Tracking prices for price drops

[d&a Delaware]

Has anyone had success using the price drop tracking feature on Cruise Critic to identify a drop that actually applied to your Celebrity cruise?

 

David

[Iamcruzin]

I just looked at that price drop tracker that seems to be run by Expedia. I tracked the cruise that I have booked for May of 2016 and I don't know where they get the brochure price from. I booked my cruise right after the itinerary opened and the prices were never that high. I often wonder if all these people who brag how much they saved by using an online TA are comparing their savings to this brochure price that never existed. Well maybe it existed back in a 1980 brochure.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Iamcruzin

[phoenix_dream]

I just looked at that price drop tracker that seems to be run by Expedia. I tracked the cruise that I have booked for May of 2016 and I don't know where they get the brochure price from. I booked my cruise right after the itinerary opened and the prices were never that high. I often wonder if all these people who brag how much they saved by using an online TA are comparing their savings to this brochure price that never existed. Well maybe it existed back in a 1980 brochure.

 

I can tell you that we definitely are not that naïve (at least most of us aren't:)). When we compare TA prices we are comparing to the Celebrity website prices in most cases. Online TA's sometimes have bulk booking discounts, and virtually always offer something additional that makes it worth booking through them - OBC or free specialty dinner, or more.

[az_tchr]

If you are booking a popular cruise for either itinerary or date the price almost always goes up not down. If the cruise company gets a last minute cancellation from a group you can get last minute deals, but that reduction comes AFTER a final payment date if you made a reservation earlier.

 

I use on TA to book and they reward my loyalty with "something additional" but the prices are pretty close everywhere. No free lunch unless you book a cruise a couple weeks out with excess space.

[MizDemeanor]

There are sites that you can set alerts to monitor changes in price. The alerts are pay for but extremely nominal as in pennies compared to savings.

[d&a Delaware]

My experience is mixed with that website, glad to have it, but I usually catch a drop before they notify me, and then there is the code for the price. Standard or discounted...even if it is clear by other websites you are comparing apples to apples, x reps maynot agree.

 

Absolutely. I find cruise pricing rules and computations in general to be byzantine and opaque. The cruse line representatives are always the final arbiters of whether there is actually a price drop one can take advantage of or not. But all too often, even when doing a phantom booking I can't really figure out if I am looking at a price drop. Numbers on my computer screen don't seem to track with numbers in my booking invoice. So it helps me a lot to have an outside source alerting me to a possible price drop so that I can at least discuss it with the Cruise Line rep, whether "X" or RCI or Carnival. That's all I really want. And if I have two independent sources sending me alerts, so much the better.

 

David

[miched]

I had some cruises on that site in question. Never seemed to get good results. I did better checking the cruise line itself as they would have price drops for the week and that site would only do it once a week

 

Happy crusing 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[snowmaiden]

It doesn't seem like anyone has answered the OP's question, so I will. I've tried the Cruise Critic price drop feature once, for a cruise that I decided not to take but is still far in the future, and I haven't gotten a single email about it, even though I can see that the price has dropped several times since I set it up. Since I decided to go with a different cruise anyway I haven't thought too much about it, but it certainly seems from my experience like it's not working.

[Jimbo59]

There is a site that tracks price drops and will send an email to you. We can't mention the name here, but you can look for it on-line.

[CruisinNole]

I use the price drop feature but just by looking up my cruises. I tried the email route but got too many emails. Last year, I saw a price drop on a Royal Caribbean cruise and was able to upgrade to a junior suite for about $20 total. This month, I saw a price drop on a Celebrity cruise and when I did a mock booking, I found out that the cruise was eligible for a military discount. Saved a ton of money.

[CathyCruises]

When I have a cruise booked and I'm concerned about price drops I just spend the two minutes a day it takes to check for myself. If you bookmark the page you can be in and out in nothing flat.

 

Doing that, I was right on top of it when suddenly the FV cabins came available for two people to book four months prior to the cruise. We got the 575 square-foot cabin on a 14 day cruise on Solstice for $999 per person.

 

Had I been relying on an outside service to check for me, I would've missed this entirely since I never would've thought that an FV would be even a possibility. I also don't trust services to be sure to catch the over 55, captains club membership, and other available discounts. So for the two minutes a day it takes me, for the above instance and others, it has been well worth my time!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

When I have a cruise booked and I'm concerned about price drops I just spend the two minutes a day it takes to check for myself. If you bookmark the page you can be in and out in nothing flat.

 

Doing that, I was right on top of it when suddenly the FV cabins came available for two people to book four months prior to the cruise. We got the 575 square-foot cabin on a 14 day cruise on Solstice for $999 per person.

 

Had I been relying on an outside service to check for me, I would've missed this entirely since I never would've thought that an FV would be even a possibility. I also don't trust services to be sure to catch the over 55, captains club membership, and other available discounts. So for the two minutes a day it takes me, for the above instance and others, it has been well worth my time!

You are a wise one !