Keeping Prices High to Use Up FCC

[smogfarmgirl]

So we are still leaning toward taking our 5 night Caribbean cruise in a couple weeks. If it gets cancelled that’s one thing, of course, but we are young and healthy. 
 

Here’s my complaint with X....we got a great deal on this cruise. $1950 total for Aquaclass and 3 perks. Looking through their site, prices are soooo high! For us to get anything close to what we have now would cost us an extra $1500 or so, which just can’t happen. Will they hold prices high to make it so people like us will end up with a junky room and no perks, but have to spend the money with X anyway??

 

Doesn't seem fair. 

[OuiOnboard]

You don't really think a cruise company would do that do you?

[smogfarmgirl]

20 minutes ago, OuiOnboard said:

You don't really think a cruise company would do that do you?

Uhh, kinda. That’s why I asked. Underhanded, but from a fiscal perspective would make sense. And probably pretty hard to prove for a class action. It’s definitely crossed the minds of the powers that be. 
 

I don’t have much experience with the cruise industry, though. This is our first cruise. That’s why I asked. 

[omeinv]

1 hour ago, smogfarmgirl said:

So we are still leaning toward taking our 5 night Caribbean cruise in a couple weeks. If it gets cancelled that’s one thing, of course, but we are young and healthy. 
 

Here’s my complaint with X....we got a great deal on this cruise. $1950 total for Aquaclass and 3 perks. Looking through their site, prices are soooo high! For us to get anything close to what we have now would cost us an extra $1500 or so, which just can’t happen. Will they hold prices high to make it so people like us will end up with a junky room and no perks, but have to spend the money with X anyway??

 

Doesn't seem fair. 

FAIR?!?!?

 

Fair would be if they held everyone to the contract that was entered into initially, and didn't offer the option to cancel for a future cruise. 

 

You don't have to apply the credit to a booking right away.  Cancel, and wait.  If your belief that prices are too high is correct then, when you're proven right, apply the credit to the cruise at the price you want.  If you're wrong, and prices stay the same or go higher...

 

Well, that's likely not "fair" either.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[Denny01]

An additional $1,500? For a 5N cruise even in a AQ???? I just glanced over at the 5N cruises and None (None!) of them are above $1,500 AQ. Look again. There was one for $899.......I guess that’s ‘fair’. 

 

Den

[GastroGnome]

There is significant mystery to cruise ship pricing.  If you take your time and do your research you can get prices signfiicantly lower.  There will be a drive to recoup costs - your FCC is useless if RCCL closes and this season is going to be exponentially expensive to the industry.  But with a bit of research and some canny re-pricing you can get decent prices.   Its free market economics - things are worth what folk will pay for them.  If they do pay then that is the price. If lots of them pay (or in this sceanrio book...) the price goes up.  If they don't then prices will fall.

[smogfarmgirl]

2 hours ago, Denny01 said:

An additional $1,500? For a 5N cruise even in a AQ???? I just glanced over at the 5N cruises and None (None!) of them are above $1,500 AQ. Look again. There was one for $899.......I guess that’s ‘fair’. 

 

Den

I was referring to total price for the cruise for hubby and I, plus purchasing the third perk...the $1950 we paid was total for both, so the extra $1500 was as well. So an extra $750 each once you add in the perk. I did “look again”, but thanks.  
 

Edited...So this is weird... I looked again-again just now, and there are no 5 night cruises at all between now and October from Miami anymore. Weird!

Edited March 9, 2020 by smogfarmgirl

[tallnthensome]

Yes, the lines will want to recoup any losses they may have. They know that people will have FCC and need to use that FCC. They will raise prices to recover leaving no choice to those guests to use it or lose it even with the price hikes to come. 

[ipeeinthepool]

From a business case perspective, the only reason to lower the price is to get more people on the cruise ship.  At this point, a price drop isn't really going to entice most people to purchase a cruise.

[meechee341]

6 hours ago, smogfarmgirl said:

So we are still leaning toward taking our 5 night Caribbean cruise in a couple weeks. If it gets cancelled that’s one thing, of course, but we are young and healthy. 
 

