Boy prices went up quickly!

[mare s.]

Got an email early this morning from Azamara about the new promotion (choice of on board credit, choice air credit, or stateroom upgrade) and quickly looked at a cruise in 2017 I'd been eyeing. Buying an oceanview and upgrading to balcony was priced at $4799. I thought that was a good deal and was waiting to talk to my DH before we called our TA. Just a few hours later, looked at it again and now the same upgrade costs $5999! More than the $1000 credit in the promotion. Hmmmm. Please don't tell me about how prices vary with the demand and the market; I'm aware of that. This just seems more of an adjustment to price to allow for the "credit." Not a happy camper.

[ruthnlarry]

We also saw a very large price increase on a 2017 cruise on 2 different internet sites. I thought that something was wrong because I had never seen such a big increase within a couple of hours. One of the sites which wasn't offering the current promo, but had a great price simply said that oceanview cabins were no longer available. I was waiting for our TA to return to work tomorrow in order to request a quote and book. However, with these new games that Azamara is playing, we may not be booking. Disappointed in Azamara's new booking strategy.

[hubofhockey]

They were running a great special that ended on Sunday. Maybe it's more about that then it is about prices going up.

[ruthnlarry]

They were running a great special that ended on Sunday. Maybe it's more about that then it is about prices going up.

No,I don't think so. The prices that I saw this morning were lower than those on Sunday night.

[English Tim]

I've noticed that many of the premium lines are charging much more for cruises in general, which must surely be unsustainable.

 

We love cruising as much as anyone and have cruised many different lines, but last year we had a couple of land-based vacations and found that we could staying luxury for a lot less than cruising and there was no nickel and diming strategy.

 

Ironically, we can now afford to travel more, but I refuse to pay 'through the nose' to do so.

[RosieRuby]

What is hard to understand when some of the increases seem so large is that the price of fuel/oil has dropped very substantially in recent months. This represents a large part of the cost for any cruise line although of course there are other cost factors but it was not that long ago that cruise lines often imposed extra charges by way of surcharges (often after booking) because of fuel price increases. As with the airline industry, fuel/oil is usually purchased well in advance and/or when prices are at their most competitive such is the buying power of most cruise lines seeking to obtain the best deal. I can appreciate the concern of some posters who have noticed hikes in future cruise rates but it will be interesting to see if such increases can be sustained.

[mare s.]

this morning when I checked, prices had changed again! This time they went lower for the ocean view (upgrade to balcony) Gosh it's confusing. I do wish Azamara would get its act together on its website. If you're going to run a promotion, make sure the website prices are correct before you send out emails to people advising them of the promotion.

 

As for fuel prices, I totally agree with RosieRuby. We keep hearing on the news how airlines are going to lower prices in the new year because of reduced fuel costs (haven't seen it yet) Personally I doubt any prices (except at the local gas station) are going to go down. Too much temptation to rake in profits while they can!

 

English Tim...I understand exactly how you feel. But the joy of being at sea is hard to duplicate. I am seeing some nice options with Celebrity and even Princess (although it will be hard to go back to a "mass market" line) It's just a matter of looking around.

[uktog]

Given that so much of the oil will be contracted through futures options and other deals it will be quite a time before the impact will be seen on cruises I'm sure

 

Recently I've seen far more up selling on land (high end hotels! than Ivr ever seen on Azamara so I'm very happy to stay afloat for the time being :)

[mare s.]

I just saw a similar itinerary on Celebrity (actually, a bit better in terms of ports and overnights) in 2016 for almost $2000 pp less than the Azamara cruise. Now, if Celebrity will just offer the same itinerary in 2017.....