Cancelling and rebooking vs. watching for price drops?

[riggins]

Hi guys-

We have a group of friends who are sailing Oasis at the end of March and have invited us to go. We've been wanting to try Oasis and always enjoy sailing with others, so I went ahead and booked a cabin. But the total cost is $2,500 more than the cruise we already have booked on Disney!!! So at the price we've got, the odds of us actually going are slim to none. I've been stalking the price and was able to snag a reduction and save us $360, but its going to have to get a lot better than that. I know if a WOW sale comes along, we won't be able take advantage of it since those are for new reservations only, so I'm wondering if I should just cancel my reservation and take my chances. But, based on what I've seen in the past, I'm not sure that a WOW sale is likely to make any meaningful impact on my bottom line. So any advice? If we're not willing to go at our current price, is there any benefit/disadvantage to cancelling and rebooking if/when we see the right price vs. keeping what we've got and continuing to watch for price drops?

[Isaboo]

That's spring break time, so prices are more likely to go up than down.

[tigger-ttfn]

Hi guys-

We have a group of friends who are sailing Oasis at the end of March and have invited us to go. We've been wanting to try Oasis and always enjoy sailing with others, so I went ahead and booked a cabin. But the total cost is $2,500 more than the cruise we already have booked on Disney!!! So at the price we've got, the odds of us actually going are slim to none. I've been stalking the price and was able to snag a reduction and save us $360, but its going to have to get a lot better than that. I know if a WOW sale comes along, we won't be able take advantage of it since those are for new reservations only, so I'm wondering if I should just cancel my reservation and take my chances. But, based on what I've seen in the past, I'm not sure that a WOW sale is likely to make any meaningful impact on my bottom line. So any advice? If we're not willing to go at our current price, is there any benefit/disadvantage to cancelling and rebooking if/when we see the right price vs. keeping what we've got and continuing to watch for price drops?

Spring break is always more expensive. What ever you do , do it before final payment

[Esmerelda]

I did this before for our Oasis cruise two years ago and I saved about $800. HOWEVER, this was in early December so it was not a super busy time of year. If you are going during spring break time, you more than likely won't have such good luck with it.

 

We are booked on the Allure next July. It's 7/7 so it's the holiday week. We booked (with a big group of friends) this past April. Our price has already gone up about $200 per person. If you are traveling during any holiday time (I'm double whammied due to July 4 and it's summer), that plan doesn't work so great. Had you been traveling in mid April or even May it would have been a perfect plan.

 

:)

[CruisingMachine]

Hi guys-

We have a group of friends who are sailing Oasis at the end of March and have invited us to go. We've been wanting to try Oasis and always enjoy sailing with others, so I went ahead and booked a cabin. But the total cost is $2,500 more than the cruise we already have booked on Disney!!! So at the price we've got, the odds of us actually going are slim to none. I've been stalking the price and was able to snag a reduction and save us $360, but its going to have to get a lot better than that. I know if a WOW sale comes along, we won't be able take advantage of it since those are for new reservations only, so I'm wondering if I should just cancel my reservation and take my chances. But, based on what I've seen in the past, I'm not sure that a WOW sale is likely to make any meaningful impact on my bottom line. So any advice? If we're not willing to go at our current price, is there any benefit/disadvantage to cancelling and rebooking if/when we see the right price vs. keeping what we've got and continuing to watch for price drops?

 

Cancelling a cruise in anticipation of a WOW sale won't save you a penny, unless you count the onboard credit. The WOW promotion allows you to hold a cruise with REDUCED DEPOSIT and get some OBC. It does NOT reflect a lower price. In fact, it could cost more if the rate you originally booked at is no longer available when you go to re-book.

 

Your best option is to check pricing frequently, especially on Tuesdays for Royal Sales Events prior to your final payment date. Jump on any rate drop, check for "guarantee" promotions, etc. Ultimately, if you don't like the best price you've got by your final payment date, then you cancel for a full refund.

[bajathree]

Hi guys-

We have a group of friends who are sailing Oasis at the end of March and have invited us to go. We've been wanting to try Oasis and always enjoy sailing with others, so I went ahead and booked a cabin. But the total cost is $2,500 more than the cruise we already have booked on Disney!!! So at the price we've got, the odds of us actually going are slim to none. I've been stalking the price and was able to snag a reduction and save us $360, but its going to have to get a lot better than that. I know if a WOW sale comes along, we won't be able take advantage of it since those are for new reservations only, so I'm wondering if I should just cancel my reservation and take my chances. But, based on what I've seen in the past, I'm not sure that a WOW sale is likely to make any meaningful impact on my bottom line. So any advice? If we're not willing to go at our current price, is there any benefit/disadvantage to cancelling and rebooking if/when we see the right price vs. keeping what we've got and continuing to watch for price drops?

