How to change present TA booking to Princess or another agency?

[Lvteks]

Made a serious miscalculation about agent's competence and now dealing with negligence. This was an agent on a Princess list for my area. Enough of sup-par service.

 

So what how do I deal with this. What problems will this cause ? No agency OBC, all Princess. Still do not have paperwork with room change even though Princess shows it. etc.,etc.etc. Help.

 

Blessings Gail

Edited July 1, 2016 by Lvteks

[icat2000]

contact princess and explain the situation. You should also contact the agency and ask them to transfer your booking to Princess.

[satxdiver]

Several years ago I finally got my fill of the local TA. I called Princess to get the booking transferred back to Princess. They required me to write a letter requesting that the booking be moved back to Princess along with the identification of the cruise (cruises in my case), sign it and send it to them (I faxed it). I did not have to contact the TA and in fact when he found out that I had yanked them back to Princess, he sent me a nasty email which further supported our parting. It is very easy to do and they did it as soon as they received the fax.

[paul929207]

I am not sure what your problem with the TA is. No TA is obligated to give you OBC. Did you ask before you booked?

 

You can see a change you requested on Princess, so why do you need paperwork?

[Colo Cruiser]

Made a serious miscalculation about agent's competence and now dealing with negligence. This was an agent on a Princess list for my area. Enough of sup-par service.

 

So what how do I deal with this. What problems will this cause ? No agency OBC, all Princess. Still do not have paperwork with room change even though Princess shows it. etc.,etc.etc. Help.

 

Blessings Gail

 

 

Does your current TA charge a penalty for any changes/cancelation etc?

[Coral]

You may have other issues with this agent, but I don't sweat the small stuff like the cabin being correct on invoice. As long as it is correct on the Princess website that is what counts. If you just switched cabins (and price didn't change) - I personally wouldn't want a TA to spend time to generate another invoice.

 

You do raise a point that just because they are on Princess's website as being a Commodore -that doesn't mean they know Princess well or have cruised with them. They may have just taken the tests and maybe taken one cruise with them (if that). I know our local agents are not that knowledgable compared to other ones I have met. This is not to say they are bad, it is just that they many of them book Disney vacations, Safari trips, Vegas hotel stays, etc... And none of my local agents discount. Some even charge a booking fee!

Edited July 1, 2016 by Coral

[Cruiser411]

Made a serious miscalculation about agent's competence and now dealing with negligence. This was an agent on a Princess list for my area. Enough of sup-par service.

 

So what how do I deal with this. What problems will this cause ? No agency OBC, all Princess. Still do not have paperwork with room change even though Princess shows it. etc.,etc.etc. Help.

 

Blessings Gail

 

fyi... if you're past final payment, they won't do it.

[MCC retired]

 

You do raise a point that just because they are on Princess's website as being a Commodore -that doesn't mean they know Princess well or have cruised with them. They may have just taken the tests and maybe taken one cruise with them (if that). I know our local agents are not that knowledgable compared to other ones I have met. This is not to say they are bad, it is just that they many of them book Disney vacations, Safari trips, Vegas hotel stays, etc... And none of my local agents discount. Some even charge a booking fee!

 

RE: Commodore Status

To reach that status , you really can't pass any of the tests without doing the courses , which are many and not easy , then take requalify courses every year . Agent must take minimum 1 cruise with Princess to qualify .

Agency must book a minimum # of Princess cruises .

I can say from experience ( earned Commodore when I was a TA)that upon completion of Commodore . the TA will know the product far better than most any TA without certification.

You don't have to rely on a untrained local TA if that is all that available , as many of the Online Cruise Agencies , have Princess Commodores as Homebased Cruise Specialists. Just ask .

[Coral]

RE: Commodore Status

To reach that status , you really can't pass any of the tests without doing the courses , which are many and not easy , then take requalify courses every year . Agent must take minimum 1 cruise with Princess to qualify .

Agency must book a minimum # of Princess cruises .

I can say from experience ( earned Commodore when I was a TA)that upon completion of Commodore . the TA will know the product far better than most any TA without certification.

You don't have to rely on a untrained local TA if that is all that available , as many of the Online Cruise Agencies , have Princess Commodores as Homebased Cruise Specialists. Just ask .

 

I have met Commodores onboard who said a colleague took their tests for them or printed the questions and answers out for them. These individuals knew nothing about Princess - they were taking their "free cruise" and were bragging about this. They even bragged that they became an agent so they could get cheaper agent prices.

 

I do know Princess changed their policies a few years ago and made it more difficult.

 

My guess is most really want to learn the product but there are plenty around who will do anything to get by.

 

I am not easily impressed with titles. I want an agent who works with Princess daily and has been on many of their ships. I agree with you about not relying on local agencies. I used them in the 90's when I first started cruising and she had never been on a cruise. Thankfully I quickly found a home based agent who is a top agent with Princess and many other lines.

Edited July 1, 2016 by Coral

[Reader0108598]

Made a serious miscalculation about agent's competence and now dealing with negligence. This was an agent on a Princess list for my area. Enough of sup-par service.

 

So what how do I deal with this. What problems will this cause ? No agency OBC, all Princess. Still do not have paperwork with room change even though Princess shows it. etc.,etc.etc. Help.

 

Blessings Gail

 

I pulled a booking from a TA once ,and have never booked through one again.

 

I also faxed a letter to princess ,out lining the issues with said TA. No problem ,they pulled it back that day.

 

The TA sent me an email, asking why I would do such a thing............I did not answer her!

 

Now she knows how I felt :)

 

Yes ,I lost some OBC ,but it was worth it!

 

Reader AKA Gail :D

Edited July 1, 2016 by Reader0108598

[Lvteks]

So glad to get rapid information. To clear a few points, OBC was from Princess so I was indicating no loss to change. Agent is not a Commodore, The agent said she would send new paperwork. Compared with service from agents on other cruises family booked, there is zilch communication. I'm still waiting for a response to inquiry over ten days ago.

 

I will contact t Princess, just want to find experienced rep to take care of this quickly. Thanks for your comments.

Blessings, Gail

[geoherb]

Good luck. I have switched from direct bookings with Princess to an agent. All it took was a fax indicating my desire to do so. I found out, as someone pointed out, that bookings can't be switched after the final payment date. In that case, I was happy I had gone ahead and booked a cruise over the weekend (when I couldn't get in touch with my agent), because the price went up.