Just got an email outlining the "NEW" offerings

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

More to make their cabins available to those that spend more.

 

It has not been that long since they made the lowest category in each meta category guarantee non refundable.  Which is where one would expect budget focused folks to book.

 

Now these changes that hit mostly the basic fares passengers.

 

Seems line a bit of a trend.

I am wondering how many guests are still booking the lead-in GTY categories with Non-Ref deposits.  If insufficient, how can Princess fill the cabins since they cannot place a guest in anything lower than they booked.  I suppose a low OV can be placed in a BF and a BF in a DF and a DF in a ME if necessary.  Or they could even move a BA to a DF and it's an upgrade to Princess.  Anyway, it would be interesting to know if this experiment is working in their favor or not.

[PescadoAmarillo]

9 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Today is the roll out of the new rules on Emerald.  I was REALLY surprised to find a first day boarding guide advertising OceanNow as available on my ap and stateroom TV that will find me even if I move. And delivery is always free.  

Whoops!  
 

What a perfectly timed cruise to help you unwind. I hope it’s an enjoyable one.
 

And I agree completely about the length of the cruise impacting the decision about getting a package or not, even without the silly “two times per cruise” limits. I just hope it doesn’t result in a shortening of itineraries. It’s clear that the pier diem on board revenue is inversely related to cruise length. The HGM on the World Cruise said as much. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by PescadoAmarillo

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

And I agree completely about the length of the cruise impacting the decision about getting a package or not, even without the silly “two times per cruise” limits. I just hope it doesn’t result in a shortening of itineraries. It’s clear that the pier diem board revenue is inversely related to cruise length. 

I can't see how that would make much difference in savings since the cost of the port stop is passed on to each person.

[SCX22]

17 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I am wondering how many guests are still booking the lead-in GTY categories with Non-Ref deposits.  If insufficient, how can Princess fill the cabins since they cannot place a guest in anything lower than they booked.  I suppose a low OV can be placed in a BF and a BF in a DF and a DF in a ME if necessary.  Or they could even move a BA to a DF and it's an upgrade to Princess.  Anyway, it would be interesting to know if this experiment is working in their favor or not.

 

Raises hand🖐️. 

My group of friends prefer to book Drop and Go fares after final payment has past, around the 80 day mark for most of the cruises we take.  The non-ref deposit doesn't really matter with the lead in fares because once past final payment since it's past the point of no return.  On Princess we always, book IF, BW, or BF guarantee (no upcharge on DW guarantee to choose cabin, but will will still book guarantee), depending on how scenic/port intensive the itinerary, and have been have pretty fortunate with at least location upgrade when the cabin is assigned.

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Raises hand🖐️. 

My group of friends prefer to book Drop and Go fares after final payment has past, around the 80 day mark for most of the cruises we take.  The non-ref deposit doesn't really matter with the lead in fares because once past final payment since it's past the point of no return.  On Princess we always, book IF, BW, or BF guarantee (no upcharge on DW guarantee to choose cabin, but will will still book guarantee), depending on how scenic/port intensive the itinerary, and have been have pretty fortunate with at least location upgrade when the cabin is assigned.

Gotcha, but I was opining about more normal advance bookings.  I realize Drop 'n' Go's are fully payable and non-refundable.  And choice can be limited.

 

Yes, I find it odd that DW comes with Ref Dep if booking in advance.  It is a nice situation as some of them are great on Royal Class.

[PescadoAmarillo]

10 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I can't see how that would make much difference in savings since the cost of the port stop is passed on to each person.

It’s because per diem on board spending drops with cruise length. 

[Tigrou]

11 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

I think that's part of the plan. To weed out some of the Standard Fare penny pinchers. 

 

 

This particular "Standard Fare penny pincher" pays double fare because I travel solo (for which the blame falls squarely on my husband for so inconsiderately dying long before he should have).  Despite that, and despite being from Yorkshire where 'penny pinching' is genetic, if the Plus or Premier package was of any value to me then I'd buy it.  But it isn't, so I don't.

