Price of cruise jumps up

[dog]

When I select my cabin the cruise fare jumps up from $1888 pp to over $2000 per person. Canadian funds.  I am signed in, elite.

 

example: Jan 4/24  Island princess Panama Canal. BE balcony in 700 range.

 

Is this happening for others still?

[1emerald1]

I just happened to google today, why are cruises so expensive, and the answer was the cost of rising fuel and trying to make up for pandemic losses, with no relief in sight.

[Valiamo]

1 hour ago, dog said:

When I select my cabin the cruise fare jumps up from $1888 pp to over $2000 per person. Canadian funds.  I am signed in, elite.

 

example: Jan 4/24  Island princess Panama Canal. BE balcony in 700 range.

 

Is this happening for others still?

 

I tried the same...   Price is $1888 CAD , select a cabin Lido 700 range, and next page is Cruise fare of $2038.15 (plus the taxes of course)

[Guest ldtr]

When I show it that cabin is 2040 US when I am logged in or not with 403.93 fees and taxes yielding 2443.93 per passenger for the jan 4 24 island Princess 14day world cruise segment 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, dog said:

When I select my cabin the cruise fare jumps up from $1888 pp to over $2000 per person. Canadian funds.  I am signed in, elite.

 

example: Jan 4/24  Island princess Panama Canal. BE balcony in 700 range.

 

Is this happening for others still?

Hi.  I tried this on Princess.com and observed the same thing as you.

 

I used my TA booking engine as I would normally do in order to see the "real" cruise fare in USD (we book in USD anyway).  There is a special promotion on for Canada region - the Standard Fare Code for this promo is RLW (RJW for Plus and RKW for Premier).  The normal B.S.E. Standard Fare Code, which applies to North America market is NZC.  

 

The RLW Fare for a BE is $1,510 USD.  Add on $403.93 USD in Port Taxes.  The current PCL conversion factor is 1.35 (but for some strange reason, they often play with the result and doesn't convert precisely). 

 

The NZC Fare for a BE is $2,040 USD.  Add on same Port Taxes.  This fare is $530 more than the CA market promo. 

 

The RLW Fare of $1,510 USD converts to $2,038.50 CAD.  The Port Taxes convert to $545.305 CAD.  Therefore, the system is ultimately displaying the correct fare in CAD, based on the USD fare.

 

I am not sure why the system is "advertising" a lower fare and then correcting itself.  There was something I read about a CAD at par promotion.  Wondering if there is a bug of sorts in displaying cruise fares?  Did you try another ship sailing around same date and see if the same thing happens?  You could report the anomaly to Princess.  I have seen pricing errors before. 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

When I show it that cabin is 2040 US when I am logged in or not with 403.93 fees and taxes yielding 2443.93 per passenger for the jan 4 24 island Princess 14day world cruise segment 

Correct numbers for the US market.  US market is not eligible for the lower fare offered to CA market.  A Canadian resident saves $530 USD on this particular cruise and cabin category.

[dog]

Thanks everyone.  Tried other cruises and did not have the fare jump up after cabin selection.

 

interesting

[Lady Arwen]

3 hours ago, dog said:

Thanks everyone.  Tried other cruises and did not have the fare jump up after cabin selection.

 

interesting

That is interesting.  I tried a mock booking on our 2023 and 2024 reservations and all is as expected, so it’s not happening across the board.  I recently tried to do a refare of our next cruise according to the price shown to me on the Princess website and our CVP could not find or see the same fares.  I put a hold on a cabin in the same category so she could see it and still she could not find the fare code. She called someone at Princess and they couldn’t find it either.  My only choice was to cancel and rebook.  Luckily my OBC was still included.  The fare difference was $1663.00!  Worth the inconvenience.  My CVP said that this is a very common occurrence and Princess just doesn’t explain that to their staff.  

[dog]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

That is interesting.  I tried a mock booking on our 2023 and 2024 reservations and all is as expected, so it’s not happening across the board.  I recently tried to do a refare of our next cruise according to the price shown to me on the Princess website and our CVP could not find or see the same fares.  I put a hold on a cabin in the same category so she could see it and still she could not find the fare code. She called someone at Princess and they couldn’t find it either.  My only choice was to cancel and rebook.  Luckily my OBC was still included.  The fare difference was $1663.00!  Worth the inconvenience.  My CVP said that this is a very common occurrence and Princess just doesn’t explain that to their staff.  

I have booked a 10 day on Enchanted instead of this Panama cruise. This fare jump only happened on the 2 Panama canal cruises I priced out. Taxes & fees are high, IMO, as well.

 

I was able to get the balcony cabin I wanted with $400 OBC, so I am fine with that.

And the reason I came back to Princess was because of their refundable deposits up to final payment.

[Lady Arwen]

16 minutes ago, dog said:

I have booked a 10 day on Enchanted instead of this Panama cruise. This fare jump only happened on the 2 Panama canal cruises I priced out. Taxes & fees are high, IMO, as well.

