3 for Free Details - September 6 - November 19

[Astro Flyer]

I think we are likely screwed. We didn't book the S&S because the price of the cabin went up by $1,000 so it wasn't worth re-faring. I actually downgraded to a Premium Ocean View at that point. I was hoping that, since I booked that cabin at the new higher pricing, it would be eligible for the 3FF but I just checked cabin prices and they have gone up a bunch. The cheapest Ocean View is about $1,000 more that I paid for the Premium Ocean View. Mind boggling. Unless they drop the price dramatically (yeah, right) there's no way I can get the 3FF. It's frustrating because the cruise has absolutely zero perks as it stands and my OBC won't even cover the gratuities. POOP!!! (Yeah, I know. Wah,, wah, wah...:loudcry:)

Similar experience for us...our cruise fare has increased by 20% since booking our cruise on the first day 9 months ago & the cruise is still 14 months away.

 

Tomorrow I'll confirm that the current prices haven't drastically dropped but that's highly unlikely on our cruise with very limited availability. With 3FF our net cost would increase by nearly $500 for both of us & we'd have an interior guarantee cabin instead of our current midship interior cabin for two.

 

This will be the first time in several years that 3FF did not provide our best net cruise cost...me too...wah, wah, wah :loudcry:

[FLCruise7]

I think we are likely screwed. We didn't book the S&S because the price of the cabin went up by $1,000 so it wasn't worth re-faring. I actually downgraded to a Premium Ocean View at that point. I was hoping that, since I booked that cabin at the new higher pricing, it would be eligible for the 3FF but I just checked cabin prices and they have gone up a bunch. The cheapest Ocean View is about $1,000 more that I paid for the Premium Ocean View. Mind boggling. Unless they drop the price dramatically (yeah, right) there's no way I can get the 3FF. It's frustrating because the cruise has absolutely zero perks as it stands and my OBC won't even cover the gratuities. POOP!!! (Yeah, I know. Wah,, wah, wah...:loudcry:)

 

I was just looking at pricing on a few of my cruises for next year & the price today was a lot higher - but then I realized that it's still showing the Sip & Sail pricing. That may change when the 3FF starts. At least I hope so - will check tomorrow.

[Steelers36]

The way 3FF works is that you can book the top category of interior cabin at the price of the lowest interior cabin. In other words, all interior cabins are at the same price. At least this is the way it worked the last two years.

 

So if you already have a booking (such as S&S) and want to switch to 3FF, you can get re-fared to the lower cost of the lowest interior cabin but keep the interior cabin you already have.

 

I too have used 3FF numerous times so I am aware of the way it works. As I previously posted our top level interior cabin cost more than the one price for all of the other interior cabins.

 

We have previously re-fared to 3FF several times because the sale prices were the same & the tip & OBC were added. For a Fall 2019 cruise the current price has increased more than the benefits we would receive. Once the 3FF prices are released we can confirm that it won’t lower our net price for our cruise which already has limited availability.

 

You guys are not quite correct. The most recent 3FF sale excluded "A" level cabins. So you would pay the "F" or "E" rate and could select up to a "B", but the "A" was priced higher. EG Book an IB and pay same fare as IF. But IA cost more.

[Astro Flyer]

You guys are not quite correct. The most recent 3FF sale excluded "A" level cabins. So you would pay the "F" or "E" rate and could select up to a "B", but the "A" was priced higher. EG Book an IB and pay same fare as IF. But IA cost more.

Apparently you overlooked my posts including the one you quoted that stated that fact...our IA cost more than all of the other interior categories.

 

As I previously posted our top level interior cabin cost more than the one price for all of the other interior cabins.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[Steelers36]

Apparently you overlooked my posts including the one you quoted that stated that fact...our IA cost more than all of the other interior categories.

 

You are quite right, Astro. It was Caribill who did not quite state it correctly and I think I forgot why I multi-quoted. I believe my intent was to make the correction and indicate your quote had it right, while clarifying about the "A" type. Sorry about that, you are calling me on it correctly.

