Cruise price $798 increase from cancelled COVID cruise

[1gr8cruise]

15 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

You're making it sound like a decision Princess intentionally made, which it may be. But it may also just be their computer pricing algorithm looking at the percentage of that type of cabin sold how many months in advance and making the price adjustments automatically, using the same algorithm they were using pre-Covid.  If the algorithm is good enough, it should still price cabins at the most advantageous price point for Princess even though these are anything but normal times.

Correct, not normal times.  Fuel prices will skyrocket the next few years, that does increase prices.  I did see lower prices a few months ago, not much lower.  From the sounds of it they are changing filtration systems on ships, extras expenses equal price increases.  And if you recall Princess probably had the most negative press coverage of most lines when COVID first broke, I believe there is fallout from that as well.  All these extra adjustments probably are the cause of higher fares.  I think they have most definitely adjusted the algorithm....  

[cruzsnooze]

On the latest pause which I found out about Thursday Princess is price protecting to book the same cruise next year. I had a Japan Cruisetour Oct 2 and rebooked to Nov 7 at the same price. The news about this pause is on their web page.

[caribill]

32 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

On the latest pause which I found out about Thursday Princess is price protecting to book the same cruise next year. I had a Japan Cruisetour Oct 2 and rebooked to Nov 7 at the same price. The news about this pause is on their web page.

 

Unfortunately, Princess did not start this price protecting for the same cruise until recent Princess cancellations.

 

Last year's cancellations did not have this price protection option.

[dog]

3 hours ago, 1gr8cruise said:

They have gone up quite a bit.  We have cruises booked with other lines and those prices have not increased anywhere close to what Princess has.  I don't wan't to leave $2,400 on the table so I will have to spend an extra $700-1000 to use it I guess.  In the end we will have a great vacation either way.      

an idea- be flexible — choose a shorter cruise, different date, lower cabin category,    There are possibilities to use it , rather then lose it. 
 

 

[voljeep]

6 hours ago, dog said:

an idea- be flexible — choose a shorter cruise, different date, lower cabin category,    There are possibilities to use it , rather then lose it. 
 

 

we have replaced our little 5 day Thanksgiving cruise that was cancelled last year, with a 5 day Thanksgiving cruise this year ( hopefully ) on the Regal - which we have previously enjoyed

 

we had 'gamed the system' and doubled our cruise fare paid .   Yes, the prices have gone up, but with the additional FCC, we were able to change from a regular balcony cabin to a premium deluxe balcony, true aft.  we also switched from BEST2DG to BSE with all the perks including a specialty dinner

 

"good new is' I guess, that this will use all our FCC's except for $ 7 each  - guess that may be gone

 

Still need to actually move the FCC and OBC to this cruise, if it looks like it is going, as it is currently applied to a 7 day in 4/2022, then we will make that call later to still take it or not

[Coral]

On 4/9/2021 at 9:03 PM, 1gr8cruise said:

We cancelled our March 2020 Cruise due to COVID, this was voluntary on our part.  We did not have insurance, so Princess is holding $2,400 towards our next cruise to be booked by May 2022.  I have tried numerous times to get a full refund, no luck.  I am not upset about not getting a refund, we chose to cancel the night before a cruise based on an email Princess sent us (I knew the rules).  We knew we would have to book a cruise to use the credit.  My problem is the same ship, same itinerary, same cabin category, same time of the year is now $798 more than what we had orig. booked.

I want to backup a little bit...... What date did you cancel? What date was the cruise? I cancelled an April cruise in March (before they cancelled). My chart said that if you cancelled on or after February 4th you had an option of full refund (plus a small credit) or a large future cruise credit. I still have the chart. You had to respond by a certain date to get a refund. I think you could probably escalate this up to Princess Customer Relations and ask for your money back....  You need to go beyond the person who answers the phone.

 

A friend spoke with their agent recently and they decided to get their money back and the agent was going to have to submit a form (they originally wanted a FCC).

 

I have a chart that says if one wants to go from Option 1 to Option 2 - they just need to call Princess. If you want this chart - email me (link is below). I think you can still get your money back.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Coral

[dog]

14 minutes ago, Coral said:

I want to backup a little bit...... What date did you cancel? What date was the cruise? I cancelled an April cruise in March (before they cancelled). My chart said that if you cancelled on or after February 4th you had an option of full refund (plus a small credit) or a large future cruise credit. I still have the chart. You had to respond by a certain date to get a refund. I think you could probably escalate this up to Princess Customer Relations and ask for your money back....  You need to go beyond the person who answers the phone.

 

A friend spoke with their agent recently and they decided to get their money back and the agent was going to have to submit a form (they originally wanted a FCC).

