mileshound

I will be booking a Europe cruise about a year in advance. Due to using FF miles for 5, I need to book that far in advance.

I have noticed they are reducing prices on Europe cruises for this summer.
Next summer there will be even more ships in Europe and if the economy and exchange rates are still bad, this could put even more price pressures on the cruise lines.

Will they adjust the price if the price deceases? I assume I would have to watch it and call them.

Is it better to book through a TA for this or direct? I may also use cruise compete.

cordelli

Depends, on some lines they will adjust until you make final payment, and after that may issue onboard credits if it drops (though they won't increase it if the price increases other than a fuel surcharge).

Some others will say too bad, it's how it works.

Some price specials are only for new bookings and won't apply to currently booked people.

But every time there has been a price drop, our rate has gone down.

mileshound

If it is for new bookings only, I suppose if it is still in the window where you can cancel without a penalty, I could cancel and then rebook. That is a pain with crediting the deposit and charging a new deposit.

Who are the ones that tend to say "too bad"?

clacko

is your ? "what can i do if the # of ff mi's needed drops after i book?"....

good luck....

edit to add....are there varying prices [in ff mi] for cabin differences?...if so, you might end up paying more....

also, you say you have to book in advance to use your mi's, so i'd do it....5 cabins is a bunch!

re ta....if your ta will book awards, i would consider using the agency, but would expect a fee....rumor has it that ta's get ~ 15%....

is air included?

post cruise & ff lines & maybe get some specific advice....

however, if the deal floats your boat, go for it!

if you are using ff mi's for air only... then i would check the price difference between the current quote and any discounts you see for this year to help in your decision...

MoreMilesPlease

You need to look at each cruise lines policy on this. Pick the one or two lines you think you will book then read all the fine print several times. Once you have it narrowed down to one or two lines and still have questions, post here are at cruise critic for specific help.

clacko

i assume that you have a specific cruise in mind because you are going to commit to the air....

you can find out when the cancelation penalty starts from the cruise line and check it against the discounts being offered to see if any are offered outside of the period, but maybe its too late for this year....if the period is 4 months, then only deals for sept or later would be usable for rebooking discount ideas this year......

my guess, if the economy stays the same is that the cheapest & most expensive cabins would be booked up earlier than the middle....

if you have a reliable ta, i would use them....but, i would talk about rebooking before signing on...good luck...

edit to add....you may want to arr at the port a day early...in the past, when booking your own air, if you miss the boat, you were responsible for the cost of getting to the next port....but, as mentioned above, read the contract for details....also, some get trip interuption/cancel insurance...

if arriving on the sail date, i would get the port agent contact info before leaving...

mikelat

I'd say that there is always the chance that the cruise price will go down. But, if bookings are not up to expectations then the likelihood of that happening before final payment is probably pretty slim. I think most reductions will happen after final payment and after you are locked in to a price. So, if you need to be sure up front, I'd advice to book with a company that is flexible up until final payment and then just let it go knowing that you may have paid a little bit more for the certainty of the cruise. The other option to is book the airfare with miles now and hope the cruise comes up at a discount while being willing to cancel it all if things don't work out. Definitely risks to that approach as well.

BurBunny

In general, the cruise lines are good about fare reductions prior to final payment, nasty about them afterwards (the close in "flash" or "happy hour" fares are restricted to new bookings only). However, that doesn't mean that all future promotions such as onboard credits, pre-paid gratuities or other onboard perks offered between now and then would be honored by the cruise line after you've already booked.

It would be helpful to know what line you're looking at so we could give more specific guidance as to their policies and tendencies.

By the way, be sure to ask your agent about their fare reduction policies, not just if they honor reductions, but if there are any service fees associated. Many discount agencies charge a change fee every time you alter your booking

tcook052

Most will say "new bookings only" but if you or your TA asks nicely I've found rather than go through all the process of cancelling a deposit well outside final payment deadline and rebooking the cruise lines will simply rebook the lower rate.

piper28

My experience with Princess is that before the final payment date it's generally not a problem to get a price reduction honored. After final payment date it's not real likely, although some people have gotten onboard credits. Generally before the final payment date you don't see a lot of new booking only deals because it's trivial to cancel and rebook anyways.

And prices do sometimes drop, sometimes even significantly. I saved enough on a price drop for an Amazon cruise to cover about 75% of the cost for an Alaska cruise.

geepmaley

Are you saying they will adjust pricing automatically? You need to call them. It will not happen automatically. Even if you call, you may not get an adjustment.

geepmaley

cruise compete is good. They hook you up with Travel agents, so you may get a good deal that way. We are heading out on a Med Cruise in three weeks. Booked through cruise compete and ended up getting into a group deal and got much lower prices than any other agent or direct. Do yourself a favor, start a spreadsheet to compare price, OBC, etc. to get to your final price. I konw RCCL/Cel;ebrity will not allow TAs to discount, so the TAs will usually thrown higher OBCs to you. I fyou can get inot a group, so much the better