Any fellow Brits ever received anything following a price drop?

[edinburgher]

Not a question most Brits would ask as the price quoted on the day we book is just that--the price. The cost may increase after that but we do not pay any extra, the downside being that if the price goes down, it would be unusual to receive anything by way of recompense, not even an upgrade or OBC.

 

Obviously we would be interested to know if any fellow Brits ever received anything following a price drop-(and the cruise line or agent used if CC allows that).

Edited June 12, 2022 by edinburgher

[Host Kat]

8 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Not a question most Brits would ask as the price quoted on the day we book is just that--the price. The cost may increase after that but we do not pay any extra, the downside being that if the price goes down, it would be unusual to receive anything by way of recompense, not even an upgrade or OBC.

 

Obviously we would be interested to know if any fellow Brits ever received anything following a price drop-(and the cruise line or agent used if CC allows that).

 

Howdy @edinburgher 

 

Thank you for your inquiry in the thread titled When do you ask your TA for a price adjustment? located on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! 👍 However, your inquiry is UK specific and probably will not receive the replies you need.

 

To help you out I have split your post out of the thread and made it a new thread on the UK Cruisers forum. Your fellow UK Cruise Critic members can provide feedback to you here. 

 

Be sure to use the Follow feature on this new thread. You won't have to go   

l👀king to see if there are new replies on your Followed threads because they will all come l👀king for you as notifications!  If you need more info on how to do it, please click the following: How to: Follow Topics & Forums (Subscribed Threads/Forums Info)

 

And per the Guidelines all members agree to follow when registering for their free Cruise Critic memberships, TA names or even hints of TA names are not allowed. Please see the Travel Agent Recommendations section for more information.

 

Hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

 

[edinburgher]

Apologies Host Kat.  I had a feeling that I read that TA names were not allowed but wasn't actually 100% sure.  Of more interest would actually be the name of any cruise line which Brita can book (and I know many of the more "international" lines do not allow us to book) which may allow some form of recompense when prices drop after booking. Is naming a cruise line allowed?  If not I can delete the post.

 

I think Brits book later than Americans (and maybe other nationalities too) due to our booking day prices being so fixed.  There is always the hope that initial release pricing will drop after a time.

[Host Kat]

21 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Apologies Host Kat.  I had a feeling that I read that TA names were not allowed but wasn't actually 100% sure.  Of more interest would actually be the name of any cruise line which Brita can book (and I know many of the more "international" lines do not allow us to book) which may allow some form of recompense when prices drop after booking. Is naming a cruise line allowed?  If not I can delete the post.

 

I think Brits book later than Americans (and maybe other nationalities too) due to our booking day prices being so fixed.  There is always the hope that initial release pricing will drop after a time.

 

No problem. Naming cruise lines on the boards... yes. Naming or touting a travel agency or your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise on the boards... no. Now you know for sure!  

 

Found some "oldie but goodie" Cruise Critic articles (please note the ooooold last update dates): Finding a UK Cruise Deal, U.K. Passengers Paying the Price to Cruise and WhatTo Do If Your U.K. Cruise Travel Agent or Operator Goes Bust?. The last one led me to a UK site that may be helpful: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/booking-holiday

[John Bull]

Price drops for already-booked cruises don't happen with cruises booked from the UK (or, I think, from Aus).

Royal Caribbean did a UK "Price Promise" for a couple of years, about 10 years back. But the terms & conditions were so restrictive that it wasn't really a promise, altho a few benefitted. But refusals to honour the "promise" because of small-print caused a lot of grief & was bad PR for RCI that they dropped it.

 

The only way to get a price-drop is to book thro a US travel agent That's if they're still offered in the US , (Kat????) cos I've not seen any mention of Price-Drop promises here on CC for many a year.

