WILL PRICES EVER COME DOWN?

[HskrCrsr]

3 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

How far down? The short answer is only if they have to, to fill the ships. With the massive debt they have racked up so far, and continue to do so, they have little choice. The cruise lines are like leeches, once they glom on to your money, they will not let go, no matter how much money they are making. As long as people keep paying, it'll never change.

 

Sorry, I might be one of those that keeps paying, but only once a year on average. I assuage my guilt by telling myself that's not enough to justify them propping up the price due to my patronage.

[MarkWiltonM]

I don't know about suites, but I compared prices yesterday on similar itineraries for verandah staterooms on Celebrity Solstice class and the Holland America Line's Pinnacle class ships, which are every bit as nice as Celebrity and, IMO, the food is a little better, especially in the buffet. The HAL cruises were about $200 pp/pd less than Celebrity. That included the extra charge on Celebrity for a refundable deposit. HAL was not charging extra for this. The Celebrity cruise included drinks, Wi-Fi, and gratuities. The HAL cruise included drinks, one dinner in a specialty dining venue, and a discount on shore excursions. HAL was less expensive even factoring in the extra charges for Wi-Fi and gratuities. We booked a January 2022 cruise to the ABC islands on HAL Nieuw Statendam. I slightly prefer the Celebrity Solstice class ships, which feel roomier and have the incomparable Cafe al Bacio (we don't drink alcohol but we do indulge in specialty coffees), but I think Celebrity's current pricing is just not worth it. We do have two cruises booked on Celebrity that we have good pricing on because we booked a long time ago. One is for November 2021 and may or may not sail, and the other is for April 2022, which I assume will sail. Since we don't drink alcohol, I'm not happy with these lines including alcohol in the base fare; it's no fun to pay for something we don't want or use, and alcohol is expensive. That's kept us off the luxury cruise lines.

[sfaaa]

4 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

How far down? The short answer is only if they have to, to fill the ships. With the massive debt they have racked up so far, and continue to do so, they have little choice. The cruise lines are like leeches, once they glom on to your money, they will not let go, no matter how much money they are making. As long as people keep paying, it'll never change.

Cruise lines did not force you to hand over your money. You did it on your own willingly after agreeing to the terms in your cruise contract. So who is to blame?

[grandgeezer]

2 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Cruise lines did not force you to hand over your money. You did it on your own willingly after agreeing to the terms in your cruise contract. So who is to blame?

They haven’t got a penny from me in the last two years and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. According to my value based pricing, the current pricing is about 40% over what I feel it’s worth. Who’s to blame for that? Even if the price was to drop, the AI still makes it a no-go.

[zitsky]

59 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

Cruise lines did not force you to hand over your money. You did it on your own willingly after agreeing to the terms in your cruise contract. So who is to blame?

 

Well if the cruise company cancels and the lift and shift is 30% more, I'd say it's their fault. 

[cantstopingcruising]

Usually, while we are on our b2b in the Caribbean, we visit the future cruise people and book two years out. Then, almost every time, there is a window when prices really drop.

 

However, this year, of course, we never went on a cruise. So, when the 2023 winter schedule came out I checked it out. The prices are so ridiculously high that I didn't book and I won't unless they come down. It is simply not worth it. I will find something else

[Arizona Wildcat]

17 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Well if the cruise company cancels and the lift and shift is 30% more, I'd say it's their fault. 

Then you have the choice of a refund.  Think you have mixed things a bit.  L&S has been at same price as originally booked.  If I cancel then I am accepting either book a different cruise or a FCC.  If they cruise company cancels then you can ( and I did on 2 cruises ) get your money refunded.

PS - you think cruise fares are high?  Wait till you look at hotels and airfare once things start really moving again.  Hotels in my hometown are already mostly booked at rates twice that of last year.

[jmhlin]

I took the refund and book with another cruise line. Celebrity in general is much more expensive if you go with refundable deposit. It is fair and I find other cruise line have more itineraries to choose from and price is more reasonable.

[vermonter16]

I will pay within reason for a cruise.  And Celebrity is pricing me out from new cruises.  We will keep our Apex cruise in January because it was a great deal and we will keep Alaska (even though it is no deal) because it is our anniversary and we just love Alaska.  I love Celebrity but I'm not willing to pay anything to sail.  We like all-inclusive properties as well and we will just do that if prices don't come down.

[NMTraveller]

I am starting to see some bargain prices on Princess.  The ones that I took note of were Christmas Antartica cruises.  I would have booked one if I was not on a Windstar Tahiti cruise.  The prices were lower than pre pandemic prices.

Edited April 12, 2021 by NMTraveller

[KWW88]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I am starting to see some bargain prices on Princess.  The ones that I took note of were Christmas Antartica cruises.  I would have booked one if I was not on a Windstar Tahiti cruise.  The prices were lower than pre pandemic prices.

It all comes down to supply and demand.  From what I have been reading on CC articles and other travel based sites, demand for cruising is through the roof, even for the ships sailing at 60% or whatever the number.  For the foreseeable future, IMO, and that of travel industry experts, it will be a while before, or if, prices come back to pre-COVID days.

[NMTraveller]

18 minutes ago, KWW88 said:

It all comes down to supply and demand.  From what I have been reading on CC articles and other travel based sites, demand for cruising is through the roof, even for the ships sailing at 60% or whatever the number.  For the foreseeable future, IMO, and that of travel industry experts, it will be a while before, or if, prices come back to pre-COVID days.

The demand for South America cruises seems to be soft. 

[KWW88]

4 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

The demand for South America cruises seems to be soft. 

Perhaps you could help change that, as Celebrity still has TA on their site with multiple stops in Brazil.  Happy sailing

[NMTraveller]

2 minutes ago, KWW88 said:

Perhaps you could help change that, as Celebrity still has TA on their site with multiple stops in Brazil.  Happy sailing

I will stick with Tahiti this Christmas.  I was thinking that did have something to do with the soft demand.  The ones I was looking at were out of Santiago and did not touch Brazil.

Edited April 12, 2021 by NMTraveller

[iancal]

On our last pre covid land trip to Europe we planned to pick up a Med cruise as we have done several times in the past.

 

We felt that the prices were high and the value short compared to other options.  We passed on a Med cruise and went to Cyprus for two weeks instead.

 

We are certainly not held hostage to cruise prices or to the pricing grid of any particular cruise line.  There are lots of travel options in the marketplace.  Not certain why anyone would be.   If you think the price is too high relative to value simply shop around for another option.