[Astro Flyer]

You are quite right, Astro. It was Caribill who did not quite state it correctly and I think I forgot why I multi-quoted. I believe my intent was to make the correction and indicate your quote had it right, while clarifying about the "A" type. Sorry about that, you are calling me on it correctly.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

Quick question...are you planning to update your great wine list document after the new wine list is implemented this fall?

[Steelers36]

Some posters have mentioned prices that can jump up when a new promotion comes. I just checked our REGAL Baltic (Scandinavia/Russia) cruise for next June, plus the voyage following that one we had considered and all the Interior fares are up $100 as of today (Sep 5). IDK when they went up, but last time I looked in August sometime, they were lower by $100 (and pegged at what we paid after being set higher previously - quite the yo-yo).

 

Considering 3FF OBC is only $150 total for an interior, that puts someone $50 in the hole when booking for 2 people on a net fare value basis. Of course, the free grats are worth $297, so it all depends as usual when you booked and what Princess sets fares at now. I am guessing they won't change again by morning, but who knows?

 

We have another promo on the booking (I think it was Landmark), so 3FF is no good. I am beginning to think that booking well early under a promotion doesn't often get beat because by the time subsequent promos come along, prices have moved up and so net-net is not so great.

 

Tomorrow, I can re-book an IE under 3FF for same price as I booked an IA at originally and then select an IB for free. Then we get $150 OBC, plus $297 Grats. But we have $1000 OBC and no free Grats. Methinks we stay put.

 

For the following cruise, which we are not doing (sticking with the earlier date), I booked that under S&S. So we got $200 OBC and free Grats for $297. Tomorrow, I would pay $200 more and get only $150 OBC, and keep free Grats. So, my net loss is $250 - not to mention the drink package which I don't care about and would rather have had OBC (but this year - as has been well-documented here on CC - a customer needs to ask for a special non-refundable fare booking with no perks to get a better price on a S&S voyage).

 

So, I am not unhappy with what we did book and get. You get the best deal you can when deciding to book and then see if anything better comes along. In our case, not so much. However, if we wanted to book a new cruise vacation tomorrow, 3FF would be great.

[Steelers36]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

Quick question...are you planning to update your great wine list document after the new wine list is implemented this fall?

 

I am a bad person because I "promised" the community that I would update the list following our Island S.A. cruise last winter. When we got home in the spring, I got busy and just never "got around to it". Then, I heard the wine list was being revamped and new pricing and new wines and I was also aware that general drink prices had gone up, so assumed there would be significant changes. So, then I decided it would be largely a waste of effort to produce a new list - which had essentially the same listings as before.

 

I would be happy to make a brand new list, including doing the price comparisons to Total Wine, but I will need someone to provide me with the wine list details or images from menus as we have no cruises planned until the winter when we do two months in Australia, beginning with a cruise around NZ. That said, I cannot rely on that zone to give me the info for North American departures which was the focus of my original list and prefer to keep it that way.

 

So, if you or anyone can get me wine lists from MDR and specialty venues, I would be happy to work on it this fall.

[Steelers36]

Some posters have mentioned prices that can jump up when a new promotion comes. I just checked our REGAL Baltic (Scandinavia/Russia) cruise for next June, plus the voyage following that one we had considered and all the Interior fares are up $100 as of today (Sep 5). IDK when they went up, but last time I looked in August sometime, they were lower by $100 (and pegged at what we paid after being set higher previously - quite the yo-yo).

 

Considering 3FF OBC is only $150 total for an interior, that puts someone $50 in the hole when booking for 2 people on a net fare value basis. Of course, the free grats are worth $297, so it all depends as usual when you booked and what Princess sets fares at now. I am guessing they won't change again by morning, but who knows?

 

We have another promo on the booking (I think it was Landmark), so 3FF is no good. I am beginning to think that booking well early under a promotion doesn't often get beat because by the time subsequent promos come along, prices have moved up and so net-net is not so great.

