Anniversary Sale not impressive...

[Bill B]

It's another non sale.

 

Yup. As I said on another thread - sailings are always on sale at non-sale prices.

 

Remember, prices fluctuate all the time (sometimes within hours). So, the 'sale' price can go up or down. Check frequently.

[caribill]

I agree. The price on both of my qualifying cruises went up enough that the "deal" isn't worth it. Princess seems to raise prices on many cruises whenever they offer a new "deal." Bait and switch. :(

 

A "sale" does not mean that the new sale's pricing will be lower than the pricing for the previous sale. It just means it supposedly is a reduction from the list price.

 

Same as at the supermarket. A $6.00 carton of ice cream may be on sale this week for $4.50, but last week it was on sale for $3.75. The price is up for this week's sale, but it is still a reduction from the normal pricing.

 

You do not have to purchase the ice cream at the higher sale price and you do not have to purchase a cruise that is also at a higher sale price.

[Iamcruzin]

A "sale" does not mean that the new sale's pricing will be lower than the pricing for the previous sale. It just means it supposedly is a reduction from the list price.

 

Same as at the supermarket. A $6.00 carton of ice cream may be on sale this week for $4.50, but last week it was on sale for $3.75. The price is up for this week's sale, but it is still a reduction from the normal pricing.

 

You do not have to purchase the ice cream at the higher sale price and you do not have to purchase a cruise that is also at a higher sale price.

 

Even if you pay $6.00 for the ice cream and they add sprinkles and syrup it is still a better deal than paying the $6.00 for just the ice cream. However if you don't like syrup or sprinkles it's not a good deal for you.

[psujmatt]

To BarbarbaP: Regarding the free upgrade when the 3-for-free was in effect: When we first booked all the non-club class minisuites were the same price. We actually liked the location of an MC room so booked that instead of "higher class". Now, they appear to be different prices, so we could downgrade to an ME but it would only save something like $60 more so we are staying put in the room location we like. That reminds me, I need to ask our travel agent to mark it "no upgrade!"

 

To Go-Bucks: Our price drop was on the mini-suites.

[cruzsnooze]

I have 3 cruises booked in the next 10 months and all 3 are more expensive then what I booked for originally.

[Bruin Steve]

Several things to consider:

 

1. All cruise lines have what they call a "brochure price"...sort of like "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" on cars, electronics and other goods--NOBODY (or almost nobody) actually ever pays that. Therefore EVERY price you find is a "sale".

 

2. Cruise prices are like the stock market...They go up and down depending on the laws of supply and demand. So trying to compare any sale or promotion to whatever price you MIGHT have booked it for depends on the timing of whatever comparison you're using. Likely, along the course of time, there will be both lower prices and higher prices.

 

3. "Promotions"--like free drink package or free OBC or free gratuities--are just another marketing gimmick. NOTHING is ever really "free"...it is just bundled into the fare.

 

4. It never hurts to book early. Often, the best prices are the really early ones. But, since, for most of us, you can cancel without penalty until final payment day, you always hold the hammer...the cruise lines will renegotiate your price if they've dropped prices. The only price cuts you can't necessarily get are the ones that show up AFTER final payment--because they hold that proverbial hammer. But, what I've found is that they're still higher than what I paid. For my cruise coming up in two weeks on Ruby Princess, the "last minute, new bookings only" prices were still a couple hundred dollars higher than what I paid booking it months ago.

 

It is, basically, the same on all cruise lines. I booked back-to-back cruises on RCCL for the Med next June/July on the first day the itineraries were announced. Picked up some extraordinary prices--got a "hump" (larger balcony) cabin midship (same cabin for both cruises) for a remarkable $4700 (total price for two including fees and taxes)--plus my TA is giving me $400 in OBC. Every time I get another email from RCCL, they are advertising some sale or promotion. So, each time, I go to their website and check out the "sale" pricing. Did this just a day or two ago on their new sale. The pricing, if I booked under this sale, could get me my same category cabin for only $4500...with $100 OBC...FOR ONLY ONE OF THE TWO 7-night cruises! IOW, the "sale" price is more than DOUBLE my early booking price! Is that a "sale"?

 

3 years ago, I did an Alaska cruise on Celebrity. Some time after I booked, Celebrity started running their promotion where you got to choose two promos--Free Drinks or Free Gratuities or OBC. I called my TA and was told, yes, I could get that promotion--Gratuities worth about $85 pp and drink packages allegedly valued at about $450 pp--but, the fare under that promotion was about $650 pp higher than what I paid. I passed. Again, there is NO FREE LUNCH.

 

On Oceania, they continually advertise "2 for 1 pricing, free airfare"...but, it is ALWAYS 2 for 1...and, if you don't want the "free" airfare, you can waive it and get a credit toward your fare.

