Administration charge

[Ron the Rev]

So as to have any chance of getting an HC stateroom for wheelchair bound DW, we try to book at least a year ahead of sail date. This means that we have to book at launch price, then keep looking for a price reduction. The UK web site came up trumps today on cruises on the Crown out of Southampton and Pacific out of Dover, on 3 cruises we had booked.A goodly reduction. Previously there had been no admin charge. Now it's £100 for any change. :(

Edited May 31, 2016 by Ron the Rev

[Essiesmom]

Is this charge being levied by Princess, or your TA? EM

[Shogun]

Hi Ron,

 

Princess does not normally make a charge, we changed cabins about three

 

times on our up coming cruise no problems.

 

 

yours Shogun

[Ron the Rev]

Is this charge being levied by Princess, or your TA? EM

Direct at Princess bookings

[Ron the Rev]

Hi Ron,

 

Princess does not normally make a charge, we changed cabins about three

 

times on our up coming cruise no problems.

 

 

yours Shogun

Phoned Princess today and the booking rep said "Apparently since December"

Would love to think she was wrong so that I could argue the point. Any feedback welcome.:confused:

[magandy]

I contacted Princess a few weeks ago and transferred an Australian cruise booked for April 2016 to an Asian cruise in February 2016.

 

I was told that since last December the T&C's had changed and that if you change a cruise which is on a new promotion more than once it will incur a £100 admin fee.

 

This weekend the Asian cruise had up to £2000 per couple savings on flights, I telephoned Princess and although the flights had reduced in price I would have to pay £100 admin fee, apparently you have to cancel and rebook the new promotion and you may also loose some or all obc or any other benefits that you may have.

 

I was surprised with this change to their T&C's, not sure whether or not it is just UK so it will be interesting to hear from people around the world.

Also what happens if you book with a TA!

 

It seems a case of doing the sums.

Edited May 31, 2016 by magandy

[cb at sea]

Call back, talk to someone else, and ask politely if they can waive the fee....considering that you must book so early to be assured of one of the few HC cabins. Be nice!

[Shogun]

Hi Ron,

 

Would not be surprised if Princess has introduced a fee,

 

May be a chat with a supervisor, or a post on their facebook page

 

might make things clearer.

 

yours Shogun

[nyc12345]

Even if there is a new fee, shouldn't your booking fall under the original T&C at the time you booked? They can't introduce a new charge without telling everyone about it, right?

[riclop]

So as to have any chance of getting an HC stateroom for wheelchair bound DW, we try to book at least a year ahead of sail date. This means that we have to book at launch price, then keep looking for a price reduction. The UK web site came up trumps today on cruises on the Crown out of Southampton and Pacific out of Dover, on 3 cruises we had booked.A goodly reduction. Previously there had been no admin charge. Now it's £100 for any change. :(

 

Never heard of a charge.

[ar1950]

Even if there is a new fee, shouldn't your booking fall under the original T&C at the time you booked? They can't introduce a new charge without telling everyone about it, right?

 

The OP is looking to re-book under the new, lower fare, so, not the same T&Cs. BTW, we have never heard or seen any T&Cs relating to a re-faring on any cruise that we have booked. I believe that any changes in policy will happen whenever because it is not addressed in you cruise contract. And, of course Princess can introduce new charges that aren't in the contract whenever they want without "telling everyone about it". Companies (not just Princess) do it all of the time.:(

Edited June 1, 2016 by ar1950

[GUT2407]

Must be a UK thing, I've rebooked my December cruise 5 times since about March, no fee, no hassle.

[Ron the Rev]

Just a follow up, I have looked at the Princess fine print and found this.

 

Agreement to transfer a Package would also be conditional upon such a request being made more than 90 days before the original scheduled departure date; there being availability; and to payment of both an administration charge of £100 and any expenses (such as airline and/or hotel charges) incurred by Princess Cruises as a result. Such a transfer would only be allowed on one occasion. The criteria for allowing transfers may be changed by Princess Cruises at any time without notice. All transfers to another Package will be treated as a new booking. Any discount or promotion applicable to the original booking may not apply to the new booking, in which case the Passenger shall be required to pay any difference in price.

15. After a Package has been booked, Princess Cruises will try to accommodate any request for a change (such as a change of cabin), but such changes are always at Princess Cruises discretion and are subject to an administration charge of £20.

 

So if you are looking for a price reduction factor in the above. In my case I saved about £1400 over 3 booked cruises so came out smiling.:)

[pablo222]

Previously there had been no admin charge. Now it's £100 for any change. :(

 

If you read cruise critic for a while, you will see posts like:

 

"I had to call princess 3 times, and spend 2 hours on the

phone, but I finally got them to give me a $20 fare reduction"

 

It seems reasonable to want to avoid paying phone agents

for this activity.

[magandy]

It seems reasonable to want to avoid paying phone agents

for this activity.

 

That's fine, providing Princess implement this Worldwide :)

[RDC1]

 

That's fine, providing Princess implement this Worldwide :)

 

I would suspect that you have this and other policies in the UK because of the package travel regulations. The cruise line can be held responsible if they do not deliver exactly what is specified in the contract. So if someone makes a booking and then wishes to change the booking in any way the cruise line must make sure that they maintain the complete record of the changes, that they were made at the passengers request and approval. Such documentation would need to be sufficient to acceptable to the legal authority that processes claims under the PTR. Otherwise they would not be able to defend themselves if a claim is raised.

 

That is one of the reason that cruiselines are much more restrictive about changes in UK bookings and that some lines do not allow changes to the original bookings.

 

Another element is that the cruise line might have looked at the risk under the PTR and established the fee as providing revenue to offset any claims that might occur and not bothered with the UK specific documentation system.

Edited June 1, 2016 by RDC1