What This Means
The best sailing is still respectable on paper: Ovation of the Seas, 7 Night Southbound Alaska & Hubbard Glacier, departing Seward on 2026-08-28. But that is the exception, not the rule. The rest of the tier is mostly short Mexico and Caribbean inventory, including a 4 Night Ensenada sailing on Quantum of the Seas and a few 7 Night Mexico sailings on Serenade of the Seas.
The issue is not that the tier is unusable. The issue is that it is too small to be a dependable planning tier, and it lacks the free play structure that makes the higher bands more compelling.
The average top score for the tier is 103.2, which trails the stronger tiers by a wide margin. That gap is visible in the itinerary mix as well. The tier is mostly interior GTY inventory, with no cabin flexibility and very little region diversity.
If you are looking for the first usable entry point, 400 points is now available. But if you are looking for value, this is not where the certificate starts to work well. The better read is to treat 400 points as access, not as a target.