Price Drops?

[Mabilu]

Hello!!  I have waited too many years for this, we just booked our first cruise after 27 years of marriage!  Jan. 2020 we embark on Celebrity Edge.  I see many posts that mention booking and then watching for price drops??  I thought booking now was the best time to book, but my naivete may be showing?  Thank you! 

[jlp20]

When a cruise line opens a ship for reservations, the clock starts. They know as time goes by, what percentage of the ship should be booked. If bookings are slow, they may lower prices. Almost 100% of people only put down a deposit to lock the reservation. Between booking and date of final payment, your free to track prices and request the booking be adjusted. Cruise lines don't have to, but normally they do. Our upcoming cruise has been adjusted twice. 

[leaveitallbehind]

Most cruise lines operate similarly, but specific to Celebrity, you can take advantage of any downward price change that occurs from your original booking date to date of final payment by contacting whomever you booked your reservation with and requesting an adjustment to the lower price.  It usually is advantageous to book early and watch for price changes during the selling cycle prior to final payment as frequently there will be favorable price changes.  But there is no guarantee of this and prices can just as well increase.  The good news is while you can take advantage of downward changes, you are locked in against increases with your original booking rate.

 

Newly launched ships such as Edge, however, may not have favorable changes as their demand typically will support a more premium pricing and will not be as vulnerable to weaker sales, which would usually drive the decrease in price.

 

There are price tracking web sites that you can find through Google as well as for you to just monitor your itinerary on a regular basis through mock bookings to see current pricing.  Some travel agents will also monitor this for you.  But tracking pricing is easy to do and if you see a decrease, just contact your booking agent and request the change. 

 

Note that there are some TA's that will charge a separate fee not charged by the cruise lines for changes in a booked itinerary.  I would avoid placing a booking with those that do.  The rules for price changes can also vary with bookings originating outside of the US as well.

Edited February 22, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[MCC retired]

Early booking does not always equal the Best Deal . It is up to you to monitor your sailing for Sales up until your Final Payment Date. Then contact whomever you booked with to see if you are eligible for an adjustment.

[lifes-a-beach]

In addition to the cost of the cruise itself, other costs will likely fluctuate such as Internet packages and drink packages.  My wife just cancelled our Internet package for a cruise in April and rebooked it, saving something like $40.00. Depending on the cruise line these are also things to become familiar with and monitor, and many times such savings can be had after final payment of the cruise fare has passed.

 

As for the best time to book, my experience has been early but I read here all the time that someone has found a good price after the 90 day out mark.  I think it depends entirely on the specific trip.  I’m reminded of when the best time to go fishing is; when you have time to go fishing.  In any case, once we are past final payment I quit looking at price changes because what difference does it make?  

 

And  welcome to Cruise Critic!  

[Tourist1292]

I booked our May 2019 cruise in December 2018 through Costco and the final payment was a month ago. I monitored the price weekly and noticed at least 3 price drops within that 5 weeks window before final payment. At the same time, the port fees and tax went up slightly. I called each time I saw a price drop and it got adjusted over the phone while they contact Celebrity. However, the port feesand tax was not changed. So we ended up paying less than the then current price. Nevertheless, the price dropped further after the final payment as there was not much new booking. We could have wait till now to book the same rooms to save another 5-10% on the cruise, while we would have to pay more for the air tickets and hotel rooms for the trip.

[Mabilu]

Thank you all so much!  Since I love planning my travel almost as much as the travel itself, this just gives me something else "fun" to do!  (I know, travel nerd here!!).  

[LuckyStar]

On 2/21/2019 at 9:05 PM, Mabilu said:

Hello!!  I have waited too many years for this, we just booked our first cruise after 27 years of marriage!  Jan. 2020 we embark on Celebrity Edge.  I see many posts that mention booking and then watching for price drops??  I thought booking now was the best time to book, but my naivete may be showing?  Thank you! 

Congratulations!  I book when I see a price that I am happy with.  If I can get price drops, great, if not, I paid what I intended.  However, I go in every month or so and do a mocking booking at the cruise website, using the same pricing structure I originally booked with.  If the price has dropped, I call the cruise company and tell them I see the price has dropped, can I have the lower price?  Many times they have said no, sometimes, they say yes and sometimes when they say yes, I get OBC instead of a price drop.  HTH...

[leaveitallbehind]

On 2/23/2019 at 9:33 AM, Tourist1292 said:

I booked our May 2019 cruise in December 2018 through Costco.......

 

As you are new to Cruise Critic you may not be aware that you are not allowed to mention travel agents by name.  And yes, while also being a large retailer, they are considered a travel agent. (Anyone who can book travel for the cruise lines are considered travel agents). Just so you know for future postings that CC can remove your post for this.

Edited February 25, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[chickychick]

I have a question for this price drop topic. I was planning to go through my bank to make travel arrangements to be able to use my travel pointsand then put in the balance on the credit card to earn more points. So at booking I will have my final payment done. Is there a way around this to be able to track price drops? I appreciate y'alls help as we have not cruised for 33 years. TIA

[MCC retired]

I have a question for this price drop topic. I was planning to go through my bank to make travel arrangements to be able to use my travel pointsand then put in the balance on the credit card to earn more points. So at booking I will have my final payment done. Is there a way around this to be able to track price drops? I appreciate y'alls help as we have not cruised for 33 years. TIA

 

 

You may still adjust your booking to a better deal , for which you qualify , up until the cruise lines Final Payment date even if you paid in full early.

