Price Drop?

[CruisingNole]

This is a sign of NCL low demand. Other cruise lines get more expensive as the sail dates near as they are in demand...NCL fights for the scraps.

[Notnewtoit]

17 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

It's  the final payment date that matters,   NOT when you paid.   You were prior to final payment? 

 You also could have simply canceled and rebooked,   resulting  in the SAME outcome.   There are thousands of  Platinums/++,   I highly doubt any of that matters.   Although some seem to think it should.   I happen to not.    🙂   

As I wrote in my post, it was pre-final payment and I am fully aware what that means and the concept of re-booking. WRT loyalty... maybe you are right regarding NCL, maybe not; but it matters greatly to the better airlines for example, that is an immutable fact.

[Notnewtoit]

10 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

This is a sign of NCL low demand. Other cruise lines get more expensive as the sail dates near as they are in demand...NCL fights for the scraps.

Simply not true, I have also been on NCL cruises where the prices ratcheted up all the way to the sail date. Supply and demand and applies to all.

[yoedba]

Just wanted to share that my fare for my upcoming may 5th cruise had a $2000 price drop(33%)!!!!

Ended up upgrading my room otherwise I would be out $2000....

[Sharon1927]

4 hours ago, yoedba said:

Just wanted to share that my fare for my upcoming may 5th cruise had a $2000 price drop(33%)!!!!

Ended up upgrading my room otherwise I would be out $2000....

What ship was it ?

 

[lovemycruisetoo]

My upcoming TA had a price drop of $450 pp after final payment.  I just texted my PCC about the price drop and next morning he texted me that I got a $225 OBC. I didn’t need an upgrade as we are in a mini suite already and like to choose my own suite location. 

[yoedba]

6 hours ago, Sharon1927 said:

What ship was it ?

 

Norwegian Jewel, May 5th repositioning cruise comming up soon!

[yoedba]

1 hour ago, lovemycruisetoo said:

My upcoming TA had a price drop of $450 pp after final payment.  I just texted my PCC about the price drop and next morning he texted me that I got a $225 OBC. I didn’t need an upgrade as we are in a mini suite already and like to choose my own suite location. 

What percent did the OBC represent of the price drop? 

I was after final payment and the price kept dropping and dropping. I ended up feeling obligated to upgrade so I didn't feel screwed out of $2000.  The cruise is this upcoming May!

Wonder how full the ship will be.

[Budget Queen]

3 hours ago, yoedba said:

What percent did the OBC represent of the price drop? 

I was after final payment and the price kept dropping and dropping. I ended up feeling obligated to upgrade so I didn't feel screwed out of $2000.  The cruise is this upcoming May!

Wonder how full the ship will be.

Perhaps,  stop checking.    In the past,   this repo cruise,   last minute has been give away,   so I expect it to dump further.   Likely will go down to a single rate (what I try to grab),  which is ideal.  :)   

[yoedba]

4 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Perhaps,  stop checking.    In the past,   this repo cruise,   last minute has been give away,   so I expect it to dump further.   Likely will go down to a single rate (what I try to grab),  which is ideal.  🙂  

What do you mean by give away? We are two adults and two children so we opted for the two bedroom suit. Only one of those left so I can't imagine the price going down by more than $200-300.

We have a whole trip planned around this cruise before and after, thus couldn't wait to book late.

Ended up splurging on the cabin  Hope it's worth it.

[lovemycruisetoo]

25% of the $900.00 price drop. 

[fshagan]

18 hours ago, yoedba said:

Just wanted to share that my fare for my upcoming may 5th cruise had a $2000 price drop(33%)!!!!

Ended up upgrading my room otherwise I would be out $2000....

 

Ever buy a new car that depreciates almost 30% the instant you drive it off the lot? Or airplane seats when you know half the passengers paid a different price?

We all want the best deal, but if you're buying something and anxious about possible price drops later, you are not a good candidate for buying things in flexible pricing markets. If the original price was not a good trade of your money for the cabin you wanted then you should not have bought it. But it was deemed a good deal at the time, and you got first choice of the cabin type and location instead of "gleaning the fields" when the price drops. You are getting spun up over nothing; you can still get into heaven if you pay more than someone else, your children won't be cursed with genetic diseases, and Yellowstone won't finally blow and take out half the country (well, that could still happen).

You aren't out any money if the price drops. Either do a better job of evaluating the original offer, or learn to trust your decisions with your extra money you spend on vacations.

