10/18/23: Princess Makes Dramatic Pricing Change, Now Focused on Unprecedented Savings for Early Bookers

[J13C85]

My experience is anecdotal but I think the group might find this interesting. Since the restart, we have booked 3 (not counting the 1 I cancelled) Princess Cruises. For the first one (Sky 7D Nov 26, 2022). We booked an aft view Penthouse Suite when the itinerary was first released, appx 400D before sailing). We got a good price when we booked and despite numerous sales during the year we never saw a better price (I checked a lot). 

 

In Oct of last year, we booked a 14D 2023 Christmas and New Year's cruise on Sky Princess (Penthouse Suite, cabin options were limited). We booked this cruise literally the day it became available and got a killer price. Within a week the price had jumped by over $2K for this cruise and throughout the year this price steadily increased. Right now, a lower category Suite on our 14D is nearly TWICE as much as we paid.

 

In Aug of this year, we booked a 7D Mex Riveria Cruise (Owner's Suite, aft view for Nov 30 next year) since we booked this, I have gotten emails for 3 different sales, yet, price has remained steady (appx $700 to $800 more than our booking)

 

My point here is, for our 3 trips, there is truth to this press release (and this truth seriously predates the release) as far as Princess pricing.

 

Also, for last year and this year, we did EZAir as soon as it was available and same deal, price never went down. For this year, when we booked, airfare was equal to Delta's fare. As the year progressed. the DL and EZAir prices steadily increaded (although not at the same pace). EZAir beats DL now, but everything is WAY more than we paid.

 

Pls forgive any typos (me and my sausage like fingers, LOL).

[rj59]

7 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

That is the big problem with booking last minute deals that require flights.  We only book them when they are roundtrip from our home port of San Pedro.

One solution I use is to prebook flights using Southwest miles. Then I wait for a cruise or airfare sale and rebook the flight or do a late booking on a cruise I want. If I don't go on the cruise, I simply cancel the SW flight and get my miles back. I've found this fall for Europe cruises it's possible to get both good cruise and airfare prices, even a few weeks out. So today I booked Island Princess for $680 solo inside for 14 nights and my sister and her husband also booked for about that, and we could find reasonable airfare. None of us would have gone on the cruise without the late price drop, given it's late in November, just as if I cruise Alaska in early May or late September it will take a good price drop to get me to risk bad weather, and it's almost impossible to fill all the ships going across the Atlantic or Pacific without price drops to enable greed to overcome fear of many days at sea without land. As a solo, it's not so much the price drops I care about as much as the dropping or reducing the solo supplement, which Princess and NCL often do, HAL never does, and Celebrity lately have been adding single supplements of 300% or more. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

15 hours ago, rj59 said:

NCL tried this after restart. They said they'd keep prices high and not do deep discounts, even at the cost of empty cabins, because it would devalue the brand. While they still keep prices higher, they're back to deep discounting close to sail date so they can fill ships and maintain occupancy over 100%. The reason why it isn't sustainable is because of competition, ships/itineraries/seasons that aren't popular, and because fares are like movie tickets--the real profits come from other things, as Fortuna Luck knows well. What's most reprehensible about this gimmick is advertising a Best Price Guarantee that's valid for only 72 hours, so meaningless and deceitful. 

what's even better is you can get an upgrade or obc and not cash back in your wallet.

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Mine is down again. I've already missed one refare because my Princess VP ignored me. And it's too late to transfer to a TA by a few days. SMH

 

Unfortunately, I've already started paying for my cruise with AARP Gift Cards and I'm nervous that if I cancel and rebook, I won't get them back properly.

 

They already said that they *will* have discounts near to sailing if they have empty cabins but only if you pick a Guaranteed Cabin. i.e., they pick the cabin for you. It's right in the announcement.

 

Off to find a PVP who isn't a lazy SOB... 😄

Could you point out where it says that? I've read and reread the announcement and don't see that anywhere. 

[MissP22]

5 hours ago, MacMadame said:

They already said that they *will* have discounts near to sailing if they have empty cabins but only if you pick a Guaranteed Cabin. i.e., they pick the cabin for you. It's right in the announcement.

