Changing from travel agent to self-booking

I booked my August 30th southbound Land and Cruise tour of Alaska through a travel agent highly recommended by friends. So far, all she has done is make things more difficult: she doesn't return calls or e-mails for weeks at a time, hasn't added anything to what I could book myself, and having a travel agent has meant that I am not able to make changes myself. This has just been frustrating and doesn't seem to add a thing. I have not yet made my final payment.

I am thinking of sending the required letter to Princess, changing my booking from the travel agent to myself so that I can deal with my booking myself. When I called Princess, they said that I had not gotten any special group discounts and that changing to myself would not change anything about my booking at all. However, I have also heard that sometimes calling a random Princess rep might not get me accurate information.

So, could there be any negative consequences of making this switch? Has anyone done this? Any problems or tips?

It is possible the TA has quoted you a discounted amount. You would lose this if it is the case. Princess would not know this, they would only know about group space. So confirm with them that your price would be the same (comparing your invoice with what Princess says).

If everything is the same, you can do that easily as explained by the Princess agent. If the price is different, you can still do it but you would lose the discounted amount.

No negatives except I wouldn't expect to use the agent again, though I doubt you would anyway.

So this TA did not discount your fare nor add any additional benefits like OBC, specialty dining, strawberries, etc?

If they did you would lose that most likely. If they didn't add anything you really do have the wrong TA. Regardless the lack of communication is unacceptable. Good luck with what you decide!

You also need to verify that there will not be any cancelation penalty imposed by the TA

You also need to verify that there will not be any cancelation penalty imposed by the TA

I could be wrong but if Princess pulls this back, I am not sure if they can enforce a cancellation fee. If they cancelled and booked direct with Princess, they could.

I could be wrong.

You also need to verify that there will not be any cancelation penalty imposed by the TA

This is very true. But unless you signed a contract with them, I don't believe a TA can "enforce" a cancelation penalty even if they insist that their agency has one. There won't be any money coming back from Princess--it will just roll over to the independent situation.

I booked my August 30th southbound Land and Cruise tour of Alaska through a travel agent highly recommended by friends. So far, all she has done is make things more difficult: she doesn't return calls or e-mails for weeks at a time, hasn't added anything to what I could book myself, and having a travel agent has meant that I am not able to make changes myself. This has just been frustrating and doesn't seem to add a thing. I have not yet made my final payment.

I am thinking of sending the required letter to Princess, changing my booking from the travel agent to myself so that I can deal with my booking myself. When I called Princess, they said that I had not gotten any special group discounts and that changing to myself would not change anything about my booking at all. However, I have also heard that sometimes calling a random Princess rep might not get me accurate information.

So, could there be any negative consequences of making this switch? Has anyone done this? Any problems or tips?

The last TA I booked with,was great until she got my booking! I was then not important ,she never answered my emails or calls . I got so fed up I pulled the booking back to Princess. I received an immediate call from her asking why I would do such a thing.....lol

I lost some OBC but it was worth every penny!:D I book direct now and am soooooo much happier, make changes when ever I want!

Reps are always great, and if they cannot help me I ask for a supervisor, happy so far :)

Reader

The TA will mostly refuse to release your booking .

You may contact the cruise line to release the booking from the TA if you can convince the cruise line with your complaint that the TA has failed you in some way.

And yes , your cruise fare may increase if your TA was discounting it,or extra TA OBC/Gift removed , and there may be a TA penalty imposed..

Who does better? I've tried TA's and they have come nowhere close to the $850 in on board credit I'm getting going through "big box".

One TA that I use gives almost as much OBC as "big box" plus discounts the fare.

One of the "big box" reps told me that they almost never discount. However, if you book with Princess first and then switch to "big box", they honor the price you paid with Princess and calculate the OBC off that price (so you end up getting slightly less OBC).

Name change to "big box" to protect the innocent.:D

I enjoyed reading your post. I gave up on travel agents years ago for all the reasons you mentioned. I'm my own TA and am completely satisfied with my own performance plus I deal direct with Princess with no middleman.

At one point it was ready to give up on my TA, so I created a spreadsheet on the price I would pay, onboard credit, discount, and overall final price. I found I was saving a lot of money using my TA, and getting more OBC. So I have continued with my TA, knowing the trade-off is losing control of my booking.

Another advantage of having this particular TA, is that she is very popular with princess. She is often one of the first TAs to get the upsell emails, which we are always interested in. And even when she is in India, or Vietnam, I can always count on her to answer an email within 12 hours.

I enjoyed reading your post. I gave up on travel agents years ago for all the reasons you mentioned. I'm my own TA and am completely satisfied with my own performance plus I deal direct with Princess with no middleman.

Ditto. No complaints here. :D

At one point it was ready to give up on my TA, so I created a spreadsheet on the price I would pay, onboard credit, discount, and overall final price. I found I was saving a lot of money using my TA, and getting more OBC. So I have continued with my TA, knowing the trade-off is losing control of my booking.

 

 

 

Another advantage of having this particular TA, is that she is very popular with princess. She is often one of the first TAs to get the upsell emails, which we are always interested in. And even when she is in India, or Vietnam, I can always count on her to answer an email within 12 hours.

This has been our experience as well. We've used the same TA for over a decade and she is dependable and responsive to requests. In fact, in one case she anticipated an event and managed to notify us ahead of time, saving us a lot of aggravation.

I could be wrong but if Princess pulls this back, I am not sure if they can enforce a cancellation fee. If they cancelled and booked direct with Princess, they could.

 

I could be wrong.

Princess ( no cruise line) will "pull back" ( what ever you mean by that ) without the agent being involved - too much confusion later down the line with payments and commission..

