Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, Kennact said:

It is 7 days

Then it doesn't sound right for drinks and wifi add on.  You TA needs to tell them they want to add offer code BEST2DW to your 3 for free booking.

[sun&sea]

21 minutes ago, Kennact said:

My TA called and was told that I could not get the $25 price, only "today's price" which is $200 per person to add Wifi and Premium Beverage package to a 3 for Free booking. It is a 7 day cruise. Does that sound right?? 

Yes. My sister and I were able to keep our wifi and add on to our 7 day cruise; beverage pkg and gratuities. Kept our cruise fare and our OBC. $420 total ($30/pp/day)

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Thanks all for the replies.  If you don't drink alcohol, do they substitute one of the other packages?

You can get soda, coffee, bottled water and Mocktails with the alcohol package. So no worries. 

[Kennact]

6 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Then it doesn't sound right for drinks and wifi add on.  You TA needs to tell them they want to add offer code BEST2DW to your 3 for free booking.

I didn't think that was right. Only thing is my TA called and was on hold over an hour and was told the different price. Had to hang up, get ahold of me, get my approval,  and then call back and wait another hour to get us the $200 price. I don't know if I want to bug him again! 

[elliair]

I have a cruise booked for Alaska in May.  I did a fake booking on the same cruise using the new sale offer.  We already get free wifi and OBC on the original booking.  If I switched over to the new sale offer, I would have to pay $850 more.  I don't drink, so the beverage package wouldn't be worth it to me.  I might book another cruise for later in 2020 using the offer.

[Daniel A]

7 minutes ago, Kennact said:

I didn't think that was right. Only thing is my TA called and was on hold over an hour and was told the different price. Had to hang up, get ahold of me, get my approval,  and then call back and wait another hour to get us the $200 price. I don't know if I want to bug him again! 

Don't do the $200 deal.  It sounds like a rebooking and you would lose whatever perks you already have.  Wait until next week and try again after things calm down at Princess and everyone there knows what they're doing...(hopefully)

[Kennact]

Just now, Daniel A said:

Don't do the $200 deal.  It sounds like a rebooking and you would lose whatever perks you already have.  Wait until next week and try again after things calm down at Princess and everyone there knows what they're doing...(hopefully)

I will contact my TA again next week - thanks!

 

[kywildcatfanone]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

You can get soda, coffee, bottled water and Mocktails with the alcohol package. So no worries. 

Yeah, but that lessens the value, and we already trade the mini bar for the coffee, so the value is like $12/day, and the current soda and more package plus wifi for one device, would be less than the $25/day I think  Interesting though.

[Coral]

20 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yeah, but that lessens the value, and we already trade the mini bar for the coffee, so the value is like $12/day, and the current soda and more package plus wifi for one device, would be less than the $25/day I think  Interesting though.

I have the cyber package already. I am thinking of adding this and I don't drink alcohol either. I like Mocktails (only drink them on a ship) and hot chocolate. In port, I can take bottled water with me. I don't drink coffee.

[Kennact]

I need to fix what was charged for me to upgrade to free premium beverage package, but now I have two wifi packages: 1) MEDALLIONNET 4-DEVICE PROMO 2-30DAY and 2) Wifi package (x2)     I wonder what Princess will do - can I let my sister and her husband use one of them since we are traveling together but in different cabins?

[crystalspin]

40 minutes ago, elliair said:

I have a cruise booked for Alaska in May.  I did a fake booking on the same cruise using the new sale offer.  We already get free wifi and OBC on the original booking.  If I switched over to the new sale offer, I would have to pay $850 more.  I don't drink, so the beverage package wouldn't be worth it to me.  I might book another cruise for later in 2020 using the offer.

Do not base your decision on a fake booking. You are not doing a re-fare or new booking. The add-on code for you would be BEST2DG. At $30pppd for PBP and gratuities. I got it added to my June Alaska and kept OBC. Your grats will be $14.50, $15.50, or $16.50 per person per day, so that means PBP is equivalent to $15.5/14.5/13.50 per day. You don't have to drink alcohol to drink that much in coffee, fancy tea or cocoa, soft drinks, or virgin cocktails. 

