40 percent off - what a joke

[TPgal]

16 hours ago, Indyopie said:

Called my TA today and saved $712 on our Med cruise in 2024!

For me, this is the fun part about booking early.   We have an Alaska cruise on the books for August 2023 at a price I was happy with.  It has dropped in price enough to cover our PBP and then some.   Anything else will be gravy.  One could argue that the pricing is infuriating, but by booking early we have the cabin we want at what feels like a fair price.  

Based on this thread though, I'll be cautious about making sure our perks stick if there are additional changes. 

Also, it's so nice to have something on the books. 

[js]

I replied to this thread in the very beginning saying all NCL "sales" are the same but I did look at the base price for my BF balcony and it went down about $130 so my TA is readjusting my fare (they give a discount on NCL fare) so I'm happy and will keep watching. I have until next summer on the Joy LOL
 

[vacation44]

18 minutes ago, js said:

I replied to this thread in the very beginning saying all NCL "sales" are the same but I did look at the base price for my BF balcony and it went down about $130 so my TA is readjusting my fare (they give a discount on NCL fare) so I'm happy and will keep watching. I have until next summer on the Joy LOL
 

I reprice the cruises I currently have booked every morning while drinking my morning coffee.  Sometimes there is a price reduction even without the promotion changing.

[gravitar]

On 7/15/2022 at 4:24 PM, AndyCapn said:

I rebooked my November cruise this morning and saved $90 for the identical cabin and perks. But someone else in another forum for that cruise said her price went up $300. 🤷‍♀️

My PCC repriced my Jan 2024 Panama Canal transit cruise and saved $400. That's about 5%.

[clojacks]

We booked a 2023 Panama Canal full transit on the Joy for next January under the just expired 70% off promo. When the 40% "new sale" came out, I did some checking and it looked like our new fare would be a small savings to us. I contacted my TA, and was told our price was the same. Doesn't 40+40= more than 70?

[SeaShark]

6 minutes ago, clojacks said:

We booked a 2023 Panama Canal full transit on the Joy for next January under the just expired 70% off promo. When the 40% "new sale" came out, I did some checking and it looked like our new fare would be a small savings to us. I contacted my TA, and was told our price was the same. Doesn't 40+40= more than 70?

 

One promo is 70% off, a different promo is 40% off. The big question is x% of off what exactly? Don't make the rookie mistake of assuming that the base price remains the same from one sale to the next. The same result can be achieved by different marketing approaches (think "buy one, get one free" vs "50% off") Cruise pricing is highly driven by supply and demand.

[clojacks]

20 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

One promo is 70% off, a different promo is 40% off. The big question is x% of off what exactly? Don't make the rookie mistake of assuming that the base price remains the same from one sale to the next. The same result can be achieved by different marketing approaches (think "buy one, get one free" vs "50% off") Cruise pricing is highly driven by supply and demand.

As most probably know, the 70% off, was off of the second guests "base fare", the 40% off, is 40% off of each guests base fare. So, without jacking up the base fare, the day the 40% off sale goes into effect, the 40% of both guests HAS to come up to a savings. If you hypothetically use $1000 dollars as the cruise cost, at 70% off the second guest, the total for 2 is $1300. At 40% off both guests, the total for 2 is $1200. This isn't rocket science, but it is kind of sneaky....

[SeaShark]

15 minutes ago, clojacks said:

As most probably know, the 70% off, was off of the second guests "base fare", the 40% off, is 40% off of each guests base fare. So, without jacking up the base fare, the day the 40% off sale goes into effect, the 40% of both guests HAS to come up to a savings. If you hypothetically use $1000 dollars as the cruise cost, at 70% off the second guest, the total for 2 is $1300. At 40% off both guests, the total for 2 is $1200. This isn't rocket science, but it is kind of sneaky....

 

Assuming the base fare remains the same is the very rookie mistake I was talking about. Cruise fares change CONSTANTLY due to supply & demand. It is foolish to think that there is some "set in stone" fare out there that everything is based on.

[clojacks]

6 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

Assuming the base fare remains the same is the very rookie mistake I was talking about. Cruise fares change CONSTANTLY due to supply & demand. It is foolish to think that there is some "set in stone" fare out there that everything is based on.

I beg to disagree. I was following a Panama Canal fare for over a week, and pulled the trigger on the last day of the 70$ sale. During that time I was watching the price, it never changed by $0.01. The next day after the 70% off ended and the 40% per cruiser started, I checked and my fare was less by a small (less than $200) amount. I emailed my TA that day, and they are telling me...the next day when they replied...that my fare was lower? I think I have a customer service person who isn't checking very closely.

[Sailing12Away]

19 hours ago, clojacks said:

I beg to disagree. I was following a Panama Canal fare for over a week, and pulled the trigger on the last day of the 70$ sale. During that time I was watching the price, it never changed by $0.01. The next day after the 70% off ended and the 40% per cruiser started, I checked and my fare was less by a small (less than $200) amount. I emailed my TA that day, and they are telling me...the next day when they replied...that my fare was lower? I think I have a customer service person who isn't checking very closely.

Checking for one week is nothing really. If you truly want to be a price hawk nerd like some of us, start a spreadsheet and track it over several months. Or... just go to cruiseplum who does just that for you.

 

My most recent sailing last May we had booked 1.5 yrs in advance. I checked the price each month, and at the highest it was double what we paid for the same room. The last 2 months before sailing the price started to plummet where it came back to what I paid, and then kept going. It all depends on the sailing, how booked it is, and how far away it is from actual sail date.

 

Unless you're sailing in the next month, checking prices daily when promotions didn't change is a bit of a waste. But over several months, there will be egregious fluctuations - especially closer to sailaway date.

[RocketMan275]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:03 AM, clojacks said:

 If you hypothetically use $1000 dollars as the cruise cost, at 70% off the second guest, the total for 2 is $1300. At 40% off both guests, the total for 2 is $1200. This isn't rocket science, but it is kind of sneaky....

Not all cruise lines use that process.  One (RCCI) does a lot of BOGOHO.  They quote the price as $1000 but the total price for two people is $2000.  One would  think that the price of the cruise would be $1000 plus $500 (half off).  But RCCI says the Half Off is already figured into the $1000 so the price of the cruise for two is twice $1000 or $2000.