Why is the Greenland cruise so much more than other 14 day cruises?

[Eli_6]

I have been looking at the 2024 Greenland cruises and doing some mock bookings and have been a bit shocked by the price tag compared to what a similar room is on even a 12 days cruise in Europe or a TA.  

[crooooze]

Probably because there is limited cruises. 

The cost was about $1000 cheaper on Cyber Mon earlier this week than it is now. (Total cost for OV w/2 pax) Perhaps a future sale will lower it again.

Edited December 2, 2022 by crooooze

[ProgRockCruiser]

Supply vs Demand.

 

Carnival knows they have a fairly limited offering here.  May as well maximize return, otherwise it is just lost opportunity.

 

From a business POV, it makes sense.

 

From a pax who wants to sail POV, it is tough to swallow.

 

But I bet they sell out without offering too many sales.

[shof515]

these type of cruises sell out very fast, usually within the first week or so of bookings becoming available. the higher pricing you see now  is due to lack of room availably in certain category's 

[toad455]

As much as I'd love to do this cruise, it is a bit disappointing to see the cruise isn't spending all that much time in the two ports. I'd prefer an overnight in one of them and nix one of the Canadian ports.

[mz-s]

If sales are slow, prices will fall.

[Jamman54]

9 minutes ago, mz-s said:

If sales are slow, prices will fall.

Don't think that will happen though.😎

[Itried4498]

They’re probably priced higher due to anticipated demand, although I agree we’re likely to see lower sale fares.

 

Carnival Journeys are historically priced high.  Hawaii, for example, is typically priced double that of Princess’ average fare and Princess is generally a day or two longer, and stops at all four islands (Carnival usually makes an equal number of port stops but two on the Big Island and one at Kauai).  And while I love the Miracle, it’s not my first choice to sail to Hawaii in.  

[BlerkOne]

People will overpay for Carnival - there are other cruise lines that visit both Greenland and Iceland. One of those would be my first choice.

[barante]

It's supply and demand.

We were on a late-September Legend cruise to Iceland and Greenland in 2013. With the ship at one point going dark so we could enjoy northern lights, it was a rare treat. (We later went on a HAL Iceland/Greenland cruise, but it was earlier in the season and no northern lights could be seen).

  During that 2013 cruise, Brand Ambassador John Heald said Greenland cruises would be offered in the future. It took all this time for it to happen.

  When next summer's cruise was first announced, it sold out in hours. Another sailing was added and then a third one. All sailing from Baltimore.

   Greenland cruise offerings are quite rare. That, and their popularity, explain the steep pricing.

Edited December 3, 2022 by barante

[RD64]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

People will overpay for Carnival - there are other cruise lines that visit both Greenland and Iceland. One of those would be my first choice.

That is because there are those people that will only sail with Carnival  because they feel that Carnival actually values their patronage.

[crzndeb]

When Royal came out with their Sept/2023 14 night Greenland cruise, it was 1/2 the price of Carnival. Had friends cancel Carnival and save $2k.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

13 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Carnival Journeys are historically priced high.  

Maybe now (well, definitely now ☹️), but in the past I've been able to book Journeys cruises for some nice prices.  There's no telling when those days will come again.

[shof515]

13 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

Carnival Journeys are historically priced high. 

i do not noticed this. i got a decent price on journey cruises in the past and the veneiza journey cruises out of NYC seems to be decent price now. journey cruise is about the same price as typical 8 day cruise

[toad455]

I think the Journey cruises by Carnival are priced so high is because they don't tend to offer many long cruises. Realistically, they don't go much longer than an 8-day cruise for Carnival. Other lines frequently offer 9 to 14 day cruises.

[mz-s]

15 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Don't think that will happen though.😎

 

Several 2024 cruises I've been looking at have gone down in price over the past few months. Granted part of that may be casino offers, I'm not certain.

 

But I do doubt the Greenland cruises will go down in price. But if they do, price match. Low risk.

