Princess price drops before/after payment

[geologygeek]

Hi everyone, using the search tool brings up a lot of hits for price drops. I'm just wondering what people's individual experiences are? Obviously it should be pretty straight forward to get a price reduction before final payment. But what about after final payment? There seems to be a lot of variation, so people get the difference refunded, others get an OBC, some get upgraded and others get nothing.

 

I just booked my in-laws on the Golden 14 May 2011 to Alaska, obviously it's getting close to final payment and all cabin categories are still available. I managed to get then a good deal (well what I think is a good deal anyway :D) for a balcony gty cabin with $150 OBC and a $50 voucher for a hotel stay. It took a bit of searching, but just a quick comparison of the base cruise fare with last year's prices it seems that the it is around $175 to $200 more this year. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Are 2010 prices likely to be repeated this year as we get closer to the sailing date?

 

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[oskidunker]

If it is close to a sell out, it will go up.

[Loonbeam]

Anything is possible. That said, if you received a promotional fare through a TA (sounds like it), be aware you may not be able to change it and keep the benefits. Check the terms of your arrangement with the TA (Their commission which they rebate part of in the form of OBC and vouchers will drop on a lower rate). Also, if its booked via a TA group rate, their price may not drop even if the rack rate does.

 

Hi everyone, using the search tool brings up a lot of hits for price drops. I'm just wondering what people's individual experiences are? Obviously it should be pretty straight forward to get a price reduction before final payment. But what about after final payment? There seems to be a lot of variation, so people get the difference refunded, others get an OBC, some get upgraded and others get nothing.

 

I just booked my in-laws on the Golden 14 May 2011 to Alaska, obviously it's getting close to final payment and all cabin categories are still available. I managed to get then a good deal (well what I think is a good deal anyway :D) for a balcony gty cabin with $150 OBC and a $50 voucher for a hotel stay. It took a bit of searching, but just a quick comparison of the base cruise fare with last year's prices it seems that the it is around $175 to $200 more this year. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Are 2010 prices likely to be repeated this year as we get closer to the sailing date?

 

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[caribill]

If the price posted on the Princess web site goes down after final payment, you have a good chance of getting the difference back.

 

However, after final payment date the price is likely to stay the same (or go up) on the Princess site but there will be "flash sales" not on the site (but available to travel agents or sometimes in special mailings to past passengers). These flash sales are for new bookings only and thus you could not get the new price without paying a substantial penalty to give up your booked and paid-for cruise.

[jody]

From what I've seen, Alaska is selling well this summer, so I'm predicting prices on many sailings won't go down much. We are on the June 8 Southbound AK trip on the Island Princess and prices are increasing, not decreasing. We booked in October and there was one small dip a few weeks later, but then prices held steady until the recent uptick. I think the deals this year are for the Med, but that is just my humble opinion.