Why some cruise line increase significantly within 2 months

As first time cruiser, I have no idea about the price. So I am watching some cruise price for 3 months.

I did some research and some people said the price will be cheaper when it’s close to 60-90 days before the cruise date. So I waited!

finally it’s within 60-90 days already, but the price increased about $1000-$1500 already! And no good cabins choice any more.:eek::loudcry:

Does that mean no more chance the price will be cheaper again?

Also about the guarantee cabins, if the choice of the cabins is already not good, will guarantee cabins be better than that? I doubted but just want to know your experience. Thanks

the price will get cheaper after final payment. Otherwise book early and then if price drops request the new fare.

The price may go down after final payment, but it will depend on how the cruise is selling.

The best cabins are likely to go first. Buying near sailing will limit you to mostly the less desirable cabins. With a guarantee, you run the same risk.

As first time cruiser, I have no idea about the price. So I am watching some cruise price for 3 months.

 

I did some research and some people said the price will be cheaper when it’s close to 60-90 days before the cruise date. So I waited!

 

 

finally it’s within 60-90 days already, but the price increased about $1000-$1500 already! And no good cabins choice any more.:eek::loudcry:

 

 

Does that mean no more chance the price will be cheaper again?

 

 

Also about the guarantee cabins, if the choice of the cabins is already not good, will guarantee cabins be better than that? I doubted but just want to know your experience. Thanks

the price will get cheaper after final payment. Otherwise book early and then if price drops request the new fare.

Whether or not prices go up or down depends on a few things. If it's peak season, like for summer cruises in the Caribbean, and cabins are filling up quickly, it's pretty unlikely that prices will go down. If it's hurricane season, and cabins aren't filling up, you may see some price drops. Also, it depends on the category. You may see some price drops on certain inside cabins, but not on Grand Suites. Like anything else, it's all based on supply and demand. With rare exceptions, we've found that the prices posted when a particular cruise starts it's bookings, at least 13 months or earlier, are usually at their lowest, then go steadily up.

In the end price is based on supply and demand.

Just remember though that often the lowest price rooms go first so if you wait too long they won't be available.

Keith

If you post the ship and sail date you might get more comments with better insight.

My experience is only with Carnival, but I can tell you that the way to get the lowest price possible is to book as soon as the itineraries are listed, and then book via their Early Saver rate. When you watch prices one of two things will happen: the price only ever goes up, in which case you got the best deal; or, the price goes down and you apply for a price match. The only thing to be aware of is that the Early Saver deposits are non-refundable. So you have to make sure that you know what you are booking and can commit to those dates. If you can, Early Saver is a great deal that Carnival offers.

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the price will get cheaper after final payment. Otherwise book early and then if price drops request the new fare.

Not "will". Might.

It all depends on sales.

the price will get cheaper after final payment. Otherwise book early and then if price drops request the new fare.

Not necessarily. Too much depends on the ship, particular sailing, cruise line, etc.

There are 2 ways I have gotten a good rate:

If you are wanting a specific itinerary, date, ship, cabin location, etc., then book as soon as they are listed. This will usually get you a good price, although maybe not the cheapest.

If you want the cheapest price, and are flexible on dates, itineraries, cabin type, etc., you can sometimes get some great rates 30-60 days prior to the sailing date. The down side to late bookings is that airfare, if needed, tends to be higher than if booked earlier.

As far as Guarantee Cabins, I prefer to choose my room. I had to book a Guarantee Cabin on our last 2 cruises due to that being the only option by the time I booked. I was satisfied with the cabin locations we were given on both trips, but we did not receive an upgrade to a higher category on either trip.

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the price will get cheaper after final payment. Otherwise book early and then if price drops request the new fare.

No.

The price MIGHT get cheaper after final payment; it also might go way up.

The fact that you are now within 60 - 90 days and the price has climbed sharply kind of shows that it is very unlikely to drop now.

Like any other business which has a time sensitive product, hotels, sports and entertainment venues, etc, cruise lines have learned how to use dynamic pricing. If the item, think room, is moving well there is no reason to reduce the price and a price increase may even work. If the item is not moving then the price is lowered incrementally until the point is found that drives sales or bookings. The business is looking for the sweet spot where price and sales maximize the bottom line. This is different than the hard goods business because the car you did not sell today is available to sell tomorrow. The room left empty today cannot be recovered as that sales opportunity is past.