Here’s my complaint with X....we got a great deal on this cruise. $1950 total for Aquaclass and 3 perks. Looking through their site, prices are soooo high! For us to get anything close to what we have now would cost us an extra $1500 or so, which just can’t happen. Will they hold prices high to make it so people like us will end up with a junky room and no perks, but have to spend the money with X anyway??

 

Doesn't seem fair. 

Fair isn't defined by what works best for you.  I'm sure the cruise line employees don't think it's fair that a virus has shown up out of nowhere that is spreading around the world and throwing a monkey wrench in the travel industry.  Now that the State Department has warned against traveling on cruise ships, I'm sure they think it's not fair that they might lose their jobs because of something completely outside of their control.  Cruise lines have employees to pay, ships to maintain, ships to build and all the other costs that go into running a business like this while still trying to eek out a profit to keep investors happy.  Plus they have to find a way to keep customers happy and wanting to cruise (while trying to give customers a chance to cancel if necessary) without bankrupting themselves in the process.  It makes logical sense that they would want to stabilize their income as much as possible.  Not everything is about corporate greed and "fat cats getting over on the little guy".  After all, how many cruisers would be willing to put their health at risk if the cruise lines offered rock bottom prices and full free perks, taking advantage of a bad situation for the cruise lines?

[waterbug123]

The cruise line isn't out to get you.  Prices will be determined largely by supply and demand.

[OuiOnboard]

29 minutes ago, meechee341 said:

  ...Not everything is about corporate greed and "fat cats getting over on the little guy".  After all, how many cruisers would be willing to put their health at risk if the cruise lines offered rock bottom prices and full free perks, taking advantage of a bad situation for the cruise lines?

All of them.

[hcat]

We have 2 booked cruises that fall within the usage period for the FCC.  We are hoping to apply our credit to an already booked cruise at its booked price.

 

We are also tracking prices on other future bookings...some may fall or have added booking incentives.  Things are understandably in flux right now.

 

Under the circumstances, although we would have   preferred 

 a full fare refund, we were in the 50% penalty period,  and made the decision to cancel at that level..  We think it was fair

[vtgumby]

3 hours ago, meechee341 said:

Fair isn't defined by what works best for you.  I'm sure the cruise line employees don't think it's fair that a virus has shown up out of nowhere that is spreading around the world and throwing a monkey wrench in the travel industry.  Now that the State Department has warned against traveling on cruise ships, I'm sure they think it's not fair that they might lose their jobs because of something completely outside of their control.  Cruise lines have employees to pay, ships to maintain, ships to build and all the other costs that go into running a business like this while still trying to eek out a profit to keep investors happy.  Plus they have to find a way to keep customers happy and wanting to cruise (while trying to give customers a chance to cancel if necessary) without bankrupting themselves in the process.  It makes logical sense that they would want to stabilize their income as much as possible.  Not everything is about corporate greed and "fat cats getting over on the little guy".  After all, how many cruisers would be willing to put their health at risk if the cruise lines offered rock bottom prices and full free perks, taking advantage of a bad situation for the cruise lines?

Perfect explanation and no offense to you Smoggirl, I get the 'fair' thinking, but I'm glad others are seeing the bigger ripple effect of this virus. Jobs will be lost, families affected far more than missing a cruise. Here in Austin a major event, SXSW, was cancelled that last year brought in 350 million plus but in a matter of moments that went away, a lot of people affected worldwide because of it. Fair? Probably not but likely a wise decision albeit painful on the city planners who pulled the plug.

Bottom line, life just isn't fair, we all know it, and the fact that Celebrity (and other cruiselines and airlines) are giving 100% credit for this event which is far beyond their control is more than fair in my book.

[GateGuardian]

It's called Cruise with Confidence for a reason because they're confident you're going to book again regardless of the price.

[smogfarmgirl]

I didn’t mean to rile anyone up with this post, I meant it as a legitimate question. I booked the cruise before COVID was a thing, so the price I got was just a regular deal they were offering. Maybe it’s just the time period we’re in, or maybe deals are just gone until we’ve all spent our FCC.
 

I understand the big picture, of course, that’s not was I was referring to. My husband’s work is also affected by COVID, he will lose quite a bit we can’t really afford to lose, so I get what’s happening. 
 

Pretend I didn’t use the word “fair”...what I meant was “ethical”. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by smogfarmgirl

[lostchild]

It won't matter if you already decided to go.  If they cancel on you, they will refund you cash instead of future cruise credit.   The FCC is only if you cancel on them I believe.

