Cruise Price

[Darfun]

Is there any websites or apps that monitor the cost of cruises. There is a 4 day cruise onboard the volendam on May 6, 2023 that i am interested in. But hoping the cost comes down on it before I book. I have been monitoring the price but instead of checking the website every day I would rather have a alert set up for it. I contacted my PCC and the price he gave me wasn't any better then the website.

[mcrcruiser]

11 minutes ago, Darfun said:

Is there any websites or apps that monitor the cost of cruises. There is a 4 day cruise onboard the volendam on May 6, 2023 that i am interested in. But hoping the cost comes down on it before I book. I have been monitoring the price but instead of checking the website every day I would rather have a alert set up for it. I contacted my PCC and the price he gave me wasn't any better then the website.

      If you want more for your money use a good Travel Agency , most of the time they will drop the cost  &  or give you on  board credits . If the On board Credit is totally from the Travel agency & you do not use it you get credit for that amount against your credit card on file   .This is the best way to save   ,another way to save is book any HAL cruise within  90 days of them listing the cruise &  HAL will also give you on board credit .That one from the cruise line you must use it or loose it   .so now you have 2 ways to save . CC shows some Travel Agents   names   advertised for  new cruises .you can check them out  .you will find the info for Travel Agents on Cruise Critic on the top of the page under the words "DEALS"    or   "Find A Cruise "  .These are at the top of the page where you login  

Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[Iamthesea]

There is not as far as I know.  However, have you checked availability?  It could be that the cruise is almost sold out.  If that is the case, then the prices will not go down.  Best to book it while you can get a stateroom!

Edited February 14, 2023 by Iamthesea

[mcrcruiser]

5 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

There is not as far as I know.  However, have you checked availability?  It could be that the cruise is almost sold out.  If that is the case, then the prices will not go down.  Best to book it while you can get a stateroom!

  There is a problem with this is that you usually will never get a  cabin of your choice or a great location on the ship  if you wait until after final payment . Take the OBCs from HAL if booked with in 90days & take the Travel Agent OBC . IMO best ways to save & get your pick of cabin types & locations 

[Florida_gal_50]

10 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

      If you want more for your money use a good Travel Agency , most of the time they will drop the cost  &  or give you on  board credits . If the On board Credit is totally from the Travel agency & you do not use it you get credit for that amount against your credit card on file   .This is the best way to save   ,another way to save is book any HAL cruise within  90 days of them listing the cruise &  HAL will also give you on board credit .That one from the cruise line you must use it or loose it   .so now you have 2 ways to save . CC shows some Travel Agents   names   advertised for  new cruises .you can check them out 

I’ve yet to find a ta to get me any discount.  Small amount of obc maybe.  The last one I attempted to work with wanted to charge me about $700 over the hal website then blamed me for it.

 

To the op, there used to be a website that did that.  Don’t know if it’s around but we can’t mention it.  The problem was if you had Mariners pricing it didn’t work for that.  Cruise critic had a tool at one point.  Don’t know if they still do.

[mcrcruiser]

8 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve yet to find a ta to get me any discount.  Small amount of obc maybe.  The last one I attempted to work with wanted to charge me about $700 over the hal website then blamed me for it.

 

To the op, there used to be a website that did that.  Don’t know if it’s around but we can’t mention it.  The problem was if you had Mariners pricing it didn’t work for that.  Cruise critic had a tool at one point.  Don’t know if they still do.

In most cases  the Travel Agency will  give a  On board Credit  .In the last HAL cruise we booked on board koningsdam,  Dec 20, 2022  for the 14 night Solar Eclipse Mexico on Zaandam  ,14 night cruise we got $500  OBC from HAL for booking on the ship & that it just came out  with in the 90 day period  .Then when it went to my TA they gave me $600 off the cruise price that I got on the ship  . We  booked into a EE handicap cabin 

The Deposit was just $200  for a cruise that topped  $5000 

Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[mcrcruiser]

It was a  very good deal 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

In most cases  the Travel Agency will  give a  On board Credit  .In the last HAL cruise we booked on board koningsdam,  Dec 20, 2022  for the 14 night Solar Eclipse Mexico on Zaandam  ,14 night cruise we got $500  OBC from HAL for booking on the ship & that it just came out  with in the 90 day period  .Then when it went to my TA they gave me $600 off the cruise price that I got on the ship  . We  booked into a EE handicap cabin 

The Deposit was just $200  for a cruise that topped  $5000 

My cruises aren’t cheap either.  I’ve gotten maybe $50.  

