NCL are a good example. They price their cruises ‘from’ and ‘to’. A ‘G’ grade cabin on a 2 week Mediterranean cruise in August 2008 costs from £1499 to £2279 per person (brochure fares).

Now they are currently offering free upgrades, but within the category, so if you book the lowest oceanview (G), you get the highest grade of oceanview (CC) - 4 grades higher. (You don’t get upgraded from inside to oceanview or oceanview to balcony etc.) This represents a brochure saving of £180 or £260, depending if you pay the ‘from’ or ‘to’ price.

If you phone NCL up, they tell you the current price is actually £1599 for a ‘G’ (£100 pp, more than the brochure ‘from’ price, for that grade) but you can have a CC grade (still an ocean view of course) saving £80pp on the CC grades ‘from’ price.

Over complex? A good deal? Over to you!

[ 08-21-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

I was certainly glad of assistance from several quarters: first, from Pam here who answered several emails form me (the first one being pretty much out of the blue from me to her), and subsequently (when I came to actually make a booking), from an on-line TA.

I suppose the complexity is all about maximising revenue....

[ 08-21-2007: Message edited by: Tom Burke ]

I don't know what ship you are looking at, but what's the difference between the highest and lowest category oceanview? One deck, two decks? Fwd, mid, aft & stern? Lump them into 2 and be done with it.

I appreciate some prefer being midships to fwd/aft, others prefer to be near an elevator & others don't etc, but quite why there needs to be a price differential, sometimes of a mere £20 - £50 or so, beats me, when some of the different cabin categories are obviously adjoining one another anyway.

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Originally posted by PamM:
I don't know what ship you are looking at..

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Pam, my example is based on 'Norwegian Jade' fares for August 2008. I certainly agree about your 'Catergory Overload' point. NCL ships have around 24 different grades, many of which are similar if not exactly the same.

Personally being upgraded from the lowerst grade of Inside to the highest grade inside, or lowest ocean view to the highest, is not a big incentive for me.

Coming back to NCL' brochure, imagine going into a shop and asking how much is that toaster for sale and the sales person says its from £15 to £23! Alternatively one pays for 'The Sun' in a newsagents, but gets a free upgrade to 'The DailyMirror'.

[ 08-21-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

One TA down here who specialises in cruises has a simple system thats makes booking a bit easier,especially for first time cruisers....
they call it..

SIMPLISTIC PRICING

Due to the many categories cruise lines have on offer on each ship, and to make
choosing your cruise as easy as possible we have based our fares on an inside, outside,
balcony & suite accommodation where applicable.
Please re-confirm your fares & cabin category at time of booking as fares can change
at any time.
Inside NZ$1820
Oceanview NZ$2786
Balcony NZ$3232

The above based on a Sun Princess cruise
!0 night cruise Syd rt.

[ 08-21-2007: Message edited by: bmajor ]

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Originally posted by Matts:
Personally I could live with Inside, Outside, Balcony and Suite with a deckplan!

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Matts don't forget that the QM2 introduced a whole new intermediate grade of cabin, the 'Hull Hole' balconly.

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Yes, there are lots of nuances on every cruise line within the basic cabin types. "Outside" can be obstructed-view or unobstructed, porthole or picture window. RCI has the artrium-view cabins which are technically inside cabins. Balconies with solid bulwarks or railings. And on and on...

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Matts don't forget that the QM2 introduced a whole new intermediate grade of cabin, the 'Hull Hole' balconly.

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Originally posted by timb:

Actually that honor belongs to the disney twins

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Originally posted by timb:
Actually that honor belongs to the disney twins

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Oh, I though the ‘Hull-Holes’ were an original design to protect the QM2’s low balconies from the rigours of the North Atlantic, thus few other ships would need them.

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
What do people mean by 'hull hole balcony'?

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Tom, balconies low down on the hull of the QM2 are protected from the sea, somewhat. It's as if the balconly had a picture window, but without the glass - See Here The balconies higher up are normal.

The hull-holes are fine for viewing the scenary, but not so good for sunbathing, as the hull-hole itself is high-ish and would stop some of the sun. If you use them for dining you might struggle to see over the lip of the 'hole'.

[ 08-22-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
Aren't they (hull-hole balconies) the same as what's on Oriana, Galaxy & a lot of other mid-90s ships? These are higher up, so I suppose strictly they're 'superstructure-hole' balconies, but they're certainly not exposed al la Grand Princess.

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Yes, they are similar to many balconies on earlier ships; the SUN PRINCESS Class also has them, with the solid bulwarks along the bottom, rising up on the sides, and even overhead. Even the first two VOYAGER-Class ships have partially closed-in balconies. The later ships in the Class have open railings, a more airy feeling to them.

I crossed once in QM2's hull hole balcony category--in the North Atlantic it did give more protection from spray, but it seemed a bit dark and gloomy. My other sailings on her were inside cabins, which were very dark!

20 years ago you had field boxes, suites upper deck and bletchers. Now you have prieium, supperior and luxury slapped in front for the same areas so you can pay more.

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Originally posted by PamM:
Disney have the Navigator's verandahs, but they are not in the hull. A number of ships have similar.

Pam

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