Princess Typical Promotions

[Michael23]

I'm a new cruiser, and it looks like there's always a promotion going on. I'm wondering if there tends to be typical sales during different parts of the year for Princess. Like, right now there's the "Landmark Sale," which emphasizes OBC and some discounts for 3rd and 4th travelers. Is that a typical sale during August? If so, what are the most affordable times of year to snag a cruise at a good price with maybe a few decent perks? Other hints for a newbie who wants to stretch his cruising budget? Thanks!

[skynight]

In past years there has been the 3 for free promo starting in September. If you book the cruise you want then you can change to a better promo if one is offered. Beware of promos that have non-refundable deposits. These are difficult to change without losing the deposit. Work with a T.A.. They may offer additional discounts and benefits.

[MCC retired]

Keep in mind that each Sale covers a range a cruise dates, ships and itineraries that may be sooner or farther out from when you wish to cruise .

Best to book the current Sale if it meets your needs then monitor future Sales until Final ,for a re fare.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

January to March are usually the best perks offered. Lowest cruise prices start in September.

[ckb104]

I'm a big fan of the 3 for 3 promo and it should be coming up soon.  It gives you paid gratuities, which can save you around $100 per person for a 7 day cruise.  You also get some on-board credit.  We are getting $100 each for our 7 day.  The third is an upgrade in your cabin category. 

If you are a drinker, there is also a promo (I think in the Spring) that gives you a free drink package.  

[KreinKrunker]

6 hours ago, ckb104 said:

 

If you are a drinker, there is also a promo (I think in the Spring) that gives you a free drink package.  

The "Sip & Sail" runs from about the middle of June to the middle of July.

[winnifer]

On 8/20/2019 at 1:21 PM, ckb104 said:

I'm a big fan of the 3 for 3 promo and it should be coming up soon.  It gives you paid gratuities, which can save you around $100 per person for a 7 day cruise.  You also get some on-board credit.  We are getting $100 each for our 7 day.  The third is an upgrade in your cabin category. 

If you are a drinker, there is also a promo (I think in the Spring) that gives you a free drink package.  

 

I wish I would have held out for this sale! I did the current one (up to 40% off + same-class room upgrade) and it has the non-refundable deposit. Darn it! Lesson learned, I guess.  😞 

[ckb104]

1 minute ago, winnifer said:

 

I wish I would have held out for this sale! I did the current one (up to 40% off + same-class room upgrade) and it has the non-refundable deposit. Darn it! Lesson learned, I guess.  😞 

Don't give up yet.  When 3 for 3 starts, call your travel agent and see if you can transfer to the new promotion. 

[2 cruises a year]

On 8/20/2019 at 12:21 PM, ckb104 said:

I'm a big fan of the 3 for 3 promo and it should be coming up soon.  It gives you paid gratuities, which can save you around $100 per person for a 7 day cruise.  You also get some on-board credit.  We are getting $100 each for our 7 day.  The third is an upgrade in your cabin category. 

If you are a drinker, there is also a promo (I think in the Spring) that gives you a free drink package.  

You don't even have to be a heavy drinker for the free drink package to be a bargain.  Some people think that you have to have six drinks a day to make the Sip and Sale worth while.  But, if it is free, 2 glasses of wine per day at approx. $10.00ea. for $20.00 (including gratuity) beats the $13 to $15 paid gratuities.  Have a coffee, and fountain soda, bottle of water a day (even Perrier is included) and it becomes an even better bargain.  Just my 2 cents worth.

[winnifer]

26 minutes ago, ckb104 said:

Don't give up yet.  When 3 for 3 starts, call your travel agent and see if you can transfer to the new promotion. 

 

We don't have a TA, and booked directly through Princess.

[brisalta]

6 minutes ago, winnifer said:

 

We don't have a TA, and booked directly through Princess.

 

So call Princess

[ckb104]

39 minutes ago, winnifer said:

 

We don't have a TA, and booked directly through Princess.

Then you can deal directly with your Princess person.  😃 

[Iamcruzin]

6 hours ago, winnifer said:

 

I wish I would have held out for this sale! I did the current one (up to 40% off + same-class room upgrade) and it has the non-refundable deposit. Darn it! Lesson learned, I guess.  😞 

Check the price when the 3 for free sale starts. Many times they raise the price to cover the cost of the promotion. You still may have a better deal.

[Grammyluvs]

If you booked with an internet agency, can you call Princess or the agency and get the 3 for free?

[KreinKrunker]

7 hours ago, Grammyluvs said:

If you booked with an internet agency, can you call Princess or the agency 

If you used an agency, call them.  Princess won't make any changes without their approval.

[Steelers36]

22 hours ago, 2 cruises a year said:

You don't even have to be a heavy drinker for the free drink package to be a bargain.  Some people think that you have to have six drinks a day to make the Sip and Sale worth while.  But, if it is free, 2 glasses of wine per day at approx. $10.00ea. for $20.00 (including gratuity) beats the $13 to $15 paid gratuities.  Have a coffee, and fountain soda, bottle of water a day (even Perrier is included) and it becomes an even better bargain.  Just my 2 cents worth.

Not quite because Princess jacks up the fare prices to cover this expensive benefit.  We have never found S&S to be a worthwhile promotion, and I know I would not at two glasses of wine per day.  That said, if it floats YOUR boat, then all power to you.