 

I was able to get the balcony cabin I wanted with $400 OBC, so I am fine with that.

And the reason I came back to Princess was because of their refundable deposits up to final payment.

I’m sure you’ll enjoy Enchanted.  I’m one who really likes Royal Class ships, but many others don’t.  I like that I can move up to a Deluxe Balcony with a loveseat for little extra money over a regular balcony or if the Mini Suites are not available or too expensive.  Refundable deposits are mandatory for us and Princess takes care of that!

[mtnesterz]

Thank you, dog,  for bringing this to our attention and saving us some money. After reading your post, I checked and our cruise dropped $100/pp, same cabin type. I will call next week about a refare.

[Reina del Mar]

27 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

Thank you, dog,  for bringing this to our attention and saving us some money. After reading your post, I checked and our cruise dropped $100/pp, same cabin type. I will call next week about a refare.

 

Wish we could do this in UK..we are allowed ONE change to booking..but at an admin fee of £100.  Would appreciate it if T&Cs were standardised wherever you book.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, dog said:

I have booked a 10 day on Enchanted instead of this Panama cruise. This fare jump only happened on the 2 Panama canal cruises I priced out. Taxes & fees are high, IMO, as well.

 

I was able to get the balcony cabin I wanted with $400 OBC, so I am fine with that.

And the reason I came back to Princess was because of their refundable deposits up to final payment.

I know it is being called a "fare jump", but it was/is not really that.  Something must be wrong in the initial display when it shows the lowest fares for each cabin category and then the correct fares are displayed later.  The ultimate fare in CAD is correct when matched to the fare in USD by another way into POLAR system.  Of course that doesn't mean that a Panama Canal cruise cannot be perceived as expensive these days.

 

[Ombud]

I've not seen a jump in prices. My average cost in 2019 was 212.43 per night. It's now 174 despite booking a higher category (balcony vs outside)*

 

But if you're talking about a bump in trying to both a specific cruise .... yeah. That's why I send a screen shot to my CVP so she can find the specific rate. Even she was unable to find 1 price drop last week. 

 

*Adding I'm a solo so divide those rates in 1/2

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Ombud

[dog]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I know it is being called a "fare jump", but it was/is not really that.  Something must be wrong in the initial display when it shows the lowest fares for each cabin category and then the correct fares are displayed later.  The ultimate fare in CAD is correct when matched to the fare in USD by another way into POLAR system.  Of course that doesn't mean that a Panama Canal cruise cannot be perceived as expensive these days.

 

you are right---there is a tiny mark by the $1888 fare when I select the cabin, next page to see the taxes/fees, (I cannot see anywhere it says what that mark is about)---only on the Panama Canal booking the fare went from $1888 to over $2000.

 

When I booked the Enchanted cruise, the fare was exactly the same as the cabin I selected it.

 

A glitch? something to do with the Panama Cruise? I have no idea and am not wasting anymore time with it.

 

appreciate those who checked the fares!

Edited February 5, 2023 by dog

[Rick&Jeannie]

14 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

 Wondering if there is a bug of sorts in displaying cruise fares? 

A bug you say...? Surely you jest? 😄

[Hlitner]

17 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

I just happened to google today, why are cruises so expensive, and the answer was the cost of rising fuel and trying to make up for pandemic losses, with no relief in sight.

My goodness, it is not just the price of fuel.  Have you looked at food prices?  Just consider the thousands of eggs used (even on a short cruise) and look at the current price of eggs.  There has even been a smuggler caught trying to smuggle eggs into the USA (from Mexico).  The rapidly climbing cost of airfare has also hit cruise lines hard (the crew flies commercial air to and from their contracts on ships).  

 

As to cruises through the Panama Canal, there is going to be a major toll increase (imposed by the canal) in January 2024.  Those increased toll charges will be passed on to cruisers through higher fees..  

[1emerald1]

13 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

My goodness, it is not just the price of fuel.  Have you looked at food prices?  Just consider the thousands of eggs used (even on a short cruise) and look at the current price of eggs.  There has even been a smuggler caught trying to smuggle eggs into the USA (from Mexico).  The rapidly climbing cost of airfare has also hit cruise lines hard (the crew flies commercial air to and from their contracts on ships).  

 

As to cruises through the Panama Canal, there is going to be a major toll increase (imposed by the canal) in January 2024.  Those increased toll charges will be passed on to cruisers through higher fees..  

Yes, as a consumer and one who relies solely on social security and watches the news daily, I am completely aware of your points.  Thanks for expanding on my comment.

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

Yes, as a consumer and one who relies solely on social security and watches the news daily, I am completely aware of your points.  Thanks for expanding on my comment.

Watching the news is too darn depressing.  On the other hand, visiting the supermarket is even more depressing.  

[chubbypiggy]

10 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

visiting the supermarket is even more depressing.  

So true!🤣