Oh No! Not the Discount Question Again..

[dianef]

According to what cruisetherapist says TA's will be able to give back some of their commission to reduce price of cruise.I guess you just have to call them for a quote.ALot of times I go online to the agencies that compete with a price.Maybe they will not be able to do that anymore,with Princess.

[Pam in CA]

Over here we cannot now even get OBC. Princess UK will not trade with a TA that goes down this route. The only exception would appear to be when a major player amongst the TAs takes a block booking and packages the cruise with airflights, hotels and land tours. In which case they probably would have more room to offer a small incentive. They would also need to sell all their allocation. (See Englishbirds Post #20 above.) I look forward to meeting you on the Star in March too.

I understand. The original question was about booking in the US with US TA's which is why I responded the way I did. I know very little about Princess UK or Princess Australia and as these companies are separate from Princess, what applies to one doesn't necessarily apply to the other. It's apples and oranges. :(

[jagoffee]

I'd be very surprised if I got an OBC that's 12-15% of the cruise fare; 20% isn't unheard of. Perhaps the combination of group fares and OBC will be similar. I guess it remains to be seen.

 

You might be right. Mine is about 10% OBC of the total charges including taxes and fees.

 

Let's hope that it is just a restriction on advertising, but I think that my TA believes otherwise.

[cherylandtk]

Thank you cruisetherapist for the response from your folks. I know that the large agency I quoted in post #1 routinely mentions their 10% typical discount in their promotional emails and website. I figure that must now change, but I do wonder where they found the statement about selling at the same price point as Princess. Or maybe they just don't want to be a discount agency any longer.....:confused: (more likely they are trying to drum up business with this , uhhmmm, misunderstanding)

[caribill]

According to what cruisetherapist says TA's will be able to give back some of their commission to reduce price of cruise.I guess you just have to call them for a quote.ALot of times I go online to the agencies that compete with a price.Maybe they will not be able to do that anymore,with Princess.

 

They compete with quotes which are not considered advertising. So if only advertising is affected, what they do should change because of the new Princess restrictions.

[mcrcruiser]

It seems to be geting ugly when it comes to cruise lines price fixing:(. Wonder what legality there might be to price fixing & what atty general will take those cruise lines to task ? :eek:

 

Celebrity & RCCL has been raising their prices to the point that they can & do loose customers for being too pricy:rolleyes:. We like Celebrity alot ;but ,have found Princess to be lower cost for comparable cruise .Now is all that going to change & we might have to go back to Carnival for lower cost cruising ? Yikes what a though !!:o

[bigguy6]

It was always my understanding that large TAs booked blocks of rooms with Princess (and other cruise lines) for a discounted price which allowed them to quote a discount to their customers. Supposedly if they didn't sell all that they had blocked they could turn the nonsold cabins back into the cruise line with some sort of penalty for what they had to turn back in. Is this correct? And if so, how does this new policy affect that? I am quessing that this is still the case, but that Princess is telling them they can not advertize a discount but they can still quote a discount to those that inquire.

[Pam in CA]

It's a myth that only large TAs reserve blocks of cabins. TAs that specialize in and book a large number of Princess cruises reserve cabins in a variety of cabin categories, whether they are a small or large agency, are the ones who do. (A travel agent who is now deceased was a one woman agency and booked as many as 40 cruises a day; she booked only Princess and because she was high volume, got excellent pricing.) TAs then offer these cabins to their customers at group rates. If any are unsold, they are returned to inventory. I don't know whether there is a penalty or not for returning cabins. I have not heard any whisper that these TAs who get special pricing because they are super high volume will lose that.

[englishbird]

Hi Pam,

Over here we cannot now even get OBC. Princess UK will not trade with a TA that goes down this route. The only exception would appear to be when a major player amongst the TAs takes a block booking and packages the cruise with airflights, hotels and land tours. In which case they probably would have more room to offer a small incentive. They would also need to sell all their allocation. (See Englishbirds Post #20 above.) I look forward to meeting you on the Star in March too.

 

 

We can still get OBC. I have booked during the 4 day sale in November and have $100 OBC. This was from Princess a combination of the weekend sale and $25 which was a Captain Circle Offer.