[Steelers36]

10 hours ago, Grammyluvs said:

If you booked with an internet agency, can you call Princess or the agency and get the 3 for free?

Anything related to the cruise pricing must be handled via your TA.  You can call Princess with questions about your cruise or in regards to items available to book in Cruise Personalizer, or for shore excursions.

 

[2 cruises a year]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

Not quite because Princess jacks up the fare prices to cover this expensive benefit.  We have never found S&S to be a worthwhile promotion, and I know I would not at two glasses of wine per day.  That said, if it floats YOUR boat, then all power to you.

You have added another variable to my premise that is not ALWAYS true.  Comparing apples to apples: two free drinks valued at $20.00 beats free gratuities worth from $14.50 to $16.50.

My point being that you don't have to be a heavy drinker to get a good value out of the free drink package.  I don't drink $70.00 a day (close, but not quite), but, all else being equal, I do drink enough to beat the free gratuities.

One last thought, I agree, to most people, the package is not worth $70.00 a day, but look at your own number of drinks per day, at roughly $10.00 per drink, including tip, to figure the value to you.  It takes only two drinks to beat included gratuities.

Edited August 30, 2019 by 2 cruises a year

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, 2 cruises a year said:

You have added another variable to my premise that is not ALWAYS true.  Comparing apples to apples: two free drinks valued at $20.00 beats free gratuities worth from $14.50 to $16.50.

My point being that you don't have to be a heavy drinker to get a good value out of the free drink package.  I don't drink $70.00 a day (close, but not quite), but, all else being equal, I do drink enough to beat the free gratuities.

One last thought, I agree, to most people, the package is not worth $70.00 a day, but look at your own number of drinks per day, at roughly $10.00 per drink, including tip, to figure the value to you.  It takes only two drinks to beat included gratuities.

Assuming the price of a cruise with free grats and without the drink package is the same price as a cruise without grats and with a drink package.  That would be apples-to-apples in my book.  Thing is the free grats cruise fare is pretty much guaranteed to not be the same pricing as the one with free drink package.

[wallyj]

OP also should consider some promo's require a certain cabin type or higher be booked in order to qualify for the added perks. Previously for the Sip and Sale , you needed to book a Balcony cabin or Higher. I think the last Sip and Sale gave the Coffee and More PKG if you booked Interior or Oceanview. Balconies and higher got the Beverage PKG. Generally 3 for Free and Sip and Sale will be for cruises starting many months in the future, so your chances of switching your booking to get new promo works only for cruises booked many months out and not in final payment period. 

[dog]

Ask for fare without perks and compare to see if the promo is worth it for you. Read conditions as some promotions have non refundable/non transferable deposits.

[lx200gps]

9 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Not quite because Princess jacks up the fare prices to cover this expensive benefit.  We have never found S&S to be a worthwhile promotion, and I know I would not at two glasses of wine per day.  That said, if it floats YOUR boat, then all power to you.

FWIW, we booked the SnS this past June via the big online/bricks and mortar TA that runs the sale a few weeks before Princess. The price we paid for the SnS cruise was identical to the price without it, no markup. If Princess DID raise the price, the TA lowered it back down. In our case, the SnS puts at least $CAD700 in our pockets on an average 7 day cruise, which is our tolerance limit, so it's well worth it. Obviously, YMMV

[phabric]

Any idea what the next sale will be after 3 for Free sale?

[PMGS247]

44 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

FWIW, we booked the SnS this past June via the big online/bricks and mortar TA that runs the sale a few weeks before Princess. The price we paid for the SnS cruise was identical to the price without it, no markup. If Princess DID raise the price, the TA lowered it back down. In our case, the SnS puts at least $CAD700 in our pockets on an average 7 day cruise, which is our tolerance limit, so it's well worth it. Obviously, YMMV

 

this is the dream scenario for SnS with no fare markup but it's not common at all.  Not sure what kind of shell game is going on there, if the TA is actually eating that much, has a special deal with the cruise-line, or it's just an under-selling cruise that princess is that desperate to fill up.  Royal just had a glitch where they accidentally posted the beverage package for $18/pp/day for a few hours and it blew up all over the internet watching whether they were going to honor it or not (after much back and forth, they are).  A legit free beverage package is a huge value and kind of like catching lightning in a bottle if you manage to snag one.  YMMV is right; I'd certainly keep an eye out and jump on it if you stumble across it but I wouldn't hold my breath for this type of deal.

 

I've done a lot of price watching and done a lot of math on this topic trying to optimize my booze spending LOL....The fare markup is usually equal to the price of the beverage package without gratuities....comes out to a fare increase equal to $59.99/pp/day vs the full $70.79/pp/day to buy the package separately along with the standard fare.  It's not terrible, but even if you intend to buy the package there may be larger savings opportunities with other promotions that are better than $11.xx/pp/day.  The package still shows up in travel summary as paid at the full price, so you can rest assured they're not just shorting the staff, but the fare definitely goes up by an amount not a lot less than the full price of the package, most of the time.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

FWIW, we booked the SnS this past June via the big online/bricks and mortar TA that runs the sale a few weeks before Princess. The price we paid for the SnS cruise was identical to the price without it, no markup. If Princess DID raise the price, the TA lowered it back down. In our case, the SnS puts at least $CAD700 in our pockets on an average 7 day cruise, which is our tolerance limit, so it's well worth it. Obviously, YMMV

Good to know.  Many report seeing increased fares.