Fare increase

[myc6toy]

Wow, I'm sure glad we booked early.

My better half finally convinced me to go on a cruise, as I have always been a "all Inclusive resort" landlubber, she sweetend the pot by going with SS. Our voyage is in May 2014, Barceleona to Rome on the Spirit, taking in Cannes Film Festival and the Formula 1 race in Monaco.

I was looking on the SS web site and our fare for a Veranda 4 Suite has gone up 24% since she booked it, and all but three classes are wait listed, so I imagine it will be a full ship.

We are going to spend 2 days in Barcelenoa before the crusie, and 3 days in Rome after.

I think I have read about the last three years of posts here on CC and have learned a lot, so I wont have too many already answered questions.

You CC'ers are a wealth of information.. Thanks

[Ravenscroft]

We did the Monaco Grand Prix cruise on Silver Spirit in 2011, similar itinerary to yours. The ship was full then too.

This is one I'd very much like to repeat, so I'll wish you a great cruise and try not to be too envious !

[myc6toy]

Did you do the SS GP package ? If so, was it worth it?

[Ravenscroft]

Did you do the SS GP package ? If so, was it worth it?

 

No we didn't. We booked quite last minute, I think it was only about 6 weeks before the cruise date, so we arranged everything ourselves. In the end we chose a hospitality package at the roof terrace of the Hotel de Paris. It included a very impressive buffet lunch and open bar.

We had a wonderful time, would love to do it again and I can't really say that I'm a fan of F1 but I got completely caught up in the atmosphere of Monaco during the weekend and even enjoyed the race itself.

Something that I found exciting was that even onboard Spirit when we were out on deck, anchored quite a long way out in Monaco Bay, we could still hear the engines of the cars during the practice race on the Saturday.

[Randyk47]

It does look like we booked just in time. We actually were on a different line and making those arrangements when our Silversea PCC called and asked if we'd seen a couple of cruises. She knew we were looking to fill in the gaps from our Med cruise last year and thought one or both of the cruises she pointed out would do that. After a weekend of fairly intense research and consideration we cancelled our other cruise and booked Voyages 2413 and 2414 as a back-to-back combination. Last weekend our cabin went up 8%, give or take, for both cruises.

[myc6toy]

It does look like we booked just in time. We actually were on a different line and making those arrangements when our Silversea PCC called and asked if we'd seen a couple of cruises. She knew we were looking to fill in the gaps from our Med cruise last year and thought one or both of the cruises she pointed out would do that. After a weekend of fairly intense research and consideration we cancelled our other cruise and booked Voyages 2413 and 2414 as a back-to-back combination. Last weekend our cabin went up 8%, give or take, for both cruises.

 

I guess as demand goes up so do the prices. There is lot to said about booking early. (although the wait is killing me :D )

[Randyk47]

I guess as demand goes up so do the prices. There is lot to said about booking early. (although the wait is killing me :D )

 

There does seem to be some demand for our two cruises. Granted we've only seven months out, and for us that's actually a very close booking as we're usually booking a year or more out, but we were actually unable to get the cabin we wanted for both voyages. Rather than move cabins in Venice we accepted a cabin that will allow us to stay in the same cabin for both voyages. Quite different than last year on the Wind where we sailed at around 80-85% capacity.

[Silver Spectre]

Recently booked the Shadow for the Nov 2014 Papeete to VPO cruise and on looking back at the printed price list that I picked up in Nov 2012 discovered that the price had gone up by £3000 ($4500), almost across the board.

 

Interestingly the following voyage from VPO to BA has stayed the same price.

 

One is 17 days with 8 days at sea and the other 15 days with 4 days at sea and the second was originally marginally more expensive.

 

The Papeete to VPO is however pretty full.

 

If this is a portent of things to come then booking early is going to become way more important.

[duct tape]

See you there!

[wripro]

It's really a crap shoot. If you book early and the sailing fills up fast causing price hikes then you've come out ahead. If you book early and the sailing does not sell well and they lower prices after final payment then you've lost out.

[Stumblefoot]

It's really a crap shoot. If you book early and the sailing fills up fast causing price hikes then you've come out ahead. If you book early and the sailing does not sell well and they lower prices after final payment then you've lost out.

Thankfully, this is no longer a crap shoot with the Fare Guarantee Programme SS put into place June 1st of this year.

 

As SS notes on their website, "guests are assured that when they plan ahead and book early, not only will they enjoy the privilege of reserving their desired suite, but they can also benefit from any future reduction in the Silver Privilege fares for their voyage."

[wripro]

Good point.