This tip will save you thousands of dollars

[pms4104]

Hello - am new to cruising and new to this forum. :)

 

We have just booked our first cruise on a HAL ship - for Jan next year. Am I right in thinking that if I notice a price drop from now until Jan, I may be able to get the cabins at the lower price? Has anyone travelling with HAL been able to do so? :confused:

I am not familiar with the intricacies of booking Down Under ... but here in the U.S. HAL will extend price drops until the final payment due date. However, if HAL is running a promo "for new bookings only", that new/lower price will not be extended to existing reservations. Some here do a cancel and rebook, if it is before final payment date, to take advantage of the lower pricing. In so doing, however, they risk losing their specific cabin assignment or confirmed dining request. Depends how much $$$$ is involved and how much the other stuff matters, I suppose.

 

The trick is that you or you T/A must be diligent in monitoring prices for your sailing so you can request the new amount.

 

Booked our November sailing back in February and within a week the fare dropped $500/person ... yes, we asked for and received the new fare. So, at least here, it does happen.

[tone1]

Sailing on Summit in Mediterranean soon. Originally booked 5 cabins about 4 months ago directly with Celebrity for our group of 10. Then, I thought about switching to TA. She offered group discount, OBC and Airmiles. She promised in writing to honour all price drops from Celebrity (unless it said New Bookings only) and didn't charge any change penalties.

 

I have switched people around in cabins without penalty for changes and gotten price drops for every category (interior, balcony and suites). The only thing was that my TA doesn't have time to check for everybody if their cabin price drops. So, do your homework. Check your cruiseline's site everyday or check your roll call for senior, resident or any other specials. She got me my price drops, upgrades, etc. without any problems.

 

I don't know about RCCL policies, but get in writing from your TA that they will honour cruiseline price drops and you should be eligible for discounts even after you make final payment. They will either refund your credit card or you can upgrade your room category.

[Bradtez]

Hello - am new to cruising and new to this forum. :)

 

We have just booked our first cruise on a HAL ship - for Jan next year. Am I right in thinking that if I notice a price drop from now until Jan, I may be able to get the cabins at the lower price? Has anyone travelling with HAL been able to do so? :confused:

 

Sunny,

 

We are booked on the Volendam leaving Kobe for Vancouver next week. We originally booked this cruise last july for an outside cabin. I noticed in Jan that the prices had dropped remarkably, so i called the TA and we got upgraded to a B cabin for the same price. We are more than happy.

[ladycanuck]

I agree! We booked with RCL in Sept for an April-May Hawaii cruise. Our cabin assignment was 3500, which has 2 portholes instead of picture window. To change cabins, RCL was going to charge us $98 per person. A letter to the head office of our TA changed that and we got cabin changed. But no possibility of a price drop, even though I see them on offers and websites.

[SunnyinDubai]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Unfor I do not have a regular TA here as we just moved back to Oz last year. I made this booking through a website but the agency is located in the city I am based in so I was comfortable booking with them. I have to admit that I have not looked at cruise prices until recently so was not in a position to notice any drop in prices - I have however been told that given the economic crisis, prices are apparently lower than before and I was wondering that as the date draws nearer, prices may go down as it would be harder to cancel an entire cruise (our previous travel was with tour groups and recently, cancellation of tours were getting very common).

 

I guess I will just keep an eye on the price and if they drop, speak to the people I booked the cruise through. :)

[copnlpn2]

Concour - I'd like to give the Op the benefit of the doubt. It's unfortunate that we "seasoned" cruisers can't get word out to all new cruisers to check their cruise price either by doing a mock reservation, calling the cruiseline or installing Sabb's Cruise Shark program.

 

I'm always saddened when I read posts like the OP's, that he (she) probably booked a cruise and then sat back, waiting on sailaway. I know that I get the busiest after I actually book a cruise, checking for price drops, watching for great upgrades, etc. I generally book my cruises a year out and for the first six months or so, I check the prices at least once a week. Thereafter, I check the rates every few days and then every day, as the sail date nears. I've always snagged a rate drop, even if it was when port charges dipped a few bucks.

 

IMHO, two of the most important things a new cruiser can read is their actual cruise contract and our Cruise Critic posts - because reading and understanding both can save a lot of headaches and maybe a few dollars too!

[SunnyinDubai]

I am a member of another travel board and know the usefulness of the information/advice provided here - unfor these boards are not widely publicised - it took me a while to find this board.

