Alaska excursion bogo 50% off second really a sale?

[123go cruise]

Just wondering if anyone else booked excursions during this sale. It seemed that the prices were not discounted. Did anybody else think so? 

[notus]

Yeah, I browsed some and did not see any discounts.   Also wondering where is the discount !

[azbirdmom]

Nope!  Price actually went up on a couple of the excursions that I was watching after they announced this "sale".  Some discussion about this happening here:  

 

[Cruisemeister2002]

The last couple of days Princess website has been advertising Buy One Excursion and get a second 50% off. Surprise, surprise, on entering myself and wife's tick boxes the price was $20 more than I have already paid and the prices on all the excursions have increased. Some lady commented recently about a $5 increase on excursions. Having visited Princess website prior to this so called discount it would have cost me $280 more to book the same four excursions that I have already booked and had I taken up on this new offer the cost would have gone up even more.

[jean-lynd]

One that we were watching was a little cheaper with the sale but the others were all cheaper when we booked than they are now.

[DUCHESSRN]

I found the same when re pricing our Alaska excursions.

[latebloomer56]

Thanks my husband asked me about the Hawaii tours we booked. Told him we need to leave it alone until I see about issues. He also told me comfort zone or not we will be doing tours on our own after this trip except in Europe and then short ones will be done non cruise line. Sorry, he feels they are pricing themselves out for us.

Example: Road to Hana close to 1,000. dollars, tour was 259. last time we did this just a few years ago on a different line. We didn't book this on Princess, private helicopter is cheaper. 😞 always like my excursions.

[cruzsnooze]

A BOGO is buy one get one free NOT a discount on a second one. The second one at 50% off equates to a 25% discount for both.

Edited Tuesday at 04:52 PM by cruzsnooze

[geoherb]

I checked out the excursions for our upcoming cruise from Boston to Quebec. Even at the discount, they're way over priced. 

[dockman]

Looks like the old double the price and then give a small discount and say see how nice we are to give you such a big discount.  I guess I am lucky that i did all the main alaska excursions years ago....a few excursions now can cost more than the price of the basic cruise fare.

 

Of course as long as passengers are willing to pay these prices no doubt the cruise lines will continue to push prices to see what the ceiling may be.  And for many an alaska maybe is once in lifetime trip so passengers hold their nose at the prices and just do it.

 

I am quite happy having done alaska cruise many times to get off and do a few hours hike/walk around the ports which fortunately is still free.  There are some good trails in skagway, juneau and ketchikan and a few other ports that can be found via online search.  Not everyone's cup of tea but i enjoy walking along a salmon stream or through a forest type area.

[zukecruiser]

On the Coral in Alaska next June.  Saw the tour discounts promotion and purchased the ones we were interested in before they filled up.  Checked the tours today after the sale was over, and the price was the same, some sale.  Always have the option though to cancel them and book private excursions we like.  Princess prices did seem high though I did not check put private tours prices.

Lots of time left to make changes.

[BazingAu]

I don't have a BOGO sale showing on mine, but all the excursions went up by $10/pp across the board today.

[Freckles1983]

Just went to check the prices on the excursions for my CA/NE cruise and one of the excursions I booked has increased by $95!!  Insane.  Glad I purchased when I did 😳

[rafaelperez]

This is how I see sales at my grocery store.  Raise the price and then put it on sale.

[SCX22]

4 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

A BOGO is buy one get one free

 "BOGO" as an acronym just means, buy one, get one....  It's doesn't necessarily mean get one free.  It could mean buy one, get one 25%, 50% off, etc.  This term is used widely in Asia.

[NWA395]

We browsed the "BOGO 50% off sale" and saw zero savings over excursions we had previously booked.

[cruzsnooze]

BOGO is buy one get one free.  When a second one is 50% off this translates to 25% off the total purchase

[cruzsnooze]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 "BOGO" as an acronym just means, buy one, get one....  It's doesn't necessarily mean get one free.  It could mean buy one, get one 25%, 50% off, etc.  This term is used widely in Asia.

This sale is in  the US so what's in Asia is irrelevant.  BOGO coupons here mean buy one get one and the get one was free until some bean counter decided to squeeze it for more revenue. 

