When does a price drop occur?

[RTALLEN]

I've read a number of posts on here that say to watch for price drops. We're booked on the Liberty for next May. We actually booked it in April using the Early Saver option. I check at least once a week, and the prices keep going up (up $75.00 p.p. for a balcony so far). Whew! Glad we booked early! So when, if ever, do the prices drop? Or is that something that only happens sometimes, but not necessarily on every cruise? I'm not at all unhappy with the deal we got, but getting a greater discount or an on board credit would be sweet! Guess I'll keep checking and keep my fingers crossed.

[Donna]

You may not see a price drop, all depends on how well the ship is booking, if booking well, you will be happy with the early price you got. Always a good idea to check, its something you never know..

[Dwayne]

I've seen the prices go up beyond what I paid for Early Saver and then back below. Not claiming to know the complicated mathematical formula they use for adjusting prices. However it appears to be something like this. If the particular cruise is ahead of occupancy by certain dates out - they will raise the prices. If it is below the target occupancy they will lower them to fill the berths. As Donna said it pays to keep an eye on the rates with Early Saver. I would particularly check on Mondays and Tuesdays for price drops.

[john_galt]

My travel agent automatically rebooks me at a lower rate if the price drops. I book a year in advance on Princess to get a particular room. I've seen some dramatic price drops and have come to expect them. If you don't have a good TA, I suggest finding one!

[fun2cruiz]

Originally Posted by john_galt

My travel agent automatically rebooks me at a lower rate if the price drops. I book a year in advance on Princess to get a particular room. I've seen some dramatic price drops and have come to expect them. If you don't have a good TA, I suggest finding one!

While a GOOD TA is an asset, let's get real here. Do you honestly think that any GOOD TA (which would more than likely mean with MANY CLIENTS) has the time to check out every clients booking on a daily basis for fare reductions ? You have a TA that got lucky, when finding time inbetween his many clients calls, emails or new referrals they are hopefully sending to him/her, to check fares for you and snagged a lower fare ! Cruise fares can flucuate hourly and at no certain time. While you may have seen some "dramatic price drops", that is in the eye of the beholder. If I saw what in my eyes was a dramatic price drop, it would mean I paid too much to start with !

If a guest elects to book their own cruise, they too can check rates vigilantly and find those same lower fares and probably more efficiently than a TA can becuase they only have to worry about 1 reservation on 1 ship and not a multitude of reservations on several different ships, cruiselines and sail dates.

To the OP..... there is no concrete timeframe if and when cruise fares will be adjusted up or down, or when exactly it will happen. It's all about supply and demand and the price adjustment mathmatics are held closely by the "bean counters" at each cruiseline. Just keep a close watch and maybe you too will capture a new lower fare you are eligible for ! Good Luck

[RTALLEN]

I know the cruise is still about 10 months away, and if there should be a price drop, it may not happen until it gets a little closer to the sailing date. As I said,I'm not unhappy with the deal we got, and if the price doesn't drop, that's okay. However....... I'll keep checking. Thanks all.

[Kamloops Cruiser]

Our cruise fare for this November has already dropped twice that I know of and maybe more.. I keep an eye on the cruise fare almost day . Sometimes prices only drop for
24 to 48 hrs . Then come back higher than before the price drop.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Originally Posted by john_galt

My travel agent automatically rebooks me at a lower rate if the price drops. I book a year in advance on Princess to get a particular room. I've seen some dramatic price drops and have come to expect them. If you don't have a good TA, I suggest finding one!

While that might be good for Princess it won't work with Carnival ES bookings since it is $50pp to cancel and rebook.

If booked with a TA the TA has to submit a form for the price drop.

It is much easier to do yourself booking directly with CCL.

