"Sign In - You may qualify for lower fares."

[msg74]

I know we have a lot of upper-tier Captain's Circle members here, so I thought I would ask something I've often wondered as a rather new cruiser...

 

When Princess says past customers "might qualify for lower fares," I assume this is perhaps tied to your status in the loyalty program. If that's the case, how much better is the typical deal? Just curious.

 

Thanks!

[beg3yrs]

You typically get about $100 off non-past cruiser fare. Once you've cruised with Princess, the offer doesn't seem to get any better, no matter what your level is.

 

[Astro Flyer]

I know we have a lot of upper-tier Captain's Circle members here, so I thought I would ask something I've often wondered as a rather new cruiser...

 

When Princess says past customers "might qualify for lower fares," I assume this is perhaps tied to your status in the loyalty program. If that's the case, how much better is the typical deal? Just curious.

 

Thanks!

Some cruises have a slight price reduction for any Captain's Circle member irregardless of their level.

 

The discount on our future cruise was $100 ($1,599 reduced to $1,499) and in addition to this discount travel agents with group bookings may offer additional OBC or will use some of their commission to lower their client's cruise fare.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[MCC retired]

In addition to Past Guest, other "qualifiers" for cruise lines may be age , residence , military , first responders, email receipt , etc. .

Edited July 7, 2016 by MCC retired

[Colo Cruiser]

It is tied to your status........

There is no way to tell how much until you sign in and look at the cruise.

I have seen huge reductions and I have seen the price go up. :rolleyes:

Edited July 7, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[thinfool]

We are Platinum.

 

A 'share this booking' email came with reduced pricing on several Med itineraries. We liked one and booked it at the rates cited in the email.

 

Our traveling companions decided to go also, so our TA booked them....except he booked one from each party in each of the two cabins.

 

They are Elite and also had a 'share this booking' rate.

 

Our fare was instantly reduced by 10% as their rate was applied to both occupants.

 

Sadly they have had to cancel for personal reasons so we lost their booking advantage.

 

We are back to paying the 'still good' fares that we were offered originally.

 

And yes, when I open Princess.com I see the current retail pricing....when I login with my ID, the prices drop to what we are actually paying.

Edited July 7, 2016 by thinfool

[GranJean]

.,. I was looking at a cruise for 2018 yesterday when the "sign in" notice popped up. I hadn't seen any difference in price on previous bookings when I signed in but decided WTH and singed in. And you know, Princess knocked off $100 each off of an already attractive fare. It clinched the deal for them. Now I'm curious as to why it didn't work out on previous bookings?

[Colo Cruiser]

Now I'm curious as to why it didn't work out on previous bookings?

 

 

Because thats not always the case. Its not for sure on every cruise.

[bigenna]

After numerous searches and seeing that little caption, signing in, and seeing exactly the same price, just recently I finally had a slight reduction in price. We just became Elite a couple of cruises ago, so maybe that is the qualifier?

[Astro Flyer]

After numerous searches and seeing that little caption, signing in, and seeing exactly the same price, just recently I finally had a slight reduction in price. We just became Elite a couple of cruises ago, so maybe that is the qualifier?

I think the pricing fairy is as secretive as the upgrade fairy and with so many variables there's no way to know how it works for every fare quote.

 

Apparently another factor is regionally based pricing which can vary depending upon where we live.

[Working 2 Cruise]

After numerous searches and seeing that little caption, signing in, and seeing exactly the same price, just recently I finally had a slight reduction in price. We just became Elite a couple of cruises ago, so maybe that is the qualifier?

 

No, that wouldn't be it... I'm a lowly platinum passenger and have had some of those reductions.

[mum and son]

On my upcoming cruise the price per person for a suite goes UP by $350pp when you log in :eek:. There's a bit more obc ($100 extra pp) but you're still way behind if you're a past cruiser!

