Price drop: 7 night Alaska $299 or 14 night $598

[BermudaBound2014]

Looks like Noordam just had a price decrease. 

~It's an open jaw, Vancouver to Whittier, but you can just double up the price and make it a round trip 14 night.

~Depart August 20th, so not exactly last minute.

~Inside and Oceanview = $299

~Balcony = $699

~Signature Suite = $899

 

If you are looking for a 14 night transatlantic, HAL is offering Nieuw Statendam. Rome to FLL. 11/26/23 departure. 

~Inside = $479

~Outside = $679

~Balcony = $779

 

Hope someone can take advantage of good pricing! 

[SilvertoGold]

Nice deal. How much do the taxes add on?

[Rothko1]

Good prices.  There was a discussion a while back about having an inside cabin for an Alaskan cruise, and the consensus was to do it, if it was the only way to afford the trip.  At these prices, it's almost a steal.

[HappyInVan]

That's weird. Just checked. Can't find the cruise-only departure date for August 20. 

 

There are bargain prices just for inside and OV on July 16. That's not good! HAL will be making an operating loss on those cabins. Why is cruise demand so weak for Alaska? It should be HAL's strongest season.

 

I've noticed that HAL has tried to avoid the big discounts offered by competitors. Instead, opting for promotions on HIA and $1 deposits. Looks like their marketing efforts have failed.

 

[AKJonesy]

The "govt" fees are $550 for one week AK sailing; not including the cruise fare.  This ends up being about $142 or thereabouts for lowest category for 2 people per day before tips and anything else.  That is $142 for two people; not each per day.  

[AKJonesy]

54 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

Why is cruise demand so weak for Alaska? It should be HAL's strongest season.

IMHO it's the getting there that adds up fast.  I figured lowest category in my post above is $140ish per day but that is before any airfare, hotel day before trip and getting to Vancouver; which is a hassle IMHO.  Also, the prices here in AK are INSANE if you bother to add on any extra days.  IF you can get a rental car, they are going to be expensive as heck.  Hotel rooms for anything decent are going to be in the $250 or more range, and now gas prices here are well over $4 per gallon.  (I thought gas prices were dropping - LOL.)  Restaurants are very expensive now also and labor shortages are a big issue.  It's not a great time for Alaska.  

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

IMHO it's the getting there that adds up fast.  I figured lowest category in my post above is $140ish per day but that is before any airfare, hotel day before trip and getting to Vancouver; which is a hassle IMHO.  Also, the prices here in AK are INSANE if you bother to add on any extra days.  IF you can get a rental car, they are going to be expensive as heck.  Hotel rooms for anything decent are going to be in the $250 or more range, and now gas prices here are well over $4 per gallon.  (I thought gas prices were dropping - LOL.)  Restaurants are very expensive now also and labor shortages are a big issue.  It's not a great time for Alaska.  

Exactly.  Its like airfare, a stay in an overnight hotel and tax don't exist.  If you live at the port city that's a different story.  Also, not everyone is retired and has endless amount of time to travel.

[YourWorldWithBill]

29 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Exactly.  Its like airfare, a stay in an overnight hotel and tax don't exist.  If you live at the port city that's a different story.  Also, not everyone is retired and has endless amount of time to travel.

Just another note agreeing with @AKJonesyand @Florida_gal_50. I had an offer (based on some  moderate casino play), and we got excited. But after adding in airfare, taxes, hotels, even being retired doesn't help! It's the opposite! I have time, but the cost is still there.

[SilvertoGold]

How do people feel about how this pricing reflects how important fares are overall to HAL? This pricing is maybe half or a third of the "normal" fare.  What HAL is "losing" with these cheap fares can be easily made up when pax are on the ship (shorex, wine, shops, casino, specialty dining, etc) and HAL probably can fill the ship much more easily. Also, pax might be more free with spending onboard if they know they have saved a lot on the fare. This sounds like a good win-win promo for HAL and quite a good deal for the right pax.

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Exactly.  Its like airfare, a stay in an overnight hotel and tax don't exist.  If you live at the port city that's a different story.  Also, not everyone is retired and has endless amount of time to travel.

Apparently, I was wrong to assume that seasoned travelers would immediately realize that $299 is a cruise only price.   
 

Whether or not someone is retired with endless travel time is irrelevant to the post. 

