Price Drop After Final Payment

[NJDetailer]

Sorry if this has been posted before. We booked a cruise with an online TA almost a year ago for the Feb. 1st sailing on Caribbean Princess. Just this week I noticed the TA's online prices have dropped by almost $600 for the same category interior stateroom. We had the TA and Princess on a conference call and all we were offered by Princess is a $50 on board credit for the stateroom. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks!

[LARGIN]

Getting a price reduction after final payment is mad is near impossible..

[NJDetailer]

HaHa....That's what I'm finding out. Thanks for the quick reply.

[serene56]

600? wow thats a lot of money- How much do you lose if you cancelled and rebooked?

 

Our price dropped a little but when you figure in the cost of what the fuel cost-- that was the amount it dropped.

[cherylandtk]

NJ Detailer, I also wanted to point out that the other thread you saw by kooljamming is not really a refund after final payment; she is paying more money to upgrade to a balcony. Yes, this is all happening after final payment, but Princess just sold her a more expensive cabin than what she paid for and she just sent them more money to do it. That is an upsell, and as long as both parties are happy, fine. But it's not a refund on the price drop. ;)

[NJDetailer]

We were told by our TA that it would cost more to cancel and rebook. I've been trying for the past week and a half to get in touch with a manager at our TA but so far she hasn't returned my calls or emails.

[rcacace]

That's about the same thing that happened to us on the last two cruises. No more booking in the far future for us until things get back to normal & I see the price fluctuations settle down.

[NJDetailer]

cherylandtk, I actually suggested that solution in an email to our TA and am awaiting their reply. I wouldn't mind paying toward a higher category cabin if they offered us a good deal on it. But I am a bit disappointed with their offer of $50 OBC for such a big drop in price.

[cherylandtk]

600? wow thats a lot of money- How much do you lose if you cancelled and rebooked?.

OP is in the 50% penalty range. That cruise is starting at $699 pp at Princess, so its looking pretty close to a wash on the penalty--depending on what OP paid with the TA and assuming the $600 is the total, not pp.

[NJDetailer]

Same here. See Princess and our TA suggesteed to us that early booking would ensure us the best price. From now on we are just going to wait.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

We recently cancelled & re-booked after final payment. We saved about $1,600 in the process, even after losing the cost of the insurance and 10% of original cost of the cruise, port charges, fees & taxes. We got 90% of the original cost in cruise credit, because we had Princess Gold ins. We had to book low category inside guarantee, but felt it well worth it.

 

This would probably not work for someone who is not flexible about their cabin category/location.

 

In this economy, we would rather play all the angles and continue to cruise - even if it is "on the cheap". The cruise credit will cover our Sept. '09 cruise and there will be some left over for the next one we book. By the way, we just saved $1000 and moved from inside to outside on the Sept. cruise, thanks to a price drop (first of several I hope).

 

Fortunately I have a TA who is patient with my making changes that save us money but probably cost her.

[cherylandtk]

cherylandtk, I actually suggested that solution in an email to our TA and am awaiting their reply. I wouldn't mind paying toward a higher category cabin if they offered us a good deal on it. But I am a bit disappointed with their offer of $50 OBC for such a big drop in price.

Do pursue that angle, Princess is MUCH more amenable to upsells than refunds. It's more money for them. :D , but if you get a much better room, and they are trying to sell them, it can often be done.

 

On your cruise, obstructed OV's are only $50 (pp) more than insides, but then its a $200 jump to unobstructed. I am using Princess prices for this comparison, your TA may be different.

[cherylandtk]

SeatheWorldBySea--Is your credit for the cancellation going to a future cruise? But you were able to rebook the original cruise for which you are getting that credit? I was under the impression that the insurance would not pay a future credit if you end up re-booking, but I could easily be wrong. And if the 10% cost + insurance is less than the price drop, that sounds like a good way to catch late price drops and last-minute sales. Had not thought of that use of the insurance.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

The Princess Travel Care Gold allows 90% cruise credit for "voluntary cancellation for ANY REASON". Note it is a cruise credit not a refund.

 

We had been booked on the 28 day RT Ft. Lauderdale Amazon cruise. We re-booked as two 14 day cruises, B2B, departing on the same day. Funny thing was, we were originally booked on the two B2B cruises, but changed to the 28 day, saving $2000. After final payment, the two 14 day cruises had the big drop, so we changed back.

 

Being flexible about cabin category is key. Additional shareholder OBC for the 2nd cruise figured in to the savings too.

[NJDetailer]

I am hoping that when I talk to Princess and our TA again on Monday that we will be able to pursue that angle. I would not mind being upsold at all! :)

[Putterdude]

We have had pretty good success getting the price reduction after final. Not always 100% but certainly enough to make us happy, some time a portion of it has come in the form of an OBC but it is still as good as cash. I rather suspect thet success you have relates to the realtionship you TA has with the cruiseline.

[kooljamming]

NJ Detailer, I also wanted to point out that the other thread you saw by kooljamming is not really a refund after final payment; she is paying more money to upgrade to a balcony. Yes, this is all happening after final payment, but Princess just sold her a more expensive cabin than what she paid for and she just sent them more money to do it. That is an upsell, and as long as both parties are happy, fine. But it's not a refund on the price drop. ;)

 

That is correct. It also took a few tries by my TA to get it done. The difference between what Princess has my cabin listed for and my TA is almost half. If I had booked with Princess it would have been worth it to cancel and go with my TA. Since I had paid a lot for the lesser category, ugrading was a bargain for me, plus I rebooked without the fuel surcharge