Best way to book? Fare reductions?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

... In my research, when I added in the "not includeds" for AMA to their pricing, I was within only dollars of what Tauck charged as an all included price. Since I happened upon a bargain with Tauck, I jumped at the chance.

 

I'd be curious about the specifics--you mention gratuities, and optional excursions, what else did you add into the equation that AMA charges for that Tauck does not?

 

(I find Tauck's prices quite high, compared to AMA, which is why I'm asking. Of course, you got a "deal"!)

[hikerbiker]

To Wendy the Wanderer: I can only speak to the specific cruise I was pricing -- Budapest to Amsterdam. After speaking with an AMA rep I learned the following: optional Budapest excursion 40 Euro per person, optional Imperial Schonbrunn Palace excursion 40 Euro pp, optional Mozart & Strauss evening concert excursion 70 Euro pp, optional excursion to Salzburg 70 Euro pp, optional tour to Rothenburg 58 Euro pp (total of 278 Euro = approx. $371 USD currently. At the time I was doing the checking, 1 euro was around $1.55, so the total was slightly higher); for gratuities, I was told to expect 15 Euro per day per person for ship staff plus 1 or 2 Euro each for the guides and drivers daily (16 days @ 19 Euros = 304 Euro = approx. $405 USD currently, when I did pricing, it was slightly higher); port charges of $294 per person; and airport transfers of $30 pp each way.

 

The additional amounts I was adding to the AMA rate totalled $1130 (or actually a bit more based on the EURO conversion rate when I was checking pricing). Tauck includes 3 of the 5 tours that AMA charges for (Schonbrunn, Mozart concert, & Rothenburg) and Tauck's rate includes all gratuities, port charges, and airport transfers.

 

I apologize if this is too detailed. Feel free to email me directly at hikerbiker9469@hotmail.com.

 

Patty

[stretchcruz]

Don't apologize, everyone loves comparisons and details!!

[buffy4454]

Hikerbiker thank you. That is exactly the sort of arithmetic I was too lazy to figure out for myself. :D

[robynkc]

We are also booked on a Avalon cruise in May.:) This is our first one and we are so looking forward to it. We are going on the Luiminary going from Prague to Paris. We start off in Prague for a couple of nights from May 24th . Its getting close now so looking at all options in Prague and paris as well. :)

I don't agree with the other posters that you can't get price reductions on a river cruise. I am booked on my 1st river cruise with Avalon in May. We put our deposit down last year, before the 2012 rates / dates / catalog came out. This locked us in to the 2011 prices. Then, for our sailing a discount was offered. Our travel agent compared the discount on the 2012 price to our 2011 price but found out we already had the better deal. Had the newer price been better, we would have gotten it. I continued to monitor the price for our specific cruise. About 5 months ago, it turned out that if I booked the cruise that day, it was less than what we were locked into. Again our TA called Avalon. Their explanation was that there was a decrease in airfare. Since final payment wasn't made yet, and we were using Avalon's air, we got an additional amount off the final price. Maybe we're the exception as 1st time cruisers, and maybe our TA is just good, but I'm not complaining.

[Swunky]

We booked a river cruise throught Gate 1 for travel this June. I booked on Black Friday and saved $500. Other companies were not willing to give the discount.

[KCcruisin07]

Hikerbiker,

That was really interesting to see the price comparison between AMA and Tauck. It is amazing that the additional charges totaled over $1,000.

 

To the original poster though there are discounts offered periodically. We booked through a TA who specialized in River Cruises. I thought we did pretty well till I read Hikerbiker's post. But I didn't compare that to Tauck's total cost at the time, so I'm telling myself we did ok.:D

 

I can never bring myself to plan a cruise a year ahead, so I guess we won't get the Viking 2 for 1 special. I like having most of our cost (cruise, hotel, and airfare) out of the way before we leave, but I don't see myself paying in full a year in advance.

[tstr]

KC - I booked the trip we are taking on Avalon this April in January. I did have to pay in full but only because it was within the 90 days of departure.