Perhaps I misunderstood this latest way of selling cruises.  

[luv2kroooz]

19 hours ago, CATGUY7 said:

Same here.  February 2025 is $560 more than when I booked it months ago.  I don't see a price drop on the horizon.

Of course you don't. Price drops would happen much closer to sailing after final payment is due. If they dropped prices now, everyone with refundable deposits could just cancel and rebook at the lower fare.

[leck57]

23 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I see this simply as a sales tactic to accelerate future bookings.  Sure, if the ships get fuller, they will raise prices.  But if there are cabins to fill later on, prices are going to drop.  Same old, same old IMO.

 

Agree completely. Just a bluff to try and get people to book early and many will fall for it. My last two bookings I've recently re-fared due to price drops. I can't see any change to be honest.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I wish we could re-fare in the UK 😞

[Fortunate 2 travel]

Our 2025 Star Princess dropped significantly a couple of weeks ago.  Our CVP took care of the details.  

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, J13C85 said:

My experience is anecdotal but I think the group might find this interesting. Since the restart, we have booked 3 (not counting the 1 I cancelled) Princess Cruises. For the first one (Sky 7D Nov 26, 2022). We booked an aft view Penthouse Suite when the itinerary was first released, appx 400D before sailing). We got a good price when we booked and despite numerous sales during the year we never saw a better price (I checked a lot). 

 

In Oct of last year, we booked a 14D 2023 Christmas and New Year's cruise on Sky Princess (Penthouse Suite, cabin options were limited). We booked this cruise literally the day it became available and got a killer price. Within a week the price had jumped by over $2K for this cruise and throughout the year this price steadily increased. Right now, a lower category Suite on our 14D is nearly TWICE as much as we paid.

 

In Aug of this year, we booked a 7D Mex Riveria Cruise (Owner's Suite, aft view for Nov 30 next year) since we booked this, I have gotten emails for 3 different sales, yet, price has remained steady (appx $700 to $800 more than our booking)

 

My point here is, for our 3 trips, there is truth to this press release (and this truth seriously predates the release) as far as Princess pricing.

 

Also, for last year and this year, we did EZAir as soon as it was available and same deal, price never went down. For this year, when we booked, airfare was equal to Delta's fare. As the year progressed. the DL and EZAir prices steadily increased (although not at the same pace). EZAir beats DL now, but everything is WAY more than we paid.

 

Pls forgive any typos (me and my sausage like fingers, LOL).

Your case is exceptional due to the limited inventory of suites on a ship and they do get booked fairly early.  Supply and demand.  Tons more inventory with balcony and inside to sell.  You were smart to book early.

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I wish we could re-fare in the UK 😞

I'm in the UK and I re-fared a Princess cruise earlier this year.  It cost £100 admin fee but still saved me a considerable amount overall.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 minute ago, Tigrou said:

I'm in the UK and I re-fared a Princess cruise earlier this year.  It cost £100 admin fee but still saved me a considerable amount overall.

Really? I didn't know we could do that. Was it direct or through a TA?

[MacMadame]

8 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Could you point out where it says that? I've read and reread the announcement and don't see that anywhere. 

About to go away for the weekend. I'll check and get back probably on Tues.

 

Anyway, this deal isn't as extensive or revolutionary as people are making out. It just says if you buy a cruise within a particular time window (which ends this month), they guarantee the cruise won't cost less later. There is nothing about if you buy it outside of that window or for cruises in 2026 or this is the way things will be forever.

 

It's a short-term deal probably to juice up the bottom line for this quarter.

[VersaliusPrimus]

On 10/18/2023 at 5:34 PM, WisCruiser2 said:

I'm wondering how you could "lock in" a fare without having a specific itinerary or dates -- will it be for "a balcony room on a 7-day on _____Princess"? 

 

This part of the announcement also stood out to me.  How can a customer "secure today's pricing... without locking in the specific dates or itinerary" for any cabin?  Pricing largely depends on cabin category, sailing date, ship, and itinerary.  Even if you hold three of those four variables constant, the fourth will still affect the price i.e. a customer designates they want to "lock in" the fare for a standard balcony on the Discovery Princess to Alaska for 7 days, they will see a difference in cruise fare between sailing in May or July.  

