Will Princess still give price reduction if the category is sold out?

[erin6494]

Hi,

My category just dropped 50pp (not huge but will pay for gratuities or an UKP card). I emailed my TA to see if the drop could be applied and he said he would need to check with Princess since the category is sold out. Is this normal? Does Princess usually offer the drop? Not sure it is important to the answer but we are on 11.19 Island Princess, AD category.

Thanks,

Erin

[Sillyjilly]

Price drops before final payment is due should be honored. Good Luck

[paul929207]

I am not sure why they would drop the price on a category that is sold out.

[Toto2Kansas]

I am not sure why they would drop the price on a category that is sold out.

I agree, if the category is waitlist only, no reason to drop the price. Not sure if they will honor the price drop or not.:confused:

[erin6494]

That is disappointing! My agent responded that they will not change it. Guess I would have been better off booking it with the possibility of upgrades, I took the far aft cabin in the hopes that since the AD category only had 4 cabins I would get the benefit of price drops. The AC are now the same price that I paid but are not available for 4 people so would have to pay more to move up to an AB.

Do you think I should change to accepting upgrades in the hopes of being bumped up to an AA? There are still lots of cabins (at least 6 in each category above us) available.

Thanks for your expertise,

Erin

[Coral]

Erin - I am in the same place. I booked an AD cabin (and want to keep my cabin) but AD and AE are waitlisted. I am hoping they do some upgrades and free up my category so I can get the price reduction. It isn't much but it would be $100 off for us for a cruise.

[cherylandtk]

OP's sailing is not yet on waitlist status for cat. AD for two people, they are still taking GTY bookings, and are not waitlisted. Under those conditions, I have received price drops before, so I am confused on why they are not honoring it because of the four AD rooms being sold out. I presume it has something to do with the capacity issues noted next.

 

I noted two people because Erin mentioned four people and AD's are marked as holding three people (but not four), and if you put three people into the search engine, Cat AD does come up as waitlisted. Not even a GTY booking available. Which begs the question to the OP: Erin do you have three or four people booked into that triple?

[Hulagirl]

On the Island Princess only the AA and AB category's hold 4 people in a cabin. There is really no way Erin's TA could have booked the AD category for 4. I would be more concerned with that aspect of the booking. I've always had to be so careful with booking when we need a cabin for even 3 of us. Not all category's on the different ships would even hold 3.

[loliola]

Erin, the AB minis went down $300 today...maybe that will work for you?

[CruisinEars]

On the Island Princess only the AA and AB category's hold 4 people in a cabin. There is really no way Erin's TA could have booked the AD category for 4. I would be more concerned with that aspect of the booking. I've always had to be so careful with booking when we need a cabin for even 3 of us. Not all category's on the different ships would even hold 3.

 

You shouldn't worry about booking the wrong category. When you put in more than double occupancy, only the cabins and categories that will accomodate the number of people in your cabin will be available for selection.

[Loonbeam]

Note that there are some promotional price drops going on as well, don't always assume that because the Princess site shows a lower price its a straight drop. The Princess system assumes all booking requests are new bookings when you look them up even if you are logged in with a current booking.

[loliola]

not assuming...I upgraded to the AB today after watching the prices for a while...

[erin6494]

Thanks for the input, everyone! There are four of us in the cabin (I am sure it will hold all of us as the original booking was through Princess directly).

I guess I am in the same boat (figuratively, ha ha!) as Coral. Coral, do you know if they change the category back to guarantee vs. waitlisted if they will honor the price drops then?

I am still trying to decide if I should change our status to being open to an upgrade. If I am not going to get the advantage of the price breaks, it might make more sense to hope for a larger cabin.

[Coral]

I guess I am in the same boat (figuratively, ha ha!) as Coral. Coral, do you know if they change the category back to guarantee vs. waitlisted if they will honor the price drops then?

 

If it goes back to guarantee and the price doesn't increase, you will get the discounted price. But some of these prices jump around a lot - knowing my luck it will go back to being open but the price will go up.

 

My sailing is pretty open so I am hoping they open the AE and AD categories to try to sell more cabins. My cruise is a coastal and right now is not selling very well.

[erin6494]

Ours is still 5+ months away. Last year the same cruise, the ADs dropped dramatically, I was hoping for the same this time around. I was not aware of this loophole in price drops :(

Do you know if they open it up for guarantee for 2 people, can I still get the new price for 4 people (since we are already in the cabin)?