If the agent has charged you a service or cancellation fee - you have a contract with her/and you more than likely would be charged that.

If you are under penalty with Princess you would pay that --

but this gal has said she hasnt made final yet - so I dont see the cruise line fee as a concern...........

What I would do? Call "P" make a booking. See if it compares - then cancel with the TA -- or go on line and make it ..

I do not know if "P" is restricted by making a new reservation when one is on the books already -- with computer cross referencing - it is possible.

Then you would know if apples = apples ............ If you are at no loss - then do the letter to Princess and cc in the TA --

She may be just as happy to let you go !! Trust me on that ...ha ha

We dont know either side of the coin here --

hope it all works out

Princess ( no cruise line) will "pull back" ( what ever you mean by that ) without the agent being involved - too much confusion later down the line with payments and commission..

 

If the agent has charged you a service or cancellation fee - you have a contract with her/and you more than likely would be charged that.

If you are under penalty with Princess you would pay that --

 

 

Princess has let people transfer their booking from a TA back to Princess when the customer has indicated that the agent is not responsive.

I've often wondered if some of the TA "cheerleaders" aren't travel agents themselves. I'm sure there are several travel agents who are cruise critic members and read all of the boards. I'm sure some are good, perhaps some are great, but I prefer to control my bookings and if I am missing out on some OBC (generally a small amount) it's on me. I'm quite capable of figuring out a good deal vs. one that is not.

I've had a couple of travel agents in the past and every time I had to write or call them to let them know of a better deal on a booking I was interested in. Why do all the work for them? I even had one who balked at a deal I had shown him. He said not to go with it because a better one would come along. It didn't and I lost out on saving some money. He knows he screwed up and knows why I don't call him anymore.

And let's not forget all you great members of CC here who are always ready and willing to share your knowledge. :)

My first 2 cruise were book thru a TA. Then they closed. My 3rd thru 15 was booked directly thru Princess. The one we are taking in July I went with the "big box". They were open to called when I got the short notice for a cruise & was able to give me the same price Princess was offering. Also got a extra $215 OBC. A friend recommened I give them a try.

I've often wondered if some of the TA "cheerleaders" aren't travel agents themselves. I'm sure there are several travel agents who are cruise critic members and read all of the boards. I'm sure some are good, perhaps some are great, but I prefer to control my bookings and if I am missing out on some OBC (generally a small amount) it's on me. I'm quite capable of figuring out a good deal vs. one that is not.

Many of us on this board use the same travel agents. There are a couple of agents who do a lot of business with Princess that many of us flock to.

There are definitely agents on this board. MCC Retired identifies herself as a retired agent by her screen name. She doesn't hide from it. Her input from a retired agent perspective is invaluable on this board IMO. She is one of the first to post Princess specials and tells people to call their TA or Princess if interested. She is not promoting herself by any means. Just their knowledge of the system benefits all of us IMO.

I feel by using the big box I still pretty much control my booking. I like them because all I have to do is call, make my booking and they don't bother me again.. And the OBC they give me is nothing to sneeze at. They kicked in $570 for the British Island cruise we just did and $870 for a Circle Caribbean cruise we just booked. I'm also a shareholder in said big box as well as a shareholder in CCL.. To me that's a win, win, win!

I've often wondered if some of the TA "cheerleaders" aren't travel agents themselves. I'm sure there are several travel agents who are cruise critic members and read all of the boards. I'm sure some are good, perhaps some are great, but I prefer to control my bookings and if I am missing out on some OBC (generally a small amount) it's on me. I'm quite capable of figuring out a good deal vs. one that is not.

 

I've had a couple of travel agents in the past and every time I had to write or call them to let them know of a better deal on a booking I was interested in. Why do all the work for them? I even had one who balked at a deal I had shown him. He said not to go with it because a better one would come along. It didn't and I lost out on saving some money. He knows he screwed up and knows why I don't call him anymore.

 

And let's not forget all you great members of CC here who are always ready and willing to share your knowledge. :)

Because the comes up pretty frequently...

Yes, I am a cheerleader for the great TAs. It took me a while to find a really great one, so I will sing her praises.

Fact: For the record, I am NOT at TA. If you really must know, I am a district level school administrator and I teach college on the side.

Princess has let people transfer their booking from a TA back to Princess when the customer has indicated that the agent is not responsive.

I booked our cruise through a TA only because at the time we could do a $100. deposit on the cruise. This deposit reflects a Princess rep. doing an Alaska special. I asked the TA was there any OBC by doing this she told me "no."

Had I research more maybe we could have gotten a bonus obc. On our first Alaska cruise 2 years ago, with a different TA and different company we did not get anything either.

What am I doing wrong? :confused: Even if it is just a small OBC it is still fun to get something!

Can anyone advise me as to what I could do to get "something" for using the TA I have now??

I booked an inside room. I couldn't find a TA who gave more than 25pp OBC and the same price. Maybe if I booked a suite I would save enough but for us I preferred control of the reservation.

 

Can anyone advise me as to what I could do to get "something" for using the TA I have now??

Probably not. The fact is that most travel agents (especially brick and mortar, local ones) don't discount. Too much overhead.

I have had my booking in the past moved from TA to Princess after a couple of stuff ups by the TA a couple of years ago.

I book mainly with Princess direct now. Occasionally I might use an online TA or shift the booking because of OBC. But most often I stick with Princess. No issues re faring before final payment.

Probably not.

I agree, not your current one. And, as I am sure you are aware, no one on these boards can recommend one. But just Google something like "best travel agents for cruises" or something similar. Then call a couple, tell them your recent experience, and ask, "What can you offer me, above and beyond what I can get on my own, when I book my next cruise?"