High Prices

[HazeGray]

We cancelled out 14 day Circle Caribbean cruise departing 4 April on 6 March.  We purchased the PVP and got 1/2 the fare refunded to our CC same day.  Still waiting for deposit of our FCC to show up.  Been looking at the same cruise in March 2021 and the price is high.  We paid $1,729 per person for a balcony, a bit  less than the first price we saw of $1,980.  We opted not to take the perks.  Now the same cruise in March 2021 is $2,675.  It has been that way since back in March when I started planning for next year.  Usually a year out are some of the better prices.  I feel Princess will not be doing much advance discounting as long as there is all the FCC banked and folks are itching to get back out to sea.   At least it is a refundable deposit.  

[skynight]

Historically fares always start high. It is likely that Princess is not now paying much attention to this now. Stay alert, when ships begin to sail promos most likely will appear.

[victory2020]

I've noticed prices are going up or staying the same for Princess. & HAL. Have noticed great prices for Carnival out of LA & San Diego for October through early December.

[Coral]

Consider yourself lucky. I cancelled my cruise that same day and haven't received any money.

 

I think cruises are always expensive a year out. I also think very few will want to jump on a cruise next year. Prices may change quite a bit between now and then.

[pms4104]

19 minutes ago, Coral said:

Consider yourself lucky. I cancelled my cruise that same day and haven't received any money.

 

I think cruises are always expensive a year out. I also think very few will want to jump on a cruise next year. Prices may change quite a bit between now and then.

Prices may or may not budge much ... 

 

With some social distancing expected tp continue for a time, higher fares from each pax will make up for fewer pax ...

 

And ...

 

A lot of near future bookings thru 2021 will be "paid" with monopoly money (FCCs), money Princess has long since spent ...

 

So I'm not sure how much fares will drop

Edited April 17, 2020 by pms4104

[travelhound]

Despite all the negativity on the CC forum, cruise bookings for next year are actually up.  I think there is going to be a lot of pent up demand and many ships next year will probably sell out.

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, travelhound said:

Despite all the negativity on the CC forum, cruise bookings for next year are actually up.  I think there is going to be a lot of pent up demand and many ships next year will probably sell out.

Where are you getting the information bookings are up? If they are it's only because of the humongous FCC's people are using. Demand will stay pent up until there is a vaccine, I'm not risking my life over a cruise. 

[travelhound]

13 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

Where are you getting the information bookings are up? If they are it's only because of the humongous FCC's people are using. Demand will stay pent up until there is a vaccine, I'm not risking my life over a cruise. 

Cruise line demand is strong for 2021

 

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3560537-cruise-line-demand-reported-strong-for-2021

[franktown]

I think the reason that it is strong for 2021 is as other have said there is a ton of future cruise credits.  I have 2 cruise booked in 2021 and it will all be paid with FCC.  No new money.

[Bgwest]

2 hours ago, pms4104 said:

 will be "paid" with monopoly money (FCCs),

Oh my!

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, franktown said:

I think the reason that it is strong for 2021 is as other have said there is a ton of future cruise credits.  I have 2 cruise booked in 2021 and it will all be paid with FCC.  No new money.

Exactly. People know that the FCC is refundable so they are booking a cruise they may be interested in while they see how things play out. I think the surge will come after the vaccine comes out and is proven effective. 

[skynight]

9 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Where are you getting the information bookings are up? If they are it's only because of the humongous FCC's people are using. Demand will stay pent up until there is a vaccine, I'm not risking my life over a cruise. 

Listen here:

 

[springfire]

6 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

Exactly. People know that the FCC is refundable so they are booking a cruise they may be interested in while they see how things play out. I think the surge will come after the vaccine comes out and is proven effective. 

We will have a long wait.

[cruzsnooze]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

Listen here:

 

Of course the CEO of a company will downplay all negatives and play up the positive. He has a vested interest or conflict of interest so listening to him has to be taken with a grain of NACL.

[iancal]

There is a very simple solution.  If you think the prices are too high then do not book.  Or book with another cruise line.

 

If enough people agree that the prices are too high and decide not to book...the price will eventually come down to meet demand.

[travelhound]

42 minutes ago, iancal said:

There is a very simple solution.  If you think the prices are too high then do not book.  Or book with another cruise line.