[SCX22]

8 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

This sale is in  the US so what's in Asia is irrelevant.  BOGO coupons here mean buy one get one and the get one was free until some bean counter decided to squeeze it for more revenue. 

 

As with anything, read the fine print carefully and perform critical analysis, which you've already done.  Times have changed.  If you go to McDonalds's the Dollar Menu is now buy one, get one for a $1.

[Rudy888]

No BOGO on our February cruise. Looked up Princess Cays. I was amazed that I could rent 1 umbrella for $49.00. What a deal!!

[Iamcruzin]

10 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

The last couple of days Princess website has been advertising Buy One Excursion and get a second 50% off. Surprise, surprise, on entering myself and wife's tick boxes the price was $20 more than I have already paid and the prices on all the excursions have increased. Some lady commented recently about a $5 increase on excursions. Having visited Princess website prior to this so called discount it would have cost me $280 more to book the same four excursions that I have already booked and had I taken up on this new offer the cost would have gone up even more.

They know most people don't monitor prices like Cruise Critic people do. They all run these smoke and mirror sales with an end date to create a sense of urgency so you will book for fear of missing out. When the sale ends they run it again, sometimes the original price is higher than the last sale so it seems like a better deal. There really needs to be price regulations for cruise lines. Their pricing is all over the place. I try to book excursions directly with the same people the cruise line uses. If you google the description of the excursion you can sometimes find it or I will search on the port of call pages here.

[Cruisemeister2002]

15 hours ago, dockman said:

Looks like the old double the price and then give a small discount and say see how nice we are to give you such a big discount.  I guess I am lucky that i did all the main alaska excursions years ago....a few excursions now can cost more than the price of the basic cruise fare.

 

Of course as long as passengers are willing to pay these prices no doubt the cruise lines will continue to push prices to see what the ceiling may be.  And for many an alaska maybe is once in lifetime trip so passengers hold their nose at the prices and just do it.

 

I am quite happy having done alaska cruise many times to get off and do a few hours hike/walk around the ports which fortunately is still free.  There are some good trails in skagway, juneau and ketchikan and a few other ports that can be found via online search.  Not everyone's cup of tea but i enjoy walking along a salmon stream or through a forest type area.

Hence why I have only booked four excursions on an 11 ports stop. As like yourselves we have done most. Must admit I draw the line at doing an excursion on our own if the place we wish to go is a long way away from the cruise port, except if it is a two day stay over.

[Cruisemeister2002]

9 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

They know most people don't monitor prices like Cruise Critic people do. They all run these smoke and mirror sales with an end date to create a sense of urgency so you will book for fear of missing out. When the sale ends they run it again, sometimes the original price is higher than the last sale so it seems like a better deal. There really needs to be price regulations for cruise lines. Their pricing is all over the place. I try to book excursions directly with the same people the cruise line uses. If you google the description of the excursion you can sometimes find it or I will search on the port of call pages here.

I access Princess website most days and over the last six months I have lost count of the number of times the prices of excursions have changed. In the main upwards.

[paddingtonbear]

9 hours ago, Iamcruzin said: I try to book excursions directly with the same people the cruise line uses. If you google the description of the excursion you can sometimes find it or I will search on the port of call pages here.

We do the same and when we went to Alaska they were small groups for a reasonable price. 
But in New England the private operators are asking the same or a few dollars less thank the cruise lines. It just puts me off doing excursions at all. 

[latebloomer56]

10 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

They know most people don't monitor prices like Cruise Critic people do. They all run these smoke and mirror sales with an end date to create a sense of urgency so you will book for fear of missing out. When the sale ends they run it again, sometimes the original price is higher than the last sale so it seems like a better deal. There really needs to be price regulations for cruise lines. Their pricing is all over the place. I try to book excursions directly with the same people the cruise line uses. If you google the description of the excursion you can sometimes find it or I will search on the port of call pages here.

That's how we saved hugely on our Baltic trip in 2016 and one of our Hawaii trips. Roll call member had an agency in Russia that had tours in 2 other countries as well. Was half of the cost of Princess and the same tours. NCL has the worse excursions so was thrilled to get the name of a group in Hawaii that follows the cruise line timeframes.

Love this group so many nice people and helpful.