I'm really confused by the Sale Offering

[cynbar]

The three for 3 sale is for cruises in 2016 and 2017. If OP is after final payment, it definitely doesn't apply to their voyage.

 

cynbar, once a promo is over, I believe any pricing changes to that booking will kick out the old sale code.

 

Thanks, I thought that might be true

[BRANDEE]

I went for the Travel Zoo promo and in doing so, lost the Sip and Sail Beverage package, which I am ok with.

 

When we still had the beverage package, it should up on our Personalizer as "Compliments....".

 

My question is....now that we have the Free Gratuities instead, will that show up on our Personalizer?? Is so, where? Haven't seen it yet.

I have visions of getting to the ship and having them say we don't really have it! :eek:

 

Hi,

 

Go to Personalizer..then booked cruise..then Payment and Credits..then Optional Gratuity Pre Payment..should have paid next to names...

 

Chris

[oskidunker]

The drill i 1.0ffer onboard credit. 2.0ffer beverage package and or a free dinner in the specialty restaurant. 3. Reduce the price and take away all the above but creating a lower over all price

 

When I see this stuff,U just wait for lower price.

 

People will catch on to this.

[suzyed]

Hi,

 

Go to Personalizer..then booked cruise..then Payment and Credits..then Optional Gratuity Pre Payment..should have paid next to names...

 

Chris

 

You are awesome, Chris!!

 

I was looking at the personalizer and even went to the Payments and Credits section then the gratuity section, but I didn't "click" on it :rolleyes:.......now I just did and sure enough there it is!!! ;)

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! :D

Edited August 26, 2015 by suzyed

[suzyed]

The drill i 1.0ffer onboard credit. 2.0ffer beverage package and or a free dinner in the specialty restaurant. 3. Reduce the price and take away all the above but creating a lower over all price

 

When I see this stuff,U just wait for lower price.

 

People will catch on to this.

 

I got a lower price ($360/pp less), pre-paid gratuities, free dinner. BTW, my original price from my TA was less to begin with, even before the new lower price. I'm happy!

Edited August 26, 2015 by suzyed

[timtrek]

I re-booked today for an extra $70.00 from my original casino rate with no freebies, moved to an aft Balcony from Forward, got the tips and 2 dinners. I'm happy as is my wife - Happy wife = Happy Life! :D

[caribill]

I found your post to be somewhat offensive. However, I will graciously reply and give you the answers you seek.

 

Yes, I am referring to the 9/7/2016 Alaska Island Princess cruise

 

We paid a full year in advance because we wanted to (that amount of money won't earn that much interest in a year anyway)

 

And, Last, the category for the cabin we have booked is IC

 

 

Sorry, I did not mean to offend.

 

I wanted to make sure you were referring to a cruise next year as for most people, having paid in full means the cruise is much sooner, usually in 75 days or less.

 

The reason I asked for the cabin category is that the upgrade, as I understand it, is to a higher category in the same type cabin.

 

So, if the offer applied to your cruise, it appears you could be upgraded with this promotion from IC to IB or IA at no charge.

 

Looking at this cruise on the Princess web site, it does show the same price for all inside cabins.

 

So, if you want to upgrade to an IB or an IA inside cabin, call Princess again.

 

The IB and IA cabins will be identical to what you have, just in another location.

 

It also says the the free gratuities and the specialty restaurant dinner apply to your cruise with this promotion.

[caribill]

My TA told me that we couldn't get an upgrade to a B1 or B2 from our BD unless we pay extra! So much for a "Free Upgrade"! Is that BS?

 

But you can upgrade to a BC, BB or BA if you want.

 

But if you have a balcony on the Caribe deck, you may only want to upgrade to another balcony on that deck. (Assume you are not on the Royal or Regal where it would not matter.)

[caribill]

The drill i 1.0ffer onboard credit. 2.0ffer beverage package and or a free dinner in the specialty restaurant. 3. Reduce the price and take away all the above but creating a lower over all price

 

When I see this stuff,U just wait for lower price.

 

People will catch on to this.

 

 

Reality is that Princess (and RCCL and others) are not doing as in the past and lowering prices before final payment in order to sell more cabins.

 

They are keeping the cabin price about the same (can go up if demand is there) and instead have varying promotions which offer amenities that in effect lower the cost of the voyage. Obviously the free gratuities have a value that definitely lowers the total cost (assuming one does not normally cancel the auto-tip). A bottle of wine or two dinners cost Princess less than the stated value.

