What was the best deal you ever got on a Princess Cruise?

Would love to know the year when each of these deals occurred!

LOL... My free cruise was in 2002 (and it was because of a canceled cruise cruise due to '9/11').

Would love to know the year when each of these deals occurred!

The one I mentioned (on the Regal) was in Oct of 2015. We have been back on that same repo cruises a few more times and always booked a terrific last minute deal...although not quite equaling that 2015 deal. We also booked an upcoming 14 night Regal cruise (from Copenhagen to NYC) where are final cost, after adjusting for some substantial OBCs, will be under $90 per passenger day for a Deluxe Balcony Cabin.

The bargains are out there and they exist on most cruise lines. Many of the best deals are going to be last minute bookings (made inside of the final payment period). One of the tricks of getting great deals is being flexible as to cruise line, ship and even dates. It helps to have some understanding of which cruises are in less demand and one must be ready to book on a moment's notice. Sometimes when we stumble on a great deal it can be gone in hours (or even minutes). When you see a good deal the time to book is at that moment. Many folks will say that their life style does not permit that kind of planning...and that is exactly why those fantastic deals exist. The cruise lines understand that there are always some of us willing to do those last minute deals and it becomes a win-win. The cruise line gets to fill empty berths at low prices (but it still nets them more then an empty berth) and the cruisers who grab these deals are happy cruisers.

There are also times when one can get amazing deals on the ultra-luxury lines. For example, a cabin that might normally go for about $1000 per passenger day might be snagged for about $400 a passenger day. And these would be on the highest quality lines where just about everything in included. But again, one needs to look around, get on the direct e-mail lists of multiple high volume cruise agencies, and be willing to make a fast commitment. Hesitation is often a loss.

Hank

upgrade, at not costs from an ocean view to mini suite on the old, old Royal Princess on a Baltic cruise comes to mind; more recently on board credit of $500 on 10 day cruise when booked on board.

2016 Caribbean Princess, TA called 48 hours before our departure and said Princess wanted our mini suite on Emerald and our daughters balcony on Riviera. Would we take a family suite and $2000 OBC that was refundable if not used? Yep, we look the deal.

Last year on the Crown, we booked E727 for $950 including tax a port fees. That is total for 2 passengers. Princess was having a hard time filling the ship after all the hurricane damage in the Caribbean.

We had a wonderful time on both trips.

Last week we took an upsell offer from our Emerald mini to the Owners Suite on the CB. Perks of the full suite was worth it to us.

Got home from my cruise, checked email...... there was an email from Princess sent the afternoon before departure offering a move over offer to switch from my balcony to an oceanview for a full refund of my cruise fare ($7,000+). I guess that's actually the best deal that I missed:rolleyes:

Best deal is relative: I got an “unlimited drinks package”. An officer (un-named here) was smitten with the doctor in the House, We got drink after drink, night after night on his tab. She was happy to discuss all types of medical things with him. I was happy to drink all kinds of drinks on his tab.

As I said, best deal is relative.

My Lady Rocks!

We had reserved a 10 day Caribbean cruise for October 2015 in a mini-suite on the Royal Princess with an angled balcony (larger than the regular balconies on the Royal) under the Skyview Bar (so no gawkers) for $2000 each and were fine with the price. Ten months before the cruise a poster on our Roll Call noted that the price for a back to back 20 day cruise was the same! Our cabin wasn't available for the earlier cruise but I told the TA that if it was a valid offer (she had her doubts) we would change cabins if necessary. She called back within 1/2 an hour and confirmed the reservation - we got to keep the same cabin plus the total was $10 cheaper each! Less than $100 for a mini was a great price. We felt so good about the fares that we signed up for the Sanctuary for the entire first cruise and on the next to last day the manager asked if we were on the next cruise and planning to sign up again. We replied in the affirmative. He asked if we would be interested in a cabana (2 lounges, L shaped couch, a coffee table, and a TV which we never turned on) for the same price as 2 loungers. We couldn't say no!

I keep waiting for a move-over or move-down offer that we can take. So far, our best price came in under $940 for a balcony for the two of us on the Regal this spring (week-long cruise). That's including port fees and taxes and Princess insurance. We had free gratuities, our OBC for using an FCD, OBC from our TA, and my shareholder credit.

Before Diamond Princess was packed off to Asia... I got a 14 night Alaska cruise, R/T from Vancouver for $799pp with $500 OBC. I was a very happy camper... even in an inside cabin.

18 months ago, I got an ocean view on a Star Princess 15 night cruise to Hawaii for $929pp with $500 OBC... once again I was extremely pleased!

Doing the 28 nights LAX to Sydney on Golden Princess in an OV for only $1600 plus $308 in taxes with $250 OBC.

When the Golden arrived in San Pedro for short 3/4 day cruises, they couldn't sell the voyages. So they offered 100% back toward a seven day or longer cruise. Sailed many times...in suites...which turned into 18 days on the Coral/Alaska trip for free. It was like a Princess savings account. Pay them now in installments for a cruise later.

Probably not as well as some of you.

AUS$150 pp pn for 7 nights, so about $2100 BA with $850 OBC

For us it was the fall 2016 sailing on the Crown Princess, 28-days Los Angeles to the Hawaiian Islands and Tahiti/South Pacific back to LA. We booked a last-minute inside guarantee cabin for just under $2000 each including port charges/taxes and fees. Princess threw in a total of $850 in onboard credits, $500 of which was

refundable obc!!! :D:D:D

$99 for 7 days on Regal.

$250 for 10 days over christmas on Royal.

Several short cruises on Caribbean where the entire cruise fare was a credit against a future cruise purchase.

Move over offer that resulted in a free 7-day cruise in a suite. (some grand class ship, but I don't really remember which one)

Regal balcony last November for $259pp.

2015 on the Emerald spring transatlantic. Booked 35 days before departure. 14 days for $1,000 pp in a handicap balcony. $300 OBC pp. plus we each had an additional $100 OBC from FCC. We require a HC room and couldn’t believe it was available. Then a week before we left got an upsell for $200 pp to move to a handicap mini suite. That cabin was a mansion!!!

My best deal was in 2011. We had booked an ocean-view cabin on the Grand Princess for a 15 day TA from Southampton to Ft Lauderdale. When we arrived at the port we had been upgraded to a window suite.

Wow, this is a fun thread! My favorite is the OP’s. That’s my dream cruise! [emoji7]

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5 day cruise out of Port Everglades in late August 2014. I paid 299.00 and my wife went for 149.00 plus 200.00 OC.

The best price I've ever gotten was a 7 day Drop & Go cruise, voyage of the glaciers on Coral Princess from Whittier to Vancouver (May 30-June 6, 2018) for $249 as a SOLO cruiser! I booked a guaranteed interior cabin 13 days before sailing and ended up in an obstructed oceanview. I am still pinching myself!

The five night Royal Princess cruise last November that suffered massive cancellations after the one-two punch of Irma and Maria. Insides for $49, deluxe balconies for $74. The latter sold out the day they were released--but then the obstructed balconies went down to $49 as well. Went solo and got two cruise credits for $98.

Up until a few years ago the drop-n-go rates for the Caribbean were about $40/pp/pd. Even over holidays--went on Ruby Princess for Thanksgiving 2014 at $279 per person for an oceanview.

I will always remember the best two deals that ever appeared in my inbox. Australia/New Zealand 13 nights for $449. Over New Year's. Would have had to find airfare with barely a weeks notice--EZAir came up over $4000 each!

And a 42 night Grand Voyage for $1898. On Pacific Princess: a B2B2B of the last two Med cruises plus Transatlantic. Man if I would have had the time free that year...

The bargains are out there and they exist on most cruise lines. Many of the best deals are going to be last minute bookings (made inside of the final payment period). One of the tricks of getting great deals is being flexible as to cruise line, ship and even dates. It helps to have some understanding of which cruises are in less demand and one must be ready to book on a moment's notice. Sometimes when we stumble on a great deal it can be gone in hours (or even minutes). When you see a good deal the time to book is at that moment. Many folks will say that their life style does not permit that kind of planning...and that is exactly why those fantastic deals exist. The cruise lines understand that there are always some of us willing to do those last minute deals and it becomes a win-win. The cruise line gets to fill empty berths at low prices (but it still nets them more then an empty berth) and the cruisers who grab these deals are happy cruisers.

Very true - excellent advice here. Thank you.

A few years ago I did a number of Caribbean B2B at a cost which was exceeded by my various OBC and value of minibar/coffee cards.

I made $174 each cruise above the cost.

$100 of that was my CC loyalty. $100 Stockholder. $100 Military. And the Future Cruise OBC.

A Volcano from the kids menu..:D:D:D

Tony

Very true - excellent advice here. Thank you.

The late booking is exactly what we used to do, however in the last year or so we have found that on Princess and Windstar sometimes specially on longer cruises the best price can be nearly a year from sailing and they go up rapidly after that and often then sell out.

We have a 20 day, a 25 day and a 49 day booked at the moment at round about $55 each per day in an inside plus taxes.

The 20 day Windstar cruise is now selling at double what we paid, and the 25 day Princess is sold out. The 49 day is not doing anything much right now.

Its the luck of the draw, and after final payment I try not to look at the cruises I booked.

last year - Nov 2017 - we refared 5 days before sail date - interior - 5 days $199pp grats included...

disclaimer - this was a Western Caribbean cruise after the hurricanes and it seemed Princess was doing everything it could to keep people on the ship and not use the CFAR insurance...

then came the move-over in March...;p

Our best deal was a 15 day round trip Hawaii from San Francisco on the Grand in Nov. 2015. Due to a small fire we had engine problems and missed three of the 4 ports in Hawaii. We got to spend 2 days in Honolulu and do the full 15 days. We got a full refund for that cruise PLUS we got 50% off our next cruise (up to what we spent on this one) PLUS $200 PP shipboard credit on the cruise which amazingly was refundable. So we got a free cruise and a half plus $400.