Princess Pricing jump - 30% in five minutes

[carlandlyn]

Not sure who else was looking at Princess today, but we were looking at a short getaway out of Brisbane. The price for a Balcony started at about $480 for a three day, and $570 for a four day cruise, within a couple of hours they were now $615 and $884, the price for the three day cruise went up $130 while I entered my details, and the response from them is they are "subject to change" - yeah 30% increase in 5 minutes, some change. Waiting for a call from customer service ....... not holding out any hope, but will vent anyway.

[CDaze71]

They might have sold out the less expensive category.
The prices go up depending on the category and if they had sold the cheaper category, the only ones left would be more expensive ones.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, carlandlyn said:

Not sure who else was looking at Princess today, but we were looking at a short getaway out of Brisbane. The price for a Balcony started at about $480 for a three day, and $570 for a four day cruise, within a couple of hours they were now $615 and $884, the price for the three day cruise went up $130 while I entered my details, and the response from them is they are "subject to change" - yeah 30% increase in 5 minutes, some change. Waiting for a call from customer service ....... not holding out any hope, but will vent anyway.

When you say "while I entered my details" was that when you were in the process of booking a specific cabin that you chose? I've never heard of that happening before. Very strange!

 

[sewgood]

This has happened to me before in terms of prices changing within the day when I have been watching a certain cruise.

It can fall again in two days time, just keep watching the price.

They must have software that changes the cabin prices when goals are met (prices go up) or not met (prices go down).

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, sewgood said:

This has happened to me before in terms of prices changing within the day when I have been watching a certain cruise.

It can fall again in two days time, just keep watching the price.

They must have software that changes the cabin prices when goals are met (prices go up) or not met (prices go down).

Plus if you're only looking at the fare shown in the results of a "find a cruise" search that only displays the lowest currently available fare. If all cabins at that fare are sold it then defaults to the next lowest available cabin category. It can look quite scary when there are only suites left! 🤣

[sewgood]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Plus if you're only looking at the fare shown in the results of a "find a cruise" search that only displays the lowest currently available fare. If all cabins at that fare are sold it then defaults to the next lowest available cabin category. It can look quite scary when there are only suites left! 🤣

This is so true!

[carlandlyn]

19 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

When you say "while I entered my details" was that when you were in the process of booking a specific cabin that you chose? I've never heard of that happening before. Very strange!

 

Actually I entered the details for the cruise, but then updated my profile, so when I got back to the cruise details it bounced up $130 per person. So not real happy. Serves me right for doing something in between. I have since logged in and out a number of times, and in the middle jagged the original price, don't ask how, cos haven't been able to do it since as we are trying to get more cabins for the kids. 🙃

[carlandlyn]

22 minutes ago, sewgood said:

This has happened to me before in terms of prices changing within the day when I have been watching a certain cruise.

It can fall again in two days time, just keep watching the price.

They must have software that changes the cabin prices when goals are met (prices go up) or not met (prices go down).

Thanks, we will do, all the TA companies followed the price rise with Princess.

[OzKiwiJJ]

24 minutes ago, carlandlyn said:

Actually I entered the details for the cruise, but then updated my profile, so when I got back to the cruise details it bounced up $130 per person. So not real happy. Serves me right for doing something in between. I have since logged in and out a number of times, and in the middle jagged the original price, don't ask how, cos haven't been able to do it since as we are trying to get more cabins for the kids. 🙃

But was that price jumping for exactly the same cabin, selected by cabin number e.g. C512? 

[Bowm54]

I have noticed exactly the same, however it is not that the price is increasing but a problem with the website.

When opening, the Princess page is displayed from Australia this is indicated by the contact telephone number beginning with 1300.  However the page then switches to a USA site showing the lower fare plus additional taxes. A small tag at top of the page states US currency.

This has been happening for several days and is no doubt causing some angst.

 

 

 

[Sparky74]

We are looking at booking a Princess cruise but Ive been having problems with the website on my iPad. 

[carlandlyn]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But was that price jumping for exactly the same cabin, selected by cabin number e.g. C512? 

Yep.

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 hours ago, carlandlyn said:

Yep.

I think you might have struck the problem Bowm54 mentioned, where the fares were switching to USD. Check the confirmation email for the cabin you managed to book at the cheaper price, just in case.

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

We are looking at booking a Princess cruise but Ive been having problems with the website on my iPad. 

Keep trying, or pick some cabin preferences and phone Princess to make the booking. Unfortunately I don't think we're allowed to recommend any Princess planners otherwise I'd give you details of mine.

[Bizziecruzer]

17 hours ago, carlandlyn said:

Not sure who else was looking at Princess today, but we were looking at a short getaway out of Brisbane. The price for a Balcony started at about $480 for a three day, and $570 for a four day cruise, within a couple of hours they were now $615 and $884, the price for the three day cruise went up $130 while I entered my details, and the response from them is they are "subject to change" - yeah 30% increase in 5 minutes, some change. Waiting for a call from customer service ....... not holding out any hope, but will vent anyway.

Just continue with the booking. It will show up the correct price once you finish entering details and get to the page that says pay now, pay deposit or put on hold. 

[Aus Traveller]

On the day that the new cruises were released, I optimistically wrote down the prices in each category of cabin for five of the new cruises leaving from Brisbane. There have been some changes but some remain the same.

 

On the 19th June 4 day cruise, all categories have increased in price ($439 to $580; $519 to $649; $539 to $699 and $639 to $799). I feel the price increase is a bit much for it to be simply because the cheapest cabins in each category were sold out. I feel there has been a adjustment of prices/

 

On the 10th July 12-day cruise to Eden, Sydney and Nth Qld, prices have increased by $400 for inside, oceanview and balcony (mini suits are sold out). Maybe this is because the lead-in fare for each category has already been sold.