BTW booking thro a US agent has its advantages (deposits returned if you cancel before final-payment date, prices usually lower) and its dis-advantages (US agents are not bonded by an equivalent to ABTA, some obligatory costs such as taxes & port fees may not be included in the promoted price, &  some terms & conditions for cruisers are far more onerous because US consumer-laws are nowhere near as strict as in the UK or Europe or Aus. You're also at the mercy of £ and $ exchange rates between booking and final payment.

We booked thro a US agent just the once decades ago. It worked out well, but the price differentials have since been much smaller, and retirement means we can book late when we see any late offers.

 

JB  🙂

[Host Kat]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

... That's if they're still offered in the US , (Kat????)...

 

IIRC, a UK person uses a US address as their home address when booking with a US TA. But then... as we say here in Texas... I've slept since then. Could very well be wrong nowadays.

 

[John Bull]

3 minutes ago, Host Kat said:

 

IIRC, a UK person uses a US address as their home address when booking with a US TA. But then... as we say here in Texas... I've slept since then. Could very well be wrong nowadays.

 

 

Yes, that's what we did years  back (correction - that's what the T/A did for us)

 

But are price-drop promises still around in the US ?

As in you book for $1,000. Then the price drops a few weeks later and the cruise line drops your price   (sometimes only if you mention the lower price & ask them to drop yours).

 

JB 🙂 

[edinburgher]

No problem. Naming cruise lines on the boards... yes. Naming or touting a travel agency or your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise on the boards... no. Now you know for sure!  

 

 

Thank you Host Kat for clarification.  I should have known that.  Not really expecting any cruise line info for dropping prices, and I didn't intend it to be a new thread, as  was only throwing in my thoughts to a thread already up and running, as I only wanted to make the point that for Brits(and maybe others too) there is no "when" to approach a TA (or a cruise line) about price drop  matching as it doesn't exist here.  And unless things have changed in this new strange world we all now inhabit, the option of cancelling and rebooking (also popular with Americans)  is only available to us if we forfeit the original deposit.  If the drop is large enough, it might sometimes pay to forfeit the original deposit and rebook, but otherwise it isn't (as far as I know) a viable option most of the time although i think I read somewhere that there is some flexibility in these early"return to cruising"days.

 

PLEASE PLEASE Feel free to delete the entire thread as it wasn't intended to be a serious thread at all, only a throwaway remark, and I won't make that mistake again.

Edited June 13, 2022 by edinburgher

[FamilyCruiserUK]

We had a price change for our upcoming RCl cruise in Aug from Italy. We got the kids sale free price promotion. Reduced our costs by aeound £400  However the only reason we got the re-price was that we booked during the cruise with confidence promotion. 

 

Otherwise as usual us brits are sc***ed...

[sandancer]

On 6/13/2022 at 3:07 AM, Host Kat said:

 

IIRC, a UK person uses a US address as their home address when booking with a US TA. But then... as we say here in Texas... I've slept since then. Could very well be wrong nowadays.

 

You no longer need an address in the US. We regularly book with a TA in Florida and always give our home address. We also get price drops when they are applicable but generally find out about them through the roll call for our cruise. The TA does not automatically get them for us, we have to ask. 

[Host Kat]

On 6/12/2022 at 9:17 PM, John Bull said:

... But are price-drop promises still around in the US ?...

 

Oh yes. Price drops are one of the things shared on Roll Call threads as @sandancer mentions. Hopefully fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with them can do the same. The other members contact their cruise line if booked direct or their TA or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" to see if their booking qualifies. However, it can sometimes be a cancel & rebook situation. When that happens, there are times where the perks on the original booking do not qualify on the rebook. And then sometimes they are better as @FamilyCruiserUK mentions.  The cruiser just has to weigh their options and decide what they want to do. Here is a current thread on the Princess Cruises forum: JUST SAVED OVER $3000 ON BOOKED CRUISE ON WEBSITE

 

On 6/13/2022 at 10:18 AM, edinburgher said:

... PLEASE PLEASE Feel free to delete the entire thread as it wasn't intended to be a serious thread at all, only a throwaway remark, and I won't make that mistake again.

 

I appreciate your concern, but it appears others ARE interested and are taking this thread seriously.