 

On the other hand, not all sales are beneficial to all passengers. 

[crystalspin]

I wrote an e-mail to my CVP last night (after hours), and my bookings (2 cabins/5 pax each on 2 cruises) had their add-ons by the time I logged on at noon. The June Alaska trip had been booked under 3FF+dinner, those perks of grats and OBC (and dinner) are still attached and the add-on BEST2DW gives us PBP and Wifi for all five.

 

February 2021 Hawaii was booked under the recent "Sail Later" promo, on the $1pp deposit day, with the perks of wine, dinner, & wifi. BEST2DG added PBP and Grats. 

 

There was no additional deposit due on the latter cruise (!), and the additional fees are added to the total DUE and not required payment today.

Edited December 12, 2019 by crystalspin

[Storm Monkey]

1 hour ago, Kennact said:

I didn't think that was right. Only thing is my TA called and was on hold over an hour and was told the different price. Had to hang up, get ahold of me, get my approval,  and then call back and wait another hour to get us the $200 price. I don't know if I want to bug him again! 

Adding drinks and wifi at $25/day is $175 per person for a 7 day cruise. 

[weberman]

1 hour ago, elliair said:

I have a cruise booked for Alaska in May.  I did a fake booking on the same cruise using the new sale offer.  We already get free wifi and OBC on the original booking.  If I switched over to the new sale offer, I would have to pay $850 more.  I don't drink, so the beverage package wouldn't be worth it to me.  I might book another cruise for later in 2020 using the offer.

 

Met to! I did a fake booking to compare my current T/A sailing on the Sky from Copenhagen in 9/20. If I did the cheapest I would save about $100 and not have as good a cabin. Also I would have to put up several hundred dollars more in deposit money. On the other one with the beverage package, it would cost me significantly more with a lesser quality cabin. We don't drink (main benefit) and we  get 500 minutes of WIFI which we have never used all of them.

 

So my current booking seems to be fine and no hassle!

[capriccio]

49 minutes ago, weberman said:

 

Met to! I did a fake booking to compare my current T/A sailing on the Sky from Copenhagen in 9/20. If I did the cheapest I would save about $100 and not have as good a cabin. Also I would have to put up several hundred dollars more in deposit money. On the other one with the beverage package, it would cost me significantly more with a lesser quality cabin. We don't drink (main benefit) and we  get 500 minutes of WIFI which we have never used all of them.

 

So my current booking seems to be fine and no hassle!

 

If you have an existing booking on a cruise eligible for the Best Sale Ever do not do a fake booking or re-fare!  What you need to determine is if you want to add-on gratuities, wifi and/or the premium beverage package.  See posts 112 and 115 for the prices and codes to provide your TA or Princess customer service to add perks.  You retain all the perks and OBC from your original booking and the new ones you purchase are added.   Changing cabins does not enter into the discussion.

[tonit964]

8 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  It stinks that the folks at Princess are so inconsistent about what can and can't be done.  Hoping that this does get clarified, I know my TA has spent a ton of time on this for her clients today.

Sorry you having such a difficult time with something that should be simple. Keep trying, good luck!

[Coral]

9 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.  It stinks that the folks at Princess are so inconsistent about what can and can't be done.  Hoping that this does get clarified, I know my TA has spent a ton of time on this for her clients today.

Apparently she spent quite a bit of time on my sister's booking today. Our TA is still working at 10:40 tonight.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Coral

[polmcs]

I got to this topic late. For the question about San Pedro, sales tax and the beverage package, you will typically not be charged sales tax whilst in San Pedro if you have the package. However, if you order a drink that exceeds the $12 limit, you will be charged the delta (no issues with that as there are a few drinks I would like to try, but previously you were on the hook for the entire price) and you will be charged 18% gratuity on the delta and also 10% sales tax on the delta. We had a drink that was $13 whilst in port and the total charge was $1.28 after the PBP allowance.

