Prices JUST shot up!

[spedteacher908]

6 hours ago, cscurlock said:

This is probably because people are cancelling and moving their current reservations towards summer.  A lot of people are holding their reservations who already have cabins waiting room see if things get better.  People don't like to cancel summer trips.  They can always cancel later and get a FCC.  So cabins are getting taken quickly driving up demand.  As the virus continues to expand through that time you will see a lot of cancellations.  If you can book last minute you could score a really cheap rate even in summer I bet.

Please explain what is FCC?

[ColeThornton]

Just now, spedteacher908 said:

Please explain what is FCC?

 

Future Cruise Credit.

[dvond]

Yup, they don’t want all the cancels tomorrow buying cheaper cruises , has to be the reason 

[seaman11]

5 minutes ago, dvond said:

Yup, they don’t want all the cancels tomorrow buying cheaper cruises , has to be the reason 

why are so many planing on canceling tomorrow?

[justafirefly]

6 hours ago, blcruising said:

Then, it will depend just how long it takes for Coronavirus to blow over and then I have to hope NCL doesn't artificially inflate rates for a year so those with the FCCs aren't forced into booking at higher prices.

 

This was my first thought. How can NCL keep their business on the "winning team?" They offer FCC "peace of mind" for those who want to cancel, but increase their cruise prices through the next year to either deter people from cancelling and rebooking (they don't lose the money either way) or force people to pay even more money to rebook cruises and make up some of their lost profit. Fewer people cruising over the next few months with cancellations and inflated current prices will keep ships to fewer passengers, which means less chance of spreading illness, less chance of quarantine, and less mouths to feed if they do have to quarantine. When cruises over a year out get closer to sail away dates, they can drop prices and people will book but not have FCC to use. Win, win, win for NCL.

[dvond]

26 minutes ago, seaman11 said:

why are so many planing on canceling tomorrow?

1st day for those who can with close cruises

[megansdad1]

2 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

I was surprised about the last minute cruises going up (I'm sailing Encore on the 29th)  - They should have just specified in the terms that you can't cancel and rebook the SAME cruise. Not really sure how they will get any new bookings for the 29th sailing of the encore with the pricing that it's at now, and there is no way it's at capacity. 

I think that is the game they are playing.  They are expecting a lot of people to cancel and maybe even shift their cruises slightly or rebook the same cruise..  So by jacking up rates for ships sailing soon, they are avoiding that.  

[aubreyc1988]

14 minutes ago, megansdad1 said:

I think that is the game they are playing.  They are expecting a lot of people to cancel and maybe even shift their cruises slightly or rebook the same cruise..  So by jacking up rates for ships sailing soon, they are avoiding that.  

seems risky if people cancel, don't rebook that cruise, and they don't get any more bookings at the inflated price...who knows, maybe they will go back down in a few days or something

 

[LinnieRed]

Wow! I just checked the cruise we booked for the 29th. It was a last minute booking 3 weeks ago. The prices have more than doubled in the balcony and spa category (  not sure about ocean view or inside) and the mini suite and Haven are sold out! 

[luv2kroooz]

I don't think prices are what will deter people from booking a cruise. People are rightly or wrongly reacting to the virus. I imagine very few were booking at the rack rate pricing from last weekend. Even if you aren't concerned about contracting the virus, how could you not acknowledge the increasing possibility that your travel plans end up getting impacted through port closures, delayed debarkations, flight cancellations and adjustments, government shutdowns, self quarantine upon your return or quarantine during your vacation. 

[G-DawgMN]

16 hours ago, NLH Arizona said:

Or they could be trying to generate revenue to cover the lost onboard spending for those that will be cancelling their cruises.

 

 And mine did go up today...pretty much doubled. It's an 11 day cruise and it seemed that demand was low already before the whole Coronavirus thing.

[jerseyfresh72]

Does anyone know if other lines are inflating prices as well?

[Lionkingrichard]

Just checked my Feb. 2021 cruise and price went up about $140?

[insidecabin]

17 hours ago, kaprin02 said:

Yeah, the price on our sailing (4/8, Pearl) went way up too. But the odd thing is the “old” lower prices are still showing up on the search page, but when you actually get to the booking page, they are drastically higher (roughly twice what they were previously). Something seems weird. 
 

The price on the booking I have in April 2021 is the same as it was yesterday. 

The data in searches is cached no idea what the refresh rate is they always lag the real prices during changes. 

