Price Drop

[Albert Ross]

Thanks Albert..

 

Now how did my post disappear... did I say something I shouldn've?

 

The thing is, my TA has mentioned that no price reductions will be possible, no refunds of deposit. This def is quite strange as it doesn't seem to be the same as what's being said here. If the TA sticks to their guns, I might just forgo my deposit and go with another.

It is true that you don't get your £100pp deposit back if you cancel in the UK. However, as Lizzie has said, you should get a price drop. Do a new booking on the website, and go right up to the point where you have to put it on hold. If the price is significantly lower than £100pp saving then yes, it is probably worth cancelling and rebooking. Remember that you may not get your same cabin back, but for ££££ saving that may be worth forsaking.

Time for a different TA next time or book direct with X perhaps. That way you have total control over your booking.

Bonne chance and let us know what happens!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Has a newbie:rolleyes:, if I book and there is price drop after I book Azamara will refund me the difference :confused:

 

This would be great:D

[Andy]

Has a newbie:rolleyes:, if I book and there is price drop after I book Azamara will refund me the difference :confused:

 

This would be great:D

 

Hi Airbalancer !

 

In most cases, Azamara will refund the difference, but you (or your Travel Agent) must call them when you see a lower price. It will not be done automatically. Keep in mind, there are a handful of occasions, like a special promotion or last minute deal where they will not refund the difference. The good news is, they are typically very good about it.

[shoshona2]

Thank you Davidr! Last night the prices changed on our cruise, also. I checked the Azamara website last night and my category did NOT go down, butttttttttttttttt other categories did. I called my TA and we switched cabins to the same deck with the same amount of space, but $1600 LESS. That should cover a lot of more than our excursions.

 

Sheila

[bbqbears]

Thank you Davidr! Last night the prices changed on our cruise, also. I checked the Azamara website last night and my category did NOT go down, butttttttttttttttt other categories did. I called my TA and we switched cabins to the same deck with the same amount of space, but $1600 LESS. That should cover a lot of more than our excursions.

 

Sheila

 

Sheila--could you say a bit more about your category change? We're in a balcony stateroom on level 7...

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[TomCruises]

Azamara Southern Caribbean cruises during 03/2010, Sunset Verandas dropped $600pp from $2899 to $2299 during the last month!:)

[TomCruises]

There are price drops if categories are sold out. I was offered a $200 price drop on cat 12 inside which is sold out. Instead I re booked our 2 back-to-back cruises April 25 and May 2 from an inside cat 12 to a veranda 1A under a special senior rate (the hubby fits it) for only $100 more for the first week and the same price for the second week. And we don't have to change cabins. I am a happy camper (or cruiser)!

Susie

Susie, Prices usually drop when there is excessive inventory available on a particular itinerary. :)

[shoshona2]

Hi Kathy,

 

We were in 7116 (Sunset Veranda) which we love. Azamara gets more money for that category than a regular A1 category on the same deck. We switched to 7058 and saved $800 per person. Go to Azamara's website and you can check out the price of your category and see if it went down. The line is making adjustments as they happen and letting the ta's aware of the new prices.

 

Sheila

[bbqbears]

Thanks Sheila. I wrote to my TA.

 

Kathy

[PrincessRobbo]

Hi Jan

 

We are just back from our 14th February sailing on Quest Tianjin to HK so I have only just read your reply. I appreciate your efforts. The reason that I booked with a UK agent was because originally I also booked the Azamara air as well. Also a lot of cruise lines don't allow cross border booking so I felt that I had to stick with a UK booking agency.

 

Whilst on board we were invited for drinks by some very nice Americans who were celebrating a birthday. They had a lovely suite and they paid less than we did for our SV cabin.

 

I did question the lady who was in charge of future sales on board and she confirmed what Albert Ross has said but in the face of an imovable agent there didn't seem to be anything that I could do.

 

I would dearly love to find a good agent but it's forbidden on this site.

