Question about cheapest booking..PLease help

[coolkris666]

me and my boyfriend are planning on going on the august 13th 2005 sailing of the caribbean princess to the western caribbean. we are looking for the cheapest travel company or website to book with.. we also are wondering if its smarter to get an oceanview and hope to get bumped up to a balcony..although i really want the balcony, how good are the chances of an upgrade..also, if we get the oceanview, how do we go about callling princess for price changes and getting money back or an upgrade..please help

 

also, im looking at two airfares that day since we're coming from jersey. would it be smarter to hop on the 640 am flight and get there at 940am or do u think we'd be ok to hop on the 930 am. flight and get there at 1235 pm. i know it usually leaves around 4pm

[Toto2Kansas]

It is against the message boards policy to list different agents or agencies names or URL's here on the message board. Sorry!

 

As for the flights, if you are flying in the same day, I would take the earliest flight available, that way if there should be a problem, you might be able to catch the second flight and still make it.

 

Upgrades? There is no rhyme or reason to them, no one can predict who will or will not receive them. If you want a balcony as bad as you say, then I would book one from the start. There is no sure way to get an outside cabin upgraded.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

me and my boyfriend are planning on going on the august 13th 2005 sailing of the caribbean princess to the western caribbean. we are looking for the cheapest travel company or website to book with.. we also are wondering if its smarter to get an oceanview and hope to get bumped up to a balcony..although i really want the balcony, how good are the chances of an upgrade..also, if we get the oceanview, how do we go about callling princess for price changes and getting money back or an upgrade..please help

 

also, im looking at two airfares that day since we're coming from jersey. would it be smarter to hop on the 640 am flight and get there at 940am or do u think we'd be ok to hop on the 930 am. flight and get there at 1235 pm. i know it usually leaves around 4pm

 

You'd be better off flying in the day before the cruise actually. You just never know.

Sorry not allowed to mention travel agencies here.

I'd also just book the balcony if that's what you want.

 

Bill

[FreQuentKruser]

We always book the category we want, that way if we dont get an upgrade we arent disappointed. Last Princess cruise we were on there was a couple who had already been on 8 Princess cruises, they booked an oceanview hoping for an upgrade to a balcony. They never got the upgrade. Meanwhile 2 gals who were on their very FIRST Princess cruise got upgraded into the balcony room next to us, they had booked an oceanview. The couple who had 8 Princess cruises were furious when they found out, but alas they still didnt get upgraded and they stayed in their oceanview. We have 23 past Princess cruises, sometimes we get upgraded into a suite, sometimes we dont, so we always book a balcony, usually a mini-suite .. that way we are never disappointed. Princess does their upgrades randomly, out of the computer, they will tell you that the more past Princess cruises you have the better your chances for an upgrade, however that is not true, sad to say.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I find that quite humorous that the past Princess cruisers were upset. As was stated previously there is no rhyme or reason to upgrades. If they wanted a balcony they should have not been so cheap and booked a balcony. They got what they paid for. To be angry about someone else getting an upgrade before you is nonsense.

Last year on our first Princess cruise my inlaws were upgraded from an AA mini to a Penthouse suite. We didn't get upgraded. Good for them I say. :)

 

Bill

[spongerob]

You will have to do your own searches for web sites and/or agents. Just ask for quotes if you can't find on-line pricing. Remember to see if the price listed or quoted includes port fees and taxes. There are many extra charges associated with cruising that aren't always immediately apparent.

 

Both flights will work, but like Toto says, it's better to be safe than sorry. If you can't fly down a day early, then plan to arrive as early as you can just in case there are delays.

 

I'm assuming you are both over 18. You'll need to have travel the proper travel documents. You will also have to be able to provide a credit card or cash deposit for your on-board account.

[FreQuentKruser]

I find that quite humorous that the past Princess cruisers were upset. As was stated previously there is no rhyme or reason to upgrades. If they wanted a balcony they should have not been so cheap and booked a balcony. They got what they paid for. To be angry about someone else getting an upgrade before you is nonsense.

Last year on our first Princess cruise my inlaws were upgraded from an AA mini to a Penthouse suite. We didn't get upgraded. Good for them I say. :)

Bill

 

Yes, I totally agree with you Bill. We hear it all the time on cruises, "so and so got an upgrade and we didnt, sob sob". The upgrade fairy works in mysterious ways LOL, from our first cruise until now we have made it a policy to book a category that we WANT to sail in and that solved any disappointments, we are always happy-happy and sometimes we get a surprise and we go "yippee", but either way we are happy :)

[AnnJohn]

www.*****.com is a site that will send your request out to various travel agencies and they will compete for your business. It is not a travel agency, more of a broker. It is all anonymous and you do not have to worry about people contacting you unless you want them too. We found our TA this way and saved over $300 from our local agent's quotes.

I would definitely recommend flying in the day before. We had a near miss of our last cruise due to multiple flight cancellations, delays, etc. It was very stressful and negatively impacted our cruise I think.

Good luck!

[Berliner]

coolkri666,

 

just checked, my TA would be $1300 for a Category BC 7 Days Western C..

to give u an orientation only

Berliner

[FreQuentKruser]

just checked, my TA would be $1300 for a Category BC 7 Days Western C..to give u an orientation only

Berliner

 

I just checked an online TA, it would be $1093 without air for a Category BC 7 days western caribbean departing August 13 on the Caribbean Princess. With air it is $1389.

[patval]

Hello!

 

I am getting 1114 per person all taxes and port charges for any Balcony room and I mean any what ever category from BD to BA Oceanview for 1159 for EE and DD Mini Suite for 1494 and all prices included taxes and port charges. The website is simple take the name of type of vacation you are wanting to go on and put a .com to it.

 

 

Paul

[yancycruiser]

I believe most savvy cruisers would advise you to never count on an upgrade. It is rare. Book what you want and if you should, by slim chance, get an upgrade - that would be gravy as we say down South.