Price watch?

[Jcol5786]

Hello,

 

I'm looking at a couple of cruises in 2023. Is there a way to get  notification of a downward price change rather then doing mock bookings every time the sale changes?

 

Thanks

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

You can go to the website we're not allowed to mention here and they have an option to send emails when prices change.  The website is a real "scanner".

[cruiseguy1016]

The current "sale" has nothing to do with the price of the cruise. It's just wording they put on their web site to make people think they are getting a deal. I price check my cruises frequently. It is not uncommon for RCI to have 3 or 4 different "sales" in any time period and the bottom-line cost of the cruise does not change.

[Jcol5786]

Thanks - I understand about the RC "Sales" but bottom line prices do fluctuate especially when booking more than a year out. Seems like there might be an option based on post # 2.

[cruiseguy1016]

1 hour ago, Jcol5786 said:

Thanks - I understand about the RC "Sales" but bottom line prices do fluctuate especially when booking more than a year out. Seems like there might be an option based on post # 2.

 

The prices do fluctuate but not necessarily with every "sale". What I mean is, the "sale" can change from day to day but that does not mean the price is going to change with each new "sale". I do price checking almost daily. The current "sale" has no bearing on what the price is. I always book a year out and on almost every cruise I have been able to find a price drop in between booking and boarding the ship.

[molly361]

1 hour ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

The prices do fluctuate but not necessarily with every "sale". What I mean is, the "sale" can change from day to day but that does not mean the price is going to change with each new "sale". I do price checking almost daily. The current "sale" has no bearing on what the price is. I always book a year out and on almost every cruise I have been able to find a price drop in between booking and boarding the ship.

That's for sure. The price of the cruises that I am checking are

 

 exactly the same when the $550 off sale is going on and when it's not. Amazing

[Kathscof]

6 minutes ago, molly361 said:

That's for sure. The price of the cruises that I am checking are

 

 exactly the same when the $550 off sale is going on and when it's not. Amazing

even crazier when its in the same "sale" and the price has gone up by $100!  Always gotta jump on a price you see because I assume that they only have a certain amount of allotted VERY "sale" prices in any given sale 🙂

[At Sea At Peace]

The future cost of cruises, for all of the lines, are also affected by various uncontrollable costs, especially fuel.

 

For RCL, they reported fuel as 15% of their direct cruise operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.  That was up 50% from 10-11% for the same period in 2019 pre-pandemic.

 

Fuel has increased since September 30, 2021 however the reports have not been filed for the latest quarter or year end.

 

There is the potential for events in Europe to impact such.

 

RCL, like NCL, CCL and others, derivatively hedge fuel via swaps to minimize their exposure to severe price volatility.  However, such is not long term and only provides for a percentage of their expected fuel purchases.

 

So, if the SHTF so to speak, cruise adjustments (per the cruise agreements that include such) could also be a feature of the future in the cost of cruising.

 

Here is their current hedging on fuel.