prices when we booked and not expecting to see any reprice options but if they do come up, I will jump on it!

[reallyitsmema]

30 minutes ago, travelhound said:

I can't speak for all ships, but on our sailing the categories are filling up.  There is very little availability left on the ship.  I have been checking daily, hoping for a price reduction.

 

From your posts, you are on March 28th Allure which looks to have lots of cabins available.  How many are in your cabin?  I just looked using a site that shows many more cabins than then cruise line's site and saw more cabins than I was willing to count.

[Ken at the beach]

8 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

From your posts, you are on March 28th Allure which looks to have lots of cabins available.  How many are in your cabin?  I just looked using a site that shows many more cabins than then cruise line's site and saw more cabins than I was willing to count.

That’s the thing.  Royal’s website really limits at times the cabins that you see.  You also need to look at double occupancy cabins as there are limited quads to begin with. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[travelhound]

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That’s the thing.  Royal’s website really limits at times the cabins that you see.  You also need to look at double occupancy cabins as there are limited quads to begin with. 

That's a good point, we are looking at quads.

[reallyitsmema]

15 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That’s the thing.  Royal’s website really limits at times the cabins that you see.  You also need to look at double occupancy cabins as there are limited quads to begin with. 

 

I looked at doubles but also cabins for 3 as he spoke of a daughter in one thread.  Lots of cabins though some suite categories are sold out.

[Arizona Wildcat]

57 minutes ago, travelhound said:

I can't speak for all ships, but on our sailing the categories are filling up.  There is very little availability left on the ship.  I have been checking daily, hoping for a price reduction.

Have a summer cruise booked.  Verandas are shown as sold out.  However when asked if we could move to have a cabin near our son and wife they gave multiple choices.  

Seems the cruiselines are blocking some 25-50% of cabins.

[travelhound]

5 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Have a summer cruise booked.  Verandas are shown as sold out.  However when asked if we could move to have a cabin near our son and wife they gave multiple choices.  

Seems the cruiselines are blocking some 25-50% of cabins.

I think the reduced capacity is a given, due to the Covid restrictions.  That said, it will be nice to reduce some of the congestion on the larger ships.

[PigsCanFly]

11 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I'm in Pa and no lockdowns here, yet.  I can go to a bar or indoor dining, gym salon.  Kids at school, etc. Same for NJ.   

Sure if cases continue to worsen as I suspect they will after Thanksgiving then we may restart restrictions.

We just dont have the weather for restaurants to survive with outdoor dining and everyone inside bars and restaurants is a proven problem with covid.

But like everyone else we wait for the vaccine.  

Of course rcl will start up with sailings out of Florida first for many reasons but I expect rcl will be sailing out of  NJ by next Spring,,,April or May is my guess right now.  

Being from PA, when do you expect Port of Baltimore to open from cruising?  Any estimate as to how long it will take once they decide to open?  Our early Jan '21 is looking pretty bleak.

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, PigsCanFly said:

Being from PA, when do you expect Port of Baltimore to open from cruising?  Any estimate as to how long it will take once they decide to open?  Our early Jan '21 is looking pretty bleak.

My guess is summer at earliest for Baltimore port.  The problem with Baltimore is they can only handle the smaller ships such as grandeur and enchantment due to height restrictions with bridge all ships have to go under.

January will be cancelled probably for everyone in US.  I'm waiting for rcl to announce my jan 9th cancellation so I can get cash refund.

Rcl plan is to reopen with just a couple ships out of Florida first then add other ports/ ships after several successful sailings.  

NJ port cape liberty can handle quantum and oasis class ships so you may want to look at sailings from that port for next summer.  

Easier for rcl to control social distancing on larger ships and they run more efficient.