Plus/Premier pricing question

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

I think that the packages are $60 and $80 and there is a single cruiser charge being added, The terms and conditions state that the first two passengers have to both have the same package so they are striving for $120-$160 per day per cabin. As a solo cruiser they get $60-$80 so it appears that they are trying to recoup some “lost” revenue. It would be nice if they published this fact. 

Except, when I look at pricing for double occupancy, it's still over the $60/80, as I noted above. It comes in at $7 pp over the 60/80, for an extra $14 per night, which is slightly less than the amount it's over for a solo booking.

Either way, Princess is advertising left, right, center that Plus is $60 a day and Premier is $80 per day - nowhere do they mention any single supplement for buying it as a solo, nor should there be as it doesn't change any metrics.. and they're charging the extra amounts on double occupancy anyways, so it's not some single supplement item anyways... 

Heck, I just picked a random cruise, a 5 night Caribbean October 31, 2023 on CB, and the Plus is coming in at $65.80 a night, and Premier is coming in at the same $5.80 over per night, double occupancy interior cabin . 

When I look at balcony pricing on that exact cruise, the Plus comes in at $69.80 per night, almost $10 more per night than it's advertised as... And Premier, again, $89.80.. that's a major price hikes... 

 

So honestly, what the heck? It's not a consistent amount over, but it's definitely not the $60/80 they're listing everywhere - so absolutely pays to do your due diligence and simple math - and boom standard and add Plus/Premier over the phone later, or at boarding, when it's actually $60/80 and not done random extra amounts.. 

 

I get a company wanting to make money, I get the hike in the prices of the packages recently and all that - but the extra charges over what's stated as the amount of the cruise packages is, well, interesting.... And they're likely adding hundreds of thousands to their bottom line with the extra $50-100 or so $$$ per booking as people automatically pick Plus or Premier without doing the basic math on the price difference between the standard and bundled fares . .ore power to them, but it's deceptive, to say the least. 

 

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, reedprincess said:

St Lucia doesn't have regional pricing, or pricing at all. We can't book via Princess com - have to book through an authorized ta, which is based on US, go figure. They don't even have Caribbean based agents. 

This pricing is straight from Princess website as I am currently physically in the US, looking at the US site. 

And as you can see from other posters, they're getting the same thing 

 

Okay, I take your word for how St Lucia works.  But I have only seen one other poster report similar pricing anomaly (I think).  And certainly this anomaly is not universal, so a mystery remains as to why and how it is affecting selected guests.

[trbarton]

Has anyone used the “CHAT” feature. I would be curious as to what they would say. 
 

Tom🤔

[Redwing55]

30 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Okay, I take your word for how St Lucia works.  But I have only seen one other poster report similar pricing anomaly (I think).  And certainly this anomaly is not universal, so a mystery remains as to why and how it is affecting selected guests.

You may be referring to me.  I'm in that boat.  And FWIW, I was randomly looking at another cruise while on one, just for grins. This was also before we were planning to go again.   I too noticed that the differential from a no frills fare and the packages wound up being more than the $60/80/day.  I blew it off  at the time.  Then we booked this 14 day and found a similar thing.  But this time, I never actually saw this lower fare anywhere.  It was lower than the Princess site.. quite a bit.

I don't have an explanation other than my TA told me right off the bat that our fare is some special.. It was booked while the recent Best Every  Sale was on... Late Feb '23.  So she said I could get the PP, but the base fare would be higher and I couldn't add the package to my lower fare.  She rebooks for me often, so I know she wasn't being lazy.  We've been with her for years.

 

And I don't know if this is boilerplate but this was part of our confirmation.

"Please be advised this selected special promotion is not combinable with select discounts."

It's this language that makes me think the my pricing is one that won't allow me to add the PP package.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Redwing55

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

Except, when I look at pricing for double occupancy, it's still over the $60/80, as I noted above. It comes in at $7 pp over the 60/80, for an extra $14 per night, which is slightly less than the amount it's over for a solo booking.

