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Do prices fluctuate back down? (+ a TA question)


BrewerJoe

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I'm in the midst of planning a cruise on Harmony OTS in July.  I would have loved to book earlier, but due to a few things beyond my control I was unable to seriously start planning until now.  I've been looking at cabin selection and other details and noticed that over the past 4 days or so the cabin category I'm interested in (5D) has incrementally crept up by about $400 (total for my family of 4).  This has happened in chunks of $50-$100 at a time.  I haven't noticed any decrease in the number of cabins available in this category.

My question is - will the price float back down or are price changes usually a one-way street?  The price is now getting real close to the border of what I'd be willing to pay, so am starting to get a little panicky that I may have missed my booking window.

I'm also wondering what people's thoughts are on booking through one of the large internet resellers?  I understand I'm not supposed to mention any by name, but there are a few that seem to offer significantly more OBC than others.  I've planned lots of travel in the past, so am pretty comfortable booking excursions, etc. without help, but didn't know if I'd really be missing something important by not booking through a local TA.  This is my first Royal Caribbean cruise.

Thanks for your thoughts on the questions above!  Places like this are invaluable for RC newbies like me!

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Hey Joe,

Welcome to the message boards! Feel free to ask away with any questions you may have. There are a lot of seasoned cruise veterans here who will gladly help you out. As for as any price reductions for the July cruise you are looking at, I doubt it since it is just over 5 months away. I would book  now with a deposit and watch the prices. And I would recommend you book through MEI (they sponsor this blog). Many folks here have used Michelle Cunningham and are very happy with her. Her number is (703) 881-2727. If you see a drop in the price, contact her and she will get you the lower price. You will get personalized service with her. I'm not sure about going through a large internet seller, probably won't get the service you want. Once you get past the final payment date and there is a drop in the price, Royal will not give you the lower price. 

I usually book as far out as possible (1-2 years) for the lowest price. Hope this helps! :27_sunglasses:

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Hey, @BrewerJoe, welcome to the forums!

As a rule, prices are at their lowest when the itineraries are first announced and only go up from there. Sometimes a particular sailing, or cabin class within the sailing, will go down briefly if the cabins are filling up fast enough or there are still some unsold close to sail date, but it's the exception rather than the rule. If you're approaching your threshold for the trip getting too expensive, and it's definitely one you want to take, best to pull the trigger soon.

One thing to note -- if you're looking at the prices on Royal's web site, you're going to be seeing the non-refundable deposit pricing. Given the sailing is in July, there's probably no reason to not go with a non-refundable deposit at this point since final payment date is so close. But if you want to make a refundable booking just in case, that will cost a bit more. You can see how much more by starting a mock booking and going most of the way through the process -- select cabins and enter traveler info (feel free to make up most of it, just keep your state accurate on the off chance there's an offer available for residents of your state) -- then get to the screen after traveler info. Here you see the extra cost to buy insurance with Royal, pre-pay your gratuities... and book with a refundable deposit. Check that option and you'll see the adjusted price. Usually, there's also a reduction in any OBC or instant savings offered.

As @rjac noted, it's really best to go with a regular travel agency, rather than one of the internet resellers. I've also used MEI and will recommend them. Besides keeping an eye out for you with price reductions, you'll have someone who will go to bat for you with Royal should anything really bad happen between now and cruise date. (like, say, Royal deciding abruptly to cancel a cruise because the ship suddenly got chartered at the last minute -- yes, this really happened to someone here, and without their travel agent getting into the ring with Royal, there would have been a much less satisfactory ending)

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Thanks!  That's what I was afraid of...I should have booked on Monday.

I did request a quote from MEI and am awaiting a response. 

I know a TA is free to me, but when I'm comparing the standard RC $75 OBC to offers of $300 OBC by some vendors, there's a $200+ difference to my bank account in the end (assuming the OBC is something I would have spent anyway).  So I'm trying to weight the risk/reward in my mind of one over the other.  I'm a pretty detail oriented person and feel like a competent travel planner.  I'm just not sure I would get $200 of value from a TA, unless they're able to offer something beyond the standard RC perks. I guess there would be definite value in extraordinary circumstances like a cruise being cancelled, but that has to be a fairly rare occurrence, right?

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1 hour ago, BrewerJoe said:

I guess there would be definite value in extraordinary circumstances like a cruise being cancelled, but that has to be a fairly rare occurrence, right?

Something that extreme is pretty rare, yes. But I'll give an example that happened to me and was something that could be a lot more frequent.

I was on Anthem last October, and found after looking at my SeaPass charges on night three that I was being charged daily gratuities. I had pre-paid my grats about two months before sail date, so this should just not have been happening. Went to Guest Services the next morning, and they couldn't explain why this was happening when I had an email receipt on my phone showing they were paid. So I emailed my TA (from MEI) and let her know the situation.

