Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

On our 28 day cruise (which is one of the ones listed) it would cost us $4000 for PBP and about $675 for both of us to get wifi.  For $1400 we are getting what would have cost us an additional $4675.00.  It would save us $3275.00 on a long cruise.  So it may make great sense for a long cruise too.  YMMV

 

You correct some math for another poster and now I will attempt to correct yours.  It may not change your decision on the drinks side, but the internet is no way $675 for two people.  It is only $225 for your trip with Plat/Elite discount or $260 pre-cruise if you do not qualify for a discount.  Your Best Ever add-on price is $1400 for two people as you mentioned, so that means an allocation of up to $1175 towards drinks, which is almost exactly $42/day ($21/pp/pd).  So, that is about two alcoholic drinks pp/pd.

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

You correct some math for another poster and now I will attempt to correct yours.  It may not change your decision on the drinks side, but the internet is no way $675 for two people.  It is only $225 for your trip with Plat/Elite discount or $260 pre-cruise if you do not qualify for a discount.  Your Best Ever add-on price is $1400 for two people as you mentioned, so that means an allocation of up to $1175 towards drinks, which is almost exactly $42/day ($21/pp/pd).  So, that is about two alcoholic drinks pp/pd.

OK, some more math … for us … 5 day cruise ...

 

BEST2DG ( drinks and grats ) at 30 pp pd _ 150 x 2 = $ 300

 

sold separately "FOR US"

 

5 days - me - PBP = $ 350

5 days - her - about $ 150 for pay as you go

5 days grats - 14.50 x 5 x 2 = $ 145

 

total = $ 645 minimum

 

the $ 300 covers my drink package with nothing else ...

 

BUT, always a BUT … will still need to look for future fare reductions ( and there will be some ) to give up these perks and go 

a-la-carte with the PBP

[RMMariner]

5 hours ago, tonit964 said:

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!

 

Then what. Not pay gratuities at all.

[NCbmwmom]

6 hours ago, fluffybunny22 said:

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.

If you booked under that fare, the chart says you can add the other perks for $25. Unless I’m missing something. 

[Cruise Raider]

16 minutes ago, NCbmwmom said:

If you booked under that fare, the chart says you can add the other perks for $25. Unless I’m missing something. 

That's how I am reading it, too.  But, I just contacted my TA (via email) ... she is going to look into it on the 11th.  But, she thought I would lose my perks from the previous promo.  One on of them, I would come out ahead provided the pricing doesn't go way up .. on the other one, it would be tough for me to give up those perks.  My TA is getting used to me bugging her for updated pricing and all these new promos.  Sure hope it works out and that we are both understanding this correctly.  I will update with my experience on this post after I hear back from her.  

[chamima]

23 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

That's how I am reading it, too.  But, I just contacted my TA (via email) ... she is going to look into it on the 11th.  But, she thought I would lose my perks from the previous promo.  One on of them, I would come out ahead provided the pricing doesn't go way up .. on the other one, it would be tough for me to give up those perks.  My TA is getting used to me bugging her for updated pricing and all these new promos.  Sure hope it works out and that we are both understanding this correctly.  I will update with my experience on this post after I hear back from her.  

 

 

We are booked under 3 for Free.

If the chart is correct we can add the drink package and unlimited WiFi for $25/pp/day.

As someone said - that's 3 drinks a day .

Seems to be a no brainer.

 

From previous postings I think we share the same TA.

I'll email her in the morning to see if that's accurate.

(I feel really bad that she's going to be overwhelmed with everyone checking about upgrading! 😞)

The chart specifically says if you have a certain promo then gives the cost of upgrading to this perk.

Why did you/she think you'd lose previous perks?

Edited December 8, 2019 by chamima

[crystalspin]

Maybe because she hadn't read the TA information package? Including the part about "Most passengers will stay with their current fares"... paraphrased.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, RMMariner said:

 

Then what. Not pay gratuities at all.

Already have free grat's and I would NEVER not pay them.

 

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, chamima said:

Why did you/she think you'd lose previous perks?

Probably her old mindset of things being that way when switching from one sales promo to another.  This is different as these are ADD-ON packages to something booked passengers already have.  Whole new thing to get mind around.  Probably most TA's have not closely read the info (no doubt they are bombarded with all kinds of info from all the cruise lines).

[Cruise Raider]

13 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

We are booked under 3 for Free.

If the chart is correct we can add the drink package and unlimited WiFi for $25/pp/day.

As someone said - that's 3 drinks a day .

Seems to be a no brainer.

 

From previous postings I think we share the same TA.

I'll email her in the morning to see if that's accurate.

(I feel really bad that she's going to be overwhelmed with everyone checking about upgrading! 😞)

The chart specifically says if you have a certain promo then gives the cost of upgrading to this perk.

