Pricing & Plus ➕ program

[Ombud]

I thought prices were going up so I just added up my 2015-2020 & 2021-2024 (booked and completed) cruises. I'm a little shocked. I almost always book a midship balcony, have only booked 1 mini-suite (2022). Cruises prior to 2015 were outside rooms so not comparable. 

>pre covid daily average for room: $211.30

> average after restart (beginning with Alaska 8/15/21): $163.02

 

So if I had Princess Plus I'd only be paying $11.72 a day more but I'd have gratuities, wifi, tea covered? 

 

Historically prices are not going up??

[Steelers36]

17 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I thought prices were going up so I just added up my 2015-2020 & 2021-2024 (booked and completed) cruises. I'm a little shocked. I almost always book a midship balcony, have only booked 1 mini-suite (2022). Cruises prior to 2015 were outside rooms so not comparable. 

>pre covid daily average for room: $211.30

> average after restart (beginning with Alaska 8/15/21): $163.02

 

So if I had Princess Plus I'd only be paying $11.72 a day more but I'd have gratuities, wifi, tea covered? 

 

Historically prices are not going up??

Suppose you remove the post-Covid voyages that were in the "start up" phase and prices were set low to attract back the cruisers and ships were still only half-full or so?  Does that increase the post-Covid average much?

[Ombud]

Last 12 months = $157. Apparently per night price went down when plus started. 

[SCX22]

There are a lot of people crying foul over the new extra charges for some amenities on Princess.  They don’t realize that in the post pandemic world Princess still has some of the lowest cruises fares when compared to other mass market cruise lines.  Pre pandemic, I used to cruise other cruise lines more often because they were cheaper than than Princess all things considered equal.  Not sure if this is because they are struggling to fill ships, but I’m happy to continue to book Princess as long as the price is right.  Not really willing to pay a premium for Princess in the post pandemic world because in my opinion, they aren’t of the same caliber now.

[Ombud]

Yes @SCX22 for the past 2 yrs its been cheaper for solos on Princess than other lines.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ombud

[Mud_Shark]

We have had some great post-covid deals for cruising in 2021, 2022, and even the one we depart on in 2 weeks is for us, "the last  of the great post-covid deals", though it is not quite the unbelievable deal we got the previous two years.

 

But those deals are over now.  It is back to reality.  The party is over (on deals).  It is not like cruising has become the most expensive mode of vacation travel, but it is no longer too good to be true.  Prices continue to rise in a variety of ways (base fares, taxes and port fees, lack of great sales, increased drink and merch prices, increased excursion prices, increased Plus and premium rates, increased Gratuity rates, increased wifi rates, etc).  The base prices still come down somewhat if a cruise is not selling well, but the other costs do not.  We are still cruising for now, and recognize that the cruise lines have to turn a profit to cover their massive debt, but it was fun while it lasted.

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Yes @SCX22 for the past 2 yrs its been cheaper for solos on Princess than other lines.

 

Rarely do I cruise solo so you're the better judge of that.  Having said that, what's made a difference to our cruise buddy that does cruise solo is the post-pandemic 50% off select future cruises that the Future Cruise Desk onboard offers.  (Not sure if this is now in the past.)  It has wiped out the single supplement on his cruise fare, and he's been able to afford to go on more cruises with our group of friends since this was offered.  Heck, it's made even made a difference to me and my girlfriend because we go 2 for the price of one. 

 

At this point, we don't care where the cruise is going, as long as it's cheap and comes with the basics.  We're from the Bay Area and the socio economic dynamics aren't the best here right now, so in our opinion, our time is better spent on ships.  It's safer than being home (sad 😟, I know) and we don't really have to worry about chores, except for laundry.  Remote work has allowed us to work and play at the same time while cruising.