 

Just out of curiousity - how do most of you do your bookings - direct with the cruise line or through a TA and which sites do you monitor the prices. I looked at Cruise Shark but notice that they do not have HAL prices on there....does that mean I monitor the HAL site and when prices falls on the HAL site, I see if the TA who made our booking will get us the lower price? :confused:

[Cuizer2]

Hello friends,

I am writing to you today to inform you of what I think are fraudulent business practices being perpetrated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and many others as well. Some months ago, my friends and I selected, and paid for a cruise. We were told by Royal Caribbean Cruise officials over the phone that purchasing the cruise early was the "wise choice" because we would lock our price in and avoid any potential increases as the cruise sail-date nears and the cruise becomes sold-out. This sounded good, but it never happened. What happened is that the cruise line dropped their prices by more than 35% from the prices we paid. Why didn't the nice Royal Caribbean Cruise specialist mention that this could happen and that we would be suckers that got hammered for higher prices. Our travel agent could do nothing for us. They were victims just like us. Royal Caribbean and her sister cruise line, Celebrity Cruise Lines have one of the most restrictive refund policies in the cruise industry. Read that as: "Haha, we don't do that!" Not only would they not refund us any of the excessive overcharge, they wouldn't even consider an upgrade to another cabin category as partial mitigation of our losses. They claimed they would have to do that for everyone who was overcharged. Wow, that sounds fair to me. Meanwhile, we were sinking without a life boat to be had or a life preserver from Royal Caribbean.

 

So, my suggestion, and HOT TIP for anyone wanting to book a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruise in the next three years (while the recession is in full bloom) is to not book the cruise until after their cancellation period has expired, usually 75 days before the sail date. This way, you will almost guarantee yourself of saving at least $1000 or more off the cruise costs before their cancellation period expires. And, you will still have plenty of time to book flights, hotels, and any other travel need you may have at great savings as well.

 

Somewhere along the line you were given bad information, and it was not from Royal Caribbean. I just received a very large refund from Royal Caribbean after final payment was due. I will not say how much it is, but it is just over 39% of the total fare I paid. All the travel agent had to do was ask.

 

It maybe that your travel agent told you Royal Caribbean would not refund the difference because your travel agent's commission would also go down. It is even possible that your travel agent obtain the refund and pocketed it.

 

I would suggest that you check with Royal Caribbean directly to see what are the actual facts in this case.

[eandj]

I am a member of another travel board and know the usefulness of the information/advice provided here - unfor these boards are not widely publicised - it took me a while to find this board.

 

Just out of curiousity - how do most of you do your bookings - direct with the cruise line or through a TA and which sites do you monitor the prices. I looked at Cruise Shark but notice that they do not have HAL prices on there....does that mean I monitor the HAL site and when prices falls on the HAL site, I see if the TA who made our booking will get us the lower price? :confused:

 

 

Yes, go to the cruiseline site and "pretend book" your cruise, getting the rate for your exact room category. If it has gone down, immeditately call your TA to make the adjustment. Often the price drop doesn't stay but a couple days. Then goes up again. I watch every day. Before final payment, it will be credited on your reservation form. I always get a new invoice showing my "new" costs. After final payment, some lines still do offer on board credits to help you out. Push your TA to help you then.

 

If you booked a year or more in advance, chances are you will see at least 3 price drops nowadays. Our Med cruise booking has dropped 4 times and we are now $2,000 lower than our original invoice. Considering we were willing to pay that initial amount, this extra cash in hand will cover all our excursions!:D If you book close to cruise date, obviously most ,if any,reductions have already been made.

[cchampagne]

I called Carnival to see if any upgrades were available since the price had dropped. They not only upgraded us but gave us an $80 on board credit.

[Murrumba]

Hello - am new to cruising and new to this forum. :)

 

We have just booked our first cruise on a HAL ship - for Jan next year. Am I right in thinking that if I notice a price drop from now until Jan, I may be able to get the cabins at the lower price? Has anyone travelling with HAL been able to do so? :confused:

 

I have called 4 times and everytime I notice price drop contact HAL and they fix it right up for me. But when I have booked through on-line agent -no cigar. I will never book airline flights or cruises or anything through any agent, ever again!!

[SunnyinDubai]

I have called 4 times and everytime I notice price drop contact HAL and they fix it right up for me. But when I have booked through on-line agent -no cigar. I will never book airline flights or cruises or anything through any agent, ever again!!

