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Best Sale Ever Starts December 11th


azbirdmom
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12 minutes ago, latserrof said:

Thanks, great site, but is it me or is this stuff getting ridiculously complicated?

Haha. No, it's not just you. My. Head is ringing with working out all the different connotations of this so-called deal. What I did was base it on what it would cost at roughly 5 drinks a day each if you were paying across the counter for say a 14 day cruise. At approx $10 a drink this would come to $700 pp. so if you are each taking this new deal of free PBP and free wifi, this sounds like a good deal to me at $25 a day PP. of course it depends on what the base price of the cruise is as well. What happened to just booking your cruise and sitting back and waiting to embark. So simple......... 

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Add to that "dynamic pricing" -- I booked a cabin earlier today, and the price on the neighboring cabin has gone up $21 five hours later. Or maybe they "cookied" me and are betting I'll pay more the next time. ?

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56 minutes ago, Scotmay said:

so if you are each taking this new deal of free PBP and free wifi, this sounds like a good deal to me at $25 a day PP. of course it depends on what the base price of the cruise is as well.

I agree with your logic, however, how does the base price of the cruise factor in to this ?

 

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18 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

I agree with your logic, however, how does the base price of the cruise factor in to this ?

 

My point was that if the base price of the cruise has gone up on the 11th of December compared to what I paid when I booked a few months ago, then it MAY not be a deal anymore, even at $25 PP a day for PBP and free wifi. I was also agreeing With another poster who found it complicated. It is!!!  

 

 

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16 minutes ago, Scotmay said:

My point was that if the base price of the cruise has gone up on the 11th of December compared to what I paid when I booked a few months ago, then it MAY not be a deal anymore, even at $25 PP a day for PBP and free wifi. I was also agreeing With another poster who found it complicated. It is!!!  

 

 

Got it and agree the site is complicated, however it is a TA site to help them sort through options. If you read through Retro Guidelines, it seems that the options can be added to a prior booking. So that $25 pp a day would be additional to your existing fare, not a new fare. Hence my question to you.

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As I’m reading it, come Dec. 11, there will be two things you can do:

1) Book or refare under Best Sale Ever (at prices that we have yet to see) which includes PBP, Gratuities, and Internet.

2) Add on to an existing booking using one the three add-ones:

  - PBP and Internet for $25 pp per day

  - PBP and gratuities for $30 pp per day

  - PBP, gratuities, and Internet for $40 pp per day

If you do an add-on, you retain the fare and any other promotional amenities that are included with it such as OBC, upgrades, as well as one or more of the Best Sale Ever amenities.

 

We’re currently booked under the Cyber Sale which includes OBC, wine, specialty dining, and Internet. If we choose, we can add-on PBP and gratuities for $30 pp per day and then we’ll have the OBC, wine, specialty dining, Internet, PBP, and gratuities all at the Cyber Sale price plus $30 pp per day. Once I see the Best Sale Ever prices, we can decide if we want to do the add-on or refare with Best Sale Ever (in which case we’d be giving up the OBC, wine, and specialty dining).

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7 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

As I’m reading it, come Dec. 11, there will be two things you can do:

1) Book or refare under Best Sale Ever (at prices that we have yet to see) which includes PBP, Gratuities, and Internet.

2) Add on to an existing booking using one the three add-ones:

  - PBP and Internet for $25 pp per day

  - PBP and gratuities for $30 pp per day

  - PBP, gratuities, and Internet for $40 pp per day

If you do an add-on, you retain the fare and any other promotional amenities that are included with it such as OBC, upgrades, as well as one or more of the Best Sale Ever amenities.

 

We’re currently booked under the Cyber Sale which includes OBC, wine, specialty dining, and Internet. If we choose, we can add-on PBP and gratuities for $30 pp per day and then we’ll have the OBC, wine, specialty dining, Internet, PBP, and gratuities all at the Cyber Sale price plus $30 pp per day. Once I see the Best Sale Ever prices, we can decide if we want to do the add-on or refare with Best Sale Ever (in which case we’d be giving up the OBC, wine, and specialty dining).

This seems so weird, but certainly worth taking a look on the 11th.

 

A PBP add on for $25-30 a day works for me! 

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I was a bit unclear on the add on option.  Does it look like only one cabin member could purchase the upgrade (like drinks)?  It looks like new bookings require both, but I'm not clear if only one could do it as an add on option.

 

What will be interesting is when it might make sense to rebook vs purchasing the add on(s).  That we won't know until the new fares come out.  I bet the TA's won't be lovin' this one all that much.

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9 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Please tell me if I understand this correctly…  I booked a 28 day cruise under three for free.  We got a MB minisuite for the price of a MD minisuite.   We got $250 OBC each for a total of $500 OBC.  We got paid gratuities for a total of $868.  If I purchase the Premium Beverage Package, it would cost $4000 for both of us and the Wi-Fi would be at least $400 for both of us. (I can’t seem to get a definitive price for the unlimited MedallionNet.)

