It is probably only a matter of time before price protection makes its way across the great pond.

Judging by the poor increase in 2000 of cruise bookings (a paltry 1%), it is obvious
that some modifications will have to occur.

I often look at P&O cruises... and then get turned off the the outlandish rates....then I book something else. Now I notice that a particular cruise I was interested in has been reduced by 40%. Although..way too late.. for I have booked and paid for another.

Sooner or later.. something will give.

My inlaws, who are British, used to always get better deals on the QE2 than we could get here. I believe that has now changed, perhaps because Cunard is now owned by Carnival. However, i did hear that Cunard offered a Capetown South Africa cruise last year at only about 1,000 pounds sterling, which sounded like a super deal to me.

A few years back I saw a great discount on the Internet, offered on all NCL Cruises , if you booked early. When I phoned the UK NCL office, they told me that they knew of no such offer. Later they called me back and said that they had found the offer and it only applied to Americans!

Everything is expensive in Britain and Europe, including cruises. Yet on average, we earn less!

Obviously if I was an agent making 10 - 15% on a cruise it would NOT be in my best interest to switch a client to a lower fare and therefore make a lower commission.

As far as I know the lines that DO protect an agents commission (at least in North America) are Cunard/ Seabourn/ HAL and Princess...most others will let you take the lower fare - but they pay your agent less money.

So you need to work w/ your agent and insure that when you book a cruise BOTH of your best interests are at heart...of course the MOST important thing is that the cruise is the right Line for YOU - then the money comes into consideration for you both.

As for the pricing - well yes it can vary from continent to continent...it all depends on what the market is willing to support and makes sense for the cruise line to sell it it (after taking in the cost of air subsidies, hotels etc.)...some cruises fill well from specific regions; thus, the cruise line will not discount from that region. Is it fair? maybe not - but at the end of the day we speak from our pocketbooks and if we will pay $XX,XXX for a cruise - why should the line sell it at $X,XXX.

Hope this answers some questions - fair? Maybe not - but that appears to be the way it is.

quote:

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Originally posted by Jekyll:
You really need to have your agent check out the price protection policy of each cruise line before you book...

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We don't have this in the UK! You simply get the price at the time you pay!

We have 'middle men'/Tour Operators, e.g. Sunquest, who would/could not, as far as I understand, arrange individual bookings directly with a Cruise Line. That said, the 'middle man' may have contracted with a Cruise Line(s) for a certain number of cabins on certain ship(s) for the itinerary(s) of the season - summer, winter or whatever. Too, 'middle men'/Tour Operators, frequently use Charter carriers instead of scheduled service - and that affects the bottom line.

Just for the hell of it a few weeks back, I had a friend contact Princess Tours in Seattle, the sales agent for P&O in the States. She enquired about the availability of segments on the recent world cruise and was advised that Princess Tours only handled bookings for the entire cruise, all other requests were to be directed to P&O directly.

I personally have always felt that US residents receive much better deals than we do Canadians. Rates are always quoted in USD and, it seems, converted to Canadian Funds at the highest possible rate. If we choose to travel on a British ship, rates are quoted in UK£ - and again we're stuck with a converted rate - big bucks for us these days.

You'll be happy to know that in Canada Cunard/ Seabourn offer Canadian dollar pricing at 1.47 (fixed) rate of exchange. With Seabourn being virtually all inclusive as of May and the FREE air promos they have - they are a heck of a value for Europe this summer!

Of course you can also have your travel agent book w/ the Tour Operator - Encore Cruises who offer 11 cruise lines at very reasonable rates of exchange.

Additionally as they are on line w/ most of the cruise lines they represent - they can give you confirmation of your booking, including air carriers (they do most of their own air using combinations of charters and sched carriers) - at the time of booking.

Hope this information helps!

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Originally posted by Jekyll:
Maybe you do have it in the UK - you just mentionned on another post that QE2 was being discounted -

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Discounted for new bookings, not existing ones!

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Originally posted by Malcolm:
Discounted for new bookings, not existing ones!

Joe has told me that some Brits have booked cruises via Travelpage.

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Malcolme,

Do you know if they got a better deal than those we can get from the UK tour operators?
Is their price protected?

Kimberley

quote:

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Originally posted by Malcolm:
Hang on..so if you book a cruise in the USA, and the price later drops, you get the lower price? Wow!

Does this apply to Baked Beans etc. If you buy them one week, the prices drops the next, do you get a refund?

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Not on grocery items, but usually for appliances, mattresses, electronics, clothing, etc if the price drops within one week of purchase, you definitely get a refund of the difference. Some electronics (t.v.'s, vcr's, stereos, etc) businesses guarantee that if you buy an item and find the exact item within 30 days for less, they will refund the difference, plus add 10 percent or so.

People from all over the world have booked cruises through TravelPage.com and they do get the same protection against lower prices. They usually pay via credit card and the exchange rate is determined by the date of the transaction.

I don't know how you survive.
Bill

quote:

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Originally posted by WJCdiver:
My experience in the UK is that you pay the same price as I do in NY except that you pay in pounds and I pay in dollars. I don't know how you survive.

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In other words the NY meal cost $50 in the UK it costs $70!!! We also earn less and our cars and property cost more to buy!

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NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE OFFERS GREAT DEALS DURING ANNUAL SPECIAL "SALE OF ALL SAILS"

~ Two-category upgrades offered until March 31 for Each Ship, Every Itinerary, All Year ~

There is a plus for you Brits - shipboard accounts are in US$ - you've got a great exchange rate - £50.00 = US$72.00 compared to our CAD$50.00 = US$32.00

Cheers....