Princess email - Cabin Location Upgrade

[Thrak]

Today I received an email from Princess and one of the things it talks about is a Cabin Location Upgrade. Most of us know how that works. Book any cabin and pay the cost of the lowest-priced cabin in that category.  It can be a pretty good deal but it's also a bit of a scam. 2 days ago we booked B2B2B Australia/New Zealand cruises. We love the bigger Caribe balconies so paid a bit more for that and took an aft location which is what we prefer. Yes, we know that Princess considers any mid-ship balcony to be a higher category but we don't. We like the bigger Caribe half-covered balconies.

 

Now to the "bit of a scam" aspect of the promo - which is good during this month. The price we paid for the Caribe balcony cabin is now the new cost of the lowest-priced balcony. Yep, Princess raised the prices and then offered a "deal". For us, it is no deal at all. However, for those who haven't booked yet and are considering booking cruises, it is well worth checking out.

 

The offer doesn't show when you select a cabin. If you hit the "view offer details" link the offer shows with both the Best Value (Princess Plus) and the Best Price (No Frills) pricing. It isn't in the "grid" but is above it.

 

Best Value:

 

----------------------------------

 

Best Price

 

 

The bit from the email is below:

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Thrak

[suzyed]

35 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Today I received an email from Princess and one of the things it talks about is a Cabin Location Upgrade. Most of us know how that works. Book any cabin and pay the cost of the lowest-priced cabin in that category.  It can be a pretty good deal but it's also a bit of a scam. 2 days ago we booked B2B2B Australia/New Zealand cruises. We love the bigger Caribe balconies so paid a bit more for that and took an aft location which is what we prefer. Yes, we know that Princess considers any mid-ship balcony to be a higher category but we don't. We like the bigger Caribe half-covered balconies.

 

Now to the "bit of a scam" aspect of the promo - which is good during this month. The price we paid for the Caribe balcony cabin is now the new cost of the lowest-priced balcony. Yep, Princess raised the prices and then offered a "deal". For us, it is no deal at all. However, for those who haven't booked yet and are considering booking cruises, it is well worth checking out.

 

The offer doesn't show when you select a cabin. If you hit the "view offer details" link the offer shows with both the Best Value (Princess Plus) and the Best Price (No Frills) pricing. It isn't in the "grid" but is above it.

 

Best Value:

 

----------------------------------

 

Best Price

 

 

The bit from the email is below:

 

 

 

I bet we don't get that offer since we'll be paying for our next few cruises with FCCs.

 

 

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

The offer doesn't show when you select a cabin. If you hit the "view offer details" link the offer shows with both the Best Value (Princess Plus) and the Best Price (No Frills) pricing. It isn't in the "grid" but is above it.

 

 

 

It showed for me once I selected a cabin.

 

3 hours ago, suzyed said:

I bet we don't get that offer since we'll be paying for our next few cruises with FCCs.

 

 

 

The offer is there before you make any indication of how the cruise will be paid for.

[skynight]

Thrak,

We have two cruises, b2b, booked for 2022, balcony cabin BD. We like you enjoy the larger balcony cabins aft on deck 10 and have our bookings designated no upgrade. Princess classifies these lower than some of the mid ship cabins. It's their choice. It's the way they market. On the first leg of our b2b the fare went down slightly, the 2nd up slightly. If we had originally booked a BA cat. cabin the fares would have been less on both legs. I can't tell exactly how much as I didn't save those figures. It's just all part of marketing and the careful consumer. 

[drsel]

Today I received an email from Princess and one of the things it talks about is a Cabin Location Upgrade.   The offer doesn't show when you select a cabin. If you hit the "view offer details" link the offer shows with both the Best Value (Princess Plus) and the Best Price (No Frills) pricing. It isn't in the "grid" but is above it.

 

both Sea Princess and Saphire Princess haves the same price for Inside categories IB, IC, ID, IE, IF.

 

 But IA is priced higher on my US travel agent website

 

 

 

 

 

[Retirement2016]

We never had any luck with "upgrades" offered by Princess.  We prefer lower/mid deck, mid ship due to family member prone to seasickness.  Princess considers higher deck an "upgrade" to our favorite, which is the Caribe deck.  

[drsel]

In Princess, lower deck midship is located below the casino or some lounge bar and there is usually a lot of noise

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

11 minutes ago, Retirement2016 said:

We never had any luck with "upgrades" offered by Princess.  We prefer lower/mid deck, mid ship due to family member prone to seasickness.  Princess considers higher deck an "upgrade" to our favorite, which is the Caribe deck.  

 

I had a cruise booked for an obstructed OV midship cabin on the Emerald deck.  I contacted my TA for a price drop on it when this was offered.  I kept my booking, same cabin but, was given the pricing as if it were for a forward cabin ... so, it ended up saving us about $40 each.  It was well worth dropping an email that took me a minute to write.  Maybe if I were on hold for an hour or two, I would have questioned the savings but, my TA takes care of everything by email so, it was no skin off my neck.  

BTW, Princess no longer considers higher decks to be an upgrade.  Their upgrades are almost always based on being midship within these categories.  Generally, forward cabins within the same category are the least expensive, followed by aft cabins (not aft facing), followed by mid-aft and mid-forward cabins, followed by midship.  If you are on the Caribe deck on the Crown or Grand class ships, you are most likely in a Premium balcony cabin, which you probably won't see a savings under this offer unless it is from a B1 to a B2 pricing.  But, if you are right beyond those midship cabins (eg: C618 / C619 on the Ruby which is a BD category), you may be able to get the pricing for a forward balcony cabin (BE category).  

