Kudos to Princess: Phone call ...THIS is a first!

[remydiva]

We just returned this week from a 13 nite Grand Med cruise then an extra week in Paris.

 

Just now, my phone rang and it was 'Sue from Princess cruises' asking me how my Grand Med cruise was. I said it was wonderful and then she went on to say 'and how was your week in Paris?'.

 

I gasped and said 'how did YOU know about that?' and she said that she had also checked our air schedule, which I had booked thru Princess EZ Air, so saw that we were returning later and through Paris.

 

Is this something new? In any case, I've never had a personal phone call from Princess after returning from a cruise. It's kind of a nice touch and very proactive on Princess's part I think. There was no sales talk, no push to get me to book again...just like having a friend phone and say how was your trip.

 

Way to go Princess!:)

[pacwind3]

That's really awesome of them. And thank you for posting. It's nice to read positive reviews as well.

[highheel girl]

Excellent!

[Pia1913]

We just returned this week from a 13 nite Grand Med cruise then an extra week in Paris.

 

Just now, my phone rang and it was 'Sue from Princess cruises' asking me how my Grand Med cruise was. I said it was wonderful and then she went on to say 'and how was your week in Paris?'.

 

I gasped and said 'how did YOU know about that?' and she said that she had also checked our air schedule, which I had booked thru Princess EZ Air, so saw that we were returning later and through Paris.

 

Is this something new? In any case, I've never had a personal phone call from Princess after returning from a cruise. It's kind of a nice touch and very proactive on Princess's part I think. There was no sales talk, no push to get me to book again...just like having a friend phone and say how was your trip.

 

Way to go Princess!:)

 

Was your booking directly with Princess? I expect a yes on this, since if with a TA I doubt there would have been a phone call.

 

In any event, it is a nice gesture.

[remydiva]

Was your booking directly with Princess? I expect a yes on this, since if with a TA I doubt there would have been a phone call.

 

In any event, it is a nice gesture.

 

Yes it was directly with Princess which I have always done but this is the first time I've gotten a phone call.

[Matcodixon]

Since I switched our booking from direct with Princess to a TA after the initial booking, I did not receive a call from Princess, however I did receive one from our TA! :)

[Pia1913]

Since I switched our booking from direct with Princess to a TA after the initial booking, I did not receive a call from Princess, however I did receive one from our TA! :)

 

And you paid less money too. :D

[as19111]

We received a call from Holly the week before we sailed asking if there was anything she could do for us, and she also left a message on our answering machine in the week following our return.

 

Sue and Holly are Princess travel agents, whom you can deal with directly each time you book a cruise. If you call 1-800-Princess, you will deal with whoever answers the phone. It's another Princess service, but I can't speak to any value of the service at this time. I also receive periodic emails from Holly. I did try to contact her to book our most recent cruise but couldn't reach her directly and reverted back to the 1-800 number.

 

Maybe we did pay more for the cruise(how will we ever know if our rate is comparable to your rate), but I was happy to deal directly with Princess and have my questions answered directly and to be in full control of my booking 100% of the time.

[rdsqrl]

. . . to be in full control of my booking 100% of the time.

I see this all the time and just don't get it. What do you think that you, a non-expert, can do to/on/about that booking that a professional travel agent can't? Do you also take out your own appendix, so you have full control over the surgery?

[DrivesLikeMario]

I see this all the time and just don't get it. What do you think that you, a non-expert, can do to/on/about that booking that a professional travel agent can't? Do you also take out your own appendix, so you have full control over the surgery?

 

Couldn't agree more. Maybe he prefers paying more. :cool:

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

Why would it matter to anyone what he paid for his cruise? He enjoyed it and appreciates his experience dealing directly with Princess.

 

Glad you had a good experience on your cruise!!

[oratheeexplorer]

I see this all the time and just don't get it. What do you think that you, a non-expert, can do to/on/about that booking that a professional travel agent can't? Do you also take out your own appendix, so you have full control over the surgery?

 

 

We booked our cruises through a travel agent. However, I can see what they mean by being able to everything themselves. I've had several times when I had a question about something and I would have to call our TA and have them check and call me back. If booking with Princess, I could've called myself and got the info right away. With the TA office only being available during the day, I could call Princess anytime and get an answer on something if I was booked through them. So I can understand why some like to book directly with Princess.

[oratheeexplorer]

I see this all the time and just don't get it. What do you think that you, a non-expert, can do to/on/about that booking that a professional travel agent can't? Do you also take out your own appendix, so you have full control over the surgery?

 

 

We booked our cruises through a TA. However, I can understand why some people like to go directly through Princess. I have had numerous times when I had questions that I would have to call my TA for and have her call Princess and call me back. She is only available during daytime hours. If we had booked with Princess, I could have called anytime myself and gotten answers immediately. I could call Princess with general questions, but specific questions pertaining to our booking, our TA had to call and that just meant more phone calls in between and more time waiting for answers.

