How I Negotiated/Parlayed My Way to a Princess Mini Suite Comped Cruise Worth Over $10K! (Search For the Northern Lights Sailing)

How was I able to parlay a single Atlantic City trip into tens of thousands of dollars in free travel? First step was to complete the casino status match jackpot – read this for all the details.

I then took it further and directly matched to cruise lines – this post covers the specifics with matching to Princess Cruise Line (PCL) – and crazy enough, this was my third comp cruise booked via matching and ended up being the most insane / lucrative parlay from that AC trip!

HOW TO: Direct Match to Princess (PCL)

PCL Casino Comped Cruise Offer – 2023

• Offer Type PCLMatch 1: Complimentary Interior Cabin Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/ New England on 2023/2024 sailings (blackout dates may apply and subject to availability) 
• 10 day max length and I didn’t run into issues re blackout dates, surcharges for dates nor availability but there was no way to pay for a longer sailing (MSC allows you to pay for extra days beyond the 10 day cruise offered)
• $200 NON refundable deposit per person to book: will credit as non-refundable on-board credit (OBC )at time of sailing (or be charged as fee if cruise is cancelled)
• Cruise fare is comped for two persons but you are responsible for port fees/taxes AND daily staff gratuities
• Unlike Holland America (which is also part of Carnival) which gives you a guarantee room, the rep will help you locate and book an available stateroom
• MY EXPERIENCE: I was able to book a New Years sailing Southern Caribbean Medley Sailing which was not subject to a holiday nor special sailing restriction– (I had booked the Alaska cruise using the above offer after this booking in December 2023)

HOW Princess Comped Cruise Offers Changed in 2024

• Same link to direct match: https://oceanplayersclub.com/princessmatch/
• In some ways, things got better with Princess in 2024 as you were potentially able to match to better staterooms and longer sailings as others I knew were getting up to 11 day balcony offers!
• After April 15, 2024: PCL has specified that they are looking:
  • for a comped hotel stay with free play
    • Your Atlantis offer from Caesars Diamond would suffice: this would need to be booked but note that you are able to cancel without penalty if done at least 7 days prior to your stay
  • Or an offer from a different cruise line
    • Note that Princess is part of Carnival so they are no longer allowing a Carnival or Holland America comped cruise offers to match for a comp cruise

AND HOW Did I Manage to Score a Mini-Suite worth over $10,000?!

I submitted my offer and received an email back the same day from the PCL casino rep asking if I was available for a call to discuss what I was looking for and a request to resubmit images (I was putting too many images in the files so they were not loading). Princess does not allow you to pay a fee to take a longer sailing (I became obsessed with the idea of taking this Search for the Northern Lights sailing when looking at my choices) but my rep did tell me that if I was able to submit a mini-suite offer, that would be allow me to book a sailing up to 16 days.

Okay then, challenge accepted! I went back and forth between the cruise lines and URComped with offers – and then….finally I was given some comp junior suites from Royal Caribbean! It did take a couple days for Princess to conclude that their mini-suite and Royal’s junior suite but finally an okay from a manager and I was able to book this cruise!

WHY You Should Risk a “No” for the chance, it’s a “YES”

I didn’t know if Princess would grant another comp cruise considering I had booked both a 7 Night Alaska and 10 Night Southern Caribbean cruise in 2023, but I figured the worst outcome is they tell me no, go kick rocks and the best is that I would get a balcony (based on what others had said they were being offered).

FYI: there wasn’t anything underhanded about this submission – same email as my previous submissions to Princess and I gave my loyalty number when booking so I did not try to play it off as I was a completely different/new person. As with many things in the travel hacking world, YMMV and this showcases why it is always a good idea to try and ask!

It’s crazy right? The interiors were starting from $4,016 per stateroom and the mini-suites were going for over $10,000 – I only paid $105 for taxes, fees & port expenses!

Next post will dive into what did this free cruise really cost me.

PCL Casino Comp Cruise Tips

Until I have a What I Wish I Knew Before Booking/Sailing on My Princess Comp Cruise post….

• There are only XX number of rooms allocated for casino comps so book as early as possible since suites + mini-suites are in high demand/many casino regulars get these offers.
• Able to add Princess Plus and Princess Premier Package at any time including onboard (within the first two days of your cruise) – why would you wait to add?
  • If you have travel insurance, you will need to include this in your pricing and your premium would accordingly go up
  • If you cancel, you will lose % of the additions according to PCL’s cancellation schedule
• Able to Upgrade stateroom at time of booking
• If sailing is not full, upgrade offers may be emailed out
• If sailing is full, move over offers may be emailed out (I hilariously tried to negotiate with them on this but others had taken advantage of the offer before I reached out – I am curious if I would have been successful).