No deals - Not really

[dominidude]

Hello Fellow cruisers,

is it just me or do you also find the cruise prices have not dropped much, (if at all) given the the Covid19 Pandemic?

My home port is New York though I've cruised from Boston and Baltimore.

I've been looking for a deal so good that I cant pass it up for the pass two months. So far I've found that cruise prices are pretty stable. 

It's weird. I have read several times in the newspapers that cruise lines, especially NCL, have overcapacity for the foreseeable future, which would seem to cause them to lower their prices.

But so far at least, I've seen no such thing.

Any thoughts?

Edited May 30, 2020 by dominidude

[Paul Bogle]

Since cruise lines are not operating at the moment they effectively have zero capacity. The plans cruise lines have talked about for restarting usually involve just a few ships at first and adding more as time goes by. Since many passengers have future credit from cancelled sailings, and each month has brought a new round of cancellations, there will be substantial demand for booking cruises once sailings resume.

 

I do not expect any can't pass up deals to appear other than last minute deals until some normality returns to the market.

[BonnieJeanne]

Hello Fellow cruisers,
is it just me or do you also find the cruise prices have not dropped much, (if at all) given the the Covid19 Pandemic?
My home port is New York though I've cruised from Boston and Baltimore.
I've been looking for a deal so good that I cant pass it up for the pass two months. So far I've found that cruise prices are pretty stable. 
It's weird. I have read several times in the newspapers that cruise lines, especially NCL, have overcapacity for the foreseeable future, which would seem to cause them to lower their prices.
But so far at least, I've seen no such thing.
Any thoughts?

There are a lot of FCCs out there. They might not want to lower the price, then have guests with 125%-150% of what they paid book at the even lower price. Perhaps they will wait until much of that credit is used at higher prices before they drop?


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ray98]

They don't have overcapacity.  They have loads of FCC's out there along with deciding what to do with even more currently booked passengers if they decide reduced capacity and only on select ships is the starting plan.

[tallnthensome]

Prices for 2021 are terrible. Now, you will have those that think they have gotten a good deal booking recently for 2021. They don’t realize if they booked those same cruises back in 2019 they were way less. I booked the Encore for April 2021 back around New Year’s Day 2019. A week for four in angled balcony with all the perks for $3895. Today it’s $6300 .....  now someone who books at $6300 and it goes up to $7300 will think they got a deal. Most prices for 2021 suck if being booked recently versus way back when . 

[K_e_short]

I have cruised with NCL and Carnival.  

 

NCL is way overpriced without a lot of good deals.

 

I can book a Carnival cruise for  $300 for an 8 night cruise. I know what cruise lines I'm going to book with for a last minute cruise....

[Budget Queen]

1 hour ago, K_e_short said:

I have cruised with NCL and Carnival.  

 

NCL is way overpriced without a lot of good deals.

 

I can book a Carnival cruise for  $300 for an 8 night cruise. I know what cruise lines I'm going to book with for a last minute cruise....

With your last minute reference-  in the past NCL offered superb rates.    Being nothing is sailing it is unknown what any last minute rates will be?   

[seaman11]

The reason is things are booking up at a good pace . yes there are quite a few here, that make it seem there is no interest.  vegas is reopening june 4th, flights from my area have doubled,  room rates have gone up , and comp rooms are filled up (they only allow a certain percent per hotel) 

 

Pll will be home for 4-5 months, they are going to want to cruise also right when it starts.  That is the reason for no big deals now. They dont need to . Demand is there . 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/05/15/pandemic-grounded-cruise-ships-indefinitely-bookings-are-still-rolling/

 

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2020/05/12/cruise-bookings-surge-as-companies-announce-plans-to-set-sail-

[NutsAboutGolf]

The last minute deals are based solely on the occupancy with that room category.

[Named-Tawny]

This is how it's going to look everywhere in the travel industry. People lurking for rock bottom prices are going to be very disappointed - doesn't matter if you're cruising, touring, or travelling independently.

Everybody from March - August of 2020 will be moving their trips to 2021, PLUS everybody who was planning on travelling in 2021 will be booking new trips.  The entire travel industry will be suffering from a lack of availability for at least the next year.  There aren't going to be any bargain basement deals to be found.

[mugtech]

30 minutes ago, Named-Tawny said:

This is how it's going to look everywhere in the travel industry. People lurking for rock bottom prices are going to be very disappointed - doesn't matter if you're cruising, touring, or travelling independently.

Everybody from March - August of 2020 will be moving their trips to 2021, PLUS everybody who was planning on travelling in 2021 will be booking new trips.  The entire travel industry will be suffering from a lack of availability for at least the next year.  There aren't going to be any bargain basement deals to be found.

Just another reason to not book until cruising is up to full capacity, all the ships sailing.

[deliver42]

I haven't seen low prices for cruising on any line. Just the same shell game they always pay. Give here, and take there.

[Budget Queen]

13 hours ago, mugtech said:

Just another reason to not book until cruising is up to full capacity, all the ships sailing.

The market will determine prices.      Waiting has a “cost “  too.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

The prices will come down...but not until after the final payment window closes, so be prepared to jump on one when it happens.  My opinion, of course.

[seaman11]

20 hours ago, mugtech said:

Just another reason to not book until cruising is up to full capacity, all the ships sailing.

Im looking forward to sailing not at full capacity myself.  

