Booked early reduction in price?

[chasingships]

On our previous cruises I have booked 90 days or less out. This time I have already booked a cabin on the Rhapsody for Jan 2006. My question is has anyone who has booked a Grand Suite this early and received a reduction in price as the sail date has gotten closer of course before final payment is due? I didn't think these cabins would go on sale because they only have 12 so I figured I was safe booking so early.

 

Renee

[packedandready]

I can't answer about the grand suite. But we booked our last cruise 9 months in advance. When making the reservations through RCCL I asked them about what would happen if the rates went down. They told me to keep checking the website and if the price did drop then call them and they would credit my balance. Price never did get any lower so don't know if it would have actually happened. We did get $$ off coupon in Crown and Anchor Magazine AFTER the reservations were made and when I called about that they let me apply to the reservations alread made.

 

Call and ask....nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[loudbmw]

We booked two cabins while on the Sovereign for the Mariner this August in order to get the shipboard credit. Had the reservation transferred to our T/A. The price has sinced dropped $600 total for our two cabins. One quick phone call to our T/A got us the lower price.

 

It helps that we had not made final payment and that there are still cabins in our category available.

 

Lou

[midnightsun]

I booked early on both of the cruises we have planned.

On each cruise we booked a balcony cabin D1.

 

I booked the August 2005 Alaska cruise in February of this year and the January 2006 Caribbean cruise in March.

 

The Alaskan cruise price went up over $600 per cabin in just a couple of months and now balcony cabins are sold out.

 

The Caribbean cruise sold out in only a few weeks.

 

In my humble opinion, I think that it is wise to book as early as possible for best price and cabin selection.

[Honey's Gal]

I agree, book early. We booked while on the Serenade 10/04, for our 9/12/05 on the Jewel. We received the on-board credit, and we Xferred to our TA. By the time we got home, and our TA sent our invoice the price had gone down $200. You can always (if you check), get a credit, but your price will never go up if you book early. There is never a quarantee that the price will do down, but at least we get the cabin we want and the on-board credit.

 

I am sure you can get some really good deals it you wait until the last minute to book and are totally flexible, but we are not. We like to cruise in the fall and we prefer our cabin in a certain area of the ship and we like to choose which cruise we go on. Not all have deals.

[slyster]

ditto...earlier, the better. As you get closer to the cruise date, the price usually goes up. However, I have also seen if you wait one month before, you get some really good deals. Less choice in room categories, but you can save a ton of money.

[mamax4]

I, too, have to agree with booking early!

 

Booked Explorer (E1's) a YEAR in advance, confident that I could watching the prices on the web and as it decreased I would call to get a reduction.

 

To my HUGE surprise the cabins went up as much as 900.00 per cabin!! But I still had hope that as we got to "a month before" the rates would surely go down (trying to get people to book and fill the boat up). We are now 4 weeks out and the rates have decreased very little! The E1 category is sold out so I know that we will not getting any adjustments. BUT, if we hadn't booked so early we'd be paying ALOT more then we are.

 

With that story said, I suppose it depends on the ship your interested in and the time of the year.

Good Luck!

[chasingships]

Thanks so much for the info. In the past we have booked our trips less than 90 days out,I sure does seem like a long time booking this early. I think it will be worth our while booking this early from a financial standpoint.

 

Renee

[island lady]

We booked our GS on our upcoming Mariner cruise a year in advance, as soon as it was available.

Since then RCI has removed great discounts via the online TA's, we have now saved more than a thousand dollars on that cabin. Plus those limited cabins sold out way in advance.

I have always agreed it is best to book early. However, now with the new policy of little to no discounts, I don't see any great savings in the future.

Cheers.

[Ella2]

Island Lady, are you saying it does NOT make sense to book in advance with the changes in RCCL's policy? If so, I have to respectfully disagree. :) The changes in RCCL's TA policy have nothing to do with their individual pricing for each sailing.

