Do prices drop close to sail date?

[christybell]

Hello, 

 

This is our first Celebrity cruise having sailed other lines. We are booked on Reflection 1/12 and our friends have decided they may join us. I have been tracking prices and prices are now higher (Veranda cabin) than they were the week before Christmas. There appears to be plenty to available cabins, is it worth waiting to see if prices decrease. Do Celebrity normally discount with 2 weeks to go?

 

Any advise welcome- thanks

[Bo1953]

cb - these being un-precedent times in terms of cruising, personally, I would NOT pin hopes on getting a price drop close to sailing on any X ship, currently.

 

There may be, but no one will really know except HQ.... but with reduced passenger loads on all ships currently, health requirements in place, if your friends wish to go they need to go ahead and make reservations now and do it.

 

If the price drops between the time they fully pay and sail date it is possible that the difference will be paid in OBC.

 

Good luck and bon voyage

[wrk2cruise]

Generally I've not seen prices drop in the last 30 days or so.  At this point you may just see a new promo pop up at anytime but sometimes exclude sailings that are very close in.   I agree with Bo, if they want to join you in January they should just book now.

[TeeRick]

Royal Caribbean has closed late bookings for January cruises on some of their ships to keep the capacity down according to the Cruise Critic News.  Celebrity might follow this strategy.  You never know so why take a chance?

[true45]

Yesterday I checked our Jan 15 sailing and the next one on Apex & it said sold out which I took to mean they weren’t taking any more bookings per Royal Caribbean announcement.

 

Hope our sailing happens 

 

Happy sailing to us all ⛴🌴🌝

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

Perhaps there is a slim chance that there will be some savings if and when “Wave Season” kicks in…usually January 1.

 

The keywords in the above sentiment are:

Perhaps

Slim

If

(and)

Usually.

 

[Jim_Iain]

Celebrity has been using other ways to liquidate unsold cabins as of late.   This includes the Move-Up program and blocking cruises for agency and consolidators.  With the current covid price matching  until 2 days prior to sailing, if Celebrity drops the price they dilute their already booked revenue. 

 

You probably now have a much better chance of a Move-Up offer at a low price being accepted depending on the class of cabin you are in and seeking.

[christybell]

Thanks for feedback, its really helpful. Just frustrating as prices increased by over £600 overnight for a veranda cabin the week before Christmas and I had hoped the price may come back down

 

@Jim_iain- that makes sense. We are in the UK so unfortunately I don't think the best offer guarantee up till 2 days before applies to us. 

[butterfly4108]

As a former Travel Agent my advice is to go ahead and book BUT before the final payment due date they should be checking to see if the price drops.  If it does, they can call and ask for them to "re-price" their cruise so they still will have the opportunity to get the best price.  Once the final payment is due however the cruise lines won't make the adjustment...

[christybell]

1 hour ago, Palms2Pines2Sea said:

Perhaps there is a slim chance that there will be some savings if and when “Wave Season” kicks in…usually January 1.

 

The keywords in the above sentiment are:

Perhaps

Slim

If

(and)

Usually.

 

Thanks, I think we will wait till next week, as we now need to consider the uncertainty over ports allowing ships to dock and although we are happy to say on board having visited the ports previously our friends are keen to see new places. Fun times!

[wrk2cruise]

21 minutes ago, christybell said:

We are in the UK so unfortunately I don't think the best offer guarantee up till 2 days before applies to us

 

Hopefully someone in the UK will see this and be able to comment.   I do believe there is some form of this in the UK.   Look at the Cruise With Confidence info on your UK Celebrity site.