MAD as a Wet Hen

It all depends on the time of year and where you are flying from. For us it would be expensive to fly anywhere last minute as our current city only has one airline. Also we tend to travel closer to the holidays so last minute airfare would be extra costly. I'm a Buffalo native too by the way. Go Bills!

 

 

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Then you need to be more flexible with your air flight plans. I don't know where in Virginia you are located but I do know that Baltimore's BWI and Washington, DC's two airports, Dulles and National, does have plenty of airlines servicing them including Southwest and Jet Blue. If in the western part of VA, Louisville SDF could be the better option. ;)

We live closer to Toronto's Pearson airport but drive the extra 1/2 hour to BUF because we can get much lower cost, typically 50% or more less, to US destinations from there. Not only do we save money by doing this we also have many more flight, including non-stop to Florida, options and much lower parking and hotel cost.

For our international overseas flights we compare both Buffalo and Toronto as the latter have more direct non-stop or less connections flights to overseas destinations. Yes, we, being retired, are very flexible in our travel plans and tend to avoid travelling and cruising at holiday times but even then we have gotten good last minute deals occasionally. :)

Then you need to be more flexible with your air flight plans. I don't know where in Virginia you are located but I do know that Baltimore's BWI and Washington, DC's two airports, Dulles and National, does have plenty of airlines servicing them including Southwest and Jet Blue. If in the western part of VA, Louisville SDF could be the better option. ;)

We live closer to Toronto's Pearson airport but drive the extra 1/2 hour to BUF because we can get much lower cost, typically 50% or more less, to US destinations from there. Not only do we save money by doing this we also have many more flight, including non-stop to Florida, options and much lower parking and hotel cost.

For our international overseas flights we compare both Buffalo and Toronto as the latter have more direct non-stop or less connections flights to overseas destinations. Yes, we, being retired, are very flexible in our travel plans and tend to avoid travelling and cruising at holiday times but even then we have gotten good last minute deals occasionally. :)

We don't travel on the holidays themselves, traditionally we go right after Thanksgiving so the departure flight still falls over the holiday weekend. We live in middle of nowhere VA. The Washington DC airports are 3 hours away and parking is expensive there (we are flying from Dulles for our upcoming November cruise). We don't have too much flexibility because of work but we have thrown together last minute vacation plans. Sometimes flight prices work out, sometimes they don't. We try to have one vacation per year that is set in stone and one that we throw together when a good deal happens. Everyone's situation varies I suppose. :)

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Keep in mind that people who book at the last minute may save more than you did on the cruise, but will have to pay more for flights to get there.

 

Booking a cruise after the final payment due date may be cheaper in some instances but airfare may be higher the closer to sail date too. The bottom line is the OP booked a cruise at a price they were comfortable paying. The cruise could have gone up in price just as easily.

Booking plane tickets through Choice Air from RCCL, most often negates those high air fares at the last minute.

I booked a 15 night cruise on Celebrity Reflection for only $449pp... just 10 days prior to departure! :eek:

My flight to Rome was only $508pp, booked EIGHT *D*A*Y*S* prior to departure. ;)

After final payment, a 23 night cruise from San Francisco to Sydney was only $799pp. :D

The return flight to LAX from Sydney was only $619pp using Choice Air. :cool:

Booking after final payment CAN save you a LOT of money, and with Choice Air, flights are STILL cheap. ;)

So is saving chairs at the pool????....Give me a break! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Booking plane tickets through Choice Air from RCCL, most often negates those high air fares at the last minute.

 

I booked a 15 night cruise on Celebrity Reflection for only $449pp... just 10 days prior to departure! :eek:

 

My flight to Rome was only $508pp, booked EIGHT *D*A*Y*S* prior to departure. ;)

 

After final payment, a 23 night cruise from San Francisco to Sydney was only $799pp. :D

 

The return flight to LAX from Sydney was only $619pp using Choice Air. :cool:

 

Booking after final payment CAN save you a LOT of money, and with Choice Air, flights are STILL cheap. ;)

Just to put a little perspective on your comment, I've never found a cheaper 'domestic' flight on Choice Air than on Southwest or Jet Blue. I agree that the big savings are found in the international flights but not so much domestic.

We booked almost a year ago. Paid $2375 for a D8 - it now pricing @ $2075 for a D6 on GGG

Pricing is back to 'normal' today. The D6 is no longer cheaper than the D8. I think it was an error on website yesterday because the cheaper price wasn't showing a BOGO discount in the summary of charges...not that it helps you any. While I do check prices after final for upgrades, I'm so used to those post final drops that it doesn't bother me anymore.

Pricing is back to 'normal' today. The D6 is no longer cheaper than the D8. I think it was an error on website yesterday because the cheaper price wasn't showing a BOGO discount in the summary of charges...not that it helps you any. While I do check prices after final for upgrades, I'm so used to those post final drops that it doesn't bother me anymore.

