Book Now or Onboard

[Irish Goofy]

Would you book Alaska Cruise for July 2014 now or would you get better deal by booking onboard the Fantasy in August.....

 

[Justacruiser]

Would you book Alaska Cruise for July 2014 now or would you get better deal by booking onboard the Fantasy in August.....

Book now and then look at the prices on board with 10% and OBC. You will be outside the final payment date so you can cancel if the offer is better on board. It is just that JUL should be a busy month.

 

[OKW Lover]

Book now and then look at the prices on board with 10% and OBC. You will be outside the final payment date so you can cancel if the offer is better on board. It is just that JUL should be a busy month.

Excellent advice. Disney increases the prices of their cabins as they sell so the price may have gone up by the time you do the Fantasy cruise. You've got nothing to lose (except for a little interest on your downpayment) by booking now and then "re-shopping" it on your Fantasy cruise.

 

[DillWaters]

Excellent advice. Disney increases the prices of their cabins as they sell so the price may have gone up by the time you do the Fantasy cruise. You've got nothing to lose (except for a little interest on your downpayment) by booking now and then "re-shopping" it on your Fantasy cruise.

Looking at pricing history on www.cruisefish.net, I can't find any cruises where Disney actually increased a price on a category. Is it more a case of the lower categories selling out, so you can't buy a, for example, 11C because they are sold out and are forced to pay for an 11A instead?

 

[papertraveller]

I'm no expert, but we booked a 2013 cruise on the Fantasy on the first day it became available in October, 2011. I re-shopped it onboard the Magic five months later, and even with the 10 per cent discount and the on-board credit, the price was still higher than I originally booked.

I'd book now, re-shop later.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Looking at pricing history on www.cruisefish.net, I can't find any cruises where Disney actually increased a price on a category. Is it more a case of the lower categories selling out, so you can't buy a, for example, 11C because they are sold out and are forced to pay for an 11A instead?

Our cat 5e on our 4/12/14 Fantasy sailing has already gone up about $110 since opening day (when we booked). I estimate the price went up within the last few weeks as I have been checking periodically. So basically within 30 days it's already increased.

I would book now and reshop later if needed, especially if you're considering a popular time, popular sailing, etc. Based on what I've read July for Alaska is a popular and more expensive time to travel.

Heather

 

[lanejudy]

Looking at pricing history on www.cruisefish.net, I can't find any cruises where Disney actually increased a price on a category. Is it more a case of the lower categories selling out, so you can't buy a, for example, 11C because they are sold out and are forced to pay for an 11A instead?

I'm not at all familiar with what cruisefish.net provides as far as pricing history, but absolutely yes DCL cruises do increase in price within a category! How much and how quickly they increase varies by cruise - it is tiered pricing and once a certain number of percentage of rooms are booked, the price increases to the next tier, and so on. If the cruise is not selling well, prices won't increase.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Looking at pricing history on www.cruisefish.net, I can't find any cruises where Disney actually increased a price on a category. Is it more a case of the lower categories selling out, so you can't buy a, for example, 11C because they are sold out and are forced to pay for an 11A instead?

Not sure what you are looking at but my cruise has gone up an average of $1,000 a cabin according to the same source.

 

[Justacruiser]

Looking at pricing history on www.cruisefish.net, I can't find any cruises where Disney actually increased a price on a category. Is it more a case of the lower categories selling out, so you can't buy a, for example, 11C because they are sold out and are forced to pay for an 11A instead?

It depends on the Sales. I have seen cruises in the off season start at a price and end at the same price. But, peak JULY and ALASKA, this cruise should fill up fairly quickly. Disney wants to maximize their profits. As the ship gets closer to filling up, they can increase prices, reducing but not eliminating demand.

This is a reason that DCL is now changing up their itineraries. It creates increased demand for those that want specific ports of call. Maximizing the sales for example 4 sailings to WDW from Galveston. They know they can't fill 20 different cruises to WDW, but they might max 4. Then they can opt to send the same boat to locations that might fill better.

Same with the San Juan sailing. Through a few cruises in there for destination cruises, giving a norrow amount of opportunites for us all to sail. Increases demand and keeps the prices higher.