Disappointed with Princess

[wowzz]

20 minutes ago, teecee60 said:

 

The 14 night Sky Princess transatlantic is down to only $559pp inside and $659pp for a balcony.

 

Are Brits able to buy/use future cruise deposits? Can you guys get the Shareholder credit?

Cheapest price for us Brits is £600 ($720) for an inside, and £700 ($840) for a balcony.  The UK prices include taxes of around $110, so probably not too much difference. The cost of adding Princess Plus would be the same as the cost of a balcony cabin  !

Unbelievable prices really - I should have been keeping an eye on the fares. The downside is that airfares can be expensive for last minute bookings. 

And yes, we can buy FCDs, and shareholder obc. Casino fares however,  do not seem to be a Brit thing, neither does large amounts of obc from TAs. 

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, teecee60 said:

 

The 14 night Sky Princess transatlantic is down to only $559pp inside and $659pp for a balcony.

 

Are Brits able to buy/use future cruise deposits? Can you guys get the Shareholder credit?

Great prices.

Except for the return air fare.

[SargassoPirate]

8 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Yeah airfares are the deal breaker these days.

This past week I've been working on booking air travel for two upcoming cruises.  It took some doing, but I found some fares that I was happy with.  I was especially happy with the fare to Europe in the fall by booking a connection in Iceland instead of direct.  Also happy with some fares to and from Florida by booking with a connection in Atlanta.

 

Ordinarily I prefer direct flights to lessen the chance of lost luggage, so to assuage that concern, I booked a couple of extra days in the outbound city figuring if the bags were lost, they'd catch up before the cruise.

 

I use a matrix and research the various airlines, travel companies that book airlines, the airline themselves, and the fares for the different classes.  If I work at it and am flexible with dates and times, I can usually fly first class for not much more than steerage.  And remember, if I'm going there anyway, the cost of first class is just the extra, and usually the extra is worth it.

 

And this from a guy who books inside cabins on cruises.  

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by SargassoPirate

[stevenr597]

17 hours ago, Two Wavers said:

We’re travelling with Princess and I’m disappointed. Princess is always telling us to book early for the best prices. Well our cruise went down in price considerably after we paid our final payment. The lesson I’ve learned is to wait, book late and get a better price. 

The Key here is the statement, "After we paid our final payment."  

Most if not all cruise lines will adjust their prices to book up empty cabins after pasengers have made their final payment.

If there is a consolation to this, usually the best cabins are the first to go.  

We usually book Club Class which books up very quickly. We hardly, if ever, see prices decrease for these cabins. 

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Great prices.

Except for the return air fare.

So true!  

[PMGS247]

Have to disagree with this.  Many of the reasons have already been called out, but for me..

 

1. This isn't guaranteed to happen, prices can go up as well.

2. If they're selling remaining cabins cheap they're the cabins everyone else has passed on, including yourself.

3. Associated travel costs for airfare/hotel are likely much higher closer to the date.

 

I'm not saying there aren't situations where last minute deals could be great.  If I lived near a cruise port, I didn't need to travel in, I didn't care at all about which cabin I was in, and it was relatively easy to pack up and leave home on short notice then I would keep an eye out for these deals all the time.  It's definitely a real thing, but it's a very narrow set of criteria required for someone to make a generic statement that they should always wait for last minute deals.  There's a lot of significant drawbacks to this approach for most people.

 

Booking early does yield the chance to rebook at any time up until final payment for any price drops.  Even after final payment it may be worth a call to the cruise line to see if they'll do anything for you.  They might not, but it's not unheard of for them to throw in some OBC or allow you to upgrade to a better room without any additional cost.  I pulled off the latter on a particularly undersold cruise back just before the pandemic.  I was booked and paid for a balcony room then the prices dropped and it was basically the same price for a mini suite as I'd paid for my balcony.  They upgraded me to the mini suite.  All depends on the exact situation they're facing that dictates what they are & aren't willing to do for you at this point....you'll never know ahead of time but it doesn't hurt to ask.

[deultgen]

19 hours ago, Two Wavers said:

We’re travelling with Princess and I’m disappointed. Princess is always telling us to book early for the best prices. Well our cruise went down in price considerably after we paid our final payment. The lesson I’ve learned is to wait, book late and get a better price. 

 

Certainly, if price is the most important thing and you have some flexibility, last minute deals can be a good thing.  We have had pretty good luck when we have booked last minute deals.

 

I do think its always important when traveling to recognize that when you look at the 10 cruise cabins to your left and 10 to the right, each of them paid a different amount for their cruise with different packages, OBC, etc.

