booking directly through princess...

[dis2cruise]

if I book through princess directly what is the good/bad by doing this?

 

does princess give out ship board credit or it is just from a ta outside the cruiseline??

[caribill]

if I book through princess directly what is the good/bad by doing this?

 

does princess give out ship board credit or it is just from a ta outside the cruiseline??

 

Good: You can have all questions answered and changes made by calling Princess directly. If you use a T/A, you must go through the T/A with these questions and requests.

 

Bad: You will pay a higher price than with a T/A that offers discounts on Princess cruises.

 

It is rare that Princess has a promotion that includes on board credit.

[paul929207]

I have always found lower prices thru SOME travel agents. I have never had a problem getting questions answered when I went thru the TA

[Whimsy]

I have sailed twice booking directly with Princess and twice booking thru a TA. Once on a direct booking we got on OBC thru some promotion that they emailed to me. The other time nothing. Our two thru the TA has included on board credit from her plus other gifts she sends. Our third booking we have a better rate than thru Princess and OBC. We love our TA! :D

[sultan_sfo]

No cancellation fees / cabin change fee etc. upto final payment date. With TAs, be sure to read the fine print about fees.

 

Invoice is on My-Princess. No anxiety about payments. Often automatic adjustment if price is reduced.

[Toto2Kansas]

I have always found lower prices thru SOME travel agents. I have never had a problem getting questions answered when I went thru the TA

 

I totally agree with you on this Paul (big surprise). The trick is to find a discount TA that doesn't charge change or cancellation fees (yes, they are out there). They can save you a good amount, and often offer shipboard credit as well as other goodies with the booking. Personally, I would never book direct with Princess, why pay more for the same stateroom just to be in control of your booking directly with the cruise line? To save $$$'s I will have a TA take care of anything we need, and pay less for it. ;)

[stretchcruz]

Keep your Princess booking that you booked direct....then shop around for a reduced price and onobard credit and transfer that booking to the TA with the benefits. Princess will never be cheaper or have more onboard credits....shop around and then transfer the booking. As Toto says, make sure there are no cancellation fees...but sometimes, if the cancellation is $50, and you have saved a bunch and they apply the $50 to a future sailing, it could be worth it.

[Woobstr112G]

I booked three in a row directly with princess. For my 2011 cruise I went with a T/A. Man, what a difference in price.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Pam in CA]

A good TA will almost always get you a better price than booking directly with Princess. Some TAs also give you an OBC, coupon book, wine, or other perks (not all of these) and they also have promotions that allow them to book passengers with a $100/pp deposit from time-to-time. TAs that book a lot of Princess cruises reserve blocks of cabins and often have not only great rates but can get you a good cabin location as well. I can't think of a single "pro" for booking directly with Princess other than if you want a specific cabin and shop around for a TA to discount it for you.

[dis2cruise]

thanks everyone for all of your advice I will check out a ta that I know and see what her prices are and make sure there are no fees!!

[chipmaster]

I'd say check out both brick and mortar TA as well as the many online ones that specialize in cruising. IMHO if you are willing to do a bit of leg work you can save a few $$ and perhaps $$$ ;)

 

thanks everyone for all of your advice I will check out a ta that I know and see what her prices are and make sure there are no fees!!

[Putterdude]

No question, do you own research then use a good TA they will always save you money, will be there if you have questions (mine even patches me into the phone call if he has to phone Princess) and will get you the lower price if the price drops.

[Minoushka]

I have yet to find a good TA

SOOOOO how did you find them

No one here is allowed to say ...what is the solution????

[jagsfan]

Look for one that is an ACC (accredited cruise counselor) or MCC (master cruise

counselor). Then make sure the agency is a member of ASTA. ASTA will reimburse

clients if an agency goes under. Look for one affiliated with a nationwide chain, or

consortium. Ask your friends. I would go with one that looks like a business...several

employees, clean office, obvious links to cruise lines..ie posters on the wall, models

of cruise ships, plenty of brochures. The sales reps give the most stuff to their

biggest sellers.

Watch out you don't get an agent that pushes one line over another rather than

finding out what cruise line suits your needs and expectations best.

There are still plenty of good agents out there.

Good luck

Mimi

[cruise52]

I just booked an Alaskan Cruise for this August, last week, directly with Princess. I checked several TAs and the fare quoted by Princess (online) was by far the lowest, by about $200 per person. The fare I received was discounted from the regular online cruise fare posted, once I signed in to my Princess account. I believe this discount was simply a Past Passenger rate. I did some checking and I was unable to find a TA who could quote anything near the fare I received directly from Princess. The deposit was also much lower than what I have paid on past cruises. So it's worth it to check both the cruise line and TAs before deciding.