 

In MOST cases, you WILL do best to book early, the pricing only goes up. On SOME sailings (yep, me in a GS on a late August Mariner sailing) they do go down after original booking, but generally only slightly (I saved $200, not bad, but not a huge discount.)

 

If there is no discounting allowed, but pricing generally DOES go up, then it most definitely makes sense to book early and hope for a price reduction...but don't expect it. :)

[Soxfan05]

We booked in February D-1 cabins for next December. At the time, we were able to get 3 aft cabins (including a corner). Since they were still available, we were confident the price may go down.

 

I just checked and the price has gone up about $300 per cabin for that category. Would've been nice to get a reduction but it also helped to prove my point to one family member who thought I was "nuts" to book so early that it definitely pays to do so.

 

We also booked out flights and those have gone up about $7 per person. Not much- but it always makes me, "the organizer" feel like I got my family and friends a good deal.

[island lady]

Island Lady, are you saying it does NOT make sense to book in advance with the changes in RCCL's policy? If so, I have to respectfully disagree. :) The changes in RCCL's TA policy have nothing to do with their individual pricing for each sailing.

 

In MOST cases, you WILL do best to book early, the pricing only goes up. On SOME sailings (yep, me in a GS on a late August Mariner sailing) they do go down after original booking, but generally only slightly (I saved $200, not bad, but not a huge discount.)

 

If there is no discounting allowed, but pricing generally DOES go up, then it most definitely makes sense to book early and hope for a price reduction...but don't expect it. :)

 

I am sorry, perhaps I did not make myself clear. Yes...I would most definately suggest that if you want a superior cabin at the best price, I would most heartily agree that it would be wise to book early.

 

What I was pointing out is that with the current changes now at hand reguarding the rules regulated with the online TA's, the past delicious and tasty discounts have gone away. :(

 

Such is life. Just glad I booked my GS early (in both respects) to get my available GS and just before the booking changes went through. :)

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise, Ella 2!

 

Cheers!

[JessLCH]

I booked an OS for a December Jewel sailing back in January. I booked it on one of the discount websites. Today I went to that site and saw that the OS price had dropped by a few hundred dollars. I emailed them and asked for the price reduction and got a new invoice with the lower price.

[TeriG2]

Probably no discounts on Grand suites. But here's a secret: When I booked our family cruise in March on the Mariner sailing in June, I kept checking prices on both RCL's consumer site AND travel agents site, and although the rates never changed on the consumer site, they DID change on the TA's site. The special rates were for residents of certain states and senior citizen's rates. I saved my in-laws 340.00 on their cruise, which RCL credited as onboard credit. For once I can say I wish I was in that 55+ group ;0) The rest of us didn't get discounts but being fairly new to the "biz" I was glad to find out that I am able to do SOMETHING my customers can't!! and YES my commission was cut, but I felt like it was worth it! It's always fun to save people $$$

[Ella2]

I am sorry, perhaps I did not make myself clear. Yes...I would most definately suggest that if you want a superior cabin at the best price, I would most heartily agree that it would be wise to book early.

Thanks for the clarification, Island Lady, and sorry that I misunderstood what you were saying. :)

[mrg0433]

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by booking early with Royal Caribbean. We have seen the prices on our upcoming cruise on Jewel jumping steadily. Thank goodness we booked nearly a year in advance. When there was a price drop on Explorer, my daughter got a refund credit from Royal Caribbean --even though it was after final payment. She used it to upgrade to a balcony. Other cruise lines don't offer that option.

 

Mary

Plymouth, MA

[chasingships]

Thanks so much. I didn't know they would lower your cost after final payment. I have been keeping an eye on the price daily. I am also going to be keeping an eye on the magazine to see if a coupon comes out.

Renee

[Dadofsara]

We booked Navigator for next February while onboard Serenade. Since February the price has gone up almost $600. So glad we booked early for next February.