Never stop looking!!!!!

My husband considers me OCD when it comes to cruising, because I check and re-check the Princess site for booked cruises that we have coming up for pricing and it does make a difference!

Today I saved $700 by checking repeatedly the prices for my next cruise. Last night the lower price was not listed. This morning the lower price was not listed. At 2PMish, all of a sudden my CC mini was $350pp less! Must have been a busy day at Princess as I was on hold for 40 minutes and during that time the reduced price was gone and back to the original price!!!!!! Yep, the lower figure was gone that quickly. But I stuck it out and explained the situation to the rep. and she without hesitation checked it out and saw that the reduced price had been out there earlier as I said and I got it! And kept all my perks too!! So now I have a CC mini for just a tad over a deluxe balcony cabin!

Moral, don't feel bad if you are constantly checking Princess for a reduced fare. They do occur and go very quickly too! So I hope all of you have such good luck with your upcoming cruises too.

Pooh

I always check pricing for all my cruises ... pretty much until I actually go. If not a cheaper price before final payment then a better cabin after final payment. It has worked on over 50% of my cruises.

Now, only wish the airlines would do the same ...

We are sailing in a couple of weeks and saw my airfare had dropped by over $150 (total for the both of us) since I booked it months ago. I called and they simply wouldn't budge ... live and learn, I guess. It's not like it would be the same savings that you received but would have been nice if they at least gave me credit to use on that airline or even free luggage ... but nothing!

Does the same too. But haven’t experienced the rapid price changes you had. Good for you!

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I am the same. I think it is great! Just did a free upgrade from ocean view to top level balcony cabin because prices dropped and I phoned. Took a few minutes but a huge savings.

Also scored a really reasonable Caribbean cruise in December.

My friends are just amazed but it really is just checking on a regular basis.

I also check regularly and have often got great reductions on cabin prices or upgraded to a better cabin for the same price. I recently have also had great luck booking with Princess EZ Air. On our upcoming Baltic cruise next summer, I've already gotten two reductions on our flexible fare departure flights (we're booking on points for our return flights), and saved $227 per person. It pays to check frequently and take advantage of reductions.

Congratulations. Thanks for this. I check regularly as well - nothing to lose by looking ! (plus, it keeps me thinking about cruising!)

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What is the best way to do this? Are you checking the princess website directly or another? Do you need to make sure not to log in if you have already booked that sailing? Learning from you. :-)

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Very nice :) good for you!

Tony

Way to go - good for you! :cool:

I once found a mini-suite sized "normal" cabin on a Royal Caribbean ship, presumably released by a TA, late at night. Called up, no wait, CS couldn't even believe it was available. Aft facing cabin, balcony the size of a normal balcony cabin, etc. $20 more per day.

Took a while for the GF to get used to normal balcony cabins on Princess. That was her first cruise :loudcry:

Our Dec.20 cruise was first listed in the Drop&Go sale 3 days ago. Since then the price has fluctuated from $1,850 to $1,950 to $1,999!

It's not OCD to check prices...it's good business sense! :-)

Why not save money on your cruise? I check every week and have saved hundreds of dollars on each of our cruises. And you're right, the price drops can occur randomly and don't always last so it's smart to grab them when you see them.

Just saved $ 50 per person on our cruise leaving in 3 weeks after noticing price drop this morning. Kept same room, category and prepaid grats. And I usually check every day, if not twice as it only takes a couple of minutes with the cruise bookmarked. Took less than 10 minutes today on the phone with Princess

My husband considers me OCD when it comes to cruising, because I check and re-check the Princess site for booked cruises that we have coming up for pricing and it does make a difference!

 

Today I saved $700 by checking repeatedly the prices for my next cruise. Last night the lower price was not listed. This morning the lower price was not listed. At 2PMish, all of a sudden my CC mini was $350pp less! Must have been a busy day at Princess as I was on hold for 40 minutes and during that time the reduced price was gone and back to the original price!!!!!! Yep, the lower figure was gone that quickly. But I stuck it out and explained the situation to the rep. and she without hesitation checked it out and saw that the reduced price had been out there earlier as I said and I got it! And kept all my perks too!! So now I have a CC mini for just a tad over a deluxe balcony cabin!

 

Moral, don't feel bad if you are constantly checking Princess for a reduced fare. They do occur and go very quickly too! So I hope all of you have such good luck with your upcoming cruises too.

 

Pooh

I was reading this very early this morning. I thought, "well, I better check ours!" I signed in and sure enough, a $520 reduction in our club class mini on the Royal. I was really pleased, but then I realized later that they not only refunded $520, but threw in our gratuities!;p Another $290!! So, THANKS for posting this!!

Janet

Never Stop Booking.

There, I fixed it for you.:)

It also pays to recheck your hotel rates.. We're leaving this Sunday on the Grand from S.F. to Hawaii. I booked the Holiday Inn several months ago, one night before cruise and one after. I check the other day and the prices had gone down so I called and they rebooked me for a total savings of $150.

