When prices go up, what are the chances for them to drop again?

[voyager89]

Hi,

 

I am not an expert at all when it comes to pricing and stuff. On our past and only cruise I was not involved at all on the reservation process, but this time I am doing it all, so well. I found ourselves a great deal for our sailing on January 12 on the adventure. It's not even paid yet, but we are going for sure haha. So I was curious today and I checked the prices and they raised for about 80-100 dollars. I checked rc.com, 2 online travel agencies and even jet blue cruises, and they all went up. It's not like we cannot afford it anymore, but we are tying to cut costs as much as possible.

 

My travel agent gave me the best deal so far about 2 weeks ago but I'm afraid it won't be the same anymore either. It was really cheap, even cheaper than rc.com. Do you think prices will drop? Or do they usually start going up and up?

 

Again, I'm new to all this so I don't know if I should worry or wait for a price drop. I would be booking through my travel agent so I don't know if the price drop guarantee or whatever it's called would apply.

 

Thanks!

[spiritkat090909]

If you are sure you are going..book it. Even if you aren't sure...book it.

 

Typically, prices go up & the further in advance you book, the better off you are. If prices go down between the time you book & before your final payment is due, you call your TA or RCI & they should give you the lower price. TA's will sometimes have fees, ask. RCI does not but doesn't give extra benefits like onboard credit, free gratuities or whatever.

 

If you book direct with RCI, you have more control over the booking & can get price drops as you see them. YOU have to be active. IF you book with TA, you have to hope they watch it or are available when you call (after hours?) to get the rate. As you have seen, they are moving constantly based upon availability.

 

AFTER final payments are DUE, people will cancel. Sometimes a lot & prices will drop...in which case, your only hope is there is a higher category than you booked at a slightly higher price & you pay the difference. A self-upgrade, I call it. You can NOT get the lower price if your category drops.

 

The advantage to booking yourself with RCI (in my opinion) is the control factor. You could have booked it online or put a 24hour courtesy hold on the price you saw, THEN gotten with your TA to see what they would do and have not been out of the rate you saw, which is no longer there. You can also transfer something you booked direct within 30 days to any TA. If you direct book, you can hit a button in the record and CANCEL it, without penalty if you are not in final payment period (usually about 90 days before sailing penalties start), if you change your mind.

 

As an example, I see something I want in Nov 2014. I need to talk to my husband to see if he can get off work. I put a deposit down. He says he won't know until Jul 2014. I can hold that rate/sailing date until then, or I can just go ahead & cancel it & the money is returned to the card. OR, I could have just done a 24-48?hour courtesy hold with no money down to lock in that rate until I could ask.

[spiritkat090909]

Price drop guarantee would NOT apply, because you did not actually book the sailing.

[bighairtexan]

I have to tell you I wish I had that crystal ball. In the past couple of years I've cruised probably 8 to 10 times. I've seen prices just keep rising and rising. I've seen prices tank (not often though). I've seen them go up one day and 48 hours later they're down again and 48 hours after that they are up.

 

If you book and the price goes down BEFORE FINAL PAYMENT you can get an adjustment whether you book through RCI or through a TA.

[voyager89]

Thank you very much.

 

We are for sure going, we already have the flight tickets. I will try to book it this week, I really don't want it to keep rising!

[gadaboutgal]

I recommend that you go on to Royal's website and, at least, put a 24 hour hold on a cabin in a category you are interested in. Then everyday, until you are actually ready to book, check the price. If the price remains the same, just go through the online process and put another cabin on a 24 hour hold again. However, if price goes up, I would put a deposit on the one that you had put a hold on at the lower price. Now if the price were to go down, you could book or gamble that the price may go higher or even lower. Good luck. It's like playing Vegas:)

[griffy116]

I took a week to get everyone in agreement on a precise date for a Med cruise. The price was what I thought to be high, at the time. By the time I got everyone to agree, the price had gone up. We booked anyway, thinking the price would again drop. The price has continued to do nothing but rise. It's now more than $200 higher than it was at the time I booked. We have until next summer and hopefully it will drop, but dropping below what I booked for is now something I'm not confident will happen. We have to book during high season so it's always a chance we have to take. We've only had the price go down on one cruise...and it went down twice, but then again, it wasn't during high season. We're still going..:D

[LBumb]

supply and demand

[Astona]

Dont worry the prices will drop, the day after the final payments are due. Man this really drives me crazy. So us loyal C&A members who book months in advance really get it stuck to us because RCCL now as the best price policy, which is total crap.

 

Say I paid 2049 for a Grand S, and Its paid off, the day after the final payments are due the rate drops to 1849. You call RCCL and say my rate dropped, and they say, Oh I am sorry, we have the best rate policy so we can not modify your rate after final payment. it always happens, so just wait until final payments are due then they will drop the rates lol

[Eng23]

A word of advice, book it now. Make the deposit so that if the price continues to go up you can at least be locked in at the lower price. There is no guarantee that the prices won't continue to go up. Like others have said if the price goes down after you book you can get the difference refunded until the final payment date. If you wait until the last minute or until after the final payment date you risk not getting the cabin category you might have desired. I have also seen where even after the final payment date the price can still go up.

[printingchick]

The earlier, the better. I booked my cruise nearly 2 years in advance. I figured the price would probably drop, but I had plenty of time to get a price match or to upgrade my cabin for free. I kept checking the prices.

 

Sometime between 7-8 months in advance, prices went up...WAY up!

 

Now...I couldn't afford the cruise. It's $540 PER PERSON more than I paid.

