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newish price assurance policy-- 120 days?


Doh15
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Am I reading the WS website correctly that last November they changed the price assurance policy from allowing pax to ask for a credit for price drops that occur up to 7 days before sailing, and now they only offer credits for price drops 120 days before sailing?

 

I know the prior policy was generous but it was one of the small things I liked about WS (even acknowledging that the actual benefit from the credit/guarantee might be more hypothetical than actual).

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Yes, you read it right. We were pretty shocked too and not feeling too great about booking for 2019. Seven days was probably too generous but 30 or 60 would be more reasonable. We just looked at some sailings for next year and decided to wait. The new published prices seem aggressively high. We are very loyal to Windstar but with everything costing ++ with them we will need to compare with some more inclusive fares on other small ship lines. Our Alaska fare dropped right after the 120 day mark on some TA sites. So thinking about what is next. Still love WS but feeling a little annoyed.

 

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That changes how I will book future cruises. Before I booked quickly after taking a Windstar cruise, knowing that I would get price adjustments if the price went down. Sometimes the price did not go down. Sometimes the price did drop. That really was great. When booking a cruise, there are a lot of things that make or break a booking. ship, itinerary, dates, and price When all of those mesh, I book. price adjustments 120 days out is not an incentive.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow I was not aware of this. In the past I was able to add price discounts and Sail and Stay packages when they were offered closer to my cruise dates.

 

This does suck- I always watch the fares to see if I can get better ones- I already did on my B2B booked for July- but was hoping for more.....

 

Oh well

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I am trying to clarify this with Windstar. There might be some language missing from their website. Hope so. Will let you know what I find out.

 

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WINDSTAR FARE PRICE ASSURANCE POLICY: Guests who purchase a cruise on Windstar will be eligible for reimbursement upon request if the fare published by Windstar for their specific departure and cabin class is reduced after they have made a booking and deposit, and if the request is received by Windstar at least 120 days prior to sailing.

 

The reimbursement will be provided in the form of a shipboard credit, upgrade, fare reduction, or a future cruise credit. Windstar will determine the form of reimbursement, and the amount of reimbursement will be the difference between the fare actually paid by the guest and the published fare on WindstarCruises.com the day the request is received.

 

... Looks pretty clear to me.

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I think that 7 days was too generous to continue. The price drops that late often have very limited cabin selection. On the other hand, 120 days perhaps tips the balance too far the other way. I think 90 days would be a better balance of being fair to Windstar and fair to the customer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am 115 Days from sailing and I called today as one of my cruises on my upcoming B2B price dropped dramatically today. They honored the new price! They said it was because I had booked early and was a long time customer. Two other couples going with us were not so lucky. One couple doing the B2B but first time with WS got 1/2 of what we received and the other couple was only doing one week received $150 ship board credit. So it all depends.

 

 

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That was the right thing for them to do. We just got off of Breeze on Saturday and our Alaska trip has also dropped. We'll see how it works out.

 

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I am 115 Days from sailing and I called today as one of my cruises on my upcoming B2B price dropped dramatically today. They honored the new price! They said it was because I had booked early and was a long time customer. Two other couples going with us were not so lucky. One couple doing the B2B but first time with WS got 1/2 of what we received and the other couple was only doing one week received $150 ship board credit. So it all depends.

 

 

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Yes it does depend on the day and the mood. We are long time customers 80 days out from Alaska sailing. They have refused to do anything about a $1200 price drop. It will be a long time before we book anything in advance. Just got off Breeze and the last minute people paid half of what we paid. In addition, there is a new policy in place that charges your credit card at $60 per day while onboard, then charges the full final bill to the same card and the credit on the estimate takes up to a week to reverse on the card. We have experienced this with European hotels but never before with Windstar. Still waiting to see the credit after 4 days. Alaska will be #17. There may never be a #18.

 

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I am very concerned to read this. Many of the posters here are long time and loyal Windstar customers. We have done three cruises after many years cruising on large ships and love the line, which we recommend to others.

We were looking to book our fourth cruise but will now hold off as the published prices are high.

If Windstar management are monitoring this website, please take note, this is bad for business. Loyal customers booking in advance do not expect to be treated less well than people booking after 120 days but not last minute, which I accept deserve a generous discount due to the cost of airfare.

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That is bad, very bad. Bring back the old Windstar customer service!

I suspect that they will not lower any fares prior to the 120 day out. The only problem with waiting to book is the airfare.

The last 2 years airfares dropped to 2 of our destinations prior to sailings so it's not always true that you pay more. Even British air had a sale for June 2017 around April. We're going to take our chances and book late, especially Caribbean. Would love to go to Greece on the Surf but not at 1,000 per day!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yup. I’ll vouch as we had to pay in full 90 days before the sailing (we booked 120 days before). The price dropped significantly with their March sales. We contacted our TA to see if we could get a rate adjustment or even shipboard credit. She tried everything. No go.

 

Yeah, it would’ve been nice to save a nice chunk of change, but honestly this is our first WS cruise coming up in May and it’s a bucket list item for us to take the Rome to Venice cruise, so we couldn’t be more thrilled!

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

Very sad to realize that I may not be able to travel again with WS. Prices have jumped significantly. All destinations are priced too high but specifically Greece and Alaska. I will watch for prices to drop. Fingers crossed I will get to sail again with WS.

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