What drives cruise rates up ?

There are many sources that drive cruise rates up ?

·         The more folks book on a specific date, it drives the rates up.  As soon as a certain number of cabins are sold, like airline tickets, then rates are subject to climb.

·         If the cruise is only seasonal, such as Alaska, which is May through September, this will drive rates up.  Some dates will be soft (stay low), yet other dates will begin climbing quickly.

·         If there is only one or 2 or 4 sailings the whole year, with a specific itinerary, this too will drive rates up !  And also cause the sailing to sell out quickly.  FYI, October 23, 2015 on the Carnival Splendor is sold out, at the cruise line, on balconies already.  I have 20 balconies available !

·         Believe it or not, just going online and looking at the rates over and over, yet not ready to buy, will drive rates up.  The computer thinks someone is interested in the date.  So folks just looking or waiting to buy, are driving their own rates up !

·       And folks who are hoping rates will go down, and continue to look at their sailing over and over, again, makes the computer think someone is interested in this date.  So again, this can hurt rates from coming down.

 

The name of the game is not look at rates till you are ready to buy.  And once you look rates, call your agent & buy immediately.  Then don’t look at rates every day to see if they have gone down.