 

I've become accustomed to the fact that some on these boards already consider me a parasite because I travel solo.  Now it seems being a Standard Fare passenger gives me 2 entries on the list of undesirables!

 

 

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

It’s because per diem on board spending drops with cruise length. 

I forgot about those 4 day trips where people spend like crazy. 😄

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Tigrou said:

 

This particular "Standard Fare penny pincher" pays double fare because I travel solo (for which the blame falls squarely on my husband for so inconsiderately dying long before he should have).  Despite that, and despite being from Yorkshire where 'penny pinching' is genetic, if the Plus or Premier package was of any value to me then I'd buy it.  But it isn't, so I don't.

 

I've become accustomed to the fact that some on these boards already consider me a parasite because I travel solo.  Now it seems being a Standard Fare passenger gives me 2 entries on the list of undesirables!

 

 

 

Don't I recall that NCL now offers single cabins. ????

Maybe it was another cruise line???

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Tigrou said:

 

This particular "Standard Fare penny pincher" pays double fare because I travel solo (for which the blame falls squarely on my husband for so inconsiderately dying long before he should have).  Despite that, and despite being from Yorkshire where 'penny pinching' is genetic, if the Plus or Premier package was of any value to me then I'd buy it.  But it isn't, so I don't.

 

I've become accustomed to the fact that some on these boards already consider me a parasite because I travel solo.  Now it seems being a Standard Fare passenger gives me 2 entries on the list of undesirables!

 

 

 

There's many cruises currently available without the solo supplement. You just have to look for them. 

[reedprincess]

22 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Don't I recall that NCL now offers single cabins. ????

Maybe it was another cruise line???

Multiple lines offer solo cabins. They're generally smaller than a 2 person cabin, and cost 2/3 of what a "full size" or 2 person cabin would be.. 

[memoak]

42 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I forgot about those 4 day trips where people spend like crazy. 😄

We book b2b cruises and it is fun to sit at Crooners having an eye opener and watching the long lines of 7 day cruisers lined up to get off the ship because they only have 8 hours to see and do everything 

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

There's many cruises currently available without the solo supplement. You just have to look for them. 

 

Trust me, I do look. 

But the reality is that cruises without a solo supplement are like the proverbial rocking horse manure.  

 

 

[startedwithamouse]

2 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

 

Trust me, I do look. 

But the reality is that cruises without a solo supplement are like the proverbial rocking horse manure.  

 

 

What does that even mean?

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Well they haven't weeded us out yet, only made me think of various ways to circumvent all their extra charge items and still enjoy our trips without having to spent extra thousands to cruise. 

It is kind of easy to do.  Do you really need to have room service?  I did it twice on a cruise back in the 80's and have not done it since.  Do you really need to have a drink delivered to you?  You can just walk up to a bar, and this would be infrequent anyway since you don't have a drinks package.

The only change that really hurts the basic fare cruiser is the charge at Alfredo's and this can be circumvented by eating the inferior pizza at Slice.

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Don't I recall that NCL now offers single cabins. ????

Maybe it was another cruise line???

NCL has solo cabins on their Breakaway, Breakaway Plus and Prima Class ships.  RCI has them on their newer builds, Celebrity also has them on their newer builds and finally Virgin Voyages.

[cruising.mark.uk]

42 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

But the reality is that cruises without a solo supplement are like the proverbial rocking horse manure.  

What does that even mean?

In the UK at least, that means 'virtually impossible to find'.

[Guest ldtr]

5 hours ago, Tigrou said:

 

This particular "Standard Fare penny pincher" pays double fare because I travel solo (for which the blame falls squarely on my husband for so inconsiderately dying long before he should have).  Despite that, and despite being from Yorkshire where 'penny pinching' is genetic, if the Plus or Premier package was of any value to me then I'd buy it.  But it isn't, so I don't.

