Price dropped over 50% after final payment

[Coral]

26 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

 

I’ve had the experience where they say that the listed rate is for new bookings only, but I’ve never had them say that I can’t upgrade at all, even if I’m willing to pay the difference. 

I have had them tell me I can upgrade but at a higher rate than what is listed.

[Pacific Sandy]

7 hours ago, ldtr said:

That's funny when I check  the April 30 Majestic I see inside for 288, balcony 399, minisuite for 599 and full suite for 1599..

That’s not correct - several sites list inside $118, balcony $199 and Mini-suite $299. 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

Sometimes drop and go rates are only offered through agents. So they would be lower than going direct to Princess.

100%. It is irrational to complain about paying more than either the Drop and Go fare or a casino promotion fare. 

[roadster08]

[Coral]

29 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

100%. It is irrational to complain about paying more than either the Drop and Go fare or a casino promotion fare. 

I completely get it. 

 

It is disappointing and IMO - Princess should do something for OP even if it is free specialty dinner (though that probably wouldn't make them happy). I used to notice I would get a huge upgrade and then would look and it was because the prices went down so they would upgrade me so I wouldn't complain.

 

Right now - the cruise lines are just trying to stay alive. I think we all want them to still exist in 2 years or 5 years and beyond.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Coral

[Jeter02]

I say go have a great time. You clearly book this cruise for a reason. So sounds silly to cancel over a cabin You had paid for I understand that the price went down. But you knew what you were getting when you had booked and paid final payment. Like others have said it's a gamble to wait for those drop and go deals and when you book an advance like you have you're able to get everything sorted such as excursions dining time and so forth. To say you don't want to go because you see the prices have dropped and you paid double. Once again you clearly paid for the trip with no problem so it sounds awfully silly to say you want to cancel. At this point how I look at it when that happens on sailings that maybe I have paid for I just look past that, and not worry what cabins are going for because I'm very excited for my trip.

[voljeep]

best to price shop before final payment - and check availability of cabins you desire.  Then make the decision to gamble and give up your cabin, wait to get your deposit back, and then follow the prices again for drops, drop and go, and cabin availability to book again.

 

now a lot depends on if you are traveling with a group or if you will only accept a certain amount cabin category.   And willing to miss the cruise entirely.

[Coleman41]

12 hours ago, Pacific Sandy said:

Hi - Our Majestic Princess cruise dropped over 50% after final payment and our TA says Princess will not budge to refund the difference or upgrade us. This means, people can book an Owner’s Suite for the same price we paid for the cheapest Mini Suite. I am devastated to say the least and I actually don’t even want to go now. 😢

Happened to me with Princess. I called and they gave me the difference in OBC

[Mary loves to travel]

It's a gamble.   Booking early, better chance to get the cabin one wants.   Watch for price drops, often one can reprice.

 

After final payment?   Well, compared to the price you paid, the new price may be higher, lower, or the same.    Oh, and the cabin might be in a great location, or one you really won't enjoy.

 

I find it hard to predict which way it will go.  

anybody have a better crystal ball?

[melodyina]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m confused. Even if they won’t refare your existing booking, why not just upgrade to the Owners Suite and pay the few extra $$$? I’ve never heard you weren’t allowed to upgrade to a better cabin after final payment, especially if it costs more.

 

The deep discounted prices are for 'new bookings only'.  

[suzyed]

13 hours ago, Pacific Sandy said:

Hi - Our Majestic Princess cruise dropped over 50% after final payment and our TA says Princess will not budge to refund the difference or upgrade us. This means, people can book an Owner’s Suite for the same price we paid for the cheapest Mini Suite. I am devastated to say the least and I actually don’t even want to go now. 😢

Here's my 2 cents.....
IF you can get the cabin you want for the new price and you have "cancel for any reason" insurance, book  the new cabinet at the great price and cancel your old reservation...but in that order.  Do not cancel and then try to find a bargain after.  Even though you will lose the insurance premium you paid, it is still worth it if you are indeed saving 50%.

[voljeep]

8 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Here's my 2 cents.....
IF you can get the cabin you want for the new price and you have "cancel for any reason" insurance, book  the new cabinet at the great price and cancel your old reservation...but in that order.  Do not cancel and then try to find a bargain after.  Even though you will lose the insurance premium you paid, it is still worth it if you are indeed saving 50%.

