Disney Site Trickery?

[ChicosWife]

Before I logged in, I was on the DCL site to see if there were cheaper cruises, than the one we have booked (in the hopes, maybe we can change dates and go a little sooner). I saw the same cruise, a week before mine (same boat and itinerary) that was about $200 cheaper. I logged in to check the prices on my reservation to make sure it was cheaper, then went back to the "find a cruise" search and did another search. Sure enough, the earlier cruise was suddenly more expensive than mine!!! Is there something programmed on the site to change the prices, after you log in, so that you don't get a cheaper deal? Really weird....

 

[smootenloopers]

Prices can change at any time based on bookings within each category and of the ship overall. It's not a trick. It is very common in the travel industry...airlines, hotels, etc., to fluctuate the prices based on occupancy changes.

 

[Crystal O_o]

I think I know why. When you are looking at a cruise and you are in that window it will hold it for 30 min. Or, someone grabbed that one. You know, if you already have one booked you can go into your reservation and switch it that way by clicking modify reservation.

 

[ChicosWife]

The only problem with this is that I was looking at the same room type, dates, boat, etc. How can that price change in a matter of seconds, but the price for my cruise, which was reserved months ago, remain the same?

 

[JimmyV]

Yes, it is definitely possible that logging in is what caused the price to change. Did you log out and then check again? Or check on a different computer? Cruise lines often price cruises differently based on region. People in California may see a different price than people in Minnesota. Once you log in, the system knows who you are and where you live, and those two things can change the price. I have been on the phone with others people and we were both looking at our computer screens at the same time, and we were seeing different prices.

 

[Mommytok]

Not sure about DCL but, I was recently trying to book a flight through Travelocity. I kept switching times back and forth and then the price went up like $40. I had my friend check while we were on the phone and her price did not go up it was $40 cheaper than mine. I cleared my cookies and my price went back to the original price. I think they know we are looking and have the ability to change the price.

 

[Crystal O_o]

The only problem with this is that I was looking at the same room type, dates, boat, etc. How can that price change in a matter of seconds, but the price for my cruise, which was reserved months ago, remain the same?

Because you have rates that you booked at not the current one.

 

[bumbershoot]

~$200 difference....did you click on getting insurance for one of them but not the other?

 

[hubbard53]

It's called 'dynamic pricing' or more eloquently, "price optimization" - it's a boon for online retailers and a blight for consumers. I noticed this at work during the holiday shopping when the price if a Hotwheel race track my son wanted just kept going up in price seemingly each time my webpage refreshed. Amazon is one of the heaviest users of dynamic pricing.

This is why when shopping for airfare or hotels, it seems that no matter what site you go to, the price is always the same.

I'm not sure if DCL uses it or not b/c when I shop for cruises, I check the price online and then call either Dreams Unlimited or Costco - they always offer the exact same price I get online.

 

[Mrs Green]

My husband is a director of revenue and works for a large hotel brand. He can change the price of a room any time. He can make rooms available through third party sites anytime desired. There is no technology they use at his hotel/brand to change prices just because one person is looking at the website or to change the price for people from mn vs California. I am not sure what types of technology dcl employs but prices can change for any or all room types, cruise weeks, etc as they desire.

 

[ChicosWife]

Yes, it is definitely possible that logging in is what caused the price to change. Did you log out and then check again? Or check on a different computer? Cruise lines often price cruises differently based on region. People in California may see a different price than people in Minnesota. Once you log in, the system knows who you are and where you live, and those two things can change the price. I have been on the phone with others people and we were both looking at our computer screens at the same time, and we were seeing different prices.

That's crazy!!!

 

[ChicosWife]

~$200 difference....did you click on getting insurance for one of them but not the other?

No, I didn't get that far yet.

 

[JimmyV]

There is no technology they use at his hotel/brand to change prices just because one person is looking at the website or to change the price for people from mn vs California.

I'm not aware of hotels building in regional price variations. But it absolutely is done for cruises. Spend enough time over at Cruise Critic and you will see it referenced over and over again.

Here is a decent article on the complexities of cruise pricing.
http://www.veritecsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Cruise-Industry-Pricing-Chapter.pdf

And here is an excerpt from the article:

Migrating from the “one size fits all” strategy of having a single airfare add-on to a fully customized product where the airfare depends on the passenger’s origin and travel dates allowed cruise lines to dramatically refine their pricing tactics. Promotional fares could now be directed at individual gateway cities or groups of cities without disrupting the integrity of the cruise line’s pricing strategy.7 For those cruise lines offering a Lowest Price Guarantee, this was especially valuable.

And here is an example of a thread on CC that discusses the issue. These types of threads are very common:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1195405

 

[funfam]

I always search pricing on a private window on my browser.

 

[Bella29]

Funfam beat me to it - use a private browser window and search again. In Firefox it's CTRL-Shift-P to open a new private window.

 

[mmouse37]

I have had it happen with airline prices....see one price go back and the price is immediately higher. I clear the cookies and try again and most of the time the price goes back to what it was.

MJ

 

[ChicosWife]

I tried it again today (On Google Chrome's Incognito) and it is not showing the cheaper cruise. Maybe I was looking at a 3-night instead of a 4-night? Who knows. I still think that the prices changed though!