 

Tomorrow, I can re-book an IE under 3FF for same price as I booked an IA at originally and then select an IB for free. Then we get $150 OBC, plus $297 Grats. But we have $1000 OBC and no free Grats. Methinks we stay put.

 

For the following cruise, which we are not doing (sticking with the earlier date), I booked that under S&S. So we got $0 OBC (I messed up in the posting above) and no free Grats for $297. Tomorrow, I would pay $200 more and get only $150 OBC, and get free Grats. So, my net gain is about $250 - not to mention losing the drink package which I don't care about and would rather have had OBC (but this year - as has been well-documented here on CC - a customer needs to ask for a special non-refundable fare booking with no perks to get a better price on a S&S voyage).

 

So, I am not unhappy with what we did book and get. You get the best deal you can when deciding to book and then see if anything better comes along. In our case, not so much. However, if we wanted to book a new cruise vacation tomorrow, 3FF would be great.

 

<<<Without proof-reading, I screwed up in the above posting over the S&S benefits we got on the alternate date booking. Suffice to say, based on these voyages, Princess has jacked up prices so as to give no benefit to 3FF if already booked.>>>

 

Well, it's not even midnight and Princess has indeed jacked up the pricing for Baltic cruises mentioned above. 3FF is already loaded up. What I see now is that IF pricing is $2489 instead of $2299 and this is good all thru IB category and IA is now $2614 where it was $2424 just an hour ago and $2324 as recent as August sometime.

 

What I see - using Interior category as an example - is a $380/couple fare increase over the most recent fare quotes and $580/couple over relatively recent fares (sometime in August). In return, one gets $150/couple OBC and saves the $297 in Grats/couple (assuming you booked under S&S this summer). That is a $450 benefit, but you are paying $380 or $580 more to get it (assuming booking recently). Doesn't make sense. Last year, 3FF was good for us.

 

So, Princess giveth on the one hand and taketh with the other. No doubt, this story will be repeated for other cruise voyages when folks get a chance to compare.

Edited September 6, 2018 by steelers36

[Astro Flyer]

steelers36...my next cruise is in the spring so won’t see the changes until then.

[Steelers36]

I guess I am tired. I looked at my spreadsheet pricing incorrectly for the cruise we are keeping. Still, not worth it to switch for us. I won't do the math again. You guys know what to do - compare the fares, net of your TA discounting; compare the benefits, and figure out your net-net. Check, too, if your TA has changed anything with their OBC amount. So, sorry I messed up some of the info, but you get the idea.

[Thrak]

Princess is no longer showing the Sip and Sail but is not yet showing the 3 For Free. However, I just looked at the current pricing. Wowie Zowie! We're booked in a Premium Ocean View. The pricing now shows the cheapest Ocean View at a cost that is $1,312 dollars more than we paid. No way is Princess going to give us the 3FF perks without paying a crazy amount more. We had originally been booked in a balcony but dropped down to the Premium Ocean View when we found the S&S pricing was $1,000 more for the cabin. Looking at the pricing now is mind boggling! It is now $2,140 more for a balcony than our original booking! Seriously. Our original booking was at $3,549 per person so it was $7,098 before taxes, etc. That is for a 12 day cruise. The pricing tonight is $4,619 per person or $9,238 before taxes, etc. Again this is for a cruise that is only 12 days. I only paid $2,160 more for the 28 day Hawaii and South Pacific cruise and that had the Sip and Sail included!

[julie3fan]

Wow! I hope that's not across the board. I planned on booking 2 different cruises tomorrow - I hope both of them stay relatively close in price to what was showing earlier.

