You Paid and Princess Listened

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...It looks like all the cruises from the West coast especially from San Francisco are price higher than cruises from other ports.

 

Yup. But at least those of us who live here in CA can often drive to a port and avoid airfare!

Edited May 31, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[insidecabin]

Yup. But at least those of us who live here in CA can often drive to a port and avoid airfare!

 

This will be a factor cruise lines want those Airfare $,

 

More homeports and better itinerary options from those ports attract local PAX business.

 

You also pick up some of the can't fly business

[RDC1]

Our Grand Princess cruise last year was not discounted,we paid full published Price. It looks like all the cruises from the West coast especially from San Francisco are price higher than cruises from other ports.

 

The cruises to Alaska certainly are. The primary reason is no competition from that port. Also as others have mentioned a fairly large population base can cruise without having to fly anywhere. The Hawaii cruises seem to end up pretty well discounted still.

Edited May 31, 2014 by RDC1

[Ethel5]

The cruises to Alaska certainly are. The primary reason is no competition from that port. Also as others have mentioned a fairly large population base can cruise without having to fly anywhere. The Hawaii cruises seem to end up pretty well discounted still.

 

The Alaska cruises may not be discounted, but many people are reporting getting upgraded. My sister went from a low balcony to a mini.

[swedish weave]

I just received an Email ad that shows some very low sale prices for Alaska cruises on Princess.

[Cruise Junky]

I just received an Email ad that shows some very low sale prices for Alaska cruises on Princess.

 

I just got a standby deal with Pacific Princess Alaska for July $899 for a balcony. And others round trip out of Seattle for $699 for a balcony for June.

Edited May 31, 2014 by Cruise Junky

[Colo Cruiser]

I just got a standby deal with Pacific Princess Alaska for July $899 for a balcony. And others round trip out of Seattle for $699 for a balcony for June.

 

 

Standby deals up to 75% off....

July 1st inside is $399 Pacific Princess. :eek:

 

Prices are amazing for most of the Alaska cruises.

[RDC1]

I just received an Email ad that shows some very low sale prices for Alaska cruises on Princess.

 

Out of San Francisco or out of Seattle and Vancouver. The Alaska cruises out of SF have maintained their prices pretty well this year. The only one that they have dropped the price on is the last one of the season in late September.

[RDC1]

The Alaska cruises may not be discounted, but many people are reporting getting upgraded. My sister went from a low balcony to a mini.

 

Was that out of SF. Which is what the posting referred to?

[Cruise Junky]

Standby deals up to 75% off....

July 1st inside is $399 Pacific Princess. :eek:

 

Prices are amazing for most of the Alaska cruises.

 

I know, crazy eh? Did you see the $299 insides for the one ways? Great deals for June/July which is unusual.

[insidecabin]

what are the discounts on the other grades?

 

Maybe this is the newish strategy

 

keep the prices of most grades high, fill with upgrades and offload the insides at really low prices.

 

One thing I recommend is make sure you are logged in when looking. ( run a second search in a private/other browser) there are definitely custom deals about.

 

Looks like they did this with some ex UK cruises.

 

Just looked on that great US search site and compared against UK prices, some great deals in the US

 

$305+tx Coral 7June UK £800inc

Edited May 31, 2014 by insidecabin

[Astro Flyer]

I know, crazy eh? Did you see the $299 insides for the one ways? Great deals for June/July which is unusual.

We got lucky last year when 6 weeks before sailing we received an email for great Alaskan deals & sailed 14 days on the Island Princess during the last two weeks of July in an inside cabin for $660 per person (plus $220 pp. in taxes/fees). Six weeks before departing on our 2 week cruise Princess had the best airfare price from LAX. It was a great opportunity to return to Alaska & we enjoyed our two weeks round-trip Vancouver very much. :)

Edited May 31, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[Cruise Junky]

We got lucky last year when 6 weeks before sailing we received an email for great Alaskan deals & sailed 14 days on the Island Princess during the last two weeks of July in an inside cabin for $660 per person (plus $220 pp. in taxes/fees). Six weeks before departing on our 2 week cruise Princess had the best airfare price from LAX. It was a great opportunity to return to Alaska & we enjoyed our two weeks round-trip Vancouver very much. :)

 

I really have to start leaving myself more vacation time for these last minute deals - especially when we don't have to fly!