 

Yet to be seen is what Princess will do after final payment if many cabins remain unsold. Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has said they are willing to sail with some cabins unsold (1% or 2%) instead of lowering prices so much it "cheapens" the image of the cruise line.

 

What they hope will occur is that people will be retrained to book early and not wait for lower pricing which will not occur, at least not before final payment.

[SeaDays]

Caribill asked perfectly valid questions, especially sail date. Best reply to help you. Final payment date is NOT necessarily the date you paid. It's the PCL schedule. It appears you are a long way from actual final payment date and are free to cancel and rebook. A good travel agent could help you navigate this, even if the Princess call center is not willing.

[BRANDEE]

I really don't understand why Princess just doesn't give the low ball true sale price and be done. Use to be the earlier you booked the better the price.

 

Not complaining on my part because I have had my Baltic cruise drop tremendously, but my TA..I know it is her job but...I just received my new invoice yesterday for the TravelZoo Aug 20/24 sale, on my cruise and early this morning the price dropped again $$$$ under the TravelZoo Aug 25/Oct 28 sale. New invoice in the mail.

 

My TA said she hopes to hear from me again with another price drop soon...me too!!

 

Chris

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Carnival Corp (which owns Princess) has said they are willing to sail with some cabins unsold (1% or 2%) instead of lowering prices so much it "cheapens" the image of the cruise line...

 

OT: A plus with this policy is there may be more spare cabins available to move pax into whose cabins become uninhabitable due to plumbing, HVAC, etc. issues. No paying passenger should have to "tough out" these issues due to lack of spare cabins, IMO, as some CCers report having had to do :(.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...What they hope will occur is that people will be retrained to book early and not wait for lower pricing which will not occur, at least not before final payment.

 

In other words, the way it used to be :).

[Astro Flyer]

What they hope will occur is that people will be retrained to book early and not wait for lower pricing which will not occur, at least not before final payment.

It's merely my experience but currently the Princess early booking prices are too expensive for me to book well in advance.

 

Most of my regular cruising has been in the last 6-7 years and I nearly always booked over a year in advance & as early as 21 months. Those prices were reasonable & I'd hope for price reductions before sailing. Now prices of cruises we check are much too high for me to book well in advance.

 

I agree with you that their goal is to encourage early booking but with considerably higher fares I won't be doing it. Princess (and all of CCL) may hope to retrain us but that's not happening with me unless those early booking fares return to a more reasonable level.

 

For the first time in many years we had no cruises booked until we recently found a reasonably priced cruise 60 days before sailing.

 

This is merely my experience & I understand that others will have different experiences & opinions.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[riclop]

They don't make it easy.

[suzyed]

But you can upgrade to a BC, BB or BA if you want.

 

But if you have a balcony on the Caribe deck, you may only want to upgrade to another balcony on that deck. (Assume you are not on the Royal or Regal where it would not matter.)

 

Right! I am happy on the Caribe deck but was looking for something maybe more mid ship...but those are B1 and B2's.

[anthonyy7]

I booked a 2016 baltic cruise under the sip n sail. I called TA today because the price dropped $520 overall which is great. I didn't know you lose and go with whatever promo is currently available. Yeah we lose the drinks package but we're just fine with coffee cards and paying for the individual cocktails. However I'm now able to get a more mid ship cabin, free grats which we have to pay anyways plus dinner worth $50. Crown Grill is worth a visit! That's like $800 savings, money we def would have paid. Plus the $745 OBC ($200 from Princess FCC). :-D

[Colo Cruiser]

I booked a 2016 baltic cruise under the sip n sail. I called TA today because the price dropped $520 overall which is great. I didn't know you lose and go with whatever promo is currently available. Yeah we lose the drinks package but we're just fine with coffee cards and paying for the individual cocktails. However I'm now able to get a more mid ship cabin, free grats which we have to pay anyways plus dinner worth $50. Crown Grill is worth a visit! That's like $800 savings, money we def would have paid. Plus the $745 OBC ($200 from Princess FCC). :-D

 

 

 

I will stay with my $1300 drink packages. I will probably never try it on my own. :)

[partybarbie]

I will stay with my $1300 drink packages. I will probably never try it on my own. :)

 

We're staying with ours too. It's a good thing that we've already been to the Panama Canal. ;) I'm not sure how much of this cruise we will actually remember.:eek:

[BRANDEE]

It's merely my experience but currently the Princess early booking prices are too expensive for me to book well in advance.

 

Most of my regular cruising has been in the last 6-7 years and I nearly always booked over a year in advance & as early as 21 months. Those prices were reasonable & I'd hope for price reductions before sailing. Now prices of cruises we check are much too high for me to book well in advance.

