Cruise price late offers

Well I have been cruising for some time now.

Never have I seen my RCI Med cruise reduced by £700 per person and offering more extra benefits than I got by being a loyal and faithful follower.

Next year. I will be waiting till the last minute to make my booking.

£1400. Is a lot of money to throw away for being loyal.

Let's hope they upgrade me. I live in hope.

And next year the price might double by the time you book it.

Cruise reservations are like trying to time the stock market.

Many cruise for 2016 and 2017 have gone up in price. One cruise I have been tracking (Panama Canal) has gone up $1000 CDN for 2017 from 2016.

And next year the price might double by the time you book it.

 

Cruise reservations are like trying to time the stock market.

So very true. But I'll take my chance.

Many cruise for 2016 and 2017 have gone up in price. One cruise I have been tracking (Panama Canal) has gone up $1000 CDN for 2017 from 2016.

Yes. I have noticed that. And then when they don't sell this happens. With exception of busy times like Christmas and New year.

It's a choice one makes I guess. You pay it or don't go. I'll wait and see if they drop it when they don't sell out. I expect it to drop at last minute if they have a lot of empty cabins but £700 pp. ridiculous.

If you don't care about a specific cabin or about possibly not getting on the ship period and you have the ability to travel last minute then waiting may be for you. We book early as we have to be able to plan our vacations in advance and in most cases we have specific cabin we want. We could always plan everything in advance, but wait to purchase our cruise last minute. But, I'd prefer to not end up in a departure city without a cruise reservation either because they sold out or the price ends up being more than we are willing to pay.

In the US, you can call to upgrade if the price of the higher category is now priced close to what you have paid. Not sure if you can do the same in the UK.

If you don't care about a specific cabin or about possibly not getting on the ship period and you have the ability to travel last minute then waiting may be for you. We book early as we have to be able to plan our vacations in advance and in most cases we have specific cabin we want. We could always plan everything in advance, but wait to purchase our cruise last minute. But, I'd prefer to not end up in a departure city without a cruise reservation either because they sold out or the price ends up being more than we are willing to pay.

Yes Adam totally agree with you there. This particular trip we can drive to the port. I've done it 5 years on the run. Every time I've seen the price drop but never by this much. We are now able to go when we want. It's made me think.

In the US, you can call to upgrade if the price of the higher category is now priced close to what you have paid. Not sure if you can do the same in the UK.

That's interesting. I'll make a call tomorrow see what they say. Thanks for the tip.

Yes Adam totally agree with you there. This particular trip we can drive to the port. I've done it 5 years on the run. Every time I've seen the price drop but never by this much. We are now able to go when we want. It's made me think.

This is exactly why plan on moving to Florida after the kids graduate. We cruise often now, but we want to cruise even more and be able to take advantage of those last minute deals that we can't now because flights would be waaay too expensive. Some day :D

That's interesting. I'll make a call tomorrow see what they say. Thanks for the tip.

Definitely call. We've taken advantage of this before as well. We couldn't get the huge price drop because it was after the final payment date, but we were able to get into a JS from a D1 for free. :cool:

This is exactly why plan on moving to Florida after the kids graduate. We cruise often now, but we want to cruise even more and be able to take advantage of those last minute deals that we can't now because flights would be waaay too expensive. Some day :D

I would not make that your sole reason on moving here. You might be disappointed

Definitely call. We've taken advantage of this before as well. We couldn't get the huge price drop because it was after the final payment date, but we were able to get into a JS from a D1 for free. :cool:

Well. I'm even more disappointed now. I made that call to my TA and I'm told if I want to upgrade it will cost me £300 to a higher grade cabin. It has nothing to do with what's on offer today to sell off cabins at this extremely low rate. They don't work the UK market the same as the United States.

Thoughts are. We have had Anthem over for a season and she's going back in the fall. I think there is far too much capacity for the Southampton market and they have loads of empty cabins to move.

This is exactly why plan on moving to Florida after the kids graduate. We cruise often now, but we want to cruise even more and be able to take advantage of those last minute deals that we can't now because flights would be waaay too expensive. Some day :D

Wow. Wouldn't that be amazing. :)

Definitely call. We've taken advantage of this before as well. We couldn't get the huge price drop because it was after the final payment date, but we were able to get into a JS from a D1 for free. :cool:

We do exactly the same. Book as early as we can and pick our ideal cabin. I watch the fares often. If the price drops I call the cruise line and upgrade. since we do not use a TA it is easy and fast. no need to wait for a TA to be in the office. Even if the cruise is paid for, we have upgraded after final payment, depending upon the deal.

We do exactly the same. Book as early as we can and pick our ideal cabin. I watch the fares often. If the price drops I call the cruise line and upgrade. since we do not use a TA it is easy and fast. no need to wait for a TA to be in the office. Even if the cruise is paid for, we have upgraded after final payment, depending upon the deal.

Unfortunately they only seem to do that for US bookings :(

Unfortunately they only seem to do that for US bookings :(

Too bad. I wonder why US bookings would have a different set of rules? I "assume" you cannot book via a US TA? That might help if allowed.

Too bad. I wonder why US bookings would have a different set of rules? I "assume" you cannot book via a US TA? That might help if allowed.

On the Brilliance right now and got an earful at lunch from an Irish woman complaining about how unfair Royal treats everyone compared to US bookings. While I agree there seems to be a bit of an up charge, I know that there are also very different contract laws (contract of carriage, insurance, etc) in play.

Too bad. I wonder why US bookings would have a different set of rules? I "assume" you cannot book via a US TA? That might help if allowed.

The ones I tried wouldn't let me book through them directing instead to their international sites. At least in Aus we don't seem to get price markups like they do in the UK.

I haven't ben watching Anthem prices in the UK. I now will start. I had watched the May bank holiday prices and they seemed to go up.

Well. I'm even more disappointed now. I made that call to my TA and I'm told if I want to upgrade it will cost me £300 to a higher grade cabin. It has nothing to do with what's on offer today to sell off cabins at this extremely low rate. They don't work the UK market the same as the United States.

 

Thoughts are. We have had Anthem over for a season and she's going back in the fall. I think there is far too much capacity for the Southampton market and they have loads of empty cabins to move.

Keep an eye on Royals UK website. If you see a higher grade cabin offered for sale at slightly over what you are going to pay, they will upgrade you on request, my UK based TA has got that for me.

If the TA tells you Royal says no, ask to be included on a 3 way conference call or to be copied into an email trail and try again.

Keep an eye on Royals UK website. If you see a higher grade cabin offered for sale at slightly over what you are going to pay, they will upgrade you on request, my UK based TA has got that for me.

 

If the TA tells you Royal says no, ask to be included on a 3 way conference call or to be copied into an email trail and try again.

Thank you for this information. I appreciate it.