It pays to book after final payment

[lynncarol]

Last September, for the first time, we booked a last minute cruise through a cruise-discounter, vacations to go, instead of the cruiseline itself. For our low price we were told our room assignment would be made at the last minute. I feared this would result in less than optimal stateroom position, but to our astonishment, we had one of the best balcony rooms ever! Just lucky I guess.

Edited February 1, 2017 by lynncarol

[helen haywood]

I saw this and am already booked on this cruise so I crunched the numbers. We have a regular (totally non-obstructed) balcony. The new price and gratuities is $485 less than our current price. And our current price includes gratuities, beverage package for 2 and $425 OBC. So for us we're happy with our original booking but glad others got a great deal!

[Lastdance]

Yes, airfares can hit you harder, but the more flexible you are the better. I wish I did not care what cabin I would get; my DH doesn't, but I love S1 corner afts. Once, in the Med, I was able to get one for a total of 300. Originally, we were booked in a C2...great deal; however, it spoiled me...Now I am paying so much more for a TA in April, but with over 1,000 OBC...got another small drop so it went to OBC too! If you are happy, that is what's important!!!

 

 

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Edited February 1, 2017 by Lastdance

[Banjo]

I saw this and am already booked on this cruise so I crunched the numbers. We have a regular (totally non-obstructed) balcony. The new price and gratuities is $485 less than our current price. And our current price includes gratuities, beverage package for 2 and $425 OBC. So for us we're happy with our original booking but glad others got a great deal!

 

Your right, it does not always pay to wait till final payment. I found also if you do the math with the perks & OBC it pays a lot of times to just keep what you have.

 

If you see something you like and you feel it's a good price, book it. I try to get a booking when the cruise is announced. Generally I find you get the best price soon after the cruise is first announced. I regret I waited on a a Hawaii-Sydney cruise and that went up $1000/pp for Aqua, put me out of contention and I doubt that price will come down. I was waiting to book this cruise on recent past cruise where I find the best perks and OBC. Then, when back home, assign it to my big box TA for further OBC. Now after you book, watch the price and inventory. That's why I like the count-down clocks. If the price drops prior to final payment, any cruise company I dealt with will do price-match. Then just prior final payment, if you see a lot inventory and price is still what you are going to pay (taking in consideration your perks/OBC), cancel the cruise. You can always re-book. Another consideration, on the far away cruises, is the price of airfare or if I use miles to pay for my airfare (these a lot time change, usually for the worse).

Edited February 1, 2017 by Banjo

[Sandtrap328]

Remember, prices do not always go down. We booked our March 19 Eclipse cruise in June under a Go Best friend promo. Price for same category room with Go Best is currently $1400 more than price we paid.

[DaisyFire]

Over$5000

 

Yes - but to be fair, the over $5000 price tag included the perks and the current price in that context is actually more now than it has been over the last several months. (I am on this cruise and monitor prices almost daily.) . So for those not sailing solo - the price was around $2500 per person for A2 with Go Better. It is now around $2800 (See price breakdown below.) So if you waited, and you wanted the perks and are not sailing solo - you would actually be paying more, not less.

 

The advantage I see to the non-perk pricing offered now is that it levels the cabin categories. All AQ cats are listed at $1699 per person without perks...GTY, A1, and A2 are all the same price when they take the perks off (I found this odd...) And of course the current sale where solos pay 150% vs 200% is an advantage for solo travelers that they didn't have before now.

 

Current (as of 5 minutes ago) 14 Day Eclipse April 2 cruise pricing in Aqua with (2) perks:

 

GTY $2149 pp

A2 $2749

A1 $2949

 

The reality is that there is no magic formula - wait or don't wait - it's up to you. There are many factors to be considered - from flexibility to other travel costs such as airfare and hotel.

 

Those who have the flexibility and who travel many times a year and can book one or two cruises in advance and then shop around for bargains are in the best position to find the best deals. One day - I hope to be there too :D For now, all I can do is shop in advance and keep checking for price drops as frequently as possible. And even now, after final payment I check regularly... still hoping that those suite prices will drop and I can get one of those 'deals' :D

[4774Papa]

Yes - but to be fair, the over $5000 price tag included the perks and the current price in that context is actually more now than it has been over the last several months. (I am on this cruise and monitor prices almost daily.) . So for those not sailing solo - the price was around $2500 per person for A2 with Go Better. It is now around $2800 (See price breakdown below.) So if you waited, and you wanted the perks and are not sailing solo - you would actually be paying more, not less.

 

The advantage I see to the non-perk pricing offered now is that it levels the cabin categories. All AQ cats are listed at $1699 per person without perks...GTY, A1, and A2 are all the same price when they take the perks off (I found this odd...) And of course the current sale where solos pay 150% vs 200% is an advantage for solo travelers that they didn't have before now.

 

Current (as of 5 minutes ago) 14 Day Eclipse April 2 cruise pricing in Aqua with (2) perks:

 

GTY $2149 pp

A2 $2749

A1 $2949

 

The reality is that there is no magic formula - wait or don't wait - it's up to you. There are many factors to be considered - from flexibility to other travel costs such as airfare and hotel.

 

Those who have the flexibility and who travel many times a year and can book one or two cruises in advance and then shop around for bargains are in the best position to find the best deals. One day - I hope to be there too :D For now, all I can do is shop in advance and keep checking for price drops as frequently as possible. And even now, after final payment I check regularly... still hoping that those suite prices will drop and I can get one of those 'deals' :D

 

Agree with your assessment. Also, it depends on the cruise and where it leaves from.