I guess, as long as you don't mind having the current fare booked - tied up as FCC - while paying out of pocket for the new booking in full.

[ontheweb]

55 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Here's my 2 cents.....
IF you can get the cabin you want for the new price and you have "cancel for any reason" insurance, book  the new cabinet at the great price and cancel your old reservation...but in that order.  Do not cancel and then try to find a bargain after.  Even though you will lose the insurance premium you paid, it is still worth it if you are indeed saving 50%.

Will their system actually let you do that in that order? Or will it kick it out seeing you are already booked?

 

Once we had a Princess cruise booked way in advance for our 30th wedding anniversary. It was in advance of when airline schedules were out for the time period. Our TA advised us to book EZ Air to make sure we had airline reservations, and then when airfares came out, check them out. He said we could always delete the EZ Air before final payment. I found a great airfare special online, but every time I tried it, I got a technical difficulty pop-up. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called the number shown in case you had technical difficulties. The first thing the airline representative said to me after I explained was my wife's name. I had not given this to her. It seems the flight with the special rate I had found was one that Princess had already booked us, and they could not book us as we were already booked. I explained to her that we had only paid a deposit to the cruise line and could cancel the flight reservation until final payment. She advised me to cancel and then do the special internet rate. I told her I did not at any point want to not have a flight, and she finally cancelled and rebooked us at the new rate making me promise to call our TA and let him know we had cancelled the flight through Princess, which of course I did right after hanging up.

 

The point is computers will kick out a new reservation in the same names as people who already have a reservation.
 

[jaycruising]

I get this is disappointing, but lowering the price prior to the date is a pretty common practice in most forms of travel, not just cruising. They need to fill the seats and beds and will offer an attractive discount for those who book last minute. There are actual travel sites dedicated to last minute travel. 
 

I will book what I feel is a fair price and then just go with it, if I can cancel for any reason for a refund I will check the rates regularly (rental cars is a prime example, you can cancel and rebook as much as you like, just don’t pay ahead, for a lower cost). If I can’t cancel, without crazy fees then I don’t bother looking anymore. 
 

 

[SargassoPirate]

Seeing a price drop after final payment can cause some angst, but obviously the OP was happy with the price as booked and paid by final payment.

 

If one books a first class seat with an airline, should they get upset if someone from coach gets a free upgrade to the adjacent seat?  Should they get a fare refund to the coach price?

 

 

[Lady Arwen]

56 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Will their system actually let you do that in that order? Or will it kick it out seeing you are already booked?

 

Once we had a Princess cruise booked way in advance for our 30th wedding anniversary. It was in advance of when airline schedules were out for the time period. Our TA advised us to book EZ Air to make sure we had airline reservations, and then when airfares came out, check them out. He said we could always delete the EZ Air before final payment. I found a great airfare special online, but every time I tried it, I got a technical difficulty pop-up. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called the number shown in case you had technical difficulties. The first thing the airline representative said to me after I explained was my wife's name. I had not given this to her. It seems the flight with the special rate I had found was one that Princess had already booked us, and they could not book us as we were already booked. I explained to her that we had only paid a deposit to the cruise line and could cancel the flight reservation until final payment. She advised me to cancel and then do the special internet rate. I told her I did not at any point want to not have a flight, and she finally cancelled and rebooked us at the new rate making me promise to call our TA and let him know we had cancelled the flight through Princess, which of course I did right after hanging up.

 

The point is computers will kick out a new reservation in the same names as people who already have a reservation.
 

Actually, you can do it because I did just that last month.  The price of our cruise in September dropped considerably and considering that it was a Saturday and our CVP was off for the weekend, I placed a hold on the same cruise, but booked the cabin next door.  When my CVP returned on Monday, she fixed it all up and we saved $1600.00! My account showed two cruises for the same date, different cabins, different prices until the hold fell off.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Actually, you can do it because I did just that last month.  The price of our cruise in September dropped considerably and considering that it was a Saturday and our CVP was off for the weekend, I placed a hold on the same cruise, but booked the cabin next door.  When my CVP returned on Monday, she fixed it all up and we saved $1600.00! My account showed two cruises for the same date, different cabins, different prices until the hold fell off.

Interesting. Of course we all know that Princess IT is messed up. I guess they can't even figure out the same passengers are double booked. 🤦‍♂️

[Coral]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Will their system actually let you do that in that order? Or will it kick it out seeing you are already booked?

