Alaskan Cruise prices wayyyy down this summer

[Cruisedreamer1]

I am wondering why the fares are so low. Is it because of overcapacity(too many ships in area)? Concordia blow back? Economy?

 

European cruises are lower too.

 

Can anyone speculate?

[WalleyeLJ]

We made final payment on our 7/13 Radiance cruise a couple weeks back. Two days later, the prices dropped like a rock, and RCI opened up the cruise for Veteran's and 55+ discounts. Junior Suites were going for $900 less than the D2 baclony I had booked for my parents. We had booked an inside for $1,019 - just figured it was the price we had to pay since my parents wanted to go early July:p.

 

Well, when I made the final payment I confirmed with the RCI agent that while we couldn't get any money back or onboard credit after final payment, they would try and upgrade us if we saw a drop and called them.

 

So, I called. I was able to get my parents moved into a mid-ship Junior Suite, and for an extra $70pp, my wife and I will have our first balcony!

 

L.J.

[KruisinKath]

Wow, you scored twice, L.J.! Enjoy the balcony!

[WalleyeLJ]

Wow, you scored twice, L.J.! Enjoy the balcony!

 

I know - we are SO excited!!! We've always cruised inside because normally the price difference = the rest of the cost of the cruise, and we just couldn't justify it. To have it work out on our Alaska cruise this summer is just perfect! Plus, we can visit my parents JS and dream of the big leagues;)!

 

L.J.

[Muffinis#1]

I think airfare is holding many people back from booking. We paid $1250 for tickets on American. Within 3 weeks they are up to $3000.

 

we have wanted to go to alaska for yrs. but the price was always to high, so we got a great 7nt cruise on the HAL for 749.00 pp for a large veranda..but our air fare was a crime!!!! I have NEVER pd. as much as we are this time to fly...

[piper28]

I actually didn't think the rates were that good this year myself, but then, the last trip I did to alaska was a few years ago when it was *really* down. Back then, I did an 11 day cruise+tour for less than what it's costing me for my 7 day balcony trip next month (considerably less).

[Putterdude]

I am wondering why the fares are so low. Is it because of overcapacity(too many ships in area)? Concordia blow back? Economy?

 

European cruises are lower too.

 

Can anyone speculate?

 

It really comes down to too much capacity and to some extent the economy. But the overcapacity has been going on for more than 10 years, even after reduction of ships to Alaska a few years ago there was to much capacity for the time. Now the lines are ramping up again...who knows when it is going end.

[ndabunka]

It may be a double whammy of more ships and higher fuel prices. In the past I have ALWAYS been able to book a flight at "some kind" of discount at some point prior to a vacation. I start the flight search early and wait until the deals show up.

 

This year, those flight cost just continued to go up, and up and...UP. Pretty much everyone has to book a flight to get to Washington or Vancouver as not everyone lives in California. That means that for the majority of travelers, we have to spend WAY more on flights than we have in the past. I am spending about TWICE as much as on flights as I would have had to have spent in ANY other prior year. 1/3rd the cost of the cruise and we are in balcony cabins so that is a lot of cash (over $3K for 5 people). If you can't afford to get there, it doesn't matter how inexpensive the cabins are. We are fortunate to have planned well. for the purpose of this thread, I just checked the flight costs and see that our direct flights would have been nearly $5K if we had waited until now to book for our mid-June trip. Of course, being so close to the cruise date, the cabins seem almost "dirt cheap" but that's all relative and understanding that flights are SO expensive helps explain why the cabins are getting SO competitive/cheap.

[Budget Queen]

I am wondering why the fares are so low. Is it because of overcapacity(too many ships in area)? Concordia blow back? Economy?

 

European cruises are lower too.

 

Can anyone speculate?

 

I'll speculate- many people have now salled Alaska and it isn't as "new" an itinerary for many. Europe for Americans is, so that is where the bulk are now heading Many first time cruise visitors, and an oversupply of cabins. All lines have added ships, included some NCL and RCI giants. :)

 

I'm just back from a $299+++ taxes 12 tranAtlantic, to Harwich (my priority for another week in London), Most all European ports were at similar rates.

 

The overall "problem" is the airfare. People seem to think airlines aren't entitled to make a profit? They expect rates to remain the same. All costs are up, fuel, especially. space is limited and I don't see more routes being added since they want the plans to fly full.

 

Finally many Americans are limited on vacation time. So the economy factors in heavily.

[Italy52]

Our Celebrity cruise on the Millennium did nothing but increase at least for our Aqua Class cabin. It started out cheaper than the verandas and now is way up there in price.

 

 

We are on Celebrity as well and the CC price has doubled from what we originally book last year.

 

Karen

[Budget Queen]

We are on Celebrity as well and the CC price has doubled from what we originally book last year.

 

Karen

 

The Milli June cruises already price dumped a few weeks ago. Were up on the secondary market via my emails. I only looked at the insides which were running at $399.

[bajathree]

I am wondering why the fares are so low. Is it because of overcapacity(too many ships in area)? Concordia blow back? Economy?

 

European cruises are lower too.

 

Can anyone speculate?

 

BINGO...we have a winner.

[NitaBcruising]

I booked a week ago for our sailing next Sun, the 3rd. Great prices! And for us, living in WA state, we can take the train, which is cheaper than parking and gas! This is the only cruise we can take without flying and costing us a bundle. So, those of you complaining about air prices to cruise in Alaska, at least you have many choices closer to you for cruising. ;)

[QShip]

Based upon the above I checked our cruise and now am more confused than ever. Our 9 day cruise on Celebrity Century in Sept now has the highest prices since we booked, and our category of cabin is apparently completely sold out! I was hoping for a price reduction or upgrade, but now am just glad we booked when we did. Any theories would be interesting. Maybe because it is the last cruise of the season?