 

Lynda

[Jade13]

although the azamara price has dropped the price im paying is still less with the agents discount applied do you think i should push for a futher dis count or leave itlim still quite happy with the price,and mine still includes fuel surcharge,we struggle to us usa agents because of the billing address espically if traveling to US and also if they go broke we lose all our money,i know some people do use them,also it is a pain for the airflights if you want the agent to do an inclusive deal again because of the address and payment

 

I thought RCCL/Celebrity/Azamara did not allow agents to discount the cruises, only to offer OBC or other amenities?

[gosport11]

The dicount comes from the agents commision :):)

[Albert Ross]

I thought RCCL/Celebrity/Azamara did not allow agents to discount the cruises, only to offer OBC or other amenities?

Yes they can and they do in the UK. Different rules

[Jancruz]

Jan

 

Do you know why these price drops are not passed on to UK passengers. I have been seeing posts from other people on my cruise getting the refund, but my TA has been in contact with Azamara and they have said that the price hasn't gone down. It's very galling, and whilst I don't resent other folk's good fortune I feel very hard done by.

 

Lynda

 

Hi Lynda, this is the answer I received..

 

Dear Jan,

 

Not sure why this seems to be an issue in the UK. While I'm not familiar

with any consumer laws they may have, this could explain why it would be

different. I do know that they have different deposit rules/laws for

cruises.

 

In the US, there are times that we may adjust pricing, if the guest

qualifies -- but again, we deal with the travel partner in every case

before we make any adjustments. Again, for international bookings, I'm really not sure why the travel agent wouldn't look into reducing the price, unless it just happens to be on of their rules/laws.

 

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

Jancruz1

[Jade13]

Sue

 

Forgive me but I thought that a thread on price drops was the perfect place to ask a question on that subject. I see that you have also asked a similar question elsewhere.

 

This subject has been dabated long and hard by non US cruisers and long before the £ dropped against the $. I was part of a discussion started by some NZ people last Spring.

 

Jan has very kindly said that she will ask the question on my behalf and as she is so well though of on CC I look forward to hearing from her.

 

Lynda

 

Lynda,

 

My guess would be that a TA can sell a cruise for whatever they want in a free market. However, it seems stupid not to honor a price drop as I'm sure you won't be using them again. Note two things, one most cruise lines do not allow price drops after final payment and second, many if not most TA's (especially the on-line ones) do charge a free for any booking "change" or cancellation. A typical fee would be $50.00 per person, but I was able to get that waived on a prior cruise based on the fact I had multiple bookings with the agent.

[j!m]

pricing is confusing for non american cruisers because of the different laws regarding travel agents and foreign exchange. all the major cruise lines use $US as their reporting currency and price based on $US. and they have to guess what a euro will be worth in $US when a cruiser from say, france books and pays. so they "pad" the exchange rate a bit to protect their revenue stream.

 

we booked a june 09 cruise on journey in oct 08 and our booking is in $Cdn. the same cabin is now listed on the Az website for Cdn $1800 more pp. my guess is the increase has a lot to do with the change in the value of the Cdn dollar vs $US.

 

for example the $US price of a particular cruise/cabin may go down by say 10% after a cruiser has booked but if the euro,pound,cdn dollar etc fell in value by 15% vs the US dollar the price would go up for folks using those currencies.

 

we usually compare the US/Cdn pricing when we book and choose the least cost alternative because we have some $US available to us from what is left of our US investments and here in canada we can book in either currency

 

also we do use a full service t/a and always pay less then the rack rate. we have never paid the advertised price and have always thought no one else does either. generally we receive a discount of about 10%. if it comes from the t/a commish that is what they have chosen to do as their business model and we dont really care where the discount comes from.

 

actually i think the cruise line is generous if they offer price adjustments post booking. if a pax books a year in advance and obtains their choice of rooms etc why should they be entitled to a reduction say 3 months before the cruise when the cruise line is trying to fill the ship?? the extra cost secured the sailing date and room for the early booker. i cannot obtain a price reduction on a suit i bought if it goes on sale 2 months later??

 

my attitude is i was happy with the price when i booked and thats that. if someone else paid more or less for the same accomodations i am not going to worry about it, i'm happy with my price. i dont even want to know what others paid. same for airfare. you would go nuts if you tried to get the lowest price paid by anyone else on the same plane as you.