[Grandmaanne7]

I understand the intent of the OP and had basically asked myself the same question. I think that there will be far more questions than satisfactory answers over the next few months. Many legitimate thoughts so far on this post (other than the unnecessary snarky responses of course.)

[Oceangoer2]

25 minutes ago, smogfarmgirl said:

I didn’t mean to rile anyone up with this post, I meant it as a legitimate question. I booked the cruise before COVID was a thing, so the price I got was just a regular deal they were offering. Maybe it’s just the time period we’re in, or maybe deals are just gone until we’ve all spent our FCC.
 

I understand the big picture, of course, that’s not was I was referring to. My husband’s work is also affected by COVID, he will lose quite a bit we can’t really afford to lose, so I get what’s happening. 
 

Pretend I didn’t use the word “fair”...what I meant was “ethical”. 

Ignore the sniping...your question to US was fair in your mind;  out of the replies I hope you got some kind of response to quiet your mind on what to do.  Business is business and every company will try to balance the bottom line;  it will be at someone's expense.  Leave out the word 'ethical' as well and perhaps it's best to make a decision on YOUR peace of mind with respect to COVID19 and not on a suspected future $$ loss.  BTW, seems odd no 5 ni cruises are showing up...your decision to cancel may be solved.  Let us know if X sends you notification and what they intend to do for you if the cruise IS cancelled.

Edited March 9, 2020 by oceangoer2

[smogfarmgirl]

1 minute ago, oceangoer2 said:

...perhaps it's best to make a decision on YOUR peace of mind with respect to COVID19 and not on a future $$ loss.

We plan to. At this point if X goes then so do we. Weighed a lot of factors....but a lot can change in 2 weeks, too. 

[hiccups]

I totally understand OP's POV.  We are due to cruise in less than four weeks, and will make our decision in the coming weeks.  But in the back of my mind is, "We got such a fantastic deal on this cruise, and to book the exact same cruise with perks next year is double the price, plus we'd lose the extra $200 OBC from the Veteran's Day sale."   If we do cancel, we'll just wait to book something else.  I'm glad we have until the end of the year to book.

 

Of course, if X (or any other cruise line) offered the exact same deal for a re-booked cruise, not many people would have any incentive to keep their current booking, so I understand why they are not making that offer.

I'm glad X is giving us the choice to cruise or cancel.

 

[expatcruiser88]

What 5 night are you on? I'm on the Infinity 4/11. Really looking forward to it.

 

We also were very happy with our deal for the Sky Suite and a FCC wouldn't touch the sides for a similar cruise this time next year. However, I'm putting the big difference down to the Revolution (renovation) of the ship in November. It's the most extensive renovation X has ever done across the fleet. Much more than the Solsticizing they did 6-7 years ago. The prices were dramatically higher next year even before any of this was going on. (I've been shopping around for a while)

 

I think the prices on the Infinity this year were a little lower than normal, because she is ready for a renovation, and next year are a little higher than normal, because she will be brand new. That said, the FCCs will come into play with the future price changes. Although, not to gouge us, but to keep the company fiscally healthy, and in part to encourage those who can, to keep their current sailing.

 

For all of the reasons above, if Celebrity doesn't cancel, I'm cruising!

[JuliaMS]

Supply and demand. A lot of people booking for 2021 so not great deals unless those booking drop off too.

 

[maggie.1008]

We are considering canceling our 13 night Hawaii cruise next month. Very disappointed as we had to cancel the same cruise last year because I had surgery. This was to be the make up cruise. 

We are in AQ. I checked the price of next years Hawaii cruise and it is 11nights and twice as much as we paid this year. 

X knows people will have to rebook to use FCC. Problem is we booked F/C air on United Airlines, not an airline we normally use.

I will have to see what their cancellation policy is. We live in LaQuinta, CA. and the big tennis tournament PNP Paribas open was just cancelled last night. People from all over the world are already here including tennis players. 

Still holding out hope we can go on the Hawaii cruise next month. Good luck to all. Cheers, Heather

[smogfarmgirl]

21 minutes ago, expatcruiser88 said:

What 5 night are you on? I'm on the Infinity 4/11.

Infinity 3/23. Close!