Price drop after final payment

[ernnnn]

Hi!

 

What are your experiences about cruise price dropping after the final payment? I did the reservation directly with Princess through the chat, and the price have dropped almost 500$. Could I ask for some onboard credit, upgrade, or fare reduction?

 

Best regards!

[ernnnn]

Up as it was approved by the administrators  and it got very down in the forum boear.

[dog]

Pre pandemic my travel agent was able to get me price drops before and some after final payment.

 

no harm in asking, but I doubt it.

Edited May 25 by dog

[Lady Arwen]

You can call Princess and see if they’re willing to do anything for you.  Don’t count on it.  If the price had gone up, and many times it does, Princess doesn’t request that you pay more.  After final payment, Princess is not responsible for refaring the price of your cruise.  You can certainly try because you never know!

[son3cruisers]

I’ve called three different agents. Asked for stateroom credit, room upgrade - whatever they can do as I’m 40 days away. Every response was “ the price is for new bookings only. If you would like to cancel and rebook “ 

[ernnnn]

7 minutes ago, son3cruisers said:

I’ve called three different agents. Asked for stateroom credit, room upgrade - whatever they can do as I’m 40 days away. Every response was “ the price is for new bookings only. If you would like to cancel and rebook “ 

It's the same answer I'm getting. It would mean a $150 reduction, so not worth the effort and mess.

[WisCruiser2]

Yep, even before Final Payment, often any price drop re-fare has to be "cancel and re-book," I believe. If that's the case, you need to see how that may affect any OBC or other perks you have with the current booking.

Edited May 25 by WisCruiser2

[startedwithamouse]

They're looking to fill the ship.  

 

We book drop and go deals and don't have our choice of the good cabins, so look at it as a discount for leftovers. 

[Bgwest]

Cancel and rebook. EZPZ. Especially if you’re using a travel agent. The only downside is, of course, losing some OBC from the original booking.  

If however, your OBC consists of a future cruise deposit and Shareholder OBC, then you lose nothing as those will be reapplied to the new booking. 

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done this. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

I haven't come across this situation. I know in years past you could be on a ship, same grade cabin and find hardly anyone is paying the same fare. We have booked a cruise for later in the year and for the same grade cabin the fare is now £1200 more. The excursions available seem all over the place, one time they are $10 to $30 more expensive, then they are $10 to $15 cheaper. Whether this is because they want to fill a coach I don't know. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

41 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Cancel and rebook. EZPZ. Especially if you’re using a travel agent. The only downside is, of course, losing some OBC from the original booking.  

If however, your OBC consists of a future cruise deposit and Shareholder OBC, then you lose nothing as those will be reapplied to the new booking. 

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done this. 

I did this on a P&O cruise and although I lost my deposit I managed to keep the same cabin and pay £800 less.

[wallyj]

6 hours ago, ernnnn said:

Hi!

 

What are your experiences about cruise price dropping after the final payment? I did the reservation directly with Princess through the chat, and the price have dropped almost 500$. Could I ask for some onboard credit, upgrade, or fare reduction?

 

Best regards!

Check what is the fare for the next category up? If it is close to the fare you paid for your lower category, then you are always allowed to ‘upgrade’ yourself by saying you would like to pay to upgrade to the next higher category.

 

My friend did this after final payment recently, the next category was actually about $30 less, and the Princess agent issued a credit for the difference. YMMV.

 

From your signature, you are in Spain? Rules vary by country. My friends experience was for a booking made in the US.

Edited May 25 by wallyj

[ernnnn]

3 hours ago, wallyj said:

Check what is the fare for the next category up? If it is close to the fare you paid for your lower category, then you are always allowed to ‘upgrade’ yourself by saying you would like to pay to upgrade to the next higher category.

 

My friend did this after final payment recently, the next category was actually about $30 less, and the Princess agent issued a credit for the difference. YMMV.

 

From your signature, you are in Spain? Rules vary by country. My friends experience was for a booking made in the US.

Yes, I'm from Spain, but I did my booking directly with the US site over the chat. I'll have a look to that option, I didn't know about it.

[ecs66]

15 hours ago, dog said:

Pre pandemic my travel agent was able to get me price drops before and some after final payment.

A few years ago we did a 15-day Hawaii cruise on Island Princess, and the price kept dropping every couple of weeks after final payment.  We had a super TA, who kept tabs on rate changes constantly.  Every time the price dropped, she was able to have Princess credit our Visa card.  I don't know if this would happen now.  I guess this was 10 years ago.

[geoherb]

It doesn't hurt to ask. Just be careful that you understand if there are any implications, such as losing OBC. I have basically stopped playing the game and wait until after the final payment date to book my cruises. 

[NavyVeteran]

It doesn't hurt to ask. It is very unlikely that you will receive a refund, but you may receive OBC or an upgrade. Just make sure you know exactly what is changing on your reservation before you accept any change.

If you cancel and rebook, you will have to pay the cancellation penalty. Make sure you check carefully to verify how much that is. You will also lose any flight bookings and excursion bookings, and they may have gone up in price. You also may not be able to rebook the same cabin.

Since you booked directly through Princess via chat, you will have to make the change directly with Princess through telephone or chat. Some of their telephone and chat agents know what they're doing, but many of them don't. If you get someone who can't - or won't - help you, hang up and call back.

[sunviking90]

My Princess Vacation Planner was able to do this for us recently. It was about a week or two after final payment. It depends on the rules for the new fare I think. I was pretty surprised. She earned some loyalty with that one for sure! 

[Hobby3333]

This recently happened to me for my sailing in July on the Sun Princess.  Did a chat and the agent told me that I needed to have my TA call and request OBC.  He/she said that this happens and instead of rebooking OBC is what usually occurs.  I copied the chat and my TA called and talked to a supervisor.   They would not credit anything even when my agent emailed the copied chat.   My first time on Princess and in the past when this happened with other lines I always received the OBC.   But, I will not let $285.00 cloud my opinion of Princess or my cruise in July.

[pepbcn28]

18 hours ago, ernnnn said:

Yes, I'm from Spain, but I did my booking directly with the US site over the chat. I'll have a look to that option, I didn't know about it.

Can I ask where did you book? I am also from Spain and it would be interesting to check prices differences (feel free to Private message me).