Pricing Experiment

[Navy_Chief]

With all the posts lately dealing with pricing on line, I decided to do a little research test using a popular price competition website using the criteria listed with the results shown. Of course, this is just a pricing test and does not deal any "fine print" things such as cancelation fees from the various agents.

Sailing: Noordam 2/28 / Category VF GTY
Prices shown are per person, taxes and fees included in the price.

HAL Website: $1,278.26

Agent 1: $1,262.50 / lunch at the Pinnacle Grill and $50 onboard credit

Agent 2: $1,179.36

Agent 3: $1,167.50

Agent 4: $1,278.26 / 200 per cabin ship board credit

Agent 5: $1,140.43

Agent 6: $1,278.26 / $50 CASH REBATE AFTER SAILING

Agent 7: $1,278.26

[cruisinjudy]

Agent 4 looks like a great deal!

[jtl513]

Interesting! And odd that 4, 6, and 7 are exact to the penny, yet 7 gives no bennie! :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Actually over all the best price is #5, all the prices are per person so actually you are paying just a bit more in #4

But over all what I think Navy Chief is saying is that they are all so very close. I actually do not mind paying a few dollars more to my TA tht give me good service.

[Navy_Chief]

Just a note about agent 4, the SBC is for the cabin so realisticly, take $100 off the price shown which is about equil to agents 2,3, and 5. Also, you still have to pay that price to the agent (the SBC comes later). I just wanted to make the clarification. Your right jt, and notice it is to the penny what HALs price is.

[jtl513]

Your right jt, and notice it is to the penny what HALs price is.

Oh yeah! I missed THAT! :D

[Navy_Chief]

Agents 4, 6, and 7 are the same as HALs site. Of course, there are the SBCs; agent 1 is also close to HALs price as well with the SBC. What does it cost to eat lunch in the Pinnacle? I'm curious what the value of that is. The one that cracks me up is agent 6 who is charging the same as HAL but will give you back $50 AFTER you cruise :D. I'll try stopping by some local TAs to try and see what I hear from them.

[Fatfish]

Ok...whose behind door 5?

[kryos]

We also don't know whether taxes and port charges are included on some of the quotes and not others. Also, are these cash OBC's ... to be used in any manner the passenger sees fit, or are they compiled of various types of vouchers; i.e., cruise DVD credit, photo shop credit, Pinnacle Grill "Experience," etc.?

I still say ... basically you pay just about the same no matter which travel agent you may use. Where you make out is if the cruise does not sell well, and HAL is forced to discount it. Then, you can pick up some killer deals by cancelling and rebooking at the lower rate, assuming you are not in the penalty period.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Navy_Chief]

At this point, I tend to agree Rita, they all are about the same. As far as these particular quotes go, the prices your looking at include the taxes and fees (which I have found to be absolutely consisant across the board at $79 pp). The bits about the "extras" offered are what were related in the quotes; again you make a good point, $50 in SBC could mean a bottle of champeign and some flowers (though one clearly states lunch at the Pinnacle for two, $30 dollar value, $15 each). All of these TAs had telephone numbers to call if you wanted to book that way so you could ask all these questions if you wanted. Today, I'm going to pick up the yellow pages and call 3 local area agents for quotes.

[Len3]

I've now booked 4 cruises online. Everything was perfect with all 4, however, in checking with 3 local TA's, they couldn't come close to the online agents. Just my experience.

[kryos]

Today, I'm going to pick up the yellow pages and call 3 local area agents for quotes.
Just for giggles, if you have the time, you should call HAL too. See what they are selling the cabin for.

Of course, I realize you could get that info off the website, but calling them might yield more information, such as if they have a promo running on that particular cruise which would lower the price from that listed on the website.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Navy_Chief]

I'll do that. thier price on the website is $1,278.26; I wonder if that's with the View&Veranda promo?

[molly361]

I'll do that. thier price on the website is $1,278.26; I wonder if that's with the View&Veranda promo?

I'm not sure if the View and Veranda is really any sort of sale- We booked the Westerdam months ago for November 2007 and got a rate of $1068 per person for a VF including tax and port- I called yesterday figuring that we could get a better rate or an upgrade like stated on the HAL website, price is exactly the same $1068- go figure!!:confused: They said you don't get upgrades they just lower the category price

[GeriatricNurse]

With all the posts lately dealing with pricing on line, I decided to do a little research test using a popular price competition website using the criteria listed with the results shown. Of course, this is just a pricing test and does not deal any "fine print" things such as cancelation fees from the various agents.

