We're "cost conscious" (read CHEAP) travelers

[ArizonaRalphie]

We think that we will book the Rendevous for a two night pre-cruise in Auckland for roughly $105 USD per night, but where can we find comparable rates in Sydney for our three night post cruise? Cheap and inquiring minds want to know.

[Ransome]

Try some of the online merchant hotel sites. www.hotelclub.com, www.wotif.com, www.ratestogo.com (a last minute site), www.readyrooms.com (Qantas), www.expedia.com.au, there are probably a whole lot more. Doing a "cheap hotels"+sydney search in www.google.com.au will probably bring up many more options. Most (if not all) of these sites can price in USD.

 

I hope this helps.

[Ransome]

If you do your search and come up with some options in Sydney, maybe add the hotel names to this thread and some of your local Aussie Cruisers can give you feedback on your choice before you hit the "book"button. I stay in Sydney often so can probably help here, but I can't help for the next 10 days as I'm about to depart :) on a cruise!

[obriendan]

Recently , the 5* Marriott Sydney Harbor has been obtained for $130 to $140 per night on Priceline.

[Globaliser]

Recently , the 5* Marriott Sydney Harbor has been obtained for $130 to $140 per night on Priceline.

It's one of the more reliable Priceline picks in the whole world, although nothing is ever guaranteed. And if you can get it at that sort of price, it's an absolute bargain.

[ErinH1]

You realize that hotels in Auckland are probably half the price of hotels in Sydney, right? So if you could get the Marriott on Priceline, that would be a super deal. Otherwise to book a hotel conventionally in that price range in Sydney, you'd probably be looking at a very basic room in a no frills hotel. The tourist business in Sydney is thriving, so I think they're making the most out of it, as the prices (not just hotels) reflect it.

[Brookeh424]

It's one of the more reliable Priceline picks in the whole world, although nothing is ever guaranteed. And if you can get it at that sort of price, it's an absolute bargain.

 

To get the rate quoted above did you just search priceline or did you give the price you were willing to pay and let them come back with the hotel (the true priceline way)? I just searched and the Marriott Harbor is 265 when we are staying, so I was just wondering....

[Globaliser]

This is by bidding. Sometimes, the accepted bids have been as low as $100, but they are more in the general region of $140 now.

[Brookeh424]

Thanks...I bid but didn't get a bite. I need to get something booked, so I wil think about what is best tomorrow.

[Globaliser]

I dug around to find out which cruise you're on. Are you in Sydney from 17 April onwards? How long are you staying for?

 

It may be worth making sure that your alternative reservation is one that's cancellable (and making a clear note to yourself of when the cancellation deadline is), and to keep trying Priceline every other day or so to see whether or not the hotel's inventory gets distressed and therefore released onto Priceline. In other words, don't burn your bridges.

[Brookeh424]

Yes, I am in Sydney starting 17 April. Thanks for the suggestion, but with us leaving on the first I am hoping to just go ahead and book something to have one less thing to get wrapped up before the trip. We still have several things to book so we need to start checking things off.

[Globaliser]

Ah, well. Priceline isn't always right for a trip and doesn't always produce the goods. Pity it didn't work out this time. Hope you have fun, anyway!

[ArizonaRalphie]

It's one of the more reliable Priceline picks in the whole world, although nothing is ever guaranteed. And if you can get it at that sort of price, it's an absolute bargain.

 

O.K., so our stay is still outside the 330 day limit, but I've been sort of "playing around" with the Priceline site. Trying a couple of weeks before our intended stay and plugging in my information all I am guaranteed is a 5 star hotel at my price but not The Mariott in particular. If I go this route could I be stuck with something I didn't want? Also our stay will be during the final week of Mardi Gras. Any problems there?

 

Ralph

[Globaliser]

O.K., so our stay is still outside the 330 day limit, but I've been sort of "playing around" with the Priceline site. Trying a couple of weeks before our intended stay and plugging in my information all I am guaranteed is a 5 star hotel at my price but not The Mariott in particular. If I go this route could I be stuck with something I didn't want? Also our stay will be during the final week of Mardi Gras. Any problems there?

