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What happens if there is a price drop after final payment?


tjcletsgo
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On our Grand Princess cruise to Hawaii last January there was a significant price drop after final payment. We called our TA and she was able to get us an upgrade to an Obstructed View cabin. We were pleased with the outcome although we were not expecting it.

 

Cheers, Denise.

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Most of the time, fare reductions are for new bookings only. And, they are often for just some categories, not all. You can cancel, take the penalty and lose any previous promotion OBC, and re-book. You're far better off finding a good TA who discounts when booking originally.

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Will Princess give you OBC? Or does Princess give you nada?:o

 

Thanks all!

 

Janie

Just this week one of our paid in full cruises showed a significant price reduction. Called Princess (booked direct w Princess) and they credited our credit card for our overpaid amount. No issue, very quick adjustment.

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  • 3 months later...

After final payment here, price drop, a balcony is now lower than our inside. It is for new bookings only. Just wondering if I should even bother calling our TA. Was wondering if there was any chance that we might be moved to a balcony and be able to keep our obc. Just wondering if any one has any experience with this when the booking says, New bookings only.

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After final payment here, price drop, a balcony is now lower than our inside. It is for new bookings only. Just wondering if I should even bother calling our TA. Was wondering if there was any chance that we might be moved to a balcony and be able to keep our obc. Just wondering if any one has any experience with this when the booking says, New bookings only.
Yes, call your TA. It doesn't hurt to ask. The worst thing that can happen is that Princess rep says you don't qualify and that you can't get anything.

 

We saw a big price drop after the final payment date on a cruise in about a dozen years ago. Our TA talked with Princess, and we got an upgrade. Now I generally book cruises after the final payment date. I'm about to book two short cruises for next month for the week after Christmas. The price dropped $110 per person for our category (balcony guarantee) last night on one of them. Thankfully the cruises are on hold until today, so I was able to call Princess and have my booking on changed to the new price. The on-board credit offer is the same.

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After final payment here, price drop, a balcony is now lower than our inside. It is for new bookings only. Just wondering if I should even bother calling our TA. Was wondering if there was any chance that we might be moved to a balcony and be able to keep our obc. Just wondering if any one has any experience with this when the booking says, New bookings only.

 

Call, I posted yesterday on my experience, read upgrade happy. I think you will get your balcony.

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After final payment here, price drop, a balcony is now lower than our inside. It is for new bookings only. Just wondering if I should even bother calling our TA. Was wondering if there was any chance that we might be moved to a balcony and be able to keep our obc. Just wondering if any one has any experience with this when the booking says, New bookings only.

We also called our TA 2 weeks ago after seeing balconies were cheaper then our inside and TA got us moved to a balcony. We didn't have any obc to worry about so this worked out great for us. So it is worth a try. See you are the Caribbean Princess soon!

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Here is my situation.. Have 2 cabins booked for next month. Deluxe Bal Obstructed forward and a Bal. obstructed forward. Looks like a $50 pp price difference from what I paid for the DZ to a mini suite. I'd like to call my TA to see if I could get bumped to the mini (for the extra $100) but that cabin is for our daughters. My wife and I have the BZ. I'd then like for us to get the mini and move our daughters to our existing BZ. Probably can't change names on the cabins now, so if it works for the upgrade can we just switch cabins when we board. I know the cards will have our names and cabin numbers and my wife and I have a good bit of OBC. Don't wish to get messed up with that OBC, meaning our daughters having our OBC and we having theirs. Hope this makes sense, because I'm confusing myself as I type.

 

Thanks, Mark

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Here is the deal...and it's pretty much the same with every cruise line:

 

When the ADVERTISED price drops prior to final payment, the cruise line has little choice but to deal with you...since you could cancel without penalty and re-book at the new, lower price...

 

HOWEVER, when the cruise line has a number of unsold cabin and is past the final payment date and headed for the possibility of a sailing with vacant cabins, the cruise line is often forced to discount to sell off and fill those cabins. The first option is to do this with unadvertised specials--prices offered only to specific groups or through specific travel agents. That way, booked passengers never see that the fare on their cruise has dropped...