 

I stumbled upon a very good cruise rate and shared in the hopes at least one community member can take advantage. Simple. Seems some give credence to the old saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. 🙂

 

Happy sailing to all 🙂

 

 

[SilvertoGold]

21 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Apparently, I was wrong to assume that seasoned travelers would immediately realize that $299 is a cruise only price.   
 

Whether or not someone is retired with endless travel time is irrelevant to the post. 

 

I stumbled upon a very good cruise rate and shared in the hopes at least one community member can take advantage. Simple. Seems some give credence to the old saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. 🙂

 

Happy sailing to all 🙂

 

BermudaBound:
I thank you for posting this deal. 

 

We sailed in June under a similar deal in Canadian dollars.  It was about half the price we had paid in past years for the specific cruise so we were very pleased.

I agree that whether or not someone is retired with endless travel time is irrelevant to the post.

 

You are right: it is a good deal and to pass it on was thoughtful.

 

[RD64]

The taxes will be more than the cost of the cruise. Booked on the Noordam YVR to Whittier on August 13th and return to Vancouver on the 20th. Port taxes will shock you.

[BermudaBound2014]

9 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

I thank you for posting this deal. 

 

We sailed in June under a similar deal in Canadian dollars.  It was about half the price we had paid in past years for the specific cruise so we were very pleased.

I agree that whether or not someone is retired with endless travel time is irrelevant to the post.

 

You are right: it is a good deal and to pass it on is thoughtful.

You are most welcome :). I’m glad a deal like this worked out for you! 
 

Sometimes these deals work out to be excellent even when you add in air and hotel :).  I consider anything under $100 a night attractive and this Alaska cruise came in around $70 a night including taxes. 
 

The 14 night transatlantic in a balcony for $779 plus port is also very attractive considering it’s not last minute. I suspect that price is going to drop even more- there is a lot of inventory available. 

Edited July 12, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[SilvertoGold]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

You are most welcome :). I’m glad a deal like this worked out for you! 
 

Sometimes these deals work out to be excellent even when you add in air and hotel :).  I consider anything under $100 a night attractive and this Alaska cruise came in around $70 a night including taxes. 
 

The 14 night transatlantic in a balcony for $779 plus port is also very attractive considering it’s not last minute. I suspect that price is going to drop even more- there is a lot of inventory available. 

Interesting that you think that 14 night TA will drop further!  In Canadian dollars it is nothing to write home about...yet.  Love these deals and hoping there are more.  We will be taking another one of those 14 day Alaska cruises while this promo is in effect!

Hope you have something good picked out yourself :)

[OBX-Cruisers]

12 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Looks like Noordam just had a price decrease. 

~It's an open jaw, Vancouver to Whittier, but you can just double up the price and make it a round trip 14 night.

~Depart August 20th, so not exactly last minute.

~Inside and Oceanview = $299

~Balcony = $699

~Signature Suite = $899

 

If you are looking for a 14 night transatlantic, HAL is offering Nieuw Statendam. Rome to FLL. 11/26/23 departure. 

~Inside = $479

~Outside = $679

~Balcony = $779

 

Hope someone can take advantage of good pricing! 

Problem with booking a roundtrip is that you can do this with decent choices of cabins on the trip North but only Inside and OV are availble on the trip South.  You could probably get a great deal if you are happy with Interior or OV in both directions and get the same cabin with lots of luck

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

...The 14 night transatlantic in a balcony for $779 plus port is also very attractive considering it’s not last minute. I suspect that price is going to drop even more- there is a lot of inventory available. 

Disappointed to hear there's considerable inventory for the Nov 26 TA - I booked it about a month ago. Welcome the idea of more elbow room, but not warm to prices dropping. I added CO to that booking and have been trying since I booked to add HIA. Being told my rate is too low and not combinable w/my rate code, 11 calls have not gotten it added.

So, the idea many people could be offered really good deals and that a chunk of them are likely to add HIA, does not sit well with me.

But you are correct - they are great rates and anyone looking to visit those locales with the time to do it, should book.

Thanks for sharing.

[Guest ldtr]

10 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

That's weird. Just checked. Can't find the cruise-only departure date for August 20. 

 

There are bargain prices just for inside and OV on July 16. That's not good! HAL will be making an operating loss on those cabins. Why is cruise demand so weak for Alaska? It should be HAL's strongest season.

