Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th

[Cruise Raider]

On 12/15/2019 at 4:08 AM, milolii said:

Directly with Princess.  I think you do need your travel agent.  Just have the codes handy.  Maybe when your agent gets back?  

 

I feel a bit let down that she was going to handle this before she went on vacation herself.  Now, I have to wait until she returns, which is after Christmas.  Oh well, I am hoping it will all work out.  

[Cruise Raider]

On 12/15/2019 at 7:27 AM, chamima said:

 

Daniel

I take it you've never sailed with Celebrity.

Their phone reps knowledge (or lack thereof) makes Princess look like geniuses.

The only line we've ever sailed with really knowledgeable, totally accurate phone reps is Disney.

 

It's so funny you say that.  I've had a few really great ones down at Celebrity but I actually called there once to make my final payment after receiving an email reminder.  I made my final payment and asked her to send out an updated invoice showing my cruise was paid in full.  It showed that I owed an additional $150 and if not paid, my cruise would be canceled.  All of this happened within a matter of hours, mind you.  How could I get an email showing me my balance due and within 2 hours, they take my final payment indicated on that email and then raise the price on me?  The phone rep said that they can raise the price at any time until embarkation day ....even after your final payment is made.   NO NO NO, they can't do that you after you've agreed to a specific price and plunked your money down and especially, not once you've paid for your cruise in full.  I get that taxes or fees can be adjusted but that is not what we are talking about.....she argued it until I was just blue in the face and requested to talk to someone that knew what they were doing. I explained to her supervisor, that discovered it was an IT problem, that it is not a good practice put someone alone on the phone to represent the entire company that doesn't have a clue what they are doing.  

I've had good and bad ones on Princess as well, though.  I would not be surprised if the people on these boards are more knowledgeable about all aspects of cruising than most of the reps at the companies.  

[memoak]

3 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Did the supervisor indicate that they would ensure that others would know how to do this?  My TA spoke to several levels of management and the answer was no each time.  I will ask her to try again but I hope that this supervisor shared her knowledge with others so it's not a vain attempt.

I was just able to refare 4 cruises over the next 15 months. All were on casino discount rates and we were able to add these on with a minimal cost and saved between $700 and $1200 per cruise. Now we have drink packages, gratuities paid and unlimited WiFi.  Pretty darn good deal and all through my PVP

[azbirdmom]

7 minutes ago, memoak said:

I was just able to refare 4 cruises over the next 15 months. All were on casino discount rates and we were able to add these on with a minimal cost and saved between $700 and $1200 per cruise. Now we have drink packages, gratuities paid and unlimited WiFi.  Pretty darn good deal and all through my PVP

 

If you refared, then you are now considered to be booked under the new sale.  They allow the casino discounts to be applied in these situations and for new bookings as well.

 

It's confusing so I will repeat again:  what Princess isn't allowing is for anyone to add an amenity package (i.e. $25, $30, or $40 per day) to a previously booked cruise that had a casino discount applied despite their language indicating combinability of this sale with casino discounts.

 

If anyone is able to successfully add what I've described in the second paragraph AND keep the amenities of their original booking, please post here for the benefit of the rest of us.

[Lorabelle]

37 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

If you refared, then you are now considered to be booked under the new sale.  They allow the casino discounts to be applied in these situations and for new bookings as well.

 

It's confusing so I will repeat again:  what Princess isn't allowing is for anyone to add an amenity package (i.e. $25, $30, or $40 per day) to a previously booked cruise that had a casino discount applied despite their language indicating combinability of this sale with casino discounts.

 

If anyone is able to successfully add what I've described in the second paragraph AND keep the amenities of their original booking, please post here for the benefit of the rest of us.

Yes, if anyone is able to make this happen, PLEASE post here.  I am considering doing a refare on my casino discounted room, but it would be much better for me to be able to do an add on code and keep my initial perks as well as add a few extras.  So, I've been holding off on the refare.  Of course, I'm at the mercy now of what will happen to the room rates as I am waiting.  If they go up too much, a refare may not be a good option for me either.  

 

I keep thinking that they will allow it at some point, I don't see the logic in not allowing it, they are getting extra revenue on something that has already been booked.  

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, Lorabelle said:

Yes, if anyone is able to make this happen, PLEASE post here.  I am considering doing a refare on my casino discounted room, but it would be much better for me to be able to do an add on code and keep my initial perks as well as add a few extras.  So, I've been holding off on the refare.  Of course, I'm at the mercy now of what will happen to the room rates as I am waiting.  If they go up too much, a refare may not be a good option for me either.  

 

I keep thinking that they will allow it at some point, I don't see the logic in not allowing it, they are getting extra revenue on something that has already been booked.  

booked direct thru Princess or do you have a middle person you have to go thru ??

