What is the Australian strategy for getting the best deals on the mass-market lines?

[Schmeag]

Hi all,

 

I am just wondering what your strategies are to get the best deals for the mass-market lines, specifically RCI for me. I am led to believe that we don’t seem to get the best deals Down-Under compared to our North American friends due to various factors like market demand. The best thing I can think of is to book on-board as early as possible and hope for the price to go down (maybe during a flash sale, which rarely seems to happen to bring the price below the initial booking price).

 

Also, due to a change in management, my current TA doesn’t offer anything beneficial to me anymore. In Australia, is it generally better to go with an online TA? Or potentially even a US TA?

 

Cheers

[Chiliburn]

Royal Caribbean,there’s no way to know when to get the best price.

 Their sales have no money saving,the sale price is based on a unrealistic base price.

 North America get the advantage of price drop protection 

we get gratuity and fees included.

UK get some really good deals such a all inclusive fare ,gratuity,booze ,specialty dining.

UK has ,with onboard purchases,gratuity is included in the price which I think we will see this season.

 I believe booking onboard is expensive and you can do better with a online agent.

 Unfortunately we can’t name agents. There’s not much service with a online agent ,some are almost shady.But there’s a couple that are good ones out there.

 My guide lines are .if you want something special such as a grand suite,just book it because the premium cabins sell quickly and don’t fluctuate in prices.

For a average cabin,if you can wait 3 months before departure (final payment date)they usually discount prices .also December is a good time to book.

But there’s no reliable strategy!

[SinbadThePorter]

I find the best strategy is to be flexible (not possible for everyone) and willing to grab a cruise a the last moment. Even if that cruise is not your first preference. The best time of year for that are the months of spring and summer. To spot these cruises you need to obsessively watch prices online.

 

Online TAs offer very little service and not much price differentiation, so I don't really see much advantage in booking with them over booking directly with the cruise line.

[lyndarra]

What is the Australian strategy for getting the best deals on the mass-market lines?

 

Finding someone else to pay for it, Boyfriend, girlfriend, mum, dad, grannie, granddad......

[joybook]

I have yet to find a TA who will be at all helpful as far as a discount goes. They are all either hopeless or greedy. We do not seem to have the benefits that many seem to get in the USA. My strategy is to book direct with Princess as soon as I settle on a cruise I want, then monitor the prices almost daily. If and when the price drops I will call Princess and they, on most occasions, will honour the price drop with me. On some cruises I have been given more than one price drop.

[GUT2407]

We mainly sail Princess, book when we see a price we can live with for the cabin we want, watch like a hawk for price drops for as long as we can refare,  then stop looking.

 

Now I normally book an accessible cabin it’s not so easy, have them for the next couple of cruises, then I am trying the new chair in a standard balcony cabin, (it folds differently so will go through the door) then for our circumnavigation back to an accessible cabin, so I can take the best chair.

[NSWP]

Subscribe to all the cruise lines promos etc.  Then pick the teeth out of them for what you want.

[lyndarra]

5 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Subscribe to all the cruise lines promos etc.  Then pick the teeth out of them for what you want.

I think that's the one that works best.

[lyndarra]

Speaking of which. I was browsing the last offerings from the latest CC specials email. There's lots of good cruises at great A$ prices with many offering OBC and included grats. The only problem is the cost of flights to get to them.  Has anyone here booked any CC cruises? (Or is that a topic for a separate thread).

[GUT2407]

38 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Speaking of which. I was browsing the last offerings from the latest CC specials email. There's lots of good cruises at great A$ prices with many offering OBC and included grats. The only problem is the cost of flights to get to them.  Has anyone here booked any CC cruises? (Or is that a topic for a separate thread).

Nah they never seem to offer any Sydney-Sydney that suit us.

[MicCanberra]

We get lots of emails from subscriptions with TAs and such, but mainly rely on researching ourselves.

[GUT2407]

25 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We get lots of emails from subscriptions with TAs and such, but mainly rely on researching ourselves.

Yeah I use those as a kick off point and to make it easier to price watch

[mum and son]

I used to use online TAs but have found in recent years that they didn't offer a price that was very different to that of the cruiseline. My next 3 cruises are all booked direct with Princess and I have been so impressed with their willingness to re-fare my bookings each time I call about a new promotion. 

 

In the last few weeks I have been able to re-fare my original balcony booking, firstly to a deluxe balcony, and today to a mini-suite (after final payment) and I'm paying less than I was for the original balcony cabin. I had seen the mini-suite that I wanted become available a few days ago so I held it until the inevitable "post-final payment price drop", and in 2 minutes on the phone today my original booking was re-fared and moved into my preferred mini-suite. If I was booked through an online TA I don't think this would have been possible, and definitely not quite so easily. I thanked the Princess rep for making everything happen so seamlessly. I feel like they have already got my cruise started on the right foot... and I don't board for more than 6 weeks!

 

 

[lyndarra]

I've been checking out Alaska cruise/tours for June next year. Being peak season cheapies are near impossible to find. I found a HAL cruise/tour that looked good on the HAL site. I then called an online TA that I've used quite a few times and they came up  with a price a tad more than HAL's . From the TA it was verandah room with USD600 OBC compared to an inside with no perks from HAL.