Who books directly with the cruise line and why?

[john_galt]

I began DIY booking after my TA of 20 years fouled up a booking. Never again. 

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

I disagree here. Agents still get group space. My agent listens to her clients who call in and say "when bookings open, I want this cruise" and she will get group space to lock in rates on those popular sailings. She belongs to 2 "consortiums" also that also blocks out group space. Additionally, if someone comes to my agent and says "my family is going on a cruise and we need 15 cabins" - she does the same thing. This is still very common.

That can a bit of a con.  I can call a cruise line (as a regular passenger) ask for the "group office" and tell them I want 25 cabins on such and such a cruise.  As part of the deal the cruise line may agree to give me a free cabin which I could then use for myself or perhaps sell to another cruiser. But this does not really benefit those who are part of the so-called group booking.  In fact, we have seen many "group bookings" that cost more then if we simply booked a cabin ourselves.  For many years, when I worked, we had an employee travel club that would book large groups onto some cruises.  The price of the cruise was nothing special and the only thing the cruise line did for us was to provide bus transportation from our home town to the port (if the port were in the region) and a free cabin (which was used by one of the organization representatives).   The main benefit to those who booked those cruises were that they got to travel to the port as part of a group (some folks love being part of a large group).  We would also be able to get the cruise line to toss in a private cocktail party that might even be attended by the Captain (this is important to some cruisers).  

 

When talking about this stuff with some other cruisers we suggested that the only thing that matters is how much you actually pay (per passenger day) for the cruise once you net out the actual cost with amenities such as On Board Credits, prepaid gratuities, etc.  Telling me that we are part of a "group booking" is almost like saying, "I am from the government and here to help you!" :).   There is one particular cruise  agency that does a lot of group business with HAL.  This agency has a high profile on many HAL cruises with their own help desk, some get togethers, etc.  One of their onboard reps asked me why we didn't book with their agency.  I responded that it was because we could save hundreds (and sometimes over $1000) by booking elsewhere.  Her immediate response was, but they don't staff a help desk on the cruise."    On one cruise this agency did give their customers an inexpensive rain jacket with the name of their agency printed in big letters.  No thanks.

 

Hank

 

 

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

That can a bit of a con.  I can call a cruise line (as a regular passenger) ask for the "group office" and tell them I want 25 cabins on such and such a cruise.  As part of the deal the cruise line may agree to give me a free cabin which I could then use for myself or perhaps sell to another cruiser. But this does not really benefit those who are part of the so-called group booking.  In fact, we have seen many "group bookings" that cost more then if we simply booked a cabin ourselves. 

 

It doesn't work that way with Princess (at least now). If the travel agents book a group, they lock in the rates at the time they lock it in. If the price goes up, they get the lower rates they locked into. Though, if the price goes down, the passenger still get the group amenities if they book and the lower rate. I agree, most of the time it is not associated with a cocktail party. That only happens when a large group books (high school reunion, medical association convention, etc....)

 

What you describe maybe true for another line but not with Princess.

[Hlitner]

19 minutes ago, Coral said:

It doesn't work that way with Princess (at least now). If the travel agents book a group, they lock in the rates at the time they lock it in. If the price goes up, they get the lower rates they locked into. Though, if the price goes down, the passenger still get the group amenities if they book and the lower rate. I agree, most of the time it is not associated with a cocktail party. That only happens when a large group books (high school reunion, medical association convention, etc....)

 

What you describe maybe true for another line but not with Princess.

Anytime you book a cruise with any line you effectively have locked into the rate.  We are unaware of any cruise line that increases the price for those already booked although a few years ago there was a real scare with fuel surcharges.  As to what happens when prices drop, that is very "cruise line specific" and depends on lots of factors including the type rate that was originally booked, the terms, and sometimes the passenger (or cruise agents) own negotiation skills.  None of this has anything to do with group bookings.  For example, we currently have 5 cruises booked and watch the rates on a weekly basis.  If any of those booked cruises (which are with 5 different cruise lines) go down I would generally e-mail my cruise agent (we use several) and have her (they are all ladies) contact the cruise line about "repricing our reservation."   This is generally not a problem prior to final payment periods (unless one has booked a non-refundable rate).  After final payment one is often out of luck...although some cruise lines will "negotiate" some kind of adjustment.  

