Where are the Coronavirus discounts?

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

Not trying to make light of this situation, but am curious. I’ve heard many stories of the impact the Coronavirus has had or will have on travel especially cruising and flying. I would think this would result in lower fares. But, I’m not seeing this. We have an upcoming seven-day Caribbean cruise on Princess at the end of May and a twelve-day Mediterranean cruise on HAL in September. The prices currently advertised for both cruises are higher than what we already have. We also have business class airfare through Flight Ease on the HAL cruise. Current airfare is $400 more per person than we already have. Maybe our cruises are the exception. Are others out there seeing lower prices since all the talk about the Coronavirus? I’m posting this on the Princess and HAL boards. 

[sansterre]

I also thought our HAL Circle Hawaii cruise that leaves this Sunday might be discounted due to some cancellations and people who are not permitted on the ship due to coming from or through China, Hong Kong, Japan, etc.

Our TA reports that there is no discount, no other messages.  Cruise goes as scheduled.

 

[sealuber]

My is at the end of March and all I've seen is my airfare go up. No discounts to be seen. I am really hoping that were able to Port as I'm taking a 10-day cruise on the Rotterdam.

[ger_77]

1 minute ago, sealuber said:

My is at the end of March and all I've seen is my airfare go up. No discounts to be seen. I am really hoping that were able to Port as I'm taking a 10-day cruise on the Rotterdam.

What is your itinerary?

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Taters]

As far as flights go, the airlines are scaling back on flights as demand lowers. 

 

I'm not sure what is happening with cruise fares.

[Dunelm]

When cruise lines and airlines and travel agents are losing money, do you really think there will be discounts?  I don't know.  It must be a dilemma or nightmare for any industry, not forgetting the people who end up with the virus.

[MISTER 67]

We are paid in full for a cruise on March 29 and got a great rate but was before the virus hit. We have a cruise on Celebrity Equinox in early August with a decent rate with 300 dollars of OBC, checked yesterday and the price for our cabin category is 300 dollars more than what we booked.

[MISTER 67]

1 minute ago, Dunelm said:

When cruise lines and airlines and travel agents are losing money, do you really think there will be discounts?  I don't know.  It must be a dilemma or nightmare for any industry, not forgetting the people who end up with the virus.

The law of supply and demand would have to kick in at some point.

[Dunelm]

2 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

The law of supply and demand would have to kick in at some point.

One would think so, but perhaps companies would decrease their workforce.  Too often, the motto is "profit over people."

[sealuber]

17 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

What is your itinerary?

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

March 27th to April 6th out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Rotterdam.

Puerto Rico, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos and Curacao. Hoping that we are able to dock.  This is my first time on HAL so not really sure what to expect.

[GRACECRUISE]

We are on the same 10 Rotterdam.  Thankful we are driving to Florida and can avoid the airport madness.  Looking forward to the cruise.  Being cautious and packing extra medicine.  

 

[crystalspin]

Three people (so far and that have shared the experience) (including myself) on my very active Roll Call have received and taken reasonable upsell offers on our 28-day So.Pacific sailing on March 21. However they may have been "just regular" paid upgrade offers, as one's TA was told there were NO cancellations! (Kinda hard to believe, but that is the story.)

 

I looked into the All-Inclusive Europe promo for 2021, and it was not enticing at all, with a price of $2000 for a value of $2300 that entailed letting HAL book your flights with max value of $800. IOW, if you could find your own air for $500 you'd be even. AND the full fare was to be paid over 15 months out!  

[panoramaofthepast]

I don't know if it's coronavirus related, but we got a 2 step increase [veranda -> signature suite -> Neptune suite] for $299/person, so we took it! 

[FlaMariner]

I agree...I'm not seeing price drops on our two cruises booked (April to Montreal and August in Alaska). 

 

I'm also not seeing any "deals" on much of anything with HAL as I would expect.  With the fake news, it sounds like we are all running scared and hiding in our basements....but perhaps not.

 

We were thinking this is a great time to get out there....but surprised that the prices seem to be holding.......