[Toto2Kansas]

Thanks for the input, everyone! There are four of us in the cabin (I am sure it will hold all of us as the original booking was through Princess directly).

 

 

 

erin, the AD mini suites on the Island Princess will not accomodate 4 passengers. Is this the ship with the AD category you are asking about? If so, there is a problem, as they are not set up for that many passengers????? Please Please Please call Princess and double check. ;)

[Coral]

Ours is still 5+ months away. Last year the same cruise, the ADs dropped dramatically, I was hoping for the same this time around. I was not aware of this loophole in price drops :(

Do you know if they open it up for guarantee for 2 people, can I still get the new price for 4 people (since we are already in the cabin)?

 

A friend of mine both sailed on the same sailing in December. We had the same category - they had 3 in their cabin in an AD, we had 2. We had 2 additional price drops then they did as it continued to be waitlisted for those with 3 or 4 people.

 

So probably not good news for you.

[Toto2Kansas]

This is so strange. If you attempt to book the Island Princess in an AD mini suite for 4 passengers for any cruise, it say N/A which means they don't hold 4 passengers. But if you go to the deck plans of the Island, it says that every other AD mini suite will hold 4. I would still call and double check, sometimes princess agents will make an error.

[holeymoley]

I've got a question for anybody...how do you find out if there is a price change in your cabin category??

[erin6494]

Holey Moley: If you go to the Princess site and pretend to book your cruise, you can see the current prices for your particular cruise.

Toto: I have emailed my agent to double check on the room capacity, I would have some sad children if one was sleeping on the floor instead of the loft.

Thanks again for the advice. For now (assuming that all 4 of us fit), we will be keeping the aft cabin for the experience (and the proximity to the laundry).

Erin

[Sanibel*Gal]

I've got a question for anybody...how do you find out if there is a price change in your cabin category??

 

 

Watch the Princess web site for your sailing dates & cabin catergory like a hawk!;) If the rate for your category drops - call your TA or Princess (however you booked) & check if you're eligible for the reduction.

[legalwife]

Holey Moley: If you go to the Princess site and pretend to book your cruise, you can see the current prices for your particular cruise.

Toto: I have emailed my agent to double check on the room capacity, I would have some sad children if one was sleeping on the floor instead of the loft.

Thanks again for the advice. For now (assuming that all 4 of us fit), we will be keeping the aft cabin for the experience (and the proximity to the laundry).

Erin

 

 

More bad news. Even if you wanted to put your sad child on the floor, Princess would not allow it due to cabin restrictions if cabin is not set up for four. Some lines do allow a rollaway but still has to be within guidelines.

 

Hope this works out for you.

[cherylandtk]

This is so strange. If you attempt to book the Island Princess in an AD mini suite for 4 passengers for any cruise, it say N/A which means they don't hold 4 passengers. But if you go to the deck plans of the Island, it says that every other AD mini suite will hold 4. I would still call and double check, sometimes princess agents will make an error.

Uh-oh Toto, now you have me confused.:p On the Island, Dolphin deck? The four AD's at the aft? The deck plans online and the ones in the 2012-2013 Atlas show a triangle, which is three people. Where are you finding the deck plans that show it holds four? I thought those were the only four AD's on the ship...are there some on another deck that have been added?

[Toto2Kansas]

Holey Moley: If you go to the Princess site and pretend to book your cruise, you can see the current prices for your particular cruise.

Toto: I have emailed my agent to double check on the room capacity, I would have some sad children if one was sleeping on the floor instead of the loft.

Thanks again for the advice. For now (assuming that all 4 of us fit), we will be keeping the aft cabin for the experience (and the proximity to the laundry).

Erin

Erin,I was half asleep last night, and re-checked this AM. Those aft AD mini suites say on the deck plans they only hold 3 passengers, and will not accomodate 4. So, I am happy to hear you emailed to check. There isn't even room in a mini suite for a roll away bed to be brought in (you wouldn't want that anyway). Unless those deck plans are incorrect, these aft AD's will only hold 3 maximum. It will be interesting to hear what Princess has to say about this one when you hear back from them.

[holeymoley]

Erin and Sanibel*Gal, Thank you both for the info. on cabin pricing. I did what you said and found a lower rate, so I just e-mailed my TA to try and tap into that price. I await her response.