 

Does Princess have some calculated cruise fare for each cabin category with a substantial price cushion built-in as a "fee" to ensure some minimum profit margin?  This margin could then be considered by the customer the cost of "locking in" a rate with the flexibility of attaching it to a booking later. 

 

The amount of headache this can potentially cause for passengers, booking agents, and people behind the scenes at PCL is mindboggling...

[no1racefan1]

On 10/19/2023 at 5:30 AM, Steelers36 said:

I see this simply as a sales tactic to accelerate future bookings.  Sure, if the ships get fuller, they will raise prices.  But if there are cabins to fill later on, prices are going to drop.  Same old, same old IMO.

Agreed.

[PescadoAmarillo]

23 minutes ago, VersaliusPrimus said:

The amount of headache this can potentially cause for passengers, booking agents, and people behind the scenes at PCL is mindboggling...

 No worries!  That crack Princess IT team has tracking this totally automated, probably as part of the Medallion app. 

[VersaliusPrimus]

7 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

 No worries!  That crack Princess IT team has tracking this totally automated, probably as part of the Medallion app. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they [eventually] turn this flexible rate lock into a "perk" for those who book with the Princess Premier package, or rather, make that a requirement to do so.  

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, VersaliusPrimus said:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they [eventually] turn this flexible rate lock into a "perk" for those who book with the Princess Premier package, or rather, make that a requirement to do so.  

Oh, ye of little faith. 

Just drink the Kool Aid and trust in Princess.

 

[Tigrou]

8 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Really? I didn't know we could do that. Was it direct or through a TA?

It was through a TA.  

[Italy52]

On 10/18/2023 at 11:21 AM, voljeep said:

Just checked my existing Fall 2024 cruise - same pricing I'm booked under ... so far

I checked our May and August 2024 Alaska cruises and both cruises went up about $200. Glad we booked when we did. 

[sabookkeeper]

I checked my January 2025 cruise yesterday and it actually went down.  Our TA had it refared and we saved close to $400.00 from our original price. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

8 hours ago, MacMadame said:

About to go away for the weekend. I'll check and get back probably on Tues.

 

Anyway, this deal isn't as extensive or revolutionary as people are making out. It just says if you buy a cruise within a particular time window (which ends this month), they guarantee the cruise won't cost less later. There is nothing about if you buy it outside of that window or for cruises in 2026 or this is the way things will be forever.

 

It's a short-term deal probably to juice up the bottom line for this quarter.

enjoy your weekend!!!

Edited October 20, 2023 by Illbcruzn4life

[Italy52]

3 hours ago, sabookkeeper said:

I checked my January 2025 cruise yesterday and it actually went down.  Our TA had it refared and we saved close to $400.00 from our original price. 

Just went and checked our May 2025 cruise to Alaska and, like our 2024 cruises, the pricing was $200 more than when we first booked it.  We were not as lucky as you --- congratulations.

[rj59]

Yeah, the generic cruise thing doesn't make sense, especially after last summer, when Seattle-based Alaska cruises were sailing at over 100% capacity and were over $1000 for a solo, but the many ships going N/S to-from Vancouver were half to a third the price (for a better itinerary, with Hubbard/College glaciers). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I already noticed their Best Price Guarantee fooled Princess's biggest fan, Don from Don's Family Vacations on YouTube, who thought it meant people can have a guarantee up to 72 hours before sailing, instead of after booking (if you booked on their site). Hopefully he didn't have too many clients book right away with that false promise. 

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, rj59 said:

Yeah, the generic cruise thing doesn't make sense, especially after last summer, when Seattle-based Alaska cruises were sailing at over 100% capacity and were over $1000 for a solo, but the many ships going N/S to-from Vancouver were half to a third the price (for a better itinerary, with Hubbard/College glaciers). It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I already noticed their Best Price Guarantee fooled Princess's biggest fan, Don from Don's Family Vacations on YouTube, who thought it meant people can have a guarantee up to 72 hours before sailing, instead of after booking (if you booked on their site). Hopefully he didn't have too many clients book right away with that false promise. 

LOL - sometimes he gets too excited for his own good.