Thank goodness the sale is over!

[AnJ]

Yes, the flash sale is over and the prices for excursions have returned to their lower pre-sale prices. $169 pp before the sale, $189 during the sale, now back to $169. Always worth the wait. 

[bigbeergut]

Agreed,  these type of fake sales take all of the fun out of shopping for excursions and cruises.

[mitz18]

They must work or they would not keep throwing them out there.......

[bigbeergut]

53 minutes ago, mitz18 said:

They must work or they would not keep throwing them out there.......

Perhaps they work for Celebrity, but not me.  There's usually a large percentage of first time cruisers, perhaps they are the target because they don't know any better.

[mitz18]

27 minutes ago, bigbeergut said:

Perhaps they work for Celebrity, but not me.  There's usually a large percentage of first time cruisers, perhaps they are the target because they don't know any better.

 

or don't bother to investigate.  I'm fairly sure we have never purchased anything off a "flash sale"......

[patchit]

I saved money on all of my already booked excursions.  $88.00 worth of OBC put back into my account.  This isn't the first time I have taken advantage of a sale and I'm not a first time cruiser.  Maybe they increase pricing on some excursions only to lower them again, but in my experience, I have always saved money. 

[wendycook22]

I am an avid planner.  I have actually benefited significantly from some of these sales.  I screen shot the excursions I am interested in, or document them in my spreadsheet.  When the sales are on, I have received many excursions cheaper than the original listed price on their site for months prior to the sale.  I have been lucky I guess? I have saved $5-15.00 off  most of the ones  I booked for my upcoming cruise in 2 weeks.  Mind you that wasn't from this past sale but the two prior.  

I am by no means saying the increases aren't happening.  I agree you need to watch pricing and pay attention.  I just wanted to share that there are savings available. :) 

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

I never buy my excursions through the cruiselines.  Usually just book direct through the tour.  I google excursions in the destination and find the reputable tours.  Cheaper then a fake sale or otherwise because the cruiseline isn't getting a kickback.  Every excursion I ever went on was extremely conscious of the time and getting us to board before sailaway.  YMMV.  That's the way a priate rolls.

 

[patchit]

Same here....I'm a planner.  My excursions are booked for my next cruise in April on Summit.  I saved $15 per person on 2 of them and $14 per person on another.  From the previous sale which was last July (I think), I saved a whopping $20 per person.  So yeah, you just need to pay attention. 

[patchit]

I have tons of OBC to use so (for me) it's a good way to spend it. 

[wendycook22]

6 minutes ago, Calico Jack Sparrow said:

I never buy my excursions through the cruiselines.  Usually just book direct through the tour.  I google excursions in the destination and find the reputable tours.  Cheaper then a fake sale or otherwise because the cruiseline isn't getting a kickback.  Every excursion I ever went on was extremely conscious of the time and getting us to board before sailaway.  YMMV.  That's the way a priate rolls.

 

I have done that as well several times.  I have had great experiences with local tour providers, and Celebrity.  However the past few cruises I have accumulated a significant amount of OBC.   Why spend my own money, when I have significant OBC to use up.

I also have excursions booked for quite some time for my January Cruise on the Infinity, and saved 15.00 pp on them.   It just depends on the situation at hand.  

Edited October 23, 2018 by wendycook22

[Georgia_Peaches]

47 minutes ago, Calico Jack Sparrow said:

I never buy my excursions through the cruiselines.  Usually just book direct through the tour.  I google excursions in the destination and find the reputable tours.  Cheaper then a fake sale or otherwise because the cruiseline isn't getting a kickback.  Every excursion I ever went on was extremely conscious of the time and getting us to board before sailaway.  YMMV.  That's the way a priate rolls.

 

We do the same thing.  It's a risk no doubt, but we have had very good luck finding excursions that have an early start time/early finish time leaving us with plenty of wiggle room getting back to the ship.  The one time we almost missed the boat was because DH stopped to use the restroom and didn't think we had to hurry.  We were those people running to the gangway.

[shipshape sam]

3 hours ago, mitz18 said:

They must work or they would not keep throwing them out there.......

For sure they work or as you say they would quit doing them.

 

For me the real issue is deception.  Now if the end result is a true lower value, then that is some comfort, but why raise the price to portray that you are giving a big discount!?  Not sure we have the answer either.

[Chefaleslie]

I noticed this price discrepancy with the 20% off then cruise planner would not work so you need to call and the price was like 45% more. So I said no thank-you,  Also when I got the survey I blasted how terrible it all was. There website, their sale, there making me phone and speak with some one who has no idea that sale means sale. Any way long story short, I will take a train and enjoy the country side instead of being crammed in a bus. 

[bebe08]

I booked 2 excursions during the sale.  I don't do a lot of ship excursions, but in some cases it makes sense.  For the 2 I just booked it was because they are tender ports and based on timing of the tours we will be on first tenders (Santorini and Mykonos) which will give us more time to do our thing after the tours. 

 

I've just gone back to check the prices.

For Santorini we paid $89CDN per person, the tour is now 117 pp so for 2 of us we saved a total of $56.  For Mykonos (Delos tour) we paid $127, and the price is now 156, so for 2 we saved $58.  So the sale saved us $114.  I do keep an eye on prices of excursions  and if the price drops it is easy to cancel and re-book.    

[NantahalaCruiser]

12 hours ago, AnJ said:

Yes, the flash sale is over and the prices for excursions have returned to their lower pre-sale prices. $169 pp before the sale, $189 during the sale, now back to $169. Always worth the wait. 

While I agree that you have to be careful, you can save money during the sale. I knew the pre-sale prices for two excursions on a Sep 2019 cruise and saved slightly better than 20% on each: $10 pp ($39 vs. $49) on one and $40 pp on the other ($149 vs. $189.)

 

And yes, the prices are now back to $49 and $189!