 

I have priced alot of different cruises for my clients over the past few weeks and alot do have OBC.:D

[bigguy6]

It's a myth that only large TAs reserve blocks of cabins. TAs that specialize in and book a large number of Princess cruises reserve cabins in a variety of cabin categories, whether they are a small or large agency, are the ones who do. (A travel agent who is now deceased was a one woman agency and booked as many as 40 cruises a day; she booked only Princess and because she was high volume, got excellent pricing.) TAs then offer these cabins to their customers at group rates. If any are unsold, they are returned to inventory. I don't know whether there is a penalty or not for returning cabins. I have not heard any whisper that these TAs who get special pricing because they are super high volume will lose that.

 

When I said "large TAs" I didn't mean large by size, I meant large by volume. Even a one woman agency that sell 40 cruises a day would qualify as large in my book.

[amazinglife]

This came from my TA today. Hope it clears up questions in this matter. I hope I am not breaking any C.C. rules. Moderators please pull if you deem it necessary. Modified as to not identify the agency.

 

 

 

We have received countless emails and phone calls regarding the new Princess discounting policy effective 1/1/12.

 

Below is a cruise critic message that another agency put out there to get bookings and get everyone to book with them. Just so you know there arent any changes to the way we are allowed to price out and discount Princess Cruises!!!!!! The only change that they asked of us is that we do not advertise the fact that we discount. i.e. newspaper ads, etc.

 

 

By the way, that same email quoted an announcement from Princess that from Jan 1 2012, no discounting will be allowed and hence the promotion was called "Princess Last Chance". Here is the text:IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective January 1, 2012, that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises. All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price. All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates). Non cash-based value adds will be allowed, but will be limited. What does this mean for you??? It means you have until December 31, 2011 to book your new 2012 or 2013 Princess cruise with BLANK while we can still offer a 10% discount off the lowest qualifying Princess cruise fare.

Princess "LAST CHANCE" SalePromotion Valid: Wednesday 12/14/11 - 12/21/11

[chamima]

This came from my TA today. Hope it clears up questions in this matter. I hope I am not breaking any C.C. rules. Moderators please pull if you deem it necessary. Modified as to not identify the agency.

 

 

 

We have received countless emails and phone calls regarding the new Princess discounting policy effective 1/1/12.

 

Below is a cruise critic message that another agency put out there to get bookings and get everyone to book with them. Just so you know there arent any changes to the way we are allowed to price out and discount Princess Cruises!!!!!! The only change that they asked of us is that we do not advertise the fact that we discount. i.e. newspaper ads, etc.

 

 

By the way, that same email quoted an announcement from Princess that from Jan 1 2012, no discounting will be allowed and hence the promotion was called "Princess Last Chance". Here is the text:IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective January 1, 2012, that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises. All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price. All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates). Non cash-based value adds will be allowed, but will be limited. What does this mean for you??? It means you have until December 31, 2011 to book your new 2012 or 2013 Princess cruise with BLANK while we can still offer a 10% discount off the lowest qualifying Princess cruise fare.

Princess "LAST CHANCE" SalePromotion Valid: Wednesday 12/14/11 - 12/21/11

 

 

I also received either the same or a VERY similar email:

 

 

We have received countless emails and phone calls regarding the new Princess discounting policy effective 1/1/12.

Below is a cruise critic message that another agency put out there to get bookings and get everyone to book with them. Just so you know there arent any changes to the way we are allowed to price out and discount Princess Cruises!!!!!! The only change that they asked of us is that we do not advertise the fact that we discount. i.e. newspaper ads, etc...We do not advertise like that anyway as we really don't advertise at all and all of our business is from referrals word of mouth. Thank you!! thank you to all our ............... family members!!! We do appreciate you!! Hope this clears up the confusion. I would be the first person to let you know if any such changes would be to occur. Lets hope their discounting policies never do!!!

[Rockymountainsparky]

I also received either the same or a VERY similar email:

 

 

We have received countless emails and phone calls regarding the new Princess discounting policy effective 1/1/12.

Below is a cruise critic message that another agency put out there to get bookings and get everyone to book with them. Just so you know there arent any changes to the way we are allowed to price out and discount Princess Cruises!!!!!! The only change that they asked of us is that we do not advertise the fact that we discount. i.e. newspaper ads, etc...We do not advertise like that anyway as we really don't advertise at all and all of our business is from referrals word of mouth. Thank you!! thank you to all our ............... family members!!! We do appreciate you!! Hope this clears up the confusion. I would be the first person to let you know if any such changes would be to occur. Lets hope their discounting policies never do!!!