Sailing: Noordam 2/28 / Category VF GTY
Prices shown are per person, taxes and fees included in the price.

HAL Website: $1,278.26

Agent 1: $1,262.50 / lunch at the Pinnacle Grill and $50 onboard credit

Agent 2: $1,179.36

Agent 3: $1,167.50

Agent 4: $1,278.26 / 200 per cabin ship board credit

Agent 5: $1,140.43

Agent 6: $1,278.26 / $50 CASH REBATE AFTER SAILING

Agent 7: $1,278.26


:) I would be interested to know the price of the "discounted" Mariner Society in this pricing experiment!

[sparkly]

Thank you so much for verifying what I knew to be true! I book with a great gentleman at HAL and he works hard to get us what I always feel is the right price. He will either add us to a group or set us up as a group. I used to watch prices like a hawk and call him all of the time to check this sale or check that sale, which he graciously does, and laughs.
I was always afraid of being flamed for booking with HAL directly.
On the other hand, I am an educator andcan only vacation when thedistrict tells me I can. Read that as high seasons!

[Navy_Chief]

:) I would be interested to know the price of the "discounted" Mariner Society in this pricing experiment!
Ward, I did input my Mariners number when doing the price check on line. I also did the same check without the Mariner's number and the price was identical. We'll see what HAL says when I talk to them.

[Schplinky]

We used what I imagine is the same search engine to find a price for our site. We wound up paying $150 less than what HAL was offering. We made a point of checking the agent out with Better Business Bureau Online (as you would check out a local agent with BBB locally) and have been thrilled by the service and, obviously, the price. I think that if we needed more guidance in selecting a cruise, a hands-on local agent might make sense but in this case, we chose the agent because we know what we want and he got us a better price than anyone else. We also made sure there was no cancellation fee and that he would honor any price drops. While we didn't have any need to cancel (we go in two weeks), I can report that he willingfully honored a price drop.

[GeriatricNurse]

Ward, I did input my Mariners number when doing the price check on line. I also did the same check without the Mariner's number and the price was identical. We'll see what HAL says when I talk to them.


:) Hi Navy Chief:

Isn't that interesting/peculiar! The price with/without your Mariner's Society number was IDENTICAL!!!

I would be very interested how HAL would account for the identical price! Being a Mariner Society member myself, I thought that one of the benefits was "preferential pricing"?

[gizmo]

:) Hi Navy Chief:

Isn't that interesting/peculiar! The price with/without your Mariner's Society number was IDENTICAL!!!

I would be very interested how HAL would account for the identical price! Being a Mariner Society member myself, I thought that one of the benefits was "preferential pricing"?


This is nothing new. Many times you will find the same price for both on Hal's site. They will tell you it is some kind of sale.

In most cases Mariner discounts no longer mean anything. You can go to many internet sites and get a price lower than the Mariner price.

[Grumpy1]

. Today, I'm going to pick up the yellow pages and call 3 local area agents for quotes.Someone has Way to much time on his hands:D ... but thanks for the research. It's quite interesting.

[Navy_Chief]

Lol its Friday and I'm board Grumpy. The Chief's Club doesn't open until 3PM on the Subase, what can I say:D By the way, fair winds and following seas on your cruise shipmate! wish I was going again. I know HAL gives certificates out for crossing the equator, do theygive out "Blue Nose" certificates for the artic/antatric circle?

[jimmy2x]

Very interesting thread. I use HAL's on-line pricing strictly as a guideline and always get better rates through my TA, and even more important the benefit of his experience.

I suspect that the price difference may be greater for those who book further out. Last February while on the Ryndam booked with the onboard consultant for this year's 14 day Veendam cruise. She quoted us app. $3100/pp for a "B" cabin (which was identical to HAL's website price). Transferred the booking while still on the ship to my TA and actually bought the cruise for $2550/pp while retaining the onboard credit. To me, this was a significant savings.:)

[molly361]

:)

Isn't that interesting/peculiar! The price with/without your Mariner's Society number was IDENTICAL!!!

