Understanding how NCL fares are set, and why they go up and down

[MJKennedy]

Thank you for this information. I will refer to it next time I book. I have an observation about KSF though. I heard this was such a great deal, so when I got an email the other day that there was a one day special for KSF I quickly went to check it out. Well what I found was that for 2 adults in a room it would have been about $450pp. But when I tried it with 4 people in a room (2 young children, and it was specifically marked for the KSF promotion), the 2 adults showed up with a price of $899pp and the children were $0. Well, I don't know about you, but that seems to me like you are really paying for the kids.

Now I didn't speak with anyone from NCL, I just used their online booking system. Now has anyone noticed this before, or was I doing something wrong?

[Out to sea!]

my price point is $50/day because I've been to eastern carribean (11day for $499) on the Gem.

southern carribean only has 2 ports I've haven't been to.

 

anyway, the point is moot now.

no more southern carribean on Breakaway till 2016.

 

Southern Caribbean will always more expensive than an Eastern or Western Caribbean so comparing the two is moot and expecting the prices to be similar will not happen. By your logic since I once got a Bahama cruise for $30/day I guess i should expect every cruise to be $30/day. If I wait on that price point I'll probably never cruise again.

[Out to sea!]

Thank you for this information. I will refer to it next time I book. I have an observation about KSF though. I heard this was such a great deal, so when I got an email the other day that there was a one day special for KSF I quickly went to check it out. Well what I found was that for 2 adults in a room it would have been about $450pp. But when I tried it with 4 people in a room (2 young children, and it was specifically marked for the KSF promotion), the 2 adults showed up with a price of $899pp and the children were $0. Well, I don't know about you, but that seems to me like you are really paying for the kids.

Now I didn't speak with anyone from NCL, I just used their online booking system. Now has anyone noticed this before, or was I doing something wrong?

 

You have to remember that you are most likely selecting a different cabin type to accommodate the 4 people versus the 2 people. The 2 people could probably be held in a cheaper cabin type whereas a higher cabin type was needed to hold the 4 people (such as an IF for the 2 person booking and an IA for the 4 person booking).

Edited February 3, 2015 by Out to sea!

[Hondu]

This a great thread. I am using the NCF as a threshold for possibly booking my next cruise. It is solo and I called NCL as suggested and found out that the NCF is $296. So since the ship is not selling and lots of studios are still available and passed final payment 74 days out, then based on pokerpro's analysis there is still room for the price to fall from $569.

 

We will see.

Edited February 3, 2015 by Hondu

[sfaaa]

Any cruise less than $50/day is a good deal in my book.

[Out to sea!]

Any cruise less than $50/day is a good deal in my book.

 

To me, any cruise less than $100 a day (per person) is a good deal and less than $50 a day (per person) is a great deal! :)

Edited February 4, 2015 by Out to sea!

[insidecabin]

Any cruise less than $50/day is a good deal in my book.

 

When they are throwing in the dining and beverage packages for $60pppd inc tax then that is a good deal.

 

Spirit is that on the 24th Feb and if you take the $200 OBC that $50pppd with beverage only

[shukapaw]

I posted to this thread some time ago. I booked a June 2015 Mediterranean cruise on the Spirit back in March of 2014. The rates seemed to be going up, up, up with no relief in sight. Suddenly, for no explainable reason, at about 14 weeks before sailing date, the bottom appears to have dropped out of the rates for the Inside cabins. They fell overnight between 33% and 35%. :eek:

 

Here is a graph of the price history as generated by that site (which cannot be named here) that tracks cruise prices for you.

 

 

All Balconies also dropped a bit but only about 8%. Oceanviews and suites have gone up.

 

All I can figure is that they had a glut of Insides which need to be moved. Ours is less now than it was 14 months in advance with an AARP discount.

 

Brian

[insidecabin]

Nice cruises these 12 day spirit very popular with a lot of international passengers from all over.($2k for an inside on those was well overpriced)

 

They added 2 of the choices to OV and above mid Dec in the US and UK Jan.

 

The Feb adjustments are around the kids go free/50%, OV went up on a lot of cruises.

 

You won't sell the inside with no benefits unless there is a big margin below OV that gets 2 choices.

 

Having said that some dates have a smaller margin(under $500).

 

The choice+ is a game changer on pricing models for a while, rates need to find new levels.

Edited February 5, 2015 by insidecabin

[Quench]

Don't know what to do. Final payment due 3/3/15 sailing 5/17/15 booked inside GTY to Alaska on Pearl. Have a good rate with all the price drops and promos but would like to upgrade to an OV. Called NCL for price of OV and was $300 more. Should I hold out at this point for an upgrade or call before the final payment date 3/2 to see what they are offering? Or be a risk taker and cancel and use the 55 day plan.:confused: Thanks for your help.

[hawkeyetlse]

Final payment due 3/3/15 sailing 5/17/15 booked inside GTY to Alaska on Pearl. Have a good rate with all the price drops and promos but would like to upgrade to an OV. Called NCL for price of OV and was $300 more.

$300 total, not per person right? If you are planning to take advantage of the free UBP, then this is a good price. You can keep watching for further price drops but you should upgrade before the end of this month if you want the current promo.

 

I would not cancel and wait for a last minute sale. With prices currently at around $700pp for the cheapest OV, there is no way they can drop low enough to equal the value of the free UBP they are offering now until the end of this month.

[lhsail]

I apologize if this was previously mentioned in this thread, I did not read the entire thing. We haven't sailed on NCL since the mid-80s but last night booked on the Jewel for the 2/14 sailing. We were looking for an outside to get the UBP and were attempting to keep the cost down as much as possible. NCL's website kept showing outside cabin categories as available in the early stages of booking that then showed unavailable when you actually tried to book that cabin category. We did get a cabin at a great price, but it was very frustrating to have to keep going back and looking for another category. I know these cabins were booking up quickly last evening, I get that, but I looked this morning just to satisfy my curiosity and they still initially show several categories of outside cabins available.

