Very Unhappy with Princess pricing

[easyboy]

You know its funny...you talking about "cookies". Until recently, the only "cookies" I knew about were the ones I eat LOL....

 

Anyway.....Last week I was channel surfing in the morning and on one of those four hour AM shows, honestly, don't remember which one, I stumbled across Peter Greenburg speaking, I immediately returned to that channel and turned it up to listen to what he had to say..and lo and behold, he was talking prices, on everything travel. He mentioned that if you go to a specific website to look at prices, and return later to check again, the site has your "cookies" on "file" so you may or may not get a different price. He did say that if you "clear your cookies" it will erase any previous checks on prices. He also did say that if you went to a different computer, you could also get a cheaper price. Makes one go "Hmmmm"

Right. It is now evident on every online shopping websites.

[Lucky TGO]

You know its funny...you talking about "cookies". Until recently, the only "cookies" I knew about were the ones I eat LOL....

 

Anyway.....Last week I was channel surfing in the morning and on one of those four hour AM shows, honestly, don't remember which one, I stumbled across Peter Greenburg speaking, I immediately returned to that channel and turned it up to listen to what he had to say..and lo and behold, he was talking prices, on everything travel. He mentioned that if you go to a specific website to look at prices, and return later to check again, the site has your "cookies" on "file" so you may or may not get a different price. He did say that if you "clear your cookies" it will erase any previous checks on prices. He also did say that if you went to a different computer, you could also get a cheaper price. Makes one go "Hmmmm"

 

This has been going on for years.:mad:

Tony

[Iamcruzin]

We are paying $600 per person more for our Hawaiian Cruise this year then we paid in 2011 & 2013. Perhaps (and I'm thinking positively) Princess needs to increase pricing to maintain some level of quality in food & service. Prices in 2015 were so low for their 50th Anniversary but I really noticed the the quality we are accustomed to was rapidly declining.

 

I may be alone in this opinion, but I don't mind the price increases if the value goes back up. Time will tell...

 

Costs go up so it's only natural for prices to go up to compensate. However when something is advertised as a sale or they offer an add on like a drink package the price shouldn't go up to the point where the cruise cost more than it did before the sale. I do a agree with you that I don't mind paying a little more to keep the same quality and service.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Iamcruzin

[RocketMan275]

You know its funny...you talking about "cookies". Until recently, the only "cookies" I knew about were the ones I eat LOL....

 

Anyway.....Last week I was channel surfing in the morning and on one of those four hour AM shows, honestly, don't remember which one, I stumbled across Peter Greenburg speaking, I immediately returned to that channel and turned it up to listen to what he had to say..and lo and behold, he was talking prices, on everything travel. He mentioned that if you go to a specific website to look at prices, and return later to check again, the site has your "cookies" on "file" so you may or may not get a different price. He did say that if you "clear your cookies" it will erase any previous checks on prices. He also did say that if you went to a different computer, you could also get a cheaper price. Makes one go "Hmmmm"

 

If you use chrome, open an "Incognito" window. Incognito does not store cookies from previous browsing. Explorer has a similar feature.

[kruisey]

yes, my prices are going up when i log in. it seems to be happening more lately.

 

may i vent as well? i'm looking for a cruise and my price for an interior as a solo traveler is consistently 200%. gone are the days of 150% it seems. sigh.

Being solo I had to book my cabin at the 200% level.

I phone in now and again to see if there is a special.

Was lucky Princess agent re fared my booking on a 'Special' to a non refundable deposit but saving $500 off the original price.Yes from a solo fare.:D

[cr8tiv1]

We are paying $600 per person more for our Hawaiian Cruise this year then we paid in 2011 & 2013. Perhaps (and I'm thinking positively) Princess needs to increase pricing to maintain some level of quality in food & service. Prices in 2015 were so low for their 50th Anniversary but I really noticed the the quality we are accustomed to was rapidly declining.

 

I may be alone in this opinion, but I don't mind the price increases if the value goes back up. Time will tell...

 

As much as I love the Hawaii cruise (and I am from Hawaii), Princess has taken this off the market for me for the time being. It all started when Princess decided to cut full time runs to Hawaii (turn around every 14 days) several years ago. Instead of running two ships (LA/SF) to Hawaii 4 times a month, they are doing it twice a month (One from each port). The other weeks are coastal and Mexico.

 

Mathematically, they have cut the berths by 50% and raised their prices accordingly. It's all a matter of supply and demand.

 

I am very saddened by the lack of ship voyages during the Hawaii "season". I am a Princess loyalist and look forward to the day the bean counters consider their passengers over their bottom dollar. Bring back Hawaii full time, please.

[geoherb]

Their prices are crazy right now. We compared 10 day Caribbean cruises for next November. We went with Celebrity for $1,400 less for the two of us. Drink package on both, plus $300 OBC, gratuities and free internet on Celebrity. That's a crazy difference.

That's a great deal. Our neighbors went on a Celebrity cruise the same week we were going on a Princess one. They picked it because of a similar deal available to them made it work out less costly than going on the cruise with us.

