Is there any system for price drops?

[MamaParrotHead]

Like with airfare...they say that certain days at certain times are best to look? Wondering if there were certain guidelines Carnival used...X number of weeks out one drop if X number of cabins haven't been sold, next one at X weeks, etc. Just curious. :)

[GoinCruisin]

Doesn't seem to be, since all ships sell at a different pace... after final payment is due, if the ship isn't selling well, you start to see some sales... at least from what I've seen.

[caribbean dreams]

I always say book earily, that way your price is locked in, if the price goes down you may get some kind of credit, but if the price goes up, your stuck paying the higher price.

[cruisecrasy]

Like with airfare...they say that certain days at certain times are best to look? Wondering if there were certain guidelines Carnival used...X number of weeks out one drop if X number of cabins haven't been sold, next one at X weeks, etc. Just curious. :)

 

what days & times are best to book airfares and cruises if possible..

 

Thanks for any information - most appreciated..

[MamaParrotHead]

I've read a few times it's like around midnight on Sunday, Tuesday and/or Wednesday nights (is when the airlines reduce fares) and could be only for a couple of hours.

 

Someone recently told me about http://www.farecast.com that's supposed to crunch past airfares (for the time you're looking at) and figure which airlines may offer what fares at what time. I haven't check it out personally yet, though.

 

It's all total guessork, but I hope that helps!

[cruisinjerseygirl]

I don't think that there is any real math to the Carnival, but thank you Parrothead for that site, it's wonderful!

[serene56]

Personally for airfare I see that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the cheapest with the weekends being the most expensive.

 

Cruiselines are different. In my 9 cruises only one has ever came down in price. not all cruises come down.

[newistcruiseaddict]

I'm no expert and I've only started looking at this recently but it seems to me that carnival cruises start out lower and tend to increase over time (with fluctuations according to empty rooms). The other cruise lines tend to start high and steadily drop as the date approaches.

 

A cruiser created a program that tracks fares for carribean cruises and gives a chart for the past six months. Its not too detailed but it gives you and idea about when the best time to purchase for next year would be for your specific ship. For instance, I was looking at a couple of ships for March of next year and it seems like all the rates took a nice dip around Sept beforehand. Here is the site:

 

http://www.cruisewatch.net/

 

**disclaimer: only making observations here and I'm WELL aware that there is some ship(or heck..all of them), somewhere, that doesn't fit the pattern I just noted. PLEASE DON'T FLAME ME!

[MamaParrotHead]

could be a neat site to keep an eye on. Thanks for posting!

[TCF]

It's safe to say that all the cruise companies have a set of criteria for adjusting rates on various ships and itineraries...but I don't think I would go so far as to call it a 'system'.

All you have to do is go to the various cruise company websites and look at the costs for their cruises in relation to time of year and itinerary. For example, we decided early this month that next Christmas we should take a cruise...what we found was our favourite ships already booked...prices a third higher on average on the same itineraries in January and February...and all the best suites already booked. :eek: You have to know that nothing price-wise is likely to move anywhere but up on the Christmas cruises!

I have found that the so-called last minute sales by the big travel brokers are often the best rates you will find.:D

All that said..it is sure fun to play the game though isn't it?

Tom&Deb:)

[cruisecrasy]

I've read a few times it's like around midnight on Sunday, Tuesday and/or Wednesday nights (is when the airlines reduce fares) and could be only for a couple of hours.

 

Someone recently told me about http://www.farecast.com that's supposed to crunch past airfares (for the time you're looking at) and figure which airlines may offer what fares at what time. I haven't check it out personally yet, though.

 

It's all total guessork, but I hope that helps!

 

Thanks so much for taking your valuable time to suppy me with the info I requested...Great site ---

 

Happy cruisin'~