When do prices normally drop?

[MrsPetey]

We just booked our 2nd Carnival Cruise. It's our first time on Carnival Glory as well. I was just wondering if there was a certain time before a cruise departs that prices were more likely to drop? Also, if the prices drop after our final payment, are we able to choose to upgrade then? I'm hoping on a balcony...but my DH doesn't want to spend the extra money on it.

Any thoughts on Carnival Glory are welcome as well! :)

[firefly333]

I dont have much experience with my prices dropping, but prices are more volatile around the time of final payment or the month or two before. Further out, the prices are set in cement and not as much up and down.

 

Im seeing a lot of up and down for early Dec, but not much, for late January right now. I got one $10 price drop for late January, but December as we get near final payment time and people are cancelling if they are going to.... seeing a lot of changes, multiple times a day.

[firefly333]

If the price drops, you can always ask that they upgrade you to the category of the price you paid .... or you can pay the difference.

 

What fare did you book, and when are you going. Sounds like a good cruise to me. I like going out of Port Canaveral.

[MrsPetey]

We have a residency rate. We are going Dec 13! We're excited...my DH has been on a lot of cruises and this will be my third, but niether of us has been to Belize or Honduras.

[Ken076]

We just booked our 2nd Carnival Cruise. It's our first time on Carnival Glory as well. I was just wondering if there was a certain time before a cruise departs that prices were more likely to drop? Also, if the prices drop after our final payment, are we able to choose to upgrade then? I'm hoping on a balcony...but my DH doesn't want to spend the extra money on it.

Any thoughts on Carnival Glory are welcome as well! :)

 

The cruise prices drop when the cruise starts to sell "behind schedule" - not predictable. ken

[firefly333]

We have a residency rate. We are going Dec 13! We're excited...my DH has been on a lot of cruises and this will be my third, but niether of us has been to Belize or Honduras.

 

If you are on a residency rate, rather than ES, once you are past final payment, then you cant get the price drop anyway. Might be better to quit looking once you make final payment so you dont get upset, like a couple of threads, the OPs have today.

[Traveler353]

It seems to me that there is no rhyme or reason to the prices coming down or up. Could be anytime. My upcoming Triumph cruise has had three prices drops and within a couple of days has gone right back up. Confusing:confused:

[CynLovesCrusing]

I have a RCI cruise I booked on 8/7, for a June 2010 sailing, and today (8/21) - I got a $250pp price drop.

While I realize it's RCI and not CCL, same basic concept.........check, check, and double check for price drops, they can happen at any time for any number of reasons.

[nick_091909]

I've watched a few cruise prices pretty closely lately, and it all has to do with how the cruise is selling. One cruise I watched had a lot of open rooms and at the 30 day prior to cruise mark the prices dropped anywhere from 10 to 25 percent in a day, depending on the category. So if your ship has a lot of capacity at or around the 30 day mark expect a nice price drop.

[dmdiver]

63 days was the best price on our August cruise. I agree with the others who say it all depends on how it is selling. At least that seems to be logical. The closer to sail date, the higher our cruise pricing got - plus categories no longer being available.

[jpg1747]

I've been watching the September 3 Triumph 4-day Canada/New England cruise prices. For a while the price was dropping but now it's going up again. I don't understand the reasoning behind this. There are somewhere around 50 cabins (inside/OV/balcony) that haven't been sold in the last 2 weeks, yet the price is going up. You'd think that with 10 days to sailing they'd be dropping the price, not raising it.

[fllady61]

We just booked our 2nd Carnival Cruise. It's our first time on Carnival Glory as well. I was just wondering if there was a certain time before a cruise departs that prices were more likely to drop? Also, if the prices drop after our final payment, are we able to choose to upgrade then? I'm hoping on a balcony...but my DH doesn't want to spend the extra money on it.

Any thoughts on Carnival Glory are welcome as well! :)

 

good luck on the prices of glory dropping. been on her 3 times, and the second two were booked way in advance. NO price drop. only increases for that ship. I never have any luck with price drops.

 

you will love Glory. She is an awesome ship. just make sure you keep your ship map handy. you will get turned around a lot. I did. The staff is some of the best staff. have a great time

[cruisinmeme]

as everyone has said no reasoning behind what they do. we are booked for mid december and mid august (4 months out) the price started falling VERY LITTLE . i let it ride until it dropped 50.00 pp then called. they added the past guest and senior rate at that point. we booked a total of 15 months in advance and so far have saved 200.00pp GREAT. this is the part that is so wild. we live one hour from new orleans but have taken the last 6 cruise's out of galveston. have family near by so no big deal. galveston was cheaper to boot. for kicks i checked out the very same cruise (bahamas,key west) out of galveston, same class cabin 8c, and it is 350.00 higher out of galveston than new orleans (per person) that is 700.00 total for both of us. they do not have (or did not have as of yesterday) past guest rates or senior rates for galveston added. i think for 700.00 i would drive to galveston even without family there.

i did go back and look at this past november cruise and all the big discounts came after paid in full. at that time we still got on board credit for price reductions....no more.

[yakdaddy42]

the price drops off just as soon as the ropes are tossed off and the before the pilot gets off

[kellen999]

Not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but, if you book through an agency, Crucon, in my case, and now a week before see substantial drops in price, would Crucon possibly work with me on an upgrade or onboard credit or would it be NCL?

Has anyone had any luck with either Crucon or with NCL regarding this?

[jetskier]

Not sure if anyone knows the answer to this but, if you book through an agency, Crucon, in my case, and now a week before see substantial drops in price, would Crucon possibly work with me on an upgrade or onboard credit or would it be NCL?

Has anyone had any luck with either Crucon or with NCL regarding this?

 

As Crucon "OWNS" your booking, NCL will not deal directly with you regarding your booking. If you are past final payment, NCL does not give an OBC. Now you might be able to get an upgrade or pay a little extra to get it but you will have to go through Crucon to do so. Also some TA's charge a fee to make a change to a booking, not sure what their policy is.

 

Dave

[czimm]

I would still keep an eye on the prices. It sounds like you did not book early saver so would not be eligible for a price drop OBC, but if the price of an upgrade drops, you could still ugrade for the price difference. You could also hold out hope for an upsell call. Good luck, and have a great cruise!

[klsa]

Looking at 5 day Carnival Triumph out of NOLA March 20,2010. The rate is 399 for cheapest cabin. This rate is significantly more than the rate we paid for Holiday our of Mobile Aug. 10, 2009 which was 251.00 per person. We actually ended up paying 283.18 tax inc. for Ocean View on Upper Deck. I realize Triumph is larger ship but it is still just 5 day cruise. I have not booked cruises this early before so I am not familiar with ES program.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[cruisincountrygirl]

We have a residency rate. We are going Dec 13! We're excited...my DH has been on a lot of cruises and this will be my third, but niether of us has been to Belize or Honduras.

 

We just booked today on the same cruise! We're really excited. I, too, am hoping for some price drops closer, but I don't ultimately expect it.

 

Maybe we'll see you onboard. . . :)

[funatsea01]

What is a upsell call?