How soon after final payment do prices come way down?

[DebInAntigua]

I'm toying with the idea of taking a Caribbean cruise in early November, just because we miss it soooo much. We also want to test out a cheaper inside cabin to see if we can tolerate inside as a way to cruise a lot more often (and literally do some working cruises).

 

The final payment date for the cruise I'm eyeing is in just a few days. How soon after final payment does X tend to cut prices significantly to bring in more pax? Right away or much closer to departure?

 

We need to take an international flight up to Florida so waiting to save on the cruise could always backfire with more expensive flights. I would love to get advice from those who frequently book within final payment window. We book year(s) in advance normally!

[canderson]

Depending upon current load, prices may not come down at all.  Some ships are sailing at or near capacity now.

 

All you can do is sit back and watch.

[ymncruise]

I book at the last minute. They don’t usually come down much. I ended up with $78 onboard credit for a price drop on the cruise I’m on now. 

[jelayne]

I haven’t noticed any significant price drops after final payment. 

[Lastdance]

I made final payment over a month ago; my cruise has over 60+ suites available, not to mention so many cabins.  The suite prices are, as high as, they have ever been, so am expecting lots of MoveUp bids...over 14,000 for an S3, on a 12 day cruise in Europe.   I usually book a suite, but doing a b2b, I booked an SV on deck 11, getting a great deal and all perks, including premium  bev package.  My suite is on the second cruise, and those are all sold out.  I always book when cruises are first released, then watch for price drops.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Lastdance

[deliver42]

If you wait long enough for a price drop, you may be looking at the next cruise instead of the one you want.

[upwarduk]

I paid for our cruise at the beginning of May, but a few weeks later most cabins on Deck 6 were released for general sale- they had been reserved for isolation purposes.

I did a dummy booking as there were still cabins available in our 2B category.

I took a screen shot and sent it to our Travel Agent with the purpose of getting a reduced rate under Celebrity’s Best Offer Guarantee

I heard back 4 days later, we had been awarded $1,100 OBC.

 

Our problem was then spending it, as it was non refundable.

 

“Best Offer Guarantee.

If the fare on your sailing is reduced or the promotion gets better, give us a call and we’ll honor your choice right up to 48 hours before you sail. This applies to bookings made before March 31, 2022 for sailings up to September 30, 2022.

You may change your offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing.

For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of nonrefundable Onboard Credit. For bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of cruise fare payment.

Bookings made after March 31, 2022, will be covered with our existing Best Price Guarantee policy.

Bookings made by UK & Ireland guests after March 31, 2022 will be covered by the existing Price Promise policy.“

Edited August 20, 2022 by upwarduk

[bookitdanno]

Typically, it has been our experience that Celebrity does not play that game, unlike say, Carnival.

Celebrity does not want folks all holding off until the price drops to book, they would rather sail with a few empty cabins. Celebrity uses the Upgrade bid process (Move Up) to encourage increased revenue near sailing time. BTW, Princess has just adopted this model, word for word.

[bayonnejoe]

1 hour ago, DebInAntigua said:

I'm toying with the idea of taking a Caribbean cruise in early November, just because we miss it soooo much. We also want to test out a cheaper inside cabin to see if we can tolerate inside as a way to cruise a lot more often (and literally do some working cruises).

 

The final payment date for the cruise I'm eyeing is in just a few days. How soon after final payment does X tend to cut prices significantly to bring in more pax? Right away or much closer to departure?

 

We need to take an international flight up to Florida so waiting to save on the cruise could always backfire with more expensive flights. I would love to get advice from those who frequently book within final payment window. We book year(s) in advance normally!

Those days are gone forever. 

[Jeremiah1212]

I would expect prices to potentially increase rather than decrease.

[ISABELLA]

We are going on the cruise in November. Made final payment last week. Got a price drop reduction before final payment. Now, week later price has dropped again. I called X - no price adjustment and to get a an upgrade, they said, cruise must be repriced under current promotion. Upgrade was not worth loosing $250.00 OBC. Price for the cabin was the same.

[wrk2cruise]

3 minutes ago, ISABELLA said:

I called X - no price adjustment and to get a an upgrade, they said, cruise must be repriced under current promotion.

 

This is due to your sailing falling outside the Cruise with Confidence sailing dates (expires 9/30/2022).  So things are reverting to the pre-covid repricing policies.

[ISABELLA]

17 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

20 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

This is due to your sailing falling outside the Cruise with Confidence sailing dates (expires 9/30/2022).  So things are reverting to the pre-covid repricing policies.

Actually,  if  the cruise is booked before March 31, it will be under CWC according to X website.

Cancel up to 48 Hours Before you Sail

You have up to 48 hours before you sail to cancel and receive 100% Future Cruise Credit to use on a sailing that departs on or before December 31, 2022 or within one year from your original sailing date, whichever is later.

[Smmessineo]

My personal experience, as an inside stateroom person,  i have found no pattern to price drops. It just takes a lot of watching pricces. I have gotten some great ones over the years, only one after final.payment. For example, I am on the December 1,  Equinox and it was a great deal booked right after sailings restarted in 2021. So it hasn't dropped below my price. But the next cruise, December 12, which was always higher priced , suddenly a few weeks ago, had a huge sale on certain categories, including inside. 10 night cruise 565 pp cruise only or  around 1070 pp all-included. Refundable deposit and 200pp obc. Go figure. After a week or so, prices have gone up again. 

