Rate Decrease With Early Booking

[RS79]

We are considering booking a Princess cruise for next January now, but were wondering what happens if the rate drops. Will Princess give you the lower rate in you are already booked? Thanks.

[paul929207]

Untli final payment, you should be able to get any price decreases.

[Psychedout]

We are considering booking a Princess cruise for next January now, but were wondering what happens if the rate drops. Will Princess give you the lower rate in you are already booked? Thanks.

 

We booked our Panama Canal cruise very early as you can see and we got a price reduction last month. We do book directly with Princess so if is aways a good idea and see if anyone on your roll call posted a reduction or check with your TA.

[Pam in CA]

We are considering booking a Princess cruise for next January now, but were wondering what happens if the rate drops. Will Princess give you the lower rate in you are already booked? Thanks.

It depends. If you've booked directly with Princess, you're already paying the highest price at the going rate. Sometimes, Princess will lower fares and if so, your fare will go down. As it gets closer to sailing and if the ship has a lot of capacity still unbooked, they might do a "flash" sale for new bookings only, in which case, you would not be eligible. These are usually run, if at all, after final payment so you'd have to cancel, pay the penalty, lose your cabin, and rebook. Booking through a good TA that specializes in cruises and Princess in particular will get you a much lower rate to start with. I booked a cruise for next March well over a year ago and recently, people on my roll call were saying, "Gee, the rate's gone down a lot!" I checked with my TA and I was already getting a fare lower by several hundred than the new "lower" fare.

[Aussie Gal]

We booked a cruise for March next year when it was first advertised and it has stayed at that rate until this week. I immediately alerted our T.A. and we were given the new rate which saved us $400.

 

We always book our cruises up to 18 months in advance and if there is a price decrease and as Pam says, if we are not getting the very bottom rate, then we always get the decrease as long as we alert our T.A. to it.

 

Jennie

[Psychedout]

It depends. If you've booked directly with Princess, you're already paying the highest price at the going rate. Sometimes, Princess will lower fares and if so, your fare will go down. As it gets closer to sailing and if the ship has a lot of capacity still unbooked, they might do a "flash" sale for new bookings only, in which case, you would not be eligible. These are usually run, if at all, after final payment so you'd have to cancel, pay the penalty, lose your cabin, and rebook. Booking through a good TA that specializes in cruises and Princess in particular will get you a much lower rate to start with. I booked a cruise for next March well over a year ago and recently, people on my roll call were saying, "Gee, the rate's gone down a lot!" I checked with my TA and I was already getting a fare lower by several hundred than the new "lower" fare.

 

Thanks for that advice Pam I have always booked with Princess now I will start to shop around.

 

Hugh

[sun&sea]

We booked our b2b for next January the day we got off our cruise this past January. We saw that a particular cabin was available for both cruises, so we just booked online thru Princess. We intended to transfer the booking to a TA at a later date (still may). We have recieved a couple of price drops, but what has been interesting is that when I sign in on Princess, it gives me a lower price than when not signed in(as is usually the case). But when I call for the reduction, they give me an extra $100/pp off of the rate that is on their website. She says, "Oh I see you have a ** attached to your booking, so you get an even better rate!" (I never catch what the letters are, but she said it was an early booking advantage. )Never having booked directly thru the cruiseline, I am not familiar with "early booking discount."

 

Is this what the OP is asking??? If it is repriced, will your booking still be considered an early booking? If so, the answer is yes!! If not, that was a long-winded answer to a question you never asked:confused:!

 

Janet

[PescadoAmarillo]

Janet- we have exactly the same situation. We also booked the Emerald a year ago. We also are getting fares (from Princess) lower than what I can see even after I input our CC numbers. In our case, it's $50 per cruise (category I). This happened last year too. I was told it is an additional early booking discount. In other words, we get an EBD when we book because it is so far out. Then, we get an additional one before final payment because we booked so far ahead. What's interesting is that we added another Emerald cruise in front of our B2Bs, booked slightly less than a year ahead of time. For that one cruise, we aren't getting that addiional EBD. I was told we booked it too late.

[sun&sea]

Janet- we have exactly the same situation. We also booked the Emerald a year ago. We also are getting fares (from Princess) lower than what I can see even after I input our CC numbers. In our case, it's $50 per cruise (category I). This happened last year too. I was told it is an additional early booking discount. In other words, we get an EBD when we book because it is so far out. Then, we get an additional one before final payment because we booked so far ahead. What's interesting is that we added another Emerald cruise in front of our B2Bs, booked slightly less than a year ahead of time. For that one cruise, we aren't getting that addiional EBD. I was told we booked it too late.

 

I had never heard of this before. I think it is great that you actually get a benefit for booking so early! Win, win! Ours is $100 for our mini.:D Now I wonder if I transfer it to a TA, will I retain that discount? I guess I will have to email a couple of TA's and find out!

 

Janet

[caribill]

I am not familiar with "early booking discount."

 

 

It is exactly what the words say.

 

Usually, when a the next year's itineraries are announec, those who book by a certain date will receive the EBD. When any repricing is done, that discount (often $100) will still apply.