Aren't cruise lines disingenuous when they refer to discounts off "brochure" fares??

[iggycat]

Hi, all. Just a general comment: Ever notice how most cruise lines always refer to their prices as 40-50% off their "brochure" price, and that the brochure fares seem artificially high? Isn't this just a glorified scam?? Does anyone really pay the enormous brochure fares, or is this just a way for cruise lines to pretend like all of their prices are discounts when they are really the normal prices? In fact, I wouldn't even know how to pay a "brochure" fare if I wanted to! Whenever I book a cruise online, or call an agent to book, I get the lower fare without asking, so it hardly even makes sense to talk about a brochure fare. I'm disappointed that these companies feel the need to trick us into thinking every discount is some amazing, unheard of deal when many of them are simply the regular prices.

[paul929207]

Cruise prices are like many ther prices, you haveo check around.

[Keith1010]

If you stay in a Hotel most hotels show on the door the rack rate. Same goes for most appliances and many other items with manufacturer list prices.

 

Keith

[wwinfl91]

Unfortunately people who are cruising for the first time and who aren't very computer literate may end up paying brochure fares because they don't know any better and they find a local TA who takes advantage of them.

 

We overpaid to an AAA TA for our first two cruise, not brochure fare but still way more than we should have, because I didn't do a good job of reseaching what was available. This was in 1997 and I assumed because they were offering to knock off 20% from the printed fare I was getting a good deal.

 

The next cruise was booked through an online agency that we still use and was less than 50% of rack rate.

 

Whenever we are on a cruise I try to spread the word about cruise critic and how people can learn all about cruising by going online. I also listen but try not to brag when I hear how much people paid for the same cabin type as we have. I have only met one or two people who paid less than we did but we do a lot of guarantees and so far have been lucky.

 

Anyway cruise lines have a right to set the prices at whatever they want but even they don't charge people those rates normally. If they have a popular cruise then they will charge closer to the brochure rates and get away with it.

 

Have a great next cruise at less than brochure cost.

[uppitycats]

Most cars (with the exception of Saturn, and maybe a couple others) are sold the same way .. you'd be foolish to pay the sticker price. Welcome to the world of advertising.

[G'ma]

Hi, all. Just a general comment: Ever notice how most cruise lines always refer to their prices as 40-50% off their "brochure" price, and that the brochure fares seem artificially high? Isn't this just a glorified scam?? Does anyone really pay the enormous brochure fares, or is this just a way for cruise lines to pretend like all of their prices are discounts when they are really the normal prices? In fact, I wouldn't even know how to pay a "brochure" fare if I wanted to! Whenever I book a cruise online, or call an agent to book, I get the lower fare without asking, so it hardly even makes sense to talk about a brochure fare. I'm disappointed that these companies feel the need to trick us into thinking every discount is some amazing, unheard of deal when many of them are simply the regular prices.

 

Not any more than a merchant who shows MSRP - Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price.

 

No one pays either........

[luddite]

Caveat Emptor?

[ehfl]

LOL...this is the Internet age...do people really still look at paper brochures? Where would you get these brochures? I've never even seen one....I'd like to know where you're finding all these brochures?

[sylteach]

The cruiselines give the brochures to different travel agencies.

[wowsmom]

LOL...this is the Internet age...do people really still look at paper brochures? Where would you get these brochures? I've never even seen one....I'd like to know where you're finding all these brochures?

 

When we were trying to decide which cruise to Alaska we wanted to take, I went to the local travel agency and got brochures for all the cruiselines we were considering - that way, the kids could each have something to look through, plus it was easier to compare things between cruiselines.

[klauer]

We get brochures all the time in the mail.

[ncovert]

People want to feel that they are getting value. By advertising a discount a company is able to give this to their consumer. Advertising tactics are designed to sell their product and by using this tactic cruise lines feel that they see a return.

 

Like others have pointed out, a person who does their research can find better deals some of the time. I am sure if someone wanted to pay the higher price the cruise line would take the money.

[CC Help Michell]

To answer the title of the thread, yes, cruiselines are disingenuous when they refer to "brochure" fares -- and so are car dealers who refer to "MSRP," and department stores who refer to "% off our regular prices," and jewelery stores who advertise huge discounts (off prices they increased the day before the "sale").

 

Buyer, beware, indeed. And anyone who actually pays brochure prices for a cruise these days probably needs a keeper! I don't know how one would even go about managing to yourself ripped off like that.

 

PS We love brochures. I like having hard copies to look through, plus all the cruiseline's deck plans.

[Happy ks]

The really weird part is that you pay the same amount whether you use an online travel agent or the cruiseline direct. The only time I see higher fares is at brick and mortar travel agencies, advertised in the window.

[Happy ks]

I'll also add that as I work in a retail store part time, we have some prices controlled by our vendors. Then, a large chain like Macys comes along and advertises a sale price, which is the same exact price we charge every single day for the same exact goods and people flock to those advertised prices thinking they are getting a deal. :rolleyes:

[Putterdude]

We hardly give the brochure price any notice...we check on a number of online sites and then have a chat with our TA who generally right out of the shute beats anything we can find online.

[silentbob007]

Like an eariler poster, I see it as similar to a "rack rate" in a hotel room ... you almost never pay it, but it is a rate that limits how high the prices can be jacked up.

[hubofhockey]

The really weird part is that you pay the same amount whether you use an online travel agent or the cruiseline direct. The only time I see higher fares is at brick and mortar travel agencies, advertised in the window.

 

That generalization is not true on all cruiselines. If you ever book on Princess, please do not rely on this strategy unless you really want to pay more. Some lines, like Princess, don't want to match their bigger TAs because they depend on those TAs to deliver customers to them. I booked my next cruise on board with Princess and they actually booked it with my TA instead of taking the booking themselves because the TA price was lower than the Princess price. Does that make sense? Maybe not. But I am glad Princess did that for me.

[Waynetor]

When you book a furture cruise on Princess, ownership of the booking will default to who booked the current cruise. This can be overridden if desired. If Princess did not do this, it would be like they are stealing the customer from the agent. Agents would no longer send customers on Princess. Normally the price would be the same. The agent may have an existing group open they could be booked into or some similar discount that would show up in the Princess booking process to allow the TA rate to be lower.

Wayne S.

[CPT Trips]

The really weird part is that you pay the same amount whether you use an online travel agent or the cruiseline direct. The only time I see higher fares is at brick and mortar travel agencies, advertised in the window.

 

That generalization is not true on all cruiselines. If you ever book on Princess, please do not rely on this strategy unless you really want to pay more. Some lines, like Princess, don't want to match their bigger TAs because they depend on those TAs to deliver customers to them. I booked my next cruise on board with Princess and they actually booked it with my TA instead of taking the booking themselves because the TA price was lower than the Princess price. Does that make sense? Maybe not. But I am glad Princess did that for me.

 

A lot of online TAs will beat the cruiseline fare for just about every line. They might only do it by offering incentives such as an onboard credit, but they do offer a better deal.