 

If I refare under the Best Sale Ever promo, I would need to pay full amount for the MB mini, lose the $500 OBC and the prepaid gratuities would be a wash.  PBP and Wi-Fi would now be included in the new fare for the MB.

So here is the big question for me:  According to the example in that FAQ, we could keep our 3 for free conditions and go through our travel agent and get the PBP and Wi-Fi for a $25 pp upcharge?  ($1400 for both of us for 28 days, plus we are keeping the $500 OBC?)  Am I reading this incorrectly or am I right?

Subsequent posts to this one corrected your assumptions on pricing situation.  The perk packages can simply be treated as add-ons to existing bookings.  They come in different combinations, in order to suit different recent promos.  This seems to be something new Princess is trying.  It seems to come from two angles - one is to simplify all the scrambling and re-faring that goes on when a new sale begins in order to get new goodies.  And second to hopefully sell more stuff to folks who are booked and not interested in the rigamarole of re-faring/re-booking.  I think this is great.  However, I played with the Wifi/PBP combo - for which about 90% of the price would be allocated to drinks - and it still probably would not be worth for us.  But I can well imagine it creates a value proposition for many folks.

 

I wanted to respond to your internet statement and not getting a definitive price.  I have posted a lot about MedallionNet pricing on CC, including price charts by length of voyage.  You did have it correct about being able to add-on an amenities package with the new sale.

 

Your Cruise Personalizer should be providing the pre-cruise pricing for 1-device and 4-device plans.  For your cruise,  I would expect those to be $130 and $375 respectively.  I am not 100% certain on the $375 as I based it on $15/day for 25 days.  It is irrelevant in any case as you would go for the on board price for anything >= $300 pre-cruise. 

 

On board, the 1-device plan is $150, or $112.50 if you have Platinum/Elite status.  The 4-device plan is $300, or $225 if you have status.  If this is not definitive enough, you can call Princess and if get a knowledgeable rep, they have the pricing chart as well. 

 

I did the math for a couple of 10-night cruises we have booked in Winter 2021.  In our case, the MedallionNet value is almost nothing per day as we will share a 4-device package with our friends.  It is just over $3/day/person (~$3.20).  That leaves ~$22/day/person.  I normally BYOW and pay corkage if asked.  I could forego that and we drink wine by the glass each night at dinner.  Without going into further minutiae of our situation, if we consumed about three other total drinks per day between us, plus maybe a coffee, the add-on package would be worthwhile.  Strange as it may seem, we do not regularly have that many drinks on the ship.  We might have something when off in port during the day, but would need a lot of sea days to make it worth it for us.  But everyone is different.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

I was a bit unclear on the add on option.  Does it look like only one cabin member could purchase the upgrade (like drinks)?  It looks like new bookings require both, but I'm not clear if only one could do it as an add on option.

 

What will be interesting is when it might make sense to rebook vs purchasing the add on(s).  That we won't know until the new fares come out.  I bet the TA's won't be lovin' this one all that much.

I believe both passengers in a cabin need to take the same amenities. Also looking at the statement to TAs, they said 'you will keep your commissions ....' So it looked like TAs were being accommodated.

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24 minutes ago, casofilia said:

I see we are being discriminated against yet AGAIN.

 

 and is only available to residents of 50 United States or D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico. 

Yes we are - we never get anything like this.   Starting to get sick of it and thinking of jumping ship to another company.  Though I am seriously considering having my own sale on my next cruise - free gratuities? - yes please - just don't pay them!

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I have been an advocate for paying the Gratuities/Daily Service Charge very actively in the past.   The more I sail with Princess the less I am happy with their attitude, those in high places not the ground floor staff who I find excellent.  At some point, it looks like it is getting closer every time I travel, I am going to switch sides and ask for the CHARGE to be removed so I can see to my own gratuities.

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23 minutes ago, casofilia said:

I have been an advocate for paying the Gratuities/Daily Service Charge very actively in the past.   The more I sail with Princess the less I am happy with their attitude, those in high places not the ground floor staff who I find excellent.  At some point, it looks like it is getting closer every time I travel, I am going to switch sides and ask for the CHARGE to be removed so I can see to my own gratuities.

 

The last cruise I booked happened to be during the 3 for free sale - not available to Australians of course.   So I was thinking maybe I am paying less and that's fair then, but I checked the price of my cabin grade with an American friend and I was paying a very similar price (less than $50 difference) but with no OBC or free gratuities.   How is that fair?

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On 12/5/2019 at 2:39 PM, lstone19 said:

We're currently booked for January 2021 under the Cyber Sale. One key difference I see is that the Cyber Sale included Internet is one 4-device plan for one guest (so one plan to be shared by all stateroom occupants) while the Best Sale Ever is one 1-device plan for each guest. My wife and I shared a 4-device plan on our last cruise and it was nice being able to have both the phone and computer on at the same time for each of us. 