 

and trying to compare what a US person vs an aussie or canuck or brit paid for the same room will also drive you nuts.

[PrincessRobbo]

Jan

 

Thank you so much for your efforts on my behalf it was very good of you. I think that I'll have to move on now or give up cruising.

 

Kind regards

 

Lynda

[Jancruz]

Jan

 

Thank you so much for your efforts on my behalf it was very good of you. I think that I'll have to move on now or give up cruising.

 

Kind regards

 

Lynda

 

I am so sorry it was not more definitive..but it came from a vp..moving on is good!! LOL

Jancruz1

[Albert Ross]

Jan

 

Thank you so much for your efforts on my behalf it was very good of you. I think that I'll have to move on now or give up cruising.

 

Kind regards

 

Lynda

Lynda, Livvylotte and other Brits - again I say that UK TAs DO HONOUR PRICE DROPS! It is in the T&Cs section 1.9. Wave this under their noses.

 

Now, some TAs claim not to know of this, and some TAs refuse to pass on the price drop because it effects their commission. If this happens then demand they set up a call with RCI/X UK and get them to speak to the CSR who can confirm if there has indeed been a price drop for your booking. Keep on at them until they apply it.

Alternatively book direct with RCI/X and you are in control of your booking and if you see a px drop call them and it will be applied within nano-seconds.

[allyurwishes]

I agree with Jim. As a fellow canuck we have a choice of booking in US or CDN dollars. The sky suite we booked is about is about $2400. US MORE today then when I booked last August. As Jim notes, the exchange rate when we booked was closer to par, but there's a big difference now! I don't intend to change the booking for a $300 OBC!

 

Anyway, aren't a lot of cruise fares like air fares - they are determined by a computer program based on a number of factors which include demand and competition on the itinerary. But like air fares, early bookers often (but certainly NOT always) get the best deals.

[bbqbears]

I just checked the website and see that balcony stateroom is going for $2499. I think that represents another drop...?

 

Kathy

[shoshona2]

Hi Kathy,

 

I got very excited last night and thought ALL the veranda cabins had dropped to $2499 on our Journey cruise in June. They are only the guaranteed 2A verandas. If I change my reservation, I will be on a guarantee list and not know which cabin I get. I like where my 1A cabin is located mid ship on the 7th deck and don't want to change. The money is due shortly and there will probably be cancellations due to the economy so Azamara is trying to

sell out the ship.

 

Sheila

[Redtravel]

Actually the prices change often. When I settle on a cruise, I check the prices often. Usually the best prices are about 3 months prior or 1 month prior. They tend to go up when the deposit is due. People jump thinking that they got a good price....and most likely they did. However, if the cruise is very empty, 4 weeks prior, check out the deals. If the cruise is getting full, prices can rocket up. It's a gamble. Good luck!

[treasure4two]

I checked with my TA(I am on the East Coast time, so I called her early) and she had already gotten our room rate down by $300 PP and she talked to an Azamara supervisor and the only way we could get the rest of the difference,$201 PP, was to give up the room we like(quiet area with little foot traffic going by) and take a guaranteed room in the same category)no telling what room we would get), so we said 'no'. It will be interesting to see what happens with the rates. Thank you all on Cruise Critic for keeping us up on everything. :D

[greeneg]

I checked with my TA(I am on the East Coast time, so I called her early) and she had already gotten our room rate down by $300 PP and she talked to an Azamara supervisor and the only way we could get the rest of the difference,$201 PP, was to give up the room we like(quiet area with little foot traffic going by) and take a guaranteed room in the same category)no telling what room we would get), so we said 'no'. It will be interesting to see what happens with the rates. Thank you all on Cruise Critic for keeping us up on everything. :D

 

Our thinking is pretty much the same as yours. We did change from a 1A to a 2A on our May Quest cruise because the rooms are identical and we had no issue with being farther forward: at least not for $800.00. Had we gone to a guarentee, we could have ended up where we didn't want to be, so we stayed put.

 

I actually monitor the prices several times a week and have no hesitation asking for a reduction. Hey, the call is free and the worst that can happen is that I don't get it.