Odds of 100% FCC Sale Returning?

[Working 2 Cruise]

I know that no one knows at this point but... do you think Princess will be bringing back this wonderful promotion on the getaway cruises?

 

I think it was a success given the amount of newbies. Any thoughts?

[Coveguy4]

I would love to see it come back, but seriously doubt it will. I sailed in a suite the week before they started it, so I was FORCED to go again in a suite to take advantage which was so much better than complaining that I missed out......lol

[Maddle]

I would be very (pleasantly) surprised.

[Colo Cruiser]

Forced to go in a suite twice!

I feel for you, not. :D

[candide333]

Forced to go in a suite twice!

I feel for you, not. :D

 

We cruise exclusively on Princess once each year, but due to the 100% FCC Sale, we will sail 3 times in 2014. I hope Princess continues this promotion.

[fishywood]

I would think that alot depends on how the FCCs generated by this promotion are used.

If a good percentage of them are used to book the Royal or Regal, or one of the more far-flung sailings, then this "free cruise" could be repeated to again fill up the Short Getaways during the December doldrums.

BUT if most of them are used as they were acquired--on "last minute deal" discounted cruises--the business model won't support another go.

 

The remaining winter/spring 2014 Short Getaways from Ft Lauderdale did not have to be anywhere near so severely discounted to fill up, and there will be fewer of these sailings at this time next year. And presumabably as a consequence of all those FCCs out there, the last few regular sailings from Port Everglades this season seem to be priced a tick higher than last year; there are better deals to be had on 7 to 11 day Caribbean cruises on HAL (though it all evens out with HALs higher costs on government fees & taxes, insurance, beverages and especially shore excursions). As always, caveat emptor.

Edited April 2, 2014 by fishywood

[Dreamer333]

I hope so! They certainly made money off of me! I spent about $800 on the "free" cruise... but because of the fare I received back, I booked my next cruise in a suite. I only did this because of the extra money I received back.

I definitely wouldn't have been on two cruises this year if it weren't for the 100% fare back promo.

[Loonbeam]

I'd be surprised. The primary reason for the promotion was to fill ships that were not filling. If that's the case, the businesswise response is to not repeat those sailings and use those ships elsewhere, rather than give away free cruises.

 

That said, I could see a smaller scale promotion if this one was successful, like a 50% FCC

[Working 2 Cruise]

It will be interesting to see what getaway cruises, if any, will be offered in 2015/16. That might be a good indicator as to whether those, including the ones with the promotion, were successful for Princess.

 

I certainly would jump on it in a heartbeat, and possibly book a 14 day or longer cruise, where a good portion of my budget would be spent! I think it's very possible that it will be offered again. Within, I couldn't have afforded the Mexico cruise, which is so undersold at the moment, I predict nice price drops.

 

Be that as it may, I still think it was a winner!

[Loonbeam]

Rule of thumb. If all of the passengers are going 'What a Great Promotion!" it probably isn't a great one for the company in the long term.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Rule of thumb. If all of the passengers are going 'What a Great Promotion!" it probably isn't a great one for the company in the long term.

 

That's true too, unfortunately! But it's fun to speculate!

[Melcoug]

I'm going to be watching and will book immediately it if it happens. I'd even consider a 50% back offer.

 

Personally, think they gooned up the schedules. The 3 days should have been all or mostly Fri-Mon sailings. Those would likely sell better...once everyone realizes that they can go on a weekend cruise out of LA. It wasn't advertised well. I didn't even know about the getaway cruises until a couple months before they offered to 100% deal. One Getaway I paid for, the other I jumped on after the deal was announced.

[Pam in CA]

Princess scheduled the 3- and 4-day cruises and literally couldn't give them away. There are a bunch more scheduled out of LA and FLL for early 2015. It's possible that they'll have the same problems selling out these cruises or maybe the publicity due to this year's 100% back will make them more attractive. I think a special promotion is a real possibility. What form it takes is the $64,000 question.

 

There were many, many people who booked these short cruises to get to the next Captain's Circle level, adding thousands to Platinum and Elite. The cost to Princess goes way beyond giving the cruises away since there's the real cost of thousands of new Platinum and Elites.