What is the best way to do this? Are you checking the princess website directly or another? Do you need to make sure not to log in if you have already booked that sailing? Learning from you. :-)

 

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SJSchell: Just log into your account on the Princess site. Then go and find your cruise that you are already booked for as if you were going to book for the first time. After this first time, when you log in you will see in the left side middle area "See Recently Viewed". Just click on it and it will go right to the cruise in question. Then just go in as if you were going to book. I go in and pick a cabin making sure it is the same category(usually are ones near my actual cabin) and check the price pp. I keep that price handy. Yesterday when I did it there was the price $2499pp showing!!!!(night before it was $2849) Just checking to the point of picking the room to check current pricing does not in any way affect any actual bookings you may have. Then if you see a lower price you IMMEDIATELY call Princess and hold from 1 minute to 40(grin) and ask to rebook your current booking at lower price, MAKING SURE you do not loose any perks that you might have. In saving $700 yesterday if I had to lose my OBC of $100 no problem, but you want to make sure nothing changes if you rebook or if something does that you are ok with it. Then while on the phone, go into your personal profiler and click on "Payments and Credits" and check to make sure new pricing is showing (it is that quick!) and then make sure rep. also emails you new booking confirmation. Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Pooh

I was reading this very early this morning. I thought, "well, I better check ours!" I signed in and sure enough, a $520 reduction in our club class mini on the Royal. I was really pleased, but then I realized later that they not only refunded $520, but threw in our gratuities!;p Another $290!! So, THANKS for posting this!!

 

Janet

Janet: I am so excited for you! This was one of the reasons I posted my thread!!! I am so excited it worked for you. Now remember to keep it up! Have a great cruise.

Pooh

It also pays to recheck your hotel rates.. We're leaving this Sunday on the Grand from S.F. to Hawaii. I booked the Holiday Inn several months ago, one night before cruise and one after. I check the other day and the prices had gone down so I called and they rebooked me for a total savings of $150.

Marden1970:

Oh, don't worry! I am OCD about all my reservations. I find hotels.com gets me the best pricing and I can book way out, but I continually check on their site and others up until the trip. I usually don't get a better price on hotels as I get the best I can to begin with but that doesn't stop me from looking!! I also use SW airlines almost exclusively to my West and East Coast trips, so I am constantly checking there too as you can call in and rebook with them like Princess. Only thing is they give you credit for 1 year to use on another flight which I then use for our next cruise! Knowing that you are going on these trips and nothing changes but the cost savings is so big is just a wonderful feeling and validates my incessant checking to my husband!!

Pooh

To get the new price savings is it better to keep control of your reservation or work with a travel agent?

To get the new price savings is it better to keep control of your reservation or work with a travel agent?

Carbon:

It is the rare TA that will check prices 2-3 times a day for each of his/her clients. And some of these price drops are really quick in and out type things. I read that TA's can get you a slight discount on pricing(from what is being said on CC it looks like they pass on some of their commission as savings to their customers), some OBC from them; a small gift; so if you have a really good TA use her/him.

However, Princess makes it so easy (when their website isn't down which is not that often or for that long!) to book and then rebook before final payment, that personally I find that doing it myself is better and easier. Of course, my family says I should have been a TA to begin with! Grin.

Pooh

To get the new price savings is it better to keep control of your reservation or work with a travel agent?

I check the prices regularly, usually every day.

In September, we booked a British Isles cruise for next July under the three for free promotion. Two weeks ago, I noticed our cabin was $100 pp less under the same promotion. I contacted Princess and immediately received the new price. Two days ago I noticed that the cabin had come down another $100 pp under the same promotion. Again I contacted Princess and received the new fare. Some of these small price changes move back and forth under the same promotion. If you are not looking for them constantly, you may miss out. As others have said, you can’t rely on a TA to notice these fluctuations.

We booked way in advance to get the AIBP...

Prices would have to drop a LOT to save anything after losing our perks!

Yes, it does pay to keep checking web site. I called Princess this morning and received the new lower price for my mini-suite along with paid gratuities.

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Good for you. We do the same however now we usually book inside the final payment window. On one cruise, we cancelled a few days prior to final payment and then rebooked the same cruise about 45 days out. Saved a significant amount of money.

Our last Princess cruise has a sale that essentially make our CAD at par with USD. We booked immediately. It lasted for one day. It pays to shop. We have also found that booking outside the country can help. We saved just over 30 percent on an RCI Australia/NZ cruise by calling RCI Australia direct instead of booking with our US on line TA or on the RCI North American web site. It certainly pays to shop and to be aware of the various pricing discrepancies than can exist from time to time.

It is part of my daily regimen to check the website prices. We have saved a lot on our upcoming Alaska cruise and there is still 7 months to go. It is also part of my regimen to check Cruise Critic everyday. There are a lot of cruisers out there smarter then me and I learn a lot. Some of which has saved me money as well.