Either way, Princess is advertising left, right, center that Plus is $60 a day and Premier is $80 per day - nowhere do they mention any single supplement for buying it as a solo, nor should there be as it doesn't change any metrics.. and they're charging the extra amounts on double occupancy anyways, so it's not some single supplement item anyways... 

Heck, I just picked a random cruise, a 5 night Caribbean October 31, 2023 on CB, and the Plus is coming in at $65.80 a night, and Premier is coming in at the same $5.80 over per night, double occupancy interior cabin . 

When I look at balcony pricing on that exact cruise, the Plus comes in at $69.80 per night, almost $10 more per night than it's advertised as... And Premier, again, $89.80.. that's a major price hikes... 

 

So honestly, what the heck? It's not a consistent amount over, but it's definitely not the $60/80 they're listing everywhere - so absolutely pays to do your due diligence and simple math - and boom standard and add Plus/Premier over the phone later, or at boarding, when it's actually $60/80 and not done random extra amounts.. 

 

I get a company wanting to make money, I get the hike in the prices of the packages recently and all that - but the extra charges over what's stated as the amount of the cruise packages is, well, interesting.... And they're likely adding hundreds of thousands to their bottom line with the extra $50-100 or so $$$ per booking as people automatically pick Plus or Premier without doing the basic math on the price difference between the standard and bundled fares . .ore power to them, but it's deceptive, to say the least. 

 

What did the customer service agent tell you when you called?  Glitches happen on the website. Is anyone at Princess telling you that Plus costs more that $60/$80 when you speak with them?

[reedprincess]

For some good extra fun, Sky Princess 14 night sailing, March 18. Double occupancy. Interior room, for basics.. 

Plus comes out to $53.57 per night, while Premier comes out to $73.57

Talk about discrepancy!  Plus actually LESS than advertised, Premier a good $13.57 more! 

Weird . 

 

And - this is via Princess website, physically located in the US, connected to US website and pricing.. 

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Okay, I take your word for how St Lucia works.  But I have only seen one other poster report similar pricing anomaly (I think).  And certainly this anomaly is not universal, so a mystery remains as to why and how it is affecting selected guests.

The OP of this post is seeing the same anomaly in pricing, plus the other poster with their special pricing , etc. 

 

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

What did the customer service agent tell you when you called?  Glitches happen on the website. Is anyone at Princess telling you that Plus costs more that $60/$80 when you speak with them?

Chat agent confirmed pricing on the several cruises I had checked, and had no explanation. Those are the prices the agent had also.  Agent suggested buying Standard and adding package later.  Go figure. 

My TA, also showed same price discrepancy, so it's not some computer glitch or operator error, as I'm not the only one seeing the cruise packages being more expensive.. 

 

[smplybcause]

Well - I don't know what's happening, but at least I know it's not just me and know how to get the package for the advertised price now! Thanks for the help. 

[BuzzBuzzen]

21 hours ago, trbarton said:

Has anyone used the “CHAT” feature. I would be curious as to what they would say. 
 

Tom🤔

I used the live chat feature at the bottom of the Princess web page. I am in Australia. Some one replied promptly and were able to help with some payment and deposit issues I was having at the time. The live chat people seem , in my case, to be able to do a lot more than the call centre staff. Cheers, Buzz.

[bjkTX]

I did a review of some Alaska cruises I received an email about - most were in the next 3-4 months.  One of the things I noted was on a 14 day cruise the mini suite was only $100 more per person (total for the cruise) and the price with "Premium" was the same as with the "Plus" package.  I sent my TA a note asking her to verify what I was seeing - and asking if she could tell what cabins were actually available since they were all "Stateroom to be determined later."  She verified the pricing was what it showed on the website and gave me a listing of the available balcony and mini suite cabins.  All (or most) were way forward which we don't prefer so I dropped it - but it was interesting and it'll make me check out more of the last minute deals!