Largest Seller of Princess Cruises in USA?

[KatWag]

Hi Everyone,

 

My parents are looking at a group cruise. The woman putting the group together is dealing with an online agency I've never heard of. They claim to book the largest number of Princess Cruises in the US.

 

I'm a little worried, having heard all these horror stories about some of the online agencies. My parents are also concerned and asked me to post to see if anyone knew anything that could help.

 

If we called Princess and asked them for two or three Agencies who book the most with them, do you think they'd give us the names?

 

Also, has anyone has experience with a company called The Crui*e L*ne Ltd? The claim to "beat any cruise price" dot com. (Remove spaces, of course.)

 

Any assistance or advice would be really appreciated. If you can't post, can you please email me at wagnertk@comcast.net?

 

Thanks!

 

Kathy

[mdmomof7]

As a new cruiser, I called Princess directly after finding my best price w/ an IA. I only asked them to confirm that they deal w/ this IA company and that they are an authorized Princess agency.

[RSGS315]

Why is it so imprtant to you that they are the largest Princess booking agency?

A GOOD travel agent will know a great deal about many cruise lines, not just one in particular.

More important than that, is the fact that a good travel agent should qualify you properly, making sure that you are sailing on the right ship for YOU.

There is a cruise for everyone, but it takes a good agent to find the proper match.

Hapy Cruising, Ginnie

[VikingRob]

Without reccommending any particular agency, I found a great website to search for agents. *****.com You list what cruise you want and travel agencies from around the country give you quotes and let you pick the best one if any. Plus there are also links to the local better business bureaus to check them out. We booked our last trip this way.

[susancruzs]

Claims of being the largest booking Princess doesn't mean much. The TA I work with (an individual giving it a personal touch and a live person), gets recognition from RCI and Princess every year for number of cruises she sells. She does a high volume. I really don't much stock in the "hook" ads, whether on TV or the Net.

 

Susie

[myangel]

Kathy,

 

I dealt with the ####### you mentioned in 2004. I was not happy with "them" at all...............

[KatWag]

Thanks, everyone.

 

Ginny, just to clarify... it's not important to me at all whether they are are the largest seller of Princess cruises, I just want to be sure that any claims they are making are really valid. If they would be misleading in their claims there, I'd wonder what else they were being misleading about.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, everyone.

 

Kathy

[sail7seas]

As a new cruiser, I called Princess directly after finding my best price w/ an IA. I only asked them to confirm that they deal w/ this IA company and that they are an authorized Princess agency.

 

 

How did they answer you?

[blambition]

As a TA I do wish that potential clients would realize that a real working relationship can outweigh saving a few dollars on you cabin. Having been in the business for many years I, like so many other TA's learned how to find not only the best price for my clients but how to ask all the important questions that we are able to put you on the best ship and itinerary suited for your needs. A good agent does not stop working for you as soon as you have paid for you cruise. Prices can go down before your final payment and your price could be adjusted. There are many details to attend to and having a live person that you know has it's advantages! I do a lot on the internet but I still like to know who I'm dealing with when it come to handling all my vacation plans.

[CruiseFever]

I'm a travel agent too and I agree.

 

Finding a good TA is much like finding a good insurance salesman. Travel Agents are sales persons, make no mistake about it. If you can find one that will be an advocate for your travel needs that's great. But it IS common for them to attempt to "upsell" you into a higher cabin category, going on and on about the wonder of a balcony cabin if you have an outside cabin or a suite if you have a balcony.

 

There's nothing wrong with this commonly used sales tactic.

 

Other travel agents might get you into some group booking space where they have said to the cruise line "Give us a bunch of cabins at a reduced rate and we will sell them". The cruise line in return says "Ok great, the more you sell the more goodies we will give you. You can make these goodies benefit your group by adding amenities or reducing fares or you can make these benefits benefit you with free cabins or extra commissions".

 

One of the most important features of a good cruise travel agent is efficiency. You need the behind the scenes part of your booking to be handled correctly and on time. Attention to detail in this area is a must.

 

But you need to be your own advocate too.

 

You're doing that right now by coming here to learn about this stuff and gain valuable information that could make or break your cruise later.

 

To find a travel agent, much like finding an insurance salesman, you can look to professional organizations like the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA, http://www.cruising.org ) who helps train and certify cruise travel agents, awarding various levels of competency. Look for one that's at least a Master Cruise Counselor(MCC) (There's also an "Elite" designation). They've gone through training, attended seminars and toured various cruise ships to get a goodunderstanding of what they need to know.

 

Another professional organization that is a good indicator that an agency is at least doing some business is The American Socisty of Travel Agents (ASTA, http://www.astanet.com), the members here have rigorous criteria to meet in order to join and maintain membership.

 

If you do an Internet search for travel agents remember that in many cases the listings you see first are sponsored meaning those people pay the search engine to be listed at the top of the list.

 

Word of mouth, of course, is one of the best sources of finding a good travel agent. Because recommending specific travel agents on an Internet based forum such as this is NOT the same as a recommendation from, say, your neighbor we don't allow it on Cruise Critic and you should be happy that we don't. The people you come to "know" here could be travel agents, sales people, trying to make a sale without the best interest in mind that your neighbor might have.

 

My point here is to find neutral, unbiased sources, ones with documentation to support their recommendations if possible like your state attorney general or consumer affairs office. In Florida, for example, travel agents are licensed and bonded by law to protect the consumer against fraud. A recommendation from a member of this or other Internet sites that you only "know" on line is one I'd be very cautious about.

 

Personally, I think its important, as noted above, to develop a good business relationship with your travel professional, be that an agent you find from one of the professional organizations, a neighbors recommendation or, yes, even an attractive yellow pages ad.

 

Armed with the right information about agents and the knowledge to ask the right questions you'll fare much better than blindly accepting somebody's suggestion.

 

Before you contact that agent get an idea of what you want. Search online or send off for some cruise brochures. Read reviews and other first timer information here on cruise critic. Ask questions (there are NO dumb ones) and get answers from the members here.

 

THEN make that call

[Handsome1975]

I'm a travel agent too...

 

Hi Chris, how are you? I noticed that you are a travel agent and was wondering if you could answer a question for me. At this point I have a cabin (BF) on hold for the Sapphire Princess sailing November 26th to Mexico. Out of all the prices for Princess, RCCL and a couple of other lines sailing from LA or Miami/Ft Lauderdale - this sailing for this week seems to come in at one of the best prices. How come? Is it because it's the week after Thanksgiving or is the weather cooler that time of year in Mexico - if you have any suggestions or ideas as to why it's so reasonable that specific week on this particular ship, please explain.

 

Thank you ...

[MaryPoppinz]

In my experience as a passenger and traveler, it is very common to see prices on cruises sailing from US ports and on hotel/tour packages to US tourist destinations drop (sometimes, significantly) during the period from just after Thanksgiving to the start of the Christmas school break.

 

There may be another reason in the case of the specific cruise you're looking at and Chris can address that, but what you're seeing is typical of that time of year.

[blambition]

It is common for the cruise lines to have their best prices in the Caribbean and Mexico the first two weeks of Dec. These a usually their lightest booked weeks mostly IMHO because most people at that time of year either want to travel during the actual holidays or do not want to leave town right before they are busy preparing for the holidays. I have been in the business since 1988 and this has always held true.

 

I do believe you should look for a travel agent in your town that is refered by a friend that has had a good working relationship with that person.

 

There are a lot of agents out there that do not try and sell up or book you on something that is not what you are looking for.

I believe a good agent should start by asking you a lot of questions especially if they are working with you for the first time. That is the only way they will start to understand which cruise line and ship would make you happy.