I've been watching the cruises I've booked and the cruises id like to book for years now. Best I can guess is it comes down to a category or sailing that isn't selling well, so they "flash sale" it.

[jwlane]

Just like most purchases---TVs, cars, stocks, mutual funds---as soon as you make the purchase, the price will go down. 😃

[kearney]

Lately is seems that if you see a deal on a cruise that is coming up soon..it will be for cruise only vs AI. I am sailing in a week and after months of unfilled ships..that one looks quite full.  I have been tracking prices on that cruise and each 'sale' has been higher than the one I booked... they keep raising the gross price of the cabin so they can offer what appears to be aggressive deals. I would just keep track of prices and if you find a better deal..try to get OBC. 

[TMLAalum]

 

XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf (rccl.com)

I bookmarked this to find last-minute deals, but as you can see it no longer works thanks to covid!

[deliver42]

I"m booked on the Beyond in a SV for this December with the AI. The price now is $1500.00 more with cruise only.

[dacsmom]

On 8/20/2022 at 11:30 AM, upwarduk said:

I paid for our cruise at the beginning of May, but a few weeks later most cabins on Deck 6 were released for general sale- they had been reserved for isolation purposes.

I did a dummy booking as there were still cabins available in our 2B category.

I took a screen shot and sent it to our Travel Agent with the purpose of getting a reduced rate under Celebrity’s Best Offer Guarantee

I heard back 4 days later, we had been awarded $1,100 OBC.

 

Our problem was then spending it, as it was non refundable.

 

“Best Offer Guarantee.

If the fare on your sailing is reduced or the promotion gets better, give us a call and we’ll honor your choice right up to 48 hours before you sail. This applies to bookings made before March 31, 2022 for sailings up to September 30, 2022.

You may change your offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing.

For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of nonrefundable Onboard Credit. For bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of cruise fare payment.

Bookings made after March 31, 2022, will be covered with our existing Best Price Guarantee policy.

Bookings made by UK & Ireland guests after March 31, 2022 will be covered by the existing Price Promise policy.“

Can't you cash it out in the casino anymore? That is how I got rid of a lot of excess OBC during past cruises. 

[SusieV]

Even with the Cruise with Confidence and being able to reprice until 2 days before sailing, we haven't really gotten price drops after final payment and we're now less than a month out for our B2B. Most of the discounted rates are GTY only or Simply Sail so they don't include the perks, and then it's not really a price drop.

[2chiefs]

On 8/20/2022 at 11:30 AM, upwarduk said:

<<<SNIP>>>

I heard back 4 days later, we had been awarded $1,100 OBC.

 

Our problem was then spending it, as it was non refundable.

 

<<<SNIP>>>

That's a lot of Celebrity T-Shirts from the logo store!

How much booze can you buy from the liquor store?

Do you need any watches?

 

[davekathy]

Final payment was in December. Still waiting for any amount of a price reduction. 😂

[Markanddonna]

You can often predict future prices with how interesting the itinerary is in places like Europe. Not so much in the Caribbean as people consider the ship experience more.

 

For example, we found a fabulous transatlantic this past may for around $329 for a balcony on RCL. We found a pretty good airfare and so booked it just two weeks before sailing. This sailing only had three ports. It was fabulous! Many baltic cruises were incredibly low when St Petersburg was taken off.

 

Like you, we usually book far in advance and keep a keen eye on the booking. We typically book insides because they aren't prison ships and they let you leave your cabin!😁. I have been in an exclusive area (Haven) and happily went back to an inside. Fortunately, my husband and I are frugal and very content that we have the privilege of traveling.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Markanddonna

[mahdnc]

On 8/20/2022 at 9:42 AM, DebInAntigua said:

I'm toying with the idea of taking a Caribbean cruise in early November, just because we miss it soooo much. We also want to test out a cheaper inside cabin to see if we can tolerate inside as a way to cruise a lot more often (and literally do some working cruises).

 

The final payment date for the cruise I'm eyeing is in just a few days. How soon after final payment does X tend to cut prices significantly to bring in more pax? Right away or much closer to departure?

 

We need to take an international flight up to Florida so waiting to save on the cruise could always backfire with more expensive flights. I would love to get advice from those who frequently book within final payment window. We book year(s) in advance normally!

 

One recent data point for you concerning our Oct 22 Constellation TA sailing (15 nt Rome to Tampa).  Constellation is one of six Celebrity ships set to sail back across the Atlantic in Oct.  The others are the 5 newest cruise ships in the fleet: Silhouette, Reflection, and all 3 Edge class ships.

 

Jul 24 (90 days before sailing): final payment for USA passengers

 

Aug 5 (78 days): prices are drastically cut for outside and inside cabins.  Combined with the no additional supplement promotion, a solo could get an outside cabin for $464 incl taxes and fees and get $250 OBC (no AI, no other perks).  Prices have risen since then.

 

Aug 13 (70 days): final payment due for UK passengers

[upwarduk]

5 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Aug 13 (70 days): final payment due for UK passengers

Unless you have booked via a TA, when they want it well before Celebrity need it.

Our recent cruise, payment date 02/05/22 (2nd May)for cruise on 30/07/22. = 90 days.

Edited August 22, 2022 by upwarduk