How much did you pay?

We all know the cruising industry is a cutthroat market and all cruise lines are wanting you to sail with them instead of a competitor. Fares rise up and down and fluid pricing means that all year there will always be price changes. Some for the good and some for the worse. This can’t be helped and will always be the same. Lots of factors, supply and demand, the cost of fuel etc. A lot of things can influence the cost. Promotions change, one week you get free drinks, another it’s free parking and so on.

Now, I always find that i go on a cruise and I could be just sitting there minding my own business having a drink and it’s always the topic of conversation. “How much did you pay?” You can’t help but overhear those on the table next to you nattering away at their bargain and how it just must have been by far the best deal anyone could have got.

I hear these conversations, which I don’t get involved with. I’m of the opinion if it was a good deal at the time you booked and you were happy with the price then it was a good deal. However, you always get that one person, having met a stranger on board and once that topic of conversation comes up it’s almost a competition to see who paid the less and had the best deal.

I’m a travel agent, I see these fares everyday. I see the prices go up I see the prices come down and sometimes when I’m on a cruise I listen to these people and I think to myself there is no way you paid that, I’ve kept an eye on the prices myself, I’ve been selling them.  I think people just say it to antagonise and wind fellow passengers up. I see people trudging off and mumbling under their breath I’ll have a word with my travel agent when I get home because we paid a lot more than that. I then think to myself, that poor agent is in for an ear bashing when these customers get home.

I think you need to take it all with a pinch of salt. The bottom line is a good deal is a good deal if you were happy at the time of booking. Don’t worry what anyone else has paid. We all have different budgets and and what is cheap to me may not be cheap to anyone else. Next time you’re on a cruise and your at a table in a bar I bet you’ll now listen out for that topic of conversation that always seems to come up. “How much did you pay?”