I would be very interested how HAL would account for the identical price! Being a Mariner Society member myself, I thought that one of the benefits was "preferential pricing"?
I was also told the same thing when we booked our Westerdam cruise several months ago- the pricing was the same whether a Mariner member or not and is still the same today even with the View and Veranda sale:eek:

[Fatfish]

Ok..your all hired!!
If you have all this time on your hands, how about checking the Veendam for April 1 ,2007 Transatlantic...cat nn guarentee but wait till after final payment is due on 1/16 or 1/17...LOL

[seaair100]

I went to local TA, and booked a VF on Oct. 20th Noordam.Was told price was same Mariner or not.Got about 100.00 off from what HA website was showing.
Who knows,it got me to book a Verandah when I usually book a inside. Dee

[fcorey]

Lol its Friday and I'm board Grumpy. The Chief's Club doesn't open until 3PM on the Subase, what can I say:D By the way, fair winds and following seas on your cruise shipmate! wish I was going again. I know HAL gives certificates out for crossing the equator, do theygive out "Blue Nose" certificates for the artic/antatric circle?

thanks for doing the research for the rest of us Chief. Over the last few weeks I did some research on our Alaska trip with some of the agents that sponsor Cruisecritic. I did find that they were all pretty close, and in general lower than those that do not advertise here. I was surprised that the Mariner number made no difference but in many cases some cruises are so heavily discounted already so we shouldnt complain too much :)

[Randyk47]

The salient point of this thread to me is that we have to do our "homework". Research, research, and more research. Oh yes....and caution. Read the fine print, even with HAL.

One PS. In the 8+ years I've been using the Internet I don't recall ever getting a different on-line price from HAL whether I used my Mariner number or not. Maybe if you call you might get another number but not on-line.

[jhannah]

You really have to know what you're signing up for on some of these sites. That's the key! And as Randy says, that takes some homework before "clicking" on the dotted line.

[Navy_Chief]

In all fairness to the survey, both Jim and Randy make real excellent points. I'll see about some follow up questions I can call and find out. In the mean time, I contacted HAL and the price I listed is what I was quoted on the phone as well. The only thing that Mariner number is good for is to retrieve your information from the HAL 9000 in the back room :D so you don't have to feel like your visiting the Department of Redundancy department:D . More to come......

[Host Walt]

I'm sorry but our guidelines (http://www.cruisecritic.com/community/guide.cfm)do not permit posting TA contact information or pricing information. Three posts that contained such info were removed. (BTW, Navy Chief's approach is in conformity with our guidelines.)

Keep in mind that pricing can vary among customers because of the customers' residence location, age and/or other factors...and that all pricing can change without any notice at all.

[Navy_Chief]

Ok here are the numbers from the first local "Brick and Morter" agent (and yes these agents that I looked at advertize in the local Yellow Pages and state they are cruise specialists; they both advertize they are CLIA agents). The same criteria was used as with the on-line agents

HAL Agent: $1279.00

Agent 1: $1475.00 per person (taxes and fees included):eek:

Agent 2 told me he will call me tomorrow with the information.

[zdude]

That's the key! And as Randy says, that takes some homework before "clicking" on the dotted line.

Why? What am I missing here? The first time I cruised, I just boinked on a few buttons and BAM!! One cruise for four. ;)

I am tempted to do it again, what could go wrong?

My experience is that HAL is more expensive than MOST others. The cheaper rates are from those agencies that purchase a block of rooms. Ones that are not cheaper should be identical to HAL. If not its likely service charges or insurance charges that make the difference.

[Navy_Chief]

Why? What am I missing here? The first time I cruised, I just boinked on a few buttons and BAM!! One cruise for four. ;)

I am tempted to do it again, what could go wrong?

My experience is that HAL is more expensive than MOST others. The cheaper rates are from those agencies that purchase a block of rooms. Ones that are not cheaper should be identical to HAL. If not its likely service charges or insurance charges that make the difference.

The point of this is to help educate fellow HAL cruisers with possable "Pit Falls" involved with booking a cruise. It is strictly an educational excersize where I do all the work and my fellow CCrs reap the benifits. It is absolutly my pleasure to do it to further better cruising for all CC members. At the end, I will do a full analisys of the facts to merge it all together.

[Grumpy1]

By the way, fair winds and following seas on your cruise shipmate! wish I was going again. I know HAL gives certificates out for crossing the equator, do theygive out "Blue Nose" certificates for the artic/antatric circle?I wish I was going on my cruise, too, Bob. The Prinsendam left without us today... A little matter of a heart attack a week ago, two stents put in over the weekend and two more going in on the 16th. The only way I could go was to take the doc, his staff and equipment with me. I have my Equator and International Date Line certificates, but don't know about the "bluenose" certificates. I didn't see any mention of it in the 2006 world cruise thread that I recall.

