Black Friday Sale?

[buckeye7]

Sorry if this has been recently asked (can’t get Search to work), but I’m wondering if anyone has heard what types of sales Princess might offer on Black Friday. Has it always been $1 deposit or do they change the sale every year? Thanks!

[DCThunder]

I think that the days of the $1 deposit Black Friday sales are probably over or at least will be significantly scaled back.  I'm sure Princess (and all the cruise lines) have reems of data on how many of those $1 deposit cruises actually became paid in full.  It's easy to book with a minimum deposit for a cruise a year or more out and then cancel before final payment is due.  Having more "skin in the game" in the form of a higher deposit is a way to combat that.  

 

What would be interesting is if a secondary market in cruise bookings were allowed.  This would be similar to StubHub or the like letting holders of seats for a sporting event or concert, sell those tickets to the highest bidder if they choose not to attend.  It's not feasible for a variety of reasons, but it would be an interesting concept.

Edited October 14, 2023 by DCThunder

[kokopelli-az]

2 hours ago, buckeye7 said:

Sorry if this has been recently asked (can’t get Search to work), but I’m wondering if anyone has heard what types of sales Princess might offer on Black Friday. Has it always been $1 deposit or do they change the sale every year? Thanks!

Right now they are having half price, refundable deposits.  Just booked the Sky for Feb 2025 with a $250 refundable deposit.  I'm sure they will have a Black Friday sale of some kind.  

 

Interesting when I was doing a dummy booking on the Princess websiste for the Feb 2025 cruise.  I wanted a mini-suite for 2 but there was no choice to select a Reserve Collection mini-suite (category M1) unless you chose 3 passengers.   Then the Reserve Colleciton mini-suites came up.    I called my TA and the final price was actually about $800 less than what was showing on the Princess website.  Plus I got some OBC.  Had I booked directly with Princess it would have cost more plus no OBC.   

[foodsvcmgr]

HAL just offered a Dollar Deposit day a couple weeks ago, so I think Carnival Corp.

still sees merit in this type of promo.

If this generates too many frivolous bookings, maybe Princess could restrict the number of bookings an individual can hold for $1, more than one or two would require full deposit?

[Pittypatbr]

Does Princess offer specials on WiFi or drink packages or anything else on Good Friday?  Last year Royal Caribbean had some good deals then.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I am looking out for a low deposit/refundable deposit day in the UK now 🙂 

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I am looking out for a low deposit/refundable deposit day in the UK now 🙂 

They did a £50 deposit week 18-24 Sep 23. 

Perhaps we'll get something once the current 'Free stateroom upgrade' offer ends on 31 Oct 23 although unfortunately I don't know if we ever get refundable deposits in the UK.

 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, Pittypatbr said:

Does Princess offer specials on WiFi or drink packages or anything else on Good Friday?  Last year Royal Caribbean had some good deals then.

If you mean Black Friday, no.  Also no for Good Friday.

[Pittypatbr]

😆 Posting too late at night!  Yes, BLACK Friday.  Too bad they don't discount anything then.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

30 minutes ago, Pittypatbr said:

😆 Posting too late at night!  Yes, BLACK Friday.  Too bad they don't discount anything then.

Royal Caribbean Group (Royal and Celebrity) are the only ones who routinely play shell games with fake sales/discounts on ancillary items such as Drinks packages, wifi, shore excursions, specialty dining etc. 

 

With Princess & HAL the price is the price, though excursions do increase in price as it gets closer to sailing by $10-20pp.  Things like Drink packages, specialty dining and wifi all have a fixed price that is usually the same pre-cruise as onboard the vessel (or a fixed price increase onboard vs pre-cruise)

 

With Princess and HAL the bundled fares (Princess Plus/Premiere and HAL's Have it All) are a set price on top of their standard early booking fares or can be added on post-booking to most discounted/private sale fares for the same differential ($60/$80 for Princess Plus/ Premiere and $50, soon to be $55, for HAL Have it all)

Edited October 22, 2023 by AtlantaCruiser72