Using price drop tracking software to find a price drop

[d&a Delaware]

Has anyone successfully used the price drop tracking function offered on Cruise Critic to find a price drop that actually applied to their cruise?

 

David

[cruisegirl1]

Not the CC software but I've used another popular site with GREAT success. I've used it for price drops prior to final payment and to change to a better cabin after final payment.

 

Can't mention name on CC, but you can Google cruise price tracking and get a few options.

 

Good luck

M

Edited January 14, 2015 by cruisegirl1

[JasonV1]

The CC service is great, no doubt BUT.....

 

Price drops can occur at any time that are related to inventory only. These drops can (and have) last less than a day because once the required number of people buy those categories (or request drops) the price automatically goes back up. I've watched this happen with JR Suites on the Oasis near the sale date, the price went down, then up, then down again on the same day, likely in response to cabin holds or people doing a mock booking (a mock booking is essentially a temporary hold once you've selected a cabin).

 

I use a service that does near realtime checks and I can assure you I get multiple notifications per day, almost every day, and I'm only tracking 7 cruises. This includes not just drops, but when a category is for sale again (usually when someone cancels a cabin in a sold out category).

 

While many drops (or increases) occur in response to a sale, most of them do not. Just this week my Hawaii 2016 cruise has seen 2 sets of drops, and I've changes cabin categories twice as a result. This is the first price change of any kind for this cruise since last fall. The advantage isn't just pricing, if prime cabins are left you may have the best chance of grabbing them.

 

My favorite use for the site is to get last minute upgrades. Once you are within a month of sailing it seems like prices start fluctuating more and more, assuming inventory is high of course. I've scagged 2 JR Suites this way, one of them 5 days before the sail date.

 

You can check prices yourself, but I prefer to have the entire process automated. Only costs me about the equivalent of a candy bar a cruise, which is cheap compared to my time (and the fact that I currently have 8 cruises booked).

Edited January 14, 2015 by JasonV1

[gibby937]

This sounds interesting. I enjoy checking the price, but real time checking sounds great to me. Is this effective if you have discounts applied to the cruise such as Fire/EMS? Sometimes that discount comes and goes. Will it monitor the base price only? Just curious about the C&A, resident and Platinum discounts. Thanks!

[gibby937]

I see that one site does monitor for fire and police. Very good! I think I will do that next time.

[CruzieSue]

I did use the CC price-drop notifier and saved $300.00 per room !!! PLUS received another $200 OBC per room. I make all reservations and arrangements directly with Royal Caribbean's Certified Cruise Planner 800 number - always so easy and have never had a problem. So I guess it worked out pretty good for us. :)

[gibby937]

Awesome! Thanks!

[JasonV1]

And like I said, notify your roll call about the drops and you may find someone willing to buy you a drink as thanks. Heck it only takes 1 free drink to cover the cost of monitoring at least ~6 cruises.

 

I really like the historical pricing too, makes it very easy to determine if a current sale is a good deal. One thing I learned from the site: The Royal May 1, 2014 price drops were historic, lasted just 1 day, and haven't been equaled since. I got back over $1500 that day from all but 1 cruise I had booked (a NYE cruise).

 

I've used that site for several years, and swear by it. I'm still on my initial $5 worth of credits, but this cruise alone we've saved over $800 in price drops the program alerted me to. Love that fish!! :)

 

 

-gina-

Edited January 14, 2015 by JasonV1

[Jolly Mon Sings]

The fare monitoring site got me 'hooked' when i was able to save $450 on a one day price drop. Well worth the price!!!

[Ourusualbeach]

Sorry... I guess I wasn't very clear in asking my question. I know my category is sold out. My question is if the fare tracker sites (any of them?) will alert me to price drops for sold out categories.

 

Once a category is sold out there are no longer price drops for that category.

[sharse]

Once a category is sold out there are no longer price drops for that category.

 

Bummer. It makes sense, of course, but I was hoping that if all the other categories dropped 20% (for example) I'd be able to call and get a price reduction as well. Alas... I'm still thrilled we booked the cabin we did, and we'll have a great time!

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[John&LaLa]

Every time I click on a CC price drop, the listed price is gone. :(

[StarSong]

This is very useful information. Thank you for sharing your experience and tips.

[Host Kewlguy]

For future reference: It's against the Community Guidelines to hint at the name of disallowed websites. Doing so in the future may cause you to lose your posting privileges. Thanks for your future cooperation.