Will RCCL follow Carnivals repricing after dropping fuel surcharge

[bajathree]

Carnival dropped fuel surcharges today for 2010 bookings. I just tried a fake rebook on-line for my 2010 Carnival Dream booking to check pricing without the fuel surcharge. Carnival raised pricing to compensate for the dropped fuel surcharge. Pricing came out to about $10 more actually than it is with the fuel surcharge in place.

 

I am assuming that RCCL will probably follow suite to eliminate cancellations and rebooking.

[berman947]

Yes. Effective November 10th, 2008.

 

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentPage.do;jsessionid=0000QmS0nxoyc_VpGjbWJ7hgCdW:12hbiocak?pagename=fuel_supplement

[Sue L]

Carnival announced they would be raising the prices after they dropped the fuel surcharge. There probably would have been a price increase anyway considering just about everything goes up from year to year and cruises are no different.

 

I also wouldn't doubt ALL cruise lines will have higher prices 2 years from now for the same reasons cost escalate and they have to pass it on with higher fares.

[bajathree]

Yes. Effective November 10th, 2008.

 

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentPage.do;jsessionid=0000QmS0nxoyc_VpGjbWJ7hgCdW:12hbiocak?pagename=fuel_supplement

 

 

I know that RCCL is also dropping the surcharge.....the question is will 2010 pricing increase like Carnival to compensate.

[Lynnees]

I know that RCCL is also dropping the surcharge.....the question is will 2010 pricing increase like Carnival to compensate.

 

 

Yes.

[TEXASMUNK]

Well, not quite.

It really depends on the price of oil With Carnival, after you get a degree in advanced mathmatics, you can figure out if the surcharge will apply.

With RCI, the key date seems to be December 18th, 2008 and the key number is $64.00 a barrel of West Texas Crude.

 

So, stay tuned for further developments!

[Barbee524]

They may raise the prices. But, the question is will the prices stay higher? With the recent price drops on RCI cruises it looks like they may be having a hard time filling cabins. The big difference is that RCI honors price drops and I'm pretty sure Carnival doesn't.

[firefly333]

They may raise the prices. But, the question is will the prices stay higher? With the recent price drops on RCI cruises it looks like they may be having a hard time filling cabins. The big difference is that RCI honors price drops and I'm pretty sure Carnival doesn't.

 

Iv gotten price drops on Carnival too. After final payment a supervisor has to ok the drop, so you are on hold sometimes a extra few minutes, not much difference.

 

My TA wouldnt honor any more price drops .... now thats a different story. Because they discount Carnival and then spent overnight postage (about $10) to send me a store card for $5 :rolleyes: . Now they will just upgrade me because of them discounting, which I can live with.

 

Many posters have gotten multiple price drops after final payment on Carnival. Just the facts mam.

[land lover]

But if you got the best discount for your CCL cruise through a TA typically a price drop would not even come close to what you paid. This has been my experience.

[pcur]

I always get the best price I can when I can also get the best cabin location. So, I will be booking (or cancelling and rebooking) after 11/10. If the price is higher, because RCCL decides to raise prices to make up for the lost fuel surcharge, then I will grab the cabin anyway and wait for the price to go down.

 

However, I think with the economy the way it is, they will NOT raise prices after 11/10. The news today says Americans are not spending nearly as much, and this was based on SEPTEMBER figures before the craziness in October. So, I think the sales will continue, and prices will stay down until people start buying more.

 

The prices right now are around what they were after 9/11 when everyone was staying home and not traveling. We booked a last minute on the Explorer for 9/19/01 and paid $500 per person for a week. The last day of the cruise they were posting signs around the ship offering the next cruise at $250 to keep people on the ship for another week!

 

Just make sure you book with someone who will honor ALL price drops. In this day, one isn't enough. I think if you book 6 - 18 months in advance right now, you will be seeing multiple drops. My TA honors them all.

[pumkinsmom]

How do you really know what the real price is anyway, other than what they publish in their brochures. Since the pricing fluctuates according to supply and demand, who really knows what it really is.

[J & G]

I know that RCCL is also dropping the surcharge.....the question is will 2010 pricing increase like Carnival to compensate.

The RCI booking agent that I spoke to last night indicated that I should wait until Nov. 10 and see the "new prices" to determine whether to cancel and rebook. He indicated that the new prices would be higher to compensate.

[bajathree]

My feeling is they are going to have a tough time with higher prices. I think they just raised the price to combat cancellations and rebooking.. But my feeling is they will have to lower them back down. I would't be surprissdd that doesn't happin sooner than later.

[pcur]

My feeling is they are going to have a tough time with higher prices. I think they just raised the price to combat cancellations and rebooking.. But my feeling is they will have to lower them back down. I would't be surprissdd that doesn't happin sooner than later.

 

I agree. After reading the news this morning that the U.S. consumer spending in SEPTEMBER dropped considerably, and that's before the October craziness, I don't think anybody is going to be raising prices for anything. I think they'll be begging people to buy their products: whatever it is they are selling!

[Rancher Dave]

I agree. After reading the news this morning that the U.S. consumer spending in SEPTEMBER dropped considerably, and that's before the October craziness, I don't think anybody is going to be raising prices for anything. I think they'll be begging people to buy their products: whatever it is they are selling!

 

 

To the extent the spending dropped so folks could reduce personal debt that is a good thing overall. Expectations of expaning economy ongoing forever at breakneck rates which is what some folks (not speaking of anyhone here...some in the press though) have expected to go on forever. Not going to happen.

 

What I see as the real factor that may influence cruisers will be tax rates etc...that affect what cash folks will have in their pockets. Combine that with job security and you will see how spending is influenced.

 

On the OP main topic, I think that having as few add ons to the price is nice, and they do have to go a bit above what total cost is with F/C in order to pay the extra commissions generated by higher cruise fares. That is of course good for the TAs. They have to eat, buy gas, pay rent, etc...as well.

 

I am sure pricing models for all cruise lines will be increasing fares for the future because it is easy to lower fares where the sold cabins are few...and on the popular cruises they can raise the fares...not an unreasonable way to price a comodity that expires at sailing time.

[firefly333]

My feeling is they are going to have a tough time with higher prices. I think they just raised the price to combat cancellations and rebooking.. But my feeling is they will have to lower them back down. I would't be surprissdd that doesn't happin sooner than later.

 

I ran thru a website that pulls up a bunch of dates at once to view and the inside, lower cabin categories havent gone up for Jan 2010, hardly, if at all, look just as low as before to me.

 

As I guessed they probably did raise balconys prices, as OP states, raised them enough for his cruise is now $10 more with the new rates, but check out the lower categories. You can raise them across the board as much as the fuel surcharge and expect those prices to stick.