Fares in 2024

[Tomcruise92]

Hi all,

 

I have been looking for our 2024 cruises and I have noticed how much Princess has increased its fares.

 

My European cruise has increased around £850 / $1000. I know the new Sun Princess is having an impact on the European prices for that period, but this was on Sky. Is this huge increase fleet and destination-wide? Do you think they will reduce fares later this year for 2024?

 

I appreciate the cost of things has generally increased (fuel, food etc) but when looking at other lines they don't seem to have increased this much.

 

[Tak8]

Some folks on the Celebrity boards are saying the same thing about Celebrity cruises.  I think it's all trying to get back to real money flowing in rather than credits and the demand for travel.  

[wowzz]

Aren't Princess fares always highest when they first go on sale ? 

Perhaps wait until nearer the end of 2023 before booking. 

[DHP1]

53 minutes ago, Tomcruise92 said:

Hi all,

 

I have been looking for our 2024 cruises and I have noticed how much Princess has increased its fares.

 

My European cruise has increased around £850 / $1000. I know the new Sun Princess is having an impact on the European prices for that period, but this was on Sky. Is this huge increase fleet and destination-wide? Do you think they will reduce fares later this year for 2024?

 

I appreciate the cost of things has generally increased (fuel, food etc) but when looking at other lines they don't seem to have increased this much.

 

We booked the same ( 2024 Europe, Sun Princess). Now I’ll check everyday for the next year to see if the price drops. Usually it does and if so, I’ll call Princess to get the new price. Done this many time before with other cruises.

Question - did you received your $100 OBC per person?  We didn’t.  

[Tomcruise92]

4 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

We booked the same ( 2024 Europe, Sun Princess). Now I’ll check everyday for the next year to see if the price drops. Usually it does and if so, I’ll call Princess to get the new price. Done this many time before with other cruises.

Question - did you received your $100 OBC per person?  We didn’t.  

 

Good luck...Hopefully you can get some $$ back!! No we also did not receive $100 OBC.

[Sea Hag]

54 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Aren't Princess fares always highest when they first go on sale ? 

Perhaps wait until nearer the end of 2023 before booking. 

Not necessarily, but it may depend on the category you book. I book early and watch for price drops. Mostly, the price never gets lower than what I booked for, at least until after final payment. YMMV

[DHP1]

42 minutes ago, Tomcruise92 said:

 

Good luck...Hopefully you can get some $$ back!! No we also did not receive $100 OBC.

We usually do get some money back. Currently, fighting with Princess on not receiving our OBC as advertised. 

[lx200gps]

Every single one of our three booked cruises, between next month and Feb 2024, is hugely more expensive for the same cabin, to the point where we're considering whether it's even worth cruising any more.  Much as we love cruising, $5000 for two persons for a week in a simple balcony cabin is a bridge too far, especially given the noticeable drop in Princess's service on our last few trips.

[memoak]

We booked a trans Atlantic on the Regal. Penthouse suite, Princess Plus, insurance and transfers on both ends for under $1,000 per day. We thought that was not a bad deal

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, Tomcruise92 said:

Hi all,

 

I have been looking for our 2024 cruises and I have noticed how much Princess has increased its fares.

 

My European cruise has increased around £850 / $1000. I know the new Sun Princess is having an impact on the European prices for that period, but this was on Sky. Is this huge increase fleet and destination-wide? Do you think they will reduce fares later this year for 2024?

 

I appreciate the cost of things has generally increased (fuel, food etc) but when looking at other lines they don't seem to have increased this much.

 

Basically you are now seeing the cruise lines increasing their fares in line with the increases that have occurred in other forms of travel.  Land based hotels have gone up significantly.  Have seen some resorts more than 50% over 2019 prices.  Cruise lines have kept their fares low in order to get their customer base comfortable with cruising again after the restart.  Now that you are seeing capacities back near 100% we can expect prices to go up.

[DHP1]

3 hours ago, Tomcruise92 said:

 

Good luck...Hopefully you can get some $$ back!! No we also did not receive $100 OBC.