Well, all the usual things about Priceline bidding still apply.

 

You will only know whether or not you've got that Marriott after your bid is successful and your credit card has been charged for the entire stay - and an accepted bid is non-refundable. It could be another 5* hotel in Sydney, and it does sometimes happen that people get hotels other than the Sydney Harbour Marriott. The identity of the hotel is not guaranteed before you pay if you're bidding.

 

But other 5* hotels only come up very infrequently. If you get something, it'll usually be the Sydney Harbour Marriott. Given the amount of money you're saving if you succeed (USD 100+ per night), are you prepared to take the risk? Or do you really need complete certainty about which 5* hotel you're going to be in? That's the choice, really.

 

If your stay clashes with a busy time in Sydney, then the other Priceline rule applies: hotels usually only put distressed inventory onto Priceline. After all, if they could sell the room through normal channels at normal prices, why would they take a Priceline bid? So if the hotel will be full anyway, you won't be likely to get anything via Priceline bidding. Or it may be at a much higher rate - sometimes more than you would have paid by booking direct. But you will only know if you try.

 

Finally, there is no guarantee of when the hotel might release rooms onto Priceline. If you try at 330 days out, Priceline may not get you anything because the hotel hasn't yet released anything. It is not a first come, first served system. Often, hotels release some rooms to Priceline rather closer to the stay date, when they have a clearer idea of whether they're likely to have some empty rooms otherwise.

 

Sometimes this is only very close to the stay date - the last time I tried Priceline, it was for NYC on the opening weekend of Fashion Week. Nobody was getting much joy on Priceline for decent hotels until about 3 days before our stay date (the Friday night), when hotels suddenly started accepting bids.

[ArizonaRalphie]

Well, all the usual things about Priceline bidding still apply.

 

You will only know whether or not you've got that Marriott after your bid is successful and your credit card has been charged for the entire stay - and an accepted bid is non-refundable. It could be another 5* hotel in Sydney, and it does sometimes happen that people get hotels other than the Sydney Harbour Marriott. The identity of the hotel is not guaranteed before you pay if you're bidding.

 

But other 5* hotels only come up very infrequently. If you get something, it'll usually be the Sydney Harbour Marriott. Given the amount of money you're saving if you succeed (USD 100+ per night), are you prepared to take the risk? Or do you really need complete certainty about which 5* hotel you're going to be in? That's the choice, really.

 

If your stay clashes with a busy time in Sydney, then the other Priceline rule applies: hotels usually only put distressed inventory onto Priceline. After all, if they could sell the room through normal channels at normal prices, why would they take a Priceline bid? So if the hotel will be full anyway, you won't be likely to get anything via Priceline bidding. Or it may be at a much higher rate - sometimes more than you would have paid by booking direct. But you will only know if you try.

 

Finally, there is no guarantee of when the hotel might release rooms onto Priceline. If you try at 330 days out, Priceline may not get you anything because the hotel hasn't yet released anything. It is not a first come, first served system. Often, hotels release some rooms to Priceline rather closer to the stay date, when they have a clearer idea of whether they're likely to have some empty rooms otherwise.

 

Sometimes this is only very close to the stay date - the last time I tried Priceline, it was for NYC on the opening weekend of Fashion Week. Nobody was getting much joy on Priceline for decent hotels until about 3 days before our stay date (the Friday night), when hotels suddenly started accepting bids.

 

A personal THANK YOU for all the Priceline insight. We'll wait awhile and give it a shot.

 

Ralph

[ShamrockFL]

:( Well you got lots of Priceline advice, but it's somewhat inconcievable that there is so little advice on actual Sydney hotels. Surely there are more people out there who can do better than this!:confused:

[Ransome]

:( Well you got lots of Priceline advice, but it's somewhat inconcievable that there is so little advice on actual Sydney hotels. Surely there are more people out there who can do better than this!:confused:

 

What do you want to know? If you have a list of hotels in Sydney that you are considering, post them and us Aussies will help out. I stay in Sydney frequently on business so I should be able to cover most options.

