Do Suite Prices Ever Drop? Upgrade to Suite at the Pier?

[wallyboag]

Hi all, I have a strange pricing question.

 

We are booked on a 3 day cruise out of LA on the Golden Princess on Nov. 30. We are currently booked in a balcony cabin and have been eyeing the prices of the suites, considering an upgrade.

 

In recent weeks the prices of all cabin categories have plummeted, including the cost of our balcony going below what we actually paid for it (final payment is gone, oh well on that one).

 

However, the prices for suites have stayed the same from the time we booked until now, and have not dropped a dollar in any category. In my opinion, it's not worth the price that they are charging for a suite for such a short cruise.

 

Looking at the booking engine, I think everyone else shares my opinion because I can only find two suites that are not available, and they are both window suites.

 

My question is, will the suite prices ever be discounted, or will Princess hold them where they are, preferring to send them empty rather than fill them (the cruise itself is rather empty and I doubt it will be full come sailing date).

 

If they do not drop the prices, is it possible to negotiate a deal at the pier to upgrade to a vacant suite?

[Lerin]

Over a month away and there are only 2 suites left? They will be sold out soon, as will the entire ship as they tend to be on these short cruises.

[wallyboag]

Over a month away and there are only 2 suites left? They will be sold out soon, as will the entire ship as they tend to be on these short cruises.

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear. What I meant was only 2 suites have sold. I've clicked around the different decks forward, mid, and aft except for two window suites which are marked as "Sold"

[JimmyVWine]

I don't know if this is true for Princess or not, but if I were the business owner, I would rarely if ever discount my most coveted product. If I got caught in a situation where there was unsold inventory of suites, I would upgrade a few Elite or Platinum guests who booked lower category cabins, and then re-sell the cabins that they vacated. But if they discount suites too frequently, people will quickly learn to play the waiting game and refuse to book at full fare. Not a good business model. Again, without knowing if this is how things work in the "black box" of pricing, I wouldn't be surprised to see those empty suites given to folks as an upgrade as opposed to sold to others at a discount.

[cherylandtk]

I think it far more likely that someone in a mini will get a suite upgrade, and someone in a balcony will get a mini upgrade, and someone in an OV....

 

You might see a lower price on the suites before sailing, but it may be restricted to new bookings, not self upgrades. For whatever reason, I never see Princess selling upgrades at the pier, just granting free upgrades to the winners of the computer lottery.

[Coveguy4]

By the time you get to the pier to check in, the suites will more than likely be gone. A few days before sailing, the usual m o is someone booked in a mini will be offered an upgrade to suite for 199.00 or 299.00. This has been reported many times on the boards. The 2 times I've sailed in a suite is when I booked it from the start, always hoping when I have a mini to "Get the offer", but so far no luck...

[bhopal21]

We have booked suites for the last 12 years and have never had a price reduction or gotten what I consider a "sale" price when booking one.

 

Mike:)

[cruis247g]

We've sailed in many suites and never had a price reduction. I'm not sure if we were just unlucky or if there are seldom price reductions. We've never had a complimentary grade either.

[caribill]

Princess never sells upgrades at check-in or once on board.

 

If you want a suite, you need to purchase it before embarkation day.

[M4dC0w]

I cant see suites discounted, why would they? Since they think that people that normally can book them can afford them, and dont worry about sales?

[M4dC0w]

I cant see suites discounted, why would they? Since they think that people that normally can book them can afford them, and dont worry about sales?

 

I've been upgraded to a suite at embarkation time though, I don't think check in people have the authority to process upsells at yhe terminal, could you imagine how much of a bottle neck it would be if everyone ased, "can I pay for an upgrade? And what is avaliable?"

