Tahiti to Hawaii cruise tripled in price? Why ? And do I wait?

[Gracelyn]

Hi

we were to go on the Jewel March of 20 and received a FCC.   We were in a balcony. My question is we hav watched the price literally triple and we just can’t afford a 10,000$ pp from 3000$ pp. how can this be and how long before we see a change?

they also went from 14 days to 12 days. 
thanks

Gracelyn

[Seany527]

I’m not seeing any cruises on the Jewel but the Spirit does have one 12 night using the itinerary. 
 

The Spirit underwent a huge dry dock I think in early 2020 so that would impact the price but not by $7,000. 
 

I think your best bet is to hold off booking. It’s a really high price and with the environment we are in, there could be some small changes to the cruise and it’s easier for NCL to cancel and issue refunds rather than sort out angry customers who are upset that some of the ports got switched around. 
 

The price it’s listed for is too high in my opinion and watching these types of repositioning cruises pre COVID, NCL had a tendency to lower the price as the sailing date approached. 

[hallux]

Pent up demand for cruises plus possible occupancy limitations will result in high demand and low inventory.  They can charge more as a result (and may need to in order to have a profit, however slim).

[Gracelyn]

1 hour ago, Seany527 said:

I’m not seeing any cruises on the Jewel but the Spirit does have one 12 night using the itinerary. 
 

The Spirit underwent a huge dry dock I think in early 2020 so that would impact the price but not by $7,000. 
 

I think your best bet is to hold off booking. It’s a really high price and with the environment we are in, there could be some small changes to the cruise and it’s easier for NCL to cancel and issue refunds rather than sort out angry customers who are upset that some of the ports got switched around. 
 

The price it’s listed for is too high in my opinion and watching these types of repositioning cruises pre COVID, NCL had a tendency to lower the price as the sailing date approached. 

Thank you. I think we need to wait.  Your right. It was the Jewel and now is the spirit. We so want this cruise!...or any cruise for that matter lol

[bluesea777]

OTOH, for the Pacific cruises we'd rather go on the Spirit than the Jewel. Our last cruise pre-covid was on the post-dry-dock Spirit and the ship is so lovely!

 

We found regular balcony cabin on Spirit perfect for us - there are plenty of spaces all over the ship to relax and unwind without having being cooped up in the cabin/suite.

 

Spirit's aft Terraces and the new aft Spice H2O are superb. Here's a photo of the sunset taken off the coast of Yeman/Oman, from level 12 of outdoor Garden Cafe (ex-Raffles Terrace) ...

 

 

[Gracelyn]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

Pent up demand for cruises plus possible occupancy limitations will result in high demand and low inventory.  They can charge more as a result (and may need to in order to have a profit, however slim).

That was my thought as well. Thanks

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

Pent up demand for cruises plus possible occupancy limitations will result in high demand and low inventory.  They can charge more as a result (and may need to in order to have a profit, however slim).

That....plus, I think all the cruise lines are trying to get their footing back after the COVID restrictions are just being lifted since we now have a plan moving forward.

 

I'm seeing prices drop.  Matter of f act, I booked a Haven on the Joy out of Jamaica for August cheaper than I've ever paid for ANY Haven cabin on ANY ship.  And, the Joy is one of their newest ships, to boot.

 

I'd hold off for a month or two and see where prices go before booking.

[Gracelyn]

43 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Have you checked other cruise lines for comparison? Unfortunately demand is artificially high right now, I would guess that prices will self-correct sometime next year.

Hi, no we haven’t checked others because we have FCC that we have to book by dec 21. 

[Gracelyn]

2 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

OTOH, for the Pacific cruises we'd rather go on the Spirit than the Jewel. Our last cruise pre-covid was on the post-dry-dock Spirit and the ship is so lovely!

 

We found regular balcony cabin on Spirit perfect for us - there are plenty of spaces all over the ship to relax and unwind without having being cooped up in the cabin/suite.

