Congrats to NCL, you have innovated again!

[nw gardener]

Pokerpro, I think you nailed for the "new norm" on pricing. Was looking back in Feb at booking an AK cruise on the Pearl in May for a balcony, instead of going down, it has gone up -$300 per person when I last looked. So have booked with HAL [which seems to be following the "old" NCL method for filling ships] for almost the same itinerary for 500 less per person. On the flip side, just booked a family suite [sJ] on the Star for next Feb with 3 co-workers which will work out to $800 a piece with all the perks, we couldn't say no.

[maywell]

For the most part, "peak season" is a myth when it comes to cruising.

 

Are there "peak dates"? Certainly. Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving cruises tend to sell much better and are more expensive for that reason.

 

But there aren't peak seasons, as cruise lines are pretty good at allocating the number of ships they need at each port at each time of year. And some itineraries stop entirely during what would otherwise be the low season.

 

It is true that, with Alaska, June/July/August is more popular than May/September (due to weather), but even the May cruises are selling out now, thanks to their 2015 Choice promotion.

 

Since I was referring to Caribbean cruises since those are easy to predict due to school schedules and hurricane season -right now the prices are not dropping due to spring break and/or school year ending soon in May for some school districts / countries. Could be different story after late August-October when classes are in session and hurricanes are striking back-to-back around that time. Can't really use Alaska / New England /Canada sailings because it more limited by the ship size and yearly demand (popular one year, not so in popular next year and vice versa) than Caribbean ones.

 

Just saying, before ruling that this is the new normal - might want to see how prices later this year in the fall/winter are, especially for 7 day Caribbean sailings.

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

[pokerpro5]

We are cruising on to New England/Canada in Sept on NCL. We wanted a balcony cabin on the cruise week that is sold out. We wound up on the earlier cruise so we could get a balcony. I think the high occupancy on these cruises may have to do with how limited they are. Only a few cruises in this area during this time. Not like constantly going to the warm islands.

 

You are correct about the Boston Dawn cruise to NE/Canada. There are only 2 sailings, so that does increase demand.

 

However, it is still selling out MUCH earlier than prior years, and it's more expensive, too.

[luvtheships]

Everything about Del Rio and his strategy turns me off but I still have a cruise booked with NCL and will still consider booking with them in the future. But as I have said several times they will have to entice me onboard with price alone.

 

Price alone does it for us as well!

 

 

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[maywell]

Price alone does it for us as well!

 

 

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I guess Del Rio did his job in 'pushing levers' to get people on board.:eek:

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

[Vacationdreamer<><]

I made the original post late at night after completing a 300+ mile drive, so I think I might have been unclear about something.

 

Prior to 2015, I had long advocated the "book late, not early" strategy to get the best deals on inside/oceanview/balcony rooms on NCL. You can read the link in my signature to get more details on my strategy, which used to work spectacularly well to save big. Booking early was rarely an advantage, unless you were in a suite or cruising a super-popular date/itinerary that wasn't likely to need to dump rooms.

 

Basically, NCL had two large flaws in their pricing model which could be exploited (legally) by observant cruisers:

 

1) They would drastically reduce balcony/oceanview/inside cabin prices sometime between 14-55 days before sailing, and this happened pretty reliably. So you could just wait for this and snag amazingly good bargains.

 

2) Buying an inside cabin at its lowest price point for your 3rd and 4th passengers was often cheaper than adding them to your existing stateroom! This caused people to book "throwaway" inside cabins simply to save money on their additional people, and would waste space on the ship which NCL could have otherwise sold.

 

Both of these flaws have now been corrected. The NCL bargain shopper has been mostly thwarted.

 

What hasn't changed that much? The "booking early" price on many sailings remains the same (that is, high), though it has gone up on some sailings which were already fairly popular, and these new "freebies" have put bookings over the top.

 

The days of seeing $1500-per-person balcony rooms dumped for $649 per person are sadly over.

 

The days of getting $799-per-person insides for $249 are also over.

 

You may get a few good deals late, but nothing like it was before 2015, and you are now seriously risking the ship selling out, whereas prior to this year it was unusual on most sailings for balconies/insides/oceanviews to sell out months in advance, aside from super-popular dates.

