What ever happened to the great deals on repositioning cruises?

[Lvntrvl]

It seems as if the prices on repositioning cruises, especially transatlantic crossings, have increased considerably.  They used to be an incredible bargain, but have gone mainstream in their daily pricing.  Am I missing something, or do others enjoy sea days as much as I?
Just curious.

[Karaboudjan]

4 hours ago, Lvntrvl said:

It seems as if the prices on repositioning cruises, especially transatlantic crossings, have increased considerably.  They used to be an incredible bargain, but have gone mainstream in their daily pricing.  Am I missing something, or do others enjoy sea days as much as I?
Just curious.

I have not followed NCL closely for a few years, but my impression is that TA cruises have more port stops than they used to, so they may in fact be more mainstream and attracting people who might not have been interested previously.  In general, though, the cycle is that something is a bargain, it gets popular, and the demand drives the price higher.

[4774Papa]

Transatlantics are our favorite.    I remember one TA we did from Copenhagen to Miami with NCL in 2014 the price per person was $799.  Since we saved about $600 on airfare, the cruise was almost free.

 

Now, most of NCL's TA cruises go in and out of NYC, not good for us.

[chengkp75]

I think that most "great deals" are a thing of the past, until the lines recover from the cash hemorrhage of the covid shutdown. 

[ColeThornton]

I think someone missed the Great Cruise Line Shutdown of 20-21.   Cruise lines are broke and need as much revenue as possible.  I'm with you though, I love my days at sea.

Edited July 17, 2021 by ColeThornton

[ECCruise]

Having done over 30 crossings, I have watched the prices move up steadily over the last 6 or so years.  This started before the pandemic and the shutdown.

The reason?  Crossings became very trendy, largely because of their once lower price. They are a victim of their own success. 

It is just like the pricing for suites.  They became real trendy and prices have doubled and tripled since the time we usually sailed in suites.  They are now far beyond what we feel is realistic, like the majority of crossings.

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I think that most "great deals" are a thing of the past, until the lines recover from the cash hemorrhage of the covid shutdown. 

True, I am sure, however, in comparing cruise options with land tours (which haven't gone up as much), we are more likely to skip cruising until prices return to competitive levels.

[ECCruise]

14 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

True, I am sure, however, in comparing cruise options with land tours (which haven't gone up as much), we are more likely to skip cruising until prices return to competitive levels.

Have to agree.  Although we do have a number of cruises booked (lots of work getting decent pricing) we have added a good deal more land trips.  The pros are lower pricing (sometimes a lot), 4 and 5 star hotels usually, seeing portions of countries not accessible to cruisers.  The cons, for us, are needing to move every few days rather than unpacking once and sometimes longer coach rides (although often broken up with sightseeing and lunch).

[BermudaBound2014]

I suspect there will be exceptional deals to be had for repositioning cruises with the caveat being  booking after final payment is paid by the 'regular cruisers' will be a necessity. Time will tell, but it looks like current prices on NCL fall sailings are dropping and it's not even final payment yet.

[4774Papa]

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

Have to agree.  Although we do have a number of cruises booked (lots of work getting decent pricing) we have added a good deal more land trips.  The pros are lower pricing (sometimes a lot), 4 and 5 star hotels usually, seeing portions of countries not accessible to cruisers.  The cons, for us, are needing to move every few days rather than unpacking once and sometimes longer coach rides (although often broken up with sightseeing and lunch).

We have traveling a lot, touring any way possible, doing our own trip, renting a car, bus tour, taking the train, river cruises, ocean cruises, etc.  Some of the tour companies we once liked (Vantage World Travel has gotten too expensive) but recently we discovered Gate 1 Tours.  Also, we are now in our mid-seventies and prefer a set tour if it covers the places we want to go, rather than doing it on our own.

[ECCruise]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I suspect there will be exceptional deals to be had for repositioning cruises with the caveat being  booking after final payment is paid by the 'regular cruisers' will be a necessity. Time will tell, but it looks like current prices on NCL fall sailings are dropping and it's not even final payment yet.

That may very well be, but using our sailing (Getaway 17 day crossing) which has gone up over $2500 since we booked it, the price would have drop more than half to make it even approaching a bargain.  And since that sailing is fairly well sold, although I see a price drop likely, but not likely to be half. 

[ECCruise]

25 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

 recently we discovered Gate 1 Tours.  Also, we are now in our mid-seventies and prefer a set tour if it covers the places we want to go, rather than doing it on our own.

That is also our "go to" for land tours.  Booked 2 last week in the Baltic and Ireland next spring. 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, ECCruise said:

That may very well be, but using our sailing (Getaway 17 day crossing) which has gone up over $2500 since we booked it, the price would have drop more than half to make it even approaching a bargain.  And since that sailing is fairly well sold, although I see a price drop likely, but not likely to be half. 

 

Typically when I book last minute I look at 75% off as a target price. Example, our 10 day out of Venice was running over $2,000 pp in the winter/spring preceding our vacation. We ended up paying $500pp in June for a July departure.  

 

What is your date of sailing? Approximate Price paid and category? Let's track your cruise to see. I could be wrong, but I'm curious. I have a procedure set up for price tracking, so I can track the difference quite easily if you are game to give it a go.

 

[ECCruise]

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Typically when I book last minute I look at 75% off as a target price. Example, our 10 day out of Venice was running over $2,000 pp in the winter/spring preceding our vacation. We ended up paying $500pp in June for a July departure.  