 

I agree with you that their goal is to encourage early booking but with considerably higher fares I won't be doing it. Princess (and all of CCL) may hope to retrain us but that's not happening with me unless those early booking fares return to a more reasonable level.

 

For the first time in many years we had no cruises booked until we recently found a reasonably priced cruise 60 days before sailing.

 

This is merely my experience & I understand that others will have different experiences & opinions.

 

 

Hi Astro Flyer,

 

The price of my Baltic cruise was ridiculously expensive when I booked 14 months in advance. I actually looked at the "last minute" prices of this year's Baltic cruise to see how low it might go. Using FCC makes it easy to book with no out of pocket expense. If the price didn't come down a bit we weren't going. First time in twenty years of cruising to have such a high price over a year out. I agree with you that this is a new experience for us.

 

We have (so far) had three big decreases..casino rate, travelzoo 8/20 and now travelzoo8/25. If we didn't have the FCC for the deposit, we wouldn't have booked at the higher price. So where is the reason to book early? Our sailing,6/4/16, still has plenty of availability..price just came down to acceptable with the sip and sail. (travelzoo brought it down further , for some)

 

I think Princess, instead of getting people to book earlier with a great price, are losing potential passengers to other lines that start with a lower fare. By time the sale price is more "acceptable"..many people have booked elsewhere.

 

Chris

Edited August 26, 2015 by BRANDEE

[caribill]

It's merely my experience but currently the Princess early booking prices are too expensive for me to book well in advance.

 

I agree with you that their goal is to encourage early booking but with considerably higher fares I won't be doing it. Princess (and all of CCL) may hope to retrain us but that's not happening with me unless those early booking fares return to a more reasonable level.

 

 

Agree with you 100%.

 

Reasonable initital pricing is the key.

 

It may take a while for Princess (and the other cruise lines) to figure this out and maybe then they can maintain the pricing.

[Grego]

I just had the same "new math" experience trying to book a X cruise. Their new pricing strategy which will go until 2017, can really be a screw up for a buyer if they don't work the numbers.

Word is out and for frequent cruisers that the program is not sitting well. X is trying to go to an all inclusive experience like the upscale lines. But to advertise it like something is free or a great value is totally nuts. Very few will actually see a big savings if any. I prefer a discounted rate with the freedom to spend any obc on what I want.

 

Agreed. Here is what I posted a few minutes ago on the thread regarding the Aug 25 Sale.

 

We went online to check the pricing and program information for our upcoming voyages next August and September and saw a significant price reduction for the 3FF and called out Travel Consultant at Princess. Our current booking is part of the Sip & Sail program and what we found out was that this program was more cost effective than the 3FF.

 

The way the math worked out was that the estimated S&S daily credit was much larger than the total of the gratuity savings, specialty dining voucher, cat upgrade and fare reduction combined. This was quite a deal considering those two voyages were a combined 25 days.

 

So, if you have a S & S program now and are even a moderate drinker, like gelatto, special coffees and soda that's included in the program then you might be ahead by staying with the current booking. If it's a new booking then the less costly fare, gratuity savings, dining and up category will be a winner.

[capriccio]

I will stay with my $1300 drink packages. I will probably never try it on my own. :)

 

We're staying with ours too. It's a good thing that we've already been to the Panama Canal. ;) I'm not sure how much of this cruise we will actually remember.:eek:

 

As are we! On a 31 day cruise (LA to Rio) with an almost equal number of sea and port days, the sip and sail was a no brainer even if we would never order that much on a short cruise! Just hope we don't get too used to it :D.

 

Also for those comparing Sip and Sail to the current promotion - remember that a specialty restaurant dinner was also included with Sip and Sail if a suite or mini-suite was booked.

[Hobbes67]

What surprises me is that they are not giving any onboard credits or lower price for elite etc. No loyalty credits for anyone on any cruises right now. What is up with this? I always got lower prices when I checked in. I called on it and they said they are not offering anything. I don't think that people that have been loyal to Princess are going to like this!

[rockdoctor]

I went for the Travel Zoo promo and in doing so, lost the Sip and Sail Beverage package, which I am ok with.

 

When we still had the beverage package, it should up on our Personalizer as "Compliments....".

 

My question is....now that we have the Free Gratuities instead, will that show up on our Personalizer?? Is so, where? Haven't seen it yet.

I have visions of getting to the ship and having them say we don't really have it! :eek:

 

It will be listed on your Booking Confirmation, under Comments.