Pricing Bait and Switch

[britthunt]

How is it possible that Cunard advertises the Ft. Lauderdale to Rio cruise for $999. inside cabin for January 2017 and then when one goes to book, it turns into $3K+ per person? I have never experienced that with other cruise lines.

 

They should not get passengers' hopes up! This was on their own website.

 

B

[Scrapnana]

I just did a dummy booking and had the same results - the $999 pp inside became $3398 pp when you booked. I would call Cunard and ask about this. Many a time there has been a glitch in the system and this could be one of them. Unfortunately, the glitch might be the $999 because that comes out to be $55.50 per day!

[tv24]

I don't think anyone would sell a cruise at $55 per person per day. If so, sign me up!

[bluemarble]

I'm not sure that advertised $999 fare is a mistake. I just checked three of the major U.S. cruise booking sites and they are indeed offering a $999 base fare for a guarantee on an inside IF category cabin on Queen Victoria's upcoming 18-day voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Rio de Janeiro departing January 16. And that rate doesn't change when I actually start a booking on those sites. As usual that's a double occupancy rate and does not include taxes and fees. The total cost for two with the taxes and fees included works out to be $2517.76 ($1258.88 per person) on those other sites. Plus one of those sites is even throwing in a small amount of OBC ($25).

 

Of course I did not complete a booking on any of those sites, so it is still possible a booking can't be completed at that price. However, I have seen this before where Cunard has advertised a low last-minute fare like this on their web site only to find out the fare is considerably higher when you actually try to book the cruise on the Cunard web site. But that low last-minute fare has turned out to be available on other cruise booking web sites.

 

I concur with Scrapnana's advice to call Cunard and see if they will honor that $999 base fare. Or else, just take your business to one of the other major cruise booking sites and see how that goes.

 

Regards,

John

Edited January 5, 2017 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

Just to follow up, the same U.S. cruise booking sites I checked earlier this morning have now also started showing availability on voyage V703 in the inside ID category for that same $999 base fare. This is in addition to inside category IF which is being offered for that same fare on those sites. On the other hand, cunard.com initially states category ID is "sold out" and category IF is available for $999 only to find out cunard.com is actually offering category ID for $3,848 and category IF for $3,398.

Edited January 5, 2017 by bluemarble

[MCC retired]

01/16/2017 Victoria $999p/p IF Guar is still available now in your TA's POLAR booking system .Ask for Rate Code RGC. Hurry if you want it .

[bluemarble]

01/16/2017 Victoria $999p/p IF Guar is still available now in your TA's POLAR booking system .Ask for Rate Code RGC. Hurry if you want it .

 

Ah, yes! Of course! Knowing a rate code to use on cunard.com--that's the ticket!

 

I just started a booking for voyage V703 (Fort Lauderdale to Rio de Janeiro departing January 16, 2017) on cunard.com using rate code RGC. That does indeed now show me a fare of $999 for a category IF guarantee. Mystery solved. Thanks, MCC retired.

 

Looking back at the emails I have received from Cunard over the past few months, I do see several references to rate code RGC although I don't happen to see an email from Cunard mentioning deals on this particular voyage, V703.

 

Regards,

John

[oceansandseas]

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OP, if you are booking for Jan 2017, make sure you have your Brazilian Visa. It might take awhile to get one.

 

 

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[BlueRiband]

Ah, yes! Of course! Knowing a rate code to use on cunard.com--that's the ticket!...

 

On the US side the rate code will send you into a parallel booking area where only those cabins eligible for the rate will appear. Guess you get "sold out" once all those allotted for it are gone.

[bluemarble]

On the US side the rate code will send you into a parallel booking area where only those cabins eligible for the rate will appear. Guess you get "sold out" once all those allotted for it are gone.

 

It appears you do indeed get "Sold Out" on cunard.com when all the cabins allocated for the rate code are gone. For example, on voyage V703 we have been discussing, balcony categories BA, BB, and BC are all available on cunard.com when booking without a rate code. On the other hand, when using rate code RGC, balcony categories BA and BC are both available while category BB is "Sold Out".

[lambs2]

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OP, if you are booking for Jan 2017, make sure you have your Brazilian Visa. It might take awhile to get one.

 

 

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Plus, you will not be allowed to board the ship if going to any Brazilian port without certified proof of a yellow fever vaccine or a certified doctor's excuse attached to the yellow form.

[wripro]

If you used a TA he/she would handle the situation.

[britthunt]

I'm not sure that advertised $999 fare is a mistake. I just checked three of the major U.S. cruise booking sites and they are indeed offering a $999 base fare for a guarantee on an inside IF category cabin on Queen Victoria's upcoming 18-day voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Rio de Janeiro departing January 16. And that rate doesn't change when I actually start a booking on those sites. As usual that's a double occupancy rate and does not include taxes and fees. The total cost for two with the taxes and fees included works out to be $2517.76 ($1258.88 per person) on those other sites. Plus one of those sites is even throwing in a small amount of OBC ($25).

 

Of course I did not complete a booking on any of those sites, so it is still possible a booking can't be completed at that price. However, I have seen this before where Cunard has advertised a low last-minute fare like this on their web site only to find out the fare is considerably higher when you actually try to book the cruise on the Cunard web site. But that low last-minute fare has turned out to be available on other cruise booking web sites.

 

I concur with Scrapnana's advice to call Cunard and see if they will honor that $999 base fare. Or else, just take your business to one of the other major cruise booking sites and see how that goes.

 

Regards,

John

 

Thanks for all the info! We decided to do a short Caribbean cruise instead, but the Amazon is on my "dream cruise" list!

[britthunt]

Also thanks for posting comments about Yellow Fever and Brazilian visa. We did a cruise from Brazil to NYC a couple of years ago, and it broke my heart to see passengers denied boarding for those reasons.