Princess Cruises “Sales & Promotion”

[ctompkins]

Hi all, 

My DH and I, are wanting to book two cruises for 2020 & 2021.  There is a current Anniversary Sale going on right now, but don’t really need a room upgrade, as we usually book Club Class, and I don’t drink Wine.  I have heard people comment that they are waiting for one sale or another, before booking their cruise.  I have not ever paid too much attention to the sales (my bad!), so not sure which promotion will give us the better deals on cost.  What sales should we hold out for?  Best Deals?  Any thoughts?

Thanks, 

Colleen

[masterty]

4 minutes ago, ctompkins said:

Hi all, 

My DH and I, are wanting to book two cruises for 2020 & 2021.  There is a current Anniversary Sale going on right now, but don’t really need a room upgrade, as we usually book Club Class, and I don’t drink Wine.  I have heard people comment that they are waiting for one sale or another, before booking their cruise.  I have not ever paid too much attention to the sales (my bad!), so not sure which promotion will give us the better deals on cost.  What sales should we hold out for?  Best Deals?  Any thoughts?

Thanks, 

Colleen

I book immediately any refundable itinerary to get the room I want. I will then re-fare the itinerary once a better deal comes along. 90% of all my trips with Princess have been re-fared to "3 for free" or "sip & sale" depending on traveling guests. Don't drink enough when assisting elderly parents on a cruise to justify S&S. But when myself and my brother get together on a trip watch out. 🍹Sip and Sail is a must. Everyone requirements are different.  

[ctompkins]

Thank you, masterty.  How will I know if the fare I am purchasing is ‘refundable’?

[franktown]

If you read the terms of the sale it will say how much the deposit is and if it's refundable or non-refundable.  The current Anniversary sale has a $100 deposit and is refundable.  Most of the non-refundable offers allow you to book refundable by calling Princess or your TA.   Price is usually a little higher.

Edited November 21, 2019 by franktown
spelling

[ProfMHC]

Good advice above. To re-fare your deposit must be refundable — and there must be a stateroom in your category still available.  We are like OP and usually book MA so “3 for free” is usually works out to only “2 for free”!  And we’d never drink enough to make “sip and sail” worthwhile. But this year the Landmark sale worked great for us. Still had a single MA cabin available so re-faring was possible and there were pre-paid gratuities (a biggie for a 20 day cruise) given as well as oodles of OBC. Just make sure you have a refundable deposit and check each time a new sale is posted. Can’t ever hurt and you’ll usually be able to re-fare for the better during one of them.....

[skynight]

Starting November 27th. See this thread.

 

[voljeep]

2 hours ago, ProfMHC said:

To re-fare your deposit must be refundable

but not really ... currently have a non-refundable deposit on a Getaway Sale cruise ... and re-fared 4 times AFTER final payment with price drops ... same cabin, and other cabins in same category available at the time of re-fares

[Photofinish4]

I was booked on the 3 for free for Alaska but when the landmark sale hit  I saved a lot. Also you can pay a little extra and make it a refundable if it says non refundable. I also check back often because they do have price drops.

 

[mosenga]

Go ahead and book now. Keep monitoring the fare and re-book anytime it drops or that you get a better promotion that would make it a better deal for you.

It doesn't matter if the deposit is refundable or not. All that means is that you can't get a refund of your original deposit should you cancel that booking completely. You can continue to re-fare it as often as you like, the deposit is irrelevant.

OTOH, if you re-fare at a lower price, you may lose previous promotions that you have for your reservation. That's part of the determination as to whether a price drop is worth a re-fare.

[Hlitner]

One needs to be very careful with "sales" and shop around.  For example, when I look at one potential booking for a mini-suite (an August 2020 cruise) the price on the Princess web site is about $9800 which includes Anniversary perks such as $200 pp OBC, $100 pp airline discount, and a couple of other small items.  But if I price out this same cruise on one particular cruise agency site (an agency we have used many times) that same cabin is $8400 without the perks.  So we lose $600 in Anniversary Sale perks but save $1400 on the fare.  In a sense, grabbing the sale deal would mean we pay $1400 for perks that are worth about $700.

 

My point is that "free" is not usually free and "perks" may cost you more then their value.  One has to carefully evaluate all the Sales.

 

Hank

[PoohUnderstands]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

but not really ... currently have a non-refundable deposit on a Getaway Sale cruise ... and re-fared 4 times AFTER final payment with price drops ... same cabin, and other cabins in same category available at the time of re-fares

Refaring, i.e. changing just the price of the cabin, is not rebooking.  Are you saying you went from one sale to another 4 times, or just your fare went down 4 times?  That I can understand.  That you were able to do after final is interesting.  My problem is that I always book a forward CC mini or a WS, so my category cabin is never available that close to sailing, even 1 1/2 yrs. out my category is sold out!  So basically I need to get what I can when I book (basically nothing), and then if a sale or pricing really goes down, I call Princess and try to get something to compensate(specialty dining, coffee cards, etc.)   Have a great cruise, Joljeep.

 

Pooh

[voljeep]

13 minutes ago, PoohUnderstands said:

or just your fare went down 4 times?  That I can understand.  That you were able to do after final is interesting. 

this ...

 

agree - re-booking under a different promotion is totally different than re-faring under the same promotion