Price drops on future bookings 2012

[2cruiserz]

Hello. We are new to Princess and I was wondering if we could get some suggestions and when you feel the best time to book may be and also, if the price drops if anyone knows if you receive a credit to your credit card or OBC? I am planner and am looking to book in Feb. 2012. We need to book far in advance in order to get the time off of work. Any suggestions on when it may be best to book in advance? If Princess will honor a price drop I'm comfortable booking even if it may be at a higher price. Thanks for any feedback.

[10X]

We booked our January 2011 B2B cruise about one year in advance. Since then we have received two price reductions. Our travel agent keeps abreast of this and automatically gives us the new prices. I do not know if this will occur by booking direct with Princess.

[happytalk44]

We have always gotten the price reductions after booking far head --unless the cabin category is waitlisted. Our TA does NOT keep up wih this so I check periodically and call her to have it done.

[Pia1913]

Hello. We are new to Princess and I was wondering if we could get some suggestions and when you feel the best time to book may be and also, if the price drops if anyone knows if you receive a credit to your credit card or OBC? I am planner and am looking to book in Feb. 2012. We need to book far in advance in order to get the time off of work. Any suggestions on when it may be best to book in advance? If Princess will honor a price drop I'm comfortable booking even if it may be at a higher price. Thanks for any feedback.

 

Book it now and keep checking the prices. We always book far in advance; am already booked for April/May 2012.

[patseacruiser]

Book now especially if you need to schedule your time off and Princess will honor price drops up to final payment as long as they are not special flash fares and only good for new bookings, etc. in which case as long as it is prior to final payment you could cancel and rebook with better fare. Prior to final they will either readjust what you would owe at final or if paid already would credit your card.

[shoreham01]

Princess UK do not honour any price drops.

[Pam in CA]

I usually book far in advance, i.e., a year or two, and feel that most of the time, I get the best price. Some sailings have what's called a "Flash" promotion which is for new bookings that are lower and some sailings increase in price. It's always a gamble. If the price has gone down before final payment, your TA will re-fare you at the lower price.

 

The best thing to do is to find a good TA who has group rates (better than booking directly with Princess) and perks, such as an OBC, dinner in a specialty restaurant, or a coupon book, etc.

[geoherb]

If you know what cruise you want to take, it's best to book it immediately if the price is satisfactory. And then watch for price drops.

 

It's easy to get the new price when it does drop. Make sure the travel agency you're dealing with doesn't charge any change fees.

 

What I generally do is find out the price on Princess's website and then contact my TA to find out what the price through him will be. If there's a price drop, I will ask him what he can do from the new price.

[califgary]

Hello. We are new to Princess and I was wondering if we could get some suggestions and when you feel the best time to book may be and also, if the price drops if anyone knows if you receive a credit to your credit card or OBC? I am planner and am looking to book in Feb. 2012. We need to book far in advance in order to get the time off of work. Any suggestions on when it may be best to book in advance? If Princess will honor a price drop I'm comfortable booking even if it may be at a higher price. Thanks for any feedback.

 

We book as soon as a cruise becomes available to get 1) the exact cabin we want and 2) the dinner seating we want. I then keep track of the cruise pricing and if there is a price drop, Im on the phone to Princess getting the new pricing (have never had a problem). By doing it this way we get exactly what we want and through diligence get the cheapest pricing before final payment. If you wait too long you wont be able to get best cabin selection and dinner seating if you want fixed table and time seating.

[Pam in CA]

The bottom line is wait if you're flexible (which it sounds like you're not); book as soon as you can to get good pricing, the cabin you want, and/or guarantee you'll be on the ship on a particular date.

[mes531]

Book it now and keep checking the prices. We always book far in advance; am already booked for April/May 2012.

We are also already booked on the April 2012 Asia cruise, but we plan on doing the tour in Beijing!:):)

[Pia1913]

We are also already booked on the April 2012 Asia cruise, but we plan on doing the tour in Beijing!:):)

 

Are you on the Diamond to Vancouver; April 15th?

[apple0604]

I usually book far in advance, i.e., a year or two, and feel that most of the time, I get the best price. Some sailings have what's called a "Flash" promotion which is for new bookings that are lower and some sailings increase in price. It's always a gamble. If the price has gone down before final payment, your TA will re-fare you at the lower price.

 

The best thing to do is to find a good TA who has group rates (better than booking directly with Princess) and perks, such as an OBC, dinner in a specialty restaurant, or a coupon book, etc.

 

 

Hi Pam,

 

I have been reading your threads for a while now and I found them very useful. Thanks for all the great advices.

 

This is the first time I try to contact you and hope you can help with the following 2 questions:

 

1. would you mind to share the information about good online discount TA? I know you can't actually name them on CC. We would really appreciate it if you can email us: billandye@hotmail.com.

 

2. Do you know about cabin E701 (near aft lifts) and E419 (near mid ship lifts) noisy on Diamond Princess??? Got upgraded to these two cabins. Never stayed right next the lifts or even on emerald deck before. Mum has sleeping problem from time to time, not always. I am a bit worried. Do you think Princess would relocate us if we request it? Thanks. We have been with Princess many times, usually we select our balcony cabins and when we didn't we were always upgraded 2 categories. Not this time.

 

Hope you can help. Thanks. You can email us billandye@hotmail.com.

[candydane]

There are some TAs who charge a fee for each and every change you make to your reservation, including cabin changes, price decreases, cancellation, etc. Those fees are in addition to any cruiseline fees. Since these fees seem to range from $10 to $50 each time, they can quickly eat up any fare decreases you'd otherwise get to keep!

 

There are plenty of TAs who don't charge extra fees so I personally see no reason to book with a TA who does.

 

To be sure, I always get a written email from my TA that my cruise reservation is not subject to any such fees.

[sassyredhat]

We booked our 2012 back in early 2010. We haven't had a price drop yet.

 

We always book at least a yr. in advance just to get the balcony we want.

 

Pat