Edited February 26, 2019 by MCC retired

[navybankerteacher]

28 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

...

 

 

You may still adjust your booking to a better deal , for which you qualify , up until the cruise lines Final Payment date even if you paid in full early.

Alternatively, rather than paying in full early, pay all but the amount you might hope to see as a price drop - perhaps 10% or so.

[SRF]

Why pay early?

 

You are just giving the cruise line a 0% interest loan.

 

BTW, the price drop thing is specific to the US market.  Cruisers in other markets may not be able to take advantage of price drops.

[Tourist1292]

I check the current price using the warehouse club website (where I booked my cruise) for the same class of cabin in the same cruise. The price has dropped 3 times within the month I made the initial booking and the final payment due day. Glad that I got the price adjusted each time so I had a lower total cost by the final payment. Although the price has dropped further in the month after final payment and I could not adjust it anymore, I could upgrade the cabin to a higher class with the addition of 2 perks. At the end, it is like booking the higher level cabin at the current price. The upgrade is possible if the new cost is higher. My upgraded room is actually cheaper than the price I have paid for the original cabin, but the addition of 2 perks ($300 OBC and beverage package for 2) makes it $240 more than my original booking without perks. Booking early is fine but one would have to keep checking the price and take action each time for a price drop until final payment deadline. The lower the price you pay by final payment. the more options of upgrade you may get. Also, one may want to book not the highest level you want but leave room for upgrade later on.

Edited March 3, 2019 by Tourist1292

[Mike981]

I'm going on Celebrity Silhouette 1/20 and the prices have gone crazy. I booked a basic balcony about a month ago and got all four perks, if I were to book today 'room only' it would be over 50% more (with no perks). But I'm thinking with the winter were having this year, a lot of people are thinking of getting a break next year.
But who knows, it just supply and demand. There are very few hard rules.

[chickychick]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 8:09 AM, SRF said:

Why pay early?

 

You are just giving the cruise line a 0% interest loan.

 

 

I don't mind paying installments or balance at the end, I just want to be able to pay with my credit card to get the additional travel points.  Wasn't sure if they'd require it w/a Carnival CC or direct from my bank account.  It's all new to me.  Appreciate help:)

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by chickychick
delete cc name.

[chickychick]

I don't mind paying installments or balance at the end, I just want to be able to pay with my Visa card to get the additional travel points.  Wasn't sure if they'd require it w/a Carnival CC or direct from my bank account.  It's all new to me.  Appreciate help:)

On ‎3‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 9:32 PM, Tourist1292 said:

I check the current price using the warehouse club website (where I booked my cruise) for the same class of cabin in the same cruise. The price has dropped 3 times within the month I made the initial booking and the final payment due day. Glad that I got the price adjusted each time so I had a lower total cost by the final payment. Although the price has dropped further in the month after final payment and I could not adjust it anymore, I could upgrade the cabin to a higher class with the addition of 2 perks. At the end, it is like booking the higher level cabin at the current price. The upgrade is possible if the new cost is higher. My upgraded room is actually cheaper than the price I have paid for the original cabin, but the addition of 2 perks ($300 OBC and beverage package for 2) makes it $240 more than my original booking without perks. Booking early is fine but one would have to keep checking the price and take action each time for a price drop until final payment deadline. The lower the price you pay by final payment. the more options of upgrade you may get. Also, one may want to book not the highest level you want but leave room for upgrade later on.

Thx for the response. You take the chance of getting an upgrade to a room/location that'd you like though?  I can be pretty picky looking at the deck layout. So I'm leaning more towards 'choosing my own cabin'.

 

[chickychick]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 2:52 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

 

As you are new to Cruise Critic you may not be aware that you are not allowed to mention travel agents by name.  And yes, while also being a large retailer, they are considered a travel agent. (Anyone who can book travel for the cruise lines are considered travel agents). Just so you know for future postings that CC can remove your post for this.

Thank you so much for this information!

[Tourist1292]

13 minutes ago, chickychick said:

I don't mind paying installments or balance at the end, I just want to be able to pay with my Visa card to get the additional travel points.  Wasn't sure if they'd require it w/a Carnival CC or direct from my bank account.  It's all new to me.  Appreciate help:)

Thx for the response. You take the chance of getting an upgrade to a room/location that'd you like though?  I can be pretty picky looking at the deck layout. So I'm leaning more towards 'choosing my own cabin'.

 

I was not taking a chance. I picked the cabin I like originally, then I choose the cabin for the upgrade a couple months later. They are actually both at exactly the same spot with the extra large balconies in the hump, but just moved 3 floors up. It is not a move up bid but a "paid" upgrade. I don't like the the GTY assignment as we are also picky in location and we want two cabins in specific location.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Tourist1292

[chickychick]

Ok, gotcha.  Looking at the decks, I think I like the Empress ? best. Only cabins above or below.  If I may ask, what is "the hump" and what is GTY.  (I've got to get my terminology down, lol.

[Tourist1292]

12 minutes ago, chickychick said:

Ok, gotcha.  Looking at the decks, I think I like the Empress ? best. Only cabins above or below.  If I may ask, what is "the hump" and what is GTY.  (I've got to get my terminology down, lol.

Sorry that I did not realize this thread is not under Celebrity subforum as I just click on the notification to read responses. The humps are the areas of the ship slightly protruding out on Celebrity S-class ship. At the ends of the hump, the front end of the balcony would be in a slant configuration leading to a larger area in the balcony. GTY means cabin class guaranty that are available at lower price but you cannot pick your room.