After 3 weeks of fighting with Princess, we final got our OBC this afternoon. I just don’t understand, they advertised OBC. 

[Thrak]

We booked the 10 day Mexico for the Solar Eclipse cruise - April 2024 - shortly after it was announced. Later on I checked and pricing had gone way up. I checked again just now and the cruise isn't even available to book. I believe it's actually sold out this far in advance. I know the last time I looked it was pretty slim pickings.

 

The 2024 cruise is pretty much twice what we paid for a similar cruise in 2014 but one would expect an increase in that many years and the current booking has Princess Plus whereas the older booking had no perks.

 

We have had a number of other cruises - particularly Alaska Connoisseur Cruise Tours - that we booked really early and then watched as the pricing soared. If I want a cruise I tend to book it s soon as possible and hope for a price drop. I've had it happen but not often. We used to say that, when we retired, we would wait for the drop-and-go deals after final payment so we could get some killer pricing. Somehow that hasn't happened and we end up booking well in advance.

[Guest ldtr]

14 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We booked the 10 day Mexico for the Solar Eclipse cruise - April 2024 - shortly after it was announced. Later on I checked and pricing had gone way up. I checked again just now and the cruise isn't even available to book. I believe it's actually sold out this far in advance. I know the last time I looked it was pretty slim pickings.

 

The 2024 cruise is pretty much twice what we paid for a similar cruise in 2014 but one would expect an increase in that many years and the current booking has Princess Plus whereas the older booking had no perks.

 

We have had a number of other cruises - particularly Alaska Connoisseur Cruise Tours - that we booked really early and then watched as the pricing soared. If I want a cruise I tend to book it s soon as possible and hope for a price drop. I've had it happen but not often. We used to say that, when we retired, we would wait for the drop-and-go deals after final payment so we could get some killer pricing. Somehow that hasn't happened and we end up booking well in advance.

We are finding that unique cruises are booking up quickly.  Even some of the cruises that have been good for lasy minute purchases in the past (Mexican Riviera for example) are actually booking up.

[LACruiser88]

We review itineraries as soon as they are released.  If we see one that we like, we book it.

 

We check pricing at least once per week.  If we see a lower fare, we either re-fare or re-book.  But, for the longer itineraries that we are booking it is very rare now to see lower fares.

[Guest ldtr]

55 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

We review itineraries as soon as they are released.  If we see one that we like, we book it.

 

We check pricing at least once per week.  If we see a lower fare, we either re-fare or re-book.  But, for the longer itineraries that we are booking it is very rare now to see lower fares.

All of the cruises we have booked up through the end of the year have all gone up in price, with fewer inclusions since we have booked them.

 

 

[bjkTX]

We booked a 14 day Caribbean cruise in August for Feb 2024 at what I thought was a fairly high price.  Now with two major sales behind us - one being "The best sale ever" the price is up about $2,000 from what we booked for!  I had anticipated, like always, the price would drop $1,000 or more by now - not looking likely.

[MelbTone]

2023 New Zealand cruise, 13 nights. I booked when it first went on sale A$8,566 (solo, mini-suite). Just  a handful left, one a few doors from me, A$11,892 

[Thrak]

22 minutes ago, MelbTone said:

2023 New Zealand cruise, 13 nights. I booked when it first went on sale A$8,566 (solo, mini-suite). Just  a handful left, one a few doors from me, A$11,892 

 

Yikes! Translated to USD (for the folks here at home) that is an increase of $2,238USD.

[scooter6139]

Keeping a careful eye on our scheduled August Alaska cruise on Discovery.  Haven't seen any drops since we put down our deposits, but watched all the Suites go up.  Fearing with the new bid system for Princess (like NLC) the prices wont go down as much due to the possibility of filling the rooms with bidders.

[capriccio]

On March 19, 202, when elite bookings on the April 2023 Round Australia 28 day cruise, my TA made bookings for 4 couples as soon as bookings opened in the USA.  By the time she 3 made reservations for 3 mini-suites, the 4th could only be booked as a guaranty.  That is how it remained for most of the next year and a half and for most of that time, no guarantees were even being accepted for mini-suites and at many points the entire ship was sold out.  Since final payment in early December the only mini-suite available is one without a balcony.