 

I've become accustomed to the fact that some on these boards already consider me a parasite because I travel solo.  Now it seems being a Standard Fare passenger gives me 2 entries on the list of undesirables!

 

 

 

Not necessarily because filling a 2 person cabin with a solo (with normal double fare) that spends on board reduces total revenue an average of 17.5%.  Where as if there is no or very little on board spend the revenue would be the same down 35% as a couple with minimal on board spend.

 

Which is why when you have a business where you are limited by number of cabins maximizing revenue per cabin is a critical business metric.

 

Not just Princess. Oceania just changed their fare structures. Now base fare includes both a $400 excursion credit and a basic drink package. Under the old system both of those were removable and the fare lower, now they cannot be removed. If I had booked my next cruise with them instead of under the old system my fare would have been $800 per person higher.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by ldtr

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It is kind of easy to do.  Do you really need to have room service?  I did it twice on a cruise back in the 80's and have not done it since.  Do you really need to have a drink delivered to you?  You can just walk up to a bar, and this would be infrequent anyway since you don't have a drinks package.

The only change that really hurts the basic fare cruiser is the charge at Alfredo's and this can be circumvented by eating the inferior pizza at Slice.

Biggest issue is if one is feeling ill they cannot just stay in their room and order room service without one charge or the other. 

[memoak]

52 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

 

Trust me, I do look. 

But the reality is that cruises without a solo supplement are like the proverbial rocking horse manure.  

 

 

 

50 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

What does that even mean?

What you think you see might not be real. Rocking horse looked beautiful in the store window but when they tried to ride it it feel apart because it was cheaply made. Classic movie moment

[cruising.mark.uk]

22 minutes ago, memoak said:

 

What you think you see might not be real. Rocking horse looked beautiful in the store window but when they tried to ride it it feel apart because it was cheaply made. Classic movie moment

lol - maybe this is another one of those phrases that doesn't cross the Atlantic very well.  In the UK it means something that is extremely rare to find, probably something that is non-existent.  And that meaning comes from the fact that rocking horses don't produce manure 🤣

[SCX22]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Gotcha, but I was opining about more normal advance bookings.  I realize Drop 'n' Go's are fully payable and non-refundable.  And choice can be limited.

 

We always browse an online TA's website for comparison of prices.  The TA's website breaks down the fares into meta and location categories.  I've noticed that the lowest location categories, more often than not, aren't completely sold out by the time Drop and Go rates pop up.  We're still able to book them.  Hard to figure out the percentage booked because the cabins are completely blocked from the reservation deck plans.

 

Having said that, believe it or not, the lowest meta category isn't always the cheapest.  Sometimes there is an over abundance of cabins in higher locations categories and the said categories are priced on par or lower than the lowest meta category.  Sometimes a BF will price lower than a BW.  It all depends on how well a particular sailing sells.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It is kind of easy to do.  Do you really need to have room service?  I did it twice on a cruise back in the 80's and have not done it since.  Do you really need to have a drink delivered to you?  You can just walk up to a bar, and this would be infrequent anyway since you don't have a drinks package.

The only change that really hurts the basic fare cruiser is the charge at Alfredo's and this can be circumvented by eating the inferior pizza at Slice.

Unless you're on the Majestic.

[SCX22]

2 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Unless you're on the Majestic.

 

Pizza is always on offer at the buffet on the Majestic.  Despite what others say, Pretty sure that the buffet pizzas come from Alfredo's.  Not sure where else they would bake them.

[startedwithamouse]

5 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Pizza is always on offer at the buffet on the Majestic.  Despite what others say, Pretty sure that the buffet pizzas come from Alfredo's.  Not sure where else they would bake them.

We were told by chef de cuisine they don't have the capacity to make the buffet pizza at Alfredo's.

 

Majestic doesn't have a Slice.

 

Who did you speak with?

Edited August 22, 2023 by startedwithamouse