How low can they go?

[Paul NH]

As first time Cunarders, we'll decide after this cruise whether or not we sail on Cunard again by the experience we have but no matter what, we won't book early again and will wait for the bottom line price. If we decide to repeat.

I could not agree more, as someone who is watching balconies on my same passage going for the same as my early booking of an inside, and as someone who is watching sailings just a few weeks earlier go for *thousands* less. If my family and I enjoy our crossing, and if we are interested in going on the QM2 again, I will never ... ever ... book early again.

[2moose]

It Is Not A Fair System That Cunard Promotes. But Airlines Do It, Hotels Do It. Best Regards Jim

[mufi]

All the more reason to be street wise and play the system as best we can.

 

David.

[2moose]

David You Are Correct!!! I Believe At Least On The Higher Fares The Best Price Is Approx 50% Of The Regular Fare Or Almost 30% Additional Discount Over The Early Booking Fare Which I Believe Is Approx 20 %. This Is My Observation After Purchasing 3 Trips 2 Of Which I Over Paid And Also Booked Early Say Minimum 6 Months Prior To Sailing. Best Regards Jim

[guernseyguy]

..On the crossing I am tracking, prices have hardened with the inside going up from 799 to 1199, the oceanview from 899 to 2199 and the obstructed balcony from 999 to 1199....

 

And now....inside $899, Balcony $799.....guess the balconies are really popular (although on another crossing $699 even less popular)!

 

This is definitely a Princess demand/pricing model at work.....

 

Classy huh?

 

Peter

[YvonneE]

Hey Peter,

 

could you advise about which dates the reductions are for? I'm trying to convince my TA to work on a upgrade or price reduction ....

 

Thanks

YvonneE

[guernseyguy]

Yvonne,

 

Prices vary a lot by date - for example, transatlantic balconies are:

 

• April 10 $699
  
• April 16 $2699
  
• April 22 $699
  
• April 28 $799
  
• May 4 $799
  
• May 22 $1199
  
• May 28 $1199
  
• June 3 $1199
  
• June 9 $1199
  

And these are the prices on a particular web-TA, which we can't identify, so there may well be other lower or higher prices out there. If you have booked recently at one of the 'reduced' rates I don't think you will have much chance of getting a further reduction or upgrade....and at these prices $1199, $799 or $699 is a huge bargain!

 

Peter

[YvonneE]

Peter

 

thanks ... based on how these prices have dropped ... next trip, there is no doubt I'm waiting for late/last minute booking ...

 

The price of my D cabin is more than the B cabins ... sigh!! And I thought I was doing something good booking and paying early

 

I'm just planning for a good trip and trying not to think about this ....

 

YvonneE

[Paul NH]

I'm with you YvonneE. We are in the same boat as you - paying more for our D inside than what balconies are going for, because we were foolish enough to book early.

 

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think those specials do not include air fare - which I think adds another $400. That still doesn't make up for the disparity, but it closes the gap a little. In our case, we are paying the published EBS of $1749 for the June 9 sailing. Adding $400 to the $1200 mentioned in the above post, that would bring a balcony up to $1600. And in my case, the balconies cannot hold four people, as in our situation. We would need two balconies which would drive up the price beyond what we are already paying.

 

Still, if I had not booked early, I may have taken Cunard up on an earlier sailing and had the luxury of two balconies staterooms for the four of us at less than what I'm paying now for the inside.

 

Paul

[guernseyguy]

I think those specials do not include air fare - which I think adds another $400. Paul

 

Paul,

 

You are right - they don't include air - but you can get one way air for a lot less than $400 - I'm doing West Coast to LHR for $230, and East Coast to UK is around $150. All this said - we've all got pretty good deals - how much would 6 nights with full board in a 4*-5* Hotel cost? Others may have got slightly better deals - good for them - but they will have had a lot less anticipation waiting for the trip which is part of the fun! Enjoy your crossing!

 

Peter

[Paul NH]

Peter,

I would like to hook up with your TA! Both Cunard and an online TA both quoted $400 to add air fare (for June 15 return). When I go into various online airline and online travel sites like xxxxxxicity, they are all quoting $700 and higher - even for one way tickets. Seems like airfare - at least for June/July flights, reduces the gap between non-air specials to the published fares. Again, there is still a gap, but it is a lot less of a gap when comparing apples to apples (with air to with air).

Paul

[YvonneE]

Paul,

 

You are right - they don't include air - but you can get one way air for a lot less than $400 - I'm doing West Coast to LHR for $230, and East Coast to UK is around $150. All this said - we've all got pretty good deals - how much would 6 nights with full board in a 4*-5* Hotel cost? Others may have got slightly better deals - good for them - but they will have had a lot less anticipation waiting for the trip which is part of the fun! Enjoy your crossing!

 

Peter

 

Peter,

I know you told me once, but could you email me again with which service you use for those rates?

 

Thanks

Yvonne

[guernseyguy]

Peter,

I would like to hook up with your TA! Both Cunard and an online TA both quoted $400 to add air fare (for June 15 return). When I go into various online airline and online travel sites like xxxxxxicity, they are all quoting $700 and higher - even for one way tickets. Seems like airfare - at least for June/July flights, reduces the gap between non-air specials to the published fares. Again, there is still a gap, but it is a lot less of a gap when comparing apples to apples (with air to with air).

Paul

 

Paul,

 

I have used Expelocity & travelpedia in the past to book very competitive return air fares - but they are not so competitive for one way trips - looking at my source, $400 for an overnight flight June 15 NY-LON is not uncompetitive, although the daytime flight (which you could not directly meet from a Transatlantic) would set you back about $300......

 

Peter

PS of Course, we can't share TA details....but think lateraly....I'm sure if you want to Fly to Europe there are plenty of 1-800 numbers....

[david,Mississauga]

I just called about the April 10 sailing. The special cruise-only rate for an inside D6 category is $699pp + $28 tax. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

 

This is definitely the Princess yield management strategy at work. Fill the ship no matter what the cost so at least the onboard revenue is maximized. I have to wonder about the integrity of Cunard Line in the long run.

 

Ernie

 

The e-mail advert said that the offer is available to "residents of the United States only." That's just great for Canadians. We have clearly been excluded for as long as I recall from any deals offered in the UK and now we can't get the US deals. This seems strange because we are required to book in US dollars from the brochures issued in the US. There is a Canadian agency, Encore Cruises, which handles Cunard and has rates in Canadian dollars, but if there are any specials they haven't made it clear.

 

David,

Mississauga, Ontario

[Gillian2]

We paid even lower than anything posted on this thread for 4/28 but got cruise only. That's why we made a last minute decision.

Other cruise lines (MOST I should say) don't give any adjustments after final payment.

As good a Princess customer as I am, I once called Princess as I saw a lower rate on a web site and got nowhere fast.

You do get more options usually booking early and can't really worry about it as it will taint the memory.

Price discussions with other passengers on airplanes and cruises can get to be upsetting!!!! :(