Princess Prices have jumped A LOT!

[MishelleMcc]

Has anyone noticed the price jump?  We booked a Dec 2022 Hawaiian cruise back in Jan 2021.  Price for a Lido balcony cabin right next to ours is now $3,300 (2pax) more ($1,650 pp).

 

I've been cruising off & on since late 80's and NEVER seen a jump like this!  I am grateful that I booked when I did BUT what about everyone else?  It feels like price gouging!

 

Will the pricing "Adjust" (like the stock market) or is this sustainable?

[franktown]

I have a Caribbean cruise booked for February 2022 that I booked last November and have seen the same type of price increase maybe not quite as dramatic.  I would of not booked the cruise with today prices.  Would of booked a all inclusive instead which I did for 2021.   I think a lot of the cruise pricing is being driven by the amount of FCC out there.  The thing about pricing is people tend to get used to the new price and as long people have disposable income most will continue to book.

[HaveWeMetYet]

Could be pricing algorithms are being affected by all the people who have rebooked cancelled cruises from the past year. This is creating a "false" signal of higher than normal demand and so pricing is being adjusted. It is happening with all cruise lines.

I would expect large price drops close to sailing which will be used to fill any empty cabins unless there are capacity restrictions in place.

[Steelers36]

The price jumps certainly work to consume the bonus FCC - and then some in most cases.  Looks good from a shareholder perspective.  I am torn.

[caribill]

Supply and demand.

 

There is a big built up demand for cruising across all cruise lines.

 

Big demand results in higher pricing.

 

Pricing we had for cruises either cancelled because of the pandemic or because Princess disposed of the ship:

a) Ocean view, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $190/day/person

b) Balcony, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $147/day/person

c) Balcony, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $95/day/person

 

Pricing I see now for available voyages is far higher.

[mnocket]

This is the primary reason I am going to stick to land vacations for the next 1-2 years.  I'll let those who are willing to pay these increased rates go first.  With luck the demand will normalize and pricing will moderate over time.

[ready2cruzagain]

Our b2b on the Enchanted for this Dec. has gone doubled in price!

[Musky Ike]

Got to recover some of that lost revenue,

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, caribill said:

Supply and demand.

 

There is a big built up demand for cruising across all cruise lines.

 

Big demand results in higher pricing.

 

Pricing we had for cruises either cancelled because of the pandemic or because Princess disposed of the ship:

a) Ocean view, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $190/day/person

b) Balcony, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $147/day/person

c) Balcony, Princess Savers rate not including taxes/fees: $95/day/person

 

Pricing I see now for available voyages is far higher.

And in addition to an increase due to pent up demand, there is less of a supply as some ships were sold off and as for the ships still in operation we do not yet know if they will have capacity limits.

[mcrcruiser]

29 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And in addition to an increase due to pent up demand, there is less of a supply as some ships were sold off and as for the ships still in operation we do not yet know if they will have capacity limits.

There are at present 220 cruise ships & more on order  .I agree with those who point to the  FCCs being used for the start of cruising . In time the prices should normalize ;but ,we are very happt we booked 4 cruises way early in the scheme of things today 

[Grego]

I expect that prices will go up due to additional internal costs for virus protection.  But, I am wondering if anyone has also checked the other cruise lines to see if they have done the same thing?  It is still a competitive market and I can't believe that Princess was the only one that has raised prices and not the others.

Lots of stuff has gone up in price.  Bought gasoline recently?  Ships use fuel too.....!  Any cost reduction in the price of food?  The list goes on.

Look for the good that we have now the opportunity to enjoy and if you can't afford it than do what you can do.

[ready2cruzagain]

While this years cruise we have booked has doubled in price, we just now booked the exact same cruise for the same time next year on the same ship same category for same number of days for $200 less so there are still bargains out there.

[skynight]

Demand. When we subtract out the $40/pp/day for the plus fare our 2023 bookings, Cat. BA Enchanted, fare is around $20/pp/day higher than historic pricing. As the ship fills fares will most likely increase.

Edited May 29, 2021 by skynight

[susancruzs]

I book my cruises way in advance, fussy about cabin location.  Sailing single, paying double, 8 cruises I have booked for 2022 and 2023 pricing isn't noticeably higher than previous cruises.  Three do have a casino discount.  However, Baltic + TA and NZ plus trans Pacific wouldn't be booking them if I was looking at prices today.

[mcrcruiser]

57 minutes ago, Grego said:

I expect that prices will go up due to additional internal costs for virus protection.  But, I am wondering if anyone has also checked the other cruise lines to see if they have done the same thing?  It is still a competitive market and I can't believe that Princess was the only one that has raised prices and not the others.

Lots of stuff has gone up in price.  Bought gasoline recently?  Ships use fuel too.....!  Any cost reduction in the price of food?  The list goes on.

Look for the good that we have now the opportunity to enjoy and if you can't afford it than do what you can do.

