Will prices decrease after final payment?

[catspaw1]

Hi all, we are looking at a few cruises that still have a number of rooms left. When, or will, prices decrease after final payment?

[mom says]

There is no way of answering that with any degree of accuracy. Any reply would be a  WAG.

[leaveitallbehind]

Will they?  Impossible to predict.  Can they? Sure, but when they do it usually states that it is for new bookings only. 

 

Price protection typically occurs prior to final payment whereby most fares booked are protected from increases but eligible for decrease adjustments.  Post final payment, typically not.

 

My suggestion is if you see a stateroom category that you are interested in and it is prior to final payment, book it now and look for late downward adjustments prior to final payment.  I would not count on lower post final payment pricing - or stateroom selection.

Edited August 12 by leaveitallbehind

[canderson]

4 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Hi all, we are looking at a few cruises that still have a number of rooms left. When, or will, prices decrease after final payment?

Can only say that our TA did - again this year - and we'll be enjoying the OBC to cover gratuities and a few bottled of wine.

[leaveitallbehind]

2 minutes ago, canderson said:

Can only say that our TA did - again this year - and we'll be enjoying the OBC to cover gratuities and a few bottled of wine.

When doable, which is not assured, OBC is the typical remedy in our experience.

[catspaw1]

That's exactly what we are looking for- OBC to cover gratuities, & a few other things - we like Murano but pricey on your own. Hoping for a better price.....

[canderson]

8 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

When doable, which is not assured, OBC is the typical remedy in our experience.

Post-final, it's the only remedy in our experience.

[leaveitallbehind]

12 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

That's exactly what we are looking for- OBC to cover gratuities, & a few other things - we like Murano but pricey on your own. Hoping for a better price.....

Well as long as you realize that post final payment price drops are not assured and that typically (and I say that realizing there are always exceptions) there is no remedy other than perhaps some OBC, and that the price drop would have to be pretty significant to cover gratuities and a few other things, then you will be fine. LOL

Edited August 12 by leaveitallbehind

[mahasamatman]

7 minutes ago, canderson said:

Post-final, it's the only remedy in our experience.

 

I've known people to be able to score a room upgrade instead of OBC.

[canderson]

18 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

I've known people to be able to score a room upgrade instead of OBC.

Only once did we have an appropriate amount of delta (mid 4 figures) and the two M class PH that would have been an upgrade were already spoken for.  RS is plenty roomy enough, and we made a few very happy crew members!

[catspaw1]

We have not booked the trip yet so does that change things? 

[catspaw1]

I've been watching a number of cruises so that's why we haven't book anything yet.  

[dreamer321]

9 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Hi all, we are looking at a few cruises that still have a number of rooms left. When, or will, prices decrease after final payment?

It will also depend on how well the cruise is selling. If the ship is nearly full don't expect a price drop.  If there are dozens of lower category staterooms still available then you might see some price movement to fill the ship.  If the non-suite categories are almost sold out but there are a number of suites still available don't look for a price drop since they can fill those with move-up bids if they can't sell them at retail prices. The other problem with waiting until final payment is you're stuck with mostly poor locations if anything is available.

[PelicanLvr]

Watch the weekly X "Exciting Deals".  They came out today (and every Tuesday).

 

Here's the link:

 

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Exciting_Deals/CEL_Exciting_Deals.pdf

[cruisegirlppp]

16 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

I've known people to be able to score a room upgrade instead of OBC.

This happened once when concierge was selling for slightly less than we had paid for veranda- they very nicely upgraded us.

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Hi all, we are looking at a few cruises that still have a number of rooms left. When, or will, prices decrease after final payment?

If you have not yet booked, and you are not too picky about the location and type of cabin, you can take a chance and wait.  Or have a TA do this for you.  The day or two after final payment date for the intended cruise might be your best bet for availability.   But there is a chance that nothing will be available or that prices will not go down at all.

 

If booked already, you can sometimes switch your cabin to a better one - if it higher priced than your original.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

If booked already, you can sometimes switch your cabin to a better one - if it higher priced than your original.

This is what I did on my last X cruise. After final, the price of Sky Suites dropped so much that the price to upgrade from my balcony cabin was less than what I was prepared to bid via move up. Doing this also got us premium beverage and wifi, more OBC, and more Captains Club points.

Edited August 13 by RichYak

[hcat]

18 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

That's exactly what we are looking for- OBC to cover gratuities, & a few other things - we like Murano but pricey on your own. Hoping for a better price.....

there may be sales on dining and extras you might take advantage of once u book..

waiting  carries risks.. depends on ship, itin and dates

 

we book early..and always make out with our best price for cabin we like

[Iamcruzin]

My cruise has gone up and I'm 45 days out. It's a 4 night cruise out of Florida which is a hard sell during hurricane season. When I booked it they offered residents rates. There must still me plenty of rooms because they are offering a move up bid for 50% off. The lowest bid is half the priced that it was at 60 days out.