[cruisegirl]

7 hours ago, sealuber said:

My is at the end of March and all I've seen is my airfare go up. No discounts to be seen. I am really hoping that were able to Port as I'm taking a 10-day cruise on the Rotterdam.

We must be on the same cruise. Rotterdam out of Ft. Lauderdale on March 27. I was surprised there’s no roll call for that cruise. Am looking forward to a great cruise.  

[cruisemom42]

Give it time. 

 

The cruise lines are still struggling to come to grips with this. If they think it is merely a short-term problem, I doubt you'll see significant price drops. However, if it looks likely to spread and persist to the point where folks not only cancel existing trips but stop booking new ones, we may see some deals ahead.

[darwinsrule]

9 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Give it time. 

 

The cruise lines are still struggling to come to grips with this. If they think it is merely a short-term problem, I doubt you'll see significant price drops. However, if it looks likely to spread and persist to the point where folks not only cancel existing trips but stop booking new ones, we may see some deals ahead.

 

Exactly this.  The world is so early in things that the full extent of the impact is still to come.  Remember that it isn't just the immediate impact which is what they are trying to wrap their heads around, but the larger economy wide impact.  If the talking heads are right, this is going to have a meaningful impact on the global economy.  Stock market declines this week are one example, greater risk is for a global recession which would drive up unemployment and reduce demand further than the travel related impacts of the virus.  The February and March economic numbers should be interesting to say the least. 

 

Final payment for our Alaska trip isn't until the end of May but the deal we got is such that I am not really expecting any kind of further deal on it (CAD at par, KSF,  +++).  Haven't bought airfare yet and I expect that will come down as the impacts of all this work through the system. 

[RocketMan275]

The news always like a 'crisis' to flog in order to get people to watch.  So far, it looks like this virus is just the latest 'crisis'.  

Down here in the south, it's tornados.  If there is a storm cloud within 50 miles, the local weather man is all over it, preempting regularly scheduled programs to show us the latest radar images while he speculates on whether there is a 'hook echo' or not.

[Queen of DaNile]

12 hours ago, panoramaofthepast said:

I don't know if it's coronavirus related, but we got a 2 step increase [veranda -> signature suite -> Neptune suite] for $299/person, so we took it! 

Now that's the kind of deal I'm looking for for our April cruise. Our TA says there is lots of availability so we're hoping they will want to fill the higher level cabins.

[doublebzz]

Cruise lines are probably not going to reduce fares until final payment for that particular cruise is due.  Then, if they receive many cancellations, its a pretty good bet prices will drop so they can fill their ships.

[deliver42]

I haven't seen price decreases on any line. Some are offering perks, but raised prices to include them.

[VMax1700]

I am currently watching two cruises departing on May 10th.  One is to the Baltic and although Veranda cabin prices have dropped by 300 euro pp, all other categories have increased.  The other cruise is Adriatic from Venice and prices for this have increased in the last few days! 🙄

[dogs4fun]

I have seen some huge price decreases! I believe the decreases depend on when, where, and on which cruise line you are traveling. A few examples:

14 day Baltic cruise departing Southampton May 15 - NCL Escape $494 per person (inside cabin) - unbelievable price!

14 day TA departing Fort Lauderdale (to Southampton) April 17 - X Silhouette $599 (inside cabin)

15 day TA departing New York (to Rome) April 23 - NCL Getaway $349 (inside cabin) - again, unbelievable.

HAL discounts? Have not found any.

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by dogs4fun

[KmomChicago]

As others have noted, it's not every sailing and every line with discounts; however if you look at an online cruise broker and do not filter out any results, then sort by price, there are some very low fares in the short run.  Carnival has some rock bottom pricing on some of their short cruises on their older ships, even with the March spring break season upon us.  Norwegian and MSC do as well.  They are not going to discount very far out yet, in hopes that the crisis will pass and they can maintain current fare structures, but in the near term they want to at least fill up the ships to cover costs and get gratuities in for their crew.

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

They are not going to discount very far out yet, in hopes that the crisis will pass and they can maintain current fare structures, but in the near term they want to at least fill up the ships to cover costs and get gratuities in for their crew.

My thoughts as well.