 

 

This is the email that I received. It's good to know that TAs will still be able to discount.:D

[Northender]

Cheryl, enjoy your upcoming cruise.:) Thanks for posting this thread.

A&B

[MandE-UK]

This is the email that I received. It's good to know that TAs will still be able to discount.:D

Hi All,

Unfortunately for us in the UK this message 'IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective December 1, 2011, that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises. All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price. All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates).

which even the girls from Princess UK verify, and it would seem every TA in this country are following has now been applied opver here. Let us sincerely hope that it does not happen to you across the water, as we will have even less chance of getting it changed then!!

Once more it seems as if we in the UK are getting stiffed again.

[Beopthtuh]

Hi All,

Unfortunately for us in the UK this message 'IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective December 1, 2011, that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises. All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price. All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates).

which even the girls from Princess UK verify, and it would seem every TA in this country are following has now been applied opver here. Let us sincerely hope that it does not happen to you across the water, as we will have even less chance of getting it changed then!!

Once more it seems as if we in the UK are getting stiffed again.

we would,nt expect anything less for uk pax on princess now days .

becoming a daily routine and thats from princess uk mouth ,they even treat their uk staff different to their usa staff.

[antsp]

Just had a flickmthrough the Daily Mail, not one advert for princess, i dont think they are intrested in UK passangers

[Pam in CA]

Just had a flickmthrough the Daily Mail, not one advert for princess, i dont think they are intrested in UK passangers

It might be different in the UK but in the US, Princess doesn't advertise at all. No TV, no radio, no newspapers; they send emails, brochures and flyers and do social media plus some promotion (not advertising) but that's it. They sell cruises mostly through TAs who do advertise. They rarely have a problem filling a ship so it must be working.

[englishbird]

I have seen Princess advertising campaign for the peak booking period after xmas. They will be advertising in 3 major British Newspapers and they will be mailing thousands of customers in the next few weeks.

 

:D

[jonikal]

It might be different in the UK but in the US, Princess doesn't advertise at all. No TV, no radio, no newspapers; they send emails, brochures and flyers and do social media plus some promotion (not advertising) but that's it. They sell cruises mostly through TAs who do advertise. They rarely have a problem filling a ship so it must be working.

 

 

I do believe you are omitting the significant chunk of Princess advertising that appears on numerous very popular internet news and magazine sites that I access on a daily basis. Not sure what the difference is between promotion and advertising - I believe neither option is free.

 

All that aside, having read this thread, I'm finding myself more confused than before.

 

Does anyone know:

 

a) What the policy really is? It seems to bounce between being no change as long as TA's don't advertise discounted fares and the drop-dead date of January 1, 2012 when TA's are no longer able to discount at all.

Which is it?

 

b) If TA's are essentially cut out of the picture by being disallowed from offering discounts, what options are there for those of us who are not particularly interested in receiving a bottle of wine or chocolate covered strawberries? What recourse is there for those TA's who've maintained long-term relationships with Princess? (BTW I am not a TA but happen to have had a very happy relationship over many years with mine.)

 

d) Since it apparently took Celebrity 2 years to gain back customer loyalty after taking similar steps, may Princess customers also expect 2 years of high prices until headquarters makes adjustments?

[terrierjohn]

Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective January 1, 2012,

that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises.

All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price.

All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates).

Non cash-based value adds will be allowed, but will be limited.

The above message is from cruisecritic.com, this follows a similar new policy from Carnivals P&O brand in the UK which started in April this year and created quite a bit of discussion at the time.

Whilst I can understand UK holidaymakers stoically accepting this policy I wonder whether it will be meakly agreed to by US cruisers? :eek:

[Essiesmom]

This has been known in the US for several months. EM

[iancal]

The prices are the same but we get anywhere from 8-12 percent of the base fare returned to us in the form of on board credits.

[paul929207]

The prices are the same but we get anywhere from 8-12 percent of the base fare returned to us in the form of on board credits.

A number of other lines have done this in the last few years, so I doubt there will be a riot over this.

[hubofhockey]

Whilst I can understand UK holidaymakers stoically accepting this policy I wonder whether it will be meakly agreed to by US cruisers? :eek:

 

There's not much that any of us can do about this. The price is the price. Our wholesale club TA still gives us $200 gift cards after we complete our cruises and it's better than nothing. I think Royal Caribbean brands have moved to the same pricing structure.