 

The big question here is ...are you looking at double occupancy:confused: If the answer to that is yes....they I can almost bet you that you will see a steep price drop after final....currently that pricing on Oasis last couple weeks of March is almost as bad a Christmas/NYE :eek: HOWEVER ...if it's 3 or 4 you are looking to book in a cabin....then forget about it....very unlikely that you will even see availability for triple or quads post final.

[riggins]

Just thought I'd post a follow up to my original question in case anyone else was considering taking a gamble. After I posted this question back in November, I decided to cancel our reservation and take our chances with a Tuesday sale or other last minute price drop. We are a family of 4 and our original reservation was for two CV rooms for $5500. I rebooked last week with a Tuesday sale and got two connecting category L rooms for $4000. So while our category dropped slightly, we saved $1500 by cancelling and waiting it out. And bajathree, you were right - there are a lot of cabins with double occupancy, but triples and quads are long gone. Fortunately, we were planning to do two cabins anyway.

 

So we'll be celebrating Easter, Spring Break, and DD's 10th birthday on the Oasis with our friends at a price that I can feel good about - yipee!!

[PH8]

Just thought I'd post a follow up to my original question in case anyone else was considering taking a gamble. After I posted this question back in November, I decided to cancel our reservation and take our chances with a Tuesday sale or other last minute price drop. We are a family of 4 and our original reservation was for two CV rooms for $5500. I rebooked last week with a Tuesday sale and got two connecting category L rooms for $4000. So while our category dropped slightly, we saved $1500 by cancelling and waiting it out. And bajathree, you were right - there are a lot of cabins with double occupancy, but triples and quads are long gone. Fortunately, we were planning to do two cabins anyway.

 

So we'll be celebrating Easter, Spring Break, and DD's 10th birthday on the Oasis with our friends at a price that I can feel good about - yipee!!

Glad it all worked out for you!! Enjoy that cruise!!:D

[molly361]

Just thought I'd post a follow up to my original question in case anyone else was considering taking a gamble. After I posted this question back in November, I decided to cancel our reservation and take our chances with a Tuesday sale or other last minute price drop. We are a family of 4 and our original reservation was for two CV rooms for $5500. I rebooked last week with a Tuesday sale and got two connecting category L rooms for $4000. So while our category dropped slightly, we saved $1500 by cancelling and waiting it out. And bajathree, you were right - there are a lot of cabins with double occupancy, but triples and quads are long gone. Fortunately, we were planning to do two cabins anyway.

 

So we'll be celebrating Easter, Spring Break, and DD's 10th birthday on the Oasis with our friends at a price that I can feel good about - yipee!!

 

 

Glad it worked out for you. I am also stalking prices for this April. Luckily we don't have to fly to the port

[Esmerelda]

That is great. I'm so glad you took a chance and cancelled and re-booked. I know it saved us a lot two years ago.

 

For the record, our D-8 cabins on the 7/7/13 Allure cost us around $1200 per person after our discount. That same balcony cabin is now $2399 per person. I seriously doubt it will go as low as we paid for it BUT it will go down after final payment in April. I'm going to guess a D-8 will go back to $1649 per person after final payment date at it's lowest. (of course it could be less, that's just a guess!) There are still many cabins left. My next cruise will be an 'after final payment date' booking again and NOT in July. LOL

 

 

I hope you have a fabulous time!

[DMickey28]

I just booked today for April 7th. I have been watching for a while and got our plane tickets a while ago at $249/per person roundtrip. I booked the Tuesday sale today and got D5 for $2200 for the two of us. It was $3009 without the Tuesday sale. It was $999pp for the room. I was holding out for $899 but that's mostly on Boardwalk and Central park that I am seeing and for the difference it wasn't worth it to me since I really wanted Outside.

[Esmerelda]

Great job DMickey28. I hope you have a great cruise! :p (we purchased our plane tickets prior to our great finds as well, that's the best way to do it if you have to fly <we do>)

[amazonracer]

I saw this thread and here's my delemma. We have been booked for a couple of months for Nov 9 and 11 day cruise. I worked with a really helpful online agent that works with a popular site for booking cruises. We went back and fourth and finally booked. We got a $50 onboard credit. The dash sale has a mid ship balcony for two for around $2,763 dollars. My cuurent price is around $100 less but this comes with $150 on board credit which is only a $50 dollar savings total to go through all the trouble to cancel. But it also comes with pre paid gratuties so thats pretty significant. The agent I was dealing with was really helpful and feel guilty. The other rub is that we booked per her suggestion one of those 1200 rooms in between the owners suite with a little larger room but giant balcony. If you exclude the room difference, I should cancel and re book right. No brainer? And lastly if I cancel, is it fully refundable. I don't see anywhere that says there is a fee to cancel. Thanks