Price Hike on HAl

[coffeeclutch1]

I just noticed our booked cruise to Alaska in Sept. took a significant jump this morning. I'm glad I'm locked in. Does anyone know why they do this on some but not all of HAl cruises to Alaska? :(

[sail7seas]

HAL is a for profit company. :)

 

If they find a particular sailing is selling well, they may raise the price in order to bring in more proceeds. They charge what the market will bear.

 

We have seen price increases on some cruises we book far ahead. We booked our Canada/New England cruises about a year in advance and the price of our cabin category has risen since we booked.

 

[jhannah]

That is a good reason to book early. The cost savings on popular sailings can be significant. Plus, when you book as soon as the itineraries are released, or soon thereafter, you're pretty much assured of your choice of cabin and dinner seating time.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Timing is one factor, supply/demand is another. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes? I happened to get a very good deal on an outside obstructed cabin on the Ryndam in July. Just prior to final payment, the prices went up. I'm glad I locked in when I did, but I have no magic formula; it was simply a matter of observation mixed in with sheer dumb luck, and a TA who moved in quickly, even though it meant a reduction in her commission.

[coffeeclutch1]

I'm kinda curious what this will do to our guaranteed upgrade room. I called TA the other day and ask if I should pay to get a better room, she said if she were me she'd wait, so I will. I trust her, besides I have a guaranteed bed.lol

[sail7seas]

The advice often given on this board in regard to guarantees is to be sure you can be satisfied if you are assigned the very worst cabin in the category you have booked. If that cabin is okay with you, then fine. But if you don't want to risk getting certain cabins, you might want to think about booking a particular cabin by specific number.

 

You might get even better than you paid for but you have to accept you could get the worst possible.

 

[SeaWatch]

Was that for a fuel surchage?

[ncgolferette]

I was checking prices from TA's on the web for 2010 alaska cruises and noticed that one TA had a reduced deposit for a 2010 cruise on HAL. Don't know if it was a TA thing or a drop from HAL. Wouldn't this have to be a reduction from the cruise line?

[pms4104]

I'm kinda curious what this will do to our guaranteed upgrade room. I called TA the other day and ask if I should pay to get a better room, she said if she were me she'd wait, so I will. I trust her, besides I have a guaranteed bed.lol

You will get at least what you paid for ... that is, a cabin in the category you bought or, possibly, in a higher category. You did not buy a guaranteed upgrade and I hope that is not how your T/A described it to you. Based on supply and demand, some people with guarantees move up to another cabin category and some do not ... after all, someone has to be in the minimally guaranteed cabins. We never buy guarantees ... we select the cabin we want rather than hoping for something more or different. Upgrades, by the way, are in the eyes of the beholder ... better is different to different people.

[YXU AC*SE]

Was that for a fuel surchage?

 

Formula for re-instituting HAL's fuel supplement tariff is pretty specific:

 

"We reserve the right to re-instate the fuel supplement for all guests at up to $9 per person per day should the price of light sweet crude oil according to the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange Index) increase above $70 per barrel."

 

Scott.

[kryos]

Timing is one factor, supply/demand is another. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes? I happened to get a very good deal on an outside obstructed cabin on the Ryndam in July. Just prior to final payment, the prices went up. I'm glad I locked in when I did, but I have no magic formula; it was simply a matter of observation mixed in with sheer dumb luck, and a TA who moved in quickly, even though it meant a reduction in her commission.

It's called "hedging." People do it in commodities trading all the time. You try to lock in a price this year for next year. If the market price goes up, and you're locked in at the lower rate, you win. If it goes down, you're screwed.

 

It's the same thing with cruising. If you lock in and the price goes up and stays up, then you come out the big winner. You booked early and got your choice of cabin, dining room seating, etc. Others booking later had less options for those things, plus paid more. You can laugh up your sleeve at them.

 

But if you lock in early, and the cruise doesn't sell well, you very well may find the prices dropping like a rock after final payment is due. At that point, it's highly unlikely you'll get the reduced rate. That's generally only for new bookings, and since you're beyond final payment date, you can't cancel and rebook without losing your money on the initial reservation. So, you're stuck paying one rate, while the guy in the cabin across the hall ... the identical cabin category that you're in, is paying substantially less. The only thing you can do in that situation is see if HAL would be willing to consider giving you a free upgrade to make up the difference for you. They may be willing to do that.

 

So, it's all a game of chance. Book now and hope the prices go up, or book at the last minute and hope the cruise line is stuck with a bunch of empty cabins that they need to sell and will be willing to part with rather cheaply.

