Cabin guarantees??????

[magic50]

I am trying to book 5 cabins on Crown Princess for their Sept 21 sailing. As a South African Princess doesn't allow us to book online so my bookings have to go through their agent. My problem is that Princess will only assign us 2 chosen cabins and have put the other three on guarantee. I wonder if anyone can tell me why they would do this as I understand that there is still plenty of space on board. I was under the impression from reading the boards that this is usually only done if one books just before sailing date. I have the impression that if you are not from the US you get nothing - no free air, no special prices and no OBC. Why do you suppose this is?

[Pam in CA]

I've never gotten free air on Princess or any other cruiseline. :(

 

Can't answer your question about the GTY cabins as I'm unfamiliar with South African agency and booking policies.

[paul929207]

I can't help you with the guarentee question, you may want to ask the agent.

 

Like Pam, we have never gotten free air.

The OBC we get from Princess is for the Future Cruise Credits that we bought on prior cruises and from being a shareholder of the parent company, Carnival Corp. Both of these are available to all passengers regardless of nationality.

[hubofhockey]

The premium cruise lines often include free air on the less popular cruise dates (not in the summer) as part of an "all in" price. The mass market cruise lines don't and now they are all moving away from discounting and even just offering to discount with non-refundable deposits. It's not a great trend for anybody.

 

That guarantee thing seems odd. Maybe trying another agent might work better.

[G8RH8R]

My only guess on the guarantee issue is perhaps you're trying to book the lowest category of cabin in the class you want, which are sometimes very limited in numbers. The guarantee would give you at least that category, with the possibility of an upgrade within your specific class.

[MCC retired]

I agree with previous poster , go up a category or 2 and although may be slightly more $$ than the fare you are paying , availability of cabins for assignment , may be greater.

 

Free Air ???? Don't think sooooo.

[aquilegia]

Well, I'm from the UK and I agree passengers from outside the US aren't offered the low prices, but you're misinformed about the other benefits. I've never heard an American passenger on a Princess cruise say they've got free air, nor ever seen it mentioned on these boards either. I've not heard of it with any of the mass market lines. It doesn't matter what nationality you are to get OBC and a lot of the OBC isn't given by Princess at all. It's given by travel agents to induce you to book with them or in the hope of you giving them your business again in the future. You're booking a fair few cabins and probably long haul flights as well, why don't you ask the agent what they're prepared to offer you in the way of OBC? If you don't like their answer, try another agent.

 

As to the guarantee cabins, you are correct that if there are specific cabins vacant you should be able to book them. Are you sure that these vacant cabins you can see are in the same category as you are trying to book? If they are, what explanation has your TA given you? No decent TA should just tell you Princess won't assign them without telling you exactly why.

[boca7]

Well, I'm from the UK and I agree passengers from outside the US aren't offered the low prices, but you're misinformed about the other benefits. I've never heard an American passenger on a Princess cruise say they've got free air, nor ever seen it mentioned on these boards either. I've not heard of it with any of the mass market lines. It doesn't matter what nationality you are to get OBC and a lot of the OBC isn't given by Princess at all. It's given by travel agents to induce you to book with them or in the hope of you giving them your business again in the future. You're booking a fair few cabins and probably long haul flights as well, why don't you ask the agent what they're prepared to offer you in the way of OBC? If you don't like their answer, try another agent.

 

As to the guarantee cabins, you are correct that if there are specific cabins vacant you should be able to book them. Are you sure that these vacant cabins you can see are in the same category as you are trying to book? If they are, what explanation has your TA given you? No decent TA should just tell you Princess won't assign them without telling you exactly why.

The only cruise lines that offer free air are the ultra premium, Regent, Oceana, Crystal is going all inclusive this summer. Actually the air is included in the price. Their is no free ride for anyone. All in the marketing.