In speaking to several folks in Solutions they pretty much admit that the pricing that was listed was wrong. And yes it is gone today. It was a great find for anyone that happen to see it, book it, pay for it all at the same time.

Everyone I spoke with was very kind and understanding. They were swamped with calls yesterday from a lot of folks having the same concern.

At the end of the day, they are rules.....but rules sometimes

have an exception, just ask my daughters :D

It always pays to check pricing. 1 week after final payment, my suite pricing dropped $1800 per cabin. I was at the $500 cancellation point. RC honored the price drop but deducted the $500 cancellation fee. I got a refund of $1300 and am working with my group coordinator to (hopefully) get some OBC to offset the $500 fee. Probably won't happen but I am happy with the refund I got!

That is a good deal....you got a $1300 price reduction.

Family vacation booked on the Allure for Dec 6th this year. Paid final deposit yesterday. TODAY less than 24hrs RCI offering a GGG sale.....saving per cabin $600! I called and was told Too Bad.....the rules are the rules are the rules. Not very happy. Really put a sale out like that less then 24 hours after final date?

I previously wrote about our experience in 2013 when RCI offered free liquor after our "book early to get the best price and cabin" went final. We found numerous fellow passengers who had received all sorts of discounts and bonuses just to fill cabins outside any of RCI's posted fare rules. Free liquor was time limited and balcony or better, but there were numerous passengers in inside cabins who booked close to the sailing, including one single guy who got a single inside for $470 with free liquor for 15 days New Orleans to Rome.

Ultimately, without admitting any wrongdoing, RCI gave us a $300 FCC, and then put us through a circus when we tried to use it. See my comments on that: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2256957

It's their ship. They can charge whatever they want. I can sail with someone else. As I said multiple times to RCI, I object to a Grand Bazaar system of pricing.

Just to put a little perspective on your comment, I've never found a cheaper 'domestic' flight on Choice Air than on Southwest or Jet Blue. I agree that the big savings are found in the international flights but not so much domestic.

That has been our experience also. ;)

In fact for the two Serenade TA cruises we did last year we booked the one way flight from Barcelona to Buffalo after the Spring eastbound and the reverse before the Fall westbound with Choice Air for around $400 each but booked one way flights with Southwest down to NOLA in the Spring and from there in the Fall as the cost to do these as an open jaw booking with Choice Air was unreal. Basically it was almost double the air cost for each cruise using CA for both ends of these open jaw itineraries. Booking the domestic portion directly lowered our cost for these by 2/3.

In this case I was not searching after final payment but rather had another family member that wanted to sail with us and asked what the cost would be. So much to my surprise when I check and saw the price drop. We have 9 cabins booked on this cruise, all balconies 3 D8 and the rest D3's We can't upgrade because ALL the open categories that we could upgrade to are offering the GGG rate which we can't use :( We are all past guests - 2 Diamond+ 2 Diamond and the remaining all Gold (Diamond after this cruise).

 

I checked all the pricing before I paid the final payment and nothing was there until Midnight (it seems).

 

I have spoken to several folks at guest relations and 2 supervisors in the Solutions department. Nothing they can do. I explained that I understand that a refund is not possible but asked for anything…..something and their reply was sorry.

 

1 of the cabins that has had a decrease is a handicap accessible cabin that has been booked for longer than a year. This is a must have cabin and we booked early to make sure we had it. I was willing to take the hit on that cabin. But the 8 other cabins nothing special about them.

 

I am saddened that RCI offered nothing not even a bottle of wine. Nothing. Yes the rules are the rules are the rules BUT so is saving chairs at the pool.

I concur. The rules are the rules. Our experience with RCI on our 2013 cruise was that the rules applied to us but not to many others. As I observed, we found numerous cruisers who bragged about the deal they got, deals which did not meet the terms of any offer. We did not go looking for these cruisers. We did not go checking prices or offers. RCI sent us e-mails with regularity promoting deals on our cruise. From the perspective of a buyer, I don't like the "Grand Bazaar" approach to pricing, especially when I've been told "book early for the best price and selection." The problem from RCI's perspective is that it is now impossible to sell cabins without the buyer having the perception that he or she is being offered a deal.

I, too, read the recent comments about dropping the GGG sale within x days of sailing. Our experience was cabins were offered at less than the GGG price and benefits just to fill cabins.

i went royal once and the way it was run compared to carnival was a joke. carnival might not have the biggest and best ships (some of them brutally old/ugly/small) but they have a much lighter approach with customers than royal.

i have a 50% off a cabin (including whatever current sale price, thanks myVegas) so im taking my gf but i cant book til 30 days prior to sailing. oct 10 is day 1 the offer works.

im giving them a go again, hope this time it works better.

I understand checking before final payment date, but after? Is it only for upgrade potential?