 

Someone asked how inside cabins could have been affected by this, as they don't qualify for anything but a $25 OBC. I believe we are seeing a trickle-down effect of both the higher-prices and sold-out categories. People who would otherwise have bought balcony rooms or oceanviews are now finding themselves priced out (or they are unavailable), and take insides instead. I also think that people are still grabbing the insides because they like the ability to cram additional family members in there for cheap. Believe it or not, many families of 4 actually stuff themselves into a single inside cabin. I would find that to be torture, but many claim they are fine with it.

 

If you are not seeing a difference in prices between this year and last year, then one of the following is true:

 

1) You are on a sailing which was very popular and always sold out early, so rooms were never dumped.

-or-

2) You have always paid too much for your cruise and didn't realize it, so everything appears normal.

-or-

3) You lucked into a particular itinerary which is still fairly cheap at the moment.

 

But trust me, it has changed a lot -- especially when it comes to 14-55 day bargain shopping.

 

In no way do I want anything I say to sound argumentative. I am truly looking for some more explanation on this. If I knew how to multi-quote, I'd be adding another person's comment to this as well.

 

We are newer to cruising (but totally smitten).

Five weeks ago we booked our first NCL cruise. For one week, May 15th - 22nd on the Getaway, we booked adjoining balcony rooms (one "mini-suite") for $5500. As a family of 8 that works out to about $98/day/person. I can't find an all-inclusive style vacation like that elsewhere. Now, I know I could likely find something cheaper on Princess or CCL, but they don't have things that we believe would entertain our whole family (6 kids ages 2-14 currently). RCCL was not cheaper when we looked, and our much beloved DCL was more than double the price.

 

Am I missing something? I ask that sincerely. It seems to me like we still have a great value for a family vacation. Now - it might be more than what we would have paid last year; I never looked into it last year. But, also, last year I wasn't hearing any buzz about Breakaway/Getaway - probably because they were so new or not yet afloat.

 

Our previous family vacations were always off-site at WDW, beach vacations, or rentals in TN, etc. They all included beautiful accommodations, but nothing like being at sea. They also had mom doing quite a bit of the cooking and a whole lot of driving to see what we wanted to see. Now that we've done the family cruise bit - well - um - this mom is SOLD on it. Add in gorgeous beach excursions and visiting other countries with my kids... I'm still in the zone that $5,500 seems like a steal. :o

 

Is it possible that the new ships are garnering interest from folks that never would have given them a second long before?? And they can ask more for the larger number of activities on these newer ships? Just genuinely wondering...

[punkincc]

I made the original post late at night after completing a 300+ mile drive, so I think I might have been unclear about something.

 

Prior to 2015, I had long advocated the "book late, not early" strategy to get the best deals on inside/oceanview/balcony rooms on NCL. You can read the link in my signature to get more details on my strategy, which used to work spectacularly well to save big. Booking early was rarely an advantage, unless you were in a suite or cruising a super-popular date/itinerary that wasn't likely to need to dump rooms.

Basically, NCL had two large flaws in their pricing model which could be exploited (legally) by observant cruiser.

Both of these flaws have now been corrected. The NCL bargain shopper has been mostly thwarted.

What hasn't changed that much? The "booking early" price on many sailings remains the same (that is, high), though it has gone up on some sailings which were already fairly popular, and these new "freebies" have put bookings over the top.

 

The days of seeing $1500-per-person balcony rooms dumped for $649 per person are sadly over.

 

The days of getting $799-per-person insides for $249 are also over.

 

 

If you are not seeing a difference in prices between this year and last year, then one of the following is true:

 

1) You are on a sailing which was very popular and always sold out early, so rooms were never dumped.

-or-

2) You have always paid too much for your cruise and didn't realize it, so everything appears normal.

-or-

3) You lucked into a particular itinerary which is still fairly cheap at the moment.

 

But trust me, it has changed a lot -- especially when it comes to 14-55 day bargain shopping.

 

It is true even for those who book in advance.

 

Comparing our Getaway cruise last February ( booked 8 months in advance ) to the price of our Escape cruise next January ( booked 12months in advance, our cost for exactly the same cabin has gone up $209 per person, over $400 more total than we paid for Getaway.

 

And since we booked, our cabin price has gone up an additional $200 per person or another $400. Thankfully we booked when we did.

 

The new revenue plan may be great for stockholders and the senior management, but not for the average cruiser.