 

I have a chart that says if one wants to go from Option 1 to Option 2 - they just need to call Princess. If you want this chart - email me (link is below). I think you can still get your money back.

i think the difference is OP’s cruise, like my cruise, both sailed on March 7/20. They were not part of any Option 1 or 2.   Passen on both of these cruises enjoyed themselves according to their posts on our roll calls. We did not have to use an Insurance Like cancel for any reason. That was more then fair. 

[1gr8cruise]

13 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

On the latest pause which I found out about Thursday Princess is price protecting to book the same cruise next year. I had a Japan Cruisetour Oct 2 and rebooked to Nov 7 at the same price. The news about this pause is on their web page.

Thank you very much, I will take a look.  My PVP has never mentioned it in the 3 times I have spoke to her about my FCC.

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, dog said:

i think the difference is OP’s cruise, like my cruise, both sailed on March 7/20. They were not part of any Option 1 or 2.   Passen on both of these cruises enjoyed themselves according to their posts on our roll calls. We did not have to use an Insurance Like cancel for any reason. That was more then fair. 

That is right - this applies to cruises after March 12th. There were some exceptions for Asian cruises for those who cancelled in February. I just couldn't tell when the OP cruise was.

[1gr8cruise]

13 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Unfortunately, Princess did not start this price protecting for the same cruise until recent Princess cancellations.

 

Last year's cancellations did not have this price protection option.

Thanks.

 

[1gr8cruise]

7 minutes ago, Coral said:

That is right - this applies to cruises after March 12th. There were some exceptions for Asian cruises for those who cancelled in February. I just couldn't tell when the OP cruise was.

Correct, our cruise was March 7, 2020 on Sky Princess.  We weren't on the original notice Princess sent out, it started March 9 or 10.  I rec'd an email March 6 allowing us to cancel, we were in our FLL hotel putting luggage tags on and I checked emails.  If you remember Princess had several ships stuck in international waters during this time period.  It was not a comforting feeling...The cruise did go off without a problem, when we cancelled I was told approx. 30-40% of passengers elected to take the FCC.  I was on the roll call for the cruise, looking forward to meeting good people!!!!    

[trbarton]

On 4/9/2021 at 7:03 PM, 1gr8cruise said:

We cancelled our March 2020 Cruise due to COVID, this was voluntary on our part.  We did not have insurance, so Princess is holding $2,400 towards our next cruise to be booked by May 2022.  I have tried numerous times to get a full refund, no luck.  I am not upset about not getting a refund, we chose to cancel the night before a cruise based on an email Princess sent us (I knew the rules).  We knew we would have to book a cruise to use the credit.  My problem is the same ship, same itinerary, same cabin category, same time of the year is now $798 more than what we had orig. booked.  I think they have raised prices significantly to make up for COVID.  I have booked other cruises with other lines for the upcoming two years, I am not seeing an increase of more than $100 for a similar cruise.  

I called Princess and tried to get someone to understand my situation, I was basically told "too bad, you must have got a great deal on the orig. booking".  I told them if you were within a few hundred dollars I would have no issue, but $798 come on.  Before you ask, it was the exact same package, (we dont get the drink package, Wifi etc.).  Any comments or recommendations are appreciated.   Thank you!!!  (we had a mini-suite, Sky Princess- eastern itin.)  Very dissatisfied with Princess.       

I assume you didn’t use a T/A. Wonder of they would have made any difference?

 

Tom🤔
 

 

[dog]

7 hours ago, dog said:

i think the difference is OP’s cruise, like my cruise, both sailed on March 7/20. They were not part of any Option 1 or 2.   Passen on both of these cruises enjoyed themselves according to their posts on our roll calls. We did not have to use an Insurance Like cancel for any reason. That was more then fair. 

 

12 minutes ago, trbarton said:

I assume you didn’t use a T/A. Wonder of they would have made any difference?

 

Tom🤔
 

 

It was a Caribbean cruise on Sky Princess departing March 7/20, before Princess started offering Options 1 & 2. 
Princess did not cancel this cruise it sailed. 

[1gr8cruise]

On 4/11/2021 at 9:26 PM, trbarton said:

I assume you didn’t use a T/A. Wonder of they would have made any difference?

 

Tom🤔
 

 

I used a Princess cruise planner, She has given me incorrect information on a few other issues.  I will try my luck at booking a new cruise with someone else at Princess.

[1gr8cruise]

On 4/11/2021 at 9:41 PM, dog said:

 

It was a Caribbean cruise on Sky Princess departing March 7/20, before Princess started offering Options 1 & 2. 
Princess did not cancel this cruise it sailed. 

Correct it sailed, I was told approx. 30-40% cancelled due to COVID concerns.    

[JABTPS]

On 4/10/2021 at 7:23 PM, 1gr8cruise said:

Although it was awesome to get the free credit, the prices have gone up so much that it will cost more to go on the exact same cruise (same date, category, etc) after the cruise credit than it did without the credit in 2019! 

Yep, all are costing more.  Our world cruise is up $8,000!  The bonus FCC from 2020 will help offset the additional.  We'll just miss the Pacific Princess....