 

If enough people agree that the prices are too high and decide not to book...the price will eventually come down to meet demand.

I agree, the prices are high because demand is strong, which is somewhat encouraging for the future of the cruise industry.

[dog]

56 minutes ago, iancal said:

There is a very simple solution.  If you think the prices are too high then do not book.  Or book with another cruise line.

 

If enough people agree that the prices are too high and decide not to book...the price will eventually come down to meet demand.

fCC from my cancelled cruise is valid up to Dec 31/21. Not many choices/ higher prices. 
other cruise line will not accept rPrincess FCC, will they?

Edited April 17, 2020 by dog

[pms4104]

14 minutes ago, dog said:

fCC from my cancelled cruise is valid up to Dec 31/21. Not many choices/ higher prices. 
other cruise line will not accept rPrincess FCC, will they?

I believe you'll need to "spend" it with Princess   

[iancal]

I think that the demand is somewhat artificial and misleading.

 

It is just one reason why, if given the choice between a 125 percent FCC and a cash refund we would take the refund in a heartbeat.  Besides wanting my money back, I would not want to be boxed in with some sort of time frame or restricted to one certain cruise line.

 

Bookings do count, but so does the cancellation  rate prior to final payment.  We typically wait and book inside the final payment window for that very reason.  We are not willing to pay 'above the odds' for anything.  Especially a non essential like a cruise when there is so much other competition in the cruise market place.

Edited April 17, 2020 by iancal

[Thrak]

20 hours ago, skynight said:

Historically fares always start high. It is likely that Princess is not now paying much attention to this now. Stay alert, when ships begin to sail promos most likely will appear.

 

This hasn't always been our experience. We have  booked a number of cruises early on and then watch as pricing went up and up and up. Some go down and some go up. We have a 6 day booked as part of a b2B2B and that one has gone down by $305 per person. The other two segments have been showing as several hundred more than we booked but they are going down now. Of course that's likely because people are cancelling the cruises and because the cruises aren't likely to sail. Other sailings in the past that we have booked early went up significantly by the time we sailed.

[dog]

Couldn’t book earlier. Now price is $100 more pp

[iancal]

We care more about the ship than we do about the cruise line.  On common itineraries we usually end up with a short list of two or three lines.  Often Celebrity, Princess, and HAL.  Some times RCI.

 

Last cruise we booked was South America.   Booked Princess because it was 30 percent less for the same cabin, same date, same itinerary at the time we booked.  It could easily been Celebrity or HAL if their prices had been better than Princess, assuming we were ok with the ship.   Did the same when booking our four Med cruises.  That is why we never want to be locked with a time sensitive FCC on any cruise line.

Edited April 17, 2020 by iancal

[leck57]

7 hours ago, travelhound said:

I agree, the prices are high because demand is strong, which is somewhat encouraging for the future of the cruise industry.

 

I don't think demand is strong, far from it. People, including me, who comment on these boards are cruise nuts that can't wait to travel again. Many people that cruise do not visit these boards and there would be many of them who will be slow to re-enter the cruise market. Then there are the rest who may or may not choose cruising as part of their holiday plans. Based on a sample of people who I talk to, I haven't met one yet who has never cruised but will in the future. Many people I see that know I cruise a lot usually start off with some laughing comment about never cruising again and are shocked when I tell them I can't wait to cruise again. Based on what I'm hearing, I think the cruise industry will do it tough for a couple of years, meaning some good deals will be around.

[polmcs]

My June Alaska cruise was caught up in the mess and I was keeping an eye on the July sailings in case the July 1 date was a go, but all the Alaskan cruises out of San Pedro were cancelled. 

 

I did have a look look for next year when the Sun is doing the LA round trip and it’s pretty slim pickings cabin wise. Very few balconies and not a suite to be had. What’s more galling is that a balcony (not even a mini suite) is going for not a lot less than what I would have paid for my windows suite on the Golden in June.

[jennybenny]

We rebooked our Alaska cruise for next year. Prices are higher than we want to pay. First time we’ve ever said, book it for cabin choice and if we can’t refare for a reasonable (to us) price between now and final payment we will request a refund of our deposit. I know this is frowned upon but we are paying $800 more per person for the same cabin previously booked, same perks, same dates almost. It is what it is