I found my cruise cheaper somewhere else!!!

[kelkel2]

So just out of curiosity today I went to a website and looked up my cruise. Well, I paid $799 for a BG and they are selling it for $768 for a BG!!!! Does Princess price match? This is totally uncool!

[Toto2Kansas]

Does Princess price match? This is totally uncool!

 

Princess will not price match. TA's are allowed to discount Princess cruises by cutting their own commission, this is something Princess does not do. Good Luck!

[kelkel2]

there all fixed :) didn't even think about it ;)

[Coral]

If you are before final payment date, you can transfer it to a TA.

 

Travel agents who discount are always going to beat Princess's direct prices unless we are talking about a one night cruise....

[Pam in CA]

So just out of curiosity today I went to a website and looked up my cruise. Well, I paid $799 for a BG and they are selling it for $768 for a BG!!!! Does Princess price match? This is totally uncool!

You can almost always do better with a TA than directly with Princess. As Toto says, they are allowed to discount, and many do. You can do far better than a $31 difference.

 

Princess does not price match any more than Sony will lower their retail prices to to match Walmart. I disagree that it's "uncool."

[sultan_sfo]

Too many of those Mattress Discounters Ads!

[Lvs2Cruise2]

This just happened to me with my upcoming Coral cruise. I had booked with my regular TA, he matched an online price I saw with another TA (reluctantly I might add). I was on the roll call for my cruise and someone said there was a price drop. For my particular cruise it was a $200 drop.

 

Earlier that day I made final payment. I immediately called my TA and asked if he would honor the new price and he said he would. Well, when I got my confirmation email he charged me the regular price! I called him and we argued back and forth, he kept telling me he gave me the new price but what he wound up doing is added my $200 deposit I had already paid months ago back in!

 

So I canceled the trip with him (been a client of his for 10 years) the day before final payment was ACTUALLY due. And rebooked the same trip and same room with the online TA and saved myself 200 bucks! 200 dollars is 200 dollars, better in my pocket than theirs!

[Toddy709]

My TA has always beaten the Princess web site price plus some OBC, too!

[johnmik1]

So just out of curiosity today I went to a website and looked up my cruise. Well, I paid $799 for a BG and they are selling it for $768 for a BG!!!! Does Princess price match? This is totally uncool!

 

You are joking?

[engrdad]

I just transferred our booking from Princess to an online TA. Upgraded from a balcony (BG) to a mini-suite (AD) plus $75 OBC for the same price.

 

I shopped around, found the lowest price with a TA; which had a $100 cancellation fee. Then got another TA to match the price with no cancellation fee. ;)

 

My wife says that I am bragging now so I will stop. However, shopping around can land you more money for excursions or the casino!

[Toto2Kansas]

I just transferred our booking from Princess to an online TA. Upgraded from a balcony (BG) to a mini-suite (AD) plus $75 OBC for the same price.

 

I shopped around, found the lowest price with a TA; which had a $100 cancellation fee. Then got another TA to match the price with no cancellation fee. ;)

 

My wife says that I am bragging now so I will stop. However, shopping around can land you more money for excursions or the casino!

 

Well Done! It just takes a bit of research to find that TA offering the best deal. Congratulations!:)

[kelkel2]

You are joking?

 

No I'm not in any way kidding. I don't use a travel agent. Why would I pay someone to do something I'm more than capable of doing? Anyways I just like booking stuff myself. It's fun :) But, I feel like I am getting burned for booking without a TA. I mean it's not like I used a different website, I booked though Princess.

Oh well, I mean it's not about the money, we got a good deal regardless, I was just surprised to see the price go down everywhere but princess' website :(

[Coral]

I was just surprised to see the price go down everywhere but princess' website :(

 

This is why we use travel agents! To get the best price.

[Toto2Kansas]

Oh well, I mean it's not about the money, we got a good deal regardless, I was just surprised to see the price go down everywhere but princess' website :(

And you will probably continually find lower prices than you can get booking direct. Check out several cruises on princess.com and then check some of the discount TA prices, you will see exactly what we are talking about. To many, the lower price is not worth lossing control of their booking with Princess. For us, the lowest price with no fees and as good, if not better service, is what I am aftar. ;) Enjoy your cruise!

[jewopaho]

Yep ... since Princess is the only major cruise line that still permits discounting, it's worth the effort. We've used the same online TA for years, although we still shop around (they'll generally match other quotes). If nothing changes, we'll be $130/pp under the "rack rate," in addition to $100 OBC, for our upcoming Golden Princess Alaska cruise. They'll also honor any price drops, so we're verey pleased.

