price drops, when?

[Yurita]

My friend wants to join us on our cruise, however she's not comfortable with the price. There seems to be lots of available cabins (about half or maybe a bit less than half) but we haven't seen any price drop despite the amount of staterooms available.

 

Since she's a last minute cruiser, she's ok with waiting for deeper discounts, but we are already 60 days from sailing... so does anyone have any idea of when they will (if they will) have those sales, discounted cabins, etc?

[JF - retired RRT]

No one will have a definitive answer for that. Only the Princess programmers know what and when a price drop occurs.

 

We are on a several cruises in October...several are a lot higher than when we booked, one has stayed the same. We are going to Mexico on 11/29. When we booked the price was $660 (we had a casino discount and paid $330). Today the price was over $800:eek: (inside cabins).

 

MAYBE, if she waits till the last minute she will get a great price OR she won't find "any room at the inn".

 

If she can afford it, she should book. If there is a last minute price drop, call and ask for it. She will be told no or given the drop or OBC as compensation.

[icat2000]

My cruise in September this year was cheaper when I booked over a year ago than it is now.

[Working 2 Cruise]

There's no telling. There may or may not been a price drop. If she wants to go, she's should book now or may run the risk of not having a cabin...

 

Don't rely on the amount of unsold cabins. Princess Haas yet to assign th he guarantee cabins...

 

There's a chance that there will be a flash sale, then again, maybe not. It's a crapshoot. Does she like to gamble?

[rockdoctor]

You don't say where you are sailing. Europe and South America seem to hold up pretty well. Mexico and the Carribean, not so much. There was another thread on Princess or the Carribean Princess amenities going down hill. From our experience, it's the softer markets have less amenities than those which can hold price.

[Astro Flyer]

Only the Princess computer's algorithm knows that answer. :p

 

There are so many variables & each cruise can be different. We recently waited until after final payment for a cruise with many cabins still available. We decided to wait for another price drop however instead it increased. At about 60 days out there were fewer cabins & the price dropped to the same price as we first hesitated to book. The only certainty about pricing is the uncertainty about when is the best time to book a cruise?

 

I've tracked cruises we've booked hoping for either a complimentary upgrade close to sailing or a reasonably priced upsell. Most times neither happen but still by sailing time the ship is "sold out". Based on what I've read sometimes those available cabins go to TAs, employees or gamblers & of course to guarantee cabin bookings. One way or another rarely have I sailed a ship that was not full. ;)

Edited August 11, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[Colo Cruiser]

If there is a lot of availability its typical for Princess to drop prices 45 days or less.

If they don't mind doing last minute I would wait.

Have you signed up for Princess standby deals? You can sign up on the Princess website. I am sure the Royal will end up there if theres a ton of cabins.

Got to keep watching or you may miss it! :D

[serene56]

My friend wants to join us on our cruise, however she's not comfortable with the price. There seems to be lots of available cabins (about half or maybe a bit less than half) but we haven't seen any price drop despite the amount of staterooms available.

 

Since she's a last minute cruiser, she's ok with waiting for deeper discounts, but we are already 60 days from sailing... so does anyone have any idea of when they will (if they will) have those sales, discounted cabins, etc?

 

 

good luck with that-- in 26 cruises only 2 has ever come down in price.

you want to keep an eye on your sailing-- because if it sells out your friends will be out of luck

 

If your friend is a solo cruiser-- she will be paying single supplement

[JoAnneNYI]

She could try a web site where you join and plug in the ship/date/cabin type desired. Then travel stores "compete" for your business by offering their best pricing. I have used it a few times with great success. Try googling for travel sites that compete for cruise pricing

[wowzz]

We booked our Panama transit 6 months ago, and the few cabins still available are considerably more expensive than we paid. Princess will be happy to sail with a few empty cabins rather than selling them cheaply and causing discontent amongst full fare passengers.

[iceleven]

We booked our Panama transit 6 months ago, and the few cabins still available are considerably more expensive than we paid. Princess will be happy to sail with a few empty cabins rather than selling them cheaply and causing discontent amongst full fare passengers.

 

And you know this how?

[Working 2 Cruise]

We booked our Panama transit 6 months ago, and the few cabins still available are considerably more expensive than we paid. Princess will be happy to sail with a few empty cabins rather than selling them cheaply and causing discontent amongst full fare passengers.

 

Now that's crazy thinking!!!!

 

Princess will "happily" have a flash sale if they have unsold cabin. That's hogwash!

[emmak8]

There's more than one last minute site your friend can sign on . Princess first ten google for others.