 

As to the best ever sale, we have two cruises next year under Sip and sail, so our only option is to refare. Our HI circle fare went up about $250 over what we had previously booked, and as we had S+S, all we were getting extra was the WiFi and gratuity which on a 15 voyage is worth about $320 odd dollars. For our Tahitian cruise, the best ever fare was only $100 more than our S+S fare and the “freebies” on that 10 cruise are worth about $180, so in each case, we are only looking at $70-$80 of savings.

 

The downside is that my big big TA appears to have switched from OBC to a store gift card, so we’d have to pony up more whilst aboard and be committed to spending that money at the store (and the gift card amount was smaller than the OBC)

 

I guess I’m going to have to find a new TA for any future cruises.

[Bizziecruzer]

Thankyou to the OP. Refaring was not an option for us on our 16 daycruise as we received free upgrade, grats and OBC onour original booking. Adding 2 perks was definitely the right decision for us. For an additional $400pp we now get premium drink package and wifi. Having access to 24/7 wifi is a big plus for us.  2 very happy cruisers.

[Steelers36]

26 minutes ago, polmcs said:

I guess I’m going to have to find a new TA for any future cruises.

I always have preferred a direct cash discount off the fare over a hunk of OBC which has been the practice of that big box you wrote about.  Most people who have not liked them state that as the reason.  You should have not too much trouble finding a discount agency that will just give you a cash discount and not a ton of OBC that may be hard to spend effectively.

 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Apparently she spent quite a bit of time on my sister's booking today. Our TA is still working at 10:40 tonight.

 

Oh no, I don't know how she does it!  I know she worked hard on many, many bookings today and will tomorrow too.  And the next day and day after that....  She's the hardest working person I've ever met that's for sure!

[Steelers36]

I have noticed a real mix of reports on here from today (DAY 1 of  the B.E.S.).  Many folks are helped and just as many not. 

 

We are in the latter category.  Our Caribbean cruises booked on the Sky for winter 2021 (2 x 10-night), went up in price with this sale (up $370/pp for the IB we are booked in under 3FF which was, in effect, an IF fare class at the time).  The fare is up $430 over the Nov Anniversary Sale and up $380 over the Cyber pricing on Dec 1.  We did not re-fare at either of those more recent price points because net-net we are better off where we are, even though the base cabin rate was lower.  Same thing, with the B.E.S. - no reason to re-fare for a much more expensive price point. 

 

Net-net we would be at almost $1,532/pp under B.E.S and we are sitting locked in at about $1,113/pp under 3FF + 1 Sp Dining for 2.   Adding in Internet (which I would buy on-board absent any promotion) brings it to about $1,145.  I would also be doing a CG visit once per cruise, so that $1,532 figure goes up to $1,561/pp.

 

An interesting compare is that if I re-fared to B.E.S. the increase cost per person, net-net, would be about $416/pp.  Selecting an Add-On package (BEST2DW) would cost $250/pp, for a net savings of $166/pp.  That would be a WAY better choice - IF I wanted and could justify the drink package. 

 

I noticed several posts where folks had calculated the drink package add-on value/cost to be in the low $20's/pp/day.  That would be my situation as well because the Internet is really just ~$3.20/pp/day as we would be booking just one 4-device package with Elite discount and sharing among four adults.  Princess is pegging the free Internet at about $10/day and Platinum/Elite get it for less (and if sharing, it's less again).  Otherwise, it would be worth double at ~ $6.40. 

 

So, $21.80/pp/day for the drink package seems like a great bargain.  But it depends on your situation.  Do we spend $218/pp on drinks for a 10-night cruise?  Nope.  Could I drink enough each day (on average) to make up the cost?  Yup.  Do I want to change?  Not likely.  We might spend about $100 total, assuming I do my usual "bring my own wine".  So, do I want to spend double?  We could, but why? 

 

Hope this helps a lot of people.  By the sounds of it, my prediction that this would be wildly popular appears true for sure.  I wouldn't be surprised to see it continue and for the next sales promotion to see the Add-On's cost more. 

 

I still might just go ahead an add the BEST2DW on for the heck of it because we have a refundable booking and I can cancel the package up to FP date.

