What's up with Breakaway and Getaway bookings?

[Cruz35]

Sorry if this has been discussed - we've been off on the Gem for 9 days. How bad are the bookings that they are offering all these free items? Or have they just raised the base prices to make it look like this is a "free" bonus? From my morning NCL email:

 

 

Three amazing offers on Norwegian's two newest ships: Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. That's the Ultimate Freesome. Right now, when you book a balcony stateroom or higher, you get the Ultimate Dining package for free. Book a suite or higher and you'll also get the Ultimate Beverage package for free. That's up to $1,000 in value. Or enjoy free oceanview and balcony upgrades on almost every sailing.

[che5904]

Your guess is probably as good as anyones. They are big ships, they need lots of passengers to fill them. And now they have 3 big ships to fill.

[jdvmd]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

[time2cruise1]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

Really I checked them before since I have cruises booked during the promotion period and not $1 of increase in the fares.

 

I think they offered the Freesome instead of reducing fares to fill the ships.

Edited March 10, 2014 by time2cruise1

[AdrenalineRush]

Getaway pricing has plummeted over the past few months.

[jdvmd]

Really I checked them before since I have cruises booked during the promotion period and not $1 of increase in the fares.

 

I think they offered the Freesome instead of reducing fares to fill the ships.

For the sailings I was interested in, they did go up in price.

[newbie8]

Getaway pricing has plummeted over the past few months.

 

I am wondering the same thing. Why are they having problems filling the Getaway ship ? I mean, it's a new ship so I would think it will attract cruisers to book. Or were the pricing just set too high ?

 

I am a bit hesitant to book as I am not sure whether prices will go lower. Seems there is lots of availability on the cruise I am interested in.

[Clem Kadiddlehopper]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

 

My price went WAY down for guest one and two, third is now free, got free UDP for 1st two. All told our net price went down almost $1,000.

[AdrenalineRush]

I am wondering the same thing. Why are they having problems filling the Getaway ship ? I mean, it's a new ship so I would think it will attract cruisers to book. Or were the pricing just set too high ?

 

I am a bit hesitant to book as I am not sure whether prices will go lower. Seems there is lots of availability on the cruise I am interested in.

 

I think they set prices too high. Im planning to sail this fall and will wait until after final payment to book.

[Aixia]

I'm inside final payment for my cruise, but prices in my cabin category went up after the promotion hit. I think there may be a category or two that went down a touch, but most have gone up. Makes me glad I booked when I did! The added dining promo didn't do anything for us, we had already planned to use our OBC on a couple dinners, and the promo didn't cover two other things we'd planned to do (Illusionarium and wine lunch). We're ahead just using our OBC.

 

I do think it comes down to sheer number of cabins. The mega-ships just plain have more space to fill, so you see the promos on them. NCL doesn't make any money on empty cabins, and throwing a couple "free" dinners at new bookings doesn't really cost them much. The cruise business is very reliant on repeat cruisers, so by luring a customer onto a new ship like Breakaway or Getaway with these deals, NCL is hoping they'll come back again and do the other ship too, or try out the even newer ones coming soon. I really don't think these promos are geared toward the first-time cruiser, they're out there for people like us who've cruised before.

[KrystalWaters]

As for the Getaway I think it's the competition. A lot of choices in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando...heck Florida in general. They set their prices higher in hopes of grabbing theta new ship price but it's not an Oasis type of ship....with all those "extras". Not that those extras are all worth it to me.

This will be my first time with Norwegian. I'm excited to see how the experience compares to Carnival. Just thought Carnival's entertainment just shucked...food was good...service was good but the entertainment was enough for me to see...hey if I pay at little extra what will I get:D

[PDIDDYwife]

My cruise has gone up over $1200 since I booked it. Summer in the Haven on Getaway.

[Winston Wolf]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

Not on mine. Prices went down slightly, but they took away the $100 OBC that they had been offering the previous month.

 

Realize that most people will only qualify for the UDP, and not the UBP. Only Suite guests will get the UBP.

