Booking directly through Princess

We are considering a New Zealand cruise in January 2019. We have always used a travel agent to book our cruises but wondered if there is any advantage to book directly through Princess?

Also, when choosing a cabin is there any advantage to let Princess guarantee and choose the cabin?

Our biggest concern is the long flight to Australia from the Washington DC area. Any tips on how to survive a 23+ hour journey would be greatly appreciated from those who have done this. I know that breaking the trip up into legs is helpful and a possiblity if we choos to visit friends and fly out of LAX.

Is it worth it to use EZ air on a trip of this journey length? We have always booked our own flights.

Thanks for any advice!

Booking with Princess, you can deal with them directly for any changes that involves your booking.

We prefer choosing our own cabin and does not choose guarantee cabins that may not be to our liking when assigned.

EZ Air’s Flexi-rate is sometimes cheaper than fixed rate, thereby availing of price drops within the allowable period.

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No advantage to booking your cruise through Princess if you live in the US or Canada. You’re paying the highest price available. Princess allows TAs to discount fares. Many don’t but some do and you can save 10% or more plus get extra OBC and other perks.

As for the air, do your research and compare pricing.

After the first three cruises I have always used a cruise specialist travel agent to book cruises. You do not get any discount for booking direct and if you have a good agent, they can run interference if there is a problem because they have more clout that a single person.

As for the long flight - I did this once from Miami to LAX to Australia about 5 years ago. We had a layover in LAX and I was able to book a room and take a nap and eat something there. I considered going first class from LAX but did not. I should have done. Now I always get a fight that allows me to stretch out and nap a bit where I won't have some lady reclining all the way into my lap and keeping her light on to shine in her eyes like I did on that flight. I had paid for and booked a specific seat but Qantas thought they knew better than I did what seat I should have and moved me from a window seat to an aisle in the middle of the plane.

Let's just state that there is NO one size fits all for every person on every cruise. Just because something worked for you it may not work for others in the exact same situation.

I have found... That people who book directly with Princess get upsell offers at a rate higher(and faster) than those that book through travel agencies. But, If you book through a travel agency and you find out(Rollcall) about an upsell offer, just call the telephone number and find out if you want the offer.

Since any TA can book the rate that you can by booking direct , expect a good Cruise Specialist TA to always get you something better , especially with Princess who allows TA's to discount their best rates and promos .

If you encounter a problem before during or after your cruise , you will be glad that you don't own your booking . A Cruise Specialist TA has

connections to solve problems .

We typically book directly through Princess and don't put the deposit down right away, keeping it on hold for a few days. We used to then shop it around to several TAs and give it to the one with the best offer. Now we simply give it to our favorite TA and don't worry about the shopping. He's always come through with at least a 10% reduction and some more OBC.

I see you're in the USA so this is easily done. All our TA needs is an email from us authorizing him to take the reservation. No phone calls or forms to fill out. Easy peasy!

Before booking a guarantee, be sure that you would be happy with every cabin in that category and every higher category. If there is a 'bad' cabin, you could get it.

I have found... That people who book directly with Princess get upsell offers at a rate higher(and faster) than those that book through travel agencies. But, If you book through a travel agency and you find out(Rollcall) about an upsell offer, just call the telephone number and find out if you want the offer.

We always book thru a TA and have gotten several upsell offers. Princess contacted our TA and they contacted us with the offer.

After two bad experiences with a "cruise TA" and two questionable TA bookings, we now book through Princess. I have had issue with the booking but had the problem amicably resolved with Princess. I did find out it was easy to move a booking from a TA to Princess very easily much to the dismay of the TA that insisted I could not do it. I have shopped around since one can move a booking from Princess to a TA but have never been able to find this wonderful TA that gives a 10% discount and added OBC. Oh well, I will keep looking I guess.

After two bad experiences with a "cruise TA" and two questionable TA bookings, we now book through Princess. I have had issue with the booking but had the problem amicably resolved with Princess. I did find out it was easy to move a booking from a TA to Princess very easily much to the dismay of the TA that insisted I could not do it. I have shopped around since one can move a booking from Princess to a TA but have never been able to find this wonderful TA that gives a 10% discount and added OBC. Oh well, I will keep looking I guess.

I would keep looking. I've found several.

There's no advantage for booking directly rather than using a travel agent. ;)

There has been for us, sorry

well, you just didn't have the right TA - mine is the best , and I never question what they do for me because , well, I like it:evilsmile:

After two bad experiences with a "cruise TA" and two questionable TA bookings, we now book through Princess. I have had issue with the booking but had the problem amicably resolved with Princess. I did find out it was easy to move a booking from a TA to Princess very easily much to the dismay of the TA that insisted I could not do it. I have shopped around since one can move a booking from Princess to a TA but have never been able to find this wonderful TA that gives a 10% discount and added OBC. Oh well, I will keep looking I guess.