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by steelers36

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Oh no, I don't know how she does it!  I know she worked hard on many, many bookings today and will tomorrow too.  And the next day and day after that....  She's the hardest working person I've ever met that's for sure!

On that I think you are correct.  She just doesn't beat my TA pricing.  I am going to post another query, but did you get a discount on the add-on package?

 

[Steelers36]

Has anyone who uses a discount TA (not the box that gives OBC - a TA that discounts the fare) found they are getting any discount off the Add-On packages (i.e. paying less than $25/$30/$40)?  I was wondering if this might be the case since some of the TA materials posted here and that I looked at indicated it would be good for agents as not re-faring and they keep commissions.  That part makes sense if what Princess meant was that TA typically loses commission when customers re-fare as we always re-fare to a better deal - usually a lower cost.  Sometimes folks will pay more to get more benefits, however.

 

If we book under the new B.E.S. (new booking or re-fare), then we would get a discount from the TA on the new total fare (which has baked in some cost for the three benefits).  I had assumed that the Add-On packages were commissionable from what I had read, but perhaps I did not read close enough. 

 

I asked my agency if there would be a discount on the package (BEST2DW in my case) and the answer came back no.  I am not upset or anything as I was not sure to be honest.  It looks like TA's may not be earning anything from these Add-Ons - or perhaps it is just a small amount so not inclined to give a discount?  Just curious what the situation is - inquiring minds and all.

 

Thanks for any insight or sharing your experience.  What do our TA members on CC say?  From all indications of posts here, no one has paid less than the Princess "list" price for the Add-Ons.  TA's are having to work a lot of time to accomplish adding these packages with everyone after them on Day 1.  Seems like Princess ought to be offering something back.  I will hold off a bit if decide to add as I am sensitive to taking up a lot of my TA's time as I realize they are being generous with the discounting at least partly on the basis of not so much hand-holding.

 

[ceilidh1]

45 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Has anyone who uses a discount TA (not the box that gives OBC - a TA that discounts the fare) found they are getting any discount off the Add-On packages (i.e. paying less than $25/$30/$40)?  I was wondering if this might be the case since some of the TA materials posted here and that I looked at indicated it would be good for agents as not re-faring and they keep commissions.  That part makes sense if what Princess meant was that TA typically loses commission when customers re-fare as we always re-fare to a better deal - usually a lower cost.  Sometimes folks will pay more to get more benefits, however.

 

If we book under the new B.E.S. (new booking or re-fare), then we would get a discount from the TA on the new total fare (which has baked in some cost for the three benefits).  I had assumed that the Add-On packages were commissionable from what I had read, but perhaps I did not read close enough. 

 

I asked my agency if there would be a discount on the package (BEST2DW in my case) and the answer came back no.  I am not upset or anything as I was not sure to be honest.  It looks like TA's may not be earning anything from these Add-Ons - or perhaps it is just a small amount so not inclined to give a discount?  Just curious what the situation is - inquiring minds and all.

 

Thanks for any insight or sharing your experience.  What do our TA members on CC say?  From all indications of posts here, no one has paid less than the Princess "list" price for the Add-Ons.  TA's are having to work a lot of time to accomplish adding these packages with everyone after them on Day 1.  Seems like Princess ought to be offering something back.  I will hold off a bit if decide to add as I am sensitive to taking up a lot of my TA's time as I realize they are being generous with the discounting at least partly on the basis of not so much hand-holding.

 

The add-ons get included in the fare price so this makes them commissionable. A great example for me is that I have 2 clients booked on Discovery Princess in 2022. They have very specific rooms booked and have no desire to change them. They booked without any promos other than a group OBC from my company ($50 per room). I was able to refare (NOT add-on) for the exact same price for one client - she is paying the same but now getting the drinks/grats/wifi. Had I done this as an add-on, that extra charge would be included in my commission. On the flip side, the other client is in a category that is currently sold out. I believe that I am unable to refare and get the amenities added at the the same price BUT will call Princess tomorrow and see if I can do them as an add-on....in which case I stand to make a little more in commission. Hope this makes sense....