 

Spirit's aft Terraces and the new aft Spice H2O are superb. Here's a photo of the sunset taken off the coast of Yeman/Oman, from level 12 of outdoor Garden Cafe (ex-Raffles Terrace) ...

 

 

My sister and BIL are going as well and she’s read up on this ship. She was impressed! 

[Eggs2Go]

4 hours ago, Gracelyn said:

Thank you. I think we need to wait.  Your right. It was the Jewel and now is the spirit. We so want this cruise!...or any cruise for that matter lol

 

If you really want this particular cruise, I suggest booking it and selecting your cabin now. If price drops later you can call and adjust to the current price while keeping your original cabin. You can obtain price adjustments as often as necessary, up until final payment. If price remains higher than you wish to pay, you can cancel the cruise and get your deposit back at any time before final payment.

[hallux]

4 minutes ago, Eggs2Go said:

and get your deposit back at any time before final payment.

Are you sure about that when the deposit is FCC that has an expiration date?

[Nebr.cruiser]

We were booked on a March 2020 Tahiti cruise too and our (admittedly) great price has more like quadrupled.  Plus, we had $100 air, plus lots of other perks.  I get that demand, Covid matters, etc., account for some of this but I can guarantee we won't be paying $6000 more for almost the same cruise.  And, I think the itinerary is not as good as last year's cruise.

 

At least we got our money back and aren't restricted to using FCC.

[Eggs2Go]

1 minute ago, hallux said:

Are you sure about that when the deposit is FCC that has an expiration date?

 

Good point. I don't know the fine print of FCCs. Best to check all payment details thoroughly with your PCC or travel agent.  

[Gracelyn]

35 minutes ago, Eggs2Go said:

 

Good point. I don't know the fine print of FCCs. Best to check all payment details thoroughly with your PCC or travel agent.  

I was wondering about the price drop as well. I will ask my TA what restrictions apply. My sister requires a handicap room so that’s also the wrench.

nebr.cruiser, we wished we could have been offered the cash back but only FCC because we cancelled right at the “ cancel for any reason” policy because of the risk of pre existing conditions of type 1 diabetes. They cancelled it 2 days after us. We lost out. 

[Named-Tawny]

When are you planning on travelling?

If it's the cruise you want, and you're even vaguely okay with the price, it costs you nothing to book it now - if the price goes down before final payment, you can get in on the new price, and if the price goes up before final payment, you're protected against that increase.

When final payment time comes around, you can decide then if you want to cancel or keep it.

(Of course, if there's no way you'd do the cruise at the current price, then don't book the cruise.  But it's not guaranteed to go down, and could go even higher.)

[Gracelyn]

Named Tawney, we are looking at the may/22 cruise from Tahiti to Hawaii   
the price drop is what I’m checking into because of the FCC. To see if there are exceptions. It’s crazy the price hike! 

[jbcallender]

We are on November 2022 Spirit sailing of this itinerary.  That sailing has all suites sold out, it is a smaller ship.  We had April 2020 and April 2021 sailing of this on Jewel cancelled.  Prices have definitely increased significantly with two days and one stop removed.

[dexddd]

I get you have FCC to burn.  I'd use it on different trip.  NCL has figured out their rare trips sell well and they jack the price to see what the can get.

 

If you want to go to Tahiti, book Paul Gauguin.  They own the area and do it well. Ship with 350 people.  Prices look high but include air, hotel, tips, drinks.  Nothing compares. And no 18% charge on 'free' things.

[Gracelyn]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

I get you have FCC to burn.  I'd use it on different trip.  NCL has figured out their rare trips sell well and they jack the price to see what the can get.

 

If you want to go to Tahiti, book Paul Gauguin.  They own the area and do it well. Ship with 350 people.  Prices look high but include air, hotel, tips, drinks.  Nothing compares. And no 18% charge on 'free' things.

We actually were just talking about doing this, using the FCC on a different cruise because we just can’t afford the $10,000 hit. We were thinking maybe doing the Hawaii cruise only. But I don’t know anything about that ship. It may be more doable and then do the Tahiti cruise at a different time.

