Have you recently cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of fare drops

[geminiNZ]

Hi cruisers.
Princess's cancellation policy, from their website, offers 100% refundable or 100% refundable - $100 deposits until close-ish to departure.
Could anybody who's recently cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of fare drops share their experience on how easy (or otherwise) that was please?
And did they refund quickly to your credit card? I don't want OBCs 🙂
Of course I would check that a cabin number we wanted was still available before cancelling
thanks!

[Lady Arwen]

Yes, two months ago our fare dropped by $1600.00 with the Canadian at par promo.  Cancelled our original booking and picked up Princess Plus.  Booked the cabin next door.  Our original deposit was very high, but refunded to our credit card within a few days.  New deposit was $270.00 total ($100.00 US per person).  We had to rebook our excursions.  We have a very good CVP who did this all for us in just a few minutes and no waiting on hold to speak to a booking rep.

[Ombud]

Not since 3/3/23. Refund went back to credit card since that's how I paid the majority of the cruise

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, geminiNZ said:

Hi cruisers.
Princess's cancellation policy, from their website, offers 100% refundable or 100% refundable - $100 deposits until close-ish to departure.
Could anybody who's recently cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of fare drops share their experience on how easy (or otherwise) that was please?
And did they refund quickly to your credit card? I don't want OBCs 🙂
Of course I would check that a cabin number we wanted was still available before cancelling
thanks!

For us we have always been able to refare a booking (I.e., keep the same booking number, booked excursions, etc.) if the category we originally booked goes down in price BEFORE final payment. In fact on our upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise in Oct 2023, we refared our CC mini suite booking twice within a week before the M1 category became sold out. However, once the final payment date has past, that option seems to no longer exist like it did when cruising first restarted and cruise lines had a hard time filling their ships. That’s not the issue anymore, especially since they also recently implemented their Upgrade bidding program which starts 5 days after the FP date.

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[StrawberryHill]

We have rebooked our June cruise three times sine last June    However..... Once you add EZair, you cannot rebook without loosing your airfare,  so that sort of locks you in unless airfares go down ( not usually )

[DHP1]

Why cancel your existing booking. Just call Princess and they will adjust your cruise fare using the existing booking number. We do it all the time including our airfare which remains the same. 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, StrawberryHill said:

We have rebooked our June cruise three times sine last June    However..... Once you add EZair, you cannot rebook without loosing your airfare,  so that sort of locks you in unless airfares go down ( not usually )

It is possible to preserve EZ-Air booking.  IDK the steps in POLAR, but awareness of a flight res is the first step and then either TA alone, or TA with PCL rep assistance can/should be able to make it so.

[warren buffet]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

For us we have always been able to refare a booking (I.e., keep the same booking number, booked excursions, etc.) if the category we originally booked goes down in price BEFORE final payment. In fact on our upcoming Caribbean Princess cruise in Oct 2023, we refared our CC mini suite booking twice within a week before the M1 category became sold out. However, once the final payment date has past, that option seems to no longer exist like it did when cruising first restarted and cruise lines had a hard time filling their ships. That’s not the issue anymore, especially since they also recently implemented their Upgrade bidding program which starts 5 days after the FP date.

 

probably because. was isn't it true that for the 1st 4 months or so of the restart (at least) the major cruise lines extended the 100 percent refund date to 3 days before the cruise date?, before the majority of the world became confident to cruise again.   then again, people had to wear masks for most of the cruise in that historical period. which is not relaxing, comfortable or vacation like

[warren buffet]

Just now, StrawberryHill said:

We have rebooked our June cruise three times sine last June    However..... Once you add EZair, you cannot rebook without loosing your airfare,  so that sort of locks you in unless airfares go down ( not usually )

have you ever managed to get the lower rate after final payment?  if so, how close to the cruise date?. thanks

[trinitygirl]

I cancelled a transatlantic cruise in February because the fare drop was nearly $2000 and I wasn't able to reprice because the new price was only available on bookings made after mid December 2022 (my original booking was July 2022).  The cancellation and re-booking was easy - they transferred the deposit from the old cruise to the new cruise instantly.  The refunds for wifi and gratuities which I had pre-paid, showed up on my credit card in a couple of days.  However, I am still waiting for refunds for shore excursions and the Enclave booking I had pre-paid.  It's turned into a huge drama = they said that they couldn't see those transactions on my folio. I sent through the email receipts and credit card statements and they acknowledge that I am due a refund but despite any number of calls and emails, so far no luck.  I have now taken it up with my credit card company and am hoping they can help me get it resolved.

[Honolulu Blue]

16 hours ago, geminiNZ said:

Hi cruisers.
Princess's cancellation policy, from their website, offers 100% refundable or 100% refundable - $100 deposits until close-ish to departure.
Could anybody who's recently cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of fare drops share their experience on how easy (or otherwise) that was please?
And did they refund quickly to your credit card? I don't want OBCs 🙂
Of course I would check that a cabin number we wanted was still available before cancelling
thanks!

Not as recent as others, but I did this December. Both bookings were online direct on the Princess site. It was fairly easy, though not as easy as Carnival (there you submit proof of a lower fare and they'll either give you the new fare or give you OBC in the amount of the difference). Refund was within a few days.

[matamanoa]

11 hours ago, DHP1 said:

Why cancel your existing booking. Just call Princess and they will adjust your cruise fare using the existing booking number. We do it all the time including our airfare which remains the same. 

