Help with Price

[chipsdog]

last year I booked a cruise with a saving, not sure what it was called but basically I didn't know what cabin I was going to be in until 2 weeks before we boarded. My question is that I have been looking to book for next year but don't see the option of booking without knowing the cabin and getting a saving. Does anyone know if this will be repeated for 2015 trips?

 

thank you

[electra2008]

last year I booked a cruise with a saving, not sure what it was called but basically I didn't know what cabin I was going to be in until 2 weeks before we boarded. My question is that I have been looking to book for next year but don't see the option of booking without knowing the cabin and getting a saving. Does anyone know if this will be repeated for 2015 trips?

 

thank you

I think you mean guarantee, if you just choose a category and not choose your cabin

ie. want a balcony but don't care where. that is guarantee.

If you want a certain type stating cabin # that means you know where your cabin is. Then you pay more

If you want a really good price you have to take your chances and just hope that a real sale comes up.

If you just want a cruise and don't care where that's a good option if you can go at the drop of a hat, normally a bit more time than that.

 

Last year we went on E booked in May went in July had to pay fully at time of booking but had a really good price.

Some areas are really popular and you have to pay for that others you can sometimes get a real good price.

For instance I really wanted a cruise that included Venice last year, it never came down. So chose the one mentioned as it was too good a deal and had a great time.

Edited May 6, 2014 by electra2008

[Ray66]

If you're from the UK, they used to be called Getaway Fares. Now they are called Saver Fares. Pay in full at time of booking and 100% cancellation fee. I'm not sure how long before sailing date they become available.

[Chunky2219]

Getaway fares sometimes happened, sometimes didn't. It could happen well in advance or less than a month before sailing.

 

Some Saver fares are showing on UK sites, but I've not spotted any for the Grills, where Cunard appear to be holding their breath. There's a separate thread running about 50% discounts on US sites, but I doubt they will be up for 2015 yet.

 

The best advice is that if you want to be certain of a particular sailing, book early.

 

If you are more flexible then you might choose to gamble. It's paid off very nicely for me in the past but I've also watched voyages we fancied that filled up completely without the offers coming up.

 

.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Chunky2219
typo

[BlueRiband]

last year I booked a cruise with a saving, not sure what it was called but basically I didn't know what cabin I was going to be in until 2 weeks before we boarded. My question is that I have been looking to book for next year but don't see the option of booking without knowing the cabin and getting a saving. Does anyone know if this will be repeated for 2015 trips?

 

thank you

 

You will have to decide what is more important to you: waiting for a late discounted fare or securing the sailing date and stateroom of your choosing. Unless a voyage is selling very poorly one can rarely have it both ways. Earlier this year we had a poster complain that she could not get a mid-ship cabin on one of these last minute fares. Best locations (rightly) go to early bookings paying full freight.

 

As a for-profit business Cunard has no incentive to offer even late discounts if a voyage is selling well or the ship is near capacity. We've had members here notice a price going up while browsing the Cunard site! (Apparently some type of algorithm automatically adjusts pricing according to booking demand.)

 

Somebody who can easily travel to the embarkation port and is content with a forward or aft inside will often score a great deal. But if one has to fly to the port and cannot be flexible with vacation time or stateroom choice then late price drops won't be any good for them.

[Salacia]

last year I booked a cruise with a saving, not sure what it was called but basically I didn't know what cabin I was going to be in until 2 weeks before we boarded. My question is that I have been looking to book for next year but don't see the option of booking without knowing the cabin and getting a saving. Does anyone know if this will be repeated for 2015 trips?

 

thank you

 

As others as mentioned, it seems you are referencing a "guarantee" cabin category. In past years, when booking through a travel agent, I often selected a guarantee cabin, in various categories of unobstructed view cabins on QM2. There was no advantage in terms of pricing - only the chance that by booking a guarantee category, the likelihood of an upgrade was increased. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. It is, as they say, a crap shoot.

 

But if you are willing and able to wait out fare reductions, there are sometimes reductions in fare for "guarantee" categories. For example, just last September a fellow passenger, in the course of conversation, told me how much he paid for his balcony accommodations, and was delighted with his upgrade to Britannia Club. It was his first time on a Cunard ship. He asked me what I paid for my passage which was booked long in advance (an in hull balcony) . "About twice what you paid", I replied. I can't quote his reply, but basically, he told me I needed to pay more attention to fare reductions.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Salacia

[maitai999]

Current advice - if you are not too particular about cabin specifics, just find out when final payment day is for your voyage, 2 days later ....... fares will be reduced boom ................