Group Booking on Golden Princess

Hi Folks

I have a group booking code organized for Golden Princess Voyage 5710 (April 2017)which is a 14 day cruise ex Melbourne Australia to the south pacific

The group consists of approx 10 couples (friends)

Now what concerns me is the "brochure price" of this cruise which is approx $1000 per person more expensive than a similar cruise that I will be on early in March 2016 .

Whilst the cruise planner (from Princess) says if the fare's drop between now and the due date for final payment she will be able to re-fare the bookings

The deal is that we get an amount equal to one fare in a cheque after final payment and $85-00 per person OBC if we divide the cheque up between the group it works out to approx a $250 per person discount on the cruise price.

Now the question

Should we book this now .. or would it be better to hold on and see if Princess drop the "brochure price" between now and 2017

Is the group discount good enough?? one "free" fare split between 20 persons IE approx $250 each does not seem much of a deal to me :p

Also there is a similar trip ex Sydney on Explorer of the Seas which is offering Balcony Guarantee for $1796 for a 13 night cruise to the same area , when I factor in return air to Sydney this comes in about $1000 per person less than the Golden Princess fares ..

I'm rather reluctant to commit to the Golden Princess at this time even though the ship and the departure port better fit what we THINK we want from our cruise.

What do you think??

Regards

John

Book now. You lock in the rate. If it goes down before final payment you get the lower price. If it goes up, you just smile.

Now you get better choice of cabins. If you wait, you will likely get cabins all over the ship

I would go Princess, IMO it is a better product than RCI, the expenses on board will be in AUD while RCI will be in USD and as the cruise is in 2017 our AUD may (predicted) be a lot lower than now.:D

I am usually hesitant to wait for just us to book.

I would rather book and lock in.

With 10 couples there is no way I would wait. Princess sells out cruises quite often. I would not take the chance. ;)

Book now so you get the cabins, and the dining options, you want.

Agreed, book now and if in USD pay in full now as well.:D