[chipmaster]

I  am almost tempted to take a look with all these promos, but with so much uncertainty what is a deal worth versus money in pocket and book further in the future for more with more certainty ?

 

maybe the ports won’t be available, maybe a second or third peak shuts down the sailing, maybe china and US go to war, maybe NCL goes bankrupt....
 

I think this is the third email and 8 hours to go, LOL

 

 

Edited May 31, 2020 by chipmaster

[Love my butler]

If you book a cruise now, you are just a sucker.  NCL is dangling pricing for cruises that may or may not sail.  Once cruising does start, you will see deals and prices dropping a lot.  Also keep in mind the current inflated prices are to get as many FCC's off the books as possible.  Those are a huge liability for NCL.

[BirdTravels]

On 5/30/2020 at 12:10 PM, dominidude said:

Hello Fellow cruisers, is it just me or do you also find the cruise prices have not dropped much, (if at all) given the the Covid19 Pandemic? My home port is New York though I've cruised from Boston and Baltimore. I've been looking for a deal so good that I cant pass it up for the pass two months. So far I've found that cruise prices are pretty stable. It's weird. I have read several times in the newspapers that cruise lines, especially NCL, have overcapacity for the foreseeable future, which would seem to cause them to lower their prices. But so far at least, I've seen no such thing. Any thoughts?

In a recent interview, the NCLH CEO reported that booking loads for 2021 were about the same as 2020. So, the demand for cruise continues to be high and there is no need to lower prices. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

In a recent interview, the NCLH CEO reported that booking loads for 2021 were about the same as 2020. So, the demand for cruise continues to be high and there is no need to lower prices. 

 

Do you know if the months of 2020 cancelled sailings are included in the "booking load" metric?

[swmichigan cruiser]

1 hour ago, Love my butler said:

If you book a cruise now, you are just a sucker.  NCL is dangling pricing for cruises that may or may not sail.  Once cruising does start, you will see deals and prices dropping a lot.  Also keep in mind the current inflated prices are to get as many FCC's off the books as possible.  Those are a huge liability for NCL.

Guess you need to explain to me why I am a sucker. I just booked a 17 night cruise on the Encore from San Francisco through the Panama Canal for October 2021 in a cabin I like a front facing slant cabin which there aren't that many. I have been on the Encore before and enjoyed it. I got a price that I liked and if it goes down I get the price drops and I have over a year to cancel with no penalties. Also I have not had to put any money on the reservation. Just curious why do you think I am a sucker?

[versuco]

7 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

Guess you need to explain to me why I am a sucker. I just booked a 17 night cruise on the Encore from San Francisco through the Panama Canal for October 2021 in a cabin I like a front facing slant cabin which there aren't that many. I have been on the Encore before and enjoyed it. I got a price that I liked and if it goes down I get the price drops and I have over a year to cancel with no penalties. Also I have not had to put any money on the reservation. Just curious why do you think I am a sucker?

We booked this same cruise a few weeks ago.  Our October, 2020  2 week cruise on the Sun through the Panama Canal was canceled, so we were happy to find this one on the Encore for Oct 2021.  We were also able to book an angled balcony.  The price for the 17 day was less than the 14 day and we got an extra 200.00 onboard credit.  We are very happy with the price and don't feel like suckers!

[swmichigan cruiser]

5 minutes ago, versuco said:

We booked this same cruise a few weeks ago.  Our October, 2020  2 week cruise on the Sun through the Panama Canal was canceled, so we were happy to find this one on the Encore for Oct 2021.  We were also able to book an angled balcony.  The price for the 17 day was less than the 14 day and we got an extra 200.00 onboard credit.  We are very happy with the price and don't feel like suckers!

Should be a good cruise we had to cancel a 21 night cruise on the Bliss through the Panama Canal in April. Also have cancelled two other cruises because of the virus. Fortunately we have done three Panama Canal cruises before so we can wait. We have already done two cruises on the Encore and really enjoyed them.

[versuco]

9 minutes ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

Should be a good cruise we had to cancel a 21 night cruise on the Bliss through the Panama Canal in April. Also have cancelled two other cruises because of the virus. Fortunately we have done three Panama Canal cruises before so we can wait. We have already done two cruises on the Encore and really enjoyed them.

We have only done a partial transit of the canal so were really looking forward to it.  We had 2 cruises canceled and had to cancel our 6 week RV trip from Florida to Montana this summer.  Cant wait to start cruising and travelling again.  We did get one cruise in this year, the Escape in January.  Haven't been on the Encore yet, but can't wait!

Edited June 1, 2020 by versuco
typo

[Budget Queen]

3 hours ago, swmichigan cruiser said:

Guess you need to explain to me why I am a sucker. I just booked a 17 night cruise on the Encore from San Francisco through the Panama Canal for October 2021 in a cabin I like a front facing slant cabin which there aren't that many. I have been on the Encore before and enjoyed it. I got a price that I liked and if it goes down I get the price drops and I have over a year to cancel with no penalties. Also I have not had to put any money on the reservation. Just curious why do you think I am a sucker?

I’m not making any assumptions based on past exceptions.   About getting any price drops after final payment.     Can be zero.   

[swmichigan cruiser]

8 hours ago, Budget Queen said:

I’m not making any assumptions based on past exceptions.   About getting any price drops after final payment.     Can be zero.   

You could be right. The point is I already have a price I am comfortable with  in place right now and I still have over one year to cancel with no penalties if I change my mind.