 

I can't imagine Princess considers these short cruises as a success but then I don't know how many new cruisers or new Princess cruisers these sailings attracted. There weren't many blue door signs on my January getaway cruise.

[ibfern]

I have a feeling they will not repeat the promotions, they were successful but next year there will not be as many ships out of Los Angeles and those cruises will probably be easier to fill. If they do have one, I am definitely going to grab a suite! I delayed booking by a few days and missed all the good cabins...still that cruise was so much fun!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Amelia, the West Coast will have the Crown, Ruby, Golden, Star and the Grand... Not too bad of a line up!

 

Along with the Coral doing the PC cruises...

 

Time will tell, although, unfortunately, I tend to agree with Pam... I'm hoping for at least another round... I would book a WS on the Golden!

[critterchick]

Rule of thumb. If all of the passengers are going 'What a Great Promotion!" it probably isn't a great one for the company in the long term.

 

We Cruise Critics are only 1% of the cruising market, or so I've read, so that's hardly "all" of the passengers. I would bet good money that a lot of those FCC's won't be used - people may have already made plans for 2014, or the newbies didn't enjoy cruising and won't go again. I'm just speculating, of course.

 

I think the cruises that I sailed on were successes - the bars were packed, and from what I could see from my balcony, there were a lot of people on excursions in Ensenada. Onboard revenue is more important than cabin sale revenue. And there were loads of blue name tags on our cruises.

 

I do agree that Princess should have the 3-nighters begin on Friday only. I don't imagine that many people want to take 4-5 days off from work for a short cruise, and the weekend cruises are what make the money (all of our cruises were weekenders because we both still work, which may explain why the ships were busy).

Edited April 3, 2014 by critterchick

[cruisequeen4ever]

I hope the sale returns, too! We couldn't take advantage of it but would love to next time! I agree that if they made the 3 day sailings over the weekend, they'd be a lot more feasible and popular for working people. Our reasoning against doing it was that by the time we took a day off for travel, we'd miss 4 days of work and could have taken a 7 day cruise if we just took 1 more day off! Not worth using that many precious vacation days for a 3 day cruise.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[rbt001]

ASKED....

 

... do you think Princess will be bringing back this wonderful promotion on the getaway cruises?

 

and ANSWERED...

 

... no one knows at this point ...

 

I'll give Princess credit for having a sophisticated Marketing Department, meaning that they put plenty of thought into the design of the 100% FCC Promo, which is multi-faceted: not only did it stimulate Winter bookings where there was excess inventory, it also provided incentive to those already booked and paid, since the credit went to everyone who qualified. Now it's all about tracking and measuring usage of those FCC's. How they decide to evaluate and measure, I'm sure they'll never tell. We'll know it was a success for Princess if they offer it again. Though, if they find themselves in a position to offer it, it points to their failure to stimulate sales through the more traditional method of simply discounting and/or offering OBC's.

[camarodrivenrs]

I think this promotion was very interesting. I wouldn't have been on the Ruby Princess this past January without it and I wouldn't have upgraded my upcoming Alaska cruise to a mini suite without it. Add in my 5 day shipboard account and I'd imagine Princess is going to come out ahead on me.

Edited April 3, 2014 by camarodrivenrs

[Colo Cruiser]

I think this promotion was very interesting. I wouldn't have been on the Ruby Princess this past January without it and I wouldn't have upgraded my upcoming Alaska cruise to a mini suite without it. Add in my 5 day shipboard account and I'd imagine Princess is going to come out ahead on me.

 

It was a good strategy! :D

[Working 2 Cruise]

It was a good strategy! :D

 

Yes, it was!!!

[pablo222]

Add in my 5 day shipboard account and I'd imagine Princess is going to come out ahead on me.

 

In a perfect world, princess would have actually sold the 5-day cabin;

gotten the on board revenue from that occupant; and not had to give

you the future credit.

[RetiredNTraveling]

I think this promotion was very interesting. I wouldn't have been on the Ruby Princess this past January without it and I wouldn't have upgraded my upcoming Alaska cruise to a mini suite without it. Add in my 5 day shipboard account and I'd imagine Princess is going to come out ahead on me.

 

If they offer it again, I hope that I am able to take advantage of it this time.:( As I didn't know about it until it was too late! Darn and double Darn :D