 

Once we had a Princess cruise booked way in advance for our 30th wedding anniversary. It was in advance of when airline schedules were out for the time period. Our TA advised us to book EZ Air to make sure we had airline reservations, and then when airfares came out, check them out. He said we could always delete the EZ Air before final payment. I found a great airfare special online, but every time I tried it, I got a technical difficulty pop-up. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called the number shown in case you had technical difficulties. The first thing the airline representative said to me after I explained was my wife's name. I had not given this to her. It seems the flight with the special rate I had found was one that Princess had already booked us, and they could not book us as we were already booked. I explained to her that we had only paid a deposit to the cruise line and could cancel the flight reservation until final payment. She advised me to cancel and then do the special internet rate. I told her I did not at any point want to not have a flight, and she finally cancelled and rebooked us at the new rate making me promise to call our TA and let him know we had cancelled the flight through Princess, which of course I did right after hanging up.

 

The point is computers will kick out a new reservation in the same names as people who already have a reservation.
 

Similar story. I have a cruise booked through Princess to Vancouver. It wasn't cheap. I booked EZ Air while trying to figure out what to do. I decided to book using FF miles and booked those and had not cancelled EZ Air yet (it was late at night and I was going to cancel it the next day or at least explore my options). One of the flights was the same. United cancelled my FF miles. I called United and they told me something similar. He did re-instate my flight after I told him I would cancel my EZ Air when we got my flights re-instated.

[Guest ldtr]

7 hours ago, Pacific Sandy said:

That’s not correct - several sites list inside $118, balcony $199 and Mini-suite $299. 

I printed exactly what is on the Princess web site.

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, ldtr said:

I printed exactly what is on the Princess web site.

Travel agents can offer drop and go. These rates will be cheaper than Princess's site.

 

Also - when you login to Princess's site, prices can vary depending on your Captain Circle number. Two people can see two different rates.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Coral

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, Coleman41 said:

Happened to me with Princess. I called and they gave me the difference in OBC

Many cruise lines are no longer doing that post Covid.  It's not 2019 anymore.

[sunviking90]

44 minutes ago, Coral said:

Travel agents can offer drop and go. These rates will be cheaper than Princess's site.

 

Also - when you login to Princess's site, prices can vary depending on your Captain Circle number. Two people can see two different rates.

Princess’s website is very strange, especially if you hit it at a time when they are updating prices, etc. We booked another drop and go Coastal that showed at $228 cad inside for weeks, and at 5:30 on a weekday for some reason I went in and it showed $134 cad inside and $100 USD OBC. I held a balcony at a little bit more and got my CVP to book that one too. When I logged in 30 minutes later, the price was back to $228. It wasn’t a capacity controlled price either. These were the prices my CVP had, but weren’t showing on the website  most of the time.

OP, make sure your TA has your booking open for upgrade. We had a cruise booked for Hawaii that I was planning to cancel, and I knew the prices had gone down since booking. I got an email from Princess telling me I’d been “upgraded”. When I looked, they had moved me into a higher category that was now selling for what I had paid. They probably did this so I wouldn’t complain as @Coral says.

[suzyed]

8 hours ago, voljeep said:

I guess, as long as you don't mind having the current fare booked - tied up as FCC - while paying out of pocket for the new booking in full.

Right, which is what I had to do last fall....but if they are indeed saving 50% if may be worth it and then use the FCC at another time.  It's a choice each individual has to decide if it's worth doing.
And yes, it's a pain in the neck that we have to jump through these hoops.

[RD64]

23 hours ago, Pacific Sandy said:

Hi - Our Majestic Princess cruise dropped over 50% after final payment and our TA says Princess will not budge to refund the difference or upgrade us. This means, people can book an Owner’s Suite for the same price we paid for the cheapest Mini Suite. I am devastated to say the least and I actually don’t even want to go now. 😢

This is not news - this always happens. Were you not aware of the terms and conditions when you booked? Why do you feel Princess owes you anything?

[RD64]

21 hours ago, Pacific Sandy said:

Hi - It is April 30 on Majestic Princess. We paid $619 for a Mini Suite and they are now $299. 😢

But were you not ok with paying the $619? If the price was not acceptable to you at the time why did you make the final payment? You could have cancelled your original booking prior to final payment - and then played the wait and see game before r3booking. Would you be complaining if prices increased?