50% off versus 35% off

[clojacks]

The latest offer of 2nd guest sails free supposedly ends today...though, I have my suspicions. The 35% off ENDS TODAY scam has been ongoing for months, so I have my doubts when it says ends today. My real question is, were the prices increased at the same time the 50% off came into play, or is the 50% truly a savings over the 35% off. I wish I had been watching NCL prices, but I really haven't, so I don't know if this is a good time to bite or not.

[PhillyTravelBug]

Pretty certain they just fluctuate the prices to match the percentage off. They continually switch between 70% off first passenger on double occupancy to 35% off both.   In years past they have offered a pretty decent Veterans Day offer (US bookings). If not, I’m waiting for Black Friday / cyber Monday.

 

[cruiser2015]

12 minutes ago, clojacks said:

The latest offer of 2nd guest sails free supposedly ends today...though, I have my suspicions. The 35% off ENDS TODAY scam has been ongoing for months, so I have my doubts when it says ends today. My real question is, were the prices increased at the same time the 50% off came into play, or is the 50% truly a savings over the 35% off. I wish I had been watching NCL prices, but I really haven't, so I don't know if this is a good time to bite or not.

It's just advertising to try to capture shopper interest.

If you see something "new" being promoted, do a mock booking to check out the net price for the cruise. Then you will know for sure.

[clojacks]

24 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

It's just advertising to try to capture shopper interest.

If you see something "new" being promoted, do a mock booking to check out the net price for the cruise. Then you will know for sure.

Problem is, I didn’t check prices before, so kind of tough to do it now. I was in hopes that someone who HAS been checking prices would respond with their observation.

[julig22]

38 minutes ago, clojacks said:

Problem is, I didn’t check prices before, so kind of tough to do it now. I was in hopes that someone who HAS been checking prices would respond with their observation.

I have been checking. 3 bookings (35%), each went down about $10/p. 1 is a fairly new booking but had a big price drop just before I booked. The others went down about $200 about a month ago.

So no big sale on mine anyway

[Asawi]

I am monitoring a particular cruise. The price difference between the 35 % and 50 % promos came to a few Euros. The crossed over price was increased for the 50% promo. It went from around 2200 to 2600 or something like that.

[clojacks]

Just now, Asawi said:

I am monitoring a particular cruise. The price difference between the 35 % and 50 % promos came to a few Euros. The crossed over price was increased for the 50% promo. It went from around 2200 to 2600 or something like that.

This is exactly what I suspected….

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, clojacks said:

Problem is, I didn’t check prices before, so kind of tough to do it now. I was in hopes that someone who HAS been checking prices would respond with their observation.

Cruise Plum does check prices all the time.  It also retains them and shows you a graph with historical prices.  Most people don't want to bother with it though.

[TheDawg79]

Rule #1 when booking ANYTHING from ANY cruise line: Never pay attention to the % and always pay attention to the $! 

[Topdog52]

5 hours ago, clojacks said:

The latest offer of 2nd guest sails free supposedly ends today...though, I have my suspicions. The 35% off ENDS TODAY scam has been ongoing for months, so I have my doubts when it says ends today. My real question is, were the prices increased at the same time the 50% off came into play, or is the 50% truly a savings over the 35% off. I wish I had been watching NCL prices, but I really haven't, so I don't know if this is a good time to bite or not.

"The 35% off ENDS TODAY scam has been ongoing for months, so I have my doubts when it says ends today"

This scam has been going on for years!!

[cruiser2015]

3 hours ago, Topdog52 said:

"The 35% off ENDS TODAY scam has been ongoing for months, so I have my doubts when it says ends today"

This scam has been going on for years!!

I call it the "perpetual sale" routine.

They either decide to renew the expired deal or replace it with another one (70% off one passenger vs. 35% off of two for example).

[julig22]

So, now that it's officially listed as a BF sale, there's another $40/p reduction. So getting better, probably worth a phone call now.

Also, Triple up is now in effect, balcony and above. Through November 15.

[clojacks]

7 hours ago, julig22 said:

So, now that it's officially listed as a BF sale, there's another $40/p reduction. So getting better, probably worth a phone call now.

Also, Triple up is now in effect, balcony and above. Through November 15.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a BF sale?

[Asawi]

7 minutes ago, clojacks said:

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a BF sale?

BF=Black Friday

[Sand and Seas]

I find it amusing that it's called 'The Black Friday Preview Sale'.  So after the 'preview' will they try to sweeten the deal with something extra?

 

The cruise price I'm tracking hasn't changed in the last two weeks.  It was $100 per person cheaper a month ago.

[bonvoyagie]

well I just looked at my already booked cruise for 2025 and with a rebook under the new % off can save just over 900.00.

[JillK]

I think the dynamic pricing combined with the promos have an impact on being able to realize a savings or not. 

 

For my 2024 cruise we were able to save almost $1100 when the promo switched from 35% off to 2nd pax free. Meanwhile, for my 2025 cruise, there was no difference in price. 🤷‍♀️

[schmoopie17]

Waiting for the NCL promo that says, "Second passenger sails free."

Then the fine print will say, "First passenger pays 200% of the normal price."

[vacation44]

2 hours ago, bonvoyagie said:

well I just looked at my already booked cruise for 2025 and with a rebook under the new % off can save just over 900.00.

Nice savings, did you rebook it?

[bonvoyagie]

39 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Nice savings, did you rebook it?

yep

[Smitheroo]

I made a mock booking when the promo was 2nd person free. Then the next day it changed to 50% off. The bottom line was the exact same. and there were no changes made to the reservation.

 

However, my sister in law changed a booking from early April (same ship) to the one I made the booking on and her cruise price went down $300. (different cabin. Mine is studio hers solo balcony)  

Edited November 10, 2023 by Smitheroo

[graphicguy]

On 11/7/2023 at 4:45 PM, clojacks said:

Problem is, I didn’t check prices before, so kind of tough to do it now. I was in hopes that someone who HAS been checking prices would respond with their observation.

I check pricing regularly (weekly).  Don't pay much attention to the sale jargon.  You can find some good deals if you shop a little bit.  Whatever they're calling their sale on any given month/week/day isn't something I look at.  It's the bottom line, out of pocket cost I'm interested in.

[Smitheroo]

22 hours ago, Smitheroo said:

I made a mock booking when the promo was 2nd person free. Then the next day it changed to 50% off. The bottom line was the exact same. and there were no changes made to the reservation.

 

However, my sister in law changed a booking from early April (same ship) to the one I made the booking on and her cruise price went down $300. (different cabin. Mine is studio hers solo balcony)  

When I investigated more I realized that the same cabin she booked was two different prices depending on which cruise. She switched from the cruise where the  cabin  had a higher price to a cruise where the same cabin was not as expensive. This was the reason for the drop in price.

[Smitheroo]

On 11/7/2023 at 9:19 PM, TheDawg79 said:

Rule #1 when booking ANYTHING from ANY cruise line: Never pay attention to the % and always pay attention to the $! 

That is one thing I learned very quickly,   What is the bottom line and am I willing to pay that amount?