Coastal cruises were almost free.

[triple7tahoe]

I am sure there are some on here that remember the cruises last year where you were given FCC for the amount that you paid for the cruise: Has anybody seen or heard if that offer is going to be repeated this year?:)

[Astro Flyer]

I am sure there are some on here that remember the cruises last year where you were given FCC for the amount that you paid for the cruise: Has anybody seen or heard if that offer is going to be repeated this year?:)

Nothing has been said & the prices of the cruises I've checked have remained quite high. If I remember correctly it wasn't until early December last year that they offered the 100% FCC promotion & bet their marketing department is hoping they will not have to resort to that again to fill up the ships.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[san diego sue]

We did the first one on the Golden in October last year. Then they offered it on the Sapphire for January and we did it again.(I think Dec. was 50% instead of 100%)

[Pam in CA]

They (Princess) couldn't literally give those cruises away. It amazes me that they've planned more short cruises for 2015 and 2016. I was able to apply 100% of my 4-day Sapphire cruise in January towards my Royal cruise in September.

 

Whether they make a similar or other offer will depend on how those cruises are selling. I wouldn't expect any sales or promotions until close to final payment.

[lovevacadays]

It will be interesting to see what happens. I have a 3 day Golden cruise booked for November. The following week after I booked the price dropped $25.00 pp for an obstructed ocean view room. The following week the prices stayed about the same but in addition to the original price drop they were offering a $25.00 OBC pp. We upgraded to a Caribe deck balcony because given the 25.00 OBC we figured it was such a small amount why not get a balcony! I suppose we could have just saved the money and took the OBC but even if it is a short cruise it will be fun having a balcony.:):):)

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

This was an incredible deal. I was able to deduct the cost of my four-day cruise on the Sapphire Princess in January 2014 from the seven-day Mediterranean cruise that I took on the new Regal Princess last week (making my Sapphire Princess cruise free). It would be great if Princess would offer this "free cruise" promotion in the future.

 

Chuck

[bigenna]

We too were able to apply credit from a four day cruise on the Golden last October to a ten day Sea of Cortez cruise this fall. Had a suite last year, so had to pay very little for a mini on the ten day. Happy, happy, thanks Princess!!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[judyjudy56]

We also took advantage of that promotion and applied the cost of our January short cruise to our Alaska cruisetour. It will be interesting if Princess feels the need to do a similar promotion. It looks like the prices for the 3 and 4 day cruises are pretty high. It will be interesting to see if they drop the prices. We got a couple of emails for last minute cruises in May that were really cheap. We didn't take advantage of them as we had an Alaska cruisetour booked for the end of May.

[cruiseidaho]

These cruises would sell better if they could include a port other than Ensenada on every one.

[shastatroy]

I sure hope they have it again, I got on 3 of them last time around.:)

[Astro Flyer]

These cruises would sell better if they could include a port other than Ensenada on every one.

 

Being a roundtrip from a US port they're required to go to a foreign port & Ensenada is the closest port.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...It looks like the prices for the 3 and 4 day cruises are pretty high. It will be interesting to see if they drop the prices...

 

They are. In fact, mine has gone up recently even though many categories appear to be only about 1/3 full just one month out from final payment. Perhaps they plan to slash fares once final payments have been made. Is this typical for a Princess cruise?

[onefine89]

Being a roundtrip from a US port they're required to go to a foreign port & Ensenada is the closest port.

 

Astro Flyer........Is that because of the ship's foreign registry? having to go to at least one foreign port?

[Astro Flyer]

Is this typical for a Princess cruise?

It's typical for any cruise with a lot of empty cabins & will probably repeat this year & next. I know that schedules are made well in advance but by late last fall it was obvious that LA & FL 4-day cruises were not selling well. Pam said they're still scheduling such cruises even in 2016...amazing! :rolleyes:

 

After basically giving away cruises last winter, not many would be willing to book early & instead to wait for another giveaway. How the marketing department could do the same thing in 2016 is mind-boggling. :rolleyes:

[Astro Flyer]

Astro Flyer........Is that because of the ship's foreign registry? having to go to at least one foreign port?

US regulations requires that all non-US flagged & built ships go to a foreign port when leaving and departing from US ports. NCL is the only cruise line that meets these requirements & is why they can sail exclusively within the Hawaiian Islands.

 

I'm not an expert on all of the intricacies of the law (PVSA?) but know that when sailing roundtrip from LA they are required to go to a foreign port.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[welldone60]

I wish they would do a 4/5 day to Cabo. We did a couple of those when Carnival offered them from San Diego.

[casavaha]

I would doubt that Princess will do the 100% credit on the short cruises. Princess

figured that they would make up the lost revenue with, drinks, photos, excursions, casino, etc.

That did not work, in fact the onboard revenue was actually lower. I have booked three

b2b2b in Nov., mainly because the Los Brillantes, a fantastic Mexican Mariachi group will be

performing on the Golden.

The short cruises are fun but I think you need to put at least two together to make it

a 7 or 8 day cruise.

 

Greg

[shredie]

These cruises would sell better if they could include a port other than Ensenada on every one.

 

That might be true, but there's the law to deal with. I don't think they did much of a job of advertising the short cruises in the beginning. I think people have caught on and now are booking more. Because they are projected into 2016, Princess must know something we don't. They aren't going to schedule multiple sure-fire money losers that far into the future.

[Phamer55]

There's nothing stopping them from going to San Diego in addition to Ensenada. There used to be 4 day cruises that did this years ago, so Catalina Island and Ensenada were the other ports. I think it was Royal Caribbean that did this, but maybe it was Carnival. The 3 day cruise to Ensenada is just too boring. A cruise with a call in San Diego as well, especially if it included the evening, would entice me. Of course, they could go to Catalina Island on the 3 day cruise too.

