Newbies to Princess - help please!

[Essexlass2]

Hi

We have never been on a Princess cruise before and wonder whether there are any late availability offers nearer to the date of sailing as with other shipping lines. We are looking at a possible Baltic cruise from Southampton next year, but the price for a 13 night cruise is presently £1,899 for a balcony cabin on a 13 night cruise, which is way above what we would expect to pay with, say, P&O. Are these prices likely to drop, are there any special offers?

 

Princess come highly recommended so we are keen to try. Any advice you lovely people can offer us would be much appreciated. :)

[paul929207]

Princess will drop the price IF the sailing is not selling well

[reedprincess]

Hi

We have never been on a Princess cruise before and wonder whether there are any late availability offers nearer to the date of sailing as with other shipping lines. We are looking at a possible Baltic cruise from Southampton next year, but the price for a 13 night cruise is presently £1,899 for a balcony cabin on a 13 night cruise, which is way above what we would expect to pay with, say, P&O. Are these prices likely to drop, are there any special offers?

 

Princess come highly recommended so we are keen to try. Any advice you lovely people can offer us would be much appreciated. :)

Same answer as on the Royal Caribbean board, etc.

Yes. Sometimes prices do go down closer to sailing in a effort to fill cabins, however there is no guarantee this will be the case on any particular cruise, and you would have less selection of cabins. If you are willing to roll the dice on a particular sailing and wait it out - it can work out with a great deal, or it can backfire with no discounts , higher prices or no cabins available.

If you find a sailing you want to go on and a cabin that fits your budget, usually best to snag it and make payments along the way. If the price goes down before final payment, the cruise line will lower your fare, or sometimes match the difference with on-board credit.

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi

We have never been on a Princess cruise before and wonder whether there are any late availability offers nearer to the date of sailing as with other shipping lines. We are looking at a possible Baltic cruise from Southampton next year, but the price for a 13 night cruise is presently £1,899 for a balcony cabin on a 13 night cruise, which is way above what we would expect to pay with, say, P&O. Are these prices likely to drop, are there any special offers?

 

Princess come highly recommended so we are keen to try. Any advice you lovely people can offer us would be much appreciated. :)

 

The June 28 Baltic cruise is filling very quickly and there have already been significant price drops. The discounted fare for us was only a tad more than your price (AUD 134). There will be cancellations as the first deadline approaches on December 30. Good luck.

[TracieABD]

I am watching that cruise as well. It is just more than I would like to pay right now. I check daily. :)

[aquilegia]

Hi

We are looking at a possible Baltic cruise from Southampton next year, but the price for a 13 night cruise is presently £1,899 for a balcony cabin on a 13 night cruise, which is way above what we would expect to pay with, say, P&O. Are these prices likely to drop, are there any special offers?

 

Are you comparing like with like? Looking at P&O's site at the moment, a 14 night (ie 1 night longer) cruise to Russia, Estonia & Scandinavia, which is the sort of itinerary Princess does, next August on the Oriana is £2,199 for Early Saver price and £2,749 for Select price.

[Essexlass2]

Same answer as on the Royal Caribbean board, etc.

Yes. Sometimes prices do go down closer to sailing in a effort to fill cabins, however there is no guarantee this will be the case on any particular cruise, and you would have less selection of cabins. If you are willing to roll the dice on a particular sailing and wait it out - it can work out with a great deal, or it can backfire with no discounts , higher prices or no cabins available.

If you find a sailing you want to go on and a cabin that fits your budget, usually best to snag it and make payments along the way. If the price goes down before final payment, the cruise line will lower your fare, or sometimes match the difference with on-board credit.

 

Thanks for your replies reed princess, your advice is invaluable. Because we've not been on an American line before, we weren't too sure if they work the same as the English shipping lines, but it seems they do. We'll wait until a couple of months before the sail date and take a chance.

[Essexlass2]

The June 28 Baltic cruise is filling very quickly and there have already been significant price drops. The discounted fare for us was only a tad more than your price (AUD 134). There will be cancellations as the first deadline approaches on December 30. Good luck.

 

Thanks for that. We'll check it again around December 30. ;)

[Essexlass2]

Are you comparing like with like? Looking at P&O's site at the moment, a 14 night (ie 1 night longer) cruise to Russia, Estonia & Scandinavia, which is the sort of itinerary Princess does, next August on the Oriana is £2,199 for Early Saver price and £2,749 for Select price.

 

Yes, but that's still more than we would like to pay thanks. :)

[hubofhockey]

That is about $6,000 for two in a balcony on a 13-day Baltic cruise. Seems like a pretty good price and unlikely you'll do much better. If P&O offers a better price, go for it.