 

Interesting - which cruise are you booked on? I checked the HAL site and their prices were higher than what I paid through the online agent....will keep monitoring the sites though...and if there is a price drop to that which is lower than what the agent has offered, I will ask if they will reduce the price. :)

[Murrumba]

Interesting - which cruise are you booked on? I checked the HAL site and their prices were higher than what I paid through the online agent....will keep monitoring the sites though...and if there is a price drop to that which is lower than what the agent has offered, I will ask if they will reduce the price. :)

 

Hi Sid - we are sailing on the Ryndam 3 July 2009 - 14 days (North and South) Alaska from Vancouver. We are not shown prices for Verandahs or Suites, but of course you can book these as back to back. But cost would be prohibitive. Cost is now down to $A1177.00 for 14 days - fantastic!!;) Some of the on-line agencies are just a little higher than this from emails that I received this morning. But I have always found the HAL direct booking with them the best price.

 

Judy

[hazeleyez3]

Like someone said, it could be the TA.

 

I just came off of a transatlantic with RCI - IOS. Booked it last year. Checked the prices often and ended up with 3 price drops - saved around $1800.

[SunnyinDubai]

Hi Sid - we are sailing on the Ryndam 3 July 2009 - 14 days (North and South) Alaska from Vancouver. We are not shown prices for Verandahs or Suites, but of course you can book these as back to back. But cost would be prohibitive. Cost is now down to $A1177.00 for 14 days - fantastic!!;) Some of the on-line agencies are just a little higher than this from emails that I received this morning. But I have always found the HAL direct booking with them the best price.

 

Judy

 

Wow - that is a good price.....will be monitoring prices as our cruise is not till next Jan so there is a lot of time for price drops.....and I hope that I am able to access the price is they are lower as it may allow us to upgrade our cabins. :)

[Murrumba]

Wow - that is a good price.....will be monitoring prices as our cruise is not till next Jan so there is a lot of time for price drops.....and I hope that I am able to access the price is they are lower as it may allow us to upgrade our cabins. :)

 

Hi Sid - well I was wrong with this last price drop - HAL just wrote and said that it was within 75 days of sailing and will not give this price drop - disappointed as RCL honour price drop right up until sailing. Given they honoured the previous price drops thought that they would do the same. Not even given as on-board credit, but perhaps they upgrade?

[SarasMommy]

I agree 112%. We booked our recent Volendam cruise back in August 2008 and sure enough, by February the price dropped considerably. Despite our TA's efforts, HAL would not give us either a rebate or an upgrade, even though we had a copy of an e-mail to one of our travel companions from a senior person at HAL that we deserved it. I even talked to several fellow passengers on board who told us about the fabulous "flash sale" deal they had gotten on the trip less than two months before departure, which made it ridiculous to turn down. Needless to say, we were NOT impressed!

[jhorn4489]

Same thing happened to me but with NCL. I paid $1499.00 pp and the same cabins were going for $799.00 last week. I wanted to cancel and rebook but I just didn't feel like the hassle. They did give me an upgrade but charge my cc $50.00 pp. They said for a change fee. I should not have done it because I am basically in the same room just a little bit bigger window. Never again! I was also booked on 3 excursions and all 3 went up 50% when I called today and asked why, and why so much the answer was "things have gone up in price, and it took the computer a while to update the new prices". I don't think the computer did it, and besides I thought things were going down not up because of the recession?? I canceled all 3 tours and will do it on my own.

[SunnyinDubai]

I guess that if they are trying to reduce the price to lure customers but are not able to, they may not be keen on offering the reduced price to people who have already booked on that cruise - coz it would mean a further loss of guaranteed revenue? :confused: I am hoping that if the prices go down, we can upgrade to a balcony cabin at a better price - at this stage - a balcony cabin would cost us almost $1600 extra per person....if the prices goes down, the difference may be something that we could afford. :o

[MrsPete]

Seasoned travelers know two things for sure:

 

1. If you book early' date=' you will probably get the exact cabin you want. You can avoid any price increases that may come along as the ship starts to fill up.

 

2. If you wait and book closer to the cruise date, you will probably save money but will probably not get exactly what you want.[/quote']Exactly right! At this point in my life -- I'm in my early 40s, have two kids and a job -- I can only vacation a few times a year. When I do, I want to be sure it's "just right", and I care about the room I get (because it's either going to be shared with the kids, or it has to be connecting). So I want to book way in advance to be sure I'm getting what I want.

 

Using this philosophy, we've had great price drops and no trouble getting the cruise line to match them.

 

In the future, when we're retired, I'm sure that my husband and I will be very interested in jumping on last-minute low prices for cruises. We'll have more freedom to come and go, and we'll not care so much whether we have the smallest room on the ship (because the kids'll be out of the house and vacatioing on their own).

[Happy ks]

It seems that this is the OP first post. I smell a troll.

 

 

I've only read till here so far. I'm not going to accuse anyone of being a troll, but I do think they didn't have a great travel agent. We've always been able to obtain price drops and the TA we have used does it happily.

