CCL Pricing - Still seems high to me

[spleenstomper]

It's high. $2200 for two of us in a cove balcony on Dream for Memorial day week 2018

[Moonarino]

Demand is high.

 

There ya go. Especially (needless to say) for the more popular/higher-rated ships. I can find "cheap" cruises all day long on ships I'd never sail on -- older, smaller (fewer choices in eateries or things to do) or other things that make some ships more consistently popular than others.

 

But real deals (including OBC) are definitely few and far between these days. I get emails every day from Carnival (also Princess, RCI, etc) and most of the "sales" (all cruise lines) are hokey, empty hooks to get us salivating to cruise and nothing more.

[Sotermarler]

I wanted to branch out and try Carnival /Vista this year, but I couldn't beat the price of NCL with 4th pass free and free drink package. I'd love to try another line, but NCL keeps sucking me back in. Maybe next year!

 

 

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[buddylover]

In agreement with most everyone.....prices are way UP across the board at all the mainstream lines. It certainly makes some of the other cruise lines more appealing now that CCL's prices are the same or higher.....hmmmm!

[ryano]

Pricing has gotten ridiculous. My October cruise on Magic "starts at" 789.00 for a inside cabin. We paid 539.00 when booking it last year. An oceanview cabin for the same week on Oasis of the Seas is 40 bucks cheaper. WTH Carnival?

[Doggielover68]

Pricing has gotten ridiculous. My October cruise on Magic "starts at" 789.00 for a inside cabin. We paid 539.00 when booking it last year. An oceanview cabin for the same week on Oasis of the Seas is 40 bucks cheaper. WTH Carnival?

 

 

Supply and demand. Why lower the price if people are booking anyway?

 

 

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[ryano]

Supply and demand. Why lower the price if people are booking anyway?

 

 

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I just always hear the same old tired line of how Carnival is cheaper. I love Magic but Im picking an oceanview cabin on Oasis of the Seas for 40.00 pp less than a inside on Magic any day. I didnt know October cruises in the middle of hurricane had a big demand. Guess I was wrong. :)

[bUU]

Supply and demand. Why lower the price if people are booking anyway?

Yes, and the prices are going to track how much discretionary income people have on average. When the economy improves we're all so happy that maybe we can afford more things now, but really all it is is a cue to the sellers of what we buy to raise prices since we have more to work with now.

[Moonarino]

I find that cruise prices seem to be up in general.

 

I think that the deeply cut deals that were out there a few years ago (after the Triumph and Splendour issues), have disappeared. Carnival recovered their passenger base and so they don't need to slash prices to get people to sail with them.

 

"perks" are only worth the value you place on them - free drinks doesn't do much for us (we don't drink much so the beverage package only really covers our non-alcoholic beverage costs).

 

Royal had a fire last year too, a baby drowned in a pool, and they seem to have a higher percentage of Norovirus outbreaks. Maybe (maybe) that helped to narrow the pricing gap a little bit too. I don't know, just guessing.

 

Ditto on what I bolded. I truly, truly wish they'd be more fair to all passengers by way of more OBC. OBC can cover a lot of things, including the one or two cervesas I might enjoy on a cruise.

 

One thing though, it seems to me (but maybe I'm wrong) that CCL's Suite pricing is still better than most other major lines.

 

Anybody notice how all the lines tell us they might have to raise prices if fuel costs go way up? Have they ever dropped prices when fuel costs go way down, as they have in recent years? (Please try not to hurt yourself from laughing too hard.)

[spleenstomper]

BTW, the price I quoted is with the casino rate and I had to pay full deposit. We are going with other people and it is Memorial day weekend, so... I couldn't look around and price check.

[sfaaa]

Anybody notice how all the lines tell us they might have to raise prices if fuel costs go way up? Have they ever dropped prices when fuel costs go way down, as they have in recent years? (Please try not to hurt yourself from laughing too hard.)

 

And how often did cruise lines slap a fuel surcharge on you when crude oil did go above $65? You should be laughing that they never did go after your wallet when they could have done so under your cruise contract.

[Moonarino]

And how often did cruise lines slap a fuel surcharge on you when crude oil did go above $65? You should be laughing that they never did go after your wallet when they could have done so under your cruise contract.

 

When crude roughly doubled that price for a little while, you weren't the least bit concerned? But my point was only what I wrote. Have you ever seen any cruise line publish the condition that they'll forego even higher profit (e.g., more discounts instead of less) when their fuel costs hit rock-bottom?

 

But no, of course they'll never do that as long as they can keep filling up all those cruise ships because so many of us are so willing to pay pay pay.

[Pops, Esq.]

I think the low deposits are leading to some of the higher prices. Think about it......more people book because it's such a great deal so the ship looks fuller equating to the appearance of higher demand. Then there is a small deduction in the fare.....people request the price protection but they then usually have to cough up the balance of a full deposit. The marketing is pretty brilliant.

I always check for price drops right after the 50% deposit sales end. Watch for yourself. It doesn't always happen, but it's not all that uncommon.

[Moonarino]

I always check for price drops right after the 50% deposit sales end. Watch for yourself. It doesn't always happen, but it's not all that uncommon.

 

Great point. I wish I could retroactively chart all the sales events leading up to (or even just after) every cruise I've booked in the past.

 

Last year I shopped RCI during a "sale" -- I know this is a Carnival thread, but -- the "sale" was pretty much fake, not a dime cheaper than before or after. So I waited 2-3 weeks or more, and eventually got a great price on the Oasis cruise. That was from a TA. But I kept looking (also had multiple price ticklers going on that particular cruise), and even the same TA's pricing for the same cabin category/location never dropped to the same low rate again. The point is, I got an excellent ("best") price in a dip between sales events.

[nhsails]

High compared to what? To whom?

[Sizzlechest]

I booked a Havana Cabana on the Horizon out of NY for July 3, 2018. I booked over a year before the sail date. I never did anything like that before. (This is also my first Carnival cruise since 2011.) Since that time, the price has consistently gone UP! It's now over $150 more pp.

[salty dingo]

It depends on where and when you want to sail. Go in the summer when the kids are out of school, pay a lot more. Go in September when kids are back in school, pay a lot less. May have more hurricanes though.

 

I think ports that are close and not in South Florida also get a premium price, because people can drive there.

 

We just booked a dirt cheap cruise on Fascination for Aug '18. The reason is that San Juan is a port people can't drive to, unless you live in Puerto Rico.

[dave_k58]

I don't think Carnival has sales anymore. All they offer are reduced deposit specials. The Carnival "JOurney" cruises are every bit as expensive as the usually more expensive cruise lines, even for the much older ships with fewer amenities.