Edited April 14, 2015 by punkincc

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Not quite...their "super low" rate is higher than both RC and Carnival, add the upcharges and it's hardly a bargain...maybe they can fool a newcomer..but that's about it. I cancelled my Getaway booking once they started to play their games and booked a Carnival in it's place. I saved $600 and upgraded to a balcony with CCL.

 

Not fooling anyone with half a brain.

 

May I please ask what time of year had you finding RCCL less expensive. I was finding NCL cheaper for May 2016 when I was shopping around a few weeks ago. While at this point I think Getaway would have more for my family than the Freedom class I was looking at, I would still consider it for a great enough cost savings.

 

Thank you. :)

[punkincc]

In no way do I want anything I say to sound argumentative. I am truly looking for some more explanation on this. If I knew how to multi-quote' date=' I'd be adding another person's comment to this as well.

 

We are newer to cruising (but totally smitten).

Five weeks ago we booked our first NCL cruise. For one week, May 15th - 22nd on the Getaway, we booked adjoining balcony rooms (one "mini-suite") for $5500. As a family of 8 that works out to about $98/day/person. I can't find an all-inclusive style vacation like that elsewhere. Now, I know I could likely find something cheaper on Princess or CCL, but they don't have things that we believe would entertain our whole family (6 kids ages 2-14 currently). RCCL was not cheaper when we looked, and our much beloved DCL was more than double the price.

 

Am I missing something? I ask that sincerely. It seems to me like we still have a great value for a family vacation. Now - it might be more than what we would have paid last year; I never looked into it last year. But, also, last year I wasn't hearing any buzz about Breakaway/Getaway - probably because they were so new or not yet afloat.

 

Our previous family vacations were always off-site at WDW, beach vacations, or rentals in TN, etc. They all included beautiful accommodations, but nothing like being at sea. They also had mom doing quite a bit of the cooking and a whole lot of driving to see what we wanted to see. Now that we've done the family cruise bit - well - um - this mom is SOLD on it. Add in gorgeous beach excursions and visiting other countries with my kids... I'm still in the zone that $5,500 seems like a steal. :o

 

Is it possible that the new ships are garnering interest from folks that never would have given them a second long before?? And they can ask more for the larger number of activities on these newer ships? Just genuinely wondering...[/quote']

 

No one is saying that cruising is not a good value compared to a land vacation. I have always said as much. But it will probably be not quite the value it was in the past, at least for NCL with this new revenue model.

 

As costs go up for a cruise, it becomes easier to go with a land based vaca instead, or preferable to just price shop with other cruise lines again.

[Jancruz]

The SEC filings by Oceania and Regent belie your praise. The last figures available show losses in the last three years.

 

The advertisements available show up to 75% discounts on fares for Oceania. That would serve to explain the ships sailing full.

 

Check the amount of debt NCL took on when they "purchased" the two luxury lines.

 

Another factor to question is why Genting surrendered two positions on the board of directors, sold 6.250 million shares of NCLH and purchased a competing luxury cruise line. Genting backed away from the major position by the sale.

 

Maybe it is not as rosy as it seems .

 

I would like you to try and find Oceania at 75% off..there is all kinds of false advertising out there and none of it by Oceania..

Jancruz1

[esp13]

Well, I can't speak to whether I'm getting a good deal or being scammed because that seems to be a matter of opinion, but I booked a Getaway cruise for last December nearly 19 months in advance for $2249 pp (Aft PH Haven suite). That also came with $450 in OBC.

 

I recently booked a Forward Facing PH on the Escape for December 2016 (so, 20 months in advance) for 2799 pp. That's an increase of $550 pp for basically the same week. But, I also got prepaid gratuities ($209.30 value), UBP ($700 value based on our usual alcohol consumption for the week), UDP ($200 value based on usual consumption) and $300 OBC. So, for us, the two cruises are basically the same cost when it is all averaged out. Now, granted, we are in a FF penthouse because the AFT is another $300 pp, but the popularity of those aft suites were always going to drive the price up.

 

So, for basically the same price, I still get my Haven suite and the convenience of the dining and beverage packages. I don't anticipate eating in specialty restaurants more or drinking (significantly) more, but I know it's already paid for and don't have to think about the bill at the end. And if I want to try something, I can do it with out feeling like I've wasted money if I don't like it. I know this new pricing model is not popular with some folks, but as somebody who has to book way ahead, I feel like it works out pretty well. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next year or so.