 

They will only go to publishing or advertizing the lower prices if the cabins don't look like they will move through the unpublished deals...

 

But, say they have a ship with 1,500 cabins and 1,400 of them are sold with a month to go...They certainly don't want the price to drop $200 pp on the remaining cabins then have to refund $400 each to the first 1,400 bookings. That would cost them $560,000!!! So, they make the price drops "For new bookings only"...If you want the deal, you have no choice--you could cancel your current booking and rebook--but, chances are, the penalties don' justify the lower cost.

 

So, you are, basically, out of luck...

 

However, it does not hurt to call and inquire...or have your TA call. Here's why: Those unsold cabins MAY be in hard-to-move categories...and they may want to free up some available cabins in whatever category you have booked. So, they may be motivated to talk "upgrade"...You feel like you got something...and they gain some additional flexibility in marketing. The other possibility is, say you are a valuable repeat customer and/or you are irate enough...and you can make a reasonable argument...they might throw you a little OBC as a PR matter...

 

But, really, they are not legally liable to do a thing for you...just like when you buy a car or a TV or and article of clothing, then go back a few weeks later, past any return policy deadline, and find the same item on sale for a large discount...just the breaks...

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I don't know why I even looked at the prices today, but I did. Our cabin is now going for almost $200 less per person. We sail in under 2 weeks, so we are after final payment. Called this morning and they offered us a mid-ship balcony on the same deck (baja). We currently have a forward balcony. No chance of a price adjustment.

 

One question - the cabin we have been offered has an indication that it can sleep a third person. Does this mean a bunk in the ceiling or on the wall?

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From what I could find searching online, I think the bunks are fully concealed in the ceiling of the balcony cabins. Hopefully this is the case.

 

We are going to take the midship cabin if it is still available after holding on the phone for the next 20 min.

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From what I could find searching online, I think the bunks are fully concealed in the ceiling of the balcony cabins. Hopefully this is the case.

 

We are going to take the midship cabin if it is still available after holding on the phone for the next 20 min.

My question is, did you have obc? Was you allowed to keep it? I would love to have taken a balcony but I was told I would lose all of my obc and it was not worth it to me.

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I went from a deluxe balcony to a mini yesterday, no money due even though it was showing $100 more and said new bookings only. Kept my obc $200 future cruise credits and $200 for the sales promotion booked under. Cruise is in 4 weeks. Was told to enjoy my upgrade. Did not deal with a TA, directly with Princess.

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Our Jan cruise had a price drop about 2 weeks ago, The week after our final payment was made. I almost didn't call figuring we probably wouldn't qualify for any kind of a price drop, but then finally decided what would it hurt to ask.

I am so glad I made that call! Our travel agent called princess on our behalf and they lowered the price of our cruise by $400. We lost $100 onboard credit, But we were still $300 ahead. I just received the refund deposited back to my account… It never hurts to ask! (BTW - I noticed today the price of the cruise had gone back up)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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I sort of regret checking pricing this morning for our Dec 19 sailing on the Royal. Balcony rooms are now priced significantly lower than our inside. Even though it states prices are for new bookings only I figured I'd call Princess anyway. I wasn't expecting any reimbursement or obc but simply inquired about upgrading to a balcony. They said there was nothing they could do other than put us in a potential upgrade pool. Oh well. Maybe we'll get lucky with an upsell offer.

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I sort of regret checking pricing this morning for our Dec 19 sailing on the Royal. Balcony rooms are now priced significantly lower than our inside. Even though it states prices are for new bookings only I figured I'd call Princess anyway. I wasn't expecting any reimbursement or obc but simply inquired about upgrading to a balcony. They said there was nothing they could do other than put us in a potential upgrade pool. Oh well. Maybe we'll get lucky with an upsell offer.

 

Call again. May get a different answer from a different agent.

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