[JamieLogical]

Prices are way up even for very close sailings, but inventory has already begun to increase, even though it's just now 9:00 am in the east coast. My 3/15 sailing on the Bliss went from 12 remaining rooms to 44 remaining rooms so far. I expect to be a blood bath by the end of the day today. Last night, our Meet & Greet organizer said that 29 of the 187 people we had signed up have already informed him they are canceling. With the prices insane like they are, I guess we can't hope to call in for upgrades, but maybe our low ball upgrade offers will all be accepted!

[kbr]

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Prices are way up even for very close sailings, but inventory has already begun to increase, even though it's just now 9:00 am in the east coast. My 3/15 sailing on the Bliss went from 12 remaining rooms to 44 remaining rooms so far. I expect to be a blood bath by the end of the day today. Last night, our Meet & Greet organizer said that 29 of the 187 people we had signed up have already informed him they are canceling. With the prices insane like they are, I guess we can't hope to call in for upgrades, but maybe our low ball upgrade offers will all be accepted!

Where do you go to see the inventory?

[JamieLogical]

4 minutes ago, kbr said:

Where do you go to see the inventory?

 

Right now I have to just go to the NCL site and do mock bookings. The TA site I usually use isn't showing any Bliss sailings before May now!

[kmb4567]

JamieLocal, how do you find our current inventory number?  Just wondering.  Booked on 4/5 Bliss.  Not planning on cancelling.

[Mike_DeA]

My theory is that they jacked up prices because today is the first day of the new Peace of Mind cancellation window.  They don't want phones line jammed up with people making new reservations or canceling and making new reservations (which would extend the time of the call). We will know if this theory is correct if prices drop back to normal levels by the weekend or so.

[cruisin from vegas]

Wow!!   Originally had Epic in July, mostly Italy.  Unfortunately, I have chronic and at times severe respiratory issues and would be turning 60 on that trip.  Dr begged me to stay away from that area for a year.  So I cancelled, was a few days before original final payment date  so just changed to a shorter Bahamas trip same week.  Yesterday that trip went down $70, I travel solo, so I got that decrease.  Today that trip is more than double  what it was yesterday...  wow.  Glad I looked yesterday.  Mock bookings show ship maybe half occupied

[Sand and Seas]

I've been tracking Encore for April 5th.  Price of BA cabin was $993 four days ago.  Yesterday it was raised to $1504 and today it 'dropped' to $1357.   Over 15 cabins available.

Strangely, the B1 Aft cabins were at $1399 all three times I checked.  (Just 3 cabins available)

[Beejatron]

Prices shooting up are most likely to prevent re-booking if same or similar cruises around same time. So you either keep the cruise you have or rebook a more expensive cruise in the near future. Since the deadline to cancel is 48 hours, what y’all need to start doing is track current cruises and see if price drops within 48 hours of the cruise. Since a booked cruise can’t cancel and re-book in that window, they may drop the price dramatically. If it becomes a recognizable trend, cancel your booking 3-4 days out of the cruise and re-book after the 48 hour window passes. It could be a big risk, but if you’re flexible with travel and time off from work, it could save a lot of money. My wife and I are booked for the Sun for April 17, I will be doing this as we only live 2 hours from the port and the cruising days are days off of work for us anyways. 

[NLH Arizona]

5 minutes ago, Beejatron said:

Prices shooting up are most likely to prevent re-booking if same or similar cruises around same time. So you either keep the cruise you have or rebook a more expensive cruise in the near future. 

I was thinking the same thing, since some on here have asked if they can cancel and the book the same cruise, which they thought would be a lower price.  

[js]

I have two Haven cabins booked for Encore for August.

The 2 bedroom has gone up $200 (although yesterday they were sold out, this just opened) and my dd's

H5 has remained the same price since February 10.  I was, however, successful in having my TA apply the new

OBC that NCL is giving, which is $600 a cabin for Haven.  My H4 was sold out last night when I emailed

but he was still able to apply it, as well as to my dd's cabin without canceling and rebooking.

Guessing the TAs will start feeling pressure too about sales and cancellations but happy he was able to do this for our cabins.

 

My MSC YC cruise for February went up $200 yesterday but back down today to price I booked last month.

However, I noticed that there were four cabins that opened up this morning.

 

I wonder if the "free at sea" will be a thing of the past, at least for a year or two since many will be rebooking and

purchasing an alcohol package is expensive.