[Randyk47]

Hey Grump....at least you're with us and that really beats the alternative. :) I'd been more than happy to cruise with you as your doctor but I don't think you need a shrink. You're around to cruise another day and for that I say THANK GOODNESS. :D

[whogo]

I know HAL gives certificates out for crossing the equator, do theygive out "Blue Nose" certificates for the artic/antatric circle?
Circling Iceland we received a certificate, suitable for framing, that said, "Holland America Line, This is to Certify that Whogo has crossed the Arctic Circle at 66° 30' N on board the Rotterdam 1999, Jacob W. Dijk, Captain".

[whogo]

I see my posts were deleted. The closest rule infraction I find is "There shall be no third-party recommendation of travel agencies on any forums within Cruise Critic. General discussions regarding the TYPE of AGENCY to be used to purchase a cruise will be allowed, as long as no recommendations for any source of purchase are posted." I wasn't recommending, just listing price quotes. Here's the reformatted original:

I have too much time on my hands, too. I tried the same thing with a different sailing. I did not come up with onboard credits or other special offers that Navy Chief did. I said I lived in Florida, if asked, and did not ask for a past cruiser's discount. Veendam, Sunday, March 11, 2007, Caribbean-Western, 7 days, category M inside cabin:
Agent A $1319.68
Agent B $1333.40
HAL website $1461.68
Agent C $1,324.02
Agent D $1,306.20
Agent E $1389.68
Agent F $1364.68
Agent G $1,352.16
Agent H $1,389.68
Agent I $1,333.40
Agent J $1,286.50
Agent K $1,389.68

HAL's highest price is $175.18, or about 12% higher than the lowest quote. The websites give the impression that these are total prices for the cabin, but I obviously did not book and find out about any hidden fees. I could not get quotes from a number of other sites. We were happy with Agent C for our December Volendam cruise.

[zdude]

The point of this is to help educate fellow HAL cruisers with possable "Pit Falls" involved with booking a cruise. It is strictly an educational excersize where I do all the work and my fellow CCrs reap the benifits. It is absolutly my pleasure to do it to further better cruising for all CC members. At the end, I will do a full analisys of the facts to merge it all together.

I still do not really understand the pitfalls, really. Maybe jhannah and tricia724 just mean that you have to be able to read the fine print of what you are purchasing. If so , I get it.

In general what I have found is that the price of the cruise itself varies slightly. Either you have the HAL price or the price of the travel agency that has negotiated a group buy from HAL. The bigger the group the better the price. If you know the bigger group, you're in good shape. If you have to find that you and you really care to invest 20 hrs of your time to find this group to save money--- more power to 'ya. :D

Everything else that is added on to the price other than the room is buyer beware. I.e. what service fees and what insurance coverage, etc, etc.

[whogo]

Ok..your all hired!!
If you have all this time on your hands, how about checking the Veendam for April 1 ,2007 Transatlantic...cat nn guarentee but wait till after final payment is due on 1/16 or 1/17...LOL

Agent A $2416
Agent B $2,451.58
HAL website $2556.46
Agent C $$2,434.10 (said to phone for a price too low to advertise)
Agent D $$2,343.38

I am getting good at this. Took 7 minutes to find these prices. The highest is $213.08 more than the lowest, or 8% more

[Navy_Chief]

I heard back from the second local agent today. He quoted the price on the HAL site for the VF GTY but went on to say he could offer a VH GTY for $976.26 pp including the taxes and fees. After speaking to this agent a bit I was impressed with him. He says he sails HAL a great deal and sets up group cruises. He states that he will get the price reductions and does not charge cancellation fees prior to the final payment due date. He also delivers the docs personnally to his local clients. I believe I'll be checking this agent again.

[hammybee]

bump to see next post

[Roz]

I just checked out the prices for the 2008 Caribbean cruises (first 4 months) on the HAL website. Wow! Big increases over what I paid in Nov., 2006.

I always start with the HAL website and go from there. The website gives me a general idea of which time periods, ships, itineraries, etc. are more expensive/less expensive relative to one another.