[Colo Cruiser]

Out of San Francisco or out of Seattle and Vancouver. The Alaska cruises out of SF have maintained their prices pretty well this year. The only one that they have dropped the price on is the last one of the season in late September.

 

Not SF as they are 10/11 day cruises and sell out.

All the deals are on r/t Seattle, Vancouver/Whittier.

Coral/Island/Golden/Crown/Grand/Pacific

[Astro Flyer]

I really have to start leaving myself more vacation time for these last minute deals - especially when we don't have to fly!

 

Yes, you are fortunate to have such a wonderful destination as Alaska to sail to from your homeport. Hopefully Princess or another cruise line finely realizes that many Canadian snowbirds go to Hawaii during the wintertime & to have more round-trip cruises from Vancouver to Hawaii.

 

It's a Catch-22 situation...being retired we have more time but less money. ;)

[bigguy1]

But all those who said it was the way the charges were implemented, not the charges themselves, would have no cause for complaint.

 

Ethel5- I'm quite flattered that you think that anything I post here would be in any way influence Princess. It's like those people who say, "Don't give them any ideas", as if that was possible. They have already considered all of these possibilities and many others. Princess reversing these usage charges doesn't convince me for a minute that others, possibly higher and/or universally applicable, aren't in the near future. But, I guess, as long as they announce them in advance...:rolleyes:

 

I'm simply suggesting what we (my husband and I) are looking for in a cruise line. We are NOT looking for a $50 pp per day rate, before or after OBCs. Or $75. Or $100. We (personally) are looking for more than a bed and three meals we don't have to shop for or prepare ourselves. We want to feel special on a cruise, not to be openly viewed as a revenue stream. But I don't expect that without paying for it in my base cruise fare (it seems others do), and that is what I am saying that WE are willing to do. And I really don't think we are alone in that.

 

You are not alone. I believe a significant number Princess Cruisers want to "feel special" and are willing to pay a higher base fare to achieve that cruising experience. There is a gap between the mass market cruise lines and the luxury cruise lines. Hopefully, Princess will fill that gap.

[caribill]

You are not alone. I believe a significant number Princess Cruisers want to "feel special" and are willing to pay a higher base fare to achieve that cruising experience. There is a gap between the mass market cruise lines and the luxury cruise lines. Hopefully, Princess will fill that gap.

 

Princess currently has 43874 lower berths to fill every day and almost all the time the ships do sail near this capacity.

 

You want Princess to increase the rates for 43874 passengers a day. I suspect they would have a much harder time filling their ships.

 

They may be able to fill that gap, but they would no longer be able to fill the ships.

Edited May 31, 2014 by caribill

[RDC1]

Princess currently has 43874 lower berths to fill every day and almost all the time the ships do sail near this capacity.

 

You want Princess to increase the rates for 43874 passengers a day. I suspect they would have a much harder time filling their ships.

 

They may be able to fill that gap, but they would no longer be able to fill the ships.

 

Bingo

 

Carnival might create a new line to fill that gap if they feel that there is a real market for it, but it won't be Princess or anywhere near the size of Princess.

 

Would not be surprised if Virgin were to be in that gap if they do go ahead and create a cruise line. Viking Ocean might be in that gap as well once they really get up and running.

[Astro Flyer]

Doesn't Oceania & Azamara already fill the gap between mass market & luxury cruise lines such as Crystal, Regent & Silversea?

[Colo Cruiser]

I doubt thats going to happen.....

Think the entire market is pretty saturated.

[RDC1]

Doesn't Oceania & Azamara already fill the gap between mass market & luxury cruise lines such as Crystal, Regent & Silversea?

 

 

 

If you look at the revenue per passenger metric Azmara and Oceanic are much closer to the luxury brands then the mass market lines. Quite a gap there between HAL and Oceanic.

 

CCL 637

Disney 1215

RCL 1420

NCL 1575

Princess 1960

Celebrity 2308

HAL 2469

Oceanic 5359

Cunard 5690

Crystal 5796

Azmara 5984

Seabourne 8150

Regent 11,711

[Astro Flyer]

If you look at the revenue per passenger metric Azmara and Oceanic are much closer to the luxury brands then the mass market lines. Quite a gap there between HAL and Oceanic.

