Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th

[yogi_6977]

. This is in the fine print. So does this mean that taxes will be added to the drinks. Thanks Gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services. 

Edited December 8, 2019 by yogi_6977

[yogi_6977]

1 minute ago, yogi_6977 said:

This is in the fine print. So does this mean that taxes will be added to the drinks. Thanks ...Gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services. 

 

[caribill]

23 hours ago, casofilia said:

I have been an advocate for paying the Gratuities/Daily Service Charge very actively in the past.  ......At some point, it looks like it is getting closer every time I travel, I am going to switch sides and ask for the CHARGE to be removed so I can see to my own gratuities.

 

a) If the gratuities are "free" as a perk for booking, they cannot be removed.

 

b) If they are not "free" as a perk, if you remove them and hand out your own gratuties then whatever you give your dining staff and cabin steward must be turned over by them to be put into the tipping pool.

[caribill]

14 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

It's all called "Marketing"...

Rule #1--There is no free lunch.

 

I've been dealing with this sort of marketing for a while now--since I also cruise on Celebrity--and they've been doing this awhile.  Actually, Princess sort of has too...

 

No cruise line is just throwing in free drinks or free internet or OBC "just to be nice".  It is all very, very calculated.  You take a cruise fare, then figure an approximate value for the freebies...and you increase that cruise fare to account for it.

 

 

 

Celebrity does it differently from Princess.   Celebrity markets the "perks" in wording that suggests they are free, but in most cases you can book the same cruise for a lower price that does not include any of the "free" perks.

 

Princess (and other Carnival Corp brands) have a different way of doing this.

 

a) In the past until a couple of years ago there were many sales which were sales with lower pricing.

 

b) Because of this, many people wanting to book a cruise waitrf for the right priced sale to come along.

 

c) So Princess now tries to maintain "price integrity" meaning that the price for the cruise will not vary much from sale to sale (other than fluctuations up or down depending on supply and demand) and offers perks as part of the sale which in effect lowers the cost of cruising without lowering the posted cruise fare. This has worked as ships get booked earlier since people do not wait for a sale with lower prices.

 

d) Does Princess purposely increase the price when a perk is added? Probably not often. Posts on other threads when sales have been announced have shown that

-- Some fares do go up.

-- Some fares stay the same.

-- Some fares go down.

So basically the fares themselves come back to supply and demand. Prices will go up on sailings that have a high demand and will be lowered for sailings that have a low demand.

 

There was a recent post where someone said they booked a cruise in the morning and several hours later checked and the fare was higher for new bookings. No change of perks involved. Just higher demand for that cruise.

 

Of course the new ability to have optional add-ons to existing bookings is a change for Princess, but it is not hidden in the fares nor being promoted as "free" perks. Of course, for those who like the beverage package, the add-on which also includes WI-FI and/or gratuities is a bargain compared to the price of a beverage package by itself, assuming that the beverage package that is a part of these purchased perks is the same one sold by itself.

[Daniel A]

7 hours ago, steelers36 said:

I am getting my head around it and might try this package for one of us at least.  It is a big number for a longer cruise for sure to pay.

 

It looks like all persons in your cabin must purchase the upsell or refare:

"General Terms (applicable to all portions of the Offer) – ONLY available if all guests in a stateroom elect to participate in the Offer...If one guest in a stateroom elects not to avail itself of the Offer, the Offer may not be available for other guests in the same stateroom."

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, yogi_6977 said:

This is in the fine print. So does this mean that taxes will be added to the drinks. Thanks ...Gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services. 

I believe this was covered earlier in the thread but here it is again...  The gratuities package alone does not include the gratuities at a bar.  BUT bar gratuities are included in the Premier Beverage Package.  As I see it, no matter whether you do a new booking, refare an old booking or just do an upsell, every option includes the PBP.

