Suite Pricing vs Upgrade cost question

[roveer]

We sailed on the Jewel last November and had booked an A3 for our family of 6 but upgraded to the A1 for x dollars more. Actually a lot of x's more. I looked at this November and noticed that the A1 is pricing 8k higher than I paid last year. I know the prices will fluctuate, but will the website price ever match the fair+upgrade price? Should I have any expectation that I can get basically the same deal that I got last year? I noticed that all the A3's and A1's are currently available on the sailing that I want. I guess I could do the same as last year, book the A3 and try and upgrade. I know my family would be terribly dissapointed if we were not able to get the A1. For us, that experience really made the trip special. The ship was not all that exciting unless you liked to shop or eat, but the GV made things extra special. I'm thinking I'd like to do it again.

[garycarla]

You can always pay the original fare plus upgrade which is the same as just buying the higher cat in the first place. I am confused.

 

Unless you were offered an upsell where they sold you the higher cabin at a reduced price. This is way different than just buying the upgrade and may or may not be available. And would be terribly chancy.

[Fishbait17]

The pricing we saw last Nov and Dec were a phenomena we likely won't see this year, as the cruising market seems to be recovering and prices are overall much higher this year. The exception is Europe, which is selling for somewhat less because of the large rise in airfares and too many ships in the area for too few people willing to pay for air.

 

I have been pricing GVs for this fall and winter and have seen very few bargains like we saw last year. The pricing may drop as the cruise gets close - but I do expect the GVs to book up fairly well (better than last year) so keep an eye out for a more acceptable price but don't wait too long (it's a gamble either way). I remember the price you paid for the GV last Nov and I am not sure it will drop that low again, especially if you are looking at Thanksgiving or Teacher's Convention (Jersey week). Even the week before Christmas is pricing very very high (in my eyes). If you are flexible, the lowest I have seen out of NYC is the first week on December, where it seems like a pretty good deal (we are debating taking both Jewel GVs that week, but likely will not because of schedules).

 

good luck!

 

Robin

[beachchick]

If your family will be that disappointed unless they are in the GV, then you should just book it and be done with it. It sounds like you got a sweet, but unusual, deal last year. If you will all be truly happy in the A3, then book that and keep checking fares for the GV. It's possible that you might snag another good deal. But again, if having the GV is really a make-or-break thing in order for your family to enjoy the cruise, then you really do need to book it now and watch for fare drops for the other GV. You might be able to get a reduction if the other GV goes down in price. Honestly though, I can't imagine anyone not having a wonderful cruise in a "lowly" A3 Courtyard Villa.

 

beachchick

[roveer]

Just to give a sense of the numbers here. Last year I booked (for my family of 6) an A3 at rounded up 8,500.00 The upgrade to the A1 was another 5k, so 13K for the cruise. Right now the A1 is pricing at 21K. The first week in Dec the same room is pricing at 9.7k.

 

What I don't remember was what it was pricing at (on the website) when they were offering it to me at 13k.

 

Is it me or does anyone else feel like this fall will not be a good economy for cruising? Our business has dropped off 70% and everything I read shows that the entire economy is basically on a cliff. I'm sure some areas are recovering, but overall things are still pretty dismal. Maybe I'm off here.

 

The A1 probably would make or break the cruise for us, but not at 21k. At 13k I'd book it right now, but it would appear that I have to do the "bad economy" dance with NCL to have any chance of that happening and hope nobody else wants it. I'm frugal and if the price is not right, I will look elsewhere.

[sjbdtz]

Just to give a sense of the numbers here. Last year I booked (for my family of 6) an A3 at rounded up 8,500.00 The upgrade to the A1 was another 5k, so 13K for the cruise. Right now the A1 is pricing at 21K. The first week in Dec the same room is pricing at 9.7k.

 

What I don't remember was what it was pricing at (on the website) when they were offering it to me at 13k.

 

Is it me or does anyone else feel like this fall will not be a good economy for cruising? Our business has dropped off 70% and everything I read shows that the entire economy is basically on a cliff. I'm sure some areas are recovering, but overall things are still pretty dismal. Maybe I'm off here.

 

The A1 probably would make or break the cruise for us, but not at 21k. At 13k I'd book it right now, but it would appear that I have to do the "bad economy" dance with NCL to have any chance of that happening and hope nobody else wants it. I'm frugal and if the price is not right, I will look elsewhere.

 

 

My suggestion.... phone them and offer $15k today. You might need to speak with a supervisor, but at least you'll know where you stand.