 

[wowzz]

A couple of cruise lines, Saga and P&O always offer the lowest prices at launch. Indeed, P&O have some great deals if you book on launch day.

Princess, on the other hand, often have excellent offers six months or so from sail date, and I have twice re-fared via my TA, when the promotional prices were less that the fares I had booked.

[sharton]

Regarding price drops, the only experience I’ve ever had was some years ago when I was making final payment and my TA decided to check the price. I saved £1000! I was told We’d lose the drinks package but when we got on board we still had it. This was cruise on Celebrity Equinox. Hoping it happens again this year when we sail Celebrity in September but I’m not holding my breath.

[Dinglebert]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:04 PM, wowzz said:

A couple of cruise lines, Saga and P&O always offer the lowest prices at launch. Indeed, P&O have some great deals if you book on launch day.

Princess, on the other hand, often have excellent offers six months or so from sail date, and I have twice re-fared via my TA, when the promotional prices were less that the fares I had booked.

Not true for our PandO cruise next April.  We booked when released, in truth we moved April 22 to April 23.  We paid £1698 with £60 room credit for cruise and flights for the two of us.  Current price seen today is £1748 with ££270 room credit.

[wowzz]

16 hours ago, Dinglebert said:

Not true for our PandO cruise next April.  We booked when released, in truth we moved April 22 to April 23.  We paid £1698 with £60 room credit for cruise and flights for the two of us.  Current price seen today is £1748 with ££270 room credit.

As you will know from the P&O forum, the obc situation is extremely strange at the moment, with P&O seemingly chucking it around at random.

So yes, currently the advice about booking at launch for the best price does seem wrong.

In due course however,  I suspect the advice will again be  valid.

[Mim Lloyd]

Well over year ago I booked a P & O cruise on Arvia for March 2023, it included £400 OBC. Last week I noticed that if I booked it now the overall price would be £100 cheaper and would come with £800 OBC instead of the £400 I had. So I got P & O to move my booking to another random cruise and then immediately move it back to the original cruise in the same cabin, this meant I didn't lose my deposit and got the cheaper price and the £800 OBC. 

 

I was on a 2 week B2B RCI Caribbean in January and after I paid my final balance I noticed that the cruise prices had plummeted since I booked at the beginning of COVID. Luckily I'd booked while RCI were offering their price promise and they refunded me £1900. Couldn't believe it!! 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Mim Lloyd said:

Well over year ago I booked a P & O cruise on Arvia for March 2023, it included £400 OBC. Last week I noticed that if I booked it now the overall price would be £100 cheaper and would come with £800 OBC instead of the £400 I had. So I got P & O to move my booking to another random cruise and then immediately move it back to the original cruise in the same cabin, this meant I didn't lose my deposit and got the cheaper price and the £800 OBC. 

 

I was on a 2 week B2B RCI Caribbean in January and after I paid my final balance I noticed that the cruise prices had plummeted since I booked at the beginning of COVID. Luckily I'd booked while RCI were offering their price promise and they refunded me £1900. Couldn't believe it!! 

 

 

Sneaky lady 👍

 

JB 🙂

[FamilyCruiserUK]

16 hours ago, Mim Lloyd said:

Well over year ago I booked a P & O cruise on Arvia for March 2023, it included £400 OBC. Last week I noticed that if I booked it now the overall price would be £100 cheaper and would come with £800 OBC instead of the £400 I had. So I got P & O to move my booking to another random cruise and then immediately move it back to the original cruise in the same cabin, this meant I didn't lose my deposit and got the cheaper price and the £800 OBC. 

 

I was on a 2 week B2B RCI Caribbean in January and after I paid my final balance I noticed that the cruise prices had plummeted since I booked at the beginning of COVID. Luckily I'd booked while RCI were offering their price promise and they refunded me £1900. Couldn't believe it!! 