[suzyed]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

 

It showed for me once I selected a cabin.

 

 

The offer is there before you make any indication of how the cruise will be paid for.

We're already booked...so I will look at it and then ask my TA what she thinks as far as whether it would benefit us.

 

[caribill]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

both Sea Princess and Saphire Princess haves the same price for Inside categories IB, IC, ID, IE, IF.

 

 But IA is priced higher on my US travel agent website

 

 

 

Forget the Sea Princess. It is leaving the fleet.

 

http://crew-center.com/princess-cruises-sells-two-cruise-ships

[Thrak]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

It showed for me once I selected a cabin.

 

The reason I said one had to click on the link for the offer to show is that this is what I see when preparing to select a cabin:

 

 

It may be different for others but I don't see the cabin location "upgrade" until I click on "View offer details".

 

They had an offer similar to this quite recently and they changed the boxes shown here to actually include the upgrade offer. I'm just not seeing it for this one. We did take advantage of that other offer. I simply called our TA and asked him to check on the lower fare. We kept our cabin but dropped the price by $90 per person. If you have a cabin booked I'd definitely recommend checking if you can get a price drop or not. In our case, it worked out the last time but this time we already have what they are now offering as a lower price.

[Sea Hag]

Location upgrade never does us any good because what we think is better and what Princess thinks is better never matches up. We're those oddballs who like all the motion we can get, so we usually head for the highest up, farthest forward cabins. The two cruises we have booked are both aft, and that's unusual for us.

[SavvyCruiser01]

13 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

Location upgrade never does us any good because what we think is better and what Princess thinks is better never matches up. We're those oddballs who like all the motion we can get, so we usually head for the highest up, farthest forward cabins. The two cruises we have booked are both aft, and that's unusual for us.

 This is us, too. We prefer the motion rocking us to sleep at night, so we aim for highest up and aft usually. Plus, we like to be near the elevators as mom has some mobility issues, so it's easier to get around. 

[drsel]

Sun princess was sold to the Japan non-profit organisation called Peace Boat.
It will be renamed Pacific World.

The future of Sea Princess is unknown.

emails have already been sent to travel agents saying that the company has sold both ships and both will soon be leaving the fleet.

passengers currently booked on future sailings will receive separate emails about the cancellation.

[phabric]

I was suppose to be on the Grand in 03 Premium Oceanview August 2021.  The Grand was switched to the Regal.  I was given a BE balcony as the Regal does not have any oceanview cabins, with no price change.
 

My agent asked for the Upgrade Sale. She was told, we had been given an upgrade when they switched ships. 

[pcur]

OK, I thoroughly confused.  I have an obstructed ocean view, category OW.  What can I upgrade to (let's assume all higher categories are available)?

[Thrak]

45 minutes ago, pcur said:

OK, I thoroughly confused.  I have an obstructed ocean view, category OW.  What can I upgrade to (let's assume all higher categories are available)?

 

You can get the highest category of Obstructed Ocean View cabin for the price of the lowest category of Obstructed Ocean View. (This does not include a Premium Obstructed Ocean View.)

Edited September 18, 2020 by Thrak

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

OK, I thoroughly confused.  I have an obstructed ocean view, category OW.  What can I upgrade to (let's assume all higher categories are available)?

 

You can upgrade to an OV category if you choose.  But, if you like your OW cabin, you can most likely get the pricing reduced to what you would pay for an OZ category.  I'm looking at the Crown class but, others are probably similar.  Now, if the price of your sailing has gone up, the deal is dead.  I happened to sneak in before they raised the prices so, I received an $80 savings.  If I were to request the price drop now, I'd end up paying more as the prices have gone up.  Just look to see if it works out to save you some money.  I was quick on the draw so, I was able to save money ... others may not be as fortunate, just depends on how well your cruise is selling.  

 

[pcur]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

You can upgrade to an OV category if you choose.  But, if you like your OW cabin, you can most likely get the pricing reduced to what you would pay for an OZ category.  I'm looking at the Crown class but, others are probably similar.  Now, if the price of your sailing has gone up, the deal is dead.  I happened to sneak in before they raised the prices so, I received an $80 savings.  If I were to request the price drop now, I'd end up paying more as the prices have gone up.  Just look to see if it works out to save you some money.  I was quick on the draw so, I was able to save money ... others may not be as fortunate, just depends on how well your cruise is selling.  

 

 

Thanks, it might be worth while after all if I can get the OZ price.  It's a b2b, and both cruises are the same price as what I paid.  

[Cruise Raider]

18 minutes ago, pcur said:

 

Thanks, it might be worth while after all if I can get the OZ price.  It's a b2b, and both cruises are the same price as what I paid.  

 

I will keep my fingers crossed for you!!  Double crossed if you can get a price drop on both sailings.  

[caribill]

1 hour ago, pcur said:

 

Thanks, it might be worth while after all if I can get the OZ price.  It's a b2b, and both cruises are the same price as what I paid.  

 

Do you mean OW appears to be the same price as when you booked? It should be the current price of OZ

 

 

 

 

[suzyed]

7 hours ago, pcur said:

OK, I thoroughly confused.  I have an obstructed ocean view, category OW.  What can I upgrade to (let's assume all higher categories are available)?

Probably a different obstructed ocean view.  And it may or may not have more obstruction than what you already have.  Princess seems to go by location rather than the view out the window.
If you are happy  with your obstruction tell them not to upgrade.  If there is a lot of obstruction and you want to take your chances that maybe they will assign you something less obstructed or maybe even to an unobstructed view of their choosing.