[CruzinKristin]

The saga continues... My cruise is now $2500 cheaper so I called NCL again; after being on hold for 30 minutes NCL refuses to offer me any additional compensation.  If I cancel and rebook, it will be a 25% fee, so basically I won't gain anything.

 

I'm thinking this will be my 1st and only time sailing NCL.  I don't like seeing these significant price drops after final payment date.

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, CruzinKristin said:

The saga continues... My cruise is now $2500 cheaper so I called NCL again; after being on hold for 30 minutes NCL refuses to offer me any additional compensation.  If I cancel and rebook, it will be a 25% fee, so basically I won't gain anything.

 

I'm thinking this will be my 1st and only time sailing NCL.  I don't like seeing these significant price drops after final payment date.

My experience with cruising says it can go either way.  Enjoy the cruise.

[Katwoman007]

After final payment, they know who is serious and want to fill the rest of the boat. 

I noticed our cruise rate dropped and I called and got the difference taken off $500. They said I can keep adjusting my rate up till final payment. Our rate dropped again, but I would lose one of the free perks so for now, I feel great about the rate. As for another cruise line I am on in May, we have had our final payment due and rooms are dropping, but I figured that would be the case and I would need to be happy with the rate we ended up with. 

[luv2kroooz]

9 hours ago, CruzinKristin said:

The saga continues... My cruise is now $2500 cheaper so I called NCL again; after being on hold for 30 minutes NCL refuses to offer me any additional compensation.  If I cancel and rebook, it will be a 25% fee, so basically I won't gain anything.

 

I'm thinking this will be my 1st and only time sailing NCL.  I don't like seeing these significant price drops after final payment date.

Ouch. I am sorry to hear about this. With NCL, you have to be very careful about booking too early. They regularly set their prices way in excess of market rates early on. As you are seeing, they eventually adjust them back to market rates after some people have paid ridiculously high prices. I would consider it an expensive lesson learned and next time, make sure you use this cruise pricing as a basis for your future decisions. By the way, you will find the price fluctuations on all cruise lines, but NCL is very extreme with the very high pricing early on and then the cabin dumping 2 days before sailing after upgrade advantage bids are completed. As more and more consumers get burned by their high prices, I predict early bookings will decline and they will be forced to adjust prices earlier. Their pricing schemes could also cause them to lose repeat business due to people feeling like they've been ripped off. 

[yoedba]

9 hours ago, CruzinKristin said:

The saga continues... My cruise is now $2500 cheaper so I called NCL again; after being on hold for 30 minutes NCL refuses to offer me any additional compensation.  If I cancel and rebook, it will be a 25% fee, so basically I won't gain anything.

 

I'm thinking this will be my 1st and only time sailing NCL.  I don't like seeing these significant price drops after final payment date.

Which cruise are you going on? My cruise had a price drop of $2200, the most I ended getting back from NCL was a measly $150 obc. Not worth it!!.

I called them and my TA at least 5 times. I ended up paying $1000 more to upgrade to a better cabin. My cruise is in May, I hope I will enjoy the cruise and the upgraded room rather than feeling pissed off about getting robbed $2200...

[Notnewtoit]

1 hour ago, blcruising said:

Ouch. I am sorry to hear about this. With NCL, you have to be very careful about booking too early. They regularly set their prices way in excess of market rates early on. As you are seeing, they eventually adjust them back to market rates after some people have paid ridiculously high prices. I would consider it an expensive lesson learned and next time, make sure you use this cruise pricing as a basis for your future decisions. By the way, you will find the price fluctuations on all cruise lines, but NCL is very extreme with the very high pricing early on and then the cabin dumping 2 days before sailing after upgrade advantage bids are completed. As more and more consumers get burned by their high prices, I predict early bookings will decline and they will be forced to adjust prices earlier. Their pricing schemes could also cause them to lose repeat business due to people feeling like they've been ripped off. 

While I agree they do price high early on, if the price drops pre-final payment they will and do fully refund the difference if you take the simple step of asking nicely. AFTER final payment... they have your money... that's called a contract, but they will and do sweeten the sour of a further price drop with OBC et-al. They are a business with shareholders and they want to fill cabins, just like airlines fill seats; not an unusual behavior really. If a traveler desires a specific cabin then booking early is the best way to secure it, then ride the price down if it goes down or laugh all the way to the bank if it goes up; I've done both as have many here. Final payment is a date that should trigger a deep breath and a different mindset. 