We never use TA's and always have gone through Princess. We get just as good as deals as our friends who use TA's and many times better. Also, if something goes wrong with a cruise booking through a TA Princess will tell you to talk to your TA and will not deal with you. We have seen this happen to friends and it was very frustrating for them.

We are very aware of how to fly free, stay in hotels free, get free rental cars and cruise for very affordable prices. It has been our experience on cruises that most passengers do not seem to really know how major travel programs work and how to maximize them or really benefit from them.

We have a friend who runs a big cruise travel agency and they asked me to send some of my Princess bookings to them to see if they could make a better offer which they said they could not. Also, we frequently receive some very nice upgrades and upsell offers from Princess.

I have a wonderful TA who discounts 10%. I can contact her any time as she works from home. If she can't help just then she lets me know (whether by phone or email) and says she will get back to me. I have received upsell offers too. I have heard that the online cruise travel agencies do not forward the upsells to their customers (this is heresay from another thread on here). I would not however pick my TA based on that as it does not matter to me.

I live in MD and have a cruise scheduled for next year. It is a repositioning cruise from LA-Sydney so we have a long one way flight back home. I am always one to try to get the best price that I can (learned from my mother). Princess EZAir has great prices on International travel. An added benefit is that you don't have to pay for them right away. Pick the flexible fares. You pay for them at final payment but can change them up til 45 days in advance. If the price goes down you can get it adjusted. No fees. The flights for us recently became available.

We have always flown coach. My dh wanted me to check out business class. He is tall and long legged. After thinking it over a bit I booked business class even though he said he would do coach (sometimes he is much more frugal than I am). (It is actually business class from Sydney to LA. After that it is first class to get to MD. We are paying $2112/person MORE than coach. That killed me but I knew it would be worth it to dh. The next day I decided to go on Delta's website to see what the REAL price was. I was floored! It was more than 3x as much and possibly approaching 4x. Princess must get good bulk rates and passes it on to their customers. Let's face it, if it is too costly to fly then people won't book.

I like booking directly with Princess. I understand what others say about the benefits of going through a TA, but I also understand that putting another cog in the wheel adds a possibility of mistakes and/or misunderstandings that simply isn't there when I book direct. I've never once messed up my own plans, but I have had that happen before I started booking direct. For me, booking direct is a better option than whatever discounts or benefits I might or might not get from a TA.

We are considering a New Zealand cruise in January 2019. We have always used a travel agent to book our cruises but wondered if there is any advantage to book directly through Princess?

 

Also, when choosing a cabin is there any advantage to let Princess guarantee and choose the cabin?

 

Our biggest concern is the long flight to Australia from the Washington DC area. Any tips on how to survive a 23+ hour journey would be greatly appreciated from those who have done this. I know that breaking the trip up into legs is helpful and a possiblity if we choos to visit friends and fly out of LAX.

 

Is it worth it to use EZ air on a trip of this journey length? We have always booked our own flights.

 

Thanks for any advice!

23 hours no way i would go.

I have booked through Princess directly for years on MANY cruises. Had too many problems with travel agents making mistakes.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. Lots still to research. Hubby is a bit concerned about the long flight, so still considering other cruises. As mentioned, I have always used a TA. One of our cruises was very lucrative as everytime I noticed a price change or a new perk advertised for that cruise, I just called her and she made it happen with the cruise line. But that said, I am unsure of how much of a fare discount we have received. In any case, the research continues. I am drawn by the Princess anniversary sale perks being currently offered .

Thanks again!

Have you considered spending one night in in LA then fly coach home? It may be less expensive and certainly easier than doing the flight without a break.

I like control so I do the initial booking with Princess, but before final payment I move the booking to the TA with the best price & OBC. That way, I can communicate directly with Princess not through the TA. That said, my experience with TAs is that they always forward upgrades, upsells etc.

I do a booking with Princess Air (open and changeable) and continue to search airline sites. When I get a rate I like better I grab it, whether through the airline or Princess.

Agree the flight to Aus. is really long. Breaking it up with a night or two in Hawaii or California makes a big difference.

For me, there actually is in fact an advantage to booking directly with Princess and that is my ability to work directly with them if I want to change anything with my booking. I absolutely hate having to go through a TA for any modifications.

My last 2 cruises I booked when I saw a huge price drop on the princess site. The TAs I have worked with in the past did not have those same rates. Theirs were substantially more, so I had huge savings booking directly. I realize this isn’t always the case which is why I don’t always book direct but I definitely will when the savings are better.

EZAir is often the better option, especially with the Flexible Fare. I have changed my flights multiple times when the prices drop or there are better itineraries, at no extra charge. The flex fares are often cheaper than the regular fares too!

We live in Alabama and to keep the flight times a bit shorter when cruising out of Australia, Japan, etc, we overnight in either LA or SF. We use Southwest/Delta round trip to get to Calif and back home. We will have Princess change our home airport to either LA or SF and book the best price on Ez Air round trip to where we are cruising.