[dshefter]

We just booked the Gem for Jan. 2016 (10 nights) out of NYC. Total cost with port fees for myself, wife and daughter was $3349 for a balcony stateroom (midship) and that included the ultimate beverage package, which would have cost us an additional $1000. That is a pretty good deal, considering we don't have to fly to the port. Daughter actually sails free and only pays taxes and port fees.

[Out to sea!]

Don't know what to do. Final payment due 3/3/15 sailing 5/17/15 booked inside GTY to Alaska on Pearl. Have a good rate with all the price drops and promos but would like to upgrade to an OV. Called NCL for price of OV and was $300 more. Should I hold out at this point for an upgrade or call before the final payment date 3/2 to see what they are offering? Or be a risk taker and cancel and use the 55 day plan.:confused: Thanks for your help.

 

You can upgrade without cancelling or penalty. I upgraded from IN to BL for $20 14 days before sailing. The question is whether prices for the OV will come down and if they will sell out or not.

[Mirrasi]

Great thread! Is there a way to see how full a cruise is?

[Mirrasi]

You can upgrade without cancelling or penalty. I upgraded from IN to BL for $20 14 days before sailing. The question is whether prices for the OV will come down and if they will sell out or not.

 

Can you upgrade at the port or do they generally sell out (for balcony)

[insidecabin]

Great thread! Is there a way to see how full a cruise is?

 

Do a trial booking and count the cabins.

 

they show up to 15(last time I did this) that gives you an idea of what is currently available.

 

Not a lot of use early on but after final becomes quite useful if looking for possible upgrade/upsells and cabins getting freed up as others do upgrades

[MrBill64]

You can upgrade without cancelling or penalty. I upgraded from IN to BL for $20 14 days before sailing. The question is whether prices for the OV will come down and if they will sell out or not.

 

Are you allowed to upgrade shortly before cruising without losing original promos like the the UBP or UDP or OBC promo that is going on now?

[Quench]

$300 total, not per person right? If you are planning to take advantage of the free UBP, then this is a good price. You can keep watching for further price drops but you should upgrade before the end of this month if you want the current promo.

 

I would not cancel and wait for a last minute sale. With prices currently at around $700pp for the cheapest OV, there is no way they can drop low enough to equal the value of the free UBP they are offering now until the end of this month.

 

Thank you hawkeyetise! I did the upgrade to an OV and got the UDP plus kept all my other promos. And yes, it is $300 total. I feel so much better now:D

[hawkeyetlse]

Nice! Keep watching the price until the end of the month. You can still ask for price drops and keep the promo perks until then!

[browniegirl]

Nice! Keep watching the price until the end of the month. You can still ask for price drops and keep the promo perks until then!

 

I have sailed on NCL several times but this is the first time I have received actual perks other than an obc. We are in a suite and get all three perks. If there is a price drop - we don't sail for some ungodly amount of days lol, around 600 lol.........I am hoping there will be a price drop before then as it has only just kept going up.....will I keep the promos/perks if I get a price drop? Sorry, the whole promo thing is new to me!!!

 

Leah

[StarryBugg]

This is my first NCL cruise. I'm traveling with my 3.5 y/o son (so just the two of us). Today I booked us on the Norwegian Jewel for the 7 day on Feb 28 out of Houston. I did the Inside Guarantee IX for $239pp, with the total after taxes and everything was $779.28. I received $25 OBC. (so 22d out from the sailing)

 

It was a last minute cruise decision and, honestly, I enjoy the dark of an interior. However, I'd be willing to upgrade up to something else if the price was right.

 

What should I do? Keep the cheapie fare and enjoy it? Call (when??) to see about an upgrade?

 

I appreciate the help.

[insidecabin]

This is my first NCL cruise. I'm traveling with my 3.5 y/o son (so just the two of us). Today I booked us on the Norwegian Jewel for the 7 day on Feb 28 out of Houston. I did the Inside Guarantee IX for $239pp, with the total after taxes and everything was $779.28. I received $25 OBC. (so 22d out from the sailing)

 

It was a last minute cruise decision and, honestly, I enjoy the dark of an interior. However, I'd be willing to upgrade up to something else if the price was right.

 

What should I do? Keep the cheapie fare and enjoy it? Call (when??) to see about an upgrade?

 

I appreciate the help.

 

You have hit a recent low point for the inside on the NCL.com showing $813($319pp+).

 

I think the best price on OX recently has been Jan dates $330ish so watch daily(multiple times) or use one of the price watch sites and hope they spot a drop.

 

I suspect the Feb prices may hold up as more people know about the Promo.

[Out to sea!]

Can you upgrade at the port or do they generally sell out (for balcony)

 

Normally, these days, there are no cabins available at the port. Of course, you can always ask but it is highly doubtful. But, according to the OP (and history of looking myself), you're not going to find any significant drops closer than 14 days from sailing so if you're going to shoot for a balcony, do it prior to 14 days out.

[Out to sea!]

Are you allowed to upgrade shortly before cruising without losing original promos like the the UBP or UDP or OBC promo that is going on now?

 

Maybe, maybe not. It will different with each situation and how the UBP/UDP/OBC was acquired. You would just have to ask when starting the upgrade process and the CSR can tell you what you will lose or gain and then you have to decide. I had no promos to lose when I did my last upgrade so it was a no-brainer to me. You may have promos that you could lose so check before agreeing to an upgrade.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Out to sea!