[mcrcruiser]

6 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

My cruises aren’t cheap either.  I’ve gotten maybe $50.  

  I jusr looked at my file folder  total with  port taxes botton line cost  $5638 total - $200 deposit = $5438.00   & that was with the $600 off  from the TA ,We also got Club Orange 

 Forgot to say the we bought the $100 each FCC & used that as a deposit .So if you add up the ONV the HAL gives on the on board FCC & within 90says  that is how we got the $500 OBC from HAL  .Still nor a cheap cruise $201.36 per night each of us .The OBC covers all the gratuities of $434  . We will have some OBC  left for Canaletto & Pinnacle for lunch  .Our 18 night on Koningsdam Hawaii Jan30 ,2024 was a tad less with club Orange than this 15 night cruise

Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[crystalspin]

Cliff, the OP already has a cruise in mind and it is almost upon us, not going to get Launch-Fare OBC. Neither is any TA going to give much if any OBC for a 4-day cruise.

 

@DarfunSometimes a PCC can "see" things not available on the website. They are of course employed by the cruiseline and can only operate with the boundaries thereof. I love my PCC and she has in fact saved me money and made my life easier. You are already within Final Payment I believe, so no deposit will be refundable, and cabin availability will (probably) be diminishing. If cabin is of no concern, just keep watching -- I don't know of any app or website that does what you asked for.

 

Good luck!

[mcrcruiser]

Cost of Cruises definitely has gone up  . Although we have a outside hamdicap cabin  we can get to the promenade viewing very easy  .The balcony on this ship are suites 

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Cliff, the OP already has a cruise in mind and it is almost upon us, not going to get Launch-Fare OBC. Neither is any TA going to give much if any OBC for a 4-day cruise.

 

@DarfunSometimes a PCC can "see" things not available on the website. They are of course employed by the cruiseline and can only operate with the boundaries thereof. I love my PCC and she has in fact saved me money and made my life easier. You are already within Final Payment I believe, so no deposit will be refundable, and cabin availability will (probably) be diminishing. If cabin is of no concern, just keep watching -- I don't know of any app or website that does what you asked for.

 

Good luck!

If I were the OP I would look for a  cruise that just came out  or wait for one  for HAL to launch  . The OP should get a hood TA ,we never miss getting much better prices & or  good OBCs from our  TA   .Additionally ,when we are on a cruise I always buy my FCCs on the ship & look for a new cruise the just came out  .You know that is the best way . BTW HAL knew who my  TA was & automatically assigned it to them  .Then the TA gave us the $600 off HALs price

[Florida_gal_50]

5 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

If I were the OP I would look for a  cruise that just came out  or wait for one  for HAL to launch  . The OP should get a hood TA ,we never miss getting much better prices & or  good OBCs from our  TA   .Additionally ,when we are on a cruise I always buy my FCCs on the ship & look for a new cruise the just came out  .You know that is the best way . BTW HAL knew who my  TA was & automatically assigned it to them  .Then the TA gave us the $600 off HALs price

I’ve rarely found good prices out of the gate.  I would say 90 percent of my cruises have gone down a ton between booking and when they sailed.  There is a fine line when getting close to the sail date.  I found some really good pricing on an April cruise but it was for an oceanview room.  I could live with that but there were no cabanas available so it’s a deal breaker for me.  If it’s an “exotic” cruise that’s a different story.

[mcrcruiser]

11 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve rarely found good prices out of the gate.  I would say 90 percent of my cruises have gone down a ton between booking and when they sailed.  There is a fine line when getting close to the sail date.  I found some really good pricing on an April cruise but it was for an oceanview room.  I could live with that but there were no cabanas available so it’s a deal breaker for me.  If it’s an “exotic” cruise that’s a different story.