[luv2kroooz]

I agree with most of what you wrote:

 

Couple points.

 

Prior to final payment, they have no choice but to honor the price reduction. Otherwise, you could just cancel and rebook. I think you could yell at them or ask nicely and get the same result. In this case, their business practice was to hold prices artificially high with hopes of selling the cabins prior to final payment date, and dropped them once that date passed. Each person can decide if that is a good business practice or a bad business practice.

 

OP is past final payment and is not getting any sweetener (nor are they entitled to any, by the way), so different passengers seem to get different results. This is an expensive lesson learned for OP.

 

I don't book cruises before final payment, so my final payment is made on the day of booking. 

 

At the end of the day, all I am saying is that if the terms of their contract create situations that cause enough unhappy customers, they are likely to lose that future business, which could also  impact profitability and shareholders  in the long run . Every business manages profitability against customer satisfaction - some moreso than others. Again, not arguing the terms of the contract because it is what it is. The cruise industry has one of the most anti-consumer contracts on the planet. I am simply saying if customers end up feeling ripped off, they are unlikely to patronize the business that caused them to feel that way. Oh, and they'll probably tell 100 other people the way they feel.

Edited March 14, 2019 by blcruising

[Notnewtoit]

49 minutes ago, blcruising said:

I agree with most of what you wrote:

 

Couple points.

 

Prior to final payment, they have no choice but to honor the price reduction. Otherwise, you could just cancel and rebook. I think you could yell at them or ask nicely and get the same result. In this case, their business practice was to hold prices artificially high with hopes of selling the cabins prior to final payment date, and dropped them once that date passed. Each person can decide if that is a good business practice or a bad business practice.

 

OP is past final payment and is not getting any sweetener (nor are they entitled to any, by the way), so different passengers seem to get different results. This is an expensive lesson learned for OP.

 

I don't book cruises before final payment, so my final payment is made on the day of booking. 

 

At the end of the day, all I am saying is that if the terms of their contract create situations that cause enough unhappy customers, they are likely to lose that future business, which could also  impact profitability and shareholders  in the long run . Every business manages profitability against customer satisfaction - some moreso than others. Again, not arguing the terms of the contract because it is what it is. The cruise industry has one of the most anti-consumer contracts on the planet. I am simply saying if customers end up feeling ripped off, they are unlikely to patronize the business that caused them to feel that way. Oh, and they'll probably tell 100 other people the way they feel.

Hmmm, OK, but it seems that the end-game you seek is that they make their first offer price low, stay low and never drop, particularly after final payment. That's not realistic. 

 

The variation in what people get offered after final payment is distressing but also not surprising... supply and demand. I recently sailed on a 14 day Christmas cruise in the Haven. They could and did sell those cabins for twice what I paid at time of booking and had no incentive to be charitable, I imagine they relished cancellations, the ship was full.

 

NCL demand prices, so does Southwest, so does Apple, so does Uber; it's a business model. They likely do lose some customers as you say, but likely they also gain a bunch when they price-drop. To knock them for just playing the game of business is harsh. Considering Southwest, they price low and ratchet up based upon demand; when the 'up' begins is an algorithm of load factor, forecasting, competition and date... but it's gonna happen and is generally a one-way street. Is that better or worse? Seems like it would suit me, but not you? There isn't a one-size fits all; NCL has done math and found a fit that works for 'most' of the people most of the time and maximizes EPS I propose.

 

Interestingly, Virgin has adopted a different business model in some ways, different strokes for different folks.

 

Not really arguing over how you or I, or OP feel, more highlighting a common business strategy. If they see load factors drop and market research points to post booking price-drops as the culprit, they'll tweak the algorithm I'm sure. I'll hypothesize that 90% of people don't monitor the price after they book, so NCL is doing the right thing by their shareholders. I don't monitor airline seat prices because it would drive me nuts!

 

You're 100% right about the asking nicely vs. rebook point and they know that. One simple advantage of the asking nicely approach and not burning down the house is that your booking stays intact and carries shore excursions et-al with it to the lower revised price; a convenience but nothing more.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Notnewtoit

[luv2kroooz]

Yeah, this isn't about me, though. Truth be told, I have been the beneficiary and recipient of bare bones, last minute pricing due to NCLs high pricing well in advance. They can't fill ships at these prices, so regularly dump cabins. I've spent 2 months on NCL ships in 2018 because of it and because I regularly monitor prices. I also have the benefit of being able to travel last minute. I've sailed from Tampa, NYC, Miami, England. No I don't live next to a port either. 

