how often do cruise prices change?
in [Cruise Ship]
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From: Tom K on 8 Jun 2010 16:06 On 6/8/10 1:35 PM, Ohioguy wrote: >> example, ships are capacity controlled. As the sailing date nears and >> more people book, the price will go up. > > Is this always the case? No it's not always the case. If the ship is very full (which typically occurs during the summer, spring break and winter break when kids are off from school, so a lot more families can go), then indeed the prices will go up - more demand for the few cabins left. On the other hand if the ship is more empty (which generally occurs off season), there is more capacity than demand. So prices will drop as you get closer to your sailing date. With their computers, experienced agents can check on cabin availability... and with this info, be able to somewhat predict whether prices will go up or drop. Plus they're familiar with historical trends. --Tom > I've hears that some of the best deals are last > minute things when the cruise wants to avoid having empty rooms. > > If that is true, I guess that is mostly because the cost of labor on the > ships is subsidized by the guests?
From: Charles on 8 Jun 2010 19:01 In article <VbvPn.28252$yx.10801(a)newsfe13.iad>, Ohioguy <none(a)none.net> wrote: > Is this always the case? I've hears that some of the best deals are > last minute things when the cruise wants to avoid having empty rooms. If they can't sell the cabins then there can be some great last minute deals. Done that a bunch of times. Many times though if you have to fly there the savings may be offset by higher airfare. Also you are getting the cabins that are left over so you could get that cabin under the galley or something like that. -- Charles
From: John Sisker on 8 Jun 2010 21:15 "Tom K" <tkanitra(a)optonline.net> wrote in message news:4c0ea2b7$0$21703$607ed4bc(a)cv.net... > On 6/8/10 1:35 PM, Ohioguy wrote: >>> example, ships are capacity controlled. As the sailing date nears and >>> more people book, the price will go up. >> >> Is this always the case? > > > No it's not always the case. > > If the ship is very full (which typically occurs during the summer, spring > break and winter break when kids are off from school, so a lot more > families can go), then indeed the prices will go up - more demand for the > few cabins left. > > On the other hand if the ship is more empty (which generally occurs off > season), there is more capacity than demand. So prices will drop as you > get closer to your sailing date. > > With their computers, experienced agents can check on cabin > availability... and with this info, be able to somewhat predict whether > prices will go up or drop. Plus they're familiar with historical trends. > > --Tom > > >> I've hears that some of the best deals are last >> minute things when the cruise wants to avoid having empty rooms. >> >> If that is true, I guess that is mostly because the cost of labor on the >> ships is subsidized by the guests? > For the most part, ships are indeed capacity controlled. The earlier you book, normally the lower the price. Yet, there are always exceptions to the rule, so Tom is indeed correct in a way. If the ship is not filling up as planned, sometimes you can get a really good deal by waiting until the last minute. But that can also be a hit or miss situation, and seldom will one have many options to choose from. You may have to take what's left over. Likewise, as pointed out in another similar post, a good travel agent could be doing a lot of this footwork for you, instead of trying to solicit answers from a newsgroups, some with more opinions than facts. For example, only recently did it surface that your wife is a past passenger on Carnival. That will still be on record. In addition, many times there are senior and/or military discounts, etc., so instead of finding out all this information after the fact, either let a travel agent in on this, or you should be calling Carnival Cruise Line yourself. Here is that contact information. 800-327-9501 or www.carnival.com; since some travel agencies are more biased towards one cruise line over another because of override commissions, objective information could be suspect. John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY� (714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850) www.shiptoshorecruise.com / www.tinplatedesign.com > Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Flickr/MyPage
From: Ari on 9 Jun 2010 12:40 On Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:50:40 +0200, peter wrote: > OMG! George Leper has an 800 number that you can call to give Ohioguy a > specification of taxes, port charges and fees for each port visited? Too bad > that Leper is on the record stating that he doesn't think cruising is for > Ohioguy. Bet he takes his business though. -- Ari's Fun Times! http://tr.im/hrFG Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!
From: Dillon Pyron on 11 Jun 2010 12:41
[Default] Thus spake Ohioguy <none(a)none.net>: > I had finally decided on the Carnival Legend for my first cruise, and >found a pretty good price on a balcony 7 day cruise - $569 per person. >I went to book it, and the price jumped up to $650 - an extra $160 for >both of us. This was before taxes & fees on the cruisecheap website, at >just before 11 PM. > > I checked out a couple of other websites as well, and the prices seem >to have gone up $40 there in just a few hours. (what you see isn't what >you can get, before taxes are added) > > So, now I have questions. Do online prices jump up & down regularly >for cruises, or did I just run into some form of "bait & switch" ? Was >I starting the checkout process when the prices jumped? Do they >regularly change at about 11 PM on Mondays? > > I was willing to pay an extra $100 for that day vs going about 10 >days earlier, just because it was a little more convenient for a >relative who will be visiting. However, with another $160 on top of >that, I'm not inclined to pull the trigger just yet. I'm pricing some cruises for a potential client and prices have changed since Monday. Typically Carnival changes prices across the board on Tuesdays, but, like the airlines, cruise lines use capacity management to price the cruises. I've got one now where an ocean view guarantee is actually less than an interior guarantee. Or it was as of 30 minutes ago. -- - dillon I am not invalid Warick: "Who brings a gun to a knife fight?" Gil: "The winner?" |