Kim's Cruises?

[MamaTene]

Mary07054..cant show website as that is a no no..but use Kims and spell cruises with a K and add the normal .- - - to get to the site.

 

Adventure Martian Mania Madness!!!!

 

 

Chris

MamaTene@aol.com

[mary07054]

thanks - thats the site i went to - just wanted to make sure.

[marc b]

At the risk of being a naysayer, and incurring the wrath of many, I have found Kim to be pretty much worthless the last couple of times we tried to book with her. We booked with her 3 years ago,and she did a great job. But our last two cruises, she responded neither to phone message nor e-mail (other than automated e-mail after her recent vacation). Total lack of response does not indicate good service to us....

[alexsmom]

I have used Kim for 3 cruises on Princess. She is great. Always notifies you of price changes. Found her to answer questions promptly. Wish she could get these prices on other ships other than Princess.

[kitty555]

Hello Pea,

 

You say here:

---As far as my experiences have gone, Kim has not lowered the price if the promotion is "new bookings only".

 

Sorry for sounding stupid but what does "New Bookings only" mean?

 

I've been on 15 cruises and I still don't know all the terminology.

 

---TAs are not there to match someone else's "lowest price" after final payment.

 

I would never bother Kim with a request to lower the price 7 weeks before a cruise. It's not worth it to me plus she earns what ever little amount of commission she makes. I honestly feel like I would like to send her a gift or something for making my life easy with these bookings.

 

I was only curious what the policy was on lowering the price after a final payment because I happened to see the price of my category and sailing date go down on a particular website that I checked with before I check with Kim. Their price went down almost 100 pp so I wasn't sure if Princess had gone down or not.

 

I got the cabin and the category I wanted because I did the research myself. I told her exactly which cabin I wanted, when, where etc.... I don't bother her with petty details like that any more if I can help it. I think it's better to have some what of an idea of what you want as to not waste a whole lot of her time. That's the least I can do for her.

 

I just want to get the lowest price so I can afford to go on more cruises and give her my business more often. She provides me with good service and has not let me down once.

 

[This message was edited by kitty555 on 04-05-04 at 09:52 PM.]

 

[This message was edited by kitty555 on 04-05-04 at 09:54 PM.]

[RET_REF]

As far as Kim goes she is "Second to None" when it comes to be hard working dedicated TA. As I told her earlier today, I only wished I had heard of her three years sooner because she would have had all my past cruise business.

 

JMHO, to roe2ship and Vegas Jim, as with my officiating experiences you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time! If you find someone better than Kim then you better go for it! But I don't think you will!

[PeabodyNVL]

Kitty -

 

New bookings only is a limitation that Princess puts on certain promotions...meaning that if you have already booked, the new price is not applicable to you. Several years ago, many cruiselines started doing this with most (but not all) promotions inside final payment for cruises.

 

So, it is not a TA policy, but a cruiseline policy.

 

Some people will get the fare drop if they push their TA hard enough. Sometimes, I don't think it is the cruiseline giving the reduction, but the TA themselves to keep a customer satisfied. This means that whatever the customer gets is coming directly from the TA's commission. I'm not going to ask that of Kim, because she already gives so much back to her customers in the form of discounts. Sometimes, in lieu of a price reduction, a TA can arrange an upgrade. It depends on how the cruiseline is feeling and how fully booked the ship is.

 

Pea

 

5/9 Golden Princess  

[PattyCruise]

We just booked with Kim for a Med cruise Jun 7 05.

I called her and she called me back in 5 minutes.

We just got off the Tahitian Princess and Kim and her husband Mark were on board as well. Too bad it seems that people get bent out of shape when she went on vacation.

Patty

 

MAJESTY 4/97

STELLA SOLARIS 12/99

RENAISSANCE IV 1/01

IMAGINATION 2/01

NORWEGIAN WIND 04/02

CARNIVAL INSPIRATION 11/02

TAHITIAN PRINCESS 03/04

[kitty555]

Pea

 

Thank you for the quick response. I feel the same way. I wouldn't bother Kim and I certainly wouldn't want to take any money away from her.

