I recall the shock I had in January when I booked this cruise and saw the prices. Almost brochure rate. And so I went with a standard outside cabin as opposed to my usual balcony.

Fast forward to today and because of cancellations and perhaps other factors, I was able to upgrade to an E1 balcony cabin for $120 total. The same cabin was almost $1000 extra a few weeks ago. It still isn't an inexpensive cruise, but at least I feel I am getting more for my money now!

That's great, maybe we should consider booking.

Go for it! You can join me, Lil' Lori, and around 4000 other guests for an extra-large time!

Hot Dog!!! http://cruise-chat.com/groupee_commo...on_biggrin.gif http://cruise-chat.com/groupee_commo...on_biggrin.gif http://images7.fotki.com/v142/photos...33/lol2-vi.gif I called RCCL, we are booked in the cheapest inside cabin (cat. L) for the maiden voyage. My husband and I are taking our son, so 3 of us in a cabin. I called and asked if the price had gone down. My mouth dropped when he said I was getting a credit card credit of $760, and that he had just put out an email confirming it. Happy Dance http://images7.fotki.com/v142/photos...33/lol2-vi.gif Boy, was I tempted to use that money to upgrade to a higher category. But,,,, we have a 19 day trip the end of july to Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu, and I really can use that extra money. That is soooo awesome. Thanks Dave for getting the word out. http://images7.fotki.com/v157/photos...xthumbs-vi.gif Before we set sail, we'll have to plan a meeting place for a celebratory drink. Thanks again, Lil' Lori http://images8.fotki.com/v154/photos...33/wave-vi.gif See ya soon!!

Do you know if the price drop is just on the Inaugural cruise or all Freedom cruises? I am booked on the Freedom for Thanksgiving Week (Nov. 19-26). Thanks!

Lil' Lori,

You are most welcome! I guess a lot of group space had been reserved by agencies who couldn't sell it by the final payment date. So they either had to return it to inventory or eat the costs. I don't think RCCL was planning on so many cabins being dumped and they had little choice but to drop prices in order to fill the ship up (again).

dale88fan,

Price drops are generally cruise-specific based on how well a particular sailing is selling. So the answer to your question is that this price drop is for the inaugural sailing only. BTW - I like Dale Jarrett too. In fact, I met his dad on our first cruise back in 1992. It was the Richard Petty farewell tour cruise. We had the whole Petty family and Ned along for the week. Really cool. They were all genuinely nice people.

Dave56

Thanks for the Freedom ship info. That figures that my trip isn’t discounted too! Oh well I’m going anyway (and honestly I can’t wait!!). So you’ll have to make sure you let us all know all about the Freedom when you get back from the big inaugural trip!

How cool you got to meet the Petty family and Ned Jarrett too! I did get to meet my man...Dale, once too! He too was a genuinely nice/warm person, and it was a big thrill for me to shake his hand.

Thanks Dave!

dale88fan,

Just because your cruise has no price changes at present doesn't mean it won't happen as the cruise time gets closer. If your agent is a good one, they will monitor it and make sure you get any price reductions.

Great news, Dave and Lori. I'm sure you'll enjoy the cruise a lot more now!

Hi Lisa,

Yes, I was quite happy about the price drop. I definitely feel better about the cruise cost now as opposed to two months ago. I've gotta have a balcony!