Holland  America   prices have gone up a lot & they just announced a tip increase . The increased the tips in 2019 to $14,60 per person per day .now they   went up tp $15 ,50 per person per day . The beverage tips also has gone up from 15% to 18 %  .We booked with pdf gratuities & drink pkg long ago so we are covered there . I  suspect that Princess will soon follow ;as Jan Schwartz id over both cruise lines as President 

[wowzz]

Not directly Princess related, but when another Carnival brand, P&O (UK) launched their latest programme for autumn /winter 2022/23, the prices were surprisingly attractive.

Yes, prices for the rest of this year, and summer 22 have increased dramatically, but as has previously been said, much of these increases are to soak up FCCs, rather than a long term pricing strategy.

[AF-1]

I have two cruises booked for next year; one with Princess and one with Royal.  Both sailing have increased in price.  I am looking to book a river cruise for 2023;  those have also gone up several hundred dollars for same cruise I was booked on for 2020.  So that is not too bad.  

[skynight]

31 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Holland  America   prices have gone up a lot & they just announced a tip increase . The increased the tips in 2019 to $14,60 per person per day .now they   went up tp $15 ,50 per person per day . The beverage tips also has gone up from 15% to 18 %  .We booked with pdf gratuities & drink pkg long ago so we are covered there . I  suspect that Princess will soon follow ;as Jan Schwartz id over both cruise lines as President 

Princess gratuity (now called crew incentive) has been $14.50/$15.50/$16.50/pp/day depending on cabin category. Will it be increased further, maybe if crew becomes more difficult to employ at current rates. Beverage gratuity has been 18% for quite a few years. Corkage fees for carry on wine opened in public areas increased $5. Maybe it is HAL that is following the Princess lead. 

Edited May 29, 2021 by skynight

[Mud_Shark]

The initial offerings for cruises as they open up still seem to be reasonable, in fact, in some cases, less expensive than pre-Covid.  But they tend to increase in price over time these days faster than they did previously.  So.... plan ahead and reserve early when the itineraries are first released and you can still find bargains.

 

Don

[pms4104]

22 minutes ago, skynight said:

Princess gratuity (now called crew incentive) has been $14.50/$15.50/$16.50/pp/day depending on cabin category. Will it be increased further, maybe if crew becomes more difficult to employ at current rates. Beverage gratuity has been 18% for quite a few years. Corkage fees for carry on wine opened in public areas increased $5. Maybe it is HAL that is following the Princess lead. 

I believe HAL also is assessing extra 18% grats or svc charge, whichever, on specialty dining cover charge and any other foods for which there is extra charge ... such as their equivalent of steakhouse menu items ordered in MDR ... perhaps if a cruiseline charges enough extra fare, it only seems they aren't increasing add-on prices ... don't know.

[Steelers36]

Pricing for Enchanted Caribbean 10-night voyages we had booked under Saver Fares for FEB 2022 and cancelled out of are now higher as follows (but our original booking was done a long, long time ago):

 

IB     = up $362/pp

BW   = up $585/pp

 

 

Pricing for Mediterranean sector we have booked for OCT 2022 are higher now: 

 

IB = up $150/pp for two B2B 7-night voyages on REGAL

IB = up $282/pp for 11-night voyage on REGAL

IB = up $500/pp for 14-night voyage on ISLAND

 

We are almost $1,100/pp ahead today with our original booking (list pricing before discounting).

So, it seems closer sailing dates have increased more than further out dates, but that is to be expected.

 

Net of fare discounting, we are average of almost $25/pp/day less for our total planned voyage nights for Fall 2022 than today's pricing.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

There are at present 220 cruise ships & more on order  .I agree with those who point to the  FCCs being used for the start of cruising . In time the prices should normalize ;but ,we are very happt we booked 4 cruises way early in the scheme of things today 

All those cruise ships on order will affect supply someday, but not immediately especially in comparison to pent up demand. And the demand is even more because of all the future cruise credits from cancelled cruises.

[dog]

Like OP my cruise has increased too. It is up by $3,150. Per cabin 

[Wishing on a star]

I think part of it has to do with perceived 'demand' and the industry have to begin to make up for all the losses and debt incurred over the last year.

 

I notice that future cruises to Europe are booking up...  While the early Caribbean cruises for later this year are not booking at all.

 

We were able to take advantage of putting a hold on one during the Second Guest 50% promotion that just expired.   The promotion just expired, and the going fares have not changed or dropped at all.   We probably wouldn't be booking either, without that Promo.

[caribill]

17 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

All those cruise ships on order will affect supply someday, but not immediately especially in comparison to pent up demand.

 

One problem is that all those cruise ships on orders by Princess and other major line4s are large capacity, so the supply will not be in smaller ships that can do more unique itineraries.

 

The increased supply will mean more overcrowded ports in Alaska, the Caribbean (think St. Maarten, St. Thomas, etc.), and Europe (think Barcelona, Santorini, etc.).