 

All of this--Princess and everyone else--is just MARKETING. The cruise lines want to sell cruises...so they have to get customers to think that THEY are "getting a deal". Really, they are just paying whatever price the market then currently demands for their cruise. Ignore the "sale" thing. If you want to cruise, check out the current price--whatever it is--If it is worth booking at that price for YOU, book it. Otherwise, you'll drive yourself crazy. But, of course, keep monitoring the prices...If they go down, call the cruise line or your TA and ask for the new lower price--IF it is, in fact, lower...

Edited December 8, 2016 by Bruin Steve

[-Lew-]

 

The latest promotion by Princess is not particularly impressive.

I'm impressed! We rebooked two late summer cruises and saved a total of $1,440! :)

 

Not all sales work well with all sailings. Fortunately for us, this one did...

 

[Bill B]

Bruin Steve,

 

Everything you say is 'on the money', except the first sentence here -

 

4. It never hurts to book early. Often, the best prices are the really early ones. But, since, for most of us, you can cancel without penalty until final payment day, you always hold the hammer...the cruise lines will renegotiate your price if they've dropped prices. The only price cuts you can't necessarily get are the ones that show up AFTER final payment--because they hold that proverbial hammer. But, what I've found is that they're still higher than what I paid. For my cruise coming up in two weeks on Ruby Princess, the "last minute, new bookings only" prices were still a couple hundred dollars higher than what I paid booking it months ago.

 

I think it should be modified to read -

'It usually doesn't hurt to book early.'

 

If a cruise is not selling well, very often they will wait until after final payment date and drastically reduce the price for new bookings only (of course, the choice of staterooms is more limited than it was earlier). Another consideration is the (fairly recent) introduction of non-refundable deposits on some sale fares.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Bill B

[jennybenny]

I keep an eye on all the cruises we book.

Sometimes the fares drop and we take advantage of it, sometimes we lose previous perks but get lower fares so it still works out in our favor, and sometime we book over a year in advance and the deal we got when we booked is as good as it gets.

 

I didn't see any economic benefit to re-booking with this promotion, but there could be another price drop or promotion at some point.

 

Cruising is still one of my favorite ways to vacation.

Tropical resort with an awesome pool and pool bar is my second favorite.

[St Paul Girl]

I book all my cruises 1-1.5 yrs ahead. For the past 5 booked cruises, the prices all went up when a promo deal was rolled out. The offered perks weren't good enough to offset the increase in cruise fare. I'm wondering if only the inside, oceanview and balcony cabins are getting price drops? I book minisuites or full suites.

 

Same for us. We booked a Club Class mini-suite for Jan 3 from Buenos Aires and the price for the suite went up more than $1100USD from when we booked in late Nov with free tips and $300USD credit.

Is it a sale, for some category of rooms maybe and for some not.

Happy cruising

[sloopsailor]

Bruin Steve,

 

Everything you say is 'on the money', except the first sentence here -

 

 

 

I think it should be modified to read -

'It usually doesn't hurt to book early.'

 

If a cruise is not selling well, very often they will wait until after final payment date and drastically reduce the price for new bookings only (of course, the choice of staterooms is more limited than it was earlier). Another consideration is the (fairly recent) introduction of non-refundable deposits on some sale fares.

 

For anyone who has to book flights to get to or from the port, any savings gained by waiting until after final payment can be easily lost due to higher airfare and fewer decent seats available (five hours in a middle seat - not for me!!). That is why booking well in advance and then watching for price drops works well for many people. The idea of getting a "leftover" cabin in a bad location and then paying higher air fare to get to it isn't appealing to a lot of us. We may spend more on the cabin, but at least we'll be satisfied with it.

Edited December 8, 2016 by sloopsailor

[Bill B]

It's definitely best to book early if you are picky about stateroom location or want a specific room; and then there's airfare consideration.

 

However, if you're 'flexible', willing to gamble and lucky, you can be cruising for as little as around $50 per person per day (or $100 with Princess' usual single supplement). Some of my best cruises (with a decent room - not my first pick - and good airfare) have been 'Standby Deals' booked after final payment.

[jpj39]

Not necessarily.

 

Our Sapphire Asia cruise that we booked on Sunday fell over $2500 + add'l $600 OBC + 1 specialty dining trip...so total saved was around $3200 or about 30% off of fare 3 days ago (and not a suite)[/quote

probably only the trips that are not selling

TA Spanish passage no sales prices to compare to what I am paying I got the Drink pkg

Singapore to Vancouver no sale prices I got the $1.00 deposit plus$ 300 OBC

[oskidunker]

On 10/30 Venice to Venice next year.The cruise is now getting reasonable.Check it out. They added two nice ports in Lieu of Turkey.. Rhodes and Kotor

[oskidunker]

Saved $650 per person

 

 

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