Share the Savings and sold-out cabin categories

[mahasamatman]

We've booked a cruise for September in a mini-suite. The cruise is currently showing sold-out for mini-suites, but "Share the Savings" is still active. How does that work? Will my friend be able to book a GUAR?

[caribill]

We've booked a cruise for September in a mini-suite. The cruise is currently showing sold-out for mini-suites, but "Share the Savings" is still active. How does that work? Will my friend be able to book a GUAR?

 

Good question. If it is showing "sold out", that normally means no more GUAR available for that category.

 

It either means Princess has some way of honoring the "Share the Savings" or the IT folk never programmed for the sold out possibility.

[f-mattox]

I saw something similar for a Golden Princess sailing this August. The lowest category mini-suites are sold out but you can still book a Guarantee ME mini. Sounds like an automatic upgrade to me.

[Colo Cruiser]

Better grab it while its still showing. :eek:

[majortom10]

Princess availability on there website totally confuses me I know they have cancellations but its very unreliable and on a recent cruise in UK it stated on the webiste sold out for inside cabins but on ringing reservations they said they had availability.

[likeadisguise]

Share the Savings means you're sharing your promotion code with someone who isn't otherwise entitled to it (targeted promotion, Captain's Circle level, etc.). They don't necessarily have to stay in the exact same category of cabin as you do -- you can book a minisuite and StS with someone who books an inside. They'll get whatever the promotional rate for that type of cabin was under the promotion.

[mahasamatman]

I saw something similar for a Golden Princess sailing this August. The lowest category mini-suites are sold out but you can still book a Guarantee ME mini.

In this case, all mini-suites (and suites and balconies for that matter) are showing as sold out. I just sent the referral to my friend, so we'll see what happens when she tries to book. (We only have a GUAR ourselves.)

[mahasamatman]

So my friend got the email, and the link provided by Princess was not valid. We're guessing it's because of the limited availability, but it does seem like a real bug that they even let me provide the "referral".

[caribill]

So my friend got the email, and the link provided by Princess was not valid. We're guessing it's because of the limited availability, but it does seem like a real bug that they even let me provide the "referral".

 

I would still call Princess and ask why the link was not valid.

[Cruise Raider]

Share the Savings means you're sharing your promotion code with someone who isn't otherwise entitled to it (targeted promotion, Captain's Circle level, etc.). They don't necessarily have to stay in the exact same category of cabin as you do -- you can book a minisuite and StS with someone who books an inside. They'll get whatever the promotional rate for that type of cabin was under the promotion.

 

Our friends were told they have to book the exact same category as we did or they could not get the promotional price that I have available.

He said he was on hold two times for over an hour trying to get the same pricing as I did ... and they just wouldn't budge. :confused:

[likeadisguise]

They won't get the exact same price you got, as it's a different category, but I think they should get the same promotion. If they're looking at a higher category, that would be a higher price.

[cdngrl]

I used 'share the savings' for my march cruise. the link didn't work for me either and when I called, the csr quoted me the same price as currently showing. I told her it was a share the savings and should be less costly and asked for her manager. she then 'found' it. I don't know if she couldn't be bothered at first or really didn't know. I hate that I expect the worse from customer service.

[Cruise Raider]

They won't get the exact same price you got, as it's a different category, but I think they should get the same promotion. If they're looking at a higher category, that would be a higher price.

 

They stated we would have to pick the same exact category, which is no longer available. The only way it would work is if, for instance, we had an ME category, they would have to book an ME category to get the deal. We would expect a different category to be a different price but still a promotional price, such as past passenger. Like I said, they wouldn't budge one bit. It might almost be worth it for us to upgrade -- they could save and we could also be in a better category....hmmmm.... there's an idea.

[Colo Cruiser]

Its a great program when it works. :)

[mahasamatman]

They stated we would have to pick the same exact category, which is no longer available.

That makes sense, though it would be nice if they made it clear.

[Cruise Raider]

That makes sense, though it would be nice if they made it clear.

 

So, I really wanted my friends to get this promotion.....it is their first time cruising and they were paying way too much for a 3 night cruise. I was so hoping that they could see not only how lovely it is to cruise but also to see what a value it can be.

My guaranteed balcony pricing was no longer available and wasn't really interested in one of the cabins they were offering for $100 more ... but it was going to save them over $500 so thought I would try one last ditch effort.

The TA that I called waived the change fee as I book a lot of cruises, not only for myself, but for others as well. I saw that for a BE category, the price had dropped a bit so thought I would call in to upgrade my room as there was also a very acceptable room in that category for my friends.

I called and upgraded my room and it only cost $70 above the cost of the guaranteed balcony, which I knew my friend would be more than willing to reward me for my additional costs (which he so generously has offered). The kicker is, I received an additional $50 OBC so it was really only $20 to upgrade to a nice Caribe deck balcony cabin (thus, turned down his most generous offer and said we would be happy if he treated us to a cocktail onboard).

Once I was done upgrading my cabin (we used different agencies), then came the real work. I called down to his agency again and after I did everything they asked me to do to get his savings, Princess still refused and said it wouldn't work. His TA was awesome, by the way, it was Princess that kept stating his total was a few hundred more. His TA dummied up a reservation to let them know she was getting the same pricing as I did. So, they had to remove his share the savings offer and I had to redo it. Boy, this TA was so patient. I then had to call him to have him accept it again...lo and behold....my persistence paid off. He got it and was so happy. Now, I wonder if he could have gotten the mini for a reduced price as well....but on such a short cruise, I think the mini might be a waste of money. We've had a mini on both short and longer cruises and really only felt it was worth it on the longer ones.

So, this is my story of success with the share the savings promotion. While I now question whether or not your invitee has to book the exact same category, I know it was really a pain to get Princess to honor it....in my estimate, it was about 5 hours of phone calls between my friend and myself. Turns out, everybody is happy in the end, though.

:D

[KWinSF]

In this particular case, I mean the OP's case, seems like more trouble than it's worth if it would take so many hours on the phone to book it. (I have inside knowledge of the OP's situation, that's how I can say this. ;) )

[Colo Cruiser]

In this particular case, I mean the OP's case, seems like more trouble than it's worth if it would take so many hours on the phone to book it. (I have inside knowledge of the OP's situation, that's how I can say this. ;) )

 

 

Guess we can't pass judgement because we don't have the inside knowledge.

[Thrak]

They stated we would have to pick the same exact category, which is no longer available. The only way it would work is if, for instance, we had an ME category, they would have to book an ME category to get the deal. We would expect a different category to be a different price but still a promotional price, such as past passenger. Like I said, they wouldn't budge one bit. It might almost be worth it for us to upgrade -- they could save and we could also be in a better category....hmmmm.... there's an idea.

 

We did a Share the Savings with my son. We booked a balcony and he booked an inside HC room. No problem at all with the different room categories. Sometimes the folks at Princess really don't seem to have a clue. I'd try calling again. Try pushing a different number on the phone tree menu. I did that one time when I was told NO WAY and the next person asked what I was calling about and then fixed it for me right away.

[Coveguy4]

I did share the savings a couple of times with friends. the last cruise was sold out on my mini catagory, but my friends were upgraded to a more central location for about 10.00 more pp. I had the covered Emerald mini which I prefer, they went to a Dolphin open balcony in the mid ship location. A win /win.