New Sales and Current Bookings

[seabourn_noob]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find a good Seabourn discussion on it.

 

You book a cruise well in advance.  In my case I'm on the June 22nd Pursuit cruise which doesn't require any committment at all (10%) until 2/23.  Then they announce today two category upgrades and "up to $2000" in OBC.  Why should I, or my travel agent, have to monitor these sales?  Obviously I can rebook and take advantage of the sale.  And clearly if I were Seabourn offering such a sale, I'd expect everyone who had already booked to do so.  But wouldn't Seabourn get great credit from the customer (they certainly would from me) if they just automatically offered the deal to customers who could rebook at no cost?  By forcing me (or my travel agent) to play this game. they certainly lose goodwill from me.  Maybe they don't care... but it doesn't seem like a great way to treat a customer.

[frantic36]

@seabourn_noob I have booked with a few cruise lines ie Silversea, Regent and the old Crystal and have no recollection of any cruise line doing what you ask. Do you have a different experience?

[seabourn_noob]

I do not. And I'm not trying to compare Seabourn with any other line. (I've sailed on Seabourn, Crystal, Oceania, and its semi-predecessor Renaissance. ). But this case seems particularly odd, since the cruise line doesn't have anything they can count on until 6 months before the cruise, and you'd think they'd have an eye towards keeping those booked but uncommitted customers happy. And of course if the sailing is already pretty full, they clearly can exclude any particular cruise from the offer. Again, this could be common in the cruise industry, but to take another example, I just ordered a car that took five months to arrive, but the dealer automatically added current incentives when I took possession without my asking. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by seabourn_noob

[markham]

Airlines, car rental agencies and hotels don’t either and they have more customers/products/experience with managing margins than cruise lines do. That’s just the way it is. 
 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[markandjie]

6 hours ago, seabourn_noob said:

I just ordered a car that took five months to arrive, but the dealer automatically added current incentives when I took possession without my asking. 

 

This sounds amazing in the current market. I keep hearing stories of people being asked to pay more or the dealer will sell the car to those who will. 

[Vineyard View]

I do not know of any other cruise line who will proactively approach their customers with a better price. It truly is up to the consumer/customer to track these sales and act upon them when available. 

[seabourn_noob]

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

This sounds amazing in the current market. I keep hearing stories of people being asked to pay more or the dealer will sell the car to those who will. 

I've heard (and seen) the same thing, but this is an example of what I'm talking about.  The companies that treat their customers well (while still making a profit, of course) are the ones that gain long-run customer loyalty, which (if your product is good) is much more lucrative than a short-term couple of thousand bucks.

Edited November 3, 2023 by seabourn_noob
typo

[JMB56]

I really do not see how Seabourn’s behaviour is very different from nearly any other company.  
 

I just purchased a bespoke MacBook directly from Apple because my existing laptop couldn’t be repaired.  Yesterday, I saw a Black Friday preview article that suggested that some MacBooks could be discounted by 10 per cent later this month.  

 

I asked whether I could have this discount applied to the machine I previously ordered.  The answer was “No”. I could cancel my order, wait for the machines to go on sale (if they do), and then wait another several weeks for the machine to be built to my specifications.  Unfortunately, I cannot wait a month for a new laptop (since I am heading to Antarctica later this month on Venture), so I must pay the higher price if I want extra storage and RAM.

 

I know this example is not fully comparable with the problem being discussed, but I think it’s similar enough.

[seabourn_noob]

I agree... It's similar. I guess I just need to ratchet down my expectations of everything. 

 

To your example, department stores (remember department stores?) Would routinely give good customers a few days break on a sale, but I admit that stopped around 10 years ago...just around the time department stores stopped making money. 

[margbem]

In the UK we can't cancel and rebook or we would lose our deposit. Only if the saving was substantial would it be worth it.

[seabourn_noob]

14 minutes ago, margbem said:

In the UK we can't cancel and rebook or we would lose our deposit. Only if the saving was substantial would it be worth it.

Yep... that's very different.  And if I were subject to rules like that, I would wait around for deals to book anything.  

 

PS: I've gotten $3,000 OBC (we have 3 V4 cabins) and I'm waitlisted for the upgrades.  So it has all worked out, at the cost of eternal vigilance,.