Darfun Posted February 14, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Is there any websites or apps that monitor the cost of cruises. There is a 4 day cruise onboard the volendam on May 6, 2023 that i am interested in. But hoping the cost comes down on it before I book. I have been monitoring the price but instead of checking the website every day I would rather have a alert set up for it. I contacted my PCC and the price he gave me wasn't any better then the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Darfun said: Is there any websites or apps that monitor the cost of cruises. There is a 4 day cruise onboard the volendam on May 6, 2023 that i am interested in. But hoping the cost comes down on it before I book. I have been monitoring the price but instead of checking the website every day I would rather have a alert set up for it. I contacted my PCC and the price he gave me wasn't any better then the website. If you want more for your money use a good Travel Agency , most of the time they will drop the cost & or give you on board credits . If the On board Credit is totally from the Travel agency & you do not use it you get credit for that amount against your credit card on file .This is the best way to save ,another way to save is book any HAL cruise within 90 days of them listing the cruise & HAL will also give you on board credit .That one from the cruise line you must use it or loose it .so now you have 2 ways to save . CC shows some Travel Agents names advertised for new cruises .you can check them out .you will find the info for Travel Agents on Cruise Critic on the top of the page under the words "DEALS" or "Find A Cruise " .These are at the top of the page where you login Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamthesea Posted February 14, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) There is not as far as I know. However, have you checked availability? It could be that the cruise is almost sold out. If that is the case, then the prices will not go down. Best to book it while you can get a stateroom! Edited February 14, 2023 by Iamthesea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 14, 2023 5 minutes ago, Iamthesea said: There is not as far as I know. However, have you checked availability? It could be that the cruise is almost sold out. If that is the case, then the prices will not go down. Best to book it while you can get a stateroom! There is a problem with this is that you usually will never get a cabin of your choice or a great location on the ship if you wait until after final payment . Take the OBCs from HAL if booked with in 90days & take the Travel Agent OBC . IMO best ways to save & get your pick of cabin types & locations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted February 14, 2023 #5 Share Posted February 14, 2023 10 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said: If you want more for your money use a good Travel Agency , most of the time they will drop the cost & or give you on board credits . If the On board Credit is totally from the Travel agency & you do not use it you get credit for that amount against your credit card on file .This is the best way to save ,another way to save is book any HAL cruise within 90 days of them listing the cruise & HAL will also give you on board credit .That one from the cruise line you must use it or loose it .so now you have 2 ways to save . CC shows some Travel Agents names advertised for new cruises .you can check them out I’ve yet to find a ta to get me any discount. Small amount of obc maybe. The last one I attempted to work with wanted to charge me about $700 over the hal website then blamed me for it. To the op, there used to be a website that did that. Don’t know if it’s around but we can’t mention it. The problem was if you had Mariners pricing it didn’t work for that. Cruise critic had a tool at one point. Don’t know if they still do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said: I’ve yet to find a ta to get me any discount. Small amount of obc maybe. The last one I attempted to work with wanted to charge me about $700 over the hal website then blamed me for it. To the op, there used to be a website that did that. Don’t know if it’s around but we can’t mention it. The problem was if you had Mariners pricing it didn’t work for that. Cruise critic had a tool at one point. Don’t know if they still do. In most cases the Travel Agency will give a On board Credit .In the last HAL cruise we booked on board koningsdam, Dec 20, 2022 for the 14 night Solar Eclipse Mexico on Zaandam ,14 night cruise we got $500 OBC from HAL for booking on the ship & that it just came out with in the 90 day period .Then when it went to my TA they gave me $600 off the cruise price that I got on the ship . We booked into a EE handicap cabin The Deposit was just $200 for a cruise that topped $5000 Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 14, 2023 It was a very good deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted February 14, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said: In most cases the Travel Agency will give a On board Credit .In the last HAL cruise we booked on board koningsdam, Dec 20, 2022 for the 14 night Solar Eclipse Mexico on Zaandam ,14 night cruise we got $500 OBC from HAL for booking on the ship & that it just came out with in the 90 day period .Then when it went to my TA they gave me $600 off the cruise price that I got on the ship . We booked into a EE handicap cabin The Deposit was just $200 for a cruise that topped $5000 My cruises aren’t cheap either. I’ve gotten maybe $50. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said: My cruises aren’t cheap either. I’ve gotten maybe $50. I jusr looked at my file folder total with port taxes botton line cost $5638 total - $200 deposit = $5438.00 & that was with the $600 off from the TA ,We also got Club Orange Forgot to say the we bought the $100 each FCC & used that as a deposit .So if you add up the ONV the HAL gives on the on board FCC & within 90says that is how we got the $500 OBC from HAL .Still nor a cheap cruise $201.36 per night each of us .The OBC covers all the gratuities of $434 . We will have some OBC left for Canaletto & Pinnacle for lunch .Our 18 night on Koningsdam Hawaii Jan30 ,2024 was a tad less with club Orange than this 15 night cruise Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalspin Posted February 14, 2023 #10 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Cliff, the OP already has a cruise in mind and it is almost upon us, not going to get Launch-Fare OBC. Neither is any TA going to give much if any OBC for a 4-day cruise. @DarfunSometimes a PCC can "see" things not available on the website. They are of course employed by the cruiseline and can only operate with the boundaries thereof. I love my PCC and she has in fact saved me money and made my life easier. You are already within Final Payment I believe, so no deposit will be refundable, and cabin availability will (probably) be diminishing. If cabin is of no concern, just keep watching -- I don't know of any app or website that does what you asked for. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Cost of Cruises definitely has gone up . Although we have a outside hamdicap cabin we can get to the promenade viewing very easy .The balcony on this ship are suites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, crystalspin said: Cliff, the OP already has a cruise in mind and it is almost upon us, not going to get Launch-Fare OBC. Neither is any TA going to give much if any OBC for a 4-day cruise. @DarfunSometimes a PCC can "see" things not available on the website. They are of course employed by the cruiseline and can only operate with the boundaries thereof. I love my PCC and she has in fact saved me money and made my life easier. You are already within Final Payment I believe, so no deposit will be refundable, and cabin availability will (probably) be diminishing. If cabin is of no concern, just keep watching -- I don't know of any app or website that does what you asked for. Good luck! If I were the OP I would look for a cruise that just came out or wait for one for HAL to launch . The OP should get a hood TA ,we never miss getting much better prices & or good OBCs from our TA .Additionally ,when we are on a cruise I always buy my FCCs on the ship & look for a new cruise the just came out .You know that is the best way . BTW HAL knew who my TA was & automatically assigned it to them .Then the TA gave us the $600 off HALs price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida_gal_50 Posted February 14, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 14, 2023 5 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said: If I were the OP I would look for a cruise that just came out or wait for one for HAL to launch . The OP should get a hood TA ,we never miss getting much better prices & or good OBCs from our TA .Additionally ,when we are on a cruise I always buy my FCCs on the ship & look for a new cruise the just came out .You know that is the best way . BTW HAL knew who my TA was & automatically assigned it to them .Then the TA gave us the $600 off HALs price I’ve rarely found good prices out of the gate. I would say 90 percent of my cruises have gone down a ton between booking and when they sailed. There is a fine line when getting close to the sail date. I found some really good pricing on an April cruise but it was for an oceanview room. I could live with that but there were no cabanas available so it’s a deal breaker for me. If it’s an “exotic” cruise that’s a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said: I’ve rarely found good prices out of the gate. I would say 90 percent of my cruises have gone down a ton between booking and when they sailed. There is a fine line when getting close to the sail date. I found some really good pricing on an April cruise but it was for an oceanview room. I could live with that but there were no cabanas available so it’s a deal breaker for me. If it’s an “exotic” cruise that’s a different story. I always check our cruise prices to see if there were price reductions .as you are aware that if you cancel & rebook you loose the perks ,so the price has to be a lot better to cancel & rebook .Our TA can do it & keep the same cabin for us . On the smaller ships there are not many handicap cabins another reason we booked it early to secure that cabin We will look at this cruise in 6 months from now than periodically ro see ig prices dropped . Better chance of price drops on the Pinnacle class or even the Eurodam class shops because of the many cabin types Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darfun Posted February 14, 2023 Author #15 Share Posted February 14, 2023 I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 14, 2023 4 minutes ago, Darfun said: I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. what is a" shop cruise" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrcruiser Posted February 14, 2023 #17 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Just now, mcrcruiser said: what is a" shop cruise" ? Just now, mcrcruiser said: what is a" shop cruise" ? 