We often re fare when we see a price drop but Princess will no longer just adjust the fare without canceling the old booking and giving you a new booking number.  It's more of a hassle but we do it anyway.

[Ombud]

14 hours ago, StrawberryHill said:

We have rebooked our June cruise three times sine last June    However..... Once you add EZair, you cannot rebook without loosing your airfare,  so that sort of locks you in unless airfares go down ( not usually )

I did a June 1st cruise on 3/3/23 to save $800. It's called "lift and shift " everything pre-booked & pd for (water & EZAIR). 

[FrankieJayIII]

Our cruise for late may has dropped by $300 total.   Probably worth a phone call but probably not.  I don't know how it works.   

 

Can I email?    I have OBC... will i lose that? 

[trinitygirl]

1 hour ago, FrankieJayIII said:

Our cruise for late may has dropped by $300 total.   Probably worth a phone call but probably not.  I don't know how it works.   

 

Can I email?    I have OBC... will i lose that? 

If the OBC is attached to the reservation, as part of the original reservation

, and the promotion has changed, then yes, you will lose it.  Also, if your reservation is currently held with a future cruise deposit which has now expired (ie gone beyond its 2 year refund date) you may lose that too - end up having to pay a new deposit and not be refunded the $100.   make sure you take the whole picture into consideration before you jump.  It can still be worth it, but check all the things first.  

[FrankieJayIII]

I contacted them and they said the promotions and priciing are only for new bookings and they can't refare the booking.  It started to become a hassle so i gave up... which is exactly what I feel they wanted me to do. 

[PurpleTraveller]

If you are not in USA be aware that if you cancel and rebook a cruise and you have booked excursions, internet or speciality dining that you may have currency losses on the cancelled items. I cancelled and rebooked a cruise at the end of January and lost AUD125 on the currency exchange on my cancelled excursions and then when I rebooked the excursions for the new booking the prices had increased by USD20 per person for the four excursions.

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[geminiNZ]

1 hour ago, PurpleTraveller said:

If you are not in USA be aware that if you cancel and rebook a cruise and you have booked excursions, internet or speciality dining that you may have currency losses on the cancelled items. I cancelled and rebooked a cruise at the end of January and lost AUD125 on the currency exchange on my cancelled excursions and then when I rebooked the excursions for the new booking the prices had increased by USD20 per person for the four excursions.

 

Sorry to hear the currency went in the wrong direction for you!

That actual opens another cancel and rebook opportunity that I hadn't thought of if your currency strengthens against the U.S. dollar

[StrawberryHill]

On 4/8/2023 at 8:08 PM, warren buffet said:

have you ever managed to get the lower rate after final payment?  if so, how close to the cruise date?. thanks

Nope  never tried after final payment

[DHP1]

22 hours ago, matamanoa said:

We often re fare when we see a price drop but Princess will no longer just adjust the fare without canceling the old booking and giving you a new booking number.  It's more of a hassle but we do it anyway.

We did a month ago. We call Princess and they adjusted the fare and kept the same cabin and reservation number. Just keep in mind that any promotions to the existing reservations you will lose. Any promotions at the time of re fare you will get.  

Edited April 10, 2023 by DHP1

[Coral]

Sort of different but I had to cancel.

 

In February around final payment - I could not upgrade to a higher category for the listed price (Princess said it was for new bookings only). Minisuites were $100 more than my balcony and included $100 more OBC. I could not upgrade for the $100 more (it was going to be hundreds more for me to upgrade). We had to cancel reservation and then rebook. I did not have air or shore excursions booked so it was easy.

 

First time we couldn't just re-fare to the new pricing for the listed price (upgrade price was significantly more).

 

Annoying!

Edited April 10, 2023 by Coral

[parentsof5]

On 4/8/2023 at 3:40 PM, geminiNZ said:

Hi cruisers.
Princess's cancellation policy, from their website, offers 100% refundable or 100% refundable - $100 deposits until close-ish to departure.
Could anybody who's recently cancelled and rebooked to take advantage of fare drops share their experience on how easy (or otherwise) that was please?
And did they refund quickly to your credit card? I don't want OBCs 🙂
Of course I would check that a cabin number we wanted was still available before cancelling
thanks!

I think we booked in February and in early March there was a significant drop. I did not have to cancel and re-book. Although I think by the rules they could have made me. It did take me FOREVER to get through on the phone. Was hung up on after a long wait, and the second call later in the day had me on hold for a long time again and had to talk to a second person (their process, not my request) and they made the change no problem. Definitely worth the $400 savings. 

 

5 years ago we did several price reductions and once did have to cancel and rebook. It was seemless. 

[JoRoy218]

On 4/8/2023 at 10:08 PM, warren buffet said:

have you ever managed to get the lower rate after final payment?  if so, how close to the cruise date?. thanks

This happened to us last week for a CA cruise in June. I found airfares decreased by $498. for the two of us, got on Live Chat, taken care of in about 8 min. It did take about 10 days to see refund on our credit card.

Also, re-fared a SA cruise for next Feb., aft balcony down, no problem getting reduced fare. 

[memoak]

We had booked 2 cruises quite awhile ago at regular rates. They now show as eligible for casino comps. Our CVP was able to rebook as casino and saved us $9,000. One is sailing in less than 60 days