How is New Pricing Afffecting CC'ers Booking?

[moondoggie]

OK, we love Celebrity, but the brochure increases of about 30% may preclude us from sailing more often. This kind of smacks of price fixing, yes?? We always do our homework well in advance, and then use ***** to make the booking. Is ***** still offering lower-than-brochure pricing? Any of you CC'ers re-thinking your plans for booking future cruises?

[hdawson]

Moondoggie. First it's lot permitted to list TAs on the CC boards.

Secondly, I've expected higher prices for quite some time. We have just completed a period of massive amounts of newbuilds in the cruising industry. Then of course the tradigy of 9-11 and an economic turndown. These and other factors have made cruising actually cheaper than 10 or even 5 yrs ago.

The newbuilds are coming to an end. 12 in 04 and only 3 for the north american market in 2005. Cruising is growing at about a 10% annual rate.

The economy is improving and people feel safer traveling today. Further, the dollar is down making European and other foreign travel more expensive. Paying more but still the best value for me. Will be sailing Horizon, one of my favorites in FEb.

Price fixing? Isn't that where competitors conspire to set prices?

[StephenJohnson]

For us? Not much

 

Cruising is still significantly more affordable than comparable land-based alternatives. We've always shopped fairly carefully for cruise values. There are still some out there, you just have to look a little more carefully.

[Desertbelle]

For us cruising was never about the money. It was great to find a great deal, but we generally pick the itinerary and ship we want and go with it. I don't find the prices that different from before.

 

If cruising becomes too expensive for us, then we will reluctantly cruise less often. :(

[chessbriar]

If Carnival and Norwegian and RCCL got together and set pricing then you can talk about price fixing as it stands the demand for cruising is greater than the supply, therfore pricing goes up.

 

After 9/11, X cut pricing and cut down on the quality to stay in business. With everything being up, they are bringing the price back to the level of a premium line and the quality of the product is increasing as well.

 

I would rather take the same number of cruises and book a lesser cabin, than take a lesser line. So out go the suites and balconies, in come the inside and outside staterooms.

 

On the whole X bookings are way up this year, even with the increased pricing.

[Hilary]

I have our next cruise (after our X-mas Horizon trip) booked on Princess. I don't know that it was as much about pricing as itineraries in this case. Celebrity has gotten rid of their Ultimate Caribbean that Summit used to do, which was the next cruise I wanted to book.

 

I have to say that I'm definitely looking at land based trips more now, but we bought a timeshare a couple of years ago which gives us many inexpensive condo options, so again, I'm not sure that it has to do with Celebrity increasing prices, or just our circumstances changing.

[Seabee]

I have sailed nothing but Celebrity for the past 6 years. As I prepared for my 8th cruise, I first looked at X. Tried to book a simple 7 day Caribbean at a reasonable price so we could take our adult children. Couldn't get what we wanted so booked a RCCL while on our last cruise to take advantge of the Shipboard credit. Problem then arose in that the price was extremely high....more like 60% higher than last years similar cruise on X. I booked anyway figuring my TA could beat the price...but no way. So I did what I've always done...starting looking at options via the internet. Found what I was looking for on Princess and booked it...still higher than last year but only by maybe 10%.

 

Here is the issue...I would have never considered another line if X could have met my need...I would have at least stayed in the family with RCCL if they hadn't been so high on their price. I may not like Princess, but I may love it. Customer loyalty is great and if you can keep a customer from even trying a competitor's product, you are even better off. But, I will try Princess and will report back to you all as to my experience. X runs the risk that I will now share my loyalty with two lines rather than be totally loyal to them. I realize that my two cruises a year don't mean much in the overall scheme of things, but...there are probably many others who will also be trying a new line at some point and many may stray. I suspect we will all report back here...if we all come back singing Princess's praises, then X may have to share more customers.

[Brad1185]

Yes not arguement that prices are up. Does not bother us. I dont know how you can say the quality is up. That I disagree with.

 

Again my only grip is the limitation of us trying to get the best price. That bothers us that we cannot get the best price off what Celebrity says is their rate.

 

For now, other lines are getting the majority of our business. Celebrity was our fav line followed by RCI. Now were racking up the Princess cruises as well as trying other lines.

[davehau]

Actually, I've been pleasantly surprised so far in the travel agencies' ability to still offer some deals. Within the past week alone, I've had 2 different agencies email me with some very nice deals, on particular cruises. Both of these agencies were ones I had booked with before, so it may be they are working hard to keep their past clients happy.