Bill

[jacdenv24]

As Fun2Ctuiz pointed out, TA's do not have time to check all the fares every day, or even every week. My TA always tells me to check prices as often as I can and let her know ASAP if I see a price drop. Last month I noticed a $200 p.p. price drop for our Cat.,e-mailed my TA right away and the next day I got a new invoice with the lower price

[Bernie by the sea]

Everyone talks about price drops and checking, but how do i check for the drops? do i use the cruise line web sites? a discounter (vacations to go, etc)? travel sites(orbitz, expedia, etc)?

i usually check the crusie line sites, but it's hard to see when the low price is on a different sailing.

what is the best way to check for price drops?

[big apple]

My experience has been around 90 days before cruising or when your final deposit is due as many of the agents may have not sold their original booking requests. If the price drops before your final payment you will get the lowest price on most cruise lines.Again supply and demand will play into this equation.

[Kamloops Cruiser]

I usually compare the price on my cruise documents versus what's on the cruise line web paqe.

[green_rd]

As Big Apple points out that if a lot of people pull out just as final deposits are due the price might drop or if a big group were to pull out. I'm sure there are points along the cruise countdown where the lines are looking at capacity and sales as well as other factors such as the cost of oil and stapes and adjust prices accordingly

[RTALLEN]

Originally Posted by Bernie by the sea

Everyone talks about price drops and checking, but how do i check for the drops? do i use the cruise line web sites? a discounter (vacations to go, etc)? travel sites(orbitz, expedia, etc)?

i usually check the crusie line sites, but it's hard to see when the low price is on a different sailing.

what is the best way to check for price drops?

If you've already booked a cruise (as we have) and know what the price was at the time you made your reservation, that is what you'd use as a basis to keep tabs on the price. Then you would know for sure if the price has gone up or down. For example, we used Early Saver (Carnival) and booked a cabin with balcony for $659.00 p.p. Currently the price is $744.00 p.p. That's an INCREASE of $85.00 p.p. Good for us, not so good if someone is just now making a reservation on that same cruise. I can check the price any time by going to Carnival's web site. A good rule of thumb is to book as early as you possibly can, because prices do typically go up. As I already said, I'm happy with the deal we got (because we booked early). But, if the price was to drop below what we've paid, I'd be even happier with a discount or on board credit. I'm a big fan of Carnival's Early Saver and wish other cruise lines had the same option.

[Henry43]

We met a couple on our cruise that ended yesterday .They said they booked 2 weeks prior to the cruise and got a great rate but who knows .

[jackieb]

We booked after the early saver fares and now the cruise has went up $60. We're booked in a guaranteed balcony so I hope this means that the ship is almost full and that we'll get a great upgrade.

[Fern]

Originally Posted by Bernie by the sea

Everyone talks about price drops and checking, but how do i check for the drops? do i use the cruise line web sites? a discounter (vacations to go, etc)? travel sites(orbitz, expedia, etc)?

i usually check the crusie line sites, but it's hard to see when the low price is on a different sailing.

what is the best way to check for price drops?

Bernie, IMO, the best way to check for price drop's is to go to the cruiseline site and do a "dummy" booking (everything except the final payment). The price drop is only good for the cruiseline site, not for any other site's.

Originally Posted by jackieb

We booked after the early saver fares and now the cruise has went up $60. We're booked in a guaranteed balcony so I hope this means that the ship is almost full and that we'll get a great upgrade.

Jackie, if you have the time, go to the Carnival website and look at the available and the "waitlist" cabin's. That will tell you how full the ship is and whether an upgrade would even be possible. If the price of the cabin has gone up there's probably not much chance of an upgrade, IMO .

[jackieb]

Not many rooms left in the cheapest balcony rooms, plus there no longer offering the guaranteed in the balcony catagorie, and we still have not been assigned a room. So hopefully this means an upgrade. The suspence is killing me :???:.

[fun2cruiz]

Your stateroom has probably already been determined, but subject to change, thus the reason you still do not know what stateroom you have been assigned. Don't let the staterooms remaining fool you at the cruiselines website...they are not accurate !!!