 

Most people work hard for their time off and vacation. I hate to see people feel ripped off. Really, nothing more nothing less.

 

My observation is that many cruise lines price low out front when supply is higher and ratchet up prices as sailing time approaches and supply shrinks. Southwest does that, too. That is the traditional supply and demand of which you write. NCL prices real high out in advance when there is lots of supply and then regularly discounts as sailing approaches when there is lower supply. If they are dropping prices by $2,500, I would submit to you that is poor inventory management or setting prices without regard to supply and demand. After all, there is a higher supply of cabins in advance of sailing so traditional theory indicates prices would be lower. This is what you typically see in hotels, airlines cruise lines, Uber, etc.

[Budget Queen]

Good grief.   Really you think you are robbed?    Sorry no.    YOU paid the fare willingly.    Why didn’t you WAIT to book????     Since you nor anyone else can predict the future. How do you think you will avoid this happening again??    

 

IF you want those fire sale rates then you will have to change your traveling.    Must be flexible. Can’t be picky about a cabin and be totally accepting of NOT going.   I play the game every month.  I can confirm very people can/will do this.    

[Notnewtoit]

31 minutes ago, blcruising said:

Yeah, this isn't about me, though. Truth be told, I have been the beneficiary and recipient of bare bones, last minute pricing due to NCLs high pricing well in advance. They can't fill ships at these prices, so regularly dump cabins. I've spent 2 months on NCL ships in 2018 because of it and because I regularly monitor prices. I also have the benefit of being able to travel last minute. I've sailed from Tampa, NYC, Miami, England. No I don't live next to a port either. 

 

Most people work hard for their time off and vacation. I hate to see people feel ripped off. Really, nothing more nothing less.

 

My observation is that many cruise lines price low out front when supply is higher and ratchet up prices as sailing time approaches and supply shrinks. Southwest does that, too. That is the traditional supply and demand of which you write. NCL prices real high out in advance when there is lots of supply and then regularly discounts as sailing approaches when there is lower supply. If they are dropping prices by $2,500, I would submit to you that is poor inventory management or setting prices without regard to supply and demand. After all, there is a higher supply of cabins in advance of sailing so traditional theory indicates prices would be lower. This is what you typically see in hotels, airlines cruise lines, Uber, etc.

In theory I agree 100% but I do also suspect that 90% of people who book early never check price again (CC is not the mass-market) so NCL makes good coin early, then adjusts down (and often back up again) to fill the ship the same as everyone else... so in reality suspect that they are playing both ends of the same game pretty well. 

 

Are they ripping* early bookers off... yup. Are they ripping late bookers on high demand cruises/cabin off... yup. Hard to find the sweet-spot but it's somewhere in the middle there... albeit a moving target.

 

*in the eye of the beholder.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Notnewtoit

[spanishguy1970]

14 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Good grief.   Really you think you are robbed?    Sorry no.    YOU paid the fare willingly.    Why didn’t you WAIT to book????     Since you nor anyone else can predict the future. How do you think you will avoid this happening again??    

 

IF you want those fire sale rates then you will have to change your traveling.    Must be flexible. Can’t be picky about a cabin and be totally accepting of NOT going.   I play the game every month.  I can confirm very people can/will do this.    

good grief, not everyone can be flexible, school year, work, adjust to children vacation etc. That said,you can't answer OP threads without trying to understand where they are coming from, being an NCL apologist is not the way. Yes, you seem to play the game every month and once again this falls under the category that is YOUR experience, your way of booking and not everyone can do that, once again not everyone can be flexible. People expect fair pricing and quite frankly NCL  pricing is far from fair. Yes, is about demand but they need to start being more flexible if they care to keep customers. 

[Notnewtoit]

5 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

good grief, not everyone can be flexible, school year, work, adjust to children vacation etc. That said,you can't answer OP threads without trying to understand where they are coming from, being an NCL apologist is not the way. Yes, you seem to play the game every month and once again this falls under the category that is YOUR experience, your way of booking and not everyone can do that, once again not everyone can be flexible. People expect fair pricing and quite frankly NCL  pricing is far from fair. Yes, is about demand but they need to start being more flexible if they care to keep customers. 

Agree 100% on flexibility. 'Fair' is subjective however...