Has way to watch for price drop changed?

[sashas_mom]

It seems to me last year I saved a cruise and it had a button there,,which when you pressed it,ms howled the far going up or down. I saved $300.00 on my cruise catching the price drop one day. I can't find that same button. Perhaps I'm forgetting where it was or Princess changed their site. Can you help?

 

Thanks.

[beg3yrs]

Yep, we lost the easy way to look for price drops a little while ago. Other than writing down the old prices and continually checking, I haven't heard of any other way that was a simple as they way it used to be.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Nothing wrong with checking on a regular basis and it's not that hard!

[Retiring cajun]

I just checked and my price dropped. before final payment. Will Princess allow me to change rate? pretty easy? keep same mini suite?

[Working 2 Cruise]

I just checked and my price dropped. before final payment. Will Princess allow me to change rate? pretty easy? keep same mini suite?

 

Yes to both IF it isn't for new bookings only.

[dorisis]

I book with an agent who checks all his listings every day and gets any price drops offered. he has save us a lot of money.

[Iamcruzin]

Search Cruise price drop alerts. A few sites will come up where you can track price drops. Cruise Critic also has one but it never worked for me. There is a site that keeps a history of the price drops. It has a dot net address.

[mdmc]

My understanding though is if you booked a special say Sip and Sale if the price drops if you take the price drop you will lose the perks of the Sip and Sale. Is that correct?

[Mekamax]

Yes you would loose anything on the old price like OBC and perks and get the new price and perks if offered... Sometimes it is not really a deal without the perks...

[Retiring cajun]

Woohoo! Princess gave me new fare! Saved close to $400.00:)

Feels good😊. I didn't have any perks before.

[Kinkacruiser]

I book with an agent who checks all his listings every day and gets any price drops offered. he has save us a lot of money.

 

How fortunate you are. I keep a note of the price I booked at handy to my PC and check against the listed price regularly.

[sashas_mom]

Thx everyone. I'm always watching the prices and usually save money on my cruises. The button they used to have made it easier to do. Maybe they realized they were helping us get lower prices and so discontinued it. I'll still check.

[Colo Cruiser]

My understanding though is if you booked a special say Sip and Sale if the price drops if you take the price drop you will lose the perks of the Sip and Sale. Is that correct?

 

 

Yes.

[caribill]

My understanding though is if you booked a special say Sip and Sale if the price drops if you take the price drop you will lose the perks of the Sip and Sale. Is that correct?

 

Yes, if the new sale does not have the same perks.

[Iamcruzin]

There seems to b a new trend in the cruise industry to offer perks instead of dropping price. It's been like this on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and NCL. They are changing the way the game is played.

[caribill]

There seems to b a new trend in the cruise industry to offer perks instead of dropping price. It's been like this on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and NCL. They are changing the way the game is played.

 

Exactly.

 

Both Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) and RCCL have said that lowering prices to sell cabins both cheapens the image of the cruise line and encourages late bookings.

 

By Keeping prices constant (raising them of course as ships sell out) instead of constantly changing prices along the way, the cruise lines hope to convince consumers to book early knowing that lower prices are not likely to come their way.

 

By offering varying incentives (free beverages, free gratuities, etc.) along the way they can still have "sales" which maintain price integrity, but which still offer a way for consumers to save overall. Instead of lowering a one week cruise price by $80, free gratuities has the same effect.

 

Carnival Corp has said they are willing to sail with some cabins unsold instead of selling them at deep discount to fill up the ship. RCCL has said at some point after final payment date, prices are frozen and will not be reduced further to fill up the ship.

Edited September 12, 2015 by caribill