[CynCyn]

On 12/16/2019 at 4:38 PM, BigJohnL said:

A question for those who have purchased these add-ons to an existing booking, and also have purchased the Princess Vacation Protection: Did the cost of your insurance go up when you bought the add-ons? On my last cruise, I noticed that the insurance costs exactly 8% of my cruise fare. Since folks in this thread are saying that the cost of the add-ons becomes part of your cruise fare, does that mean your cost for PVP goes up by 8% of the cost of the add-ons?

My insurance went up.

[Steelers36]

39 minutes ago, CynCyn said:

My insurance went up.

As it should, but you are not necessarily complaining and are just stating a fact.

 

[Lorabelle]

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

booked direct thru Princess or do you have a middle person you have to go thru ??

 I booked through a TA. 

[Lorabelle]

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

booked direct thru Princess or do you have a middle person you have to go thru ??

 I booked through a TA. 

[CynCyn]

1 hour ago, steelers36 said:

As it should, but you are not necessarily complaining and are just stating a fact.

 

Yes.  Just answering the question.  Since it was only $17, it would be ridiculous to complain-LOL.  Awesome deal!

[killineybay]

We are platinum and have 250 free WIFI minutes each so basically this is a perk we don’t need for this sale.  We are looking at a 16 day sailing to Hawaii for 2021 and would be interested in this sale for the drinks package and gratuities.  However,  the base price is much lower than the best sale ever.  It may work better for us to wait for the S&S promo and just pay the gratuities.  Wondering what others thoughts are as the majority think this is a good deal.  I am having a hard time understanding the add-ons as I do not see this anywhere on the Princess website.  Can you just book the cruise at the base price and choose your add-ons?

[Steelers36]

38 minutes ago, killineybay said:

We are platinum and have 250 free WIFI minutes each so basically this is a perk we don’t need for this sale.  We are looking at a 16 day sailing to Hawaii for 2021 and would be interested in this sale for the drinks package and gratuities.  However,  the base price is much lower than the best sale ever.  It may work better for us to wait for the S&S promo and just pay the gratuities.  Wondering what others thoughts are as the majority think this is a good deal.  I am having a hard time understanding the add-ons as I do not see this anywhere on the Princess website.  Can you just book the cruise at the base price and choose your add-ons?

You can only choose from the packages they are offering.  I just booked one of the new voyages just released for Europe in Fall 2021 and it was covered under the B.S.E., but I booked it as a basic fare with no perks because the price difference is not justified for us due to minimal drinking and bringing on my own wine.  As long as not sold out, I will look for future sales promos that may be better for us to switch to.

 

[Daniel A]

9 hours ago, killineybay said:

Can you just book the cruise at the base price and choose your add-ons?

I think someone earlier on this thread tried that and it wasn't permitted.  That said, if you have a refundable deposit you have nothing to lose by trying.  It's not as if when one employee tells one customer something that the next employee will say the same thing to another.

[jagoffee]

11 hours ago, killineybay said:

We are platinum and have 250 free WIFI minutes each so basically this is a perk we don’t need for this sale.  We are looking at a 16 day sailing to Hawaii for 2021 and would be interested in this sale for the drinks package and gratuities.  However,  the base price is much lower than the best sale ever.  It may work better for us to wait for the S&S promo and just pay the gratuities.  Wondering what others thoughts are as the majority think this is a good deal.  I am having a hard time understanding the add-ons as I do not see this anywhere on the Princess website.  Can you just book the cruise at the base price and choose your add-ons?

I looked up a balcony for your cruise.  Princess is starting to look like Celebrity with the bundling. (Price bundled).  It looks like for slightly less than $43 a pp a day, you can get the Premium drink package, gratuities, and internet added to your booking.  Based on past practices, you should be able to get the Sip and Sale for less.  Unless Princess does not offer the Sip and Sale next year?

My guess is that Princess may be changing their model to match Celebrity’s model with bundled perks.  Perhaps the Best Sale ever is a trial.

You  might consider booking it now and checking the price if and when Princess offers the S&S.

Good luck

[Wiredforsoundnz]

So I booked my cruise back in August from a discount website. It is one of the cruises on the list  and after going back and forth a few times this is what I received this morning.

(Thanks for your email. I called the cruise line and the price to additional cost to add the BEST3 is $3220. The BEST3 offer is $40 per person per day extra but there is a different promotion that they are offering for the base price. So the difference of $3220 includes the $40 per person per day plus and increase in the regular rate. Please let me know if you want to make the change. )

I do not want to re-fare so does this mean that there are cabins available on my cruise in the same category?

