Keep in mind too, that the 30% is based on the Princess Pricing, not necessarily your TA's price.
Also, historically, Princess only asked for deposits per cabin, not per person...so if you had a triple or quad it was the same deposit as a double. Now the 30% is calculated on the total for the cabin...something that could turn families away...
I would prefer they keep a lower deposit initially and add a second deposit half way between the initial deposit and the final deposit, if they are that upset about cancellations at final payment.
I am going to clarify a little...
By per cabin, I mean typically $500 per cabin based on the typical double occupancy for a 7 day cruise... $250 per person but ONLY for the first and second passenger.
and yes 30% per cabin total of the cruise fare as initially stated in the princess article...and this could be more than the old deposit based on first and second only! And, this is what I meant could turn families away...sometimes it is hard to come up with that initial deposit, and I do feel requiring a second deposit rather than a possibly higher initial deposit would be better
For our upcoming cruise I was planning on put down all but a $1,000 dollars as a deposit, but then we talked a I'm now booking my sister cabin so we can get them together and she will be wiring me her money so it's now a be chunck of money at 30% deposit.
For clarification purposes, Princess said the 30% deposit would be based on the cruise fare. For the purpose of deposits, they determine the cruise fare to be the cruise fare and port fees combined, which is the price you will see advertised or quoted for a cruise. This does not include the taxes or fuel supplement.
And yes, it is 30% of the cruise fare for everyone in the cabin. The deposit is currently only for the first two in a cabin even if you have more than two. Whereas the new policy requires a deposit based on the cruise fare for everyone in the cabin.
Needless to say, this is a substantial increase. For example; I have a group going to Alaska in July 2009. Had they booked their suites this year, the deposit was $900 per cabin, but next year it's over $2500! Who wants to tie up that kind of money for 15 months?
I have no doubt this will affect bookings.
And, like Canarymoon, I wonder if this is a test to see how it flies before implementing it company-wide. And if it's successful, I'm sure other cruise lines will follow suit.
Hopefully, there will be enough lost bookings that they'll change their minds on this. I would hate to see this start a new trend.
What is amazing to me is tthe cruiselines have been consistantly changing rules, dress code, dining, all to get families and the "regular, comfy, lower income, not rich" to be able to sail, Now they hang us out to dry. The people that can afford this will not be amused buy the recent changes!!
I'm a little confused. Why doesn't everyone pay the $100- for future cruises while your on your Princess cruise. While everyone(family and friends) are now booked for a 10 day cruise those that didn't pay for a future cruise had a deposit of $900.per cabin and my DH and I had our $200 deposit and to top it off we have $200 on board credit for doing it while on the ship. We are definitely going to do it again. What I read about past passengers, does that have to do with platinum members?
That is something we will have to look at in October on the Crown. Since this is our first Princess cruise we need to educate ourselves on the ins and outs of their policies.
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New Policies & Deposit Amounts for Princess
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