 

 

 

 

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[roveer]

Any efforts on my part last year to "offer" them a price were unsucessful. Has anyone ever "Offered" and been sucessful? Of course at 15k I'd have to really consider 2 weeks later (dec) at 9.7k. Of course I'm toying with those dates anyway on price alone.

[garycarla]

Just to give a sense of the numbers here. Last year I booked (for my family of 6) an A3 at rounded up 8,500.00 The upgrade to the A1 was another 5k, so 13K for the cruise. Right now the A1 is pricing at 21K. The first week in Dec the same room is pricing at 9.7k.

....

 

I guess you should consider booking the Dec deal.

[rvsullivan]

When I look at this on the Jewel for six people it is $21K during Thanksgiving week, early December for six is $11K. $10,000 for cruising during Thanksgiving. I think for that kind of money I might change dates.:eek:

[Fishbait17]

Any efforts on my part last year to "offer" them a price were unsucessful. Has anyone ever "Offered" and been sucessful? Of course at 15k I'd have to really consider 2 weeks later (dec) at 9.7k. Of course I'm toying with those dates anyway on price alone.

 

I imagine you are booking for Thanksgiving week again right? You can't expect the pricing to be the same during a holiday week as the "dead time" of early December (almost always the cheapest time to cruise, esp out of the Northeast)...

 

Your basic problem is that the cruiseline sets the price, not you (personally). They will not drop it this far out. Most of the major adjustments to pricing come after final payment, and then the really good deals don't start showing up until a few weeks out - this is why you got such a good deal last year at the nearly last minute. If you feel you can wait, then wait. If you are anxious, you have to decide when and what to book. But you cannot anticipate to pay what you paid last year - it's supply vs demand, and demand is way up this year over last (pricing and full ships proves this). My guess is that the price should drop, if nobody else decides to book them at full price first - This happened on my last sailing. We were the ONLY ones booked in the Courtyard, but both GVs booked at full price more than six months out. The regular suites dropped drastically in price-even after upsells, there were only three CVs sold that week, but the GV's were booked at full price - so they were never discounted. This was in Europe, the only place I have seen deeply discounted this year, and we decided to pay the higher airfare and get a good deal on the suite.

 

Hey, we would all like to book the GVs for $15K (or whatever we think is a "good price") - heck, we paid over $40K for our GV sailing only 3 weeks out - it was originally listed for over $50K.. If the Jewel GV's were available right now for Thanksgiving week for $15K, I would have booked them both already - it was one of our option dates. But they aren't, so I didn't book them. You simply have to decide how much you are willing to pay and take it or leave it - playing the waiting game *might* get you a lower price, but then again, it might not be available at any price.

 

Robin

[roveer]

As you can see from my prior posts. I'm not at all complaining about the price differences for sailing dates. I know it's how they do it. supply/demand. I do strongly consider the value of my $$$ vs any given date and while it would be nice to sail during the holiday, if I can't get close to what I feel is fair than I won't sail. I'm fine with that line of thinking, it works for me. As a previous poster said, 11k for 1 or 2 weeks difference is a pretty big amount.

 

What I was really wondering is from last year's example, what was the website price vs the total upsell price. Is there a big difference? I'm trying to remember. I'm sure I was pricing the A1 on the website and I want to say it was pricing 18-19k when they were offering it to me at 13. I ran into a lot of A3 folks on our cruise who tried to "grab" our room at the port. I had booked it the Wednesday before we sailed. Guess there are a bunch of folks out there playing the discount game.

 

I'll ponder on that 15k number for a while. I have a tendency of becoming comfortable with bigger numbers after I've dwelled on them a while. Then I might give NCL a call. There are lots of variables in play. We'd really like to try a mega-ship, but that envolves a lot of travel to distant ports which for us is a pain. NYC is so convienent and when in an A1, transporatation to-from is provided. It was really easy from where we live in NJ, but the downside is that the Itinerary for those sailings is a big ho-hum and the ship, while nice is not as nice as some of the newer ships. Lots of resteraunts on the Gem and the Jewel and we felt it took lots of valuable space. Other ships felt a lot bigger. But we did have a lot of fun sailing at that time of year, and the GV and all the extra attention made up for the things that we didn't like so it's just managing the trade-offs.

 

I don't want anyone to think I'm compaining about the costs, I'm not. I just go through all these permutations to make sure I'm doing this "my way". I always learn a thing or two during the process which is why I come to CC and post.

 

I appreciate everyone's input. Makes me feel like i've turned every stone when I get it from the seasoned pro's. Thanks.