How Does Princess Handle "A Better Deal Comes Along"?

[MsTabbyKats]

Let's say you book a cruise....no special pricing...no obc.

And then there's a promo for "OBC" or the price drops....

Does Princess adjust the current booking.....or do you have to cancel and rebook?

[DCThunder]

Princess doesn't make any adjustments to already booked cruises.  If the fare goes down, it's up to you to cancel/re-book, or have your CVP or TA handle it for you.

 

If the fare goes up, Princess doesn't charge you more either, so there is that...

Edited August 1 by DCThunder

[startedwithamouse]

26 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Let's say you book a cruise....no special pricing...no obc.

And then there's a promo for "OBC" or the price drops....

Does Princess adjust the current booking.....or do you have to cancel and rebook?

We've called and they've adjusted the price. This is prior to final payment. 

 

Does it state "new bookings only"?

[MsTabbyKats]

3 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

Princess doesn't make any adjustments to already booked cruises.  If the fare goes down, it's up to you to cancel/re-book, or have your CVP or TA handle it for you.

 

If the fare goes up, Princess doesn't charge you more either, so there is that...

LOL....I didn't mean an automatic adjustment from Princess.  Just wanted to know if one must cancel/rebook....or the booking could be adjusted instead of the extra steps!

[MsTabbyKats]

2 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

We've called and they've adjusted the price. This is prior to final payment. 

 

Does it state "new bookings only"?

Thanks...this is all hypothetical.  But I guess it it's "new bookings only"....cancel and rebook.

[startedwithamouse]

2 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Thanks...this is all hypothetical.  But I guess it it's "new bookings only"....cancel and rebook.

Many times new bookings only is following final payment, drop and go pricing.

[DCThunder]

2 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

LOL....I didn't mean an automatic adjustment from Princess.  Just wanted to know if one must cancel/rebook....or the booking could be adjusted instead of the extra steps!

Thanks for the clarification.  I didn't really think an experienced cruiser would expect Princess to voluntarily reduce the fare, but stranger things have happened... 😁

 

I recently saved almost $2000 on a refared cruise, so checking prices frequently is almost automatic.

[memoak]

15 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Thanks...this is all hypothetical.  But I guess it it's "new bookings only"....cancel and rebook.

And if you cancel and rebook be aware that if you are not fast enough or your computer has a hiccup the cabin you had could be gone. Not likely but a point to think about

[craig01020]

I've called and gotten a price adjustment without having to cancel and re-book.

[MsTabbyKats]

Thanks!

I' gonna wait and see if they have a Labor Day Sale...and then I'll just book and see what happens.

OMG...talking Labor Day already!

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Thanks!

I' gonna wait and see if they have a Labor Day Sale...and then I'll just book and see what happens.

OMG...talking Labor Day already!

NO - book now and get the exact cabin you want at the current price - then monitor the prices daily.  Make sure you have a refundable deposit.

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Let's say you book a cruise....no special pricing...no obc.

And then there's a promo for "OBC" or the price drops....

Does Princess adjust the current booking.....or do you have to cancel and rebook?

I did this recently through my Princess Vacation Planner.  As I had gotten price reductions and OBC credits in the past without having to cancel and rebook, I asked him if he could do that for me this time.  He said that there is really no rhyme or reason as to when and why Princess allows fare adjustments versus requiring a cancellation, but he said that sometimes it works one way and sometimes the other.  (The "New Bookings Only" is usually the clue.)  In my case, he had to cancel and rebook.  But he did say that on his end, the system had gotten much more streamlined due to some Princess tech upgrades such that cancelling and rebooking was almost as fast and easy as re-faring.  He was able to do this for me in about 5 minutes, secured my original cabin, and transferred over all of my past payments to my "new" cruises behind the scenes without me having to hang around on the phone.  My interaction was less than 10 minutes and my payments showed up in my new booking in about 10 minutes more.  One thing that was different from a re-faring was that I had to put down a new deposit on my "new" cruise right there on the spot to guarantee that I kept my same cabin.  No big deal.  It was $200 and I have to pay off the cruise at some point anyway.  

Edited August 1 by JimmyVWine

[Rick&Jeannie]

@JimmyVWine...I'd say you've got one of the *better* PVPs!

[JimmyVWine]

13 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

@JimmyVWine...I'd say you've got one of the *better* PVPs!

I've had good and I've had baaaaaad.  Right now I have good. 😁

[PescadoAmarillo]

7 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

LOL....I didn't mean an automatic adjustment from Princess.  Just wanted to know if one must cancel/rebook....or the booking could be adjusted instead of the extra steps!

We will be on a cruise in October that had multiple price drops before final payment (two in one day!). We booked in one category, ended up in a higher category for about 60% of our original price. We still have the original booking number.  My concern was our EZ Air flights, as we had chosen seats we particularly wanted for an overnight flight, but they stayed in place. If you have to cancel and re-book, that’s not usually the case. 

[MsTabbyKats]

25 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We will be on a cruise in October that had multiple price drops before final payment (two in one day!). We booked in one category, ended up in a higher category for about 60% of our original price. We still have the original booking number.  My concern was our EZ Air flights, as we had chosen seats we particularly wanted for an overnight flight, but they stayed in place. If you have to cancel and re-book, that’s not usually the case. 

Thanks....with us it's simple.  Cruise is out of NYC....my home town.  DH loved our June 2024 cabin...so I only care about price reductions/obc promos.

Anyway....just told TA to book!

[sunviking90]

Our PVP has been able to refare us many times without having to rebook, and keeping any OBC, etc on the original booking. She’s even been able to do this after final payment once or twice. She’s very good.

[Ombud]

@MsTabbyKats it's not complicated. If the lower price is not for "new bookings only" a CVP (and presumably a TA) can simply select their computer option to lower the price without having to "lift and shift" EZAIR, excursions, or anything on your cruise keeping the same booking #. Just did that Monday on my January 2025 voyage and even kept my onboard booking OBC. If the lower price is for "new bookings only" then they will refare to the lower price and "lift and shift" everything on that booking to a new booking # thus protecting the price paid / reservations on EZAIR & excursions but the OBC may reset to the current promotion. Sometimes the CVP can still retain previously OBC but I've always lost other promo perks. Did that on my 2026 voyage Tuesday. Prices are dropping and I'm taking advantage! 

 

 

Edited August 2 by Ombud

[MsTabbyKats]

Lucky me.......there's a weekend special that includes OBC....so TA can have that included when he books today!

 

Thanks for all the advice. 

[JoRoy218]

Have been able to “re-fare” on two cruises but was before final payment. Used Princess chat, quick and easy. 

[Thrak]

With a recent promo my TA had to cancel and rebook in order to add an extra $400 OBC. The price was actually $38 lower. Then today he called me and said he had put a hold on a cruise for me on his own initiative. It's actually the same cruise he already got the extra OBC for. This is another weekend promo and the price went way down. He called to ask if I wanted to go ahead with his hold and I jumped at the chance. This time Princess decided to just keep the same booking, and just adjust the price. I ended up with the same cabin, the same OBC, the same excursion we had booked, etc. The only thing that changed was the price. We are now paying $1,042 less.

 

This is two adjustments to the same cruise. The first time they made us cancel and rebook. This time they just adjusted the price as the Princess rep said it was just going to be the same result and this way was less hassle. As usual, Princess is inconsistent with how they handle things.