[Pia1913]

We booked our cruises through a TA. However, I can understand why some people like to go directly through Princess. I have had numerous times when I had questions that I would have to call my TA for and have her call Princess and call me back. She is only available during daytime hours. If we had booked with Princess, I could have called anytime myself and gotten answers immediately. I could call Princess with general questions, but specific questions pertaining to our booking, our TA had to call and that just meant more phone calls in between and more time waiting for answers.

 

Just a short comment. When you have the right TA, you don't even have to call. Email will and can do it all. I use 3 different TA's and I never have to wait for an "office" to open or for it to be Monday to Friday. You just need to shop around.

[pris993]

I see this all the time and just don't get it. What do you think that you, a non-expert, can do to/on/about that booking that a professional travel agent can't? Do you also take out your own appendix, so you have full control over the surgery?

 

I think it really depends on how long one has cruised and travelled. We generally book with a TA the cruise portion but in doing so, we tell the TA exactly what we want, we have done our homework before we book. We could just as easily book with a cruise line.

 

We always book our own air and hotels directly. Have found we can do better than an agent.

 

Agents are great for folks who want to book packages and want someone else to handle all details.

[5326jan]

I think it really depends on how long one has cruised and travelled. We generally book with a TA the cruise portion but in doing so, we tell the TA exactly what we want, we have done our homework before we book. We could just as easily book with a cruise line.

 

We always book our own air and hotels directly. Have found we can do better than an agent.

 

Agents are great for folks who want to book packages and want someone else to handle all details.

 

It really depends on the age and experience of the agent. Young/new agents, just out of school may have the technical skills needed to "get the job done", but might not have the experience of travel for first hand knowledge about a location and/or mode of travel. I learn something new every time we travel. You can only gain so much knowledge from a guide book or website. We also do all the bookings ourselves, except for cruises. We can't get the discounts that the agents can! I do book it first, then switch over to agent before final payment. I make their job easy, but that's ok. :)

 

When you find a good, experienced, well traveled agent, they are worth their weight in gold!

[caribill]

I could call Princess anytime and get an answer on something if I was booked through them.

 

If we had booked with Princess, I could have called anytime myself and gotten answers immediately.

 

Although Princess is open for calls more hours than most (but not all) Travel Agents, it is hard to contact them "anytime" as there are many hours they are closed for calls.

 

I booked one trip on a sold out ship when I noticed a cabin available late on a Saturday evening when the TA I used was still open and Princess was closed for the night.

[oratheeexplorer]

Didn't mean to post the same reply twice earlier....my computer froze and I didn't think it took it the first time....sorry about that!

 

I guess I should look into finding a TA I could get ahold of other than Monday through Saturday during the daytime hours.

[Pia1913]

 

I guess I should look into finding a TA I could get ahold of other than Monday through Saturday during the daytime hours.

 

Guess you should. :)

[lljost]

The past several years I have often received phone calls from our personal Princess rep both before and after our crusie. It is a thoughtful touch. And I could be wrong, but I get the impression that it is their choice to do this, not mandatory. It is very much appreciated. As to whether I pay more or less by using Princess direct...you don't know what I pay and I don't know what you pay...as long as you are happy with your service and I am happy with my service...who cares who gets the better deal!

[as19111]

the past several years i have often received phone calls from our personal princess rep both before and after our crusie. It is a thoughtful touch. And i could be wrong, but i get the impression that it is their choice to do this, not mandatory. It is very much appreciated. As to whether i pay more or less by using princess direct...you don't know what i pay and i don't know what you pay...as long as you are happy with your service and i am happy with my service...who cares who gets the better deal!

 

b i n g o!

[Anniesails]

We used a Princess TA to book out Baltic Cruise, she called or e mailed me monthly even once we fully paid to make sure everything with us was good. She called me a week after our return to see how it went, didn't try to sell us anything, since we are discussing our next cruise asked her some ques and she's helping us plan the next trip to SA. I have to say, I loved having her helping us. It was great to know I could call her or email her and she would handle whatever it was, always the same person, etc. We had a prior Princess cruise cancelled on us by Princess due to mechanical problems, she handled the cruise credit airfare refunds, etc. She has been a tremendous asset.:D

[remydiva]

Seems my original post of the follow up phone call from princess has turned this thread into a bit of a pro and con for using a TA vs using princess. Not what I intended ...I used to receive a thank you gift basket from my TA after my trips as well as a bottle of wine, champagne or flowers in our cabin from the TA. Not disputing a good TA. I am one of probably a few hundred clients.

 

I just thought it was a nice gesture on the part of Princess where I am one of several tens of thousands to get a personal phone call post cruise....

 

now if they threw in a bottle of wine too, then I'd be REALLY impressed!