Roz

[2boyzmom]

I started with HAL for 2/08 family of four 11 day carribean. I did my research with a local TA and my usual online TA and lo and behold her total was $750.00 less for the four of us. Maybe for 2 people it wouldn't be much different, but for four, it sure adds up!

[Roz]

I usually book solo, and there's a wide variation in fares. I think part of it is that the TA still gets more commission with 2 passengers, even though a single pays a supplement.

There are probably a lot of agents who just don't want to mess with a solo cruiser, unless it's a line that automatically charges singles the double fare.

Lately I've been having better luck with online and/or out-of-state TAs as opposed to local bricks and mortar offices.

Roz

[Navy_Chief]

What got me was the wild variation between the two local TAs. Agent 1 was $200 MORE than HAL. Agent 2 was the same as HAL but offered the VH GTY for $300 less than the VF GTY. It seems really off to have such a wild difference. The rest of the on-line stuff is very close; the best there was agent 5 who offered to cut the price if HAL has a price reduction (of course, thats not likely to happen this close to sailing; thats why I picked a sail date so close). In this case, I would have had to go with Local Agent #2

[Grumpy1]

Bottom line... it definitely pays to shop around and ask questions. It's a pretty sure bet that there will always be a price out there somewhere that will be better than the HAL direct price, but then I would not expect HAL to undercut the T/A's. If absolute lowest price is the major factor, it will usually, but not always be an online T/A. If you want someone that will hold your hand when needed and go to bat for you if needed, it will probably be your local Brick and Mortar agency. If you feel that you really want to be able to talk directly to HAL yourself, or have some other reason for booking direct, the percentage difference in price is usually not enough to break the bank.

The comparisons have been interesting. Thanks for doing this.

[zdude]

Hey grumpy! Every case has an exception.

I had stated earlier that the reason that TA and Online might have better prices than that posted by HAL was because of quanty buys. I may have even heard this from HAL.

But, keep in mind that these TA also may have a certain amount invested in the reservation as a result their prices may stay exactly the same until the are attempting to recoup their investment. As a result contacting HAL might result in a lower price than the TA or even what is posted on the HAL website.

Ask me how I know. :D

[serendipity1499]

One thing to keep in mind is the length & type of cruise..Many of your quotes are anywhere from 9 to 12 % less..In our case we go on longer cruises, so the $$$ we save is substantial..

On our Prinsendam 25 day Amazon cruise last April, we saved almost $1,000 for an outside cabin, an approx 9% saving...Hal never discounted this cruise & permitted us to release the original HAL booking to the On-line Agent..We also got an upgraded cabin one deck up..Had to book a year in advance as the Nov. 2005 cruise which we originally wanted, was fully booked 9 months before..

On our Ryndam 14 day cruise this past Nov. to the Southern Carib. we booked three months ahead, saved $420 per cabin over the HAL Price which was an 11.5% saving..In addition the On line Travel Agent had a group on this cruise..He included us in with his group, with the group rate as well as three bottles of wine, dinner at the Pinnacle & 2 Massages per cabin..

So between the two we had extra $$$ to spend elsewhere! Every little bit helps..:)

[xpcdoojk]

Agent 4 looks like a great deal!
Looks to me like Agent 5 is the best deal. Take $100 off agent four and it is 30+ dollars more.

jc

[Navy_Chief]

One thing to keep in mind is the length & type of cruise..Many of your quotes are anywhere from 9 to 12 % less..In our case we go on longer cruises, so the $$$ we save is substantial..

On our Prinsendam 25 day Amazon cruise last April, we saved almost $1,000 for an outside cabin, an approx 9% saving...Hal never discounted this cruise & permitted us to release the original HAL booking to the On-line Agent..We also got an upgraded cabin one deck up..Had to book a year in advance as the Nov. 2005 cruise which we originally wanted, was fully booked 9 months before..

On our Ryndam 14 day cruise this past Nov. to the Southern Carib. we booked three months ahead, saved $420 per cabin over the HAL Price which was an 11.5% saving..In addition the On line Travel Agent had a group on this cruise..He included us in with his group, with the group rate as well as three bottles of wine, dinner at the Pinnacle & 2 Massages per cabin..

So between the two we had extra $$$ to spend elsewhere! Every little bit helps..:)

Definately correct, you do save money on longer cruises. The cruise I selected was within the "final Payment" day, and of typical legnth to try to get an average for a typical cruise. I enjoy cruises 10 days or greater (providing I can talk Niki into it:D )