Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th

[CruisinFinsUp]

I just looked at our August 2020 cruise.  
 

The website offers 2 prices "Best sale ever" with bev, grats & wifi included,

and "best fare" which is less and presumably does not have anything extra.  
 

I have to do the math to figure out which situation is best for us and our needs.  

 

One question I have not seen answered is this:  

--the beverage package is assigned based on drinking age for ships ported in the US (21 get the alcohol package).  

 For cruises departing Europe the onboard drinking age is 18.  So for a cruise in Europe, would the package assigned to a 20 year old be the one that fits the cruises's rules?  I know the fine print does not say this.  

I'm not looking for speculation or opinions please - just actual info from Princess if anyone happens to have heard anything.  Thanks.  

[voljeep]

If a cruise is covered.  Does it show now on the website.?

[chamima]

18 minutes ago, cruisintoddler said:

I just looked at our August 2020 cruise.  
 

The website offers 2 prices "Best sale ever" with bev, grats & wifi included,

and "best fare" which is less and presumably does not have anything extra.  
 

I have to do the math to figure out which situation is best for us and our needs.  

 

One question I have not seen answered is this:  

--the beverage package is assigned based on drinking age for ships ported in the US (21 get the alcohol package).  

 For cruises departing Europe the onboard drinking age is 18.  So for a cruise in Europe, would the package assigned to a 20 year old be the one that fits the cruises's rules?  I know the fine print does not say this.  

I'm not looking for speculation or opinions please - just actual info from Princess if anyone happens to have heard anything.  Thanks.  

 

My advice is to post a new question on the Princess board asking exactly that.

There has to be someone who has cruised with a 20 year old and a drink package in Europe.

[phabric]

I have 2 cruises for Aug 2021 with no perks. 

 

Present price cruise only $2,520.70 CDN/pp  - no perks

 

Under this sale

Best Value - $2,754.70 CD with beverage, wifi, tips

Best Price - $2,520.70 CDN - no perks   If I add the add on of $364 ($52/dd/pp) $2,884.70

 

Cheaper to refare.  

 

I will wait for my agent to get back to me?

 

I have a March 2021 booked with 1 & 2 with beverage and tips and 3rd with coffee & soda.

 

Will wait to see if agent can add tips and wifi to the 3rd?

 

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by phabric

[phabric]

10 minutes ago, voljeep said:

If a cruise is covered.  Does it show now on the website.?

Yes, there is a red banner with the sale information

[K.T.B.]

Well, the easiest thing for me to do was just cancel the booking I had with my TA and rebook with Princess.  In the end, I'm saving almost $550 overall AND I'm getting a better vacation protection package.  Best of all, the cabin I rebooked for is literally right next door to the cabin I had originally booked.  I'm very glad that Princess has the courtesy hold option, too.

[Daniel A]

3 hours ago, BoopTennis said:

I checked the new BestDealEver pricing that just came out, it is not a better deal for our situation. We already have the SipnSail deal with the Bev Package. The new price to refare is higher than the $25pp per day upcharge to include grats and wifi

From my read of the chart on the Retro Guidelines, anyone who has SipnSail only has the option to refare.  It doesn't look like they are offering a grats and wifi package on that chart.  It looks like all of the upcharge packages must include PBP.  But - we all should be learning the fine details of this rollout starting today.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, dog said:

I still do not see this sale. My cruise is showing a $1440 increase in the fare I have booked.  Maybe later.

When is your cruise?  I  have a cruise booked for Feb 2, 2020 and this promo doesn't apply to that one because the promo only covers cruises that sail after March 26, 2020.

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

When is your cruise?  I  have a cruise booked for Feb 2, 2020 and this promo doesn't apply to that one because the promo only covers cruises that sail after March 26, 2020.

Looks like my little 5 day is not covered...7 or more in Caribbean... bummer

[billco]

I don't believe it would be in our best interest to rebook or upgrade. I currently have a DW Balcony booked under the Cyber Sale on a 25 day cruise on the Sky Princess nest April.

