Understanding OBC advertising & real pricing

[maxx]

Hi all

I have recently booked a guaranteed balcony on Carnival Spirit...9 nights for $1838 for 2 of us. I have been keeping any eye on the prices prior to finalising my booking. Now I see on board credit of $100 per cabin for this category but current price is $2198. When I work it out this still represents an additional cost of $260.

I've also looked at other categories offering OBC however the price has been bumped up.

Hence the reason I do my research & am not fooled by what I consider false advertising.

cheers

[icat2000]

I have noticed with Carnival they don't really drop the cabin price rather than bump up the OBC to amounts like $400-500 to get people to commit.

[rkmw]

Hi all

I have recently booked a guaranteed balcony on Carnival Spirit...9 nights for $1838 for 2 of us. I have been keeping any eye on the prices prior to finalising my booking. Now I see on board credit of $100 per cabin for this category but current price is $2198. When I work it out this still represents an additional cost of $260.

I've also looked at other categories offering OBC however the price has been bumped up.

Hence the reason I do my research & am not fooled by what I consider false advertising.

cheers

 

sometimes they bring out specials to fill up the ship but most times its for new bookings only, if you could cancel out and rebook it could cost too much as cancellation fees would kick in

[bazzaw]

Essentially there is no fixed price for a cruise -- the cruiselines use a model called "dynamic pricing" , which basically means that the price can and does change every day depending on the bookings for the ship. They also use different methods to advertise and "attract" customers -- some people are attracted by a very low price with no "features" , others are attracted by offers such as" two for one" or "fly free" , etc. Different flames for different types of moth :)

 

Barry

[Kiwi Kruzer]

At one stage your ticket used to say..Price..As agreed.

These days I dont think the price is shown at all .

 

Whenever you see OBC's being advertised , remember ....

 

Theres no such thing as a free lunch.:D

 

 

[icat2000]

At one stage your ticket used to say..Price..As agreed.

These days I dont think the price is shown at all .

 

Whenever you see OBC's being advertised , remember ....

 

Theres no such thing as a free lunch.:D

 

 

 

And they figure they get that money back anyway by giving OBC. Whether you toss it down your throat, eat, gamble it or spend it on an excursion.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

And they figure they get that money back anyway by giving OBC. Whether you toss it down your throat, eat, gamble it or spend it on an excursion.

 

 

Of course they love giving it...

and dont forget that if they give you say , $300 OBC , it has only cost them about $100 ...at the most.

 

[MicCanberra]

I always look at the total cruise package when researching for trips. This includes the OBC which I consider a gimick just to get you interested.:D

[ravie80]

Hi there we are sailing carnival January 2014 b2b 19 days and we booked in June got $1100 obc ($600 for 1st and $500 for 2nd )then the price dropped about $2500 2 months ago on our cruises before finial payment was due so I rang our TA and she rang carnival and got us near on $2000 off plus we kept our obc

 

 

 

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[Big Kev]

Hi there we are sailing carnival January 2014 b2b 19 days and we booked in June got $1100 obc ($600 for 1st and $500 for 2nd )then the price dropped about $2500 2 months ago on our cruises before finial payment was due so I rang our TA and she rang carnival and got us near on $2000 off plus we kept our obc

 

 

 

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Thats great Ravie80..

 

Especially, if you are are new to this, and that you managed to catch the drop through booking and monitoring what is going on with your cruise...

 

Too many folk, just book and don't ever revisit/check, (or dont know how to).

 

Also good to see that the pseudo Aussie line, and especially an Aussie agent, is now answering the call..

 

Sue and Phil.

 

 

.

[Pushka]

sometimes they bring out specials to fill up the ship but most times its for new bookings only, if you could cancel out and rebook it could cost too much as cancellation fees would kick in

 

Cunard slashed their prices around May and for us we were still at least $1500 ahead and a better cabin even taking into account our lost deposit. It was a no brainer.

[ravie80]

Thats great Ravie80..

 

Especially, if you are are new to this, and that you managed to catch the drop through booking and monitoring what is going on with your cruise...

 

Too many folk, just book and don't ever revisit/check, (or dont know how to).

 

Also good to see that the pseudo Aussie line, and especially an Aussie agent, is now answering the call..

 

Sue and Phil.

 

 

.

 

Yes I am new to this it is our 2nd b2b cruise with carnival spirit used the same TA . Both b2b cruises were 19 nights first time I never knew anything but read threads on this site and other cruise sites learnt a lot and watched prices waited for big obc then booked then watched for price drops

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

Hi there we are sailing carnival January 2014 b2b 19 days and we booked in June got $1100 obc ($600 for 1st and $500 for 2nd )then the price dropped about $2500 2 months ago on our cruises before finial payment was due so I rang our TA and she rang carnival and got us near on $2000 off plus we kept our obc

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

That is a great price drop. Well done for both you and the TA.:D

[The_Big_M]

Of course they love giving it...

and dont forget that if they give you say , $300 OBC , it has only cost them about $100 ...at the most.

 

 

It's discounted, but could be more than that. E.g. if you spend it on a tour or merchandise, it would probably cost the line at least half the charged value.