[dumbth]

1 hour ago, Gracelyn said:

We were thinking maybe doing the Hawaii cruise only. But I don’t know anything about that ship. It may be more doable and then do the Tahiti cruise at a different time.

I had switched from the Hawaii loop to the original Hawaii-Tahiti run due to the poor value of the Hawaii only loop. The Tahiti run used to cost far less per day and made most of the same Hawaii stops. This is because of special stifling regulation of the Hawaii-only run making it super costly and possibly less satisfying.

 

I looked forward to the long equator crossing journey at sea bookended by exciting stops at both ends, and was going to ride it in both directions. I was disappointed by NCL dropping the most interesting far flung stop in the Marquesas recently, and what was at first a modest price rise. Now my strategy is to check price a couple weeks before every (rare) departure.

[Gracelyn]

Dumbth, that is why we wanted the Tahiti-Hawaii cruise as well. Originally we had days before in Tahiti and days at the end in Oahu. I’m saddened that this may not happen. I’m wondering if the price drops when they take off the air perk. It’s been in a while now. I’d love to gamble and wait but my sister needs a handicap room and we worry about not getting that. 

[hallux]

8 minutes ago, Gracelyn said:

I’m wondering if the price drops when they take off the air perk

If you had to pay extra for your departure airport of choice, yes.  If you choose not to use the air they don't lower the cost of the cruise.  My airport was $200 extra when I used the air perk in October 2019, but it still saved me money over choosing a different cabin class without the air perk and paying out of pocket for air.

[kelib]

On 4/29/2021 at 10:46 AM, Gracelyn said:

Hi

we were to go on the Jewel March of 20 and received a FCC.   We were in a balcony. My question is we hav watched the price literally triple and we just can’t afford a 10,000$ pp from 3000$ pp. how can this be and how long before we see a change?

they also went from 14 days to 12 days. 
thanks

Gracelyn

I was booked for the same cruise going  in April 2020. I was so excited since the stars had lined up perfectly. It was going to be my retirement present to myself. I booked very end of January when COVID was this blip isolated in Asia (at least we thought) I had great price with no single supplement the prices dropped again and my TA got me on board credit so between that and TA credit I was going with $350 onboard for just me ( I had an inside room but with perks)

I was able to use miles for part of the trip and got a decent price all considering on Quantas from LA. 
Now the trip is so out of reach for me that the dream may have died. 

[Gracelyn]

5 hours ago, kelib said:

I was booked for the same cruise going  in April 2020. I was so excited since the stars had lined up perfectly. It was going to be my retirement present to myself. I booked very end of January when COVID was this blip isolated in Asia (at least we thought) I had great price with no single supplement the prices dropped again and my TA got me on board credit so between that and TA credit I was going with $350 onboard for just me ( I had an inside room but with perks)

I was able to use miles for part of the trip and got a decent price all considering on Quantas from LA. 
Now the trip is so out of reach for me that the dream may have died. 

Totally feel you! We were actually doing this asa memorial trip for my parents as they had just passed and asked us to go to Hawaii to celebrate them.  So we are on a mission,just not sure how yet

[Nebr.cruiser]

On 4/29/2021 at 9:16 PM, Gracelyn said:

I was wondering about the price drop as well. I will ask my TA what restrictions apply. My sister requires a handicap room so that’s also the wrench.

nebr.cruiser, we wished we could have been offered the cash back but only FCC because we cancelled right at the “ cancel for any reason” policy because of the risk of pre existing conditions of type 1 diabetes. They cancelled it 2 days after us. We lost out. 

My sister, who was also going on this cruise, kind of 'panicked' and cancelled too right before NCL cancelled the cruise.  Luckily we held out until they cancelled.  She has some health problems that made going iffy.  So, we are still needing to go with NCL so she doesn't lose her money.  Had an August cruise cancelled already.