[pokerpro5]

In no way do I want anything I say to sound argumentative. I am truly looking for some more explanation on this. If I knew how to multi-quote' date=' I'd be adding another person's comment to this as well.

 

We are newer to cruising (but totally smitten).

Five weeks ago we booked our first NCL cruise. For one week, May 15th - 22nd on the Getaway, we booked adjoining balcony rooms (one "mini-suite") for $5500. As a family of 8 that works out to about $98/day/person. I can't find an all-inclusive style vacation like that elsewhere. Now, I know I could likely find something cheaper on Princess or CCL, but they don't have things that we believe would entertain our whole family (6 kids ages 2-14 currently). RCCL was not cheaper when we looked, and our much beloved DCL was more than double the price.

 

Am I missing something? I ask that sincerely. It seems to me like we still have a great value for a family vacation. Now - it might be more than what we would have paid last year; I never looked into it last year. But, also, last year I wasn't hearing any buzz about Breakaway/Getaway - probably because they were so new or not yet afloat.

 

Our previous family vacations were always off-site at WDW, beach vacations, or rentals in TN, etc. They all included beautiful accommodations, but nothing like being at sea. They also had mom doing quite a bit of the cooking and a whole lot of driving to see what we wanted to see. Now that we've done the family cruise bit - well - um - this mom is SOLD on it. Add in gorgeous beach excursions and visiting other countries with my kids... I'm still in the zone that $5,500 seems like a steal. :o

 

Is it possible that the new ships are garnering interest from folks that never would have given them a second long before?? And they can ask more for the larger number of activities on these newer ships? Just genuinely wondering...[/quote']

 

I don't feel you're being argumentative.

 

Your question is more along the lines of, "Is cruising a good value, even at today's prices?"

 

That's a hard question to answer, because everyone wants something different out of vacations. Some people hate cruising because you get so little time at the places you visit, and because the staterooms are very small compared to typical hotel rooms. Others love cruising because you're at sea, the traveling is done for you, and there's no packing/unpacking. Others also love it because of all the things you can do onboard, and all the food you can eat.

 

So it's hard to compare a standard vacation and a cruise vacation. I take and enjoy both types of vacations.

 

My post was more about how NCL has changed their pricing/inventory sale model for 2015, and how this is a killer for bargain-shopping cruisers such as myself.

 

(Fortunately I have casino certificates to cruise anyway, but my ability to get a cheap second room in the future has been seriously curtailed.)

 

Perhaps $5500 for eight people in two adjoining balcony rooms isn't a bad deal when it comes to an overall vacation value, but last year you could have had two balcony rooms AND two more inside cabins for cheaper than that, provided you waited until the 55 day mark and start bargain shopping for rooms. They may not have been adjoining balcony rooms, but you would have had 4 rooms on the ship instead of 2, and would have saved money in the process.

 

With that said, the "new normal" on NCL isn't bad for you provided that you don't mind 4-to-a-room, as it's far cheaper to get extra people onboard now than it was in prior years (except when they ran a kids sail free promotion).

[Vacationdreamer<><]

No one is saying that cruising is not a good value compared to a land vacation. I have always said as much. But it will probably be not quite the value it was in the past, at least for NCL with this new revenue model.

 

As costs go up for a cruise, it becomes easier to go with a land based vaca instead, or preferable to just price shop with other cruise lines again.

 

I can do land-only really inexpensively. I'm the lady that squeezes a penny til Lincoln squeals. And we are doing a great cross-country trip this year. But - I'm glad I can still afford a cruise for now. Perhaps part of my relief was simply due to our recent DCL trip. That makes EVERYTHING look reasonable. ;)

 

I don't feel you're being argumentative.

 

Your question is more along the lines of, "Is cruising a good value, even at today's prices?"

 

That's a hard question to answer, because everyone wants something different out of vacations. Some people hate cruising because you get so little time at the places you visit, and because the staterooms are very small compared to typical hotel rooms. Others love cruising because you're at sea, the traveling is done for you, and there's no packing/unpacking. Others also love it because of all the things you can do onboard, and all the food you can eat.

