Take a chance on price drop

[swigso]

I thought I would post here as I think I will get more response.

I have booked on AZ for feb 2009 and checking prices etc have found that there are something like 30% of balcony cabins still open, also 15 sky Suites.

The SV cabins are all open albeit that the forward Sv's on AZ are not the best.

What is surprising is that ony one Ph has been reserved.

My question is this, should I wait till Final payment to see if the price drops and if there is still massive availability should I cancel and rebook taking a chance that the price will drop.

You views experiences will be most welcome.

[geoherb]

I always say that if you have your heart set on one particular cruise and the price is affordable to you, book it. When I've played the price drop game is when there have been several different cruises we are interested in taking. The odds are at least one of them will have price drops.

 

This year I was watching prices on 9- and 10-night Christmas cruises. All but one of them went had a lower price after the final payment date. If people were counting on the price of that cruise going down, they were out of luck.

[gracecarmo]

sometime those last minute prices are for New Bookings Only. Once I tried to get a price change (cancel and rebook) and my TA told me the New Booking rule.

 

I am on the fence, re cruises in fall of 09, and also B2B's in Jan-Feb 2010. Having fun just exploring all the options, and ships that will be sailing.

[CruisingChick]

That's a hard question to answer. But I'll tell you that we have done for our last two cruises. We have waited until after final payment and started watching out for either the "one day sales" or price drops. Our last cruise we got a Concierge Class Cabin for $999 per person.

 

I have my heart set on doing the 11 night Ultimate Caribbean on Constellation. Right now the lowest inside cabin is $849 per person. There seems like there are still allot of good insides left and some not so bad balcony cabins also left. So my husband has told me to sit tight for 2 months and wait for final payment. Can the prices go up? Sure they can, but then they can also go down. Since we don't mind taking inside cabins we feel we are safe to wait. (I hope I don't jinx myself).

 

It depends on also what time of the year your are looking for and the itinerary. Also, if you are picky about your cabin and it will ruin your cruise if you are not in a certain cabin in a certain part of the ship, then don't wait. If you are not picky, they I would wait if you see that there are allot of empty cabins still.

 

That's just my opinion. Good luck.

 

Anne Maria

[stereo]

I have analyzed the az sailings for 2009. The post thanksgiving day sale is for new bookings.The sailings are all for final payment sails I have booked a cabin for the march 15 sail I belive that their are at least 125 cabins from inside to cc. I plan to cancel my booking and wait for a new booking sale after final payment . Celebrity is leaving az --reason must be financial. Beat of luck

[CathyCruises]

I think with the generally awful state of the economy, you would be very wise to book after final payment date. I spent WAY more than I needed to on our recent Summit sailing--had I had the guts to wait till about 3 weeks out, we could have gotten a fabulous deal on a CC. If our economy were in a different mode, I would not recommend this but I think a lot of people are holding on to see if things change before final payment, then I think there will be a lot of cancellations.

 

As long as you see a large number of available categories, you can be sure X will do whatever necessary to fill those cabins--and price dropping is their major tool.

 

Good Luck--hang in there!!!

 

Cathy

[stereo]

Further to my previous post---I had booked a top cc cabin for the march 15 az sailing in Dec 0f 2007. both Celebrity and my TA told me that if the priced dropped I would get a lower invoice --I had only paid the $900 deposit.Ha ! Ha! Ha1--Celebrity drops the price after the final payment date and then says --this applys to new bookings only --see the post election an d the post Thanksgiving day sales. --Unless you need or want a specific cabin then why do you want to pay 2 or 3 times the price. I called Celebrity and told them that if they would not guarantee me that if they dropped the price for my cabin class that I would get a refund whether it was for "new bookings only " or not then I would cancel.A supervisor told me that I could cancel However he said that Celebrity would not accept another booking for the same sailing until a week had passed. I guess that the earlier you cancel the happier Celebrity is.

[Sheffie]

We have been able to get price drops even after final payment. Unless the drop is one of those "Happy Hour" (RCI name) type of drop, you should be able to get the difference back.

 

Have fun deciding this one!