 

In March 2021, we booked at $8,219 (USD) per person with Princess Plus.  That last mini-suites without a balcony is listed as $8775 (USD) per person with Princess Plus.  The initial fare never decreased.

[Guest ldtr]

20 hours ago, bjkTX said:

We booked a 14 day Caribbean cruise in August for Feb 2024 at what I thought was a fairly high price.  Now with two major sales behind us - one being "The best sale ever" the price is up about $2,000 from what we booked for!  I had anticipated, like always, the price would drop $1,000 or more by now - not looking likely.

I get the feeling that Princess will maintain higher prices for higher grade cabins and will fill them using the upgrade process if there are vacancies.  I expect any price drops will occur with insides and standard balcony cabins.

[Mud_Shark]

We sailed 3 times in 2021 and twice in 2022 and got rock bottom pricing (of course because COVID was keeping demand down) - best we have ever seen for deals.  Yes, it came with some travel risk, but great pricing for the consumer as the cruise industry was trying to show itself safe and viable to regain consumer confidence.  We also made our 2023 cruise reservations right away (3 cruises), and got decent pricing for which we are fully satisfied, (but not in the same bargain classification as the previous ones.)

 

But looking at 2024, the deals are over!  The cruise lines are out to recoup losses, and don't appear too motivated to offer cabins at bargain prices.  I can understand, but we loved those bargains!  Cost of travel is up all over - airlines, hotels, restaurants, admission tickets, ground transport... so options are all costly.

 

Bottom line is, that at this point, I don't really see anything that attracts us for 2024 cruises, so we will not book anything at this point.  Not ruling it out, but just not desperate to travel enough to pay the current asking price.  We'll watch the state of the economy over the next year and the state of the household finances before making plans.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Mud_Shark

[Engineroom Snipe]

On 1/4/2023 at 3:22 PM, Mud_Shark said:

We sailed 3 times in 2021 and twice in 2022 and got rock bottom pricing (of course because COVID was keeping demand down) - best we have ever seen for deals.  Yes, it came with some travel risk, but great pricing for the consumer as the cruise industry was trying to show itself safe and viable to regain consumer confidence.  We also made our 2023 cruise reservations right away (3 cruises), and got decent pricing for which we are fully satisfied, (but not in the same bargain classification as the previous ones.)

 

But looking at 2024, the deals are over!  The cruise lines are out to recoup losses, and don't appear too motivated to offer cabins at bargain prices.  I can understand, but we loved those bargains!  Cost of travel is up all over - airlines, hotels, restaurants, admission tickets, ground transport... so options are all costly.

 

Bottom line is, that at this point, I don't really see anything that attracts us for 2024 cruises, so we will not book anything at this point.  Not ruling it out, but just not desperate to travel enough to pay the current asking price.  We'll watch the state of the economy over the next year and the state of the household finances before making plans.

 

Wow! I thought this was a Royal Carribean International thread if I do not read the heading. I could cut and paste RCI instead of Princess and it would almost be identical. I cruise RCI but read other blogs for comparison.

 

I did the same thing for three cruises this year (2023) with prices which were good but more than previous years. The exact same thing is happening in 2024, prices much more than I would hope. I will stand on the sidelines too, waiting for a bit of pendulum swing towards more modest prices. I am not holding my breathe. It is good to read some the blogs of other cruise lines. 😁

[Sea Hag]

I'm not going to argue that average cruise prices on Princess haven't increased, but I will say that we have two booked for 2024 at prices that, all things considered, are pretty much the same as last year and this year.

[Steelers36]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:05 AM, wowzz said:

Aren't Princess fares always highest when they first go on sale ? 

Perhaps wait until nearer the end of 2023 before booking. 

Presuming the OP is in North America (they declined to include their location), they should not wait at all to book the voyage they want.  Book now and watch for price drops - that way, desired cabin is secured.  I know you know this from your posting history and we over here know you don't have this luxury in UK as you only get to re-price once and it costs 100 GBP to do it.