 

So it's hard to compare a standard vacation and a cruise vacation. I take and enjoy both types of vacations.

 

My post was more about how NCL has changed their pricing/inventory sale model for 2015, and how this is a killer for bargain-shopping cruisers such as myself.

 

(Fortunately I have casino certificates to cruise anyway, but my ability to get a cheap second room in the future has been seriously curtailed.)

 

Perhaps $5500 for eight people in two adjoining balcony rooms isn't a bad deal when it comes to an overall vacation value, but last year you could have had two balcony rooms AND two more inside cabins for cheaper than that, provided you waited until the 55 day mark and start bargain shopping for rooms. They may not have been adjoining balcony rooms, but you would have had 4 rooms on the ship instead of 2, and would have saved money in the process.

 

With that said, the "new normal" on NCL isn't bad for you provided that you don't mind 4-to-a-room, as it's far cheaper to get extra people onboard now than it was in prior years (except when they ran a kids sail free promotion).

 

Thank you, both, for your responses.

 

Quite honestly - I don't love four to a room. Normally our land vacations include houses or condos, so yes - that is a loss for us. But I'm also a nervous-Nellie when it comes to my kids, so we likely wouldn't have spread out in non-adjoining rooms at this stage of the game anyway.

 

I do appreciate you further explaining the details of the change in value.

 

I will add this piece regarding the promos currently offered. I do see that there is the unfortunate fall out of some restaurants likely falling off the UDP included list. But - I am really glad they offered the UDP. One of my turn offs to RCCL and NCL was having so many up-charge dining choices. I didn't want to get on the ship and then still have to compute charges if we wanted to eat in the up-sell spots. Knowing that we have the spread of options open before we board did make us feel more comfortable booking. I likely wouldn't have opted to pay $119 (or $140) more - but we may have. Having it offered "free" was attractive, and someone at NCL seems to have had folks like me in mind when they developed it.

 

I am "sore" about losing the complimentary room service. I found we did use that a few times even on our short family DCL cruise and my moms-only PCI cruise last year.

[NLH Arizona]

Pokerpro5- I think this is new normal for spring/summer sailings but fall/winter sailings later this year might be different story especially for regular 7 day Caribbean sailings. Remember, spring/summer is the peak seasons and fall/winter is the off-peak in the Carbibean, it might still be buy last-minute after September/ October for 7 days. Now, trips sailing longer than that might not go down because its unusual iternary or sold out. Guess, we'll find out later this year how the prices will go...

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

Celebrity does the same thing that NCL is being accused of. Reducing the prices after final payment. If one doesn't care where or what type of cabin they have, they should wait.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

Celebrity does the same thing that NCL is being accused of. Reducing the prices after final payment. If one doesn't care where or what type of cabin they have, they should wait.

 

 

DCL for sure does this. *GT rates are the only way I'll ever get onboard another one of her ships.

[hondorner]

Celebrity does the same thing that NCL is being accused of. Reducing the prices after final payment. If one doesn't care where or what type of cabin they have, they should wait.

 

You may have missed the entire point of this thread. Reducing the price at the last minute is the OLD way at NCL. They're filling the ships with the new pricing model, and are happy to let other lines like Celebrity keep on doing it the old way.

[caseykees]

I am new to cruising. I am booked on the Pearl in a balcony in August of 2016. The same trip in 2015 is quite a bit more.

 

I meant to ask if that was normal.

Edited April 14, 2015 by caseykees

[hawkeyetlse]

But there aren't peak seasons, as cruise lines are pretty good at allocating the number of ships they need at each port at each time of year. And some itineraries stop entirely during what would otherwise be the low season.

Do they really have that much flexibility, though? Between Europe and North America, for example, repositioning is a pretty big deal and the itineraries have to be planned years in advance. And no matter where the ships are, I think they have trouble filling them in early December, for example, or February. The total demand is not constant year-round, but they have all their ships sailing every week, year round.

[rbrugler]

We booked an 11 day cruise for my wife and adult daughter and I in an accessible balcony cabin. I opted for the paid gratuities. We do not drink, and our usual specialty restaurants are the Chinese and Italian. I understand that those might be free now. We still have our two latitude free meals to use and we can get by on one bag of laundry. We love our yearly NCL cruises, and will be taking them again for sure.

