Price difference -- Sip n' Sail vs. regular?

I know there are probably some variables from sailing to sailing, but as a general rule, how much do the cruise prices get jacked up for the Sip n' Sail promotion? (I guess I'm thinking in terms of percentages). Is Sip n' Sail a "bargain", or not so much if one doesn't drink a lot of alcoholic beverages and can consume only so many other non-alcoholic liquids during the day?

Unless you really drink a lot the best part of the Sip & Sail promotion is taking the onboard credit instead of the unlimited drink package.

We had a cruise booked on the Royal for 2019. The day the current SnS was announced, I called and got it added at no additional fare. YMMV

If you don't drink much booze and maybe a few other drinks over the course of a cruise, you'd be better off taking the OBC. IMHO

That's what we did. We have coffee cards that we get for free (Elite mini bar switch) and rarely drink alcohol. No brainer for us.

I found that the price didn't go up for the Sip & Sail offer.

We have the Sip & Sail for our March 2018 cruise and the price for our mini suite is right around the same price as it always is, so no price hike for this one.:D

We are booked for the 28 day Hawaii and South Pacific cruise leaving October 8. When the Sip and Sail promo came out last year I looked at the cost of the cruise with that package and compared it to the cost of the same cruise the previous year. The price was identical so I booked the cruise.

On the other hand, I booked a 49 day cruise for 2019. When this year's Sip and Sail came out I checked to see what the pricing looked like. OMG!!! No freaking way. The price went waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up. The idea of a 49 day bar bill is frightening but we will drink less, get coffee cards, etc. No way will I pay the huge increase.

We got the Sip & Sail added to our b2b2b next May thru July and did not have any price increase

Just now checked that 49 day cruise and it is now showing the exact same prices as when we booked and there is no Sip and Sail or any other promo offered. (Actually there is a promo but one has to book in order to find out about it. At one point far into the process there is a deal that shows you get free gratuities and $500 each OBC. The gratuities come to $1,323 so with the $500 OBC each it's actually a $2,323 discount. Not too shabby.

Just now checked that 49 day cruise and it is now showing the exact same prices as when we booked and there is no Sip and Sail or any other promo offered. (Actually there is a promo but one has to book in order to find out about it. At one point far into the process there is a deal that shows you get free gratuities and $500 each OBC. The gratuities come to $1,323 so with the $500 OBC each it's actually a $2,323 discount. Not too shabby.

Those perks were available from the day that cruise came out. Sip and Sail was not offered on the 49 day when it came out a few weeks later. Some on the roll call changed their bookings to a 30 day and a 19 day b2b cruise in order to get the Sip n Sail. They would have had to give up the free gratuities and the $500 each OBC. Also, if booking with a FCD they also had to give up a 3% discount. I don't understand how it would be a better deal but not all were booking with a FCD so I guess to them it was better.

I noticed the Sip & Sail price for our booked 2018 sailing as almost the same without the promo. Just retained my lower priced cabin category as I don't drink much.

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I have always like your tag line, but you must be getting close by now.

Thrak

Not Elite but having fun working on it...

We have found that if we book a cruise well in advance on the Sip and Sail promo we end up coming out far ahead on the deal. We booked a 7 day Coastal Cruise for October 2017 in June 2016. I am registered with a website that will notify me of price drops and records the price history for our cabin category. In the 14 months since we booked the cruise with the Sip and Sail package the price has never dropped below the price we paid. And, in fact now, after final payment the price for a balcony cabin (without Sip and Sail) is over 50% higher than the price we paid. We just booked another Coastal for September 2018 with the Sip and Sail at a price that we were very happy with and I expect the results to be similar. YMMV, of course. We would never pay for the AIBP as we couldn't drink enough to make it worthwhile but if it is thrown in as a perk then it makes for a great cruise. :D

I found that the price didn't go up for the Sip & Sail offer.

Our price did not go up either. :)

This was discussed a few weeks ago.

Just because your price did not go up when the AIBP was added to your booking does not mean that it's not already included in the price.

When cruise shopping and comparing I noticed significant difference's in price with and without the AIBP.

Believe me you will pay for it one way or the other.

This was discussed a few weeks ago.

Just because your price did not go up when the AIBP was added to your booking does not mean that it's not already included in the price.

When cruise shopping and comparing I noticed significant difference's in price with and without the AIBP.

Believe me you will pay for it one way or the other.

You will have a very tough time convincing some that they didn't get something for 'free'. Marketing professionals will tell you the best way to get someone to buy something is to convince them they're getting "free stuff".

Those perks were available from the day that cruise came out. Sip and Sail was not offered on the 49 day when it came out a few weeks later. Some on the roll call changed their bookings to a 30 day and a 19 day b2b cruise in order to get the Sip n Sail. They would have had to give up the free gratuities and the $500 each OBC. Also, if booking with a FCD they also had to give up a 3% discount. I don't understand how it would be a better deal but not all were booking with a FCD so I guess to them it was better.

I've actually been breaking my brain looking at the segments again. When the Sip and Sail came out the segments were much more costly than they are now. I'm trying to factor in the loss of the OBC and the free gratuities against the Sip and Sail benefit. I did manage to book the 49 day with FCD (no idea how they let that go by) but didn't get the 3% and it wasn't offered when I booked. Someone was asleep at Princess and I'm not at all sure I got any kind of a deal at all. Sigh... I never knew about the 3% when booking.

Now the segments are cheaper and I could, of course, only move the FCD to one of them. Both segments have the same $200 deposit so it wouldn't matter which one I moved the FCD to as long as we still used them and got the OBC. My wife and I have been looking at the differences and it's too freaking messy to decide.

Thrak - My experience was the opposite of yours. My TA told me about the 3% if I had a FCD but said I would have to give up the FCD to get it (with my $100 being refunded to me as they were not accepting the FCD for down payment). When she contacted Princess she was surprised that they said they would give me the 3% discount but would NOT take the FCD. I still have it on my personalizer.

I'll have to check out the pricing of the segments but I can't imagine them being less expensive than the free gratuities, $500 OBC/per AND the 3% discount. I also had noticed from the beginning that most cabins were allocated to the 49 day cruise with much less choice for the segments.

I just checked out the 19 day and the 30 day. I like a balcony that is not aft or forward and middle decks so I checked mid aft. Looks like I would have to be on deck 14. Too high for me. Price is about $100 more than the 49 day. I would get the sip n sail but give up free gratuities, 3% discount and $500 OBC/per. No thanks.

The only deals w/the Sip & Sail I'm seeing are for West Coast. While prices may not have risen when S&S was announced, that doesn't mean they weren't jacked up to begin with. $2700 for a balcony in the Caribbean early December 2018? I don't think so....It's roughly an $800 premium over prices for this December. No thanks. The same is true for Feb 2019 cruises as well as the Regal fall 2018 repo.

This was discussed a few weeks ago.

Just because your price did not go up when the AIBP was added to your booking does not mean that it's not already included in the price.

When cruise shopping and comparing I noticed significant difference's in price with and without the AIBP.

Believe me you will pay for it one way or the other.

Your argument is very logical, Keith. However, looking back through my records I find that the prices I paid for the 7 day Coastal cruises in 2015 and 2016 (without the AIBP) were very much in line with what we paid for the 2017 and 2018 Coastals which included the AIBP.

The only deals w/the Sip & Sail I'm seeing are for West Coast. While prices may not have risen when S&S was announced, that doesn't mean they weren't jacked up to begin with. $2700 for a balcony in the Caribbean early December 2018? I don't think so....It's roughly an $800 premium over prices for this December. No thanks. The same is true for Feb 2019 cruises as well as the Regal fall 2018 repo.

$2700? That must be for one of the 14 day cruises. We are only paying $1,000 for the S&S Mexican Riviera 7 day with an aft balcony.

Just because your price did not go up when the AIBP was added to your booking does not mean that it's not already included in the price.

 

Believe me you will pay for it one way or the other.

Not sure I understand the point here fully. It seems like you are making the perfect argument FOR S&S. If you believe that it is already factored into the price you are seeing for the "non-promotion" booking, then it becomes a bargain. You are either paying for the AIBP and then paying for every drink on the ship (paying 2x) since Princess already factored that into the price, or you pay the promotion price and take advantage of an aspect you already believe to be included.

We got the Sip n Sail for last two booked cruises (Alaska in June and Med next April '18) and noticed no price increase. Have heard others with increases. For us, the SnS made good sense even though we're not big drinkers either. We may have 2-3 wine/drinks each over the course of the day, but we also get several large bottles of water daily, "designer" coffees, and virgin/soft drinks daily. Not to mention gelato (if present).

Your argument is very logical, Keith. However, looking back through my records I find that the prices I paid for the 7 day Coastal cruises in 2015 and 2016 (without the AIBP) were very much in line with what we paid for the 2017 and 2018 Coastals which included the AIBP.

Explained very simply. The AIBP was "built into" both sets of fares. In some cases, they will use the "built into" to fund a promo and in some cases they won't need to do so.

Look at it like this: there is a base fare which the cruise line could sell a cruise for and cover expenses and break even. Very rarely will you see a cruise sell for such a low price. The cruise line then adds a modest profit and an amount to cover promo's, etc. This is what you normally see advertised as the cruise fare. If the cruise sells well at this price, the cruise line won't see a need to offer promotions and they will pocket the dollars budgeted for promo's. They certainly won't reduce the price unless they must. If, OTOH, the cruise doesn't sell well, the cruise line will allocate some of these dollars to price drops or other promotions.

Imagine you're buying a car. The sticker price is the base price plus profit plus a "margin". The dealer can use this "margin" to entice you to buy the car by offering a reduced price or some other kind of promotion. When you negotiate with the dealer you're negotiating over whether you or the dealer will get his "margin".

Not sure I understand the point here fully. It seems like you are making the perfect argument FOR S&S. If you believe that it is already factored into the price you are seeing for the "non-promotion" booking, then it becomes a bargain. You are either paying for the AIBP and then paying for every drink on the ship (paying 2x) since Princess already factored that into the price, or you pay the promotion price and take advantage of an aspect you already believe to be included.

We're not arguing for or against S&S. We are arguing against the idea that the cruise lines are giving you something for "free". The passenger pays for everything about a cruise the ship, the crews remuneration, the cost fuel the ship, food for the buffer, "free drinks", etc.

$2700? That must be for one of the 14 day cruises. We are only paying $1,000 for the S&S Mexican Riviera 7 day with an aft balcony.

Um, no, 7 days in LOW season. As I said in my post, the only "deals" are on the West Coast (including Mexico) cruises. I think those provide a good value, not the Caribbean & many others.