Why did you/she think you'd lose previous perks?

 

I'm not sure why she thought that.  

 

 

I’ll look into to this tomorrow but just a warning that new promotions like the Best Sale Ever would cancel out the previous promotion and the cruise line May actually raise the cruise fare to compensate for the added perks. Comparing prices now isn’t indicative of what it’ll be once the promotion starts.

 

She may come out to the same conclusion that we are seeing here.  I have the perks from the 3-day sale (not allowed to mention agencies here), which included the Sip and Sail as well as gratuities on one that is coming up.  If the pricing is still at a savings of $680, and it would only cost me $420 to replace them under the new promo, then yippie.  I can just book the WiFi for one separately so, still under $500 for a $680 savings ... that is, IF the pricing stays the same.  

For the other sailing, I don't have beverage package or gratuities, but some other great perks under the anniversary sale.  That one, I will just leave as is if the promo isn't combinable with what I already have.  

Not sure if we have the same TA ... mine is kind of local.  I really like her a lot, she is always so responsive.  I didn't even expect her to answer this email today ... but within a few minutes, she had already responded.  But yes, if this isn't what we understand it to be, I feel sorry for all the TA's.  

[Cruise Raider]

4 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Probably her old mindset of things being that way when switching from one sales promo to another.  This is different as these are ADD-ON packages to something booked passengers already have.  Whole new thing to get mind around.  Probably most TA's have not closely read the info (no doubt they are bombarded with all kinds of info from all the cruise lines).

 

That's a good way to explain them ... ADD-On packages.  I bet you're right ... something we've not seen before in all our years of cruising ... not on Princess anyway.  Celebrity has been doing something like this for at least the last year, though.  

 

Too bad they won't just let us buy these in our personalizer.  That would take all the extra work out of it for the TA.  Who knows, maybe they will???  

Edited December 8, 2019 by Cruise Raider

[Steelers36]

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Quoting the TA: "I’ll look into to this tomorrow but just a warning that new promotions like the Best Sale Ever would cancel out the previous promotion and the cruise line May actually raise the cruise fare to compensate for the added perks. Comparing prices now isn’t indicative of what it’ll be once the promotion starts."

Yes, if a passenger switches their booking to the "Best. Ever. Sale." in toto (as in switching from S&S to 3FF), then of course the old promo is cancelled out.  However, the add-on packages are just that.  So, nothing to be lost.

Edited December 8, 2019 by steelers36

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Yes, if a passenger switches their booking to the "Best. Ever. Sale." in toto (as in switching from S&S to 3FF), then of course the old promo is cancelled out.  However, the add-on packages are just that.  So, nothing to be lost.

 

Love that!!  

[Daniel A]

I printed the PDFs detailing the upsell as opposed to the refare process and plan to bring them with me to my TA's office on Wednesday.  It should answer any questions she may have.

[RMMariner]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

Already have free grat's and I would NEVER not pay them.

 

 

Steeler - My comment was not aimed at you, and I probably should not have posted what I did. I do not want to turn this thread into a gratuities war again.

[Daniel A]

3 hours ago, steelers36 said:

You correct some math for another poster and now I will attempt to correct yours.  It may not change your decision on the drinks side, but the internet is no way $675 for two people.  It is only $225 for your trip with Plat/Elite discount or $260 pre-cruise if you do not qualify for a discount.  Your Best Ever add-on price is $1400 for two people as you mentioned, so that means an allocation of up to $1175 towards drinks, which is almost exactly $42/day ($21/pp/pd).  So, that is about two alcoholic drinks pp/pd.

Thank you for the help.  Of course, for the past hour or so, I wanted to double check my personalizer but Princess is having internet problems and I cannot log in to my personalizer.  The last time I looked in my personalizer, they were only offering fixed numbers of minutes for various prices.  Even on my cruises, I have never felt as if I got a straight answer as to how much they are charging me for internet.  They don't even give me the option to book unlimited internet for my upcoming cruise so, I was just guesstimating the rate for unlimited at $12/day.  It makes it hard for me to determine how much I might be saving on my wifi.  No matter what, just the $25/day price for the PBP makes it worth it for me. 

[Tedferg]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

(I feel really bad that she's going to be overwhelmed with everyone checking about upgrading! 😞)

Why did you/she think you'd lose previous perks?

Several people responded to this question while I was tying, sorry for duplication - will learn to type faster 🙂

 

 

Princess spells options out and includes the 'cheat sheet' a.) to help TA respond to questions about various prior bookings. b). to reassure TA they will retain commissions and c). to cut down the number of TA calls to Princess for clarification.

