Price Jump! And is booking onboard better?

[Chewbecca]

I know, I know, we shouldn’t have waited.

Got a price for a Jul 2020 cruise on Amsterdam which we were happy with. Took a while to book the time off work, finally agreed today. Price has gone up £2k and perks gone!

 

Please give me hope that they will go down again?!

 

We are sailing on Maasdam next month and also wondered if we might get a better price booking on board but am never quite sure if this is the case or not - does anyone know?

[DaveOKC]

27 minutes ago, Chewbecca said:

I know, I know, we shouldn’t have waited.

Got a price for a Jul 2020 cruise on Amsterdam which we were happy with. Took a while to book the time off work, finally agreed today. Price has gone up £2k and perks gone!

 

Please give me hope that they will go down again?!

 

We are sailing on Maasdam next month and also wondered if we might get a better price booking on board but am never quite sure if this is the case or not - does anyone know?

I have checked a couple of times in the past and the fares were the same as I saw on the HAL website.  However, you do get some nice OBC for booking onboard.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have also checked prices on board the ship for future cruises -- no special prices.  Just the perk of getting extra shipboard credit.

[Mary229]

I like the refundable deposits with shipboard bookings and the deposit is transferable to another cruise if you change your mind.  And yes you get the credit 

[VennDiagram]

3 hours ago, Chewbecca said:

We are sailing on Maasdam next month and also wondered if we might get a better price booking on board but am never quite sure if this is the case or not - does anyone know?

 

Since you are from the UK, are you able to re-price if you book onboard, if the price drops?  Or are you locked in to the price you sign up for, once you've put down a deposit?

[Chewbecca]

Thanks all.

 

No, in the UK, we are locked into the price at the time of booking so tracking prices is key! Only option after that time is to totally cancel, lose your deposit and start all over again.

 

OBC is appreciated we will be up for booking on board if the price improves.

[DaveOKC]

4 hours ago, Chewbecca said:

Thanks all.

 

No, in the UK, we are locked into the price at the time of booking so tracking prices is key! Only option after that time is to totally cancel, lose your deposit and start all over again.

 

OBC is appreciated we will be up for booking on board if the price improves.

Since you cannot easily cancel, I would not book onboard but rather purchase the Future Cruise Deposit (FCD) and book within 60 days using the code ZPM - which both together would provide you with exactly the same OBC credit amount as booking onboard.

 

Plus, that way you have the time to fully research the new cruise from the comfort of home and not be rushed.  You could even use this CC board (HAL) to ask others about what prices they are seeing/have experienced on your itinerary.

 

[grayjay]

Are you absolutely sure you can't cancel without losing your deposit when you book on board? We usually suffer the same problems in our country due to European laws, but Holland America offers free cancellations IF BOOKED ON BOARD. We had that in writing when we booked on board and it was honoured without problems when we had to cancel one of the two and to re-book the other because  of health reasons. The two future cruise credits we had to buy on board to cover the deposit were not lost. We had given the cruises to our travel agency, too, and that was no problem, either.