 

Not withstanding what Princess says the PBP is worth, for us, it's worth no more than $30 a day combined (and no, neither of us wants to drink more just because it's included). I'll take a look when fares are published but looking at the sample fares on the flyer and comparing to current Cyber Sale prices we may be looking at about $30 more per day for the Best Sale Ever.

 

A quick check for us is about the same I think. We are not big drinkers, so that benefit of the "Best Sale" isn't attractive. I asked our TA to check it out in more detail to confirm my quick check.

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39 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

 

A quick check for us is about the same I think. We are not big drinkers, so that benefit of the "Best Sale" isn't attractive. I asked our TA to check it out in more detail to confirm my quick check.

 

Given the way I'm understanding it, you don't need to be big drinkers to make it worthwhile. For us, we'd be looking at $30 p/p p/d adding gratuities and beverages. Since gratuities are currently $14.50 p/p p/d, between the two of us, we only need to spend $31 per day combined to make it worthwhile. While we could keep our beverage spending under $31 per day (only one of us drinks alcohol), I'd still do this because there are things I could try and because it essentially makes those extra drinks we're not currently buying worth it. Our spending on our most recent cruise puts us well within one alcoholic beverage of pushing us over that $31 per day average. Two alcoholic beverages per person per day makes that beverages and gratuities add on worth it.

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5 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

Given the way I'm understanding it, you don't need to be big drinkers to make it worthwhile. For us, we'd be looking at $30 p/p p/d adding gratuities and beverages. Since gratuities are currently $14.50 p/p p/d, between the two of us, we only need to spend $31 per day combined to make it worthwhile. While we could keep our beverage spending under $31 per day (only one of us drinks alcohol), I'd still do this because there are things I could try and because it essentially makes those extra drinks we're not currently buying worth it. Our spending on our most recent cruise puts us well within one alcoholic beverage of pushing us over that $31 per day average. Two alcoholic beverages per person per day makes that beverages and gratuities add on worth it.

Yeah, I follow your reasoning. It might be close between our current fare and this "Best" one. Right now we have a total of $560 credits (Princess and TA OBC, MIL, and Stock Owner Benefit).  I also put a value of $130 on the Princess sale perks of their two bottles of wine voucher, free internet, and one night specialty dining). The last is of course purely subjective. But combining the $560 and $130 gives an idea of what that sale is worth to me. Of course, the MIL and Stock Benefit would be included in any Princess fare as an OBC, so that part is a wash.

It's getting so one needs to be an accountant to figure out these "sales".😎

Doug

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29 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

While we could keep our beverage spending under $31 per day (only one of us drinks alcohol), I'd still do this because there are things I could try and because it essentially makes those extra drinks we're not currently buying worth it.

 

 

Does the Premier Beverage package include bottled water on Princess (I can’t remember if it’s just Celebrity that does)? 

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I currently have Sip and Sail. I also prepurchased 1 device internet for around $70 for an 11 night sailing. Does anyone know how this sale might effect me? I'd love to have internet for all of us and paid gratuities but not interested if there's a huge jump in fare. I was actually able to get my fare lowered 2 times during the S&S.

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24 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Does the Premier Beverage package include bottled water on Princess (I can’t remember if it’s just Celebrity that does)? 

Yes it includes bottled water (the 500ml size only). Does not include the ones in the Mini Bar (unless it is part of your free Elite or full suite setup). 

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7 hours ago, casofilia said:

I see we are being discriminated against yet AGAIN.

 

 and is only available to residents of 50 United States or D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico. 

 

7 hours ago, datone said:

Yes we are - we never get anything like this.   Starting to get sick of it and thinking of jumping ship to another company.  Though I am seriously considering having my own sale on my next cruise - free gratuities? - yes please - just don't pay them!

I hear you all the way from the land down under.  I saw another post just this morning where someone from the UK mentioned the "Best. Sale. Ever." was coming to the UK.  So, it might find it's way to Australia/NZ later in 2020.

 

One of you posted not getting 3FF sale.  Not true I would say.  We were on Majestic (NZ cruise) in Feb 2019 and I did a double-take one day as I walked past a large poster promoting the 3FF sale.  I relaxed after realizing it was the Australian 3FF sale - not the N.A. one I am used to.

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 Paper & Fluffy unless I am misreading the  Retro Guideline info in the TA link, you can keep existing fare and amenities and pay extra per person per day for additional amenities

"When we compare the fare for Best Sale Ever with our previous sales, we see that the vast majority of guests still have the best fare for their cruise. However, if your clients would like add some or all of the Best. Sale. Ever. amenities, while keeping their existing fare and amenities, they can do so for a modest upcharge using Offer Codes "

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