 

We don't do Caribbean cruises and always fly to Europe, Asia, S.America or Australis and plan a lengthy land trip in connection with the cruise.

Booking late makes planning the land trip more problematic.

 

We have done 15 cruises in the past 6 years and only had prices drop after final payment on 2 and the drop was not huge. In one case we upgraded to Aqua.

[ISABELLA]

Yes - but to be fair, the over $5000 price tag included the perks and the current price in that context is actually more now than it has been over the last several months. (I am on this cruise and monitor prices almost daily.) . So for those not sailing solo - the price was around $2500 per person for A2 with Go Better. It is now around $2800 (See price breakdown below.) So if you waited, and you wanted the perks and are not sailing solo - you would actually be paying more, not less.

 

The advantage I see to the non-perk pricing offered now is that it levels the cabin categories. All AQ cats are listed at $1699 per person without perks...GTY, A1, and A2 are all the same price when they take the perks off (I found this odd...) And of course the current sale where solos pay 150% vs 200% is an advantage for solo travelers that they didn't have before now.

 

Current (as of 5 minutes ago) 14 Day Eclipse April 2 cruise pricing in Aqua with (2) perks:

 

GTY $2149 pp

A2 $2749

A1 $2949

 

The reality is that there is no magic formula - wait or don't wait - it's up to you. There are many factors to be considered - from flexibility to other travel costs such as airfare and hotel.

 

Those who have the flexibility and who travel many times a year and can book one or two cruises in advance and then shop around for bargains are in the best position to find the best deals. One day - I hope to be there too :D For now, all I can do is shop in advance and keep checking for price drops as frequently as possible. And even now, after final payment I check regularly... still hoping that those suite prices will drop and I can get one of those 'deals' :D

 

If the perks are important - yes, full loaded price will make cense.

[Mynki]

still hoping that those suite prices will drop and I can get one of those 'deals' :D

 

Currently on a 14 day Exotic Southern Caribbean cruise. We booked a sky suite in May 2015 when the price using the Go Best promotion plus additional OBC from our US based TA was $3799 per person.

 

I'll be honest, I was hoping prices might dip and so I used a third party website to monitor price changes. They went up, up and up and were nearly two thousand dollars more per person at one point. That said April is not prime Caribbean season so you might score a deal.

 

I can't remember exact prices but in november 2015 we booked an Aqua Class room on Millennium for an Asian cruise. The price was approximately £1800. Just before final payment it wasn't selling too well and we were able to upgrade to a guaranteed suite for approximately £1600! Two days later we got our allocated suite. Arguably and perhaps unsurprisingly it was the least desirable S2 left on the ship. However we called our TA and asked if we could change to 6145 (The best S1 suite on an M class ship) as that was also unusually available. Celebrity let us. :)

 

The point I'm making is that you can score the best deals booking very early or very late, but it's all down to how popular the sailings are. I wouldn't expect to get great suite deals on Caribbean sailings in january or february etc. But on less popular cruises such as Asia and the Middle East you can find bargain suites. That said I've noticed these 'bargains' becoming harder to find in the last twelve months! I did see a 15 night CS go for $4449 very recently though. So good luck. :)

[SusieV]

I'd love to but can't book last minute because no drink package. Since I'd probably want to buy it anyway, it usually wipes out all the savings.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Remember, prices do not always go down. We booked our March 19 Eclipse cruise in June under a Go Best friend promo. Price for same category room with Go Best is currently $1400 more than price we paid.

 

Agreed. Price changes definitely go up for cruises with high demand and low supply. We booked an AQ Asian B2B (Japan to HK to Singapore) for Oct/Nov 2016 back in Dec 2014. By early 2016, the AQs on the Japan to HK were almost fully booked, the price had increased by about 50% and the 3 included perks had been reduced to only 1! The second leg increase was not as drastic - about a 35% increase, but still the loss of 2 perks. Way before the final payment date, all AQs on the first leg were totally sold out. And well after the final payment date, the limited AQ availability for the second leg was still priced at over 30% higher than in Dec 2014.

[FlorenceItaly]

It certainly does! We keep seeing this over and over again. With that said, I am truly conflicted as I recently booked a cruise with a final payment of Feb. 16. We booked a interior guarantee category Z, Pacific Coastal, May 2017 and there is a lot of availability on insides and outsides. We were was assigned, imo, a wonderful location(deck 11 aft). In fact, the location is what prompted me to book the cruise. I put it on 24 hour hold, and they immediately assigned a room while it was on HOLD status only. I continue to look for price drops, none so far. I am very happy with what I paid ($999 pp, before taxes). I will have to decide by Feb. 16 what I am going to do. This is a cruise we really want to take, but with the excess inventory in the interior/OV category I wonder if I can get a better deal after final payment.

 

A update to my previous post. It's before final payment and I have had two price drops since booking. I had to give up my original assignment on the first drop, but, not on the second. I am on Deck 3, and happy with my location and price. At this time I am still holding the reservation with Celebrity. It has been nice to not have to go through a third party for the price drops. I am still undecided whether I will hold onto the reservation or transfer it. Kuddos to Celebrity for dropping the price before final payment.

 

Marie