[pms4104]

31 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

It looks like all persons in your cabin must purchase the upsell or refare:

"General Terms (applicable to all portions of the Offer) – ONLY available if all guests in a stateroom elect to participate in the Offer...If one guest in a stateroom elects not to avail itself of the Offer, the Offer may not be available for other guests in the same stateroom."

Princess' answer to

 sharing wifi and bev pkg?

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, yogi_6977 said:

. This is in the fine print. So does this mean that taxes will be added to the drinks. Thanks Gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services. 

I just re-read my response to you and I see that you asked about taxes, not gratuities.  I don't think bar drinks have taxes added under any circumstance.

[Reina del Mar]

Does anyone know if this is applicable in UK, please ?

 

Thanks.

[Daniel A]

6 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Princess' answer to

 sharing wifi and bev pkg?

I think one passenger in a multiple occupancy cabin can still purchase wifi and PBP at the rack rate but if they want to do it under this promotion, everyone in the cabin needs to participate.  And yeah, you're probably right and that's why they added those conditions to the promotion.

[Daniel A]

3 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

Does anyone know if this is applicable in UK, please ?

 

Thanks.

According to the fine print in the flyer,  "This offer is available to residents of the 50 United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bermuda and the District of Columbia."

I don't know but a similar promotion may be available to UK under a different name and conditions. 

[Reina del Mar]

Thank you...we don't appear to get the 'bargains'!!

[rocklinmom]

This new promo is confusing me before it even comes out. 

[Daniel A]

10 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

Thank you...we don't appear to get the 'bargains'!!

Princess knows about the Boston Tea Party so they don't want to agitate the colonists...   

[Steelers36]

26 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

Does anyone know if this is applicable in UK, please ?

 

Thanks.

Someone from the UK posted on this thread earlier, or another thread, I believe that the UK is getting this promo - perhaps with a different set of effective dates???  Perhaps it has a slightly different name??

 

https://cruise-adviser.com/princess-cruises-announces-best-sale-ever-and-drinks-package/

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

It looks like all persons in your cabin must purchase the upsell or refare:

"General Terms (applicable to all portions of the Offer) – ONLY available if all guests in a stateroom elect to participate in the Offer...If one guest in a stateroom elects not to avail itself of the Offer, the Offer may not be available for other guests in the same stateroom."

I seem to now recall someone mentioned this in passing.  I confess to not reading all the terms. 

 

However, I do wonder why they first state "Only available if ALL guests in a stateroom...", and then the last sentence states "Offer MAY NOT be available for other guests...".  Those two statements seem in conflict with each other, with the second one leaving the door open at least a crack for only one person buying the package.  Perhaps the "wriggle room" is to exempt minors, but I wonder about non-drinkers?

 

In the fine print, they state that minors will get the coffee and soda type package instead with no price adjustment.  Perhaps I will call and ask.

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by steelers36

[fluffybunny22]

I currently have Sip and Sail so I would need to refare. Do I lose my air price? Air is currently running almost double what I originally booked for.

[pms4104]

48 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

This new promo is confusing me before it even comes out. 

Yeah, yeah ... makes my head hurt.

[CruiseVA]

They always jack the prices when they include the drink package. Their example of the Caribbean for  may 20 is $1199//person. I'm booked in a minisuite on the Regal Feb 2 for $876/person.

[MamaFej]

43 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

I seem to now recall someone mentioned this in passing.  I confess to not reading all the terms. 

 

However, I do wonder why they first state "Only available if ALL guests in a stateroom...", and then the last sentence states "Offer MAY NOT be available for other guests...".  Those two statements seem in conflict with each other, with the second one leaving the door open at least a crack for only one person buying the package.  Perhaps the "wriggle room" is to exempt minors, but I wonder about non-drinkers?

 

In the fine print, they state that minors will get the coffee and soda type package instead with no price adjustment.  Perhaps I will call and ask.

 

Thanks, I'd be interested in what you learn.

