Princess or on-line TA? Both same price

[GLCAS]

Which would be better to book with an on-line agency or Princess? They both are showing the same price. If the price goes down, will they both adjust before final payment??:confused: I need to book soon...aaaaaaahhh what to do???

[sunsetbeachgal]

Are you using a future cruise credit for deposit? If yes, then I would book with Princess directly as many of the on line agencies have a cancellation fee if your plans changenbefore final payment, where Princess does not (for most fare types). you can always book with Princess and then turn it over to an agency before final payment, and meanwhile shop around to see if maybe someone is offering something more, like onboard credit.

[GLCAS]

No I don't have any credits to use, except maybe some referal credits. We are going to bring my 2 aunts who have never been on Princess, so I should get $25 each for that and they will get a reduction of $25 too.

[BarbaraP]

If the price is the same, I like to book with Princess so I can reserve the cabin I like and manage my booking online.

Just before final payment I check with my TA to see if they can beat the price or offer additional perks. If they can better the price you can transfer your booking to that TA as long as you haven't made final payment.

[newmexicoNita]

Which would be better to book with an on-line agency or Princess? They both are showing the same price. If the price goes down, will they both adjust before final payment??:confused: I need to book soon...aaaaaaahhh what to do???

 

The benefit of booking with an online agent is: there may be perks offered, like OBC or something, the benefit of booking with the cruise company is, when and if changes need to be made or problems arrise you know you can get in touch with them easily. Much depends on the reputation of the On Line company..

 

Nita

[GLCAS]

Thanks, so much for all the info, I am booking for ourselves and friends, so I don't want to do anything that would bum us all out! ;)

[robtulipe]

Which would be better to book with an on-line agency or Princess? They both are showing the same price. If the price goes down, will they both adjust before final payment??:confused: I need to book soon...aaaaaaahhh what to do???

Unless the online agency is giving you some benefit like a lower price or OBC (onboard credits), I would book directly with Princess to avoid having to deal with a middleman in case a lower price for your booked cruise shows up outside of the agency's working hours which typically is less than Princess'. You must be able to contact your agency when the lower price is available which is sometimes difficult especially on the weekend. Both will do price adjustments but some agencies, typically the discount ones, charged a extra fee for doing so.

I would check out pricing at other online agency as we typically get a better price with the online agencies we book with as they rebate or give you back some of their commission in the form of a lower price for Princess cruises. With other cruise lines which don't allow price discounting you can get OBC or other onboard benefits like wine or specialty restaurants.

For example for our upcoming Emerald Princess cruise we were able to get a 10% lower price than list with the online agency we used.

[Pam in CA]

Unless the online agency is giving you some benefit like a lower price or OBC (onboard credits), I would book directly with Princess to avoid having to deal with a middleman in case a lower price for your booked cruise shows up outside of the agency's working hours which typically is less than Princess'.

If they are the same price, book with Princess as there's no benefit then to booking with an online TA, even if they offer you an OBC. Do your research because you can usually do much better in price and get perks with a different TA.

[MCC retired]

Keep shopping for a TA that offers something better than Princess. Lower price (comm. rebate) , OBC , ect.

Be sure that TA does not charge fees for cancel or changes.

[robtulipe]

If they are the same price, book with Princess as there's no benefit then to booking with an online TA, even if they offer you an OBC. Do your research because you can usually do much better in price and get perks with a different TA.

Pam, one agency I checked prices with was offering OBC along with a price discount for our upcoming cruise. This was in addition to the OBC we were getting directly from Princess. So why wouldn't you consider a TA's OBC, that you wouldn't get from Princess, as an addition benefit to booking with that TA?

We did booked our next cruise with another online agency that offered the same total value or net cost that was a price discount only. We typically use our OBC to pay our onboard gratuities so that lowers the overall cost of that cruise for us. If any OBC is left after paying the gratuities that is use to pay our other onboard expenses.

Also, as I mentioned, some cruise lines, like RC and X, don't allow price discounted by discount agencies so these typically offer OBC as the incentive to book with them.

[Pam in CA]

Pam, one agency I checked prices with was offering OBC along with a price discount for our upcoming cruise. This was in addition to the OBC we were getting directly from Princess. So why wouldn't you consider a TA's OBC, that you wouldn't get from Princess, as an addition benefit to booking with that TA?

We did booked our next cruise with another online agency that offered the same total value or net cost that was a price discount only. We typically use our OBC to pay our onboard gratuities so that lowers the overall cost of that cruise for us. If any OBC is left after paying the gratuities that is use to pay our other onboard expenses.

Also, as I mentioned, some cruise lines, like RC and X, don't allow price discounted by discount agencies so these typically offer OBC as the incentive to book with them.