She did the work of digging into that while I went and enjoyed the afternoon showing of We Will Rock You (and my drink package). Got out of the show and had an email from her that Royal said the charge never went through. Well, I replied that indeed it did, because I'd just gotten my latest statement and I could see the charge there, plain as day. She continued to follow up and eventually got it all resolved for me, while I was able to continue enjoying my vacation without spending hours at Guest Services or on the phone with headquarters, and without having to think about following up on that when I got back home. If time is money, and stress is a withdrawal on your "cash on hand", she saved me a pretty good bit there on top of the double-charged tips.

Agents also save you time before boarding by doing the work of checking every new promotion to see if it saves you money, so depending on how "type A" you are, that's another thing to keep in mind. You just get to enjoy planning excursions and what drink you'll enjoy at sailaway, while your agent is going the "drudge work" of price checking at least once a week for you and every other client he or she has.

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57 minutes ago, BrewerJoe said:

If I book through one company/TA, can I then transfer the booking to another if I'm dissatisfied?

Not usually, not without extenuating circumstances. 

In my experience with TA's and pricing or offers that look too good to be true - it usually is. 

TA OBC shows up after day 2 on board.  What do you do when it doesn't show up?  It's not Royal's fault, it isn't their OBC.  Mass internet TAs advertise what appears to be an awesome overall package of rate plus OBC plus other things.  The problem is what do you do when that stuff doesn't materialize in the middle of your cruise?   Suddenly your stress vacation isn't so stress free.  

Not all internet mass TA's are like that.  It's likely the bad ones that give them all a bad name.  The problem is, how do you know?

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Welcome to the forums!

 

Regarding the TA, if a TA doesnt reach out to you within like 48 business hours (ie not the weekends) I'd find one close to you (they have a list of their TA's on MEI's website) and reach out to them directly.  That's how I met my MEI TA and she's been absolutely delightful to work with.

 

I also concur with the ones with offers that appear too good to be true.  Large OBCs, beverage packages for the entire cruise for the same price listed on Royal's website?  Too good to be true IMO.  The TA does get a kickback from Royal for every cruise through them, but not enough to give away nearly your entire cruise cost in free extras.  100-300 OBC for a 7 day cruise is normal and fine, but if they start offering 1000 OBC or whole entire packages, I'd be very leery of them.  To me, the relationship with your TA is you talk to them, find out about them.  A good TA will be fine in having a general getting to know you conversation about their experience, what they do for you, preferred method of communication etc.  If you dont mesh, thank them for their time and look elsewhere.  They wont take offense to you finding someone else.  It is a shopping decision for you and you deserve a TA you get along with well.

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I'm on the flip side and like to skip a TA and book with Royal directly.  I like the direct control on my booking.  I check for price drops daily and if it goes down, then I'll call.  My office is in an open area though so I need to wait until I get home for that call (which translates to evening after kids go to bed) and Royal is 24/7 (or at least open late).  With a TA, I probably wouldn't reach them until next day (or playing phone tag) which is hard when I only have evenings or when its a work from home day.  Maybe silly...but I just prefer not to have that middle layer.  Ironically enough, I do enough research online..either through sites or from these message boards that don't feel the need.  Having said that, if there is additional OBC or perks like a free specialty meal, then that could be worthwhile.

As for prices, it depends.  I just booked Harmony but it's for 2021 and have been watching the prices go up and down.  I think I've gotten about 7 price drops so far (but I also changed stateroom category in the middle).  But for July cruise, you must be nearing final payment...plus it's summer so busy time for cruising.  You could take your chance and hope for a last minute deal but staterooms will sell out, and you may be left with one in an undesirable location, or your specific category is gone.  So personally I'd just book and still watch prices daily until final payment.    (And after final payment, you can move up a category and pay the difference)

Good luck with what you decide.

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WannaCruise - Thanks for offering a different perspective on this!  The popular option seems to be to book with a TA for the customer service they're able to provide.  Reading through some posts on TA opinions, it seems that service is hit or miss depending on how well a customer jives with the TA...and in some cases is dependent on the customer having realistic expectations.  Since I kind of obsess more than I probably should about travel planning, I can see myself becoming one of those with unrealistic expectations...getting frustrated waiting for emails, doing most of the price checking legwork on my own, etc.

I think I'm going to book with RC for now and then transfer my booking within the 60 day transfer window.  Some of the big internet vendors who offer the best perks have a limit on the number of price adjustments you can make before they start charging a small fee, so maybe I'll get lucky and get a drop or two before my time runs out.  For me, I just don't think I'd get the $200+ value (in OBC/perks) out of working with a TA.  While they are working through any surprise issues, I'd probably still be stressing about the outcome.  And I would hate going to guest services for help with something and having them tell me I have to work through my TA while I'm on a ship with limited connectivity.

Thanks for everyone's opinion on this!  I really wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be walking around with a big flashing DUMMY sign for not booking through a TA.  It sounds like they are a great fit for some folks, and maybe less so for others.  I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon ?

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