[AmyinGA]

Does anyone know what total volume ($$$)that Kim does with Princess each year?

[tlmlb]

I've tried her and found her very unresponsive. To speculate, she probably is in the mode of having all she can handle herself and gives preference to repeat clients as any other good business person would. she is in that space where "do I hire help and take on more or just service who i can." its a tough spot.

[LindaKE]

Is she as good with HAL as she is with Princess?

 

LindaKE

 

Sun Princess(Alaska)

Carnival Inspiration

[todd-r]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kitty555:

It's not worth it to me plus she earns what ever little amount of commission she makes. I honestly feel like I would like to send her a gift or something for making my life easy with these bookings. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

On average, cruise lines pay commission of 12-15%. One of the last areas of the travel industry that 'work' with outside salespersons. Having said that, depending how the TA's pay structure is set up with their agency, they may or may not see all or part of the commission.

 

FYI ~

 

Up next - Pacific NorthWest Coastal!

 

 

Navigator of the Seas - 01/05

Dawn Princess - 10/04

Grand Princess - 11/04 (Cancelled)

Grand Princess - 10/04 (Cancelled)

Island Princess - 05/04

Grand Princess - 10/03

Norway - 10/03 (Cancelled)

Wind Surf - Transatlantic 4/02

[flapr]

She did right by me with our HAL cruise last November!

 

After shopping both land & internet TA's, she offered the best price. Don't know that she can offer the amenities she has with Princes.

[zurmolly]

She has this year already 2 million...

[marc b]

I am amused at the defensiveness of some on this thread. The original poster asked what experiences were - and that's what folks are giving. The fact that a few of us have had bad service is just that - I don't think anyone has said the lack of service was due to her vacation, and there's no reason to attack because we give our opinion. The overwhelming majority seem happy - amen to that - but it doesn't change the fact that some have experienced a total lack of response....I'll be interested to see how the new callers fare. I have booked my last two with online agency - no problems, but you have to know exactly what you want, price, cabin, etc.....

[zurmolly]

Thanks for all the (mostly) pros and cons..I was surprised at the number of responses...Happy Cruising Everyone!

[roe2ship]

Marc B...so glad you mentioned that no one said about the lack of service was due to her vacation. I for one contacted her twice way before her Tahiti cruise with no response. A while ago, another thread stated she takes many vacations defending that she needs to catch up and this thread states she takes a vacation once a year. It is truly amazing how this can go to page two.......hmmm....would any of you happen to be related?

 

Caribbean Princess 7/03/04

 

 

[Jacqueline]

okay- I've been following this thread, hoping it would go to off the first page sooner rather than later.

The last time this happened some time back Kim was so deluged by requests that it did become a problem, in that she is one person, who is known for her personal service. There are only so many hours in a day,even for the most dedicated person. She is a lovely, honest friendly person which is why so many people have rushed to her defense. But she can get spread very thin by the demands when her name gets on the board.

 

Jacqueline

Constellation 3/20/04

HAL Westerdam 7/30/04

Tahitian Princess August 2003

Grand Princess Western Caribbean 2003

Brilliance of the Seas Baltic 2002

Ocean Princess- Alaska 2001

Celebrity Zenith- Bermuda 2001

Grand Princess Med 2000

 

[zurmolly]

AND my question from the very top is answered..

[bunky144]

I booked with Kim the day after she returned from her well deserved cruise, she was very busy and took alot of time and effort to help me out, I had never used her before and she was very professional, gave me a great deal and called me right after the booking was made even know Princess web site was down and a disaster that day. I think no matter what your profession we all deserve a holiday and so did Kim, I was very greatful for how she assisted me, and will not hesitate to use her services again.