Unhappy With Princess Booking Policies

[atlcple2]

Being that Princess is owned by Carnival, I have found on Carnival that if you lock in on a specific room for a specific price, that is it. Having said that, when we have locked in on a room, it was because we got an upgrade 2 levels up from what we paid for. I would definitely ask for a supervisor...I did that last year on the Carnival Pride and ended up with an extended balcony on the highest level PLUS $200 off the price. Certainly worth trying.

[cherylandtk]

OK, I freely admit I "stole" this from an online TA site, but it is one of the most succinct listings of the different ways the different lines handle this entire issue of pricing, sales and general "what to do after final payment" price changes:

Price goes down after final payment / penalties have started.

 

• This is not as simple as prior to final payment. Many cruise lines have added restrictions.
  

Some cruise lines have changed policy

 

• Carnival no longer protects prices, but they will upgrade you if the space is available
  
• Holland America and Windstar usually creates new categories and will not allow switches - no price protection after final payment date.
  
• Princess, RCCL and Celebrity are still pretty good about lowering prices after final except for ONE DAY SALES / Flash Sales
  
• NCL no longer protects prices after final payment date
  
• The other cruise lines policies change from sailing to sailing and we always check directly with them
  

These policies are established by the cruise lines and are subject to change without notice.

[Wenneke]

Why does Princess advertise different prices for different people?

 

Example: sailing 6/11 on the golden - british isles - cheapest inside cabin

US+canada residents : around 699 usd (some even 661 usd)

uk: 599 £

belgium: 1100 euro!!!!!

 

Don' t they want Europeans onboard, maybe we don't spend enough money?

Our is this just an advertisment, and they hope US and Canada residents will not book this late, because their airfare is too high. Or is their calculator broken? Does somebody have an answer?

[cherylandtk]

oops, double post, see full post below.

[katmai]

Great catch spongerob!

Philip, No more multiple IDs please. I don't like this kind of act.

I totally agree with spongerob.

Princess is doing the right thing as a corporation to achieve business goal.

"New booking Only" totally makes sense, because it is the best way to fill empty cabins.

You book early to take advantage of advanced planning, which has extremely great value in itself for people who are not flexible.

If you are flexible or already retired, you no longer need to have the benefit of advanced planning, only then you are deserved and entitled these last minute offers.

You have one benefit or the other, not both. Does this make sense to you?

[cherylandtk]

Wenneke, there does not seem to be any written explanation, much less a good one, for why all the pricing variances among the different countries. I have seen some posts which imply it has something to do with medical insurance and how medical care is handled and paid for in each country. It seems to make some sense, but it certainly did not add up to the difference in trip costs. I have also seen several comments that some individual TA's will still sell trips to anyone from any country at the lowest price, but I don't know if that violates either Princess policy or any security laws, or whether you could be denied boarding as a result.

 

I suspect you might be closer to the truth than you think, in that these last minute prices are regionally discounted. Meaning that enough people in western Europe are willing to purchase this trip at 1100 euros that the ship is selling there at a fast enough rate. But to get people to purchase in the US, because of airfare, they have to discount the price much further. How or why Princess decides how fast and how many rooms is, however, beyond any outsider's knowledge, and probably a closely guarded corporate secret.

 

Have you thought of calling Princess directly and asking them? I understand the toll-free number works world-wide. I am sure you could call 10 times and get 10 different answers.

[Wenneke]

My TA called Princess (Belgium) herself, they could not offer us a lower price. She was pretty angry herself. In the end she even advised me to book it in another country (The Netherlands), which we did ofcourse. We have it now booked for 800 euro, cheaper then the UK people, but more expensive then the US/Canada residents.

We really really wanted to do this cruise, so we just booked it.

It is still a nice price, and I'm not complaining about it, I just don't like the policy.

 

I always have seperate medical insurance (I don't think this has anything to do with it), and taxes are different in various countries, but not that much.

 

On Celebrity we have normally better prices then the US residents, maybe it just depends from company policy.

[spongerob]

Wenneke, there does not seem to be any written explanation, much less a good one, for why all the pricing variances among the different countries

 

That probably has a lot do with it - they are trying to sell their cruises at prices that the market will bear. Unfortunately, the magic of the internet makes it apparent that there are huge differences. I've been told that Wal-Mart does the same thing, and two stores relatively close to each other will have different pricing.

 

...Have you thought of calling Princess directly and asking them? I understand the toll-free number works world-wide. I am sure you could call 10 times and get 10 different answers.

 

Ain't that the truth! :) LOL.