Always Check For Reduction In Rates

[wasup254]

They will not speak to me directly, Princess that is.

 

Should I call the TA and or email them and send them the competitve price on another web?

 

Marlene

[dacke81752]

It seems in order to get price reductions you need to have a good TA. Can anyone reccommend one or how do I find one? Is it better to have a TA in your town?

[wasup254]

I found on my TA's web site a price reduction on our cruise of 500 dollars. I jut emailed her, that is a big drop and it is over 7 weeks away from cruising.

 

I wonder if she will honor it or what she will do. We have made final payment, maybe she wil try for an upgrade to a mini suite. But they minis are on Dolphin dck which are uncovered.

 

Marlene

[loveable]

I always check on Expedia ... I booked my cruise through a TA but the prices on Expedia are the same as everyone elses .. same as RCI. If I notice a price reduction I either called my TA or emailed her and within 10 mintues she gives me a call back (after she calls RCI to verify) and lets me know that I will be getting a refund for the difference.

 

We booked thru a TA and she is awful about getting back to us at all. Would like to find onethat is trustworthly and reliable. Care to share yours???

[RKMJDJ]

Call the cruise line and ask them if they have any group pricing that has been given to Icruise, cruisebrothers, etc. Then call them direct and book. When they apply for group space they often get good pricing along with ship board credit for most categories.

[cuthbert732]

hi i have already made my final payment with carnival and saw the price some where else cheaper. i have already recieved my docwhat do i do. are is it a done deal?

[airlink diva]

hi i have already made my final payment with carnival and saw the price some where else cheaper. i have already recieved my docwhat do i do. are is it a done deal?

I'm like you, I noticed on a website that the pricing on a balcony is a $200 difference in what I paid for my inside cabin. However on Carnival website, it's alot higher. I wonder if I can paid with $200 for the upgrade.

[Two from Virginia]

Wow, this is a very informative site! We are taking our first cruise with Princess in May to the Eastern Caribbean. I checked various websites (icruise, expedia, etc) and they are showing "sold out" for their balcony accomodations so I guess there is really no chance in getting a lower price. Are the inside cabins better than the balcony? If the inside are less than what was paid for the balcony, will the ship upgrade (if this is the correct word)? Thanks.

[renata102]

thanks to cc board. i just upgraded several cat levels. The prices dropped (not alot maybe like 80 dollars for each cabin and we booked 3). Insgtead of taking a refund, we decided to upgrade to a larger and higher catagory in the price level that we orginally paid for. Sure enough we were upgraded once we called. BTW, we are on RCCL Enchantment of the Sea 9/7/06 Ft. Lauderdale to Cozumel. My SIL wanted to know if I chekc the rates daily and I said yes.... you never know, it just takes several minutes.:p

[Pradagal]

That is my new mantra "Check for price reductions". I was told on the boards about a price drop for our cruise in August. I was very thankful for that information.I called RCI and got a credit(we book directly though them). Now our catagory is sold out it was such a great price!!

So now I will always check the RCI site for price reductions on my cruises...;)

[txladybug]

My family will be on the Mariner of the Seas on July 24, 2005. A few weeks ago I check the rates and they had went down a significant amount. I called my TA and she returned my call and said that RCI was giving me a discount of $420 per stateroom (we booked two inside rooms). I just checked the rates again today and noticed another reduction and called the TA again and she got us an additional discount of $344 per stateroom. I feel like I have won the lottery!!

 

If it hadn't been for the CruiseCritic boards I would have never known to keep checking rates as often as daily. Today's discount was a one day only special! LIFE IS GOOD!!!:D

 

Will they give a refund up until the cruise if the rates go down? That would be great, I got a great rate for a 7 day cruise with a balcony.

[cruisinthemed]

i got ours reduced $300.00 today for 2 cabins and our friends $200.00 today. we booked with an on-line ta. i was told if i see them drop again before final payment i can call for additional adjustments. i does feel great to get these cabins at a better rate. more spending money. lol

[no_nonsense_nancy]

Hi friends,

 

This is such a good thread. I love all the great information and advice. However, I booked my third cruise through a local TA and a friend owned the agency. After reading all the great info on Cruise critic I watched for my cat cabin to reduce price. It did. I went to my TA and asked for the reduction. They said, "Sorry, after final payment there are no reductions given." Grrrr. So for the cruise I'm planning in Oct. with Disney I switched TA's and I asked my online TA this exact question. They said yes even to the last day. Live and learn. Always ask in advance.