[shredie]

We booked our Panama transit 6 months ago, and the few cabins still available are considerably more expensive than we paid. Princess will be happy to sail with a few empty cabins rather than selling them cheaply and causing discontent amongst full fare passengers.

 

Now that's funny! :D

[waltd]

Now that's crazy thinking!!!!

 

Princess will "happily" have a flash sale if they have unsold cabin. That's hogwash!

 

OR if there are that few cabins available Princess could give them to their staff as a friends and family promotion and that's the end of that. :) No one knows for sure.

[caribill]

We booked our Panama transit 6 months ago, and the few cabins still available are considerably more expensive than we paid. Princess will be happy to sail with a few empty cabins rather than selling them cheaply and causing discontent amongst full fare passengers.

 

And you know this how?

 

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has said in meetings with stock analysts they are adopting a philosophy of sailing with a few (maybe about 1%) cabins unsold rather than have deep discounting to fill up the ships.

 

RCCL is doing the same. At the last Royal Caribbean phone conference, they said:

 

"I wanted to update everyone on the early signs that we're seeing from my price integrity policy. As a reminder, we adopted this policy to address the kind of deep last-minute discounts that are so frustrating to our guests and our travel partners and ultimately so damaging to our brands. Depending on the sourcing of the type of cruise, the last-minute might be 10, 20, or 30 days out but from that point on our policy is to hold our price at the prior level."

 

They said this will take educating passengers that it is better to book early than to wait hoping to get reduced pricing at the last minute.

[caribill]

OR if there are that few cabins available Princess could give them to their staff as a friends and family promotion and that's the end of that. :) No one knows for sure.

 

Sometimes they offer them to travel agents who have no problem getting last minute flights for little or no $$$.

[GUT2407]

Only the Princess computer's algorithm knows that answer. :p

 

)

 

Are you sure that it knows???

[iceleven]

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has said in meetings with stock analysts they are adopting a philosophy of sailing with a few (maybe about 1%) cabins unsold rather than have deep discounting to fill up the ships.

 

Well that would solve the problem when a cabin becomes unusable (for whatever reason) and the guests are told, "Sorry the ship is full, we cannot move you to another cabin." I've always thought that 2-3 cabins should always be available for emergencies when the plumbing or A/C isn't working.

[geoherb]

I frequently book last-minute cruises--but it's because I track prices of several different cruises and don't have my heart set on one particular one. And sometimes it works out that we don't go when DH has a break from his teaching job because prices have gone up instead of down.

 

My recommendation is that if she really wants to go, she should book now if the price is something that she can afford. But if she wants to go only if the price is better and is OK with not going at all, waiting may pay off.

[Colo Cruiser]

Well that would solve the problem when a cabin becomes unusable (for whatever reason) and the guests are told, "Sorry the ship is full, we cannot move you to another cabin." I've always thought that 2-3 cabins should always be available for emergencies when the plumbing or A/C isn't working.

 

 

Haven't you seen the sign glued to the Passenger Services Desk?

 

"We are sailing full".

[iceleven]

Haven't you seen the sign glued to the Passenger Services Desk?

 

"We are sailing full".

 

That is irrelevant to my comment. Yes, I KNOW the ships always sail full. But my response was to this -

 

Originally Posted by caribill

Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has said in meetings with stock analysts they are adopting a philosophy of sailing with a few (maybe about 1%) cabins unsold rather than have deep discounting to fill up the ships.

 

If this is implemented, then there would be the possibility of rooms that could be freed up.

 

 

[wowzz]

Haven't you seen the sign glued to the Passenger Services Desk?

 

"We are sailing full".

 

I always assumed that sign was there to stop people trying to change cabins, try and get a cheap upgrade etc. As has been mentioned, if there are a few cabins available, that does allow for some flexibility in the event of an occupied cabin becoming uninhabitable due to some plumbing issue for example, but no need to let anyone know about them.

[paddingtonbear]

On our British isles cruise we waited till after final payment. I was going to wait till 45 days out from sailing but as I watched daily I saw cabins that I wanted (I am very fussy and wasn't prepared to take anything) disappearing I booked 60 days out. That was the cheapest price we saw. I have to admit we went away 3 weeks later so might have missed some price drops from 39 days out.

[Yurita]

Well ladies and gentlemen, i guess her strategy has worked. 59 days before sailing date, the price dropped $200 per cabin and on top of that Princess offered a $100 OBC for new bookings only. Unbelievable, I booked a year ahead and got none of these perks.... oh well, good for her.