[donaldsc]

Is this conclusion based on a sample size of 1 cruise, a couple of cruises or many cruises.  If the sample size is one cruise the conclusion drawn from the data is dubious.  As many of the respondents have said - it depends.

 

DON

[vjmatty]

19 hours ago, Two Wavers said:

We’re travelling with Princess and I’m disappointed. Princess is always telling us to book early for the best prices. Well our cruise went down in price considerably after we paid our final payment. The lesson I’ve learned is to wait, book late and get a better price. 

 

Look to see if there are any higher category cabins available for the same as what you paid, or maybe even lower depending on the amount of drop.  That is often the only way to benefit from a price drop after final payment.

[Bedruthen]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

Cheapest price for us Brits is £600 ($720) for an inside, and £700 ($840) for a balcony.  The UK prices include taxes of around $110, so probably not too much difference. The cost of adding Princess Plus would be the same as the cost of a balcony cabin  !

Unbelievable prices really - I should have been keeping an eye on the fares. The downside is that airfares can be expensive for last minute bookings. 

And yes, we can buy FCDs, and shareholder obc. Casino fares however,  do not seem to be a Brit thing, neither does large amounts of obc from TAs. 

 

For reasons I cannot fathom, I can’t get on the Uk Princess site. Would you mind telling me the price for a D4 category now? Thank you for any help

[JimmyVWine]

45 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

Is this conclusion based on a sample size of 1 cruise, a couple of cruises or many cruises.  If the sample size is one cruise the conclusion drawn from the data is dubious.  As many of the respondents have said - it depends.

 

DON

Also missing in the overall "analysis" is a comparison to other cruise lines.  Can someone publish a list of cruise lines that work their pricing differently than Princess does?  Off hand, I can't think of any. 

[jeromep]

Cruising is a luxury for me.  I book earlier than some, later than others, usually to get the cabin I want.  If the price is acceptable to me, I book; if not, I don't.  Once booked, I don't worry much about the price.  If my TA finds that prices are moving down, I let them handle the adjustments or rebooking.  And final payment is 90 days from the cruise, by that time, if you aren't happy with the price you paid, there isn't much you can do about it.  Plus, if you are booking less than 90 days from the start of the cruise (I've done this a couple of times), you end up having to pay for the whole cruise up front.

 

It has been a long time since I've cruised on short notice, less than 90 days from cruise start, and because these late bookings have to paid in full at booking, prices are usually depressed, partly to fill cabins, but also partly to accommodate the up front cost and make it more palatable.

 

I'm not sure there is a science behind getting the best price.  More than anything else, I think there are trade offs when trying to get the best price.  If you are comfortable with the trade offs, then by all means book in a way that gets you the lowest price.

[PurpleTraveller]

I have decided to not to ever book early again as I usually do, unless I want a particular cabin. Almost every cruise I have booked has gone down a lot in price between booking and final payment. I am in Australia and I have never been able to refare, so I have had to cancel and rebook each cruise to get the lower price and sometimes better perks. For my June Alaska cruise there was a large drop in price but when I cancelled and rebooked I lost my FCC's and FCD's as they had expired between booking and cancelling and Princess refused to extend their expiry dates. Fortunately the saving was still more than I lost. Then the prices dropped again and I could get a Balcony for only $200 more than what I am paying for my obstructed Oceanview but Princess would not let me upgrade unless I cancel and rebook again which I will not do as I have already lost $125 on currency exchange when my original excursions were cancelled when the original booking was cancelled and then I had to rebook them at higher prices. I am not at final payment yet. So in the future I will wait to book a Princess cruise or book with Celebrity who allows me to refare, even on a category that is not available to book and keep my OBC.

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, Bedruthen said:

For reasons I cannot fathom, I can’t get on the Uk Princess site. Would you mind telling me the price for a D4 category now? Thank you for any help

Sorry,  trying to work out what a D4 category cabin is, is way beyond my paygrade. 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

Booking early does yield the chance to rebook at any time up until final payment for any price drops. 

Not for us Brits! 

[Guest ldtr]

10 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Great prices.

Except for the return air fare.

airline miles are  wonderful things

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

airline miles are  wonderful things

Unfortunately I spent all of mine over the last twenty years.

Edited March 1, 2023 by wowzz

[cruisequeen4ever]

Sure, they may discount unsold rooms after final payment, but is it worth the risk to wait and see? If it’s a special cruise, no way; it could be long sold out by then. If it’s a common cruise, but you’re locked into certain dates, probably not, so you don’t risk missing out. If it’s a common cruise, and you’re totally flexible, sure; roll the dice, and see if you can save some money.