Princess Pros: Best time to book?

[satxdiver]

I always have at least 2 FCC/FCD on file and use it to book a cruise as soon as it is advertised. That way I get the cabin I want almost all the time. I then watch the sales and prices of adjacent cabins for price decreases or good sales incentives. I call Princess and get the new deal as long as it is better than the current deal I have. They are good in telling me that the new deal will be better or worse than what I have at the time. Sometimes I have canceled and rebooked to get the sale deal without any problem. I have found Princess to be very easy to work with as long as you call during the week and normal business hours. I like to have a "few" cruises on the books. :D

[laufschnecke]

Approaching 50 cruises, I think we are on cruise 49.

The vast majority of which we booked last-minute.

No frills, no perks, no nothing to worry about.

 

Just off the Crown Princess on 11/17 from a 28-day LA-Hawaii-South Pacific-LA cruise which we booked 30-days within sailing and "only" paid $3998 total for the 2 of us (port charges and taxes/fees included) for a great balcony cabin.

 

Those "free" promos come with a price tag built into the cost of the cruise.

 

The "only" freebies we received were:

$300 from 2 future cruise certificates

$250 military benefit

$250 shareholder benefit

$50 loyalty benefit

 

Plus the usual Elite benefits.

 

Thanks,

Fred

 

 

I watched the pricing of this cruise but never saw the price tag you paid. Congratulations for your excellent deal! How did you get it? Did you book with Princess directly? Was there some further military reduction?

[antsp]

I watched the pricing of this cruise but never saw the price tag you paid. Congratulations for your excellent deal! How did you get it? Did you book with Princess directly? Was there some further military reduction?

 

If you have nerve to hold out, last minute is generally best.

[FlorenceItaly]

Approaching 50 cruises, I think we are on cruise 49.

The vast majority of which we booked last-minute.

No frills, no perks, no nothing to worry about.

 

Just off the Crown Princess on 11/17 from a 28-day LA-Hawaii-South Pacific-LA cruise which we booked 30-days within sailing and "only" paid $3998 total for the 2 of us (port charges and taxes/fees included) for a great balcony cabin.

 

Those "free" promos come with a price tag built into the cost of the cruise.

 

The "only" freebies we received were:

$300 from 2 future cruise certificates

$250 military benefit

$250 shareholder benefit

$50 loyalty benefit

 

Plus the usual Elite benefits.

 

Thanks,

Fred

 

Fabulous deal! I was also watching this cruise, but, never saw it that low for a balcony. I missed it. Please give us more details, thanks. I have booked this same cruise for March 2018 in an obstructed view, but, am not sure booking ahead for THIS itinerary is the way to go. As you know, there were many good deals on this sailing within 30 days of sailing. I will be watching the pattern of the October 2017 cruise. Congratulations on a fabulous deal.

[nipponcruiser]

We booked thru a travel agency on that site where travel agencies compete for your business.

I do not know if they had some deal with Princess but they offered us a guarantee balcony cabin for $1999.00 each inclusive of all charges/fees/tax.

No perks from the travel agency or Princess specific to this booking/itinerary but that's understandable considering what we paid for the cruise.

We immediately jumped on it, this was right about 30 days before sailing when we booked and they had availability on and off right up till about 3 days before sailing at that price.

We ended up with a great balcony location, whisper quiet cabin!

 

Thanks,

Fred

[janetz]

That is a good plan if you do not care about what cabin you may land it.

Those of us that have to fly to a cruise have less options to wait until after final.

We usually will book a year out, sometimes longer. We like to choose our cabin.

I keep watch on the pricing so if it drops or there are perks offered before final, we get them.

I have been pretty successful in receiving more then what we book with. :)

[FlorenceItaly]

We booked thru a travel agency on that site where travel agencies compete for your business.

I do not know if they had some deal with Princess but they offered us a guarantee balcony cabin for $1999.00 each inclusive of all charges/fees/tax.

No perks from the travel agency or Princess specific to this booking/itinerary but that's understandable considering what we paid for the cruise.

We immediately jumped on it, this was right about 30 days before sailing when we booked and they had availability on and off right up till about 3 days before sailing at that price.

We ended up with a great balcony location, whisper quiet cabin!

 

Thanks,

Fred

 

Incredible deal! Did you receive a mailing or you were targeting this cruise and so you submitted an inquiry?

 

 

 

Marie

[nipponcruiser]

Incredible deal! Did you receive a mailing or you were targeting this cruise and so you submitted an inquiry?

 

 

 

Marie

 

submitted inquiry

[FlorenceItaly]

submitted inquiry

 

Thanks so much! I really appreciate you sharing.

 

 

 

Marie

[nipponcruiser]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate you sharing.

 

Marie

 

 

No worries, Marie. Happy to share.

Happy Birthday as well.

 

Thanks,

Fred

[FlorenceItaly]

No worries, Marie. Happy to share.

Happy Birthday as well.

 

Thanks,

Fred

 

Fred,

 

Thank you for my birthday wishes! Happy sailing.

 

 

Marie

[karena1]

I always book a FCC when we are on a Princess cruise. Then when I see the cruise I want, I book it. Get the OBC for booking onboard, along with all the other OBC's we get since hubby is military, etc.

 

We leave on Regal on Dec 4th. I booked a FCC on Ruby in Dec 2014. When Princess offered the SipnSail, I jumped on it. Booked with the FCC so got that OBC, the free bev pkg, the OBC for military, and some other OBC.

 

So long story short, book a FCC and then watch for the cruise you want and then book it. That way you get the OBC for booking on the ship.

[yuccaman]

I know many have recommended against non-refundable deposits, and it can be great advice, but we've in the past done a non-refundable deposit, which was also only $50 per person- on a great cruise deal, so consider it a rule of thumb and not inflexible advice, since the required deposit amount and other cruise motivations (overall deal, itinerary, timing) can vary in each situation. Always best to look at the whole package and situation.

Edited November 22, 2016 by yuccaman

[matadams4u]

There seem to be a number of factors- is the cruise unique? I just booked 3 for free for Tasmania in 2018. The same cruise is 250 more with no offers. The cruises I see that go down the most occur for different reasons - time of year - although the cruise I booked six months ago for December 5th for the Panama Canal has not gone down, terrorist threats - the Mediterranean was a steal this summer on regal, other black swan events such as natural disasters, economic jolts or health scares. So it really depends on your flexibility and ability to take advantage of sudden opportunities. It also depends on what cabin you want. Clearly there are last minute deals and there are also times when the early birds gets the worm - play it according to your flexibility and risk tolerance and what you hope to achieve and you can't go wrong.

 

 

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