5 minutes ago, Darfun said: I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. The only cruises we ever have seen from Vancouver are Alaska ,Hawaii & Repositioning back south when the Alaska season ends . What cruise are you looking to book . to where ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlsSalt Posted February 14, 2023 #18 Share Posted February 14, 2023 I am seeing $149 -$449 for this cruise depending on cabin choice, with the warning -limited availability. Which usually means, there suddenly is no availability at the lower price point. You have a good deal on this cruise right now. Waiting for the "best deal" is likely not to happen. It is probably not going to get better than $37 a night. At least for four days, a bad cabin (over a noisy venue) won't be a deal breaker. Unless you can get one of the free casino cruises - and don't factor in any potential gambling losses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suncitycruiser1925 Posted February 14, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 14, 2023 There is an app. called Shipmate. You can add your cruise under my cruises and click on the tab/button for notify of price change. I believe you will be notified by email by a price change. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalspin Posted February 14, 2023 #20 Share Posted February 14, 2023 1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said: what is a" shop cruise" ? Maybe "short cruise". Here is the itinerary in question: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/L3P04A/V319.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darfun Posted February 14, 2023 Author #21 Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said: what is a" shop cruise" ? Meant to say "short cruise". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFNavigator Posted February 14, 2023 #22 Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 hours ago, Suncitycruiser1925 said: There is an app. called Shipmate. You can add your cruise under my cruises and click on the tab/button for notify of price change. I believe you will be notified by email by a price change. Cruisewatch dot com also has a price tracker. The site has a cruise price alert to notify you if the price changes on a specific cruise. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niknot Posted February 14, 2023 #23 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Cruiseplum is another site that has a section for each cruise which shows historical pricing for each general cabin type. From what I can see the data is pulled directly from each cruise line's website. It has a ton of data available. You will need to use your filters. For example, you can drill down to specific port stops. Not all lines are covered though. If you are looking at the luxury lines they aren't there but the mass market US/Canada ones are. Carnival brands, RCI brands, MSC and so on. There are multiple sections to look at. They have a "Hot Deals" section, a "Less than 30 days deal" section, a list of price drops which have taken place in the past day as well as the past three days and so forth. If you sign in it is possible to be notified with price changes but I haven't tried that yet. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Colorado Klutch Posted February 14, 2023 #24 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Do some research before selecting a travel agent. I know we can't mention specific agents, but be aware there are many levels of service. I asked my friends if they could recommend a TA and nobody could. They all book everything themselves. I saw a TA on YouTube who made a video onboard Koningsdam for an Alaska cruise. This was the cruise I was considering, so I contacted her. I heard nothing after a few days, so I booked the cruise myself. A week later, I received an email. I thought she could still help me since she had been on the same ship. I transferred my booking to her. Turned out I was dealing with an associate who has never sailed with Holland America. She is very nice and tries to be helpful, but it's clear she's still learning the ropes. Not a bad experience, but not what I was expecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Native Floridian 26 Posted February 14, 2023 #25 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Not sure if this has been mentioned but there is a website where TAs "compete" for your business by giving you offers/bids on a specific sailing. We use this often and have booked with a few agencies based on their offer. HAL and Princess cruises can be discounted and they'll give you OBC too. You can even transfer from a HAL booking to a TA booking and they generally keep the offer they gave you even though it's not a new booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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