booking question from a Princess Noob: Canada/NE on CB in 09/10 and S. Carib in 4/11

[mowb07]

Hello! I am new to posting altbough I have been reading all of your great advice for a couple of years now. I searched for this and although I found plenty of useful information, I was hoping someone could give me some insight into this specific question:

 

We have never cruised Princess before but are planning a Canada/NE cruise out of New York on the CB in late september. We are planning to go with friends who have cruised on Princess before. The price for balcony cabins is a couple of hundred per person more than we had planned but since we can drive to the port we considered waiting till after final payment to book it. Now after my extensive research on this board I have come to the conclusion that it will probably be a popular booking and although none of us care where our balconies are we do prefer to have balcony cabins and we cannot be flexible with regard to sailing dates, so I am thinking it is probably smarter to book this before final payment date. Does this sound right to all of the experienced cruisers out there?

 

Something I did find odd is that Princess did not have a lower 'past passenger' discount for our friends - from what I've read on here, is that unusual? They have only sailed once on Princess but we were all confused that no discounts applied to them directly from Princess.

 

The second part of this is my husband and I are talking about doing a southern caribbean cruise on the CB next April. I love the ports on the itinerary - Aruba, Grenada, Bonaire, Dominica and would book this cruise for those ports (assuming the dates work for us). Since few cruises do these ports on a 7 day itinerary, is it safe to assume that this cruise is also a popular one? The reason I ask is I would not want the price to go up a lot in the next few months because i'd like to book it while on board the CB in september to take advantage of the low deposit/obc.

 

Lol! What a long first post - guess I had a lot to say. Please let me know if that makes sense/its clear what I am trying to ask. Thanks in advance for your help/input!

[TracieABD]

Did your friends sign in using their Captains Circle number? If they did not, the discount may not show.

As far as locations of the rooms, that depends on which sailing you will be on.

Maybe a travel agent can help you to get this straightened out.

Best of luck!:)

[mowb07]

I guess that post was a little long/confusing. I am posting from my phone since CC is blocked from work :) sorry about that!

 

Yes, they used their captain's circle# both when they spoke with a princess rep and online. The rep told them they were not eligible for any discounts. They have only sailed on princess once before, just wanted to see if this was unusual, or if not whether that indicates its a popular sailing.

 

We don't care abt location as long as we have balcony cabins - they can be anywhere, we just wanted to know whether, in everyoen's experience it would be better to book before final payment because we wnt balconies as opposed to after (to take advantage of price drops) since airfare is not involved.

 

I have gotten a couple of quotes from online TAs but the discount off the list price is not much, furthering our belief this is a popular one.

 

Thanks for yor reply and I'm sorry for any confusion!

[geoherb]

I'm surprised there was not a discount for past passengers. I tried it both ways on the Princess website and saw balcony cabins $200 per person cheaper after signing in. There seemed to be a lot of available balcony cabins for the date I checked (Sept. 18).

 

I wish I could go this year. The prices are a lot better than when we sailed there eight years ago. We paid more for an inside cabin than balcony cabins are now.

 

Whenever there's only one cruise you want to take, I advise to book it immediately if the price sounds OK to you. If there were more than one option, waiting until after the final payment date could save you a lot of money. For instance, I booked our upcoming cruise to Alaska about a week after the final payment date. The price went down a couple of days after the final payment date--then went back up two days after I booked it. Although prices for balcony cabins are still good for our cruise.

 

I'd wait for the April cruise until I was onboard in September.

[mowb07]

Thanks geoherb, that's a lot of useful information! I'm not sure why their captain's circle# isn't giving them a discount! We'll have to look into it some more since the 9/18 sailing is the one we're looking at and $200 less is a pretty decent discount! Also, thanks for putting things in perspective re: price. I would have thought things would get more expensive in 8yrs, not less! Since we're not flying and are "saving" on airfare and this really is the only date we can do it, I think booking this sooner rather than later is our only option! I am still a little nervous abt the April prices going up, but booking it on board seems like the smarter thing to do! Thanks again!

[DonnaK]

I just wanted to pipe in to say that you've picked a wonderful cruise - great ship and great itinerary. We had a wonderful time in August 2008, and you can click on the link in my signature to read my review.

[catergirl]

you say its a 7 day s carib, so it must leave form san juan? i dont think its as popular as you might think since most cruisers like to drive to the port for caribean cruises. i often see them discounted. the only s carib that leave from fl are 10 day or longer. but the s carib is way better!!:D

[caribill]

I'd wait for the April cruise until I was onboard in September.

 

You shpuld be able to book the cruise now. If you are eligible for a lower rate in September, you can have your booking adjusted to the lower rate then.

[rdsqrl]

You shpuld be able to book the cruise now. If you are eligible for a lower rate in September, you can have your booking adjusted to the lower rate then.

But if they wait til September, they can use an FCC to book the April cruise and get the reduced deposit/OBC. It's highly unlikely the April cruise will book up this early and it's doubtful rates would go up between now and then -- it's only three months away, after all.

[mowb07]

I just wanted to pipe in to say that you've picked a wonderful cruise - great ship and great itinerary. We had a wonderful time in August 2008, and you can click on the link in my signature to read my review.

 

DonnaK - I've read your review, it's wonderful and full of detail! It really got me excited about the cruise! Thanks for taking the time to write it!

[mowb07]

you say its a 7 day s carib, so it must leave form san juan? i dont think its as popular as you might think since most cruisers like to drive to the port for caribean cruises. i often see them discounted. the only s carib that leave from fl are 10 day or longer. but the s carib is way better!!:D

 

Catergirl - yes, it's the one out of San Juan. After doing a ton of research, I am reeeally looking forward to visiting these ports and the fact that it's only 7 days is pretty key to us being able to go. I usually steer clear of caribbean cruises because I've been to the caribbean a few times and want to visit new/differnt places. but the ports on this one seem so different and special and cc members' reviews on this itinerary are awesome so I think it has to happen next yr! :)

[mowb07]

But if they wait til September, they can use an FCC to book the April cruise and get the reduced deposit/OBC. It's highly unlikely the April cruise will book up this early and it's doubtful rates would go up between now and then -- it's only three months away, after all.

 

You shpuld be able to book the cruise now. If you are eligible for a lower rate in September, you can have your booking adjusted to the lower rate then.

 

Caribill and rdsqrl - thank you for your replies! I really appreciate your advice. I am thinking I will go with the general consensus here and wait to book the april cruise onboard I definitely want to take advantage on the low deposit/obc and booking two cruises at once is too overwhelming, lol. Initially I was thinking another balcony for the april cruise but seeing that that one is just all about the ports for me even if it is popular and all I get for the $ we want tp spend in september is an inside, I'll still be happy :)