[1gr8cruise]

Update.....I just went to book a new cruise using my FCC.  $885 more for the same cruise, same itin., same cabin category.  It is what it is....however that is a 27% increase from March 2020.....the frosting on the cake for me was when I went through the booking process,  they applied the FCC and showed the remaining balance.  I went to book it and they still want a $400 down payment??? The $2,100 credit they have had for over 1 year was not enough??....they want an additional $400 to hold on to for the next 10 months?  Come on, now that is cheap.........This is like dealing with a used car lot...        

[dog]

9 minutes ago, 1gr8cruise said:

Update.....I just went to book a new cruise using my FCC.  $885 more for the same cruise, same itin., same cabin category.  It is what it is....however that is a 27% increase from March 2020.....the frosting on the cake for me was when I went through the booking process,  they applied the FCC and showed the remaining balance.  I went to book it and they still want a $400 down payment??? The $2,100 credit they have had for over 1 year was not enough??....they want an additional $400 to hold on to for the next 10 months?  Come on, now that is cheap.........This is like dealing with a used car lot...        

 

Same for the rest of us. 
 

however, they eventually reinstated my Future Cruise Deposit and gave me back the new deposit they required, like in your case. 

[voljeep]

16 minutes ago, 1gr8cruise said:

Update.....I just went to book a new cruise using my FCC.  $885 more for the same cruise, same itin., same cabin category.  It is what it is....however that is a 27% increase from March 2020.....the frosting on the cake for me was when I went through the booking process,  they applied the FCC and showed the remaining balance.  I went to book it and they still want a $400 down payment??? The $2,100 credit they have had for over 1 year was not enough??....they want an additional $400 to hold on to for the next 10 months?  Come on, now that is cheap.........This is like dealing with a used car lot...        

FCC future usage was different in the different pauses - in our Pause, last July for our cancelled Thanksgiving cruise - we were able to use the FCC as the deposit for a cruise, since cancelled also

[dog]

14 minutes ago, voljeep said:

FCC future usage was different in the different pauses - in our Pause, last July for our cancelled Thanksgiving cruise - we were able to use the FCC as the deposit for a cruise, since cancelled also

He was same as me.  We cancelled, day before cruise that sailed. We were not allowed to use FCC as deposit. I tried many times. 

[rbtan]

On 4/9/2021 at 10:03 PM, 1gr8cruise said:

We cancelled our March 2020 Cruise due to COVID, this was voluntary on our part.  We did not have insurance, so Princess is holding $2,400 towards our next cruise to be booked by May 2022.  I have tried numerous times to get a full refund, no luck.  I am not upset about not getting a refund, we chose to cancel the night before a cruise based on an email Princess sent us (I knew the rules).  We knew we would have to book a cruise to use the credit.  My problem is the same ship, same itinerary, same cabin category, same time of the year is now $798 more than what we had orig. booked.  I think they have raised prices significantly to make up for COVID.  I have booked other cruises with other lines for the upcoming two years, I am not seeing an increase of more than $100 for a similar cruise.  

I called Princess and tried to get someone to understand my situation, I was basically told "too bad, you must have got a great deal on the orig. booking".  I told them if you were within a few hundred dollars I would have no issue, but $798 come on.  Before you ask, it was the exact same package, (we dont get the drink package, Wifi etc.).  Any comments or recommendations are appreciated.   Thank you!!!  (we had a mini-suite, Sky Princess- eastern itin.)  Very dissatisfied with Princess.       

First mistake: no insurance! Second, YOU cancelled. We've had 2 cruises cancel on us. We lost nothing. Took the refund back on one cruise. Second cruise moved the $1500D/P to a cruise in 2022. Saved about $400PP.

[rbtan]

On 4/14/2021 at 7:07 PM, 1gr8cruise said:

I used a Princess cruise planner, She has given me incorrect information on a few other issues.  I will try my luck at booking a new cruise with someone else at Princess.

Not sure I can say the name of the Princess planner we used. CC has  this "thing" about mentioning names. They are a T/A as well. If someone can verify I can say a planner's name & not get "blanked", we've dealt with one very knowledgeable one.

[paradiselivin1]

On 4/16/2021 at 8:40 PM, JABTPS said:

Yep, all are costing more.  Our world cruise is up $8,000! 

Ours went up about double that for the same cabin category & I think we got less perks than we had on the 2021WC. Thinking 2022 won't happen and paid about the same for 2023 than 2022 with many more perks..

[Nebr.cruiser]

It's not just Princess.  Our Tahiti to Hawaii cruise with NCL was cancelled last year in March because of Covid.  If we wanted to go on the same cruise this year; prices are more than triple for the same cabin class.

 

Admittedly, we had a great, great price last year and with air for around $100 pp.  But still, 3-4 times the price is a little much.  Luckily we got our money back, not just FCC.