Alaska sales this summer

[Adventures ahead]

We're booked on the Golden to Alaska, Aug 13, RT Seattle, our 7th cruise with Princess and first to Alaska. With less than a week to final payment, the Princess website shows availability in virtually every category.

 

I'm tempted to cancel and rebook after the 75-day final payment due date and hope to catch a deal but we already have our own air and, yes I know, the price could go up, so I need to put my money where my mouth is. I've been watching the prices and they haven't budged (on Princess website) even though cabins are still available on the first June sailing that is just days away.

 

There is still availability for ALL sailings in June, within the next month. It just seems odd to me, so I'm wondering what's up. Maybe they will fill the ship with one of these last-minute flash sales I've heard about. I just thought that Alaska was so popular that this wouldn't be a possibility (for someone else, as I can't chance it), especially in a season when I read that fewer ships are in Alaska this year.

[itzmered]

We are leaving in 3 weeks for our trip on the Golden and it is the same for our cruise. Many cabins in every category still available and I have not seen any price drops. We booked about a 2 weeks prior to final payment.

[Putterdude]

Be a bit guarded as July and August are peak season for Alaska...the deals and promotions tend to be in May thru early June and then again late August and thru the end of the season....but if you are flexible re dates there are and will be deals.

[Toto2Kansas]

It is my understanding that Princess only runs the flash promotions if they have a certain percentage of cabins left vacant on that certain sailing. I have never known a way to find out exactly what that percentage is. If you are a gambler, you can take your changes though. ;)

[Cruise Junky]

Be a bit guarded as July and August are peak season for Alaska...the deals and promotions tend to be in May thru early June and then again late August and thru the end of the season....but if you are flexible re dates there are and will be deals.

 

This is what I'm seeing too. Being in Vancouver we get lots of specials for Alaska. July and August aren't showing too many.

[outerspaceguy]

We're booked on the Golden to Alaska, Aug 13, RT Seattle, our 7th cruise with Princess and first to Alaska. With less than a week to final payment, the Princess website shows availability in virtually every category.

 

I'm on Golden in a few weeks, and watched the cabins really closely for my sailing.

 

The price drop happened a little earlier than I expected... about 37 days out (I was expecting between 21 and 30 days-ish), so I pounced when I saw it. My guarantee inside cabin booking then turned into a Cat I room on Baja deck.

 

If you want an inside, chances are that they will be selling insides until the ship is completely sold out. If you want an oceanview, balcony, or anything accessible room, then you need to very carefully weigh your likely chances of not getting that room if you wait.

[azdmelani]

That's risky IMO. Depending on your TA you are able to get price adjustments after final payment (as long as it is not a flash sale). I am watching the price closely to see if we can collect on any drops. :)

[califgary]

We picked a HAL Alaska cruise simply for the itinerary we depart on July 2 and when you go on to the website and pick that sailing you get a notice saying no cabins are available for this sailing! I expect a packed ship on our cruise.

[Adventures ahead]

OK, so I'm not crazy.

 

We don't care what cabin we get, we just want to get on the ship.

 

As I mentioned, we already have our air (through Aeroplan) so I'm not comfortable taking a chance to cancel and rebook, especially since any deals may be hidden from our view.

 

I'll continue to monitor the price anyway, in case our TA can work some magic like OBC or such. Heck, I'll gladly accept a bottle of red wine:rolleyes:!

[outerspaceguy]

I'll continue to monitor the price anyway, in case our TA can work some magic like OBC or such. Heck, I'll gladly accept a bottle of red wine:rolleyes:!

 

The last two princess cruises I booked were booked ~3 weeks out and ~5 weeks out... that seems to be appx when the "final" price drop happens, (if there is one)...

[zacc]

We are cruising on the Golden in Sept. All categories have been waitlisted since the end of February.

[Luvsprincess]

I waited for the flash promotion to come out on the Golden July 16th cruise. It came out exactly 2 months prior to sailing. Every week they were putting another one on promo. My TA called daily and finally she gave me the good news. It will not be shown on the website tho....TAs have to call for the promo.

[ready2travel54]

I waited for the flash promotion to come out on the Golden July 16th cruise. It came out exactly 2 months prior to sailing. Every week they were putting another one on promo. My TA called daily and finally she gave me the good news. It will not be shown on the website tho....TAs have to call for the promo.

Can you expalin this a little more? Is this flash just for new bookings?

I assume that we would not get the price drop on a booking we have already made,

[Luvsprincess]

yes, new bookings as far as I know.

[Nino2x]

alaska trip leaving from San Francisco on 8/18 for 10 days. Looking for ideas/things to do at the ports. Any suggestions? We have a group of 6. Do they have tour guides at the ports, like they do in Mexico? Any one looking for a group of 6 to join in?:)

[Loonbeam]

Post on the roll call for your trip...

 

alaska trip leaving from San Francisco on 8/18 for 10 days. Looking for ideas/things to do at the ports. Any suggestions? We have a group of 6. Do they have tour guides at the ports, like they do in Mexico? Any one looking for a group of 6 to join in?:)

[Toto2Kansas]

I just received an email from princess with last minute fares for Alaska. 7 day Inside passage or voyage of the glaciers, RT from Seattle $399 inside pp, $799 balcony. It says two for one fares, but not sure if that is exactly correct. Many dates in June and July. So, it does seem there are some pretty good last minute fares out there. ;)

[Cruise Junky]

I just received an email from princess with last minute fares for Alaska. 7 day Inside passage or voyage of the glaciers, RT from Seattle $399 inside pp, $799 balcony. It says two for one fares, but not sure if that is exactly correct. Many dates in June and July. So, it does seem there are some pretty good last minute fares out there. ;)

 

I just got that too, but no dates for July, only June. What July dates did you get for Alaska? New vacation year kicks in at work on July 1 :)

[Toto2Kansas]

I just got that too, but no dates for July, only June. What July dates did you get for Alaska? New vacation year kicks in at work on July 1 :)

I owe you an apology, I just fished it out of the email trash and checked again, they were all for June. Sorry about that, I looked at it wrong. :o

[Cruise Junky]

I owe you an apology, I just fished it out of the email trash and checked again, they were all for June. Sorry about that, I looked at it wrong. :o

 

No problem, hopefully they come out with some other dates. Great prices though!

[Umbarger]

No problem, hopefully they come out with some other dates. Great prices though!

 

I hope they come out with some July dates too. HAL is selling balconies on the Westerdam for only $1000pp, however, HAL is not our cruiseline of choice.