Future price drop on Gems of the Baltic cruise?

[Gig Harbor Gal]

Do the prices of European cruises tend to go down as the cruise date approaches, or is it the opposite? I am thinking of booking a Gems of the Baltic cruise on the Eurodam for June 2012, and am wondering if I should wait a few months before doing so? I am concerned about not being eligible, for whatever reason, for a price adjustment in the case of a price drop. Are my chances better for a price adjustment if I book directly with HAL, rather than through a TA?

Thanks,
GHG

[RuthC]

If I were you, I would book now.

Up until final payment, if there's a price drop, all you have to do is request that your fare be recalculated, and down it goes. This will happen whether you use a brick & mortar, internet, or HAL agent to book the cruise.

[iancal]

Not sure about next year but I can tell you that prices for Med cruises this year post final payment date on some cruise lines dropped like a rock.

We were fortunate. We dithered about and did not book. Not long after the cancellation window past, we took one day offers that we could not refuse and re-arranged other vacation plans. Three of us booked 10-12 day cruises (two cruises) Sept. cruises at $100. pp/ day for balcony cabins plus additional OBC's from our on line TA that just about cover our gratuities.

I would book. But I would watch the prices. Prior to final payment find out what cabin availability is. If it is high, cancel and then wait for the price to drop. HAL seems to be delay dropping prices. We were looking at Noordam but selected another ship based on a very large price differential that we could not justify. HAL subsequently reduced prices but it was too late as we had already booked.

It only works if you can get the air at a reasonable cost...which two of us were able to do. The third couple had previously arranged air for a land trip.

[swin26]

Do the prices of European cruises tend to go down as the cruise date approaches, or is it the opposite? I am thinking of booking a Gems of the Baltic cruise on the Eurodam for June 2012, and am wondering if I should wait a few months before doing so? I am concerned about not being eligible, for whatever reason, for a price adjustment in the case of a price drop. Are my chances better for a price adjustment if I book directly with HAL, rather than through a TA?

Thanks,
GHG
We are booked on the June 24th Gems of the Baltic. The prices have already gone down once. I called HAL (we booked through HAL) and they lowered the price. In the alternative, we could have also upgraded to a most expensive cabin. We were told to call if the price goes down again. Booking through HAL you need to watch for price drops, they will not contact you if the price goes down.

[baggal]

I'd go in another direction. I see you live in Washington State. That's a long way and an expensive airfare to the Baltics. I would start checking airfares. When you find something you can live with (around $1,100 - $1,200 roundtrip these days is not bad) I would book the airfare and then start looking at cruise fares. Airlines do not honor price drops but the cruises lines do - until final payment. You'll still have plenty of time too book.

Just make sure you fly in to Copenhagen(?) at least a day, if not more, ahead of your embarkation.

Gems of the Baltics is a wonderful itinerary. Enjoy!

[Joy2Day]

We were on a Baltics cruise in July this year. We booked onboard in Feb 2010 for an inside guarantee. There was 1 small price drop this spring. I called my TA and HAL gave us the price drop without issue.

Other than that, the prices held very steady.

[iancal]

baggal..that is excellent advice. We managed to get great airfare (they held our cabin until 5PM so we were able to make the arrangements without being held hostage).

We plan to do exactly that for the southern Caribbean this winter and potentially for Europe next spring. We are already watching air prices as well as making alternate vacation plans just in case. In April/May of this year we went to the UK and Europe. We could not get the right cruise at the right price so we booked a great seven day air/hotel package to Crete instead. A trip to Crete was on our 'list' The trick is to be flexible and have a back up plan.

We are now extremely flexible and have a list. When the right offer comes along we just go. Our friends in the UK have been doing this for the past several years. They have been on some amazing trips and always at great prices-usually at 'shoulder' season. We also book based on prevailing currency rates. We booked our Med cruise because of price and because of the low cost of the Turkish lire vis a vis our dollar. So we will spend two weeks driving, and flying around Turkey while the exchange rates are very much in our favor. We are also doing more US travel and taking more US dollar based cruises than we ever have before because of currency. Now is the time to take advantage of the economy if you are able to do so.