Good value Princess cruise.

[sunshine 229]

I've cruised on a few other lines and have enjoyed myself but I have read some good things about Princess and would like to give them a try at some time.

I'm wondering if any of you experienced Princess cruisers can make a recommendation.

 

Money is a consideration for us so we would like a cruise that offers good value for money. Although we like to have a few ports of call for interest we would be going mainly for the cruise experience so the ship and service is more important than itinerary.

 

Can anyone recommend a Princess ship, itinerary, or time, that seems to be a particularily good deal? Also, sorry to sound so cheap, but does anyone know of any tricks to get the best deals on Princess when you book.

 

Does booking far in advance usually help or are you better to wait till close to the date to see if prices come down?

 

I realize this is a tall order but I'd appreciate any comments anyone has to offer.

 

Thanks.

[cherylandtk]

If you are flexible in your travel dates, then you can usually find the lowest prices just after final payments are due (70 days before), when Princess has their flash sales. You can sign up on many high-volume online websites to learn of these sales, or contact one of the many TA's on these boards and ask them to notify you of the flash sales.

 

Every itinerary has their own low season-for example, Caribbean in the August or September times, and early January for many cruises. There are frequent articles about this on the Cruise Critic main page under Features, here are two:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseplanning/articles.cfm?ID=68

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=133

[Hobson's Choice]

If you have flexible schedules and can get to one of the Princess home ports easily, then you are better off booking short notice. If the reverse is true, try to plan ahead several months. For the Caribbean, September and October are usually lower priced, but you run a higher risk of bad weather (hurricanes). The weeks between Thanksgiving and Xmas holidays also tend to be cheaper.

[phaelon56]

Some of the best deals I've seen are for the week that includes Thanksgiving day. But I'm sailing again on October 29th and got what I consider to be a very good deal. I booked directly through Princess for the Caribbean Princess when I spotted one of the listed "specials" on their web site. We booked about four months before departure date and paid $998 per person for a mini-suite. We could have gotten a balcony room for about $800 - $850 per personn and I think inside cabins were (or still are) $599.

 

We could most likely have shaved 5% - to 8% off the price by using a discount broker. I don't know what your idea of a "good deal" or "good value" is but IMHO those prices are a great deal for what you get. My first cruise was in 2003, also on Princess. We sailed at about the same time of year (mid to late October) and used a TA.

 

Our price that time was $649 each for an obstructed view cabin (no balcony) and we booked only six weeks before departure. The "upgrade fairy" was good to us and we ended up with two free upgrades - just before sailing we were assigned to a balcony room. I couldn'yt possibly sail again without one because I love the view and the chance to spend some private time outdoors.

[critterchick]

Also depending on where you live, look into the repositioning cruises. For example, the Island Princess has a 9-day Los Angeles-Vancouver trip in May with excellent prices. There are several 2- and 3-day repo cruises offered as well. Of course, airfare is something to consider.

[cruisinqt]

The Grand Princess is over 100,000 tons, is longer than three football fields, and is taller than the statue of liberty. This ship has just about everything and would definitely give you the "experience" you are looking for. We booked our entire family of 4 on the Grand Princess for an inside cabin for only $1572 final price including port fees and taxes.:) We booked this 10 months in advance and got an excellent cabin near all of the suites on deck 10. The best prices are 10-12 months in advance or right after final payment is made which is 70 days before the sailing date. We research cruise prices on the internet for several weeks until we get a feel for what will be the biggest bang for the buck. We always book our cruises on the internet and get a really good price. Our cruise on the Grand is in the first week in December. We have found Sept., Oct., Dec., and Jan. to be the cheapest times to cruise.;)

[sunshine 229]

Thank you all for your responses.

 

I can't cruise late Novenber or December, that is a busy time at work for me, but late October should be fine. I've cruised twice on other lines in early October and everything ended up fine although we did have some anxious moments about hurricanes in the area before we cruised.

 

2 or 3 days is too short for me. I don't live near any port so cruising requires either a plane trip or a long drive, not worth it IMO for less than 7 days.

 

I wouldn't mind repositioning cruises. I guess it would be better to book air through the cruiseline if I was doing that though in case there were any problem with the cruise I think changes to air would be harder to do on my own with tickets going and coming from different places.

 

I guess the best suggestion is to start watching Princess prices on the net to get a feeling for a good deal. $998/person for a mini suite sounds good to me!

 

Thanks again everyone. I guess it is time to go do my research.

[mbw1024]

don't know when you are looking to travel but there are great prices on Golden Princess 10/22 sailing. It's a repo from NYC to San Juan.