I always   check  our cruise prices  to see if there were price reductions .as you are aware that if you cancel  & rebook you loose  the  perks ,so the price has to be a lot better to cancel & rebook  .Our TA can do it & keep the same cabin for us  .  On the smaller ships there  are not many handicap  cabins    another reason we booked  it early to secure that cabin  

We will look at this cruise in 6 months from now  than periodically ro see ig prices dropped . Better chance of price drops   on the Pinnacle class or even the Eurodam class shops because of the many cabin types

Edited February 14, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[Darfun]

I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. 

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Darfun said:

I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. 

what is a" shop cruise" ? 

[mcrcruiser]

Just now, mcrcruiser said:

what is a" shop cruise" ? 

 

Just now, mcrcruiser said:

what is a" shop cruise" ? 

 

5 minutes ago, Darfun said:

I will have to look into a travel agent. The cabin doesn’t matter to me. The cruise I’m looking into is a shop cruise out of Vancouver which is close to where I live so transportation is easy to get there. Just wanting a good deal, I’m willing to book last minute if it’s cheaper. 

  The only cruises we ever have seen  from Vancouver are  Alaska ,Hawaii  & Repositioning  back south  when the Alaska season ends  . What cruise are you looking to book . to where ?

[OlsSalt]

I am seeing $149 -$449 for this cruise depending on cabin choice,  with the warning -limited availability. Which usually means, there suddenly is no availability at the lower price point. You have a good deal on this cruise right now. Waiting for the "best deal" is likely not to happen. 

 

It is probably not going to get better than $37 a night. At least for four days, a bad cabin (over a noisy venue) won't be a deal breaker.  Unless you can get one of the free casino cruises - and don't factor in any potential gambling losses.

[Suncitycruiser1925]

There is an app. called Shipmate.  You can add your cruise under my cruises and click on the tab/button for notify of price change.  I believe you will be notified by email by a price change.  

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

what is a" shop cruise" ? 

Maybe "short cruise". Here is the itinerary in question:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/L3P04A/V319.html

 

[Darfun]

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

what is a" shop cruise" ? 

Meant to say "short cruise".

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, Suncitycruiser1925 said:

There is an app. called Shipmate.  You can add your cruise under my cruises and click on the tab/button for notify of price change.  I believe you will be notified by email by a price change.  

Cruisewatch dot com also has a price tracker.  The site has a cruise price alert to notify you if the price changes on a specific cruise.

[niknot]

Cruiseplum is another site that has a section for each cruise which shows historical pricing for each general cabin type. From what I can see the data is pulled directly from each cruise line's website. It has a ton of data available. You will need to use your filters. For example, you can drill down to specific port stops.

 

Not all lines are covered though. If you are looking at the luxury lines they aren't there but the mass market US/Canada ones are. Carnival brands, RCI brands, MSC and so on.

 

There are multiple sections to look at. They have a "Hot Deals" section, a "Less than 30 days deal" section, a list of price drops which have taken place in the past day as well as the past three days and so forth.

 

If you sign in it is possible to be notified with price changes but I haven't tried that yet.

[Colorado Klutch]

Do some research before selecting a travel agent. I know we can't mention specific agents, but be aware there are many levels of service. I asked my friends if they could recommend a TA and nobody could. They all book everything themselves.

 

I saw a TA on YouTube who made a video onboard Koningsdam for an Alaska cruise. This was the cruise I was considering, so I contacted her. I heard nothing after a few days, so I booked the cruise myself. A week later, I received an email. I thought she could still help me since she had been on the same ship. I transferred my booking to her. Turned out I was dealing with an associate who has never sailed with Holland America. She is very nice and tries to be helpful, but it's clear she's still learning the ropes. Not a bad experience, but not what I was expecting. 

 

[Native Floridian 26]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but there is a website where TAs "compete" for your business by giving you offers/bids on a specific sailing.  We use this often and have booked with a few agencies based on their offer.  HAL and Princess cruises can be discounted and they'll give you OBC too.  You can even transfer from a HAL booking to a TA booking and they generally keep the offer they gave you even though it's not a new booking.