 

I don't understand how the ships can be "more crowded." It seems to me that they will be sailing with more empty cabins since they will reach capacity sooner with the "free" cruisers in the other cabins.

[DreamingBig1]

You may have missed the entire point of this thread. Reducing the price at the last minute is the OLD way at NCL. They're filling the ships with the new pricing model, and are happy to let other lines like Celebrity keep on doing it the old way.

 

I think your right. It seems like NCL is trying to lock people in early and curtail last minute sails.

 

I think people will have to wait months from now when the novelty of this freestyle concept wears off. There will be people who cancel and decide to move in another direction. So ultimately I think there will be some last minute deals to be had.

[DreamingBig1]

I am new to cruising. I am booked on the Pearl in a balcony in August of 2016. The same trip in 2015 is quite a bit more.

 

I meant to ask if that was normal.

 

Supply and demand. It is definitely possible. Cruises are like air flights and hotels, the price go's up with people in the seats and beds.

[lbrandon]

I think if you drink a lot then the current promos are actually a better deal but if you don't and normally wouldn't purchase the beverage package then it might not be. Based on our bar tabs on previous cruises we saved a few hundred dollars having the UBP included on our Epic cruise in March.

 

I also just booked a suite on the Dawn for next year for $1,500 and got all 4 offers included. Compared with prices on some of the newer ships that's a great deal.

[maywell]

I think your right. It seems like NCL is trying to lock people in early and curtail last minute sails.

 

I think people will have to wait months from now when the novelty of this freestyle concept wears off. There will be people who cancel and decide to move in another direction. So ultimately I think there will be some last minute deals to be had.

Which is why I said its Carnival's Early-Saver & Royal Caribbean business strategy - just that NCL perfected it a bit better with promos and/or lower fares than them.

 

Sent from my SGH-T399 using Tapatalk

Edited April 14, 2015 by maywell

[S.S.Oceanlover]

That's a good point.

 

 

 

As a result of these "freebies", we are likely to see:

 

 

 

- More drunk people onboard

 

 

 

- More people in general, as it's a lot cheaper to cram extra people into your staterooms

 

 

 

- More difficulty getting specialty restaurant reservations

 

 

 

Please, please, give me 2014 NCL back!

 

 

This is the second time you mentioned that you can cram more people in a room with 3-8 free which i agree with but don't agree with the 50% off premise.

 

There was a poster the other day that wanted to book Bermuda with 3-8 being half off.

 

Turns out 1 and 2 were $1039 and 3-8 were $1009.

 

Didn't see the half off on that booking

 

Bill

[AnonomissX]

In no way do I want anything I say to sound argumentative. I am truly looking for some more explanation on this. If I knew how to multi-quote' date=' I'd be adding another person's comment to this as well.

 

We are newer to cruising (but totally smitten).

Five weeks ago we booked our first NCL cruise. For one week, May 15th - 22nd on the Getaway, we booked adjoining balcony rooms (one "mini-suite") for $5500. As a family of 8 that works out to about $98/day/person. I can't find an all-inclusive style vacation like that elsewhere. Now, I know I could likely find something cheaper on Princess or CCL, but they don't have things that we believe would entertain our whole family (6 kids ages 2-14 currently). RCCL was not cheaper when we looked, and our much beloved DCL was more than double the price.

 

Am I missing something? I ask that sincerely. It seems to me like we still have a great value for a family vacation. Now - it might be more than what we would have paid last year; I never looked into it last year. But, also, last year I wasn't hearing any buzz about Breakaway/Getaway - probably because they were so new or not yet afloat.

 

Our previous family vacations were always off-site at WDW, beach vacations, or rentals in TN, etc. They all included beautiful accommodations, but nothing like being at sea. They also had mom doing quite a bit of the cooking and a whole lot of driving to see what we wanted to see. Now that we've done the family cruise bit - well - um - this mom is SOLD on it. Add in gorgeous beach excursions and visiting other countries with my kids... I'm still in the zone that $5,500 seems like a steal. :o

 

Is it possible that the new ships are garnering interest from folks that never would have given them a second long before?? And they can ask more for the larger number of activities on these newer ships? Just genuinely wondering...[/quote']

 

Adjoining balconies on the Getaway for $5500.00 for 8? If that is after tax, that is less than 700.00 per passenger. Very nice job of getting a great deal on that timeframe ;)