 

I also think the reason she said you'd lose previous perks because that is the way it always works - my reading is that this time it is different and Princess is quite specific on that point.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Tedferg

[Steelers36]

24 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Thank you for the help.  Of course, for the past hour or so, I wanted to double check my personalizer but Princess is having internet problems and I cannot log in to my personalizer.  The last time I looked in my personalizer, they were only offering fixed numbers of minutes for various prices.  Even on my cruises, I have never felt as if I got a straight answer as to how much they are charging me for internet.  They don't even give me the option to book unlimited internet for my upcoming cruise so, I was just guesstimating the rate for unlimited at $12/day.  It makes it hard for me to determine how much I might be saving on my wifi.  No matter what, just the $25/day price for the PBP makes it worth it for me. 

What ship?  Does it have MedallionNet?  By chance, are you on some sort of B2B trip?  If so, I have read/heard that Princess software cannot seem to deal with that situation in terms of pricing the internet.  It knows how to price a 14-night voyage, but if you book as one 28-night, then it doesn't seem to be able to make all offers.  What has been reported here is that people see the pre-cruise offer for a 4-device package as it is priced by the day, but do not see the single device package which is priced flat for the entire cruise.  You do not need to pay 2x 14-night internet rate for a 28-night cruise.

 

For something that is not right, I would call Princess and inquire.  If it boils down to a system deficiency, they need to hear it as many times as possible so that the IT team will address it.

 

[Daniel A]

40 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

What ship?  Does it have MedallionNet?  By chance, are you on some sort of B2B trip?  If so, I have read/heard that Princess software cannot seem to deal with that situation in terms of pricing the internet. 

Star Princess in 2021.  The cruise is not a B2B and is advertised as a MedallionNet cruise.  Star won't have MedallionNet until June 2020. It seems Princess can't figure out what they'll want to charge for unlimited internet on my cruise so the unlimited wifi from this promotion will lock in the cost for me.  It works but now you know why I had 'fuzzy math' in my previous post.

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Star Princess in 2021.  The cruise is not a B2B and is advertised as a MedallionNet cruise.  Star won't have MedallionNet until June 2020. It seems Princess can't figure out what they'll want to charge for unlimited internet on my cruise so the unlimited wifi from this promotion will lock in the cost for me.  It works but now you know why I had 'fuzzy math' in my previous post.

Well, that explains it.  I recall reading about one  of the other ships that did not yet have MNet and someone was looking to order it for a future cruise.  I think you will find that MNet will how up for the Star sailings in due course - once Princess knows it will be up and running.  You have plenty of time.  In the interim, you know how much it will cost (assuming no price changes between now and then) and how much to allocate against the add-on cost and therefore what drinks are costing you.

 

I predict there are going to be A LOT of cruisers on drink packages over the next couple of years at least!!

 

[Storm Monkey]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

 

Too bad they won't just let us buy these in our personalizer.  That would take all the extra work out of it for the TA.  Who knows, maybe they will???  

I am wondering if anyone knows if the add-ons can be purchased in the personalizer as well. We have our cruise booked directly with Princess and that would be so much easier rather than phoning Princess and staying on hold for who knows how long. 
 

The drink package and wifi combo would be a great deal for us. It isn’t at the regular price for the drink package but $25/person/day makes it worthwhile. Don’t even really want/need the wifi but if it is included in the add-on package it doesn’t hurt to have 

[tonit964]

5 hours ago, RMMariner said:

 

Then what. Not pay gratuities at all.

No, I have non refundable OBC I would pay the grats with so no need to purchase it as an add on but that's not an option so I'll have to spend the OBC on excursions or something.

If no OBC or grats perk, they go on my bill as always.

ETA: In my 35+ cruises, I have only removed tips one time on an NCL cruise where I had two different staff argue with me over a menu item and turning the sofa into bed for my DD. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by tonit964

[Scotmay]

Does anyone know if you can apply your OBC to pay the per diem pp charge for this?  

[azbirdmom]

41 minutes ago, Scotmay said:

Does anyone know if you can apply your OBC to pay the per diem pp charge for this?  

 

No, from what I've read, it becomes part of your cruise fare.

[azbirdmom]

4 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

We are booked under 3 for Free.

If the chart is correct we can add the drink package and unlimited WiFi for $25/pp/day.

As someone said - that's 3 drinks a day .

Seems to be a no brainer.

 

From previous postings I think we share the same TA.

I'll email her in the morning to see if that's accurate.

(I feel really bad that she's going to be overwhelmed with everyone checking about upgrading! 😞)

The chart specifically says if you have a certain promo then gives the cost of upgrading to this perk.

Why did you/she think you'd lose previous perks?

 

Pretty sure that we have the same TA.  She is aware of this promo and knows that it would not require losing prior perks.  She did indicate that the codes may not be available in the Princess booking system on Tuesday though so it may take a while for her to be able to do this for us.