Price went down 25%

[directionfinder]

Hallo,

I just found out, that the price of the cruise I booked begin of February dropped at about 25 % and includes a 1000 USD on board credit per person! 

I asked Seabourn about a price adjust, they refused, but offered an upgrade (V1 to V3 on the same deck) and 800 USD obc.

I booked direct with Seabourn Germany.

Is this the normal way how price changes are handled? 

Are all cruise lines handling it this way?

 

[markham]

The next time you want to take a cruise find and book through a travel agent with experience and a big book of Seabourn business to help you the next time. Why? Seabourn thinks it is dealing fairly with you and you think otherwise. As you do not have a travel agent involved already you can only advocate on your own behalf or consider what it would cost you net to cancel and rebook.

 

Which TAs? I know of 2 who lots of European customers- in Cape Town and Reading UK. I hope that helps.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[florisdekort]

46 minutes ago, directionfinder said:

Hallo,

I just found out, that the price of the cruise I booked begin of February dropped at about 25 % and includes a 1000 USD on board credit per person! 

I asked Seabourn about a price adjust, they refused, but offered an upgrade (V1 to V3 on the same deck) and 800 USD obc.

I booked direct with Seabourn Germany.

Is this the normal way how price changes are handled? 

Are all cruise lines handling it this way?

 

How it is handled and what guarantees you have depends on whether or not you’re within final payment, what country you are from (in some countries consumers have stronger protections) and indeed whether or not you have a good travel agent that goes to bat for you. 

[wesport]

I have found that if it’s before final, Seabourn will take care of you. After final normally its and upgrade and possibly OBC.

[galeforce9]

1 hour ago, markham said:

The next time you want to take a cruise find and book through a travel agent with experience and a big book of Seabourn business to help you the next time. Why? Seabourn thinks it is dealing fairly with you and you think otherwise. As you do not have a travel agent involved already you can only advocate on your own behalf or consider what it would cost you net to cancel and rebook.

 

Which TAs? I know of 2 who lots of European customers- in Cape Town and Reading UK. I hope that helps.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

I have not always had the same experience as you markham with the same 

[markham]

Are you saying you booked through a specialist cruise UK TA and when it came to recovering in your favor a Seabourn price reduction they did not assist, the implication being you believe you could have done better by booking and negotiating for this directly?

 

I have never understood why anyone would book directly with any cruise line. The line would have a conflict of interest if they decide for whatever reason to ignore you. A TA worth their salt would never do that. Plus there are many other reasons why TAs earn your business with other benefits you typically get from them.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[jondfk]

24 minutes ago, markham said:

…

 

I have never understood why anyone would book directly with any cruise line. The line would have a conflict of interest if they decide for whatever reason to ignore you. A TA worth their salt would never do that. Plus there are many other reasons why TAs earn your business with other benefits you typically get from them.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Well, speaking only for myself I’ll say, when Covid hit and we were sent to quarantine I was mighty glad for our direct booking, there was no doubt we were the responsibility of the cruise line (Princess in that case).  Met dozens of others at Travis who struggled to book travel home because their travel agents couldn’t do a thing.  Worst case scenario, sure, but reason enough for me.

 

Our upcoming Norway sailing on Ovation dropped significantly, though not 25%.  One phone call to our PCC at Seabourn had us upgraded from V1 to V4 and an $800 obc.  Couldn’t have been easier.

 

 

[Sunprince]

Personally, I would want the 25% reduction. An upgrade and an OBC is not the same, unless that upgrade is to a PH.  If I had wanted a V3 then I would just book it in the first place. And to me, the “free” OBC is like play money, unless applying it to excursions is of value to you, otherwise you are just spending the OBC on things you normally would not purchase.  

[2SailingNomads]

I buy wine all the time on Seabourn so any OBC, which one of my TAs always provides, is not for things I wouldn't purchase.  But to each their own.

[Dunnedg]

If you book a flight and the price changes do you expect the airline to provide a refund? If you buy a shirt and it then goes on sale do you expect the vendor to provide a refund. Sadly its life. I have won and I have lost, it is what it is. I never ask fellow passengers what they paid in fear I will be disappointed because I am sure if they booked late they will have got a cheaper deal. I also know they have missed out on the months of excitement and anticipation.

You can ask for more but I am sure terms and conditions will say you are entitled to nothing. 
Have to say there is very little difference between V1 and V3 but any OBC you can get is better than nothing.

As others have said in future you should book with a TA as you will always get a better deal.

Enjoy your trip.

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Dunnedg

[directionfinder]

Thank you very much for all your options and informations!

I will have to search for a Travel Agent, using the hints I am getting here! 

I used a german TA in the past, but found it very complicated, they couldn't deal very good with the international cruise lines. It was a lot of back and forth, so I tried it direct this time and learnt.

Nevertheless I will enjoy the trip!

By the way, I wouldn't have checked the price for my cruise, but Seabourn send me a promotion email with a link, and the very first cruise which showed up was my booked cruise! 

[directionfinder]

I just found my cruise and the following cruises for about half the original price! 

What an offer! 

[Vineyard View]

I’ve been watching a cruise 4/24. Pricing has not moved. Will keep doing so but wondering what timeframe seems to trigger discounts on Seabourn….if there is such a pattern. I think we will put a future cruise deposit during our trip later this month, and keep watching for a bit longer. 25% would certainly catch my attention!  Actually, less than that would! 

[directionfinder]

thank you for this tip! 

[Mr Luxury]

On 5/5/2023 at 4:12 PM, directionfinder said:

I just found my cruise and the following cruises for about half the original price! 

What an offer! 

Book another cruise then you'll feel happy that you have had a great deal. 

Don't forget to use a TA though.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Mr Luxury

[ct-andy]

My July cruise also went down 25%.

Called TA, they offered 2000 OBC or upgrade to VS 

[directionfinder]

My cruise went down 50% since a few days! 

I got an upgrade to v4 now, but nobody answered my emails. I think thid\s is very strange, shouldn’t they talk to their customer?

 

[directionfinder]

1 minute ago, directionfinder said:

 

 

On 5/8/2023 at 5:33 PM, Mr Luxury said:

Book another cruise then you'll feel happy that you have had a great deal. 

Don't forget to use a TA though.

I first will check if I like the ship.

[Vineyard View]

I just tried to find cruises in the Mediterranean that are available. There are none populating in the search.  For this whole 2023 year. I wonder if there is something going on with their system

[cruisinsince75]

We had a substantial drop in price on our spring cruise.  We saw it a month before final payment.  Our TA called them and we got the price reduction.  I checked again before final payment and it was even higher than when originally booked and went even higher after final booking.

[saminina]

Looks like they are testing dynamic pricing boundaries with minimal downside.