I'm seriously considering to bypass my TA this time and had a question please

[Camelia-]

By reading your posts I've been realizing more and more that I should be looking for a different way of booking my cruises or at least a TA that will discount and perhaps add an OBC. One other option is booking directly with Princess - which I know many of you do. I just have a quick question though - if I book with Princess is it possible to deal with just one person or would I be dealing with different people each time I called about something? I don't think I would like that very much because I've dealt with some really good ones but with others that I just didn't connect with when I called to enquire about something.

 

Your advice is much appreciated!!

 

Camelia

[coloradocruisers101]

We have used the same person, actually two as our first personal vacation planner moved to another department for years. I don't really get OBC's from her or gifts and I watch the Princess website on a regular basis to see when prices drop. Then I email her and get the lower price. Most of the time I use future cruise credits and then a lot of time Princess gives you additional OBC's. Our next cruise in November I already have $200.00 OBC's. Just call Princess and ask for a PVP.

Good Luck!

[Camelia-]

that is definitely very helpful indeed! Do you have to ask for the OBC or do they just give it to you when possible?

 

Camelia

[Colo Cruiser]

Booking with Princess will not give you the discounts that you have coming to you.

Sounds like you need to find a good TA.

 

PVP's at Princess change all the time, so I would not count on having the same one over the long term like a good TA.

[waltd]

You can get a vacation planner through Princess that is different then a customer service agent. Don't expect the OBC or discounts that you might get going through a higher volume TA.

[CaptainKlutz]

I recommend finding a good TA. We've used two on an alternating basis and realized after we booked our upcoming cruise that we really only need one and we booked this trip with the wrong one!

 

We always book a minimum balcony guarantee and I think we would have wound up with a better cabin if we'd gone with the first TA after getting really good upgrades the last few times with them and nary a bump from the one we used this time.

[Pam in CA]

I recommend finding a good TA. We've used two on an alternating basis and realized after we booked our upcoming cruise that we really only need one and we booked this trip with the wrong one!

 

We always book a minimum balcony guarantee and I think we would have wound up with a better cabin if we'd gone with the first TA after getting really good upgrades the last few times with them and nary a bump from the one we used this time.

Relax and give your TA the benefit of the doubt. :) It's not up to them and they have no control over whether your get a GTY "upgrade" or not. It doesn't matter which TA you use or whether you book directly with Princess. GTY assignments are computerized and based on demand and available cabins. Always book a GTY in a category you'd be happy with as many who book GTYs get the exact category they booked or one a category or two higher. I recently booked a cruise on the Grand and was automatically given a 2-category "upgrade." Big whoop... I'm about ten cabins down from where I originally wanted to be. Edited March 28, 2014 by Pam in CA

[RetiredNTraveling]

Well, here we are again! Everyone states that you need to find a "Good TA" but that is it! How do you know who is a good TA and who is a bad TA?

 

I agree, that I read all about the great OBC and stuff that a good TA will give you, but finding one is the problem.

 

I have used the same Princess Cruise Vacation Planner for our last 3 cruises and she has been just great! ;)

 

Also we have booked mini-suites on each of these cruises through her and then received "up-sells" to a suite on each cruise through PCL. I guess you could say that we are lucky! Or you could say that by booking with PCVP we are really lucky. I will forego OBC's to get a up-sell to a suite every time!

 

But then what do I know, :confused: I am a relative novice to cruising, :o but I do love Princess Cruises! :D

[Maksim]

Periodically someone makes a similar comment and I am always curious.

 

Have you ever found a price with Princess OBC that you could not get the same price and Princess OBC with a TA? I cannot imagine how this would be possible.

 

TA's have their own channels and incentives they can offer, but it's not always better than direct or through other websites. That's why I always check around before I decide who I book with. This time the only difference was in OBC and it was not that much, but still it was worth going with TA rather than Princess direct.

[AKman2495]

My experience is this. I booked my first cruise myself. Went through Princess and had no problems. True, I suppose others would say I over paid and was rooked, but I was in control of everything and I slept well the whole time.

 

The next two cruises I used a TA that seemed to be good. She was very pleasant, but in the end, I paid the same price I would have had I booked on Princess. I for exactly 6 TA coupon books. She booked a flight for us from Anchorage to FLL that did not exist and I had to get her to change it-after looking up the flights and having to explain it to her. I sent her instructions as to a particular cabin I wanted -it was on the plaza deck. She comes back and tells me she booked us on the Riviera deck and that we would love it. I had to make her change it back.

 

On one cruise, she booked us transfers and a Princess hotel. I could have done that just as easily.

 

In the end, this next cruise, I booked myself through Princess. I had one question about applying me FCC and called Princess and had it taken care of. When the woman saw that we were platinum she was very gracious and thank me for coming back to Princess.

 

I was happy...FWIW

[CaptainKlutz]

Relax and give your TA the benefit of the doubt. :) It's not up to them and they have no control over whether your get a GTY "upgrade" or not. It doesn't matter which TA you use or whether you book directly with Princess. GTY assignments are computerized and based on demand and available cabins. Always book a GTY in a category you'd be happy with as many who book GTYs get the exact category they booked or one a category or two higher. I recently booked a cruise on the Grand and was automatically given a 2-category "upgrade." Big whoop... I'm about ten cabins down from where I originally wanted to be.

 

Allow me to explain a little further. Frankly I hadn't really given much thought about what TA's can or will do for their customers until we booked our upcoming cruise. Our last 2 cruises were booked with the TA we've seemed to use more frequently. On both of those we booked a GTY in the minimum balcony category; on both we got a cabin assignment within a few days with a bump to midships (then we got bumped again on our Transatlantic to a mini-suite). That bump came with a note from the TA that their friend at Princess got us the minisuite.