 

David

[pinksuit]

We think that we will book the Rendevous for a two night pre-cruise in Auckland for roughly $105 USD per night, but where can we find comparable rates in Sydney for our three night post cruise? Cheap and inquiring minds want to know.

Hey there Mr & Mrs. Cost Savers.

 

Did you get your airfare yet and if so through whom? For some reason I thought your air was through Princess. Do let me know....the independent prices are HUGE! Thanks

PinkSuit

[ArizonaRalphie]

Hey there Mr & Mrs. Cost Savers.

 

Did you get your airfare yet and if so through whom? For some reason I thought your air was through Princess. Do let me know....the independent prices are HUGE! Thanks

PinkSuit

 

We haven't booked the air yet, but Air New Zealand is showing round trip from LAX to Auckland and back from Sydney at $1344. Still $374 less than Princess. I don't think prices will come down at all since it's the summer season there so we're just about ready to jump. I did book three rooms for three days at The Rendevouz for $170 NZD ($126 USD) per room per night. Still looking for something in Sydney and we may just wait and try the Priceline suggestion closer to sailing.

 

Could be a busy week in Sydney and the Madi Gras will be drawing to a close and might have a tendancy to fill a few rooms. Time will tell.

 

Ralph

[pinksuit]

Thanks for responding. Do you have your air currently with the cruiseline?

Although we have it included, our TA is working with a wholesaler to see if we can beat the rates and scheduling.

 

Chat soon,

Pink Suit

[ArizonaRalphie]

Thanks for responding. Do you have your air currently with the cruiseline?

Although we have it included, our TA is working with a wholesaler to see if we can beat the rates and scheduling.

 

Chat soon,

Pink Suit

 

We had originally booked out cruise at the Future Cruise Desk while on the Tahitian Princess in February. All I know is that they had quoted the airfare for two at $3238 plus fees of $198. When I turned this "pre-booking" into a real won wieh a TA we just deleted the air. We also got a pretty good discount on the cruise it's self. Actually by doing it the way we did it, we saved $1470 total off the Princess pricing.

 

I must say though that finding access here to "Cruise Compete" was a real winner.

[pinksuit]

Thanks for the info. Our story sounds the same....We too orginally booked our Australia/NZ while on board in Panama in Nov. Our roundtrip was $1399. pp., which was a steal. However, when we returned home, others wanted to go with us and we also needed to change the sailing date and the airfare increased to $1599 pp, which still isn't bad. We too went through Cruise Compete, but got a much better deal through the a local agency with shipboard credits and etc., so we saved dramatically as well.

 

The issue that I'm currently dealing with is the sidetrips to accommodate the wishes of my 20+ fellow travelers. So, that's why I'm checking to see what options are available to keep everyone HAPPY!

 

PinkSuit

[ArizonaRalphie]

O.K. so like I do every morning I checked the ANZ round trip fares again and the price dropped to $1280 so I jumped on it and booked the flights. I went back in to get flights for my brother and sister-in-law and the price was back up to $1344. What do you suppose is up with that? By the way, I did get confirmation back from ANZ at $1280.

 

Ralph

[pinksuit]

Hi there again,

 

Whow! That's amazing. Sometimes it works out that way. Good for you though. Today, I rec. word from my TA, and boy - No Savings there. Unless, we can find something like yours, we will stay with those wonderful people @ Princess. I did get a very good rate for the side trip to the GBR and touring of Sydney.

 

PinkSuit

[CassCruise]

You might consider signing up for the Accor hotel specials - last Christmas we managed to get the Menzies for $65 night! another site we have used with success is lastminute.com.au who have mystery hotel specials - I think we paid around $120 for a 4*- we used them early last year - I just went to the site to get the web address and note they now have bid for your secret hotel - so sounds like they are doing something similar to priceline on top of their secret hotels!- http://www.lastminute.com.au/home.html