[f-mattox]

I don't know if this is true for Princess or not, but if I were the business owner, I would rarely if ever discount my most coveted product. If I got caught in a situation where there was unsold inventory of suites, I would upgrade a few Elite or Platinum guests who booked lower category cabins, and then re-sell the cabins that they vacated. But if they discount suites too frequently, people will quickly learn to play the waiting game and refuse to book at full fare. Not a good business model. Again, without knowing if this is how things work in the "black box" of pricing, I wouldn't be surprised to see those empty suites given to folks as an upgrade as opposed to sold to others at a discount.

 

You are exactly right. Unsold suites are offered first to Elite and top tier mini-suite passengers as an upsell and the vacated cabins are resold. Suites are never offered at "sale" prices. And they never leave port empty.

[AZJerry]

We were in a window suite in August. Sometime before the cruise (several months?) the price dropped by a whole dollar but they also added $75 pp OBC which made getting it re-booked worth while. It later went back up by that $1 and stayed there until sailaway.

[capriccio]

We just had our first experiences with both an upgrade and an upsell.

 

When Princess offered a wonderful fare with great OBCs for the follow on cruise to our Ruby repositioning from Quebec to FLL we booked a guarantee ME (lowest mini - and actually the ones we like best on Emerald deck). This was the first time we have ever done a guarantee. All the ME minis were listed as sold but they let the guarantee process. Less than 3 days later we were 'upgraded' to a mid ship MA.

 

Less than a week later we received an email from Princess: PRINCESS CRUISES ANNOUNCES A SPECIAL OFFER FOR CAPTAIN CIRCLE MEMBERS BOOKED IN A MINI-SUITE STATEROOM ON THE NOVEMBER 3,2014 RUBY PRINCESS SAILING. Looking at this trip as R&R from the port intensive repositioning we took them up on it. While not making monetary sense we have loved Sabatini's breakfast :o on the four or five cruises we've done in full suites. Plus I figure the money we were going to spend in the Sanctuary will now go to the fare increase and instead we will sit on our large balcony with the comfy steamer loungers. :):). Finally we will get 2 cruise credits plus the other suite perks.

 

I think we were 'lucky' on the upgrade (although we're in E731 on the repositioning and that is our favorite mini-suite) and maybe being elite and/or having been willing to pay full fare for a suite before had something to do with the upsell offer. Who knows what variables are considered in their upgrade and upsell algorithms although just maybe the "A SPECIAL OFFER FOR CAPTAIN CIRCLE MEMBERS BOOKED IN A MINI-SUITE" is a hint on how to obtain an upsell offer to a full suite.

[wallyboag]

Thank you for the responses everyone.

 

It sounds like upgrade offers do happen from time to time but are not consistent. I'm guessing if the suites stay unbooked then there is a chance of an upgrade a few weeks before sailing.

 

We shall see! Won't be terribly disappointed without the upgrade. At the current prices it'd be about $700 more per person for the Suite over the balcony we booked. For a 3 day cruise, it's just not worth $1400 for the perks offered over three days.

[skrodle]

there are several posts on this thread saying "suites are never discounted"

 

this cannot be more than wrong.

 

My last Alaska cruise I booked it and got a price reduction about 6 weeks before final payment. I am booked on a 4 day in Feb that I booked onboard and they were offering 33% off current prices for suites (well for all staterooms, but suites included). I am also booked on a 10 day in April, and I've gotten two price reductions on it and now prepaid gratuities. Plus both of us my upcoming cruises my TA discounted even further from what Princess was offering.

 

So yes, suites are discountable, maybe not at the same rate as what you will see other staterooms, and yes its quite a jump in prices on most itineraries from a mini to a full suite, but the benefits are so worth it.

 

just my 2 cents

[Sunviking]

We have booked suites for many years and aside from the good price that we've gotten from our travel agent, we've only gotten a further reduction in fare once. That was a couple of summers ago for a Med cruise on the Crown Princess when there was evidently difficulty filling the ship. I was frankly stunned when my TA said that she could get us a reduction.

