Panama Canal- Do price drops happen?

[gordylad]

panama canal cruises seem very expensive so wondering if its best to wait until after payment date or do they never drop in price?

 

cheers

[blackshirt]

No one can predict that. Panama Canal itineraries are very popular, there may not even be anything available after final payment, much less price drops. However, who can say. With so many cruisers cancelling due to the Corona virus, even Panama bargains may be had.

[jelayne]

Our Panama Canal  cruise for next year is sold out in except for Oceanview and Inside.  We booked when it was first released and last time AQ was available it was priced 35% higher with 1 perk than we paid with 3 perks and OBC from the TA.  
There will no doubt be some cabins open up around final payment but I doubt they will be bargains.

Edited March 1, 2020 by jelayne

[Jim_Iain]

One can never tell what prices will do.   It is important to keep in mind that the cruise line needs to pass on the huge cost of passage through the can back to the passengers.    The last I recall the cost of a cruise ship is approximately $450,000 so divide by the number of passengers might help understand the higher prices.

 

I think I might book and keep an eye on prices and see if they fall.   If a U.S. reservation you can always cancel up until final payment date.

[Northern Aurora]

Through the years we have done six full transits.  Our experience has been that we booked when the itinerary was just released, and the prices never went down -- just up, up and up.  Most folks find canal transits really interesting, and it is a nice combination of sea days and ports.  

[az_tchr]

17 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

One can never tell what prices will do.   It is important to keep in mind that the cruise line needs to pass on the huge cost of passage through the can back to the passengers.    The last I recall the cost of a cruise ship is approximately $450,000 so divide by the number of passengers might help understand the higher prices.

 

I think I might book and keep an eye on prices and see if they fall.   If a U.S. reservation you can always cancel up until final payment date.

Good idea. In a normal year there is more demand than supply. This year Corona might cause reductions.

[BEAV]

19 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It is important to keep in mind that the cruise line needs to pass on the huge cost of passage through the can back to the passengers.    The last I recall the cost of a cruise ship is approximately $450,000 so divide by the number of passengers might help understand the higher prices.

 

 

 

Exactly. The Gov’t taxes/fees on a Panama Canal cruise are much higher than others. I saw a HAL 15 day Panama Canal Cruise recently advertised starting at $599, however the taxes/fees were high $300’s additional. Compare that with a 15 day round trip West Coast-Hawaii cruise where the taxes/fees are just slightly over $100. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by BEAV

[bebe08]

We are booked on our first full transit for Oct 2020....we booked this over a year ago.  For the first time ever we booked an oceanview instead of a veranda due to the big difference in price.  I have been watching prices closely hoping for a price drop so I can upgrade to veranda.  Prices have continued to go up and are now more than double the price we booked at.  Maybe we will get lucky with a move up offer.  Either way we are very excited to be going 🙂  

[Baron Barracuda]

When we did pc a couple of years back on Infinity we booked over a year ahead and smiled as prices nearly doubled.  After fp date however quite a few cabins opened up and by sailing price had dropped below what we paid.  This may not be typical but it does happen.

[Cachecara]

3 hours ago, bebe08 said:

We are booked on our first full transit for Oct 2020....we booked this over a year ago.  For the first time ever we booked an oceanview instead of a veranda due to the big difference in price.  I have been watching prices closely hoping for a price drop so I can upgrade to veranda.  Prices have continued to go up and are now more than double the price we booked at.  Maybe we will get lucky with a move up offer.  Either way we are very excited to be going 🙂  

Same with us. We plan on being on that cruise. We booked it like 15 months out. Our veranda stateroom has more than doubled in price, this includes trip insurance and perks.  Verandas have been gone a long time, but I expect some cancellations as time gets closer. 

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, bebe08 said:

We are booked on our first full transit for Oct 2020....we booked this over a year ago.  For the first time ever we booked an oceanview instead of a veranda due to the big difference in price.  I have been watching prices closely hoping for a price drop so I can upgrade to veranda.  Prices have continued to go up and are now more than double the price we booked at.  Maybe we will get lucky with a move up offer.  Either way we are very excited to be going 🙂  

I think you made a good choice.   I think you might see some price reductions after final payment date and you could always upgrade ---- or bid for an upgrade.

 

[Mr. Click]

We booked the Sept 2021 from LA to FLL the day bookings opened because in past years we had looked at full transits a year out and could not even find a cabin.  The nice thing about Celebrity is I can track the price and if it goes down, I can get the new rate, if it goes down after final payment I have been able to upgrade our cabin in the past.  Based on the past, I don't see the price going down.

[Airrace]

We have a cruise booked in February of 2022 and it originally went down a month later ($1,000.00 ) since we booked it on board the Summit in January of this year. Two weeks ago it went up $1,000.00 and just today it went up another $1,000.00. I got my $1,000.00 credited back on my credit card. So it is now up $2,000.00 more than I originally paid back in January. I doubt it will go down past what I paid in January of 2020.

 

we are booked in a sky suite

[Cachecara]

Bebe08 the site indicates verandas are available now, if you are still interested.  

[bebe08]

1 hour ago, Cachecara said:

Bebe08 the site indicates verandas are available now, if you are still interested.  

Yes thanks but unfortunately waaay too expensive.  We paid approx $2700 CDN for our oceanview.  Oceanview is now 5700 and veranda 9100 😲  Will keep watching tho!!

[Mango Tango]

We booked our Nov. 2020 Panama Canal full transit over a year ago.  We paid $6400 total for a veranda with free drink pkg for two and pre paid gratuities.  At the highest price for the same category, it was over $13,000!  😲 I knew it was a great price when we booked!

[Lbytwerk]

Yes, we booked last minute, paid $800 ea. ocean view, for 14 days!  
We had no benefits. however we don’t care. 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Lbytwerk

[Cachecara]

On 3/3/2020 at 10:24 PM, Mango Tango said:

We booked our Nov. 2020 Panama Canal full transit over a year ago.  We paid $6400 total for a veranda with free drink pkg for two and pre paid gratuities.  At the highest price for the same category, it was over $13,000!  😲 I knew it was a great price when we booked!

This must have bee the exact same promo we grabbed, too.  Same type room and same perks. 

[cle-guy]

I did B2B panama canal last fall in Infinity.  Booked last minute.  Got a Sky suite solo for the 1st 15 night cruise for $3999 with all perks.

The ocean view the  other 15 night leg was $849 pp, but no perks.

 

I booked about 5-6 weeks out.

 

[gordylad]

Just to mention the UK cost for the 2021 Panama Canal cruises are less than current US prices....


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