There is upgrade potential and also, if the drop is big it may offset the cost of the penalty to cancel and rebook.

Next time, do not book the cruise until the day after the final payments are due and look for that deep discount (of course you may not get the cabin you want and maybe no one bails so there is no need for the discount. Life is not fair. Always start with this premise and you will have far fewer disappointments.

This is great advice - never even thought of that. I'm so far behind on RCCL's policies. We are 4.5 weeks away from our cruise. The OV category is now cheaper than the Inside cabin we purchased, by about only $29 though, but moving to an OV would have been nice, especially for less $$. My TA said: "RCCL's exact answer is you can cancel and pay the penalties and make a new booking at the current price." No thanks. Wouldn't I forfeit my deposit?? Now I wish I had waited until today to book! I'm now reading that PCL is using a similar policy. What if I had been outside of the final payment due date - could I have changed then? Just trying to get caught up on the new policies. Thanks!

I am reading along, pages into this thread and, what?? I commented on it!

Old thread alert.

someone bored today and needed to rehash old news:rolleyes:

someone bored today and needed to rehash old news:rolleyes:

Sorry to offend anyone. I had a question re: RCCL's new policy. Thought I'd find help on this thread. Oh well. I'll look elsewhere. :(

Sorry to offend anyone. I had a question re: RCCL's new policy. Thought I'd find help on this thread. Oh well. I'll look elsewhere. :(

We're finding the best prices the further out we book but your milage may vary. When I say further out, I mean at least a year in advance and sometimes when the schedule is first published. I've yet to see a cabin drop below our booking since we started this way. Celebrity is a different story. I also understand that not everyone can book that far out.

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We're finding the best prices the further out we book but your milage may vary. When I say further out, I mean at least a year in advance and sometimes when the schedule is first published. I've yet to see a cabin drop below our booking since we started this way. Celebrity is a different story. I also understand that not everyone can book that far out.

 

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Thank you, Big G. That's the method I've used as well. This is one of the few times the price has actually dropped after we booked. Just too bad it was after final payment. I do like to book further in advance for a number of reasons, such as planning my work schedule and so I can begin looking at airfare if that's needed. Thanks again.

The OV category is now cheaper than the Inside cabin we purchased, by about only $29 though, but moving to an OV would have been nice, especially for less $$. My TA said: "RCCL's exact answer is you can cancel and pay the penalties and make a new booking at the current price."

Did Royal Caribbean's policy regarding this change recently? It had been that you could upgrade for free (no refund, though) when a higher category of cabin was priced less than what you paid for your cabin. I know I've done this myself a few times.

Did Royal Caribbean's policy regarding this change recently? It had been that you could upgrade for free (no refund, though) when a higher category of cabin was priced less than what you paid for your cabin. I know I've done this myself a few times.

According to my TA it did. I'm also under that impression after reading these boards. I think if you have NOT made your final payment you can make the change. If the final payment has been made, you have to cancel and rebook at the lower price, but you may forfeit any discounts/OBCs you may have had on the original booking, as well as your deposit. If I'm incorrect, someone can clarify. That's what I'm gathering after some research here. I've read that PCL has done the same.

According to my TA it did. I'm also under that impression after reading these boards. I think if you have NOT made your final payment you can make the change. If the final payment has been made, you have to cancel and rebook at the lower price, but you may forfeit any discounts/OBCs you may have had on the original booking, as well as your deposit. If I'm incorrect, someone can clarify. That's what I'm gathering after some research here. I've read that PCL has done the same.

I believe this is the standard policy for most mass market cruise lines.

This is great advice - never even thought of that. I'm so far behind on RCCL's policies. We are 4.5 weeks away from our cruise. The OV category is now cheaper than the Inside cabin we purchased, by about only $29 though, but moving to an OV would have been nice, especially for less $$. My TA said: "RCCL's exact answer is you can cancel and pay the penalties and make a new booking at the current price." No thanks. Wouldn't I forfeit my deposit?? Now I wish I had waited until today to book! I'm now reading that PCL is using a similar policy. What if I had been outside of the final payment due date - could I have changed then? Just trying to get caught up on the new policies. Thanks!

RCI won't let you upgrade to a less expensive room. In your case, look how much balconies are. As long as you are paying some amount upcharge they usually allow you to upgrade without rebooking or forfeiting your deposit.

OP, fortunately this has only happened to me one time... also on our Allure cruise and yes, it is hard to realize that your same cabin is going for so much less. I had to bite the bullet and just said *** and move on... you will have a great cruise I am sure.

To the people who say why keep checking. I don't.. I found out on my roll call. Wish I had never known!

To the people who say why keep checking. I don't.. I found out on my roll call. Wish I had never known!

Ha! This is so true! Kind of like after booking airfare - don't look and you won't know if it drops. Less painful for sure! :)