Great idea to move cruises around. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 7/13/2022 at 8:52 AM, wowzz said:

As you will know from the P&O forum, the obc situation is extremely strange at the moment, with P&O seemingly chucking it around at random.

So yes, currently the advice about booking at launch for the best price does seem wrong.

In due course however,  I suspect the advice will again be  valid.

We looked at two weeks from Southampton on Arvia in Aug 23. However when we first looked during the jubilie sale the pricing betwen select and saver was like £800 difference. With £50 OBS. So we spent a month tracking a RCL cruise price out of barcelona. But last week we had an email from P&O with their current OBS offer. The select and saver price was little diffence but with select we got £270 per person OBS which is huge for an inside room. All together it was cheaper for two weeks on Arvia when compared to 1 week inc flights/transfer on RCL Symphony out of barcelona. Ive never seen an OBC offer that much before and it tipped our hand back to P&O. But yeah weird. 

[wowzz]

48 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

We looked at two weeks from Southampton on Arvia in Aug 23. However when we first looked during the jubilie sale the pricing betwen select and saver was like £800 difference. With £50 OBS. So we spent a month tracking a RCL cruise price out of barcelona. But last week we had an email from P&O with their current OBS offer. The select and saver price was little diffence but with select we got £270 per person OBS which is huge for an inside room. All together it was cheaper for two weeks on Arvia when compared to 1 week inc flights/transfer on RCL Symphony out of barcelona. Ive never seen an OBC offer that much before and it tipped our hand back to P&O. But yeah weird. 

Yup, we've just booked Britannia  ( a phrase I never thought I would write!) for September 2023 and for a standard balcony cabin we got a total of £760 obc (£380 each), plus free car parking ! Then there will be shareholder obc to be added to that as well !  Very generous, or sales are very poor, and incentives are needed.

At least I won't have to worry about the bar bill !

[John Bull]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

 

At least I won't have to worry about the bar bill !

 

No.

But you might have to worry about walking in a tolerably straight line down the corridor every night without bouncing off the walls. 🤣🤣🤣

 

JB 🙂

[Mim Lloyd]

On our first cruise back in 2004 we bumped in to old workmates on the 2nd day. Us wives headed off to bed about midnight and left them to have (supposedly) one last drink. Neither of them gamble but they decided to have a few minutes in the Casino before going off to bed. Well, they unexpectedly won a large amount of money and weren't happy that it had to be credited to their onboard accounts.  So they decided to stay in the Casino bar and have more drinks, as after all they were 'free!' Me and the other wife were each woken in the morning by 2 members of the crew propping up our husbands. They were so drunk neither of them could remember where they were or where they should be sleeping. I dragged him into the room and apologised profusely to the nice people who had escorted him. I shut the door and turned round just in time to stop him mistaking the wardrobe for the toilet. 🙄 He suffered all the next day and couldn't face using any more of the OBC!

[Britboys]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:04 PM, wowzz said:

A couple of cruise lines, Saga and P&O always offer the lowest prices at launch. Indeed, P&O have some great deals if you book on launch day.

Princess, on the other hand, often have excellent offers six months or so from sail date, and I have twice re-fared via my TA, when the promotional prices were less that the fares I had booked.

It doesn't happen frequently but Saga do occasionally drop prices on their cruises. They do however offer a sort of price guarantee whereby they will either refund the difference or upgrade your cabin. In practice from what I've seen elsewhere, it tends to be the latter.

[MBP&O2/O]

Uk based ....

We booked, and paid in full some months ago, for a cruise next year.

I noticed last week the price had decreases so I asked our TA about it ....

Managed a £500 refund and a suite upgrade.

So yes it does happen.

[Issyalex]

I received a £250 cheque after my Celebrity cruise dropped in price several years ago after final payment. I had to phone my TA to follow up the price drop as I’d been keeping an eye on my cruise price but they hadn’t. They really didn’t know anything about the price drop or if us Brits could get it. After my insistence they did phone celebrity and I received my £250. 
 

Any other Celebrity or RCI cruise I’ve booked have always went up not down in price.