 

This time around we waited a month and hadn't gotten a cabin assignment so we went to talk with the TA. Basically she wanted us to tell her what to ask for and really didn't seem happy with the entire concept.

 

Could it have been the standard capricious upgrade fairy over the last couple of cruises? Sure...but I have a feeling our TA before was making calls and working for us in the background. Have I asked them? No, because I didn't want them to know I was being unfaithful! ;)

[Maksim]

I have to add that one advantage to book directly is that you can call Princess as much as you want to bother them with all kind of stuff. If you book with TA, they will tell you that you have to go to your TA for these. That's the only thing.

[MCC retired]

That bump came with a note from the TA that their friend at Princess got us the minisuite.

 

Please , as a former TA I can admit to some little white lies also :D

Edited March 28, 2014 by MCC retired

[jagmanss1]

I have to add that one advantage to book directly is that you can call Princess as much as you want to bother them with all kind of stuff. If you book with TA, they will tell you that you have to go to your TA for these. That's the only thing.

 

Yeah, But I also have to add that I can call my Excellent TA too as much as I want to bother them with all kinds of stuff, They know as much as Princess does if not more...... Remember they are not only TA's but cruisers too....

[CaptainKlutz]

 

Please , as a former TA I can admit to some little white lies also :D

 

Ok...capricious upgrade fairy then...I'd still rather work with a TA. :)

[caribill]

My experience is this. I booked my first cruise myself. Went through Princess and had no problems. True, I suppose others would say I over paid and was rooked, but I was in control of everything and I slept well the whole time.

 

The next two cruises I used a TA that seemed to be good. She was very pleasant, but in the end, I paid the same price I would have had I booked on Princess. I for exactly 6 TA coupon books. She booked a flight for us from Anchorage to FLL that did not exist and I had to get her to change it-after looking up the flights and having to explain it to her. I sent her instructions as to a particular cabin I wanted -it was on the plaza deck. She comes back and tells me she booked us on the Riviera deck and that we would love it. I had to make her change it back.

 

On one cruise, she booked us transfers and a Princess hotel. I could have done that just as easily.

 

 

You have described a poor travel agent and you probably would have been happy if you had a good travel agent.

 

On your next cruise, speak with fellow passengers (especially at your roll call's M&G) to get info on good TAs.

 

Yeah, But I also have to add that I can call my Excellent TA too as much as I want to bother them with all kinds of stuff, They know as much as Princess does if not more...... Remember they are not only TA's but cruisers too....

 

Excellent TAs have cruised. Many TAs have never seen a cruise ship much less sailed on one.

Edited March 28, 2014 by caribill

[nojoke]

We do thorough homework before speaking to Princess. This last cruise, I called Princess and the agent offered to place a 24-hr hold on the cabin. He took a long time with me searching for a cabin at a good price (the website said “GTY”--but he found me an actual cabin I was happy with.) I told him from the start that I would probably use an online TA, and he didn’t mind. I felt as though I received better personal service from the Princess agent than we do with the online TA. That same day, I contacted the online agent we use frequently, receiving the same price as Princess, but with the TA’s $225 OBC. So I really felt I got the best of both worlds.

[janacin]

Periodically someone makes a similar comment and I am always curious.

 

Have you ever found a price with Princess OBC that you could not get the same price and Princess OBC with a TA? I cannot imagine how this would be possible.

 

In every case the total price from the TA was lower. It contained discounts from the TA's commission and had no bearing on whatever cabin or cruise credit I would get from Princess.

[cherrybear]

We love our PVP, she's booked 4 cruises for us and is always so friendly and helpful. She's never made us feel like we were bothering her. On the flip side we used a TA from a national, well-known company for our first cruise and the experience was horrible. In our case the OBC or a bottle of wine isn't a good enough trade off for our peace of mind and happy experiences.

[cpj]

I think people should book anyway they want as long as they are happy. I do know that 75 percent of cruises are book thru travel agents but if your happy booking direct so be it. Your not going to convince people to change if they think they are right. So why would anyone care.

[jagmanss1]

You have described a poor travel agent and you probably would have been happy if you had a good travel agent.

 

On your next cruise,

 

 

 

Excellent TAs have cruised. Many TAs have never seen a cruise ship much less sailed on one.

 

Yes I agree Excellent TA's have cruised but I'm not talking about your run of the mill travel agent, Cruise TA's who specialize in cruises only do cruise...

 

I also do agree that many on here should speak with fellow passengers (especially at your roll call's M&G) to get info on good TAs.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[Colo Cruiser]

I think people should book anyway they want as long as they are happy. I do know that 75 percent of cruises are book thru travel agents but if your happy booking direct so be it. Your not going to convince people to change if they think they are right. So why would anyone care.

 

They care because its the question that the OP asked.

Nobody is trying to convince anyone, they are answering a request.

[cpj]

They care because its the question that the OP asked.

Nobody is trying to convince anyone, they are answering a request.

 

Sorry I guess I should have read the whole thread.

[2stonesthrow]

I would definitely use a TA, but make sure you work with one where you have a direct number to them! I work in the travel industry, and they are able to get you much more for free than the cruise lines can give you. They can do the same price as the cruise line, plus get your extras… and TLC when you have a problem. Find one you can get to know on a personal basis….. Cheers!

[bigchid]

We have had a top notch PVP, and if he were still there we would have stayed with him, but he moved on. We've had 2 others that were not so good, so we changed to a TA. I don't really know for sure if we get a better deal with the TA, but so far feel comfortable with her, and that's important for me.