[critterchick]

It's typical for any cruise with a lot of empty cabins & will probably repeat this year & next. I know that schedules are made well in advance but by late last fall it was obvious that LA & FL 4-day cruises were not selling well. Pam said they're still scheduling such cruises even in 2016...amazing! :rolleyes:

 

After basically giving away cruises last winter, not many would be willing to book early & instead to wait for another giveaway. How the marketing department could do the same thing in 2016 is mind-boggling. :rolleyes:

 

Well, it depends on how many passengers actually take advantage of the FCC. Many people already had their 2014 plans that didn't include a Princess, others may not have enjoyed their cruises enough to take another one, etc. some may not even realize that they have the FCC sitting in their account.

 

I would doubt that Princess will do the 100% credit on the short cruises. Princess

figured that they would make up the lost revenue with, drinks, photos, excursions, casino, etc.

That did not work, in fact the onboard revenue was actually lower. I have booked three

b2b2b in Nov., mainly because the Los Brillantes, a fantastic Mexican Mariachi group will be

performing on the Golden.

The short cruises are fun but I think you need to put at least two together to make it

a 7 or 8 day cruise.

 

Greg

 

May I ask how you know the onboard revenue figures? We sailed on 3 weekend cruises, and the bars were hopping, the casino was crowded and the specialty restaurants were booked solid, from my observations. And the bartenders were REALLY happy with the amount they were pouring. The weekday cruises were likely less profitable, which was always the case when RCI was sailing from LA. What I don't understand is why Princess doesn't do all of the 3-nighters from Friday to Monday, which allows a lot of locals to go for the weekend without taking a day off. Departing on a weekday means taking at least 2 days off work, not a good use of my precious vacation time.

[Astro Flyer]

There's nothing stopping them from going to San Diego in addition to Ensenada. There used to be 4 day cruises that did this years ago, so Catalina Island and Ensenada were the other ports. I think it was Royal Caribbean that did this, but maybe it was Carnival. The 3 day cruise to Ensenada is just too boring. A cruise with a call in San Diego as well, especially if it included the evening, would entice me. Of course, they could go to Catalina Island on the 3 day cruise too.

 

Besides the mandatory stop in Ensenada the 4-day cruises alternate between stopping at San Diego, Catalina and Santa Barbara in addition to a sea day.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[casavaha]

I used to be in the hotel business so am very interested in the inner workings of

revenue production. I got most of my information from Princess execs. in middle

management and management on board the ship. I was surprised also because I saw

the casino and bars busy during the 3 and 4 day cruises.

 

As to why the ships just do 3 days over the weekends, what happens to the weekdays?

The ship has to operate 7 days a week, sometimes it ends up on a weekend, sometimes

no.

 

If the ship goes to Cabo, like some have suggested you are adding 3 or 4 more days to

the cruise, fuel is the main cost. Look at the 3 day cruise. The ship travels at about

10 knots, out far enough that they can keep the casino open.

 

I personally would like to see more 7 and 10 day cruises to Mexico. But I think I am

in the minority. There is so much to see and do in Ensenada, but unfortunately

many people are afraid to travel more than 10 miles from the ship. I live 40 miles

n. of Ensenada and I am there 2 or 3 times a month. There are so many new restaurants

opening plus new wineries. Almost a 100 now in Guadalupe Valley.

 

These are some of my opinions, I am just happy that Princess is doing more types of

cruising on the West Coast.

 

Greg

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I used to be in the hotel business so am very interested in the inner workings of revenue production. I got most of my information from Princess execs. in middle management and management on board the ship. I was surprised also because I saw the casino and bars busy during the 3 and 4 day cruises...

 

I'm surprised also. I would think the shorter cruises would be the most profitable, with pax trying to cram the entire cruise experience into fewer days.

[caribill]

I'm surprised also. I would think the shorter cruises would be the most profitable, with pax trying to cram the entire cruise experience into fewer days.

 

The troubles of filling the ships was also existing on the 3 and 4 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

The problem is not that of just having these shorter cruises as both RCCL and Carnival have been successful with these short cruises out of South Florida.

 

Princess is trying to join a market with two established successful competitors. The expectation is that if Princess can attract new people to these cruises, they may have a new customer base, not just for more short cruises, but possibly for longer ones also.

 

It takes more than one season to get a foothold in this market, thus the continuation of the short cruises even though the first season of them may not have been a great financial success.

 

I suspect the application of the full basic cruise fare as a credit for a future cruise was mainly aimed at existing Princess customers who know the product, quickly booked up the suites and mini-suites and happily applied the cost of these higher priced-cabins to future cruises in lower category cabins.

Edited June 12, 2014 by caribill

[SoCal Cruiser78]

The troubles of filling the ships was also existing on the 3 and 4 day cruises out of Fort Lauderdale.

 

The problem is not that of just having these shorter cruises as both RCCL and Carnival have been successful with these short cruises out of South Florida.

 

Princess is trying to join a market with two established successful competitors. The expectation is that if Princess can attract new people to these cruises, they may have a new customer base, not just for more short cruises, but possibly for longer ones also.

 

It takes more than one season to get a foothold in this market, thus the continuation of the short cruises even though the first season of them may not have been a great financial success.

 

I suspect the application of the full basic cruise fare as a credit for a future cruise was mainly aimed at existing Princess customers who know the product, quickly booked up the suites and mini-suites and happily applied the cost of these higher priced-cabins to future cruises in lower category cabins.

 

That all makes sense! I am hoping that my upcoming coastal is up to the quality of longer cruises, and that Princess doesn't cut corners on the shorter runs to boost profits and compete more closely with Carnival out of L.A.