 

 

 

CCL 637

 

Disney 1215

 

RCL 1420

 

NCL 1575

 

Princess 1960

 

Celebrity 2308

 

HAL 2469

 

Oceanic 5359

 

Cunard 5690

 

Crystal 5796

 

Azmara 5984

 

Seabourne 8150

 

Regent 11,711

 

Thanks...I have friends who are mostly sailing on Oceania & Azamara but I prefer more days at sea with Princess. They "include" many things in their price but everyone pays for those extras whether using them or not. All inclusive cruise lines can be cost-effective if using all of their extras but they're not for me.

[kennicott]

Can you provide the comparison without including the business class air fare (or any airfare at all) and without the hotels? Those items, although cruise related, really do not allow a true comparison of what you are paying for the ships and the onboard experience.

 

 

Well, sorry, but can't take those out very easily. Since Regent provides free coach RT air (free business class for butler service levels and higher) while business class with Princess is $6,461 minus $1,000. air fee credit. And since we are traveling business class with Regent we are paying $2,600. extra. One night pre-cruise in a luxury hotel plus transfers with Regent is included in base price of cruise while on Princess we are paying $506.00 for transfers and hotel. With Princess however, our air is Anchorage to Copenhagen and New York to Anchorage while with Regent it is only business class Seattle to Lisbon and for the Miami to Anchorage segment and Anchorage to Seattle segment we used our mileage with Alaska Airlines, 1st class, although we could have had free coach with Regent from Miami to Seattle. See what I mean by it being difficult to compare?

 

Here are a couple of comparison links that might help: The first link is for an Alaskan voyage which compares Regent, HAL, Princes and Celebrity. The other two references compare three lines where a lot of the expense is included in the initial payment, for each of them. Now, note, that these numbers are provided by Regent therefore might be subject to some bias. However, having cruised extensively on all three (Regent, Princess & HAL are the only lines we use), I find these estimates are not too far off the mark. E.G. we recently got off a 30 day South Pacific with HAL. They had just changed their wine policy so you can't bring your own on board anymore, without paying a stiff penalty per bottle. At the rates HAL now charges for liquor, you really don't have to be much of a boozer at all for two people to rack up an over $1,500. wine bill on a thirty day voyage. With Regent, that is all included, and better wine to boot.

 

 

https://www.rssc.com/media/experience/pdfs/ValueComparison_Alaska.pdf

https://www.rssc.com/agent/media/agentcenter/promotionalpieces/2015_Mediterranean_Comparison.pdf

https://www.rssc.com/media/experience/pdfs/ValueComparison_NorthernEurope.pdf

Edited May 31, 2014 by kennicott

[Ethel5]

I betcha there are plenty of people like me who don't need the cruise line to make then feel special. I haven't not felt special on 38 cruises-28 on Princess.:)

[kennicott]

I betcha there are plenty of people like me who don't need the cruise line to make then feel special. I haven't not felt special on 38 cruises-28 on Princess.:)

 

Well Ethel 5, that is a very interesting statement, in that if you didn't feel the least bit "special", why did you continue on with cruising, for so long and posting numerous times on a cruise forum internet site? If I were in your shoes, I would consider myself a masochist. But then, I doubt that is the case. Perhaps, and likely so, it depends upon one's definition of "special". Yours is obviously a somewhat different definition than mine. But, I bet you do love cruising.

 

For me/us we would have bagged the expense of and interest in, the entire enterprise of world understanding and apprehension by ship long ago if we did not feel "special". Travel for us today by voyage, after getting long-in-the tooth, works out well for us. Now, having surpassed the 500 at sea day mark, (inside rooms, porthole rooms, window rooms, patios, you name it) we find ourselves still saying: "We have never experienced a cruise we did not like". That is absolutely true, and I dread the day we get off of one that I am proven wrong.

 

Having said all that, of course there have been blemishes, or times when I would have preferred this particular shore excursion or dining experience or lecturer, or library setup, tablemate, over this or that. None of those negatives, were ever a big deal though.

 

I love the sea, every since I was a little boy. Born and raised in Alaska, and still here; back when I was little, in order to go "outside" to visit relatives in the summer we had to travel by steamship, Alaska Steamship Company. So it is today, everytime when I first board a cruise ship, the sounds, especially the smells, particularly of the varnish on the hand rails, the sea, and elsewhere such as those emanating from the kitchen, remind me so much of when I was a very young lad.

 

Hey, I'm special.

Edited June 1, 2014 by kennicott