Princess cost under the Cyber Sale is $7675, but we would have to pay $725 in Gratuities. However, we get $400 in Air Discount and $400 in OBC for a total of $7600. Also, we get 4 devices WiFi.

Princess cost under the Best Sale Ever is $9258, but we get $725 in Gratuities and the Premium Beverage Package. However, we only get 1 device wifi and don't get OBC or Air Discount. Difference is $1658 between 

As I understand, we could add Premium Beverage Package and Gratuities for $30 per day per person for $1500. Not likely that we would drink $1500 or $1658 in beverages.

 

 

[NCbmwmom]

Has anyone called Princess and been able to add this yet?  I booked online, so no travel agent to handle this for me. I was unsure when to call and what to say. We are booked under 3for free. 

[lstone19]

It looks like not all cruises that should have Best Sale Ever pricing have them yet. We're booked on the 1/17/21 Ruby Princess Hawaii cruise out of San Francisco and it is not showing BSE pricing even though it's on the list of BSE cruises.

[Torfamm]

I just called and was told we are not eligible for the  Gratuities and Beverage Package add on because we had a casino discount applied to our Cyber Sale fare.  Anyone else have any experience with not being able to do an add-on to an existing booking?

 

Refaring is not going to save us anything on the cruise we have booked for December, 2020

[Abercrombie2019]

I'm on the phone now with a Princess Representative that hasn't heard about the add ons.  She is saying that I can only refare.

[Cruiser_1977]

Figured it out LOL

Edited December 11, 2019 by JennyB1977

[fluffybunny22]

This is a no go for us. We have Sip and Sail and the new sale the price went up $700. I'll keep an eye out because we did see 2 fare reductions while the S&S ran.

[rocklinmom]

Holy moly! Our June 2020 cruise would be the Worst.Sale.Ever with this promo. They raised our fares by $198pp and by a whopping $400pp for the 3rd and 4th passengers (yikes). That wouldn't pencil out at all with our current 3 for Free bookings. Bummer but not shocking. 

[flahagan]

I don't see anywhere the $25, $30 or $35 add-on options.  I did a mock booking for my transatlantic April 19, 2020 - there was a banner on it for Best Sale Ever, but no mention that you could just add these on to your existing booking.  Also, it very clearly states that ALL persons over 21 in a cabin must pay for the PBP, unlike their normal stipulation that only one person may buy the beverage package.  My final payment is this week and I'd really like to add the $30 package if possible, but where are these options hiding?!!!

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, flahagan said:

I don't see anywhere the $25, $30 or $35 add-on options.  I did a mock booking for my transatlantic April 19, 2020 - there was a banner on it for Best Sale Ever, but no mention that you could just add these on to your existing booking.  Also, it very clearly states that ALL persons over 21 in a cabin must pay for the PBP, unlike their normal stipulation that only one person may buy the beverage package.  My final payment is this week and I'd really like to add the $30 package if possible, but where are these options hiding?!!!

I think the add on options maybe for existing bookings. I think.

 

There maybe several prices with one where you don't get amenities sort of like there are promos where you can pay less for a non-refundable and pay more for a refundable deposit. Part of this program is to help travel agents "upsell" their current bookings as opposed to re-faring. So staring with a fresh booking may have a different experience.

 

Just speculating as I haven't looked.

Edited December 11, 2019 by Coral

[palolake]

2 minutes ago, flahagan said:

I don't see anywhere the $25, $30 or $35 add-on options.  I did a mock booking for my transatlantic April 19, 2020 - there was a banner on it for Best Sale Ever, but no mention that you could just add these on to your existing booking.  Also, it very clearly states that ALL persons over 21 in a cabin must pay for the PBP, unlike their normal stipulation that only one person may buy the beverage package.  My final payment is this week and I'd really like to add the $30 package if possible, but where are these options hiding?!!!

 

Just talked to our TA and she can add them on.  She hasn't yet though because she's VERY busy. For an existing booking.

