Congestion Pricing?"

[msk1]

We are booked on a segment of a world cruise. We have been anxiously awaiting the availablity of excursions. Yesterday they were finally "posted." A particular offering we have been anticipating has two times available, one in the morning (3 1/2 hrs) and one in the afternoon (3 1/2 hrs). The morning option has 15 of 20 seats available. The afternoon 20/20 open. Price for the morning (same exact excursion) is $20 more than the afternoon. I called Princess to ask why the difference and was referred to the Excursion desk, customer relations, etc. Bottom line I was told "their are more seats available in the afternoon so the price is less." The Customer Relations rep agreed with me that the policy is ridiculous but she was powerless to do anything. Has anyone else encountered this situation? The rep suggested I contact the pre-cruise desk (in the process). I reminded the Excursions rep that with 7 ports/stops Princess was about to lose a whole lot more than the $20 difference. This seems quite contrary to reasonable customer service. I would appreciate comments from others.

 

Thanks!

msk1

[Bill B]

It's no different than the way they price cruises - the more staterooms available, the less the price.

[JF - retired RRT]

I see it all the time. The price is almost always different for the afternoon than the morning (whenever there is more than one time offered).

[Thrak]

If you want the morning excursion pay the extra $20 each. If you don't want to pay the extra $20 take the afternoon excursion. Supply and demand...

 

In the grand scheme of cruising the extra money is a pittance. Enjoy your cruise and don't sweat the small stuff.

[MCC retired]

Less for the afternoon tour is simply to encourage guests to book the less popular afternoon tour [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Colo Cruiser]

If you want it you best book it or you may see it sold out.

[easyboy]

Haven't encountered that kind of pricing scheme.

[oskidunker]

Also prices on the excursions will g way up if nearly sold out closer to sailing. Book now.

[joybook]

I must say that I have never experienced price differences like the one outlined. Maybe it is because I usually book any excursions early. At the end of the day if you think the excursion is worth the money, just pay the extra.

[satxdiver]

I alway book excursions early before even boarding the ship. As such I have seen many times when the same excursion is priced differently for the morning than the afternoon. This is nothing new with Princess. I think they are doing it to force pax one way or the other. Perhaps everyone wants the morning tour for example and few want the afternoon tour. One way to cause more to shift "voluntarily" to the afternoon tour is to price the morning tour higher. For a tour with 20 to have a $20 uplift in price would result in an extra $400 for Princess which in the big picture is not all that much money. It is a business decision most likely.

[TNTLAMB]

So is the morning higher priced or is the afternoon on sale?

[caribill]

A particular offering we have been anticipating has two times available, one in the morning (3 1/2 hrs) and one in the afternoon (3 1/2 hrs). The morning option has 15 of 20 seats available. The afternoon 20/20 open.

 

When you see it saying there are 15 of 20 seats available, that means only 15 seats are really left to be sold.

 

When you see it saying that there are 20 of 20 seats available, there could really be many, many more seats available as 20 of 20 is the most they will list, even if there are three buses with 45 passengers each that remain to be sold.

[The Other Tom]

When you see it saying there are 15 of 20 seats available, that means only 15 seats are really left to be sold.

 

When you see it saying that there are 20 of 20 seats available, there could really be many, many more seats available as 20 of 20 is the most they will list, even if there are three buses with 45 passengers each that remain to be sold.

Or...if there are really exactly 20/20 remaining, and only a few book the excursion, then maybe they will cancel the aft. excursion. My guess is there's a min number for the excursion to "go". So maybe you should book the morning excursion if you really want to do it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We experienced that when booking an excursion at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. PNG is very hot so I just assumed that the morning excursion was priced higher as it would be more popular than the afternoon excursion, which would have been in the full heat of the day. We bit the bullet and paid the extra and were very glad we did as not only was it really steamy by the time we got back to the ship but it also turned showery.

[casofilia]

If there is a choice we prefer the morning half day excursion over an afternoon one. It is usually cooler which we prefer especially if there is a fair amount of bus travel. Also we are often back for a late lunch, a snooze and then "Afternoon Tea" which we find as one really great feature of Princess.