[IECalCruiser]

We have seen prices to be the same to decreases of $300 to $400 on a couple of cruises. It often depends upon the price of the cruise. We live in Southern California now and one time we were looking at a Mexico cruise out of San Pedro. The price jumped from $499 to $799 when we signed in [emoji33] We asked friends in Arizona, Ohio and Virginia to check and they were all quoted $499. The friend in Virginia was a TA and when she signed in the price was $499, but if she signed on as me the price again jumped to $799. The vagaries of the discount fairy are beyond the understanding of mere mortals.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have seen prices to be the same to decreases of $300 to $400 on a couple of cruises. It often depends upon the price of the cruise. We live in Southern California now and one time we were looking at a Mexico cruise out of San Pedro. The price jumped from $499 to $799 when we signed in [emoji33] We asked friends in Arizona, Ohio and Virginia to check and they were all quoted $499. The friend in Virginia was a TA and when she signed in the price was $499, but if she signed on as me the price again jumped to $799. The vagaries of the discount fairy are beyond the understanding of mere mortals.

 

We have a friend with 2 Princess cruises, about 85 fewer than us, and she has none booked. She consistently gets better pricing than we do. We call it the Elite Penalty.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

We have a friend with 2 Princess cruises, about 85 fewer than us, and she has none booked. She consistently gets better pricing than we do. We call it the Elite Penalty.

 

I seem to recall another thread on which it was speculated that you get even better offers when signing in if you have no other Princess cruises currently booked. I have something booked at the moment myself, so can't confirm this. And this may vary, like many other things on Princess, from person to person, and from one sailing to another :rolleyes:.

Edited July 8, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[GUT2407]

Signing in has never given me a better fare so far.

 

But I keep coming back fat.

[caber]

Signing in has never given me a better fare so far.

 

But I keep coming back fat.

 

Same here, on both statements.

[Shogun]

Hi

 

The only big saving I have seen is when did booking as a new to Princess,:mad:

 

yours Shogun

[Sue Do-Over]

On the Carnival site, when we log in to browse, it triggers an alert to our PVP... she calls us within 24-48 hours to 'see if she can help'.

 

It wouldn't be at all surprising if the 'big data' tracking systems help shape the offers that come to you in mail/email.

[geoherb]

For the cruise in which I'm interested for December, there's no difference in price after I sign in. For the one I was looking at last month, there was around $100 savings per basic type of cabin.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I just received an email today from Princess featuring their "Great Getaways Sale" showing some excellent rates. I first checked a few rates without logging in. I then checked the same rates after logging in; they INCREASED approximately 20%!

 

Another poster mentioned an Elite penalty. I guess I've now experienced the Platinum penalty :(.

[Astro Flyer]

We booked with the recently ended Red, White & Blue promotion for $1,499 which included free tips (nearly $200/pp) and now that the sale is over the cruise fare has increased by $100/pp. to $1,599 without free tips.

 

The "Sun Drenched Deals" that runs from 7/21-9/13 drops the price back to $1,499 but without the free tips nor any other benefits.

 

Most Princess promotions are not a sale for many passengers & are a farce to me...they increase prices before a promotion to make the new promotion appear to be a sale. :(

Edited July 9, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[TNTLAMB]

One other thing that checking in does is, it allows for previous passengers to book with a much lower deposit............

[ijsa]

I have found that you are much better off using a travel agent than using Princess to book your cruise. Princess seldom offers the extra OBC that your travel agent has access to. Obviously it pays to do some "blank" bookings for your cruise to see who is offering what.

[blizzard44ca]

What I learned today...

 

If you are looking for the best price (particularly if you are already booked), log in and don't just look at the prices on the chart. Click through to make a mock booking in the category desired. The price may be (significantly) lower than the chart on the previous page.

 

The price was so much lower, that I thought it was an error or browser problem. I cleared cookies, tried a different browser, and the low price kept showing up. I finally decided to call Princess, and the fare was legit. The end price was $8000 CAD less than my original booking! Shows as a "Special Mail Offer" fare. It likely hasn't come in the mail yet, or has already hit the recycle bin. I have never seen almost half off an already almost full ship.

 

Anyway, make sure to click past the fare chart to the cabin selection screen for best prices.