 

Too bad the OP didn't read CC until they registered just to complain....or stick around to find out they could have done something about their predicament.

 

Prices fluctuate both up and down. We book early and have watched the price climb to where we could no way afford it. Our Christmas cruise in 2006 we booked in January, then watched as the prices went higher and higher each month. We had booked a JS for the 4 of us and by the time final payment arrived, the price for a deck 2 inside cabin was more than our JS.

 

On the other side of the story, we've booked in advance and found lower rates, senior or residence rates and have immediately been upgraded or enjoyed the discounts.

[NoWhiners]

Hello - am new to cruising and new to this forum. :)

 

We have just booked our first cruise on a HAL ship - for Jan next year. Am I right in thinking that if I notice a price drop from now until Jan, I may be able to get the cabins at the lower price? Has anyone travelling with HAL been able to do so? :confused:

 

Hi SID

 

We had a similar experience to others on this thread. Booked HAL to Alaska for this June (09) last July. Did it thru online TA associated with big box warehouse in US. I kept monitoring prices and got 2 price decreases (about $900 on balcony VE cabin). Cost us $25 each time (so $50 total), we had 3 cabins, so it was worth the small fee. It wasn't even a re-book, kept same cabins, dinner seating, no lapse of travel insurance. We are pretty satisfied but I have no experience with RCL. All very easy, but TA didn't rack it for me--I had to do all the work! No problem for me, but might be for others. Also, this TA will discount any price HAL provides and allow us to book with HAL, then transfer to them, AND apply discount!!!

 

good luck to all, including OP,

Mary Lynn

[obnancy]

I booked a Celebrity cruise a month out. A week later (after final payment and three weeks before cruise) price dropped for my category cabin. I called my TA and he immediately got me a refund on my CC for the price difference. Yes, I said refund on my CC, not an OBC. Don't know if this is normally the case, but my TA was able to do it.

 

Post seems fishy to me as all over the boards there are examples of people getting upgrades, obc and refunds.

 

Happy cruising everyone,

 

Nancy

[obnancy]

Hi Sara's Mommy,

 

Your situation with HAL sounds fishy with your TA as well. My parent's were booked on HAL, they booked directly, and I check there cruise rate a month out and it had dropped considerably. I called HAL for them to ask for a refund or obc. They would not give a refund but did offer a small obc. I said "Sorry, that's not good enough, please check with a supervisor and get them what they deserve." We did three rounds of this and I finally got them a large obc and a room upgrade.

 

I am not a travel agent and I was able to do this. I think your travel agent may not have been acting in your best interests.

 

Happy cruising,

 

Nancy

[Midnight Writer]

Hello friends,

I am writing to you today to inform you of what I think are fraudulent business practices being perpetrated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and many others as well. Some months ago, my friends and I selected, and paid for a cruise. We were told by Royal Caribbean Cruise officials over the phone that purchasing the cruise early was the "wise choice" because we would lock our price in and avoid any potential increases as the cruise sail-date nears and the cruise becomes sold-out. This sounded good, but it never happened. What happened is that the cruise line dropped their prices by more than 35% from the prices we paid. Why didn't the nice Royal Caribbean Cruise specialist mention that this could happen and that we would be suckers that got hammered for higher prices. Our travel agent could do nothing for us. They were victims just like us. Royal Caribbean and her sister cruise line, Celebrity Cruise Lines have one of the most restrictive refund policies in the cruise industry. Read that as: "Haha, we don't do that!" Not only would they not refund us any of the excessive overcharge, they wouldn't even consider an upgrade to another cabin category as partial mitigation of our losses. They claimed they would have to do that for everyone who was overcharged. Wow, that sounds fair to me. Meanwhile, we were sinking without a life boat to be had or a life preserver from Royal Caribbean.

 

So, my suggestion, and HOT TIP for anyone wanting to book a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruise in the next three years (while the recession is in full bloom) is to not book the cruise until after their cancellation period has expired, usually 75 days before the sail date. This way, you will almost guarantee yourself of saving at least $1000 or more off the cruise costs before their cancellation period expires. And, you will still have plenty of time to book flights, hotels, and any other travel need you may have at great savings as well.

they never did tell you the cruise ship dropped its prices 3 times I got a savings of 700.00 less on my trip but my agent never told me this and she was annoyed cause this came out of her commision, you need to check 3 times a day on carnival and 2 times a day on Rccl for rates, right now its up to 1000.00 pp for the freedom and B* and complained and I got what was rightfully mine, I also booked 2 other cruises, and I felt that I had all the rights to do this, so instead of my room costing us 1400.00 each it was down to 700.00 each a big difference, for 2, dont you say?:p