 

I think the strategy for finding the deals has certainly changed, though. Whereas I used to hit the web, running quotes through all the various sites, I think the key now is going to be having some sort of established relationship with the agencies, either as a past customer or even if only by getting on their mailing lists.

 

Of course, there's probaby going to be more flexibility needed, if you truely want the deals, but that's true of almost any market, it seems.

 

Overall, I'll probably book less than I might have in the days of bargain-basement pricing, but still more than I ever dreamed I would before I took that first cruise ;)

[moondoggie]

I apologize for mentioning 'XXX', but I consider them to be a booking engine rather like Priceline, not a specific TA. A specific TA is who I actually contract with to do a booking.

 

Regarding price fixing, if a company (X) offers product for its agents (TAs) to sell and tells them how much they must sell it for, then I think of that as price fixing.

 

A question--we are booked on Mercury in January for the Mexican Riviera ten night cruise. If we book onboard for another future cruise, and we cannot get what we consider a reasonable price from TAs after the cruise, then do we lose our deposit? If so, how much must we put down?

 

Thanks to all for your input.

[RodPat]

Moon, You can book on board to get your shipboard credit. The deposit is usually $250 pp for 7 days or $450 ppfor 10 days or longer. you can have that turned over to your agent. If you don't care for the price , you have some choices. You can find an X or Royal Carribean sailing that is more to your pocketbooks liking and have your shipboard credit transfered over or you can cancel up to 90 days before with no penalty. If you have a good TA they will monitor prices to see if they go down and pass the savings on to you. There are some good prices on Celebrity but some are last minite markdowns or happy hours specials. If you want an aft balcony cabin you will have to pay whatever the market will bear as these are very popular. If you are not too fussy you can still get a good deal. Pat

[mr green]

:confused: My point! What is a CCer?:confused:

[new_cruiser]

There are some good prices on Celebrity but some are last minite markdowns or happy hours specials. If you are not too fussy you can still get a good deal.

I agree. What has gotten expensive is the prices for booking early. There seem to be plenty of prices for cruises in the next few months that are about what I paid for last December. Last December we got that price more than 6 months in advance, our cruise ended up being almost full and the price went up for those who booked close to sailing. Celebrity may have decided that that was happening to often and it could get better revenue by starting out closer to full price and waiting to see how the cruise would fill at that price berfore lowering prices. Those with flexibility can still get deals - of course, in some cases that may make it difficult to get a good airfare to go with the good cruise fare especially for Europe in the summer.

[Randyk47]

One of the impacts for us is that we're now considering some of the "luxury" cruise lines. It would appear so far that those lines have not increased their price though admittedly I've not tracked them closely. In the past I just couldn't quite make the reach that the "luxury" lines were worth the additional cost. Now that cost difference has gotten smaller it's at least worth the time and effort to reevaluate. Right now we can only cruise once a year because of the demands of both working and that's not going to change because Celebrity, or any other line for that matter, raises their prices. It just means being aware of options and opportunities but we did that anyhow.

[Phamer55]

I have been put off by Celebrity and Royal Caribbean not allowing their Travel Agents (especially internet booking sites) to offer discounts. In fact, I am now considering Princess, NLC, and HAL more now. I will be going on Princess to the Mexican Riveria instead of Celebrity in 2005 because of this policy change.

[ccletzgo]

FAmily reunion on the Pride for my next cruise, and I couldnt change anyones minds from Carnival, because of the price. .........I have been on the Vision of the sea's twice and really tried to sway everyone, but.............:rolleyes: The Pride and the Vision leave for the mex riv on the exact same day, so the only factor was price. When it comes to a "group", the low price will always win.

 

I also, have been looking at Crystal and comparing. In the past I would go direct to Royal or Celebrity, but now I am weighing my options more.

[Luvtotrav]

My wife and I have a cruise booked this Feb on the Millenium. We booked with a internet company. We since wanted to add another couple to go on this cruise with us. After checking new prices, we found that the cruise is now about $150.00 more per person. I asked agent at agency if their price could be matched with ours, he stated they could not go any lower due to new price regulations. Needless to say, I think this really stinks. I seriously doubt my wife and I will scedule a cruise next year due to new policy. We have taken 6 cruises this past 3 years and we think it is time to take a land vacation. I am hoping that others will do the same and maybe the cruise companies will begin to reconsider their new policies.