[20165]

Well, that stinks. This post prompted me to check our cruise which i just upgraded last week and its now $500 less this week.  80 days out...  

[Lastdance]

2 hours ago, 20165 said:

Well, that stinks. This post prompted me to check our cruise which i just upgraded last week and its now $500 less this week.  80 days out...  

I keep watching(after final payment)my TA on Ascent.  Some prices have come down a little, but today went up by a small amount,  Cabins/suites appear then disappear with verandas being the apparent price drop; however, things can change at any moment.  I keep entertaining the MoveUp and pay up methods.  I am good with my price and location😍, but also a risk-taker and enjoy the game!  Sometimes it is better not to check prices after booking, especially if you are happy!

[canderson]

22 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Sometimes it is better not to check prices after booking, especially if you are happy!

The only time I'd agree with this would be if for some reason my original fare/booking didn't allow for any adjustment, making the point moot.  And yes, it's necessary for there to be a cabin available with a published fare on the X site in order to request the adjustment, but you never know when this might happen.  Even if you've not seen anything comparable available for many months, there are often cancellations right before final payment. 

 

Although there has always been one equivalent cabin available on our Nov '24 TA for some reason (and to our surprise, there still is), a second popped up at 91 days out.  With the price drop, we applied for the OBC for our own cabin, and since the fare was now a fair bit less, we upgraded our 'kids' from the cabin they had to the same class cabin as ours.  There was no reprice on theirs since there hadn't been any of those available since last June.

 

In 2021, we had a whopping $5,600 to play with on a 15nt B2B.

In 2022, we didn't score because there were no more cabins in our class to compare.

In 2023, we moved to Silversea for that year.

In 2024, we picked up another $1,700 or so of OBC to play with on a 14nt.

 

Best Price Guarantee really is still a 'thing':

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/company/customer-support/best-price-guarantee

 

[Lastdance]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

The only time I'd agree with this would be if for some reason my original fare/booking didn't allow for any adjustment, making the point moot.  And yes, it's necessary for there to be a cabin available with a published fare on the X site in order to request the adjustment, but you never know when this might happen.  Even if you've not seen anything comparable available for many months, there are often cancellations right before final payment. 

 

Although there has always been one equivalent cabin available on our Nov '24 TA for some reason (and to our surprise, there still is), a second popped up at 91 days out.  With the price drop, we applied for the OBC for our own cabin, and since the fare was now a fair bit less, we upgraded our 'kids' from the cabin they had to the same class cabin as ours.  There was no reprice on theirs since there hadn't been any of those available since last June.

 

In 2021, we had a whopping $5,600 to play with on a 15nt B2B.

In 2022, we didn't score because there were no more cabins in our class to compare.

In 2023, we moved to Silversea for that year.

In 2024, we picked up another $1,700 or so of OBC to play with on a 14nt.

 

Best Price Guarantee really is still a 'thing':

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/company

1 hour ago, canderson said:

The only time I'd agree with this would be if for some reason my original fare/booking didn't allow for any adjustment, making the point moot.  And yes, it's necessary for there to be a cabin available with a published fare on the X site in order to request the adjustment, but you never know when this might happen.  Even if you've not seen anything comparable available for many months, there are often cancellations right before final payment. 

 

Although there has always been one equivalent cabin available on our Nov '24 TA for some reason (and to our surprise, there still is), a second popped up at 91 days out.  With the price drop, we applied for the OBC for our own cabin, and since the fare was now a fair bit less, we upgraded our 'kids' from the cabin they had to the same class cabin as ours.  There was no reprice on theirs since there hadn't been any of those available since last June.

 

In 2021, we had a whopping $5,600 to play with on a 15nt B2B.

In 2022, we didn't score because there were no more cabins in our class to compare.

In 2023, we moved to Silversea for that year.

In 2024, we picked up another $1,700 or so of OBC to play with on a 14nt.

 

Best Price Guarantee really is still a 'thing':

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/company/customer-support/best-price-guarantee

 

/customer-support/best-price-guarantee

 

I am referring to after final payment if you booked when released, got your fav cabin/suite at a great price and love your location.  Now, if you want to upgrade that C/S, that’s a different matter.  I love Sunset suites and sunset verandas.  Everyone’s situation is different, so it is always perspective.  Yes, I did not make that clear at all🤔.  However, who doesn’t like a good deal sometimes?

Edited August 13 by Lastdance

[TeeRick]

5 hours ago, RichYak said:

This is what I did on my last X cruise. After final, the price of Sky Suites dropped so much that the price to upgrade from my balcony cabin was less than what I was prepared to bid via move up. Doing this also got us premium beverage and wifi, more OBC, and more Captains Club points.

Yes I think this is a very solid strategy.  We always check after final payment to see if anything above our cabin class has opened up and is a good deal to consider.

[catspaw1]

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Final payment isn't due yet so I'm watching the cruise prices every day now. I'm hoping they go down.