 

You can book without penalty up to three months before departure. It's always better to book early. You can get the lower price before final payment, if the price goes down. As others have said, what you want is protection if the prices go UP!

 

In 2010, I booked another cruise, about 18 months in advance. In that case, the price fell (maybe even twice) AND they offered a residency discount for my state. In ever instance, I was able to call and get the price reduction/discount applied. I got an incredible deal on that cruise...probably my best cruise deal ever.

 

Sure...I'd have gotten that great deal had I waited to book. But that's because that particular sailing wasn't selling as well and the price dropped. Had I waited too long to book my 2014 cruise, I'd have been priced out of the market. Thank GOODNESS I booked early!!!

[voyager89]

Thank you all for your inputs!

 

Well the price went up for about 80 dollars (not a huge deal), stayed like that for about 8 days (monitored daily lol) and then it went up again for about 30 dollars. I don't think it will ever drop again. We are ready to pay today, but surprisingly the Jewel (we are sailing out of San Juan) dropped, and dropped a lot!

 

Initially Adventure was cheaper than Jewel for about 200 dollars. Now Jewel dropped almost 300 dollars! And Adventure went up 150 from the initial price. I think we will go for Jewel, so far it's winning. Lower price + better itinerary. I just hope it's not a big downfall from our only cruise, the Oasis.

 

It looks like it is a precious ship, hopefully not too small. If we go for it I will surely miss the promenade, but I guess all the sea views and open spaces will make up for it. Though decision isn't it!

[Desert Cruizers]

We had a couple stop by our April 27, 2014 Roll Call asking about waiting until Oct, 6 months before we sail, we all advised him to grab a room now then he knows he is on, plus he still had to get their air and accomodations. Myself, I booked our cruise 1 1/2 years out and the price right now for our Category D-1 is close to $1,000 more then what we paid, with 8 months to go. My experience in booking early, is the price will never drop to the level they were when they first opened the dates. BTW, the couple and their friends recently joined our Roll Call.

[voyager89]

Ugh, just checked this morning and prices went back up, it's nothing, only like 20 dollars, but well, gotta call my TA ASAP ha

[tomahawk246]

Hi,

 

I am not an expert at all when it comes to pricing and stuff. On our past and only cruise I was not involved at all on the reservation process, but this time I am doing it all, so well. I found ourselves a great deal for our sailing on January 12 on the adventure. It's not even paid yet, but we are going for sure haha. So I was curious today and I checked the prices and they raised for about 80-100 dollars. I checked rc.com, 2 online travel agencies and even jet blue cruises, and they all went up. It's not like we cannot afford it anymore, but we are tying to cut costs as much as possible.

 

My travel agent gave me the best deal so far about 2 weeks ago but I'm afraid it won't be the same anymore either. It was really cheap, even cheaper than rc.com. Do you think prices will drop? Or do they usually start going up and up?

 

Again, I'm new to all this so I don't know if I should worry or wait for a price drop. I would be booking through my travel agent so I don't know if the price drop guarantee or whatever it's called would apply.

 

Thanks!

Time of year and size of ship has a lot to do with it. I cruise in July and this worked for me three years in a row. I book the least expensive cabin about four months out, then after final payment which I think is 75 days out the price drops. I then switch to a balcony for 100.00 dollars or less.

[SPacificbound]

You never know how much they may change so if you know you are going find the cabin you want, or at least the category you want and book it.

 

I always want to be in control of my reservations and travel arrangements so I have never used a TA in my life. It wouldn't matter what they were offering it just isn't worth it to me. But that is a decision you have to make for yourself, but make it quickly. :)

 

An example, our Panama Canal Cruise April 1, 2014. The price has gone up $2,200.00 from what we paid when I booked it. :D I am a firm believer of booking early, real early.

[voyager89]

I finally booked yesterday, so the Adventure kept on going up while the Jewel kept on dropping. We were thinking of a balcony cabin, but the price was way higher than we expected, about 900 more plus tax and everything, we will be happy in an inside cabin, besides its such a port intensive itinerary, we won't be at the cabin but to change and sleep. We ended up paying 1200 dollars all together for the both of us, and we get to go to Tortola :D

[spookwife]

Dont worry the prices will drop, the day after the final payments are due. [...]it always happens, so just wait until final payments are due then they will drop the rates lol

 

 

no it doesn't.

furthermore the cabin category you want may not be an option after final payment either.

 

On our cruise leaving next month, the prices not only continued to rise, they did NOT drop after FP ..*AND* long before FP was due our category was long gone.. and no none appeared afterward, no even as a GTY.

 

Bottom Line: book what you want when you see it at a price you can accept paying. if it goes down at any point between then and FP date, you can get the adjustment. if afterward, there is always the possibility of negotiating an upgrade of some sort.

 

oh, and for our cruise leaving next April, I had originally booked a certain category at X price. decided after a month or so that the at the time $500 total increase to make the jump to the next higher category was worth it. the cabin is now selling for $200 MORE so if I had waited even a week, I would have not made the jump asa $700 difference is more than I am willing to fork over.

[Camlott]

Dont worry the prices will drop, the day after the final payments are due...

...it always happens, so just wait until final payments are due then they will drop the rates lol

 

Actually I have had the opposite experience. I have never seen a price go down on our sailings after the final payment due date. They have usually remained the same or sometimes continue to go up!

 

Many times, our category of room is sold out by the time final payment is due so no chance of a price drop then either.

 

As others have already said, book the room you want when the price is something you are comfortable paying. Keep watching for price drops (before final payment) or upgrade opportunities (after final payment).