So confused 

[lstone19]

3 minutes ago, Wiredforsoundnz said:

So I booked my cruise back in August from a discount website. It is one of the cruises on the list  and after going back and forth a few times this is what I received this morning.

(Thanks for your email. I called the cruise line and the price to additional cost to add the BEST3 is $3220. The BEST3 offer is $40 per person per day extra but there is a different promotion that they are offering for the base price. So the difference of $3220 includes the $40 per person per day plus and increase in the regular rate. Please let me know if you want to make the change. )

I do not want to re-fare so does this mean that there are cabins available on my cruise in the same category?

So confused 

 

As I understand it, adding BEST3 (or the others) should be possible with any prior fare you booked. So re-faring is not needed. But it might help us if you gave us more information: what cruise (ship and date) and what promotion, if any, you booked under originally. But at $40pp/day, for $3,220 to be close to right, it would need to be a 40-night cruise. $3,220 is more than you'd pay for the beverage package, Internet, and gratuities at the regular rates for a 16-night cruise.

[Wiredforsoundnz]

The ship is Island Princess, a 15 night cruise out of San Pedro port,  Panama Canel, Booked into a category ME mini suite, August 2019, base fare only, no perks. the cruise was on the list.   I turned down the offer because as you said it is more then I would paid if I bought all the perks. Just wondering if it is because there are still cabins available in my category

 

[palaemon]

Do we know which internet package is included in the “free WiFi” during the Best Sale Ever event? 
 

free sounds great unless it’s a “social media only” type package. 

[lstone19]

11 minutes ago, Wiredforsoundnz said:

The ship is Island Princess, a 15 night cruise out of San Pedro port,  Panama Canel, Booked into a category ME mini suite, August 2019, base fare only, no perks. the cruise was on the list.   I turned down the offer because as you said it is more then I would paid if I bought all the perks. Just wondering if it is because there are still cabins available in my category

 

 

Cabins still being available should not make a difference. This is an add-on to existing bookings so availability has nothing to do with it. Most likely the person you dealt with at your TA had no prior knowledge of this promotion and got somebody at Princess who was poorly trained as well. Might be worth a second shot at it. 

 

The document at https://book.princess.com/pdf/onesource/pc/sales_marketing/PC_Best_Sale_Ever_Retro_Guidelines_FINAL.pdf really explains it all and note that there is a section titled "Self help – apply the code for your clients – no need to call Princess:" (note that that is TA self-help, not passenger self-help) that explains how the TA can do it themselves (assuming they're on one of the listed systems). It is simply adding the BEST3 Offer Code to the existing booking.

[lstone19]

2 minutes ago, palaemon said:

Do we know which internet package is included in the “free WiFi” during the Best Sale Ever event? 
 

free sounds great unless it’s a “social media only” type package. 

 

Do they still have those on non-Medallion Net ships? On Medallion Net ships, it's a one size fits all unlimited offering.

[Wiredforsoundnz]

Thank you Larry 

I have attached the above documents twice to my emails, I have till Feb to sort this out, 

[Daniel A]

2 hours ago, Wiredforsoundnz said:

So I booked my cruise back in August from a discount website. It is one of the cruises on the list  and after going back and forth a few times this is what I received this morning.

(Thanks for your email. I called the cruise line and the price to additional cost to add the BEST3 is $3220. The BEST3 offer is $40 per person per day extra but there is a different promotion that they are offering for the base price. So the difference of $3220 includes the $40 per person per day plus and increase in the regular rate. Please let me know if you want to make the change. )

I do not want to re-fare so does this mean that there are cabins available on my cruise in the same category?

So confused 

Does the NZ in your avatar signature mean you are a resident of New Zealand?  If it does, this condition in the fine print may answer why you're getting different answers than a lot of us:  "Offer expires February 29, 2020 and is only available to residents of 50 United States or D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico."

[Wiredforsoundnz]

52 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Does the NZ in your avatar signature mean you are a resident of New Zealand?  If it does, this condition in the fine print may answer why you're getting different answers than a lot of us:  "Offer expires February 29, 2020 and is only available to residents of 50 United States or D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico."

I am a Canadian living in NZ at the moment, but my husband is a New Zealander.  I purchased the cruise from a American TA in USA dollars.  But ok.. maybe I will call Princess in Australia , thanks

[releck97]

My DW and I are looking at a Sydney-Sydney New Zealand cruise on the Regal in January 2021. This will be our first cruise down under. I've been out of touch for the past couple of weeks and have just started to catch back up (babysitting a mother with dementia). What is the gratuity policy on a non-Australia based ship cruising out of Australia? Is this sale worthwhile if auto-tips are not a "thing"? Thanks for any info and I apologize if this is has already been covered.