[Jamman54]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

Several 2024 cruises I've been looking at have gone down in price over the past few months. Granted part of that may be casino offers, I'm not certain.

 

But I do doubt the Greenland cruises will go down in price. But if they do, price match. Low risk.

We got a pretty good casino rate, so I think we won't get a better rate. The 2023 Greenland cruise are just about sold out with just some inside cabins remaining at about $1700 pp. 😎

[CILCIANRQTS]

They’re testing price elasticity (how much will people pay before the fare becomes “too expensive”) by starting out very high, since they have no clue how to price this itinerary.

They will later lower prices periodically as part of. “Skim the cream” pricing technique as the big spenders peter out and the value shoppers come sniffing.

In the end, they have maximized revenue AND determined how the public values the itinerary.

 

[Jamman54]

39 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

They’re testing price elasticity (how much will people pay before the fare becomes “too expensive”) by starting out very high, since they have no clue how to price this itinerary.

They will later lower prices periodically as part of. “Skim the cream” pricing technique as the big spenders peter out and the value shoppers come sniffing.

In the end, they have maximized revenue AND determined how the public values the itinerary.

 

They have that data since they sold three Greenland cruises for 2023. 😎

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Makes you wonder.. if they are selling out the Greenland cruises so far in advance, and at higher fares, why don't they add 1 or 2 more? At least 1 when kids aren't in school. That alone would add a lot of demand. 

[CruizinSusan70]

The offerings by Carnival include 3 Canadian port stops as well as only 2 in Greenland over 14 days RT from Baltimore.  The Jewel of the Seas offers 2 stops in Canada and 3 in Greenland over 14 days RT from Bayonne.  The Caribbean Princess offers a 16 day version with 3 stops in each country and an extra day at sea out of Brooklyn.

On paper, since Carnival only offers two stops in Greenland and since that would be the impetus of going on this cruise, it would be the lesser of the three choices, unless of course you only cruise on Carnival.  All three ships were built around the same time and the Caribbean Princess has about 25% more gross tonnage.

[Jamman54]

Checking for price drops, I see that our 2024 Greenland / Canada cruise has gone UP $1,000! 

[Pyxie]

Yes, it's expensive compared to typical Carnival pricing, but it isn't all that bad compared to many other 14 night vacations to rare locations and that's how I justified it. I have not personally seen any Greenland offers by other cruise lines for any less (and maybe they do exist, but either I haven't found them yet or they've all sold out already so I can't compare). We're going for our 20th anniversary, so I'm splurging more than I normally would.

[crazycatlady82]

On 12/3/2022 at 12:37 PM, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Makes you wonder.. if they are selling out the Greenland cruises so far in advance, and at higher fares, why don't they add 1 or 2 more? At least 1 when kids aren't in school. That alone would add a lot of demand. 

We went to Iceland and Greenland this summer on NCL (July 25-Aug 4). Even in the summer, there are a ton of icebergs and we dealt with a lot of fog. The captain spoke about how slow we had to go due to the icebergs. It is definitely not clear sailing, even in July. My guess is that to do a cruise to Greenland while school is in session, the weather would complicate things even more. We did not have a lot of kids on board, and the lido deck activities were pretty much non-existent due to the temps (40s). 

[crazycatlady82]

We booked our Greenland/Iceland NCL cruise May 2020, caught a price drop, and had 10% off due to a cancelled cruise (due to Covid). For 10 days, with their perks, and a balcony room, we paid $3800. Im an obsessive price checker, and that was the lowest I saw for a balcony-when I originally booked it, we were paying over $5000. (I know, but I had a military bonus and it was my birthday gift to myself lol). Our balcony room with the perks for two was routinely over $10,000. 
 

also, don’t buy the Wi-Fi package for a Greenland cruise. You’re going to be frustrated lol.

 

ETA: we cruised July 25-aug 4, 2022. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by crazycatlady82