[kymbakitty]

I just booked an Alaskan Cruise for this August, last week, directly with Princess. I checked several TAs and the fare quoted by Princess (online) was by far the lowest, by about $200 per person. The fare I received was discounted from the regular online cruise fare posted, once I signed in to my Princess account. I believe this discount was simply a Past Passenger rate. I did some checking and I was unable to find a TA who could quote anything near the fare I received directly from Princess. The deposit was also much lower than what I have paid on past cruises. So it's worth it to check both the cruise line and TAs before deciding.

 

 

I'm not sayiing I don't believe you--although it does make me think you just didn't find a TA that discounts.

 

This is, at best, an anomoly. I've never had a cruiseline come under a TA's price--never. And the "past passenger" credit is used for anyone booking for you.

 

Unless you got some crazy special deal of the day, I think this scenario is so few and far between, I would never suggest it to anyone.

 

:)

[guxu]

Well, when we booked our Alaska cruise last year, we received a special price from Princess as well. We had to log in to our account to see the price, which our TA had no clue about. Our TA could not give us any discount or OBC (she said the price was too low), but we transferred our booking to her anyway.

[doublemm16]

I never book directly with the cruiselines, but for my upcoming Mediterranean cruise, I did book directly with Princess. Why? Because I got an almost 2 for 1 deal, and every quote I received from TAs was nowhere near the price I got from Princess. I know this is probably a one shot deal, but it was well worth it.:D

[MCC retired]

CRUISE52

 

Being a TA for a long time , I suspect;

 

Perhaps you did not give the TA the same info that you gave Princess (age, state , Captains Circle # )or in the same time frame ?

Whether it's a Past Guest, Resident , Senior , or FLASH , every TA has access to that rate.

Princess will not offer a rate lower than even the smallest Travel Agency can offer.

A good TA will always offer more (better rate, OBC, Coupon books, gifts, service ,etc.) AND not charge a Agency Penalty or Fee!

TA's sell the vast majority of cruise bookings and for a cruise line to undercut them , as Renissance Cruises tried in 2000 , would kill the golden goose.

Renissance went under in 2001 after removing TA commission then after bookings dropped , reinstated TA commission . It was too late . TA's no longer booked the product , 9/11 came , and put an end to them.

Renissance built 8 beautiful small ships , that are now part of several cruise lines (Princess, Oceania , Azamara);)

[readytogo2]

I have never been lucky enough to find that 'good' TA. This will be our 6th Princess cruise and only one time did we go through a friends TA, not because he beat the price but he arranged all our airfare and our table assignments ( we had a big group going) Turns out he should have given us a free cabin or money back for booking over 8 cabins...we never saw it:mad: After we made the booking, trying to phone him was next to impossible, rarely answered his answering machine. Obviously,not only was he not a good TA, but a lousy one at that.

On every other cruise, we called many many TA's, both online and in the phone book..none so far has ever beat the price of Princess. We will keep looking , as a matter of fact someone on our roll call emailed me her TA's number but it was too late as we were past the final payment date, however my son booked his cruise and called that TA, which she couldn't give him any better price than Princess. So we will keep looking but in the meantime, I have no problem with booking through Princess.

I have however found an online TA that couldn't beat Princess but he did beat the price of our first RCI cruise:)

[Sharke_boy]

Elite Status- here are some secrets.. ALWAYS book directly with Princess. You will consistenly get the lowest price, and have complete control /first choice of dining times, access to sold of shore Ex's (not because I'm a Elite status either-this happened prior to that all the time) and trust me on this next one... you WILL be first in line for upgrades-they are going to take the best care of you. Does not matter if you have an elevated status.. Again.. you do not need to be an Elite,Plat/o rGold status member for this to happen!!!!!

 

As far as credit's go-always book a cruise on board. It will cost you $100 a person, but will give you on-board credits and delayed payment schedules. You can change the cruise you signed-up for as ..... YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL!!!!!!!! for up to 4 years ....you will still get the on-board credits when you re-book a later cruise.

 

Most Elites/Plats I know-99% percent book direct.

[Toto2Kansas]

Elite Status- here are some secrets.. ALWAYS book directly with Princess. You will consistenly get the lowest price, .

 

I sooooo disagree with this statement. Being Elilte, Princess has never been able to offer me a cruise for a price lower than a discount TA can. Normally it is around 10% (or more) lower than Princess lowest price. As many of us say, and have said in the past, you just haven't found the right TA's to check pricing with yet if you are finding the best price available through Princess. ;)

[Sharke_boy]

Simply ask Princess to match that price...they will.

[Toto2Kansas]

Simply ask Princess to match that price...they will.

 

With all due respect, NO, Princess will not match a price discounted by a travel agent.

[CruzinNoony]

I have over 40 cruises under my belt and have NEVER booked with the cruise line. We are elite with Princess and a TA always beats their rate. Plus, you do NOT have to book a specific cruise when onboard to receive your FCC's.:rolleyes: