Disappointed with Princess

[pacificlover]

Just looking at tours for my NY cruise and see that I'm being offered 50% off price of second passenger - BUT notice that tour price has been increased substantially over the price previously quoted earlier this month.  In fact when I do the sums, with supposed discount, price for two is same as was quoted as full price previously.  How dumb do they take us??

 

[colourbird]

A few years ago, we booked a cruise, and a week later, P&O launched a promotion offering a significant amount of onboard credit. When we tried to rebook to take advantage of it, we found the fare had increased by exactly the amount of the credit. Another cruise line had done something similar before, where the "free" inclusions from a promotion would have cost us more than the original fare without the inclusions. It seems like a common tactic among cruise lines to make us think we're getting extra benefits for free when we're not. They must be counting on us not checking prices closely.

[ceeceeDee]

Which is why I watch prices like a hawk. Saved over $1000 on the original fare of our upcoming cruise by cancelling and re-booking when the price dropped about 6 weeks after we initially booked. Only thing we lost was $100 OBC (and the $2 deposit) and I certainly didn't lose any sleep over that.

[arxcards]

Are you talking about cruise fares or shore tours on your cruise?

 

It isn't just a Princess thing. Typical that this months promo will be packaged into a different one next month. One promo will be extra credits, the next one will be a cheaper price. It seems to work. Some like the best advertised price, others like steak knives. 

 

One of the most common ones is a cruise that comes with $200 OBC as part of the going price. As if by miracle, they have a flash sale that is $200 cheaper - guess how much OBC is included? 

 

The only time they will offer a true bargain is when they are having trouble selling that cruise, and that certainly isn't the case for NY cruises.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Happens with all the lines and they will get new bookings anyway even if it isn't a saving at all.

[pacificlover]

It was the price of a 7 hour tour.  Originally priced at A, then with 50% off second passenger at B price.  Same tour on another cruise is still priced at A price without any offers.  Just so blatant.  So glad I checked.

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, pacificlover said:

It was the price of a 7 hour tour.  Originally priced at A, then with 50% off second passenger at B price.  Same tour on another cruise is still priced at A price without any offers.  Just so blatant.  So glad I checked.

If you have enough buffer time, the only real discount is to do it independently. Yes, that would be a stretch on an all day tour. They really do treat their shore tours as a cash cow - a thinly veiled one. We are seeing some similar prices jumping around for our UK based Princess next year too, but we have seen the same sorts of inconsistencies on other lines as well. The worst version I have seen is booking tours at a good price, then having them cancel and refund, only to find them re-listed again later at a higher price.