 

We currently have a cabin booked for our offspring. They will be 24, 21, and 18 at the time of the cruise. I plan of giving the older two the option of buying the package, but the 18 year-old wouldn't need it nor could he afford $350 for the 14 day cruise. He'd probably buy a few coffees at the most. 

 

It may be a moot point for us, as the youngest will likely be marching Drum Corps International and not joining us, but I imagine there are others in the same situation. 

[Daniel A]

11 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Thanks, I'd be interested in what you learn.

 

We currently have a cabin booked for our offspring. They will be 24, 21, and 18 at the time of the cruise. I plan of giving the older two the option of buying the package, but the 18 year-old wouldn't need it nor could he afford $350 for the 14 day cruise. He'd probably buy a few coffees at the most. 

 

It may be a moot point for us, as the youngest will likely be marching Drum Corps International and not joining us, but I imagine there are others in the same situation. 

If the 24 and 21 year olds want the upsell that bad, maybe they could subsidize the 18YO.  Or better yet Gift Giving Time is coming...

 

According to the FAQs:

Q: Do all guests in the cabin need to have the same offer?

A: Guests 1 and 2 must have the same offer. If the first and second guest have Best. Sale. Ever., it will apply to guest 3 and 4 by default. Guests 3 and 4 can opt out of this package by calling Princess to have it removed.

 

Q: What if a guest doesn’t drink alcohol?

A: There are no substitutions for the Premier Beverage package. However, this package offers many non-alcoholic drinks, including fountain sodas, fresh juices (if available), specialty coffees & teas,

Frappes, smoothies, milk shakes, Red Bull energy drinks, bottled water, etc. Also, there is a pricing option if a guest does not want any of these amenities and wants rate only.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Daniel A

[RMMariner]

If a lot of people purchase the drink package, Princess ships will probably become more lively at night. I think that would be great. Just maybe not to the Carnival level of lively, I hope.

[tonit964]

9 hours ago, steelers36 said:

It is a great deal because grats are $14.50/day for regular cabins, so the drink package is $15.50 out of the $30 and not hard to spend that each day - even port days.  Unfortunately, our current bookings already have free grats.  Too bad I cannot buy the beverage package singly for $15!!  LOL.

 

Beverage plus Internet is $25/day. The internet is really only worth $3.20pp/day on two of our bookings and $2/pp/day on the other (I am considering fact that personally we pay a discounted price and share the plan). 

 

That means $22 - $23/pp/day for drinks.  Don't really spend that much, considering port days.  Bringing on wine runs me about $10/pp/day, but depends if I can bring enough for a long cruise.  I am getting my head around it and might try this package for one of us at least.  It is a big number for a longer cruise for sure to pay.

 

Actually, why not book it while it lasts and worry about it later at final payment?  I imagine it is cancellable.

 

I can see where it might not make sense on a long cruise but even if you just have three drinks per day, you're ahead of the game. For me, this is a no brainer, I'm going to add on the beverage package and the Grats since I have internet in my current promo.

It would be nice if there was the option to only purchase only the beverage package for $15!

[Tedferg]

8 hours ago, yogi_6977 said:

. This is in the fine print. So does this mean that taxes will be added to the drinks. Thanks Gratuities do not include gratuities added to bar charges, dining room wine accounts, or Lotus Spa services. 

That refers to regular cabin automatic gratuities and is pointing out that you will be also charge gratuity in a Bar.

Best Sale Ever includes gratuity on Beverage Package:

[victory2020]

13 hours ago, Tedferg said:

I hate to be a broken record but if you look at 'Retro Guidelines' on the link provided, Princess goes out of their way to show no need to refare - just add amenities. This is very unusual hence the confusion.

Haha, I really didn't look at the fine print! I am pretty much asking in general since the price of our cruise has gone down significantly & I'll most likely be changing categories ( especially since they just "upgraded " me to a room I don't like. I called & spent 10 minutes on the phone with them 2 days ago & just saw it had not been changed back even though my original cabin is still there),