We have been part of the Captain's Circle for the last 5 years. We have never received any stand by promotions ever. Sometimes, we'll get last minute bargains, but they are within at least two to three months of sailing. Not sure if the stand by feature really exists. Maybe someone else in the Captain's Circle might have different views on this. I'm curious to hear any else's thoughts.
Posts: 143 | Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: July 09, 2006
Welcome, lakewiew; and hello choochella, I also have been signed up for the stand-by program for some time and never received any last minute offers. We too get specials several months out, and once I received an e-mail offer at about a month out, but there was no indication it was part of the stand-by program. I also would love to hear from someone who actually got a last minute (like 2-3 weeks) offer. Even if they always sold out you would think there would be a few cancellations--or maybe we're just not far enough up the priority ladder.
Posts: 3426 | Location: Costa Mesa, California | Registered: November 16, 2006
My 96 year old parents were not going to go on the Xmas Coral Princess family cruise with about 18 family members because of various issues of the aging process. But they finally decided to go. I had not booked a stateroom though I was waitlisted on the completely full ship. I decided at the last minute that I was going to the port, something everyone said would not get me a booking because of security concerns and a completely booked holiday cruise.
Thanks to some incredibly good luck and weather delayed flights, I was able to get a stateroom. I do not recommend this form of booking because it was a nail biter, complete with a long cell phone conversation with several members of the Princess booking team.
But it was worth it because I got to see family members I have not seen in years and one young family member (three years old) who I met for the first time!
The Princess staff was superb in making the voyage memorable.
We've also signed up for the Princess last minute specials but never heard much about them. You would think that they would be tickled to have someone occupying the cabin even at a reduced rate it's better than nothing at all.