Edited December 11, 2019 by palolake

[PaperSniper4]

4 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

I don't have the banner and it's not under "Cruise Deals". Tried Chrome and Edge. Logging in and not. 😞

 

Ditto as of 0830 CT 11 Dec 2019. However, I used an old online standby to get an idea of the price and it worked. It APPEARED I'd save about $200 over the price on a 10 day Mexico cruise, catagory MD cabin I have booked for Jan 2021. That is NOT including the subjective value of the Beverage Package. We drink only 1-2 drinks max a day and usually only in our cabin.

Doug

 

PS - If we only order our drinks from cabin service, are those included in the Beverage Package? Or would we have to go to one of the bars to do that? We generally much prefer our drinks on our balcony before dinner. Anyone know?

[idahospud]

2 minutes ago, flahagan said:

I don't see anywhere the $25, $30 or $35 add-on options.  I did a mock booking for my transatlantic April 19, 2020 - there was a banner on it for Best Sale Ever, but no mention that you could just add these on to your existing booking.  Also, it very clearly states that ALL persons over 21 in a cabin must pay for the PBP, unlike their normal stipulation that only one person may buy the beverage package.  My final payment is this week and I'd really like to add the $30 package if possible, but where are these options hiding?!!!

The add-ons can't be done at Princess.com. You have to go through your TA or give Princess a call.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, idahospud said:

The add-ons can't be done at Princess.com. You have to go through your TA or give Princess a call.

Thanks!

[rocklinmom]

1 minute ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

Ditto as of 0830 CT 11 Dec 2019. However, I used an old online standby to get an idea of the price and it worked. It APPEARED I'd save about $200 over the price on a 10 day Mexico cruise, catagory MD cabin I have booked for Jan 2021. That is NOT including the subjective value of the Beverage Package. We drink only 1-2 drinks max a day and usually only in our cabin.

Doug

 

PS - If we only order our drinks from cabin service, are those included in the Beverage Package? Or would we have to go to one of the bars to do that? We generally much prefer our drinks on our balcony before dinner. Anyone know?

It says Beverage Package cannot be used for Room Service 

[azbirdmom]

22 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

I just called and was told we are not eligible for the  Gratuities and Beverage Package add on because we had a casino discount applied to our Cyber Sale fare.  Anyone else have any experience with not being able to do an add-on to an existing booking?

 

Refaring is not going to save us anything on the cruise we have booked for December, 2020

 

That restriction is not shown on the "Retro" guidelines document which is pretty lean on terms and conditions.  However, the TA flyer for the sale includes this fine print which I would think would apply to the buy ups as well.  Guessing that they don't have their act together yet, actually hoping that is the case and they didn't change their position re: those of us with casino discounts!

 

"Gratuities: Gratuities are based on the pre-payment, by Princess Cruises, on behalf of the guest for the suggested gratuities in the U.S. dollar amounts of $14.50 per person per day for Interior, Oceanview, and Balcony staterooms, $15.50 per person per day for Mini-suite and Club Class staterooms and $16.50 per person per day for Suites. is amount is paid on the behalf of all guests in a stateroom only. Free gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts or Lotus Spa services. Gratuities are not transferable, nonrefundable, have no cash value and may not be combinable with other select offers or other onboard credit. Combinability: Offer is combinable with Standard Groups (including amentiies and counts toward TCs) and for guests 1 and 2 on existing groups, Cruise Sales, and Casino Discounts, Geo-targeted and recipient-only offers and Captain Circle Launch Savings. Offer is not combinable with any other promotions. e promotion is subject to capacity control and is not transferable. is offer is available to residents of the 50 United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bermuda and the District of Columbia. Please refer to princess.com for terms, conditions and defi nitions that apply to all bookings. Air & Transfers: e standard transfer program and EZair is available for eligible cruises. Offer Expiration: February 29, 2019 (11:59 pm PST) Promo Codes: NZ*/KZ* ©2019 Princess Cruise Lines, Ltd. Ships of Bermudan and British registry"