RC and X are very different from Princess. And you're right, if you get at least a 10% discount in addition to a very nice OBC from a TA, then go for it. But if the price is the same and let's say the OBC is $50/pp, then find another TA. Also, unlike RC and X, Princess allows you to combine OBCs so if you get an OBC from your TA, one for the shareholder's benefit, one for the military benefit, etc., you can wind up with a lot of OBC. On my January cruise, I wound up having $550 in OBC and that was just for myself. Far more than I'd pay in tips. I wound up owing a total of $12.40 at the end of the cruise and that's only because I bought jewelry with the leftover OBC.

[icat2000]

Well I got a quote from local TA yesterday and it was the same price as Princess was offering on their website. The kicker was that the TA wanted a larger deposit and earlier final payment date (by a month) than Princess. I think I stick with booking directly Princess.

[lovevacadays]

RC and X are very different from Princess. And you're right, if you get at least a 10% discount in addition to a very nice OBC from a TA, then go for it. But if the price is the same and let's say the OBC is $50/pp, then find another TA. Also, unlike RC and X, Princess allows you to combine OBCs so if you get an OBC from your TA, one for the shareholder's benefit, one for the military benefit, etc., you can wind up with a lot of OBC. On my January cruise, I wound up having $550 in OBC and that was just for myself. Far more than I'd pay in tips. I wound up owing a total of $12.40 at the end of the cruise and that's only because I bought jewelry with the leftover OBC.

 

Wow, Pam. How did you rack up $550 in OBC?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

If the price is the same, I like to book with Princess so I can reserve the cabin I like and manage my booking online.

 

Just before final payment I check with my TA to see if they can beat the price or offer additional perks. If they can better the price you can transfer your booking to that TA as long as you haven't made final payment.

I 2nd it.

[OhioDogLover]

I would keep looking. I have always been able to do better w/ a TA than with the cruiseline directly. I find it very surprising that the prices are the same. For our upcoming February Ruby cruise, theprices were initially the same, so we just kept looking. We ended up w/ a less expensive cruise, and an OBC, and the TA will pass along any price drops, so we did OK, I think. Final payment to the TA is due a couple of weeks before Princess, but that's OK.

I am sure this experience is typical.

Ohiodoglover

[jagoffee]

Well I got a quote from local TA yesterday and it was the same price as Princess was offering on their website. The kicker was that the TA wanted a larger deposit and earlier final payment date (by a month) than Princess. I think I stick with booking directly Princess.

 

I certainly would not book with the on line TA that you have selected. If it was me I would look for a different TA or as suggested book direct and then find a different TA and transfer the booking. IMO you have selected a non competive on line TA.

[Princess Patches]

The main reason to book with a TA is to get a good discount (10%) off the Princess website price. So if your TA is not offering you anything, look for another TA who will offer a discount. If you cannot find one, then book with Princess.

[Princess Patches]

Wow, Pam. How did you rack up $550 in OBC?

 

It is not that hard to do. A couple of cruises ago I had a $500 OBC ($250 as a Carnival shareholder, $150 FCC from Princess, and $100 from my TA). After autotips and about six shore excursions, I only owed about $20 at the end of the cruise. I went on the last shore excursion just to use up the OBC.

[Liz54]

We are doing a B2B and getting $250 for the shareholder on board credit, 75 from the TA as OBC, 100 from a Future Cruise Credit. We each saved $350 from a price drop and I did 2 referrals reducing the price another $50. I feel I can hardly afford to stay home! You need to be a planner and a tracker but I love the challenge. I'm not at Pam's level but have aspirations!

[lovevacadays]

It is not that hard to do. A couple of cruises ago I had a $500 OBC ($250 as a Carnival shareholder, $150 FCC from Princess, and $100 from my TA). After autotips and about six shore excursions, I only owed about $20 at the end of the cruise. I went on the last shore excursion just to use up the OBC.

 

Perhaps I need to buy some stock in Carnival! Plus, I need a good discount TA. I have to admit I'm one of those that have over the last few years booked directly with Princess. I had a TA I used several years ago that went out of business. Interesting to learn of all these secrets.

[cdngrl]

i need the stock to go down--only for an hour or so--so i can buy 100 shares, then it can go up, up, up! :)

[Liz54]

i need the stock to go down--only for an hour or so--so i can buy 100 shares, then it can go up, up, up! :)

 

Its really low at the moment. I just bought last week had my broker switch some other stock in RRSP that was not doing that well. So, I'm now hoping it will go up!:)

[MHMarkL]

i need the stock to go down--only for an hour or so--so i can buy 100 shares, then it can go up, up, up! :)

 

5 days ago it was just over $30, today it closed at $33.69. A good target price maybe $31. The next time some government agency comes out with bad economic news it will go down as it seems to follow the market. Shouldn't have to wait too long as it has been a crazy roller coaster lately.