Earlier this week I predicted that once Carnival announced that it would be raising it's rates, the rest of the cruise lines would quickly play follow the leader. In this case being right is not the cheeriest news I can bring you.
On the one hand, I guess higher rates represent an improved economic picture, on the other hand, well - those were some hard-to-turn-down deals that kept popping up on my radar every week!
Today Norwegian Cruise Lines announced increases of up to 7% beginning on April 2nd. (Couldn't they wait until tax refunds are received?). So the message that's starting to pop like a cork out of a champagne bottle is that cruisers probably want to lock in that cruise they've been thinking about now, or they'll pay more for it in a few weeks. In fact, I'm expecting a trickle up effect - if it works for the mass market cruise lines, then we'll soon see the end of those lovely 2-for-1 fares, free air and high shipboard credits that the luxury lines have been touting for the last year or so. I will definitely miss THEM!
Bottom line is that to watch your bottom line, it's still best to book early - last minute deals seem to be heading out to sea!
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