Q – We just returned from a cruise on Crystal to the Baltic and loved the experience. We’re already signed up for another trip next year. But being retired, we can cruise on short notice. We’ve read what you’ve recommended about the benefits of being among the first 20% to book. But now, we’re wondering about being in the last 20% to book. Are there any truly great deals on for those of us who can travel in the next several months on the world’s top-rated lines?
A – Up until very recently, the answer would have been no. But your question is timed well since we are just starting to see the advent of a new phenon we call “Miraculous Cruise Pricing”. As we’ve indicated, the southern Mediterranean is extremely weak this year. At last count, fourteen US cruise ships will be pulled from European waters next year. Many of the sailings of the very top lines are currently at or near 50% occupancy.
This has created a new pricing model that is resulting in pricing that goes way below the former “two-for-one” discounts. We seen non-published pricing on a dozen upcoming sailings that are so low that we can’t name the cruise line or put the pricing in print. But we can say this:
01 – The fares on available on some of the world’s top-rated inclusive cruise lines.
02 – Air is not included and Miraculous Pricing may not be combined with any previous discounts.
03 – Guests currently booked are not eligible. The cruise line will not allow “re-bookings”.
These “secret” fares were designed to enable in-house commission sales reps to have something they could use to close the sale for those looking for a true last-minute deal. The fares are so secretive that they are normally given code words within the reservation department. Since callers will not know the coded fare name, sales reps will try to sell them at the higher price. The Miraculous Pricing Fares are normally shared with a handful of the cruise line’s top-producers but most travel agents will never hear about them. Discretion is important since the better cruise lines want to avoid the perception that they are doing last-minute discounting. This could seriously alienate their loyal, booked guests and their agents.
In summary, what is new is that some of the five-star cruise lines are now so desperate to fill their small ships, that they are providing a limited number of in-house sales staff and agents with secret and rather miraculous last-minute pricing. But, again, you have to know the code to ask for the correct fare.
