These last minute cruise prices are insane!

[geoherb]

15 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Alaska ships are all sailing at greater than 100% of capacity. There are no last minute deals.

 

 

There's a southbound cruise leaving next Saturday from $679. 

[jlawrence01]

If you want to head to Alaska at a reasonable price, start looking in mid-February for May sailings out of Vancouver.

[Boku]

On 8/15/2024 at 11:32 PM, Hlitner said:

That is a bit of a con!  One should always read the fine print.  The "guarantee" is only good until final payment (after which the last minute bargains, if any, do appear).  Also keep in mind that the guarantee is only for identical fares including the same "cruise fare type."  This means that various promotions, which are special fares/deals, are not part of the guarantee.  

 

I will also add that this guarantee is nothing new.  Princess and most other cruise lines allow folks to refare/reprice their bookings up until final payment.  This has always been true for those with refundable deposits since those folks can simply cancel, get back their deposit, and rebook.  We have been on far more then 100 cruises, and I would guess we have refared about 75% over the last 50 years.   

 

By the way, this brings up an interesting issue.  Beware of non-refundable deposits.  Once you book with that kind of fare, you might find it very difficult to take advantage of a future price drop or promotion without first, losing your original deposit.

 

Hank

I now realise that my initial understanding of the fare guarantee was incorrect, as you say its a bit of a con. Being from the UK we don't appear to get refundable deposits, not that I have seen, or the option to re-fare. We have to cancel and lose our deposit which could still be financially viable depending on the savings.  Our cruise booked for 2025 only had a £1pp deposit so i will be looking out for price reductions however the cruise at the moment is still over £1000 more than I paid. 

[Hlitner]

Just now, Boku said:

I now realise that my initial understanding of the fare guarantee was incorrect, as you say its a bit of a con. Being from the UK we don't appear to get refundable deposits, not that I have seen, or the option to re-fare. We have to cancel and lose our deposit which could still be financially viable depending on the savings.  Our cruise booked for 2025 only had a £1pp deposit so i will be looking out for price reductions however the cruise at the moment is still over £1000 more than I paid. 

We have a few cruising friends, from the UK, who constantly remind us about the differences of booking in your country.  Part of it has to do with different consumer protection laws.  On our side of the pond, both refundable and non-refundable deposits are common as are promotions (of various cruise lines) that include very small deposits ($99 is not uncommon).

 

Personally, I would be in the minority of cruisers and prefer to only see non-refundable and more expensive deposits.  There are many cruisers, here in North America, who take advantage of the lenient deposit policies to reserve many cruise bookings/cabins.  We have talked to cruisers that will have 3 or 4 different reservations for the same time period...each on a different ship and/or cruise line.  It is only when they near the final payment time that they make their decision and simply cancel all or some of their reservations.  These folks create a problem for the cruise lines (and many passengers) by pulling desirable cabins/suites out of inventory.   We know of one particular Premium cruise line where this practice is completely out of control.  There are so many future cruises (some over 2 years distant) that will show as "sold out."  Eventually, many of those folks cancel their reservations.  The cruise line even maintains a large "waiting list" (with its own set of rules) in order to deal with the faux bookings.  

 

Sometimes it is only a matter of having folks have a small stake in the game.  MSC had a big problem with their popular Yacht Club, which would sell-out very far in advance with many bookers later changing their mind and cancelling or moving to a less expensive category.  MSC has very low deposits, so a $10,000 suite would be taken out of inventory for as little as a $99 refundable deposit.  MSC finally realized they had a problem and decided to make all their YC reservations require a non-refundable deposit.  This seems to have been an effective strategy.

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

11 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We have a few cruising friends, from the UK, who constantly remind us about the differences of booking in your country.  Part of it has to do with different consumer protection laws.  On our side of the pond, both refundable and non-refundable deposits are common as are promotions (of various cruise lines) that include very small deposits ($99 is not uncommon).

 

Personally, I would be in the minority of cruisers and prefer to only see non-refundable and more expensive deposits.  There are many cruisers, here in North America, who take advantage of the lenient deposit policies to reserve many cruise bookings/cabins.  We have talked to cruisers that will have 3 or 4 different reservations for the same time period...each on a different ship and/or cruise line.  It is only when they near the final payment time that they make their decision and simply cancel all or some of their reservations.  These folks create a problem for the cruise lines (and many passengers) by pulling desirable cabins/suites out of inventory.   We know of one particular Premium cruise line where this practice is completely out of control.  There are so many future cruises (some over 2 years distant) that will show as "sold out."  Eventually, many of those folks cancel their reservations.  The cruise line even maintains a large "waiting list" (with its own set of rules) in order to deal with the faux bookings.  

 

Sometimes it is only a matter of having folks have a small stake in the game.  MSC had a big problem with their popular Yacht Club, which would sell-out very far in advance with many bookers later changing their mind and cancelling or moving to a less expensive category.  MSC has very low deposits, so a $10,000 suite would be taken out of inventory for as little as a $99 refundable deposit.  MSC finally realized they had a problem and decided to make all their YC reservations require a non-refundable deposit.  This seems to have been an effective strategy.

 

Hank

I think this happens more with Princess, with their frequent $99 deposit sales. RC and Celebrity are kind of ridiculous, not allowing refundable deposits on suites even though they require 10% down. The high deposit is enough of a deterrent against multiple throwaway bookings. No need to add the harsh overkill of making it non refundable. 

[BeasleysMom66]

16 hours ago, jlawrence01 said:

If you want to head to Alaska at a reasonable price, start looking in mid-February for May sailings out of Vancouver.

That is what I did this year and got a fantastic deal.

[jlawrence01]

1 hour ago, BeasleysMom66 said:

That is what I did this year and got a fantastic deal.

I really wanted to book in May but we could not travel as the DW was recovering from surgery and would not be well in time.

 

We were lucky to snag three relatively cheap cruises 4-6 months out by tracking fares on my favorite TA's website.

[rj59]

There are deals, you just have to know where to look for them. If you're going out of Seattle, demand is insane, but my sister got an inside on HAL in early June for $500, and I just went for $700 on HAL for a solo oceanview. I see NCL Bliss/Encore on sale every week last-minute for around $800 also for an inside. For all lines, the best deals will be N/S routes, even on Princess, where last summer I saw solo inside rates for about $600 or less for June-September, plus taxes then (realize that current fares include over $300/pp in fees/taxes, and Alaska excursions can be very pricey). Celebrity Summit N/S routes are also at low rates for May 2025. I don't think I'd do any other line that HAL now, with ships at full capacity, simply because the retractable roofs make it possible to distribute crowds better by filling the pool deck, wraparound level promenades makes doing laps/whale and glacier watching much nicer, they have forward observation decks, and on Westerdam last week they opened the bow not only for glacier day, but also 3 different days for whale-watching with a wildlife spotter helping people see the whales, dolphins, and porpoises (quite a thrill to stand at the front of the bow and watch 6 humpbacks dead ahead). That kind of experience just wouldn't have been possible on Majestic/Discovery/Royal, with twice as many passengers. Going on HAL Zaandam in June, with 1400 passengers, was even nicer for Alaska, especially when we escaped 17-ft swells on the open ocean by navigating narrow inside passages.