Can, would you haggle?

[gerryuk]

Hypothetically speaking....

You live next to a cruise port and notice that a cruise ship is leaving tomorrow and you like the itinerary. When you do a mock booking online, you notice that there a loads of unsold balcony cabins. The price of the cabin is $2000 per person, based on double occupancy. 

Would you ring the cruise line up and tell them that you are prepared to pay them $3000 for the cabin but not a dollar more? What would the cruise lines response be?

Most people are happy to haggle with vendors, taxi drivers and the like. Would you try to haggle with the cruise line, or is that sort of behaviour beneath you?

Just to point out, i don't live next to a cruise port so this would be of no use to me.

 

 

[mammajamma2013]

5 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

Hypothetically speaking....

You live next to a cruise port and notice that a cruise ship is leaving tomorrow and you like the itinerary. When you do a mock booking online, you notice that there a loads of unsold balcony cabins. The price of the cabin is $2000 per person, based on double occupancy. 

Would you ring the cruise line up and tell them that you are prepared to pay them $3000 for the cabin but not a dollar more? What would the cruise lines response be?

Most people are happy to haggle with vendors, taxi drivers and the like. Would you try to haggle with the cruise line, or is that sort of behaviour beneath you?

Just to point out, i don't live next to a cruise port so this would be of no use to me.

 

 

I think the cruise line's response would be a laugh and a hang-up. I don't think they would haggle, but I've never even thought about doing so. It would be interesting to see if anyone has had that experience and what became of it.

 

As a side note, I worked the financial area at a dentist's office. There were people who (I assume) had read articles on how to save money, where they are advised to haggle the cost of service. I assume that as I had read those articles myself at the time this was happening. It irritated me to no end when patients did that. But maybe that's just me.

[LindaD22]

Lately, ships are sailing at capacity. I would not haggle because I don’t think it would work. 

[mom says]

Somehow I doubt that the poor drones employed at the cruise line call centres have the authority  to haggle with potential customers. 

[ontheweb]

37 minutes ago, mom says said:

Somehow I doubt that the poor drones employed at the cruise line call centres have the authority  to haggle with potential customers. 

It is almost definitely not covered in the script they read from.

[Mum2Mercury]

37 minutes ago, mom says said:

Somehow I doubt that the poor drones employed at the cruise line call centres have the authority  to haggle with potential customers. 

This is what I was about to answer.  The people who work the customer service lines aren't authorized to change prices.  

[MBP&O2/O]

Possibly via a TA who hasn't sold their 'allocation ' ?

[BOB999]

Somewhat OT, but I know someone who was convinced he could get a great deal on a cruise by showing up at their Corporate Office (about a 10 minute drive).  Needless to say he was handed a card with their toll free number.

[gerryuk]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

This is what I was about to answer.  The people who work the customer service lines aren't authorized to change prices.  

They have supervisors, couldn't they make a call upstairs?  

[GeezerCouple]

24 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

They have supervisors, couldn't they make a call upstairs?  

 

Once that started happening... they'd need to hire a lot more front line staff to call a lot more supervisors to make all those calls "upstairs".

 

I thought that some of any last-minute availability was already offered at somewhat reduced pricing to those in the area, or perhaps to TAs in the area.

 

And some late pricing may be showing on some of the online discount cruise TA sites.

 

But when a company has such a HUUUUGE number of customers, they just can't start "haggling", or it would never end.

Also, if you didn't like the "haggle result", would you just keep calling back to try again with another rep?  Okay, double or quadruple the numbers I was playing with above!

 

GC

[wcook]

That sort of aggressive haggling will go nowhere with a giant corporation. However, you could always call and ask if they have any hidden deals and what is the cheapest price they could charge you. 
 

One quirk about cruise lines is they make all their money selling extras, not selling the cabin. If I were in charge and had the power to haggle, somebody making a lowball offer is they last person I want as a customer. They are unlikely to buy the overpriced drinks, excursions, art, etc. 

[lenquixote66]

I have never haggled with anyone about anything.

[Kristelle]

I dislike haggling  and would not do it.

 

It is a bit like tipping - it isnt part of Australian culture, the price shown is the price.So I am not used to doing it and nobody is used to being on recieving end of it.

 

when I go somewhere that tipping is expected  I do it and when  I go somewhere that haggling is expected (markets in Asia for example) I do it

 

But at home to get a cruise - No,  I wouldnt nor would it be at all likely to work if I tried it..

[gerryuk]

18 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

I dislike haggling  and would not do it.

 

 

But 99% of homeowners do it, or try it. Don't know how it works down under, but here in the UK most people wanting to buy a home never pay the asking price, unless they are desperate to buy that particular house. If the house is on the market and you want to buy it, you make a offer to the seller, its up to him / her to decline the offer or accept it. If they are selling at 500k i would look to see how long that property has been on the market, if its been on the market for a long time i would make a offer 450k. The seller could decline and run the risk of never finding a buyer or come back and and say that they would accept 480k. No difference to haggling with taxi drivers and venders, you may just want to call it something else, though.

[Kristelle]

yes that's true - house pricing does work like that here too, although usually through an agent, not directly buyer to seller- and sometimes private selling of things marked $ x or nearest offer.