 

On the Princess website, sometimes I see a lower price after signing in. I've never seen the price go up immediately after signing in.

[Knickearth]

I have noticed lately a few things. One, when they offer the sip and sale or other special offers - the pricing remains at the highest level.

 

I have recently booked a Princess cruise, that when you login, the price drops 1000. per cabin (no matter what type cabin). This is a longer type cruise but still that is a huge difference.

 

I also no longer see where Princess is offering shipboard credit for booking a cruise. We use to get 100. for booking a cruise but no more.

 

Getting greedy I think. I have a personal philosophy on this but won't go into it right now.

[hpeabody]

There is a cruise I am very much interested in for next June. 2017. It is 14 days (not B2B, YAY!) Norway, Midnight Sun/Summer Solstice. I would typically book an obstructed ocean view, mid ship. I am a solo, so because I pay 200% I can't afford higher categories. I have priced 2 almost identical itineraries, 1 HAL, rt Amsterdam and 1 Princess rt Southampton.

 

HAL = $5059.47 (Includes Explore4, beverage pkg and specialty dining, 3/4 pax stuff)

 

PRINCESS = $6738.00 ZERO perks, Sip & Sail is ongoing, but not allowed below balcony category.

 

Guess which one I will be choosing? And honestly this long time Princess Elite cruiser is looking elsewhere. Between pricing games, pseudo sales, treatment of solos, the multitude of cutbacks and unwelcome changes I see defection in the future. This is what it has come to for me. YMMV

[Cruise Junky]

That's a great deal. Our neighbors went on a Celebrity cruise the same week we were going on a Princess one. They picked it because of a similar deal available to them made it work out less costly than going on the cruise with us.

 

On the Princess website, sometimes I see a lower price after signing in. I've never seen the price go up immediately after signing in.

 

Yez. I'm very happy with it. That Princess price was me signed in. Crazy difference

[easyboy]

There is a cruise I am very much interested in for next June. 2017. It is 14 days (not B2B, YAY!) Norway, Midnight Sun/Summer Solstice. I would typically book an obstructed ocean view, mid ship. I am a solo, so because I pay 200% I can't afford higher categories. I have priced 2 almost identical itineraries, 1 HAL, rt Amsterdam and 1 Princess rt Southampton.

 

HAL = $5059.47 (Includes Explore4, beverage pkg and specialty dining, 3/4 pax stuff)

 

PRINCESS = $6738.00 ZERO perks, Sip & Sail is ongoing, but not allowed below balcony category.

 

Guess which one I will be choosing? And honestly this long time Princess Elite cruiser is looking elsewhere. Between pricing games, pseudo sales, treatment of solos, the multitude of cutbacks and unwelcome changes I see defection in the future. This is what it has come to for me. YMMV

With that kind of disparity, no one can blame you to opt for HAL.

[Lucky TGO]

There is a cruise I am very much interested in for next June. 2017. It is 14 days (not B2B, YAY!) Norway, Midnight Sun/Summer Solstice. I would typically book an obstructed ocean view, mid ship. I am a solo, so because I pay 200% I can't afford higher categories. I have priced 2 almost identical itineraries, 1 HAL, rt Amsterdam and 1 Princess rt Southampton.

 

HAL = $5059.47 (Includes Explore4, beverage pkg and specialty dining, 3/4 pax stuff)

 

PRINCESS = $6738.00 ZERO perks, Sip & Sail is ongoing, but not allowed below balcony category.

 

Guess which one I will be choosing? And honestly this long time Princess Elite cruiser is looking elsewhere. Between pricing games, pseudo sales, treatment of solos, the multitude of cutbacks and unwelcome changes I see defection in the future. This is what it has come to for me. YMMV

 

I am hitting the like button on this one.

Tony

[caribill]

I have noticed lately a few things. One, when they offer the sip and sale or other special offers - the pricing remains at the highest level.

 

Princess (and Carnival and Royal Caribbean) are trying to maintain what they call "price integrity" and will in general not keep lowering prices for a sale and then raising prices when the sale is over. Instead, they keep the price about the same (but it can go up as a ship sells out) and adjust the amenities for each promotion. Thus the price is about the same when the promotion is the AIBP and when the promotion is free gratuities and when.... It is up to the customer to decide if the net cost makes it a good deal.

 

The idea is to get passengers to book early knowing that waiting will not result in big sales. It is working, as RCCL and Carnival Corp which owns Princess) report higher advance booking rates than in the past.

I also no longer see where Princess is offering shipboard credit for booking a cruise. We use to get 100. for booking a cruise but no more. That amenity still happens with some promotions. However, using a good discount TA can get you any Princess amenities offered plus some OBC (or reduced pricing) from the TA.

 

 

See above in red.

[takeadip]

Hi everyone at CC,

 

We are looking at a spring time cruise for 2017. My DH and I were looking at pricing on Princess web page. We discussed our options for a while then decided to log in. When we did, there was a big price Increase. At first there was no Sun Drenched Deal pricing and when we re-logged in the Sun Drenched deal came up. The cruise we are looking at now is $200 pp more under the Sun Drenched Sale! This all happen within 20 minute window.