[jabrown40]

We made final payment on our cruise in March, for a June 18th sailing. After reading this thread, I checked NCL's site, and found out that my BB category has decreased 290.00 per person. That would have been a great savings for us. Even more disappointing, was a minisuite rate that was still 100.00 less per person than my cabin. My TA was happy to call right away, but the most NCL would do is a 200.00 onboard credit. I tried calling later in the day myself, but no one would budge. Please make sure you check your rate right before you make final payment. While some cruiselines may discount, it seems NCL will only offer the credit onboard. I am very thankful to all the people who posted, because this still will cover my specialty restaurant fees and maybe a couple of bottles of wine!

[crazidude1400]

I have learned that any agency should allow you to change the rate after final payment. I was able to make a change a couple days before sailing. The rate was $500 less, and Carnival does either give me shipboard credit (a huge amount too) or an upgrade. I got a inside to oceanview upgrade. I ended up getting both shipboard credit and the upgrade. The upgrade works like this: They will look at the original price you paid for the cabin. Next, they look to see what cabin category matches the rate you paid if the rates are lower.

 

Also, most cruiselines do not like to give money back, sometimes even in shipboard credit. So, they will try to upgrade you, and sell the really cheap rooms to get the ship filled. Try and push for money or shipboard credit though, because they will budge.

[sbwmail]

The least expensive cruises we have taken...and that's quite a few...have been through Costco travel...yes Costco! Great Agency and they discount cruises...except for Royal Caribbean now and one other line, at the cruise line's request...compare and you will see...such a difference...at least a few hundred per person usually!

[renata102]

The least expensive cruises we have taken...and that's quite a few...have been through Costco travel...yes Costco! Great Agency and they discount cruises...except for Royal Caribbean now and one other line, at the cruise line's request...compare and you will see...such a difference...at least a few hundred per person usually!

 

OMG we just booked our cruise from Costco. Its with Royal Caribbean. They actuially offer free insurance for all. RCCL doesn't let agency give good discounts or gifts. I have not compared them to other cruise lines. I will continue using Costco travel. What cruise lines did you go with?

[4merlurker]

I check our price every day and it was well worth it! The price just went down and we saved a nice chunk of change and upgraded to a balcony!

Just keep checking.....

~Connie

[shellysh]

How do you go about checking reduction in rates of your cruise without asking your TA ? I want to check first and then I will contact her. Any info is appreciated. I still haven't made final payment.

Shelly

[cruisinthemed]

i used an on-line and called their 800 number and asked the person who answered. i got their name and extension. then i called my ta and told her about the price change.

How do you go about checking reduction in rates of your cruise without asking your TA ? I want to check first and then I will contact her. Any info is appreciated. I still haven't made final payment.

Shelly

[wbmom401]

good news for me, we had paid in full for our June cruise (Guar-balcony with a military rate) and I found out that our rate went down. When I called my TA she said they hadn't yet assigned our cabin but she would call and see. Well, she called and they had assigned our cabin and upgraded us to an 8D, well, they offered to leave us in our upgraded cabin or ship board credit. Wasn't sure what to do, but decided that I have a balcony either way, so the on board credit would pay for some "fun". TA said there is still a small possibility that we could still receive an upgrade in our cabin type. Time will tell, 49 days to go!!!

[timmy1958]

How do you go about checking reduction in rates of your cruise without asking your TA ? I want to check first and then I will contact her. Any info is appreciated. I still haven't made final payment.

Shelly

 

I found that the web sites cruises.com and orbitz seemed to regularly have the lowest prices, so if you see your cruise cheaper there, call the cruise line, they will match. That's how we booked our cruise - saw it cheaper elsewhere and then called Carnival, they matched it and told us about the price guarantee.

[airmanship]

I booked on Carnival for a 8a cabin and was upgraded to a 8c during their upgrade sale. My question is: I paid for a 8a ,so is this the price that I should watch for a drop? What would CCL do if it did drop? Put me back in a 8a and give me $$ back? Has this ever come up?

[4merlurker]

NCL's website shows a BD balcony for $30/pp less then the BC balcony we are currently booked in. The website also indicates a free upgrade from BD to BC. Can I take advantage of this and save even more money? I shot an email to my TA but they don't open for a few hours yet. Has anyone "manipulated" their booking like this before?

 

Thanks,

~Connie

[4merlurker]

NCL's website shows a BD balcony for $30/pp less then the BC balcony we are currently booked in. The website also indicates a free upgrade from BD to BC. Can I take advantage of this and save even more money? I shot an email to my TA but they don't open for a few hours yet. Has anyone "manipulated" their booking like this before?

 

Thanks,

~Connie

 

TA said blah blah blah it's "not really" $30 less :confused: (FARE: $664 -$634= $30) Have to add port/tax blah blah commission blah blah....... :(sorry no savings today. huh? :confused:

 

Oh well. I'm very happy with cabins so if we save a little more $$ in the next few months, GREAT! If not........I won't lose sleep!

 

~Connie