Balcony rooms (need info on prices)...

Author Message   Edwin B McConville Senior Member Username: Perkyva1 Post Number: 738 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 - 05:46 pm:    Anyone going on the Island Princess 13 Apr out of FLL to the Panama Canal & other close ports for 10 days returning to FLL? Cabin A325 with balcony!!   David Intermediate Member Username: Reverie4401 Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2008 Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 09:42 pm:    Larry, This is Micky writing now! Phyllis is absolutely right. When we book directly with Royal Caribbean we control the reservation and call them directly to take advantage of any price drops and choose our room location. David and I were both composing response simulaneously! The balcony guarantee has been $649/pp off and on for 3 days: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/search/vacationSearchResult.do;jsessionid=00007J20ANqzotnmTEufa7B925B:12h3g0fq2?qvsHome=yes&cS=QVS&date=ANY&de st=ANY&port=ANY&ship=ID&cruiseTourOnly=false&btn_findcruises.x=48&btn_findcruise s.y=6 David says it will cost less than staying at home! The biggest booking problem on these kind of cruises is the cost of 1-way air-fare [most people don't know about kayak.com, etc]. Space-A solves that! We'd love to have others join us on the Independence and as we make our way to Mildenhall! Last May after the Navigator transatlantic we flew home from Rota. It works really well and you don't pay luggage overages, just the annoyance of bag-dragging, lol. Join us onboard! Micky   David Intermediate Member Username: Reverie4401 Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2008 Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 09:14 pm:    We also cruise on Royal Caribbean and are in a balcony for our April 12 transatlantic. We monitor rates daily, and as Phylis pointed out, we ask for a reduction each time the rate drops. We have had three price drops so far and we booked in December. Sometimes, a balcony guaranty gives you the best price. However, on most RCL ships there are two sizes of balconies and if you want a larger one you will pay a premium and not likely get one using a guaranty. "Vacation to Go" puts out a weekly E-mail that summarizes trends in the cruise business and has weekly "deals." This gives you an idea of price trends special promotions and prices for typical cruises. Their web site is a good place to start for comparison pricing. Also, make sure you note military, senior (age>55), and place of residence when pricing a cruise. That makes a difference, too. We got a great price on our cruise because we live in SC. We generally use the cruise line reservation's desk as they honor price drops. Repositioning and Transatlantics are the best deals generally. Prices generally drop around full payment date or slightly after as large cruise agencies hold inventory and turn it back to the cruise lines. That assumes the cruise is not fully booked. Good luck and we hope to see you on board. Using SpaceA makes the transatlantics great as you do not have the worry about airfare, particularly for east bound voyages. David   Phyllis DeLancey Senior Member Username: Phyllis Post Number: 1854 Registered: 06-2003 Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - 04:38 pm:    Larry, go to the web site of the cruise line you are using. Just start out each time as a new cruise and see what happens. We are leaving April 19th out of Galveston on Royal Caribbean, in the last two week the price as dropped $100 per person for our room, I just call them and say "I see the price has dropped and I want the new price." I am very sweet when I say it, and each time they say OK, Iwill send you a new e mail, with the new price. We still have the OBC, a better room and a cheaper price than we first booked.   Lee Russler Member Username: Lrusslerjr Post Number: 38 Registered: 11-2007 Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2009 - 11:10 am:    Larry - you can also use CruiseHotSheet.com as a source for balcony information on cruises. They rank each cruise on cost per day. On the side column on their website, it says they use VacationsToGo as their source. It seems to me, the majority of cheap fares are repositioning or across ocean trips. When you include taxes, fuel charges, thru fares(such as Panama Canal) and tips, etc - It can get expensive.   John R Garrison Senior Member Username: Majorg Post Number: 1024 Registered: 02-2006 Posted on Thursday, February 05, 2009 - 12:07 am:    Larry: Depends on where and with whom you want to cruise. www.vacationstogo.com is my starting point. I sign in, then look under the 90 day specials, then military fares, over55, and past travelers sections. Then compare best prices with other travel sites (USAA.com to name one). Happy travels, John   Larry Campbell Senior Member Username: Czeezo Post Number: 807 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 - 11:55 pm:    How do I get the best prices on balcony rooms.