FlyerTalk Forums - price reduction

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Romelle (Post 30057602)

When I had a somewhat related situation where I spotted a price drop, I contacted the agency where I'd bought the cruise (VacationsToGo). In my case it was a lowly inside cabin. They wouldn't give me any money back, but instead upgraded me to a window cabin and gave me some on-board-credit. I was happy with the deal as the original price I'd paid was already excellent. I know the agent went back to the cruise line to sort things out, but I didn't deal with them. Another later cruise I spotted a price drop and thought I'd go for something similar. No luck this time, the agent explained to me, as I'd passed the full-payment date.

I have to assume the results are pretty arbitrary and depend on all sorts of things. Some of which we will never know.

Hope someone has experience more specifically relate to your situation. But you might check the full-payment date and be sure to act before that.

Most mainstream cruise line won't match the lower fare or match it if it's within final payment OR if you made your final payment... so if you "pay in full" for your cruise really far in advance, the cruise line won't issue a refund but they may upgrade you or give you onboard credit... which is why I never make full payment until the day before final payment.

Living in South Florida, I can usually book a few weeks out and follow the prices on a few particular cruises around the dates of my vacation. I have found if I wait until a few weeks out, I get the best price before the prices start going back up as the ship sales out of the specific cabin type I am looking for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by teddybear99 (Post 30103731)

Living in Florida or a very close by state is a real advantage for cruisers able to get a cruise at the last minute. Pre-9/11 my father was living in Orlando and his brother lived in Miami. For the better part of 10 years during the Caribbean cruise season my dad and stepmother would drive down to Miami on a Thursday or Friday then hang out at the cruise terminals in Miami or Ft Lauderdale on Saturday and Sunday looking for a last minute space available discounted cruise. They were surprisingly successful and more often than not they’d get a cabin. He was so cheap though he’d call me collect to tell me they’d caught a cruise and would be gone for a week or two. We actually turned it into just a signal. I knew if I got a collect call on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon they were off and cruising so I’d simply refuse the call. No call no cruise. After 9/11 it became harder to get into the port areas and to the terminals but by then my stepmother had passed away and dad was no longer able to cruise

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkaterJasp (Post 30092571)

if you "pay in full" for your cruise really far in advance, the cruise line won't issue a refund

I've never seen a cruise line deny a lower rate before the final payment deadline, but if you're outside the deadline, just cancel and rebook.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahasamatman (Post 30117467)

I've never seen a cruise line deny a lower rate before the final payment deadline, but if you're outside the deadline, just cancel and rebook.

While that’s been our experience in the past more and more cruise lines are going to early payment in full discount offers. Once they have all your money they are resistant to refunding actual dollars but will offer an offset in an onboard credit. The other little wrinkle some lines are going to is a non-refundable deposit as part of the early payment discount. That stops the cancel and rebook option. We’ve done one payment in full to get a 10% discount but we were fully comitted to the cruise and did have full travel insurance just in case. Add the early payment discounts to other sales and incentives plus throw in the whole cabin guarantee option and you get a very interesting pricing stew that is sometimes hard to wade through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahasamatman (Post 30117467)

I've never seen a cruise line deny a lower rate before the final payment deadline, but if you're outside the deadline, just cancel and rebook.

Royal Caribbean will not change the rate if you already paid in full, regardless if its final payment or not. I'm on them every other month and from experience it's really near impossible to get them to lower the fare for your room if you paid in full... even if its months away from final payment. If you push the issue enough, they *may* offer OBC of the difference. I just make sure the cruise isn't paid in full until the week of, so much easier.

As for canceling and rebooking, depending on how the reservation was booked, you'll miss out on onboard booking incentives. As for deposit, Carnival and Royal Caribbean now offer multiple fares for the same category of rooms with some of them being non refundable deposits. So like airline ticket, some time it's more expensive to cancel and rebook because you'll loose out with the nonrefundable deposit.