 

Why does Princess has a "sale" and raise the price!!!

 

Besides the sale price problem, we have noticed that as a returning Princess customer we no longer get a reduce price when we log in. They use to have a returning customer perk of getting a little cost reduction.

 

We will wait for this "sale" to go off and recheck the price of the cruise we want. Mean while, we will be checking other cruise lines.

 

Thanks for letting me vent. :D

 

Kaye

 

This type of sabotage pricing model has to stop..!!! i agree...why raise the price just to reduce it? they think the general pop is stupid...

 

side note: NCL does this game with all of their cabins....just for fun...book a cabin on any NCL ship when they advertise kids sail free...i checked the price for a balcony for (2) people..the total cost was 2600 dollars...which was $1300 per person...then i pretend book adding our 6 yr old son...under the kids sail free promo...and the price went to $3100 dollars!!!! all of a sudden the same exact room now was $1550 for the first 2 guests and our 6 yr old was "free" but really the price went up $500 dollars when we added him....so it turns out that in the cruise world the word "free" is a four letter word...

 

its complete nonsense...i called the NCL rep and we went round and round trying to explain this logic...

 

Best,

Mark

[mmckm]

Nothing is free.

[MrMan]

There is a cruise I am very much interested in for next June. 2017. It is 14 days (not B2B, YAY!) Norway, Midnight Sun/Summer Solstice. I would typically book an obstructed ocean view, mid ship. I am a solo, so because I pay 200% I can't afford higher categories. I have priced 2 almost identical itineraries, 1 HAL, rt Amsterdam and 1 Princess rt Southampton.

 

HAL = $5059.47 (Includes Explore4, beverage pkg and specialty dining, 3/4 pax stuff)

 

PRINCESS = $6738.00 ZERO perks, Sip & Sail is ongoing, but not allowed below balcony category.

 

Guess which one I will be choosing? And honestly this long time Princess Elite cruiser is looking elsewhere. Between pricing games, pseudo sales, treatment of solos, the multitude of cutbacks and unwelcome changes I see defection in the future. This is what it has come to for me. YMMV

 

 

Go HAL! Let's face it 90% of cruises are the same not matter what line. Variety and new experiences beat status in my book. These lines are not family or a religion it's just a transportation company. And what does staying with one line significantly get one, warmed over canapés and some laundry. You can buy a lot of canapés and laundry with the savings.

[easyboy]

This type of sabotage pricing model has to stop..!!! i agree...why raise the price just to reduce it? they think the general pop is stupid...

 

side note: NCL does this game with all of their cabins....just for fun...book a cabin on any NCL ship when they advertise kids sail free...i checked the price for a balcony for (2) people..the total cost was 2600 dollars...which was $1300 per person...then i pretend book adding our 6 yr old son...under the kids sail free promo...and the price went to $3100 dollars!!!! all of a sudden the same exact room now was $1550 for the first 2 guests and our 6 yr old was "free" but really the price went up $500 dollars when we added him....so it turns out that in the cruise world the word "free" is a four letter word...

 

its complete nonsense...i called the NCL rep and we went round and round trying to explain this logic...

 

Best,

Mark

I do understand your outrage. I, too, would.

Thanks for sharing.

[bulldog on water]

I agree with the OP's opening message.

We booked our Feb,2017 cruise last march, there was a "true" sale for that cruise later and we rebooked back in Sept. I have been regularly following the website for additional "sales". So the OP was correct, when the 'Sun Drenched" sale was posted for this specific cruise..the price was more then the day before. However I can understand the issue..Princess plans the dates and cruises that will go on sales well in advance. But demand on individual cruise at the time of the sale will dictate what the rates will be. Thus a cruise that was scheduled for a sale price may get posted as an increase because of demand. Princess would be wise to remove the "sale' banner on ALL those individual cruises that did not get reduced. I say ALL because I see some cruises that do not have the "sale" banner for a specific week even though the other 3 weeks for the same cruise have the banner.

BTW our Sept price is $800 and free Gratuities cheaper than the current "Sale" price for our Feb 2017 cruise.

[TracieABD]

I have a cruise booked. I booked it without any promotion attached. Now it is part of the "Sun Drenched Sale". No change in prices, no OBC, no perks. The only difference is the deposit is now non-refundable.

[Happy2cruise]

I have a cruise booked. I booked it without any promotion attached. Now it is part of the "Sun Drenched Sale". No change in prices, no OBC, no perks. The only difference is the deposit is now non-refundable.

Booked a November cruise thru the "Sun Drenched Sale" when sale first came out. Yesterday, Princess showed a substantial price drop. Called TA and received the price drop.

[TracieABD]

Booked a November cruise thru the "Sun Drenched Sale" when sale first came out. Yesterday, Princess showed a substantial price drop. Called TA and received the price drop.

 

... And that is precisely why I check Every. Single. Day.

[Happy2cruise]

... And that is precisely why I check Every. Single. Day.

Same here:D