MrsMJ and I are taking a cruise next month. The thing is…we have not booked it yet. We usually take the same week in August off each year, and book a cruise for the week following a meeting she attends in Florida each year. Most years, we book well in advance, but this year is different. First, we haven’t had the luxury of knowing we would actually be able to pull this off (still aren’t totally sure). Second, without fail, for each year we’ve done this, prices have dropped in the days and weeks just before the cruise. We haven’t always had the luxury of being flexible, so we booked what we booked and dealt with it. This time, things are different. We live within driving distance of the port (I can drive down to join her, saving airfare), and if we happen to not make the cruise this year, there will be others. This flexibility and open-mindedness about the cruise enables us to capitalize on attractive pricing. I’ve been “stalking” the particular itinerary we want for weeks, and pricing has been static. Yesterday, it started to creep…down, and now I bring in my secret weapon – CruiseFish.net.
CruiseFish.net allows you to set up pricing alerts for itineraries you are interested in, and receive an alert via email when the price of a cruise drops below a certain point that you choose. The service isn’t free, but it is reasonable, and worth the effort to me. You can buy credits, with each credit being worth one price alert. I bought a package of 5 alerts for $4.95. You can review all pricing options here. Once you are set with credits, you can begin setting up your pricing alerts which is pretty straight forward.
Clicking on “Finder” will take you to a list of cruise lines. Clicking on the cruise line of choice will offer a list of ships, and then you can get specific with the sail date you want.
Your next choice will be a selection of cabin types. For this short cruise, I prefer the cheapest accommodations available, which are typically inside cabins.
Clicking on the green price (279) takes me to the next screen where I can set up my alert. In my case, I want an alert if the price drops under $250 per person.
After entering the information, click save. When you do that, the cabin category you’ve set the alert for turns pink.
Now, you wait, and hope for the best possible result. 🙂 Some travel agents are very good about doing price checks for you, and some aren’t. If you have one that routinely monitors pricing, that’s great. But I think this is a good insurance policy for achieving the best possible price for your cruise. Happy sailing!
-MJ, July 16, 2014
Just want to add that when I did last year’s Alaska cruise, I tried a few different site to track cruise prices.
http://www.cruiseline.com
* Free service
* Subscribe email alert only track category level (Balcony, Ocean, Inside, Suite),
but cannot track sub-category type ( Front, middle, etc)
* No price history
http://www.cruisecritic.com
* Free services
* only shows price drop, but create email alert to track price, only track category level, not sub-category level
* No price history
CruiseFish.Net
* Paid service
* Show price history
* can track cabin category and cabin code (front ship, middle ship, etc)
http://www.cruise-price.com
* Free service
* Show price history
* Can select a cruise iterate and then track the exact category and cabin type you like
The vacationstogo.com search engine is also pretty good for comparing rates across different lines & super category cabin classes going to/departing from the same place. Too bad they don’t offer easy click through to book as you still have to call!
I’ve used CruiseFish before, but since I always book a single occupancy cabin, it’s rather useless to me. It also only works with a limited number, albeit the most popular in the USA, cruise lines. I’ve yet to find an honest travel agent who will in fact proactively search for lower fares between the initial downpayment and final payment as 1) they don’t want to give up any amount of their commission and/or 2) they’re lazy.
Nice post. I spend a lot of time looking at cruise pricing and the best OTA prices I normally see are through cruise.com which is a small agency but they always seem to beat others (most of the time) by a few bucks plus some extras. I’ll use the Cruisefish.net site for sure. Thanks!
@Sam – My first Trans-Atlantic is booked for next year, but on RCL, not Cunard. A crossing on the QMII is on my cruising bucket list. I’d say do a little research around the Cruise Critic boards to see what you can glean from those with more experience sailing Cunard. A good travel agent you can trust can be worth the effort too.
@Ang – I’ve been in withdrawal and let’s face it, March wasn’t that long ago! 🙂 I’m ready to chill for a few days!
@Jeremy – I will check out Skyauction.com. Had not heard of that site.
@Mike – I’ve heard of cruisecompete.com, but not tried them. I read somewhere recently that NCL is not doing business with them? But I don’t think that has spread to other lines. I need to bite the bullet and give them a try.
I’ve really had great luck with CruiseCompete in drastically bringing down my cruise prices. Many TAs offer good OBC which is nice but one agency has managed to really underbid the others the last 2 times I’ve used it. Our family leaves on a price Alaska trip next month & with 2 balconys & an inside room we saved over $1200 off of the quoted price from Holland America. I have no affiliation with them other than a happy customer, just wanted to pass this along.
Another site you want to look on is Skyauction.com – I’ve been on close to 30 cruises and have gotten some phenomenal deals from them – You need to make sure you take into account all of the surcharges – Also – look at cruisecompete.com where the travel agencies will bid for your business…
Great post MJ!!! I am going through cruise withdrawal. Ever since I’ve discovered miles/hotel points, I’ve been taking more land vacations than cruises. =( Not necessarily a bad thing, but I miss the sea days where I can wake up at noon and not have to worry about a thing. Anyway, back to cruisefish, I find that some of the prices that I’ve tracked in the past aren’t entirely accurate. It’s a good site to have bookmarked though. I use it often. I hope you get to go on your cruise!
MJ,
I have been following you on the board for some time, I really like your post.
Since you also do the cruising thing I have a cruise question.
My 20th anniv is coming up in 2016 and I was thinking of the Cunard Trans Atlantic trip. I would most likey use points to fly to London, then take the ship over to NYC. Is this particular cruise a better deal if booked early, or later. Should I use a travel agent for it?
I have only been on 2 cruises (4 day RC and a Disney). So I am not really sure I have the chops to get the best deal.
Thanks in advance!
Sam