 

Regular shop purchases do not and taxi trips do not though and highly unlikely cruises do either

[leaveitallbehind]

4 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Possibly via a TA who hasn't sold their 'allocation ' ?

In the US, at least, TA's don't have "allocations". 

 

And to the OP, it doesn't work that way.  None of the mass market cruise lines I am aware of "haggle" their prices.  They set them, modify them, and don't negotiate them. So your scenario, as you suggest, is purely hypothetical.

Edited March 17 by leaveitallbehind

[Mum2Mercury]

4 hours ago, gerryuk said:

They have supervisors, couldn't they make a call upstairs?  

Nah, doesn't seem like something that'd happen in a big company.  

2 hours ago, CHPURSER said:

Not quite correct.

One quirk about Mass Market cruise lines is they make all their money selling extras..............

The better cruise lines still make money the old fashioned way - by selling cruises.

I've heard that the cruise ticket is what it actually costs for you to sail, and the company makes money through three big things:  Shore excursions, gambling and drinks.  

I don't see how that can be true though because the price of the same room is quite different in summer vs. fall.  

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have never haggled with anyone about anything.

Oh, I'm really good at haggling -- I'm really good at buying a car. 

But it's a process that pretty much has to be done in person.  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have never haggled with anyone about anything.

When we did an escorted land trip to Peru (2019), one day the group went to a huge flea market. We were told we were expected to haggle. We got a lot of good bargains .And I am pretty sure the merchants were also happy at the end of the day,

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have never haggled with anyone about anything.

Did you ever buy a house or an apartment — and did you immediately agree to the original asking price?  
 

Did you ever interview for a job - and not accept an offer because you knew you could do better elsewhere?  Did you ever leave one job for another because you got better pay - or better hours, or better conditions or prospects, or a shorter commute?
 

Did you ever make a concession to a spouse or partner - in return for a concession made to you - perhaps as simple a transaction as agreeing to see their choice of movie because next time they would see yours?
 

”never” is a very long word.

[MacMadame]

7 hours ago, gerryuk said:

But 99% of homeowners do it, or try it.

I let my real estate agent do it.

 

Also, where I live, people don't pay the asking price. They pay *over* the asking price. Or they do if they want to get the house. 😉 

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, gerryuk said:

But 99% of homeowners do it, or try it. Don't know how it works down under, but here in the UK most people wanting to buy a home never pay the asking price, unless they are desperate to buy that particular house. If the house is on the market and you want to buy it, you make a offer to the seller, its up to him / her to decline the offer or accept it. If they are selling at 500k i would look to see how long that property has been on the market, if its been on the market for a long time i would make a offer 450k. The seller could decline and run the risk of never finding a buyer or come back and and say that they would accept 480k. No difference to haggling with taxi drivers and venders, you may just want to call it something else, though.

That is for an industry where haggling is expected (and many homeowners, knowing this, set their asking price higher, or their real estate agent does). It is also a cultural thing, in some countries paying the asking price is anathema. As for the cruise lines, I am sure that if they have unsold cabins left just prior to sailing they have set the price as low as they can in order to sell them. 

[gerryuk]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

As for the cruise lines, I am sure that if they have unsold cabins left just prior to sailing they have set the price as low as they can in order to sell them. 

But obviously they are not selling them, if there are empty cabins on departure. If the cabin is $4000 and you offer them $3000, then $3000 is better than zero. Now you could spend more on the ship or spend nothing, but $3000 is still better than zero. 

[sparks1093]

4 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

But obviously they are not selling them, if there are empty cabins on departure. If the cabin is $4000 and you offer them $3000, then $3000 is better than zero. Now you could spend more on the ship or spend nothing, but $3000 is still better than zero. 

If, but there is a point they would rather the cabin stay empty than take less for it and only they know what that amount is and that close to sailing I would expect the pricing would already reflect that amount. The question is doubly hypothetical for me because I don't live near a port and we book our cruises 18 months or more prior to sailing.

[navybankerteacher]

25 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

But obviously they are not selling them, if there are empty cabins on departure. If the cabin is $4000 and you offer them $3000, then $3000 is better than zero. Now you could spend more on the ship or spend nothing, but $3000 is still better than zero. 

They are reluctant to let their customer base get the notion that, if they wait, they will get a cheaper cruise.  Yes, sailing with a few empty $3,000 cabins seems like a waste, but it is a necessary tactic to avoid the uncertainty of a last minute sale on every itinerary.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

That is for an industry where haggling is expected (and many homeowners, knowing this, set their asking price higher, or their real estate agent does). It is also a cultural thing, in some countries paying the asking price is anathema. As for the cruise lines, I am sure that if they have unsold cabins left just prior to sailing they have set the price as low as they can in order to sell them. 

How does anyone know exactly what his house is worth when deciding to sell?  It’s worth is really only established by the amount someone else is willing to pay for it at that time.  The seller can figure roughly what it should go for from recent local transactions - but really does not have a grasp on local demand at the time he/she lists the house.   It is always easy to reduce asking price if there are no takers - but if someone snaps it up the first day you must accept the fact that you have under-priced it - there is little chance of increasing asking price once an offer comes in — unless you are in the unusual situation of multiple competing  offers resulting in an effective auction in a bidding war.