 

What is your date of sailing? Approximate Price paid and category? Let's track your cruise to see. I could be wrong, but I'm curious. I have a procedure set up for price tracking, so I can track the difference quite easily if you are game to give it a go.

 

17 day crossing on Getaway on December 5 from Civitavecchia.  CAT MB.  Approximate booked price with all perks around $4500. 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, ECCruise said:

17 day crossing on Getaway on December 5 from Civitavecchia.  CAT MB.  Approximate booked price with all perks around $4500. 

 

Thanks for playing along! It's hard to compare apples to apples, so by approximate booked price I'm assuming you mean total out of pocket (not deducting OBC, etc..). 

 

This is what I found today for a CAT MB all in. Of course these are published prices and pre-covid we could get 10% in OBC consistently, but I'm not sure how that policy is going to fair after resumption so I'll leave all the OBC out of the equation. 

 

 

Let's see what happens as we get closer to sailing. Pre-covid 🙂

 

 

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thanks for playing along! It's hard to compare apples to apples, so by approximate booked price I'm assuming you mean total out of pocket (not deducting OBC, etc..). 

 

This is what I found today for a CAT MB all in. Of course these are published prices and pre-covid we could get 10% in OBC consistently, but I'm not sure how that policy is going to fair after resumption so I'll leave all the OBC out of the equation. 

 

 

Let's see what happens as we get closer to sailing. Pre-covid 🙂

 

 

Yes.  The price is all in, no deductions.   And keeping OBC out of the equation makes sense.

[BermudaBound2014]

Just now, ECCruise said:

Yes.  The price is all in, no deductions.   And keeping OBC out of the equation makes sense.

 

According to today's pricing, you have a great deal!! It is rare that MB's drop below $1,000 pre-covid. I feel like all my pricing spreadsheets are worthless as we navigate into resumption pricing, but this is as good of a place to start as any. Thanks again 🙂

[Hadacareer]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Typically when I book last minute I look at 75% off as a target price. Example, our 10 day out of Venice was running over $2,000 pp in the winter/spring preceding our vacation. We ended up paying $500pp in June for a July departure.  

 

What is your date of sailing? Approximate Price paid and category? Let's track your cruise to see. I could be wrong, but I'm curious. I have a procedure set up for price tracking, so I can track the difference quite easily if you are game to give it a go.

 

Would appreciate that too! Getaway 17 day ta in category H6 (3 of us)

[complawyer]

fyi, i booked a trans atlantic from lisbon to rio on the star from (14 day) 11/27/2022 thru 12/18/2022 in a suite. at 1st  booked the dos with 2 balconies, and then i switched to the 2bedroom. the 2 is 4015 per person, i dont think thats a bad deal. we decided  to stay on for the additinal 7 days from rio to buenos aries . all  the suites seemed to be reasonably priced to me.  

 

and yes, ive booked suites on ncl before.  this was a price i couldnt pass up

[complawyer]

we are also on the getaway this nov 11 days athens to rome. again i booked a 2 bedroom as we are goingto have at least 3 maybe 4 people. price just went down to 6100 per. for the 2 bedroom haven, i think thats a great price, especially on the getaway which is one of our favorite ships, and it has the haven enclave + 3rd and 4th cruise fares are really cheap.  

[4774Papa]

4 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thanks for playing along! It's hard to compare apples to apples, so by approximate booked price I'm assuming you mean total out of pocket (not deducting OBC, etc..). 

 

This is what I found today for a CAT MB all in. Of course these are published prices and pre-covid we could get 10% in OBC consistently, but I'm not sure how that policy is going to fair after resumption so I'll leave all the OBC out of the equation. 

 

 

Let's see what happens as we get closer to sailing. Pre-covid 🙂

 

 

Royal C. has a TA from Rome to the USA for about $1000 pp in Nov. 2022.  No perks, but if you are Diamond, you get four free drinks on your cabin card every day.

[complawyer]

1 hour ago, 4774Papa said:

Royal C. has a TA from Rome to the USA for about $1000 pp in Nov. 2022.  No perks, but if you are Diamond, you get four free drinks on your cabin card every day.

but what category cabin?

[AmazedByCruising]

12 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I think that most "great deals" are a thing of the past, until the lines recover from the cash hemorrhage of the covid shutdown. 

 

That's not how it works.. Lines simply raising prices because of Covid redirects their customers to other lines, all inclusives, or they might decide to finally get a pool in their backyard instead of a cruise. Nobody thinks bread is worth more just because the baker happened to have lost at the casino and they feel sorry for the baker. 

 

The lines weren't sort of subsidizing repositioning cruises because they thought they earned enough already and felt they should give away some great deals. They tried to fill ships at the highest possible fare, and some itineraries needed incentives to get them filled. That's what they did pre-Covid and that's what they'll do now.  

 

My guess is that ships sail at much less capacity than pre-covid and the lines simply don't need low fares to get them filled. 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Cruise ships need bodies onboard to generate revenue. 

 

"On average, tickets account for 62% of total revenue and onboard purchases make up the remaining 38%."

The economics of cruise ships (thehustle.co)

 

The estimates vary depending on source, but this is one estimate for 2021: "The average per passenger per day cruise expense is projected to be $214.25, with $152.12 per person per day ticket price and $62.13 per person per day on board spending"

Financial Breakdown of Typical Cruiser | Cruise Market Watch

 

The Pre-covid industry standard had been to fill cabins last minute in order to generate onboard revenue. 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by BermudaBound2014

[4774Papa]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

but what category cabin?

Balcony