[Corfe Mixture]

We have never got a discount on suites

 

BUT

 

We booked our Christmas 2014 cruise whilst on board last January and, at the time, all suites were sold and we were put on the wait list. We did not get off the wait list until just a few weeks ago, when final payments became due. For a few hours they put it up for sale on the website at a price higher than they had published back in January, when we made our original booking.

 

I did not expect to pay any less than the difference in the price they put the suite back on sale for and the price they were going to put my vacated mini-suite back on sale for.

 

I was, however, pleasantly surprised to be charged the difference between the January price of my mini-suite and the January price of the suite, which was around £200 per person less than the difference in the website prices on the day I was moved, so, in that respect, I suppose one could argue that I did get a discount

 

On a slightly different note, we booked our 2015 Christmas cruise just six weeks ago and we will continue to monitor the website, for price changes in our favour. Although we only booked very recently, we have already been able to take advantage of two promotion deals, which, whilst actually increasing the cost by a few pounds, have effectively reduced the price from our original by around $180 per person simply because of the benefits of the promotion.

 

Finally, last year, shortly after boarding, I went to the Elite / Suite desk (to book the Ultimate Ship's Tour) and had to wait in line for quite some time whilst the gentleman in front of me was quite forcefully trying to get himself upgraded to a suite, at a discount, on the basis that he KNEW they always keep once suite in reserve until the last minute in case of technical problems.

 

He was not successful.

[pathi]

It is possible to book a suite at what I consider a sale price. I was able to book our current cruise at 900.00 per person.

 

It took 3 months of checking prices daily to get this price though. I did notice that it went back up after 2 days or so.

[mysaddlebred000]

We have never gotten a suite at a discounted price. I suppose you could on some of the less popular cruises.

 

But I have been very disappointed with them the past several years. Perks are nothing special since we get most of them as elite. Service has not been the same the past few years and of course there was the smaller than normal OS on the Royal with all the soot - worst suite we have ever been in.

 

We still have them booked for future cruises but I am thinking of looking at a different cruise line.

[DebJ14]

We booked a Vista suite for a January cruise at 2199 pp. Then they came out with a sale and the price went down 100 per person and our TA got the price adjusted. Then, when they came out with the Suite and Balcony sale the price dropped an additional $200 per person and they were offering an onboard credit. Our TA was able to get it adjusted again. We saved a total of $600 and are getting 100 OBC. The price then went right back up to the price we originally paid before the last 2 in that category sold out.

 

We have been watching and waiting to see if the PH and OS prices drop, but nothing so far. I would upgrade in a New York minute if the prices on those came down at all. We were able to do just that in 2013. Jumped from a VS to a PH when the PH dropped 500.00 on our Dec 2013 cruise.

[mattswiss]

We got a great suite offer last month in a flash sale. 4 day Carribean cruise in a vista suite, free speciality dining, free bottle of wine for $999 a person. Now I see the window suites going for $1600 a person. So yes, they discount the suites on occasion. Did I mention the cruise I booked is over New Year's Eve!

[dorisis]

We have booked suites for the last 12 years and have never had a price reduction or gotten what I consider a "sale" price when booking one.

 

Mike:)

 

THAT HAS ALSO BEEN OUR EXPERIENCE ON PRINCESS. The window suites are considered full suites BUT they have no balcony. It would be unlikely that a booked balcony cabin would be "upgraded" to a window suite. Especially since upgrades do not come with the doubled credits.

[capriccio]

...of course there was the smaller than normal OS on the Royal with all the soot - worst suite we have ever been in.

 

 

We had that experience too; it was the only time we've ever contacted HQ customer service with a complaint. We did like the ship and have a cruise booked next year in a mini with the bigger, angled balcony. I emphatically told my TA to mark the reservation 'no upgrade' because I don't want to risk ending up in an owners suite on the Royal again -- even for free!

[Caribensun]

Glad to hear it does happen, but never for us either. Would rather book and pay knowing getting a suite than to wait and be disappointed.

Great thread!

Seadeck2