Among the best examples are Vegas hotels where prices fluctuate wildly depending upon whether an event is in town and what that event is.

Thanks to all reply.

I am looking at June 2018 cruise.

I thought final payments is within 60-90 days before cruise, the price not going down, instead it is going up almost every week.

So I guess people really like to cruise in June.

The price has increased because there are fewer cabins available. So it is a supply and demand issue, probably 3 weeks before the cruise you may see some price reductions.

So I guess people really like to cruise in June.

Yes, summer rates are higher in the Caribbean for 2 reasons:

1. Children are out of school, so families take vacations then

2. Many ships relocate to the Mediterranean, Alaska and Europe in the late Spring, so there are less ships available in the Caribbean.

For the best prices in the Caribbean, try Sep - early Dec or after New Years in Jan - Feb and mid-April - May. Spring Break (Mar - mid-April) causes a spike in prices.

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Cruise pricing is based on three things: supply and demand, supply and demand, and finally supply and demand. They all use an algorithm that automatically adjusts pricing to maximize their revenue.

Some people brag about snagging late great deals. Or they complain that the price dropped a lot after they made final payment. The other thing that can happen is exactly what you are seeing: the price instead goes up and only guarantees or crappy cabin locations are left. Nobody here can know what factors will affect demand. For example last year hurricane damage closed some ports in the Caribbean and therefore affected booking demand.

If you want a great late deal five things need to be kept in mind:

1) lowest price, over any other consideration, is you goal

2) you are not tied to one sailing date but can be flexible

3) you can accept a category guarantee (You don't pick your cabin. The cruise line assigns you one of their choosing.)

4) you accept that the price might instead go up or the ship sells out

5) last minute airfares are not an issue.

When DH taught at a community college and we were limited to taking cruises during the school's breaks, I would keep a spreadsheet of the cruises we were considering. I'd update prices weekly. Sometimes they went down after the final payment date. Sometimes they went up. I'd book when the price was right for us. Some breaks we ended up not going because the prices never got to the right point for us.

I always recommend booking as soon as possible if you want to go on one particular cruise. If you are not picky about when and where and with whom you go, it can pay to wait.

If you cruise during popular times its not a good chance to wait unless you stumble across a really good last minute deal...which is rare in my experience.

We have to cruise during peak times so I set my sights on the cruise and if I am happy with the price I book it...I am not going to wait for a price to shoot up.

You can bet they track any cruise bookings daily if not hourly. Their purpose is to sell as many as possible at the highest price, also known as supply and demand. Tickets aren't moving, price goes down

We always book as soon as possible, sometimes 18 months in advance. Then we use one of the cruise price alert services that can be found doing a google search. Some will even monitor the prices for you and notify you via text or email when prices for the categories you set up to be monitored change. There is usually a small fee for this service. The one we use (the name sounds "fishy") charges 99 cents for each cruise being monitored, and there is no limit on how many cabin categories we can watch. We have saved almost $8,000 in price reductions so far using that service, all for less than a $10 investment.

we also book about 18 months in advance, but monitor prices , my oasis suite that I bought almost a year ago has went down over 500 per since we booked, every time I see reduction and I call and get it

Everyone thinks they known all of the tricks. Every situation is different. The #1 goal is to fill each room at the highest possible price. The #2 goal is no unsold rooms.

My best luck has been with early saver rates about 80-120 days out, for off-peak season, and not looking for a specific week.

My best luck has been with early saver rates about 80-120 days out, for off-peak season, and not looking for a specific week.

That only works with Carnival. Many of us prefer other cruise lines, so your trick won't work in our cases. The best recommendations work across all cruise lines and aren't specific to just one cruise line, providing the best overall benefits for everybody. That is why a third party price monitoring web site or service can be very helpful regardless of the cruise line being booked.

All the cruise lines use sophisticated (and sometimes not so sophisticated) "Yield Management" software and management philosophy. Put in simple terms, price is generally driven by supply vs. demand. If a cruise ship has lots of empty berths as it nears the final payment deadline, the cruise lines start to play with various strategies to sell those empty berths. In theory, selling an empty berth at a break-even plus $1 price makes more sense then leaving it empty.

But in the past few years all the yield management programs have been complicated by the increasing use of "upsells" to further enhance revenue. In fact, some smart/experienced cruisers will actually play the "upsell" game...hoping to snag a high category cabin/suite at huge discounts.

Hank