[Demonyte]

My cruise has gone up over $1200 since I booked it. Summer in the Haven on Getaway.

 

Spa suite on our upcoming cruise has gone from original price of over $4000pp to under $2000pp and there is still 1,5 months to the cruise and over half of those suites available - too bad that it's still out of our budget. :D

[Dave85]

My cruise has gone up over $1200 since I booked it. Summer in the Haven on Getaway.

 

Season is also a major factor in cruise prices across the industry. Summer sailings are high demand and get lots of families. Haven't watched Getaway, but Breakaway's prime summer season sailings are very expensive both becuase of Bermuda (costs a premium) and demand. I bet seasonal variations are part of the reason why some are seeing their sailings go up or stay level while others are seeing significant drops.

 

I got a very low price for my Breakaway cruise in early-mid November, which is a good time to go for people like me who can cruise non-prime weeks.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Dave85

[PDIDDYwife]

Season is also a major factor in cruise prices across the industry. Summer sailings are high demand and get lots of families. Haven't watched Getaway, but Breakaway's prime summer season sailings are very expensive both becuase of Bermuda (costs a premium) and demand. I bet seasonal variations are part of the reason why some are seeing their sailings go up or stay level while others are seeing significant drops.

 

I got a very low price for my Breakaway cruise in early-mid November, which is a good time to go for people like me who can cruise non-prime weeks.

 

Can't wait until we can cruise in the off season!!!

[Hey Wang]

Prices stay the same for us and we got the UDP free on the Getaway

[DavyB]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

My mini-suite price actually dropped by $40. :D

[wasiii]

I booked last Friday (3/7/14) for my August 2014 cruise on the Getaway. I booked a spa suite so I got both the UDP and UBP.

 

Since the promotion is over tomorrow, I'm curious to see what the price for my cabin will be.

 

I can always cancel and re-book if the price goes way down.

 

;)

 

wasiii

Edited March 10, 2014 by wasiii

[Sizzlechest]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

Not for me. I already had a price drop and extra OBC, then this deal came by and the room price stayed the same.

[Mr and Mrs C]

Our balcony for 4 guests actually went down $1200 for sailing next January from when I priced it the week before! I lost my $100 obc, and now have $50 but totally an amazing deal!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[jerseyjjs]

Prices definitely went up with the "free" stuff thrown in.

 

 

 

 

Not true. I booked a June sailing on the BA with the free dining package last week for $3,400. The month before, the same cabin was going for $3,900 and NO package. Plus, since we've booked, we got a free 3-category upgrade and a price slash of $120.

[SoCA6ft5]

I think a lot of things play into this. For the balcony cabins, for 2 passengers the UDP is like a $382 cabin credit (cc)... not much more than the $300 cc you sometimes see. For the spring months, as someone mentioned, Florida has a lot of cabin inventory. Most of the ships that normally sail in other locations like Alaska, New England, Europe, etc. sail out of Florida in the spring, so it's harder to fill the big ships. Finally, changing the "perks" doesn't have the currently booked passengers clamoring as much for refunds as a price drop does.

[Homecruiser]

I took advantage of getting my first Haven Suite for September week after school starts in NY and Canada. Price for 3 included UDP and UBP for 2. I think the rules may require me to purchase UBP for the third....not sure. A few days later I noticed priced reduced ?? The 3rd person was added free with just taxes payable. I called called and got $400 off my original price. Keep watching during the promotion. Things can change.

[miataman19]

You really have to keep up on the pricing structure of your sailing date and desired cabin selection. Then I just ask my CPA brother to figure it out for me..lol. Seriously, we booked a large balcony on Getaway June 14 sailing, last November. In Jan decided to upgrade to a spa balcony because the prices came down. Then early Feb. the price of Haven Spa Suites dropped like a rock to within $200 of the reg spa balcony and NCL threw in a $300 OBC. Last week they come out with the Freesome promo. I did notice that on the first 2 days of the promo our price stayed the same minus the $300 OBC. Now the price of our room went up $1000 no OBC. This promo came out after our final payment. Oh well, I'm happy with what I booked :)