 

I've noticed that HAL has tried to avoid the big discounts offered by competitors. Instead, opting for promotions on HIA and $1 deposits. Looks like their marketing efforts have failed.

 

Keep in mind that many school districts and colleges startup in late August. Late August is usually a slow period for Alaska, Just as May and September are.

 

 Alaska tends to attract a lot of family bookings (family in all forms, not just parents and children). Lots of large family reunion type groups, wearing their family specific shirts. It also attracts a lot of first time cruisers. Currently on Majestic Princess. Normally on a Princess ship 30 to 40% will be elite. On this ship 10%.  Normally 10 to 20% first timers, on this cruise almost 50%.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by ldtr

[Florida_gal_50]

7 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Disappointed to hear there's considerable inventory for the Nov 26 TA - I booked it about a month ago. Welcome the idea of more elbow room, but not warm to prices dropping. I added CO to that booking and have been trying since I booked to add HIA. Being told my rate is too low and not combinable w/my rate code, 11 calls have not gotten it added.

So, the idea many people could be offered really good deals and that a chunk of them are likely to add HIA, does not sit well with me.

But you are correct - they are great rates and anyone looking to visit those locales with the time to do it, should book.

Thanks for sharing.

The only people that know how much inventory is left is hal.  Most cruises will fall as  gets closer to final.  It doesn't take much knowledge to figure that out.

[Guest ldtr]

You can expect the cruise lines to go to the same model that they use any time they raise prices.  Start with the new price and then discount as needed to fill the ship.  A certain percentage will want a specific room or will want to lock in their travel plans early.  Some will wait for the discounts. Once the pricing matures the discounts will  get smaller.  The more unique cruised may not be discounted at all. Caribbean, Alaska, relocation cruises such as TA are the most prone to discounts. We can usually catch a TA for less money than the flight would cost.

 

 The 7 day one way cruises to/from Vancouver are usually the lowest per day prices out of the Alaskian cruise. Many of the passengers are connecting to/from affiliated land tours. Hard to fill the other cabins since many would rather just do the 7 day loop instead of the flight to/from Anchorage. This our doing 2 7 day one ways as a 14 day closed loop.

[cruisemom42]

15 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

If you are looking for a 14 night transatlantic, HAL is offering Nieuw Statendam. Rome to FLL. 11/26/23 departure. 

~Inside = $479

~Outside = $679

~Balcony = $779

 

Those are pretty low prices for a TA; the lowest I remember seeing in a while. And it's not even after final payment....

[kazu]

20 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

If you are looking for a 14 night transatlantic, HAL is offering Nieuw Statendam. Rome to FLL. 11/26/23 departure. 

~Inside = $479

~Outside = $679

~Balcony = $779

 

Hope someone can take advantage of good pricing! 

 

Thanks kindly for sharing & alerting others to good pricing 👍 

 

I’m perplexed why this TA is low.  It’s not as low as it sounds as if you  want to add on HIA (which many would do on a TA) and if you want to pick a decent cabin, pricing changes substantially.  For my cabin type of choice (verandah unobstructed aft) it goes to $2540 Cdn dollars but it still a cheaper price than typical TA sailing.

 

Curious that this sailing is so much lower than our sailing on the Rotterdam.  Pricing on it has not gone down - in fact, up substantially.  And we are past final payment.  I can only guess that the itinerary or late timing does not appeal to many?

 

11 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

How do people feel about how this pricing reflects how important fares are overall to HAL? This pricing is maybe half or a third of the "normal" fare.  What HAL is "losing" with these cheap fares can be easily made up when pax are on the ship (shorex, wine, shops, casino, specialty dining, etc) and HAL probably can fill the ship much more easily. Also, pax might be more free with spending onboard if they know they have saved a lot on the fare. This sounds like a good win-win promo for HAL and quite a good deal for the right pax.

 

You raise a good point.  In Alaska in particular, the cruise lines have a number of the tours and guides locked up so often a ship excursion is the main option.

 

7 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Interesting that you think that 14 night TA will drop further!  In Canadian dollars it is nothing to write home about...yet. 

 

Agree - the Canadian pricing makes a big difference.

[Florida_gal_50]

If you look at any of the large online cruise sellers it’s very, very easy to find “bargains”. 
 

I’ve never taken a ta but those ones seem to always be bargains.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Florida_gal_50

[Haljo1935]

The 14-day 11/26 Rome->FLL is right at Thanksgiving, perhaps undesirable to some, which may account for the low fill rate?

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

The 14-day 11/26 Rome->FLL is right at Thanksgiving, perhaps undesirable to some, which may account for the low fill rate?

That is my thought as well. The timing is rather late for a TA, well.past peak or even shoulder tourist season. At a time when people are more likely to be traveling to Europe for the Christmas markets. Couple in Thankgiving  and you get low fares.

[BermudaBound2014]

12 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Disappointed to hear there's considerable inventory for the Nov 26 TA - I booked it about a month ago. Welcome the idea of more elbow room, but not warm to prices dropping. I added CO to that booking and have been trying since I booked to add HIA. Being told my rate is too low and not combinable w/my rate code, 11 calls have not gotten it added.

So, the idea many people could be offered really good deals and that a chunk of them are likely to add HIA, does not sit well with me.

But you are correct - they are great rates and anyone looking to visit those locales with the time to do it, should book.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Have you tried asking for OBC to account for the difference if your particular cabin price has dropped significantly?  In rare the times prices have dropped after I booked (I'm typically a last minute booker) my TA's were always able to grant me some OBC or an upgrade to compensate for the price drop. Admittedly, I can't remember if that is a specific HAL policy or not, but in the old days, the OBC I received was equal to the price difference.

 

That has slowly changed and cruise lines are tightening up. Example: NCL began offering only 50% of the price difference in OBC but even that has gotten more strict and now NCL offers 50% of the price difference in FCC (not OBC), and you can only apply once regardless how many times the price dropped.

 

Celebrity used to be great about giving OBC for the difference in price after final payment. I had a price drop of $50 once and called and had $50 in OBC waiting for me onboard. Those were the good ol' days. Not sure what they are offering now.

 

I would think a good TA would be willing to scrap up something in the event of a serious price decrease after final payment. Even it it's a few specialty dinners to acknowledge. Then again, cruise lines are tightening up procedures post-covid so it may not work at all, but I would think it would be worth a call?? I wish you the very BEST of luck with this! I'm cheering for you. Keep us posted. 

 

 

9 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Those are pretty low prices for a TA; the lowest I remember seeing in a while. And it's not even after final payment....

 

I thought so too, that's why I posted, especially for those that aren't retired and need to pre-arrange time off work. I typically don't see transatlantic sailings this low until after final payment and much closer to sailing so I think this one is worth a look for those that can swing it. We will just be returning from a 3 week hiking trip thru Yosemite or I'd be digging into airfare pricing right now. A balcony at $779 + 500 port puts a balcony cabin under the $100 per day threshold I like to use.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks kindly for sharing & alerting others to good pricing 👍 

 

I’m perplexed why this TA is low.  It’s not as low as it sounds as if you  want to add on HIA (which many would do on a TA) and if you want to pick a decent cabin, pricing changes substantially.  For my cabin type of choice (verandah unobstructed aft) it goes to $2540 Cdn dollars but it still a cheaper price than typical TA sailing.

 

Curious that this sailing is so much lower than our sailing on the Rotterdam.  Pricing on it has not gone down - in fact, up substantially.  And we are past final payment.  I can only guess that the itinerary or late timing does not appeal to many?

 

 

You are most welcome :).  I am also a bit perplexed why this particular sailing is so low this early. I think you are correct that a significant factor is that it is late in the season, but it's also at American Thanksgiving and those cruises typically draw a higher price-tag. One thing that might have happened is a TA releasing a large number of blocked rooms into inventory suddenly. Those are always great finds. It will be interesting to see what happens with this sailing.

 

IMO, your Rotterdam sailing is much more desirable in terms of both itinerary and timing. I did get an alert of a price drop for an interior at $999. Still not a great price IMO, but the taxes are $500 so at roughly $1,500 for a 15 night cruise the price is decent and in my $100 pp guideline, but it's an interior not a balcony. . At this time all other categories are still firm on the Rotterdam Transatlantic. .   Regardless of pricing, this should prove to be a lovely trip for you in a very limited supply aft balcony cabin no less :). 

 

PS: My alerts come in USD and I admittedly do not track Canadian pricing at all, so my apologies to our friendly neighbors in the north for always quoting USD. 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by BermudaBound2014