[eyegirl]

Princess is no longer showing the Sip and Sail but is not yet showing the 3 For Free. However, I just looked at the current pricing. Wowie Zowie! We're booked in a Premium Ocean View. The pricing now shows the cheapest Ocean View at a cost that is $1,312 dollars more than we paid. No way is Princess going to give us the 3FF perks without paying a crazy amount more. We had originally been booked in a balcony but dropped down to the Premium Ocean View when we found the S&S pricing was $1,000 more for the cabin. Looking at the pricing now is mind boggling! It is now $2,140 more for a balcony than our original booking! Seriously. Our original booking was at $3,549 per person so it was $7,098 before taxes, etc. That is for a 12 day cruise. The pricing tonight is $4,619 per person or $9,238 before taxes, etc. Again this is for a cruise that is only 12 days. I only paid $2,160 more for the 28 day Hawaii and South Pacific cruise and that had the Sip and Sail included!

 

 

 

Same thing for me! I went to book and in the middle of booking, the price went up [emoji35]

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Forums

[Mud_Shark]

Give it time to settle. I have seen the price go up today on the two cruises we are considering and then actually come down to a point that is below what was advertised for the sip and sail promo, so I hope it stays at the lower point once the 3 for free promo begins. They are resetting things and it may take a bit of time for the actual prices to be displayed.

 

Don

[mycruisey]

No banners are showing but if you continue to make the booking the 3forfree appears. Prices appear to be the same as yesterday.

[CineGraphic]

It looks like the price for our inside cabins for both of our cruises have stayed the same, while other categories went up. My TA told me that he’ll probably be on the phone with Princess all day adjusting everyone’s bookings.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone while I probably should be working.

[cruzrbachoua]

I think Princess is still setting this up...on our 11/2/19 cruise pic shows all interiors same price except the 1 area we want...I continue to book but no 3 for free promo stuff comes up but it was on the sheet Coral posted...will give it some time...

[Italy52]

I just had my TA check and was told that my Alaska cruises dates did not qualify -- strange. I think I will give it a day and then call back when I see the sale advertise.

[Croptop]

Just looked at my Feb 2020 Australia and Asia cruise and while it's not showing the 3FF promo, I noticed that I could book an aft balcony guarantee for a few dollars less than what I'm currently paying for my interior. So I'm on the phone right now (on hold) to refare and upgrade to a balcony.

 

I'll still watch to see if any 3FF perks get added to the cruise.

 

EDIT: Just got off the phone with Princess and not only did I step up from an interior to a balcony but Cindy saved me almost CDN$500. I didn't get any other perks (although my OBC went to AU$100 because now I'm in a balcony) and my deposit is now non-refundable but I'm still quite happy with how things turned out.

 

And I've still got over a year to watch for better deals.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Croptop

[Italy52]

Voyages included:

 

https://book.princess.com/pdf/onesource/pc/sales_marketing/PC_3ForFree_VoyageList0830.pdf

 

Coral, where did you get your voyage list from?

[spyro1952]

My TA in April 19 is showing $1252 more. We booked cat IA so it wouldn’t qualify for cabin upgrade and there are only 2 IA cabins available.

Don’t think I will even bother to keep checking. Disembarking in Dublin is a new itinerary and seems very popular.

My other booked cruise is the B2B on the Sky with the TA and that is almost full also. I will check the list to see if it’s on there. I have SnS on that one. :D:confused::D

[mina]

On my cruise, Alaska Grand 10 day on May 16 2019, the balcony cost went from 2300 yesterday to 1999 today. We are switching from the sip and sail as we do not drink much and we would rather select a caribe deck balcony for the same cost and have the OBC and gratuities.

[partybarbie]

I can't see the "3 for Free" promos yet either. I did check the pricing for my TA cruise in Nov. 2019. The cabin went up $700.00 per person, and I would lose a special booking perk of $200.00 per person. I don't see this "sale" saving us any money, but that's just how it works out sometimes.

[rocklinmom]

In California still no 3 for Free banners or mention of it. Our fare has gone up but minimally. It would still be offset by free gratuities and OBC. Are people already calling Princess and able to refare with 3FF even though it's not showing on the website yet?