[kelkel2]

And you will probably continually find lower prices that you can get booking direct. Check out several cruises on princess.com and then check some of the discount TA prices, you will see exactly what we are talking about. To many, the lower price is not worth lossing control of their booking with Princess. For us, the lowest price with no fees and as good, if not better service, is what I am aftar. ;) Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thanks! I know I'd rather have more control of my booking than use a TA. I know they have their benefits, but I truly enjoy booking things myself and don't want to give that up :)

[engrdad]

So just out of curiosity today I went to a website and looked up my cruise. Well, I paid $799 for a BG and they are selling it for $768 for a BG!!!! Does Princess price match? This is totally uncool!

 

Just curious... a BG on the Island Princess is an unobstructed balcony cabin. Never seen that category for under $1,000. What type of room did you book for $799?

[kelkel2]

Just curious... a BG on the Island Princess is an unobstructed balcony cabin. Never seen that category for under $1,000. What type of room did you book for $799?

 

It's a guarantee balcony, but you don't pick the location. You get what they give you. Not a bad deal if you will actually be happy with what you are at least guaranteed. You typically get upgraded, as we did. We got upgraded to a BA category balcony. It has a beam in the corner of the balcony, but it's off to the side so so big deal to us as we still gave a great view. We got put in B752 on the Crown which is an aft cabin.

[jean95404]

For our fifth (Princess) cruise, I am wondering if using a TA could provide us with lower prices than booking directly through Princess. We get, as most of you do, wonderful tempting emails from Princess. The prices the emails have are lower than I see on their site, meaning I guess that they are giving us past cruiser credit. And we have always been upgraded at least one grade.

 

If I contacted a TA and let them know the price Princess provided can the price be discounted even more?

[sirwired]

No I'm not in any way kidding. I don't use a travel agent. Why would I pay someone to do something I'm more than capable of doing? Anyways I just like booking stuff myself. It's fun :) But, I feel like I am getting burned for booking without a TA. I mean it's not like I used a different website, I booked though Princess.

Oh well, I mean it's not about the money, we got a good deal regardless, I was just surprised to see the price go down everywhere but princess' website :(

 

Princess will rarely (ever?) undercut their travel agents, as those agents are still responsible for most bookings, and making them angry could cause them to steer clients to other lines. It's not unusual for a 3rd-party website (or independent seller) to undercut the originator of goods. You wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy undercut sony.com; why are you shocked that an online TA can undercut Princess direct?

 

Thanks! I know I'd rather have more control of my booking than use a TA. I know they have their benefits, but I truly enjoy booking things myself and don't want to give that up :)

 

Errr... I'm a little confused here. What exactly do you give up when booking through a TA? Other than the fact you need to go back to them if you want to change your dining time, what are you losing? I'm also not sure how booking through an online TA's website is any less "booking it yourself" than going to princess.com.

[Putterdude]

I fail to understand why anyone would book directly with Princess and this again just bares this out.

[kelkel2]

I fail to understand why anyone would book directly with Princess and this again just bares this out.

 

Never booked through princess before, I'm new to princess. Lesson learned. Like I said, it's not that much money, not like we're talking $100's I just thought it would be easiest through princess? When I booked, all the sites were the same price so I figured I would just use princess.

[rugbypopsie]

Only a small amount why drive yourself nuts! Next time do research then book...and I never look at the price again. Sometimes if it is a big drop then my T/A has matched it for me..but really, chill and look forward to your cruise!

[cwayne]

This is really not a problem if you have booked directly with Princess and then find the cabin category cheaper with an online TA. We booked a particular cabin and dining option with Princess and then a couple of months later found it cheaper on an online site. While Princess would not honor the cheaper fare, they did inform me that all we had to do was fax them a letter telling them to release the booking to that particular TA at that agency and we could keep the cabin we had chosen as well as our dining option and our shipboard credit. It was very easy to do and a few months later we received another price reduction with the TA as well as additional shipboard credit. It lets you lock down your cabin and dining and then you have time to shop around for the best fare.

[jewopaho]

This is really not a problem if you have booked directly with Princess and then find the cabin category cheaper with an online TA. We booked a particular cabin and dining option with Princess and then a couple of months later found it cheaper on an online site. While Princess would not honor the cheaper fare, they did inform me that all we had to do was fax them a letter telling them to release the booking to that particular TA at that agency and we could keep the cabin we had chosen as well as our dining option and our shipboard credit. It was very easy to do and a few months later we received another price reduction with the TA as well as additional shipboard credit. It lets you lock down your cabin and dining and then you have time to shop around for the best fare.

The last thing Princess (or any supplier) would want to do is compete with the sources that provide the majority of its business ... that's economic suicide. This is why the cruise line will not price-match. On the other hand, providing such information as given to this poster endears Princess to both the TA and consumer. It's win-win ... aditional business for a TA and a loyal customer for the cruise line.