Allure/Harmony OTS Question

[jobinseattle]

I did a mock booking on Harmony of the Seas in Apr 2025 and I selected these options. A 7 night Western Caribbean cruise for two people, Grand Suite 1 bedroom, gratuities included and the exact same cruise on Allure in Apr 2026 and the price difference was almost $900 more between Harmony and Allure.

Seeing they are both Oasis class ships I would have thought the price would similar. Any ideas why so different?

Harmony Apr 2025 - $6009.76

Allure Apr 2026 - $6875.20

I would have thought cruising a year later would be cheaper?

 

 

[FionaMG]

Maybe to do with Easter dates? 20th of April in 2025 and 5th of April in 2026.

[twangster]

There is no standard rate for a cruise.  Pricing is dynamic and constantly changing as inventory (available cabins) go up or down.

 

What you see today is a moment in time snapshot of the two cruises.  

 

For a 2026 cruise they may be keeping rates elevated hoping to sell out the ship at those elevated rates while protecting themselves in case of inflation.  As the sail moves closer they begin to see how that strategy has worked and they will adjust prices to stimulate bookings or capitalize on demand.

 

If one ship and sail date has already sold more GS cabins then dynamic pricing may increase those rates as this is perceived as demand.  Conversely if the other sail date has booked less GS cabins they may lower the GS rate to stimulate bookings.

 

By keeping 2026 rates elevated they hope to influence the market to accept higher rates as the new normal.  If bookings continue on the same volume they know guests are willing to pay more.  If bookings trend down they learn the market is not ready to accept higher rates.  They will always test the market to see what it will bear.

 

It may not change daily but if you come back month after month you will see this dynamic pricing in effect.

 

 

[jobinseattle]

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

There is no standard rate for a cruise.  Pricing is dynamic and constantly changing as inventory (available cabins) go up or down.

 

What you see today is a moment in time snapshot of the two cruises.  

 

For a 2026 cruise they may be keeping rates elevated hoping to sell out the ship at those elevated rates while protecting themselves in case of inflation.  As the sail moves closer they begin to see how that strategy has worked and they will adjust prices to stimulate bookings or capitalize on demand.

 

If one ship and sail date has already sold more GS cabins then dynamic pricing may increase those rates as this is perceived as demand.  Conversely if the other sail date has booked less GS cabins they may lower the GS rate to stimulate bookings.

 

By keeping 2026 rates elevated they hope to influence the market to accept higher rates as the new normal.  If bookings continue on the same volume they know guests are willing to pay more.  If bookings trend down they learn the market is not ready to accept higher rates.  They will always test the market to see what it will bear.

 

It may not change daily but if you come back month after month you will see this dynamic pricing in effect.

 

 

That does make sense. Thank you

[GJustice]

I think Allure will be fresh out of her Amplification in April 2026 as well, which will mean more expensive 😞 

[Biker19]

21 minutes ago, GJustice said:

I think Allure will be fresh out of her Amplification in April 2026 as well, which will mean more expensive 😞 

The Amp of Oasis did very little to her fares - in general, all things equal, she's still cheaper than her newer sisters. The Allure Amp is in 2025 and it is yet to be determined the exact changes which will take place.

[PhillyFan33579]

From my personal experience, I think Harmony is consistently the cheapest Oasis class ship to book because it lacks a pool in the Solarium. Obviously this isn’t important to everyone, but I think it is important to enough people that it impacts the cruise fare. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I think Harmony is consistently the cheapest Oasis class ship to book because it lacks a pool in the Solarium

At this time she’s the cheapest because of where she sails from. 

[PhillyFan33579]

Just now, Biker19 said:

At this time she’s the cheapest because of where she sails from. 

She was always the cheapest Oasis class ship sailing from Florida. However, that is only based on cruises I looked at price wise and especially the three times I cruised on her early last year. It’s not like I looked at every Oasis class ship sailing out of Florida every week, so my observation is not likely statistically significant. 

[LobsterStalker]

4 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

From my personal experience, I think Harmony is consistently the cheapest Oasis class ship to book because it lacks a pool in the Solarium. Obviously this isn’t important to everyone, but I think it is important to enough people that it impacts the cruise fare. 

I'm thinkin if that was the case , RCI may have caught on by now and simply added a poolin there by now. Seems like a simple and obvious solution to week after week revenue loss(which would quickly add up to millions) if that were the case

Just my 2c

 

Cheers

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

I'm thinkin if that was the case , RCI may have caught on by now and simply added a poolin there by now. Seems like a simple and obvious solution to week after week revenue loss(which would quickly add up to millions) if that were the case

Just my 2c

 

Cheers

When we were at a luncheon with officers on Harmony last year someone asked a question about adding a pool in the Solarium. I don’t recall which officer answered, but he said it would require a major and expensive renovation to add a pool in the Solarium. He also said RCI received and continues to receive (at the time) a lot of negative feedback about no pool in the Solarium on Harmony, which is why subsequent Oasis class ships have a pool in the Solarium. 

[LuCruise]

15 hours ago, Biker19 said:

At this time she’s the cheapest because of where she sails from. 

I started to respond with the same thing, but then stopped as I noticed that Allure 2026 is same thing...Harmony is leaving out of Galveston, which seems cheaper over Florida departure.  From own booking, am looking at Dec 2025 and Harmony is the only Oasis class ship that is decent price.  It's about $1500 less than Oasis and Allure same dates/stateroom, where these are out of Fort Lauderdale.  To us, Galveston is a bottleneck but we still booked it and will see what we decide.  

Having said that, it looks like Allure 2026 is out of Galveston too....but the $800 difference could be 2025 vs 2026 with cruise prices rising in general.

Edited March 22 by LuCruise