Price Drops

[gracee]

We are booked on the Mariner of the Seas for Dec 10th and I check every day to see if the price has dropped. Am I looking too early? When do they usually offer the discounts?

[suzeyQ]

They can happen anytime. Our price dropped 6 months before our cruise but other people have had it happen a few weeks before. I don't know that you need to be checking every day but I would keep checking every few days.

[gracee]

I cana't help checking everyday--I am addicted!:)

[ChrisB123]

Do all TA's honor the lower price? Does it have to be before paying in full or what? :)

[royal4life]

last summer our price dropped about 6 weeks b/f sailing. My husband and I got $600 back. That was awesome!! I called he t/a and let her know about the price drop. She cancelled our reservations and rebooked with the new lower price.:D

[suzeyQ]

All TA's should honor the price drop and from what I've seen, most do. It doesn't matter whether it's after final payment or not - you can still get a refund if the price drops.

 

Gracee - good luck!!! :D

[Phamer55]

I doubt there will be any price drops on a Dec cruise. You should probably start checking when you are 6 months from sailing. That's when I will start checking my Jan cruise.

[ccletzgo]

All TA's should honor the price drop and from what I've seen, most do. It doesn't matter whether it's after final payment or not - you can still get a refund if the price drops.

 

Gracee - good luck!!! :D

 

 

Unless you are booked in a group. Correct? Seems a bad idea to book one year out in a group, for a 3/07 cruise?

[Aprille]

I doubt there will be any price drops on a Dec cruise.

I agree. Pre-Christmas cruises are usually among the lowest-priced cruises. Christmas/New Year's cruises are among the highest-priced. Not likely either would have price drops. Doesn't hurt to keep checking but I would say daily is a bit of an overkill. :p ;)

[firstcruise05]

I sailed on the Mariner in October. I booked the trip a year in advance and got a pretty good deal. I checked the price faithfully right up until the day before we left and the price never got lower than what we paid. Right after we booked it shot up about $400 pp and then fluctuated but never came any lower than $200 pp more than we paid. We had a big cruise critic group on that sailing as well as some other big groups so I think the ship was selling out fast and RCCL didn't have a need to drop the price too much. I guess what I am trying to say is if it is a popular sailing, there is a chance that the price won't drop at all.

 

But usually if it does, it drops closer to final payment time...as people decide they are going to cancel their booking.

[mlh715]

I have a silly question...what if you did not book through RCCL. Can you still get some money back?

[JamesFic]

It doesn't matter if you book through an agent or directly through Royal Caribbean. If the price drops, you will get a refund for the difference if you request it. The key is you (or your TA if booked by an agent) must request the adjustment - it is not automatic. As other posters have noted, these price drops do not occur for every cruise, and when they do it is usually closer to the sail date rather than 6 or 8 months out.

[J0nnyBrav0]

I booked my cruise last summer, and payed a certain amount...the travel agent i booked through has since gone out of business, and now the price dropped by about $100 .. How do i go about getting a refund for that money??

[titansfamily]

why would it be harder for a group to get a price adjustment?

thanks?:D

[CruisinDawn]

I doubt there will be any price drops on a Dec cruise. You should probably start checking when you are 6 months from sailing. That's when I will start checking my Jan cruise.

 

Sorry I tend to disagree. Some of the cheapest cruises are in Dec around the time of the poster. I would keep checking. Now if you were on Christmas week that's not going down but when your booked you have a chance.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[Phamer55]

I think some of you are missing my point about the price drops. I am not saying December do not have price drops. Early December is definitely a low season for cruises, so they can definitely experience price drops. My point is that the price will not start dropping in March for a December cruise! You can check every day if you like, but it has been my experience that you will only see price increases when you are over 6 months out from the cruise, not price decreases. But once the cruise sail date is within about 6 months, then it becomes worthwhile to starting checking the price.

[rokcop]

SCORE! We set sail sunday on AOS in an E1 and I just called RCCL customer service and gabbed a $200 credit for the price drop I noticed on their website. Never too late to take advantage.

[erisajd]

Ii would appear the boom in cruising is over -

 

price drops mean weak or demand . . . cruise companies will always have demand for prime cabins during prime weeks - but we were on Legend OTS president's week - and the boat was not full = they had room for 40 overbooks and it STILL was not full.

 

Presidents Day and the western carib is a prime week and NONE of the RCCL ships were full. I just heard an ad today on the radio from NCL looking for PAX - offering FOUR cabin class upgrades and free 3rd/4th pax per cabin.

 

This business is rapidly being overbuilt - and the cruiselines are gonna start losing money- they've already pulled all the perks out of the premium cabins compared to 3-4 years ago. . . .

[AnthonyD]

I've checked my EOS cruise price 2 times a day for 2 weeks as I've seen fares go up and down and up again all in one day. I knew a price drop was coming for this particular because I looked on several websites and saw plenty of cabins in my category unsold. Today it dropped $300. I'll take it!

 

By the way I think 1069 for an inside in June on a 9 day EOS eastern is a good price.

[AnthonyD]

I think some of you are missing my point about the price drops. I am not saying December do not have price drops. Early December is definitely a low season for cruises, so they can definitely experience price drops. My point is that the price will not start dropping in March for a December cruise! You can check every day if you like, but it has been my experience that you will only see price increases when you are over 6 months out from the cruise, not price decreases. But once the cruise sail date is within about 6 months, then it becomes worthwhile to starting checking the price.

 

A couple of observations... My cruise just dropped 12.5% today and coincidently we are now 90 days from departure date. Another thing, the cruise line did was change the promo rate from a special resident only rate to a senior rate in order to lure more bookings. I would assume that most customers who would book within 90 days would be seniors as they have more freedom to get up and go. I suspect RCI knows with 90 days to go they aren't going to get many more younger famlies and professionals and that seniors are their best chance for achieving a high occupany rate.

[ckrobyn]

I'm still waiting for a price drop.....hope it happens some day....:rolleyes:

[sophie's mom]

My dh, dd and I are going on the Vision of the Seas to Mexico in April. I booked us about 2 months ago and have been watching for a price drop. Yea, today the price dropped $500 for the first two travelers in our suite catagory. but guess what.....the third occupant rate went up $300!!! So our net savings was only $200. Yes, I know, I'll take it, I'll take it. But the really tough thing is that the third passenger rate ONLY went up in that one suite catagory. bummer......still going to keep an eye on the rates, though.:confused: