What does the "new bookings" only wording mean on offers?

[happy cruzer]

If an offer has the "new bookings" only wording, do you at worse case need to rebook vs. refare? THat wording implies that if you currently are booked you can't get the package. But does it really mean that you just have go with current pricing and benefits and lose any from a previous booking? Never done one of these offers and am trying to understand how they work in practice for US cruisers. Thanks.

[cherylandtk]

In my experience, the penalty costs of cancelling the existing booking are usually higher than the savings/promo/pricing from the new booking. But I have seen here on CC where others have found it advantageous to pay the penalty and re-book. If you do the math and find that it is a better deal, then an experienced TA can usually get you a ‘new’ booking. You might get more pushback if you tried to do that with a Princess CSR in one phone call.

[MCC retired]

With Princess , if it is before Final Payment , they usually will refare you without canceling , even when it says New Bookings Only , "if" your category is included in the new Promo.

If not , you can upgrade to another category that is available with the Promo.

No Penalty other than losing any benefits from the Promo that you may have booked with.

Some other cruise lines do make you cancel & rebook, not Princess.

[pms4104]

Generally, if you rebook to take advantage of s "for new bookings only" promo, you will book at the current/new fare with the new advertised benefits. Everything associated wkth the originsl bookkng is gone ... and you could lose your peeferred cabin and dining choice. Anything you prepaid will be cancelled, shore ex, dinners, etc

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Forums mobile app

[satxdiver]

As stated below, if you cancel a reservation to take advantage of a "new booking" sale, everything is lost on the old booking. If someone is looking for a cabin on that cruise and you cancel, they may get the cabin since it will be listed by the computer as available. If there is a waiting list for your dining choice, whoever is at the top of the waiting list will get your slot. If there is a waiting list for any excursion you have booked and paid for, you will have to re-book and join the waiting list. Any funds you have paid for excursions or other orders will be refunded to your credit card. You may have to select a new cabin and be put on a waiting list for your dining choice.

Edited June 17, 2018 by satxdiver

[moki'smommy]

On the other hand, you may not lose your cabin. Yes, technically they will have to cancel the old booking and make a new one. You WILL lose all perks associated with the old booking. And, as noted, an experienced TA can sometimes manipulate it so that if a "new booking" would be a better deal but you don't want to lose everything or are in the penalty period, she can get a cabin upgrade or price discount to equal the better deal.

 

What we did to keep our cabin...we had no perks on the original cruise, and were not in penalty period. I found a rate that was a couple thousand below what the TA had booked for us for the same category, but Princess claimed the lower rate didn't exist despite my screen cap showing it. SO, TA got on one line or computer connection to Princess and another phone line to me. Meanwhile, I had my computer up and ready to click the "Hold" button. As soon as TA told me she had canceled the reservation, the cabin we wanted showed up on line as available....there may have been a 2 second delay at most. I clicked on the cabin selection, saw that it was the rate of my screen cap, and put a hold on it. I then gave the TA the booking number and she finished up the details at the new, lower rate.

 

Yes, I realize that we could have lost the cabin when attempting this move, but I was not going to pay the price of the original reservation. I would have canceled the cruise and not sailed if that was the rate, and frankly would not have booked it to begin with. My TA was acting in my best interest--I'd sent her what I wanted and the screen cap, she realized there was only one cabin available and grabbed it for us despite the fact that she couldn't replicate the rate. I do not fault her for making the booking at the higher rate, and in fact, it enabled us to pull off this little "trick." Bottom line, it worked out. But it did take a "cancel and rebook" to make it happen.

[Thrak]

]In my experience' date=' the penalty costs of cancelling the existing booking are usually higher than the savings/promo/pricing from the new booking.[/i'] [/color]But I have seen here on CC where others have found it advantageous to pay the penalty and re-book. If you do the math and find that it is a better deal, then an experienced TA can usually get you a ‘new’ booking. You might get more pushback if you tried to do that with a Princess CSR in one phone call.

 

Since you in New Mexico and not from the UK I don't understand what you are saying. What penalty? Do you actually use a TA that charges for cancellation or changes or are you simply referring to the loss of previous perks and pricing?

[cherylandtk]

Thrak,

It’s the latter. When I said ‘penalty costs’ I was lumping in all things, whether Princess cancelation penalty charge, the loss of promo items such as OBC, etc. My TA does not charge any cancelation fees. After final payment, Princess does, and those really low flash fares that usually come with ‘new booking’ designations are mostly after final payment. Apparently my taste in itineraries isn’t what matches up with some of those really low ‘new booking’ fares. But I have seen some folks take the penalty a few weeks out, lose the promo and rebook and still come out ahead.

[happy cruzer]

So if you do your bookings with an online TA, do you book the "new booking" offer and then cancel your existing reservation? Is there a problem during that brief time that you have two bookings in the same names? Sometimes I like to book it online after hours and if the phones are backed up.

[cherylandtk]

You have to be judicious when doing this; possibly using a different online TA. And if cabin location is important to you, note the efforts required in post #6 above.