Fluid pricing…what does this mean to your cruise?

It’s always a topic that I discuss with my customers on a daily basis. Fluid pricing creates lots of questions, sometimes very happy customers and other times not so happy customers. You may be thinking what does fluid pricing really mean to my cruise quote or booking?

Well in a nutshell fluid pricing means that the price of the cruise you have been quoted or the price of the cruise you have booked can change afterwards. The price can increase as the cruise lines see the cabins are selling well or the opposite can happen and they can decrease as the cruise lines try to sell more cabins on a particular ship or itinerary.

On a daily basis, I have customers who come back to book with me after I have given them a quote a few days ago and the price has changed, usually seeing an increase. Whenever you receive a quote for your cruise remember that the quote is valid at the time it is given but a day or a week later the chances are it will have changed. Sometimes we are able to hold cabins for 24 or maybe 48 hours and this will, in turn, guarantee the price you have been quoted won’t change. Once your cruise option expires we then recheck the cruise and the prices and re-quote.

It’s always a difficult question when I’m asked do you think this cruise will go down in price, shall I hang on? It’s a question I honestly don’t know the answer to, as much as I wish I did! Only last week myself and my sister were looking at holidays for the summer, we saw a great deal with free child places something you never see in August and because we couldn’t decide on the hotel we said we would sleep on it. I woke up with a decision, feeling excited to book and yes you guessed it the free places had gone and the price was up around £500! You would think after all these years in travel, both of us would have known that by waiting we risked the chance of losing the offer but we didn’t react quick enough. We have since booked our holiday all be it with a discount but not as good as the original quote we had seen. The message I’m really trying to get across is that if you see a good deal then don’t wait book it!

Of course, once you have booked your cruise the price you have booked at is the price you will pay. This works great when you book a great cruise deal and then a few months later the price has increased or the cruise line have removed the drinks package that you received with your booking. There is no better feeling than having the fact that you got an amazing deal reconfirmed.

It’s a chance you take that when you book your cruise if you continue to check the price you may be pleased when it goes up, however you may also be displeased if the price drops. If the price of your cruise does increase, of course the cruise line don’t come back to you to ask for the extra, this works both ways so if the price drops and you call asking for the lower price this is not an option. This sometimes causes upset especially if your cruise has dropped considerably in price however the cruise lines will not do anything about it unfortunately.

I think the important things to bear in mind is that when you make your cruise booking you are happy with the price otherwise you wouldn’t be booking and also to remember that if you decide not to book the cruise you want and to wait for a better deal it may be that the price goes up and you lose the deal or the cruise sells out and you miss out.

Now I have booked our summer holiday I won’t be checking the prices again. We were happy with the price we booked at and so there is no need to keep checking for us.

Have you had any experience of this when you have been looking to book your cruise or when you have booked your cruise? As always I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading, until next time Abbi x