 

The choice is yours. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

You will get at least what you paid for ... that is, a cabin in the category you bought or, possibly, in a higher category. You did not buy a guaranteed upgrade and I hope that is not how your T/A described it to you.

Sounds to me that the OP is confused as to what the word "guarantee" means in this case. You are GUARANTEED to have a cabin in at least the category that you paid for, but MIGHT get upgraded. The upgrade is certainly not GUARANTEED. I think that's where the OP may have gotten confused.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[coffeeclutch1]

I'm not confused, I'm guaranteed a room. That's fine, I can always hope. Thanks for all the input. I'm excited to go back to Alaska on another cruise.

[TCF]

It really is a matter of luck!

We just got back from the Ryndam 10 day Sea of Cortes that we took with another couple.

Our original booking had us in a BC Verandah on Deck 9 and our friends in an Inside on the lowest Deck...basically the cheapest cabin on the ship. Both were guarantees. We both got an upgrade...we only moved down the hall to a B....but our friends moved up from the lowest deck to deck 9! They cleaned up...but we both got a better deal for the money we paid.

We both paid for the cruise just days before HAL stopped charging Canadians in $CDN and charged everyone in $US....this saved us about 25% over Canadians who bought the cruise after the switch....so again we saved!

At the end of the day we got a 10 day cruise in a B Verandah cabin for two for about $3000CDN! That is an amazing price!! And it was all due to just blind luck! Trust me ...if there was a way to startegically plan on getting a deal like that we'd use it every time!!

[agabbymama]

It's not only HAL that does this, it's all cruiselines. That's why I don't book a guarantee room. I wait until I can get a price I'm happy with, then select my cabin. Leaving the selection/location of cabin to them isn't something I'm willing to do.

 

Out of my 7 cruises, only 1 didn't almost double in price. My first HAL cruise was in '99 and we bought it with only about 6 weeks to go to cruise, so got a fantastic price for an Oceanview on the "old" Noordam. Cruise and airfare was only around $700 pp. Then for our cruisetour in '08, the cost was $2750 pp. My husband almost cancelled when he found out the difference in cost. And now my sister-in-law has booked the same cruisetour for Aug '09 and it cost her $4500 pp. For my Med cruise, I got a balcony cabin on Grand Princess 12 night cruise for $2010 by cruise time that same cabin had gone to $3400.

 

While there are some great deals to be had, certain cruises or cruisetours remain very popular and aren't amongst the great deals. Once you find something you are happy with, book it, and don't even look back as most of the great deals are for new bookings only anyway. I would never book at high prices and expect the price to lower.

[kryos]

I'm not confused, I'm guaranteed a room. That's fine, I can always hope. Thanks for all the input. I'm excited to go back to Alaska on another cruise.

I book guarantees all the time. They're cheaper. And, frankly, as long as I have a cabin with everything that works, and a comfortable bed, I'm happy. Sure, upgrades are nice, but if I don't get one, that's fine. And, as you put it so well ... at least I'm going to where I want to go!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[keodark]

Something else to remember, that I'm not sure anyone above mentioned, is that "guarantee" cabins can usually only be upgraded *within* a cabin class. According to the HAL documentation, upgrades are from Inside room to Inside room, Oceanview to Oceanview, and Verandah to Verandah. It is "very rare" to be upgraded from Inside to Oceanview, or Oceanview to Verandah.

 

I always book the absolute cheapest category on the ship (except, on this upcoming trip, where the cheapest rooms were all next to the infirmary - my wife freaked out about Swine Flu!). I love Verandahs, but I'm not willing to double my ticket price to get one. I actually prefer lower-deck interior rooms, as they "swing" less during turbulent seas. (I always imagine the people up in high-deck Verandahs being flung back-and-forth like a pendulum! Makes me feel better about my MM room! :D)

[whogo]

I just noticed our booked cruise to Alaska in Sept. took a significant jump this morning. I'm glad I'm locked in. Does anyone know why they do this on some but not all of HAl cruises to Alaska? :(

Locked in? HAL can raise the price of the cruise right up to departure. I love the cruise contract: "In the event of an increase in fuel or other costs above amounts projected, we have the right to increase the fare at any time up to Initial Departure and to require payment of the additional fare prior to Initial Departure."

 

The contract says that you can choose to cancel if you don't like it.

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/legalAndPrivacy/Main.action?tabName=Cruise/Cruisetour%20Contract

[Taxguy77]

I have only been on HAL once, but in the mail last week, I received a brochure for Alaska cruises as low as $50/day! Half price deals on some cruises and higher prices on others? Sounds like they had an inbalance somewhere and are going to correct it.