 

Prices on 5th August, 7 day cruise to Eden, Sydney & Newcastle remain the same as does the 22nd July 7 day to Nth Qld. On the 26th June 7 day to Nth Qld, the prices for inside and for balcony have increased marginally - what you would expect after the lowest-priced cabins are sold.

[Aus Traveller]

17 hours ago, carlandlyn said:

Not sure who else was looking at Princess today, but we were looking at a short getaway out of Brisbane. The price for a Balcony started at about $480 for a three day, and $570 for a four day cruise, within a couple of hours they were now $615 and $884, the price for the three day cruise went up $130 while I entered my details, and the response from them is they are "subject to change" - yeah 30% increase in 5 minutes, some change. Waiting for a call from customer service ....... not holding out any hope, but will vent anyway.

I didn't write down the price for the three-day cruise, but I did note down the four-day one. When prices were released, a balcony on the four-day cruise was $539. It is now (10.15am Tuesday) shown as $699. I feel that prices have been adjusted upwards a bit. I didn't see the $884 you mention.

 

The Princess site I looked at didn't have a price for Princess Plus (including drinks & wifi) but could that be why your price was higher?

 

PS - I have had another look at prices for the 3-day cruise. Prices showing now are $379, $459, $479 and $549. The Princess site I looked at indicated that these are 'Princess +' (including drinks and wi-fi). It also said that 'cruise only prices are available' but I didn't see anywhere to 'click' to get a cruise-only price.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[CDaze71]

An interesting thing has happened for my cruise. As soon as it was released on Thursday I booked a mini suite for the 26th June 7 nighter with PLUS FARE. The lead in interiors have gone up slightly ($40pp) Twin share, but that is expected when theyv'e sold the lead in fares.
Now I tried to 'dummy' book another mini suite with the PLUS Fare and it isn't even an option now. You can buy the exact category of mini suite, but it'as room only (SAVER FARE).
Do Princess limit the amount of PLUS FARES (drinks packages) they offer each cruise?  Soooo glad I booked when I did. Less than 10 mins after it went on sale.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

An interesting thing has happened for my cruise. As soon as it was released on Thursday I booked a mini suite for the 26th June 7 nighter with PLUS FARE. The lead in interiors have gone up slightly ($40pp) Twin share, but that is expected when theyv'e sold the lead in fares.
Now I tried to 'dummy' book another mini suite with the PLUS Fare and it isn't even an option now. You can buy the exact category of mini suite, but it'as room only (SAVER FARE).
Do Princess limit the amount of PLUS FARES (drinks packages) they offer each cruise?  Soooo glad I booked when I did. Less than 10 mins after it went on sale.

I think they do restrict the number of Plus fares they sell on each cruise. It's hard to guess how many though.

[mr walker]

22 hours ago, carlandlyn said:

..... "subject to change" - yeah 30% increase in 5 minutes, some change.

Timing is everything when it comes to prices going up.

 

Knew a guy who was filling up with petrol & sees the attendant changing the price board. He goes in to pay and asks about the price change & is told "it's OK, you'll get the lower price as you had already filled up before  the price went up"! Begs the question of what if he only got halfway filling the tank before the change? 🙂  

One day on the way to work I saw the petrol price and made a mental note to fill up on the way home. When I went to get fuel the price had gone up 10c/L from the morning. I asked the attendant & she said "oh, never get fuel after lunch time on Wednesday as that's the time the price goes up!!"

 

Good luck in getting the price you saw.

[carlandlyn]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I did speak with Princess, and they were quite polite and nice to talk to. There was some comments on limited rooms for the cheap prices, but the operator did agree its was a bit weird, and shouldn't have changed during the booking. 
Glad to see I wasn't the only one that noticed the fare change quite significantly during that day. Somehow we did jag the cheap price again, but have decided not to go as other family can't make it.
Welcome back to cruising everyone, hope to see you all out there soon!

Lynn and Carl

[OzKiwiJJ]

I discovered something interesting today after sering a post on FB claiming fares were cheaper not logged into Princess than if you logged in. And, yes, it did appear to be the case ... until I delved deeper.

 

First I did a dummy booking not logged in. An inside cabin Saver fare was $839pp. Then I tried the same cabin logged in. It showed as $1076 during the cabin selection process but as soon as I went to the next stage, where you see the summary of the fare etc, it was actually $839pp.

 

So there is definitely a bug with the display of fares in the initial stages of the booking process when logged in. My guess is that it's taking the AUD fare as USD and "converting it" to AUD. 

[Aus Traveller]

I think OzKiwiJJ is probably correct - that it is a glitch in the system that would have been sorted out if you continued with your booking. The prices for a balcony that I was getting yesterday afternoon on the Princess site were similar to those that carlandlyn mentioned - $479 on the 3-day cruise 19/8/22 and $539 on the 4-day 19/6/22 cruise. I believe this was after carlandlyn encountered the changing price, but it shows that the price wasn't increased.

 

I booked the 7-day Nth Q'ld cruise on 26/6/22 through an agent and didn't encounter any problems with the price changing.

[CDaze71]

11 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I booked the 7-day Nth Q'ld cruise on 26/6/22 through an agent and didn't encounter any problems with the price changing.

See you onboard. And from memory you are just a couple of cabins away from me, but I'm port side (B230). 

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

See you onboard. And from memory you are just a couple of cabins away from me, but I'm port side (B230). 

You look too young to be on a floating nursing home, sorry I mean a cruise ship, 😂   You must always cruise with Princess and you 'Come Back New.' 

Edited March 31, 2022 by NSWP