 

From Minn

[Shoc369]

We really wanted to go on Constellation's Southern Caribbean but now with these new pricing policies, we're going back on HAL or will give Princess a try. I just don't like the idea of not being able to get a better price from the online agency that we've used many times. I know it is not "price fixing" per se, but it sure leaves a bad taste in ones mouth.

[idssms]

I booked a South American cruise on the Infinity while on board the Galaxy. The booker on the ship told me I would get my $200 cabin credit and then I could negotiate the best deal with my travel agent. I hadnt a clue that there was a new price fixing rule out there and neither did the young lady on the ship that booked me.

 

The South American cruises took a big jump in retail price and my agent who normally discounts 10 percent or more cant.... So, I am paying 23 percent more for this upcoming SA cruise.

 

From what I have read inflation is about 2 percent this past year and that will be reflected in most COLAs meaning this increase in Celebritys price is quite a hit to us all.

 

I hear Carnival and Princess will adopt this new policy soon.

 

What can we do as consumers to slow this down?

 

idssms

[Shoc369]

I think there probably would have to be ALOT of people reporting and/or making complaints to some US government agency regarding this "restrictive pricing". The US government does not allow restrictive pricing (in fact John Deere just got in trouble for it and has to give customers back money - my husband is in this group). However, maybe the cruise lines get around these regulations because of the ships registry being out of the country. Can anyone elaborate more on this? I am just stating my opinion, and am not an attorney.

 

Or another thought...maybe if enough people call Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and complain about this restrictive pricing and tell them that we are going to other cruise lines, they will eventually loosen the policy rules.

[brigittetom]

I think a start would be not to book your next cruise while onboard. That $200. savings is not going to go a long way if you can't get a better price from your TA versus the brochure price. I think Celebrity will get the idea. We have booked onboard for the last three years and Celebrity has held our money for a year at a time. We have booked last minute cruises at a much better price. I'm still confused about no discount pricing because we still get offers from Crucon for last minute sailings (up to four months in advance) for half the price of the brochure.

 

We won't be booking onboard on our next Zenith cruise because the travel specialist is not there during posted hours, the last two times we had more information than she did about upcoming cruises, and being told that booking thru her is to our advantage because we get the personal service. Yaaay I don't think so. Try taking that back to RCL.

[sdcruiser]

Don't forget. Cruise prices were higher before Sept 11, 2001, than they are today. Cruise lines have been filling ships for the past year, at discounted prices. There is much more demand for cruising these days, than there was in the past. Therefore, they can increase prices, and make more money.

 

We were able to cruise more often over the past three years, than we did prior to Sept 11, 2001. And, it's been a great way to vacation.

 

We are just going to have to adjust to the higher prices, as I believe they are here to stay. One cruise per year is all that we will be able to afford.

 

However, I do believe the cruise lines will bring back an even higher quality of food and service along with the increase in prices. Stay tuned. Time will tell.

 

SDCruiser

[idssms]

The more I ponder this the more I agree:

 

I would rather have the quality of good food and service and pay the new prices than discounted prices without amenities.

 

I felt that the last cruise we took in Sept had better food and more variety than past post 9/11 cruises on the same ship.

[mmp13]

We just returned from our second cruise on the Galaxy. Exact same itinerary . We felt quality much improved on the second cruise. We are currently booked on Constellation for next Oct. yes the price is higher than previous years but I also just looked at a five day all inclusive for same time period. Even figuring on paying for alcohol to even out the all inclusive price the cruise is considerably cheaper. $2,000 for five day vs $3,100 for 12 day cruise. Also remember if cruises don't sell at high price the cruise line can lower the price. They give that lower price to those already booked!

[Ma Bell]

It's absolutely true that the prices were bound to increase. After 9-11 the cruiselines had to do whatever they could to get people cruising again. That coupled with the fact that there were so many new builds meant that were had some amazing bargains. There was also some complaining that corners were being cut. Everyone wants to get the best price possible and so do I, but if we want to have a quality product and have the cruiselines stay in business the prices need to cover the expenses and give the company enough profit to stay in business. Just take a look at the airlines and ask yourself if you want the cruiselines to end up in the same predicament.

 

I'm willing to pay a little more to make sure the product is great!:)