[stereo]

You can get a refund after final payment if there is a price drop . however the so called price drops that really matter are for new bookings only--they apply to sailings that are made after final payment and are for new bookings only --just look at the post election day and Thanks giving day sales Had you booked a cabin on any sail through Feb 1--you would lose your deposit if you cancelled to get a new booking--and if the cancellation was made within the week you would not qualify Just call Celebrity and ask them

[luv2cruisemore]

I have analyzed the az sailings for 2009. The post thanksgiving day sale is for new bookings.The sailings are all for final payment sails I have booked a cabin for the march 15 sail I belive that their are at least 125 cabins from inside to cc. I plan to cancel my booking and wait for a new booking sale after final payment . Celebrity is leaving az --reason must be financial. Beat of luck

Why did you say "Celebrity is leaving AZ"?

We were on the AZ Quest for two weeks last December and it was the best cruise we ever took?

[rholbrook]

Swigso

Somethng else to consider about rebooking the cruise. We are on the Jan 4,2009 cruise

and asked about changing from a CC to a FV cabin with all the extra space afforded by it.

Was told we could do it, but it would be a new booking and we would lose our $1200 RT airfare from Dallas. Checked the price on the airfare and the best price I could find was around $2500 per person. Needless to say we kept the cabin we had and didn't go for the

FV cabin. I might check during checkin and see how much more they might want for the FV cabin at that point. There are lots of open cabins in all categories for our cruise.

[stereo]

Sorry about saying that celebrity is leaving AZ at the end of the year--They are leaving austrailia--new zealand and the mille is going to baltimore--after drydock

[swigso]

The other thing to consider is that I will prob get a refund of my Fuel Suppliment of $360 as an OBC due to the price being below $65.

Boookings made after 10th Nov do not get the refund aparently.

[Moeve]

I bet that CVC had quite a few cabins for a whole lot of cruises in their inventory and these all had to come back now. That is wyh you might be seeing such a large number of cabins open up suddenly. The time frame fits.

[swigso]

I bet that CVC had quite a few cabins for a whole lot of cruises in their inventory and these all had to come back now. That is wyh you might be seeing such a large number of cabins open up suddenly. The time frame fits.

 

 

Good point but it would seem CVC is trading as ECruises

[Sheffie]

Swigso

Somethng else to consider about rebooking the cruise. We are on the Jan 4,2009 cruise

and asked about changing from a CC to a FV cabin with all the extra space afforded by it.

Was told we could do it, but it would be a new booking and we would lose our $1200 RT airfare from Dallas. Checked the price on the airfare and the best price I could find was around $2500 per person. Needless to say we kept the cabin we had and didn't go for the

FV cabin. I might check during checkin and see how much more they might want for the FV cabin at that point. There are lots of open cabins in all categories for our cruise.

 

We have changed categories MANY times and have never had to go with a "new booking." We have been able to keep our original booking and perks. Did you go through a TA? If so, I would have them re-check this.

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the updates, Stereo. Many of us are facing the same kindof question. What is Celebrity's current policy regarding price drops? It appears to be changing. Many report that they got price drops, etc. after final payment due date. But they don't say how long ago it was or if it was the major drop that comes from the new bookings sales.

 

The most info we share the better consumers we can be.

[RealDeal]

I just called X today to get this clarified & they told me that if a lower rate appears on their web site when you enter your specific trip/cabin details, they will issue a credit (if already paid). However, if it is a promotion (like the post-Thanksgiving sale), that is for new bookings only....And if you go onto their web site & try to book one of these post-Thanksgiving deals, the sale price doesn't come up...the regular price does, which is the sign that a booked passenger is not eligible for the lower fare, as it is a "special."

[CruisingChick]

Thanks RealDeal for calling and clarifying this. It is as I have always thought. My husband didn't believe me.

 

Anne Maria

[RealDeal]

Yeah, I actually called a couple of times just to make sure I REALLY understood. I'm used to Princess, who won't give any credits, period, after final payment. I've got my fingers crossed that my 2/1 CC cabin goes down!

[Keith52]

I say if you can wait, wait. With the economy the way it is I think you might see some price drops, espically if it's a older ship. Booking the Solitice I would do so now.

 

It all depends on the destinations. Your best values are the Trans-Atlantic Cruises or the last cruise for that area you could see Great pricing.