Wow! Price jump!

[agabbymama]

I've only cruised 7 times, but like Krazy Kruisers, each of those have only gone up since booking, never down.

 

My New England/Canada cruise in '06 went up nearly $800 by the time we sailed, and the Med cruise in Oct '08 went up $1000 for the same cabin we had. There were no price reductions at all to ever worry about.

 

I don't have anything booked right now, but I've been watching a short Baltic cruise, and the pricing on that has gone up as well.

 

I don't usually worry to much about it, if it's a cruise I want to take, and I get a price I'm willing to pay, I don't cry if I don't get any kind of refund.

[kryos]

WOW!:eek: I went to our August 27 2009 Mediterranean cruise to check if the rates had dropped and they have all jumped UP over $600 . Guess HAL is doing okay and not having problems filling their ships, especially to Europe, in order to afford this large of a price hike. So much for hopes of a lower fare :( Would be really interesting to see if any one elses cruise rates increased?

My rate went up over $600 too.

 

But here's the rub.

 

Sometimes it is definitely best to book at the last minute. What will often happen is that a ship will have great bookings ... sales will be swift ... but then, as final payment date approaches a lot of people won't be able to scrape up the cash and they will cancel and get their deposits back. Then the cruise line will be stuck with all these unsold cabins and prices will take a steep drop. Of course, if you've already made final payment, you won't be able to take advantage of these price drops ... and you're stuck with what you originally paid. Often the only thing your travel agent can do for you is to try and negotiate a free upgrade for you ... to compensate you for the higher rate you paid. So, maybe you booked an inside and will now get to sail in an outside at no additional cost.

 

Another thing that happens as final payment date approaches is that travel agents holding group space on a sailing will have to release whatever they have been unable to sell to their clients. When I say group space, I don't mean a group sailing ... but rather a block of cabins that the agency "reserves" that come with certain amenities ... such as a bottle of wine, maybe a Pinnacle Grill dinner or lunch voucher, some OBC, etc. The travel agents will use these amenties to entice their clients to book a sailing with a particular cruise line by offering these "extras" to them. Well, if by a certain deadline date there are cabins in their group block that remain unsold, then the agency will have to release that space back to the cruise line. More empty cabins now that they have to sell. Hence, the price will drop.

 

So, the pat answer here would be that the smart money in this economy books their cruises at the last possible minute ... like within a month or so before sail date. The only problem with this strategy, however, is that you have to be flexible and realize that if, on the odd chance the cruise does sell well, you could wind up missing out. There very well may not be any cabins available on the sailing. Even if there are cabins available, you may be able to get a "killer" of a deal, but then you're gonna probably have to take "pot luck" with cabin assignment. Most likely you won't be able to select your cabin ... just cabin category (if it's available). Needless to say, the people who paid top dollar will get the better cabins via upgrades and whatnot, and you'll be stuck in the cabins that they were upgraded from.

 

But if you're flexible in terms of cabin and date, you are better off in these times by booking at the last minute. When you're only a few months away from sail date, the cruise line is getting desperate and prices are likely to drop. They want a warm body in that cabin at whatever the price. A warm body at least spends money onboard. An empty cabin spends nothing. So it pays to fill the cabin even if they have to do so at "clearance" prices.

 

Especially if the cruise you want to go on is being offered multiple times that season, such as ... for example ... a seven-day Caribbean itinerary round-trip Fort Lauderdale, I would say wait until a couple of months out to book ... even less time if you can drive to the embarkation port. If the cruise you want to take is filled and you get closed out, just try for a different week. Chances are you'll be able to get a killer deal by waiting. But if the cruise is one only offered a couple of times in a year, and you really want to go on it, then you can't use this strategy, because there is too great a chance that you could wind up being closed out of a sailing you really wanted to take.

 

That's why I don't understand at all the cruise lines' reasoning with the $100 deposits. By letting people put down a very small deposit on a sailing, yes, they are getting a lot of bookings ... but then when a huge final payment comes due, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of those people can't scare up the money and only wind up cancelling anyway. After all, it is very easy to come up with a couple of hundred dollars for the deposit ... but often very difficult to scrape up that final payment that could amount to a couple of thousand. So personally, I think the cruise lines are shooting themselves in the foot allowing these small deposits ... or at least allowing them to be refundable. Sounds like a lot of administrative work for the line to make a bunch of bookings that are probably going to wind up being cancelled anyway. If I was gonna allow $100 deposits on sailings costing several thousand, I would make those deposits non-refundable. At least then I get something to compensate me for the work of making the booking. And, making the cruise deposit non-refundable might serve to discourage people who are only "shopping" for cruises they are not even sure they want to take.

 

Even if the person making the small deposit is financially stable at the time, often the cruise is so far into the future when they put the deposit on it that their financial situation can change 180 degrees before final payment would be due. They could have lost their jobs ... situations can change ... whatever ... but the bottom line is that they wind up cancelling that cruise and the cruise line is stuck with an empty stateroom that they now have to fill.

 

So, don't judge by what your cruise is selling for right now. It actually means nothing. Wait until you get closer to final payment date, and some people cancel, while travel agents also release group space they've been holding but have been unable to sell. Then you'll see what a cabin on your cruise is really worth in the open marketplace.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Kween Karen]

I paid for my Grand Voyage 1 1/2 years ahead............the price dropped dramatically.............and I was able to get a nice refund! WoooHooo!