 

You mention "group amenities" and we cannot recall the last time we saw a group really do better then one who simply shops around for the best deal.  But since DW and I seldom do short cruises (which are the ones that attract most groups) we will admit to being out of the current loop with short (less then 14 days) group deals.   (Ironically we leave on a very short 10 day cruise in a few days that was snagged at a fantastic last minute price).  For us, the deals become very interesting and sometimes sophisticated.  For example, there are times we will book a Princess cruise involving Asia or Europe because Princess often has some of the best Business Class fares I have seen.  If we can save $5000 on Business Class to Asia, we might not care about paying a few extra dollars for the cruise.  On the other hand, if I get a great deal on a cruise out of Yokohama, but the cruise line is not offering any deals on Bus Class to Japan we might not book the cruise!   

 

Cruises that begin and end in distant exotic locales have become a personal obsession and a lot of fun.  The booking dynamics are completely different then the typical 7 day Caribbean or Alaskan cruise.  One of the nice things about longer cruises is that you seldom have to be concerned with being stuck on a ship with some crazy group of 1000+ passengers who takes over public venues, most of a MDR seating, etc.

 

Hank

[Coral]

19 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Anytime you book a cruise with any line you effectively have locked into the rate.  We are unaware of any cruise line that increases the price for those already booked although a few years ago there was a real scare with fuel surcharges.  As to what happens when prices drop, that is very "cruise line specific" and depends on lots of factors including the type rate that was originally booked, the terms, and sometimes the passenger (or cruise agents) own negotiation skills.  None of this has anything to do with group bookings.  For example, we currently have 5 cruises booked and watch the rates on a weekly basis.  If any of those booked cruises (which are with 5 different cruise lines) go down I would generally e-mail my cruise agent (we use several) and have her (they are all ladies) contact the cruise line about "repricing our reservation."  

You are making this into something more than what I was explaining. If an agent gets group space when the cruise comes out, if the price goes up, the agent can still sell the cruise at the lower rate, assuming they still have the group space.

 

 

[Mud_Shark]

I book direct with Princess for the following reasons:

 

1) We are Canadian and to book with a Canadian TA offers no discount, though the Big Box does offer OBC.  To book in USD with a US TA gives me a far worse exchange rate than Princess does.

2) The Big Box store does not accept Amex for payment.  This causes me to lose plenty of travel points and the free travel insurance Amex offers if you book your entire trip on the card.

 

So in the end, I do the math, and so far, the OBC the Big Box offers is not enough to offset the loss of travel points and loss of free insurance.  Plus = booking directly gives me complete control.  Don't like going through a middle man.  I am constantly on travel sites and feel there is little "information" a TA can provide that I am not already aware of.

 

Don

[MCC retired]

There are those here on this Topic who will never book with a TA for whatever reasons that they have . I say fine . They wish to pay current retail cruise line rates . As a former TA I see a lot of incorrect info here from cruisers who 

are guessing how Group allotments , amenities and prices work . 

Ask a Cruise Specialist TA , don’t just guess how  it all works then post like it’s a fact 😠

[ecs66]

On 5/19/2019 at 10:50 AM, suzyed said:

 

We have gone through Princess directly a couple times, but when we've called regarding our bookings, we never spoke to the same person twice and it was a bit annoying and inefficient.  Each rep was professional and pleasant, but having to re-connect with a different person every time made my hair hurt.

 

We live in TN and use an agent in CA who was our agent 15 years ago when we lived there.  She knows us.  She knows what we like.  She keeps an eye out for deals that will reduce our cost, and/or for room upgrades, and lets us know immediately.  We communicate mostly via email so there's a paper trail of everything, and she responds immediately.  We respect her time so try never to contact her except during work hours, but she IS available 24/7 if necessary, and we have that level of confidence.  No matter where she is, she answers her phone.

 

We've never had a big issue/dispute with a cruise, but it seems reasonable that if that were to happen, an agent would be working for you, and a Princess rep would be representing Princess.  Once, DH and I both had horrible pneumonia a few days prior to a Hawaii cruise and had to cancel.  The agent handled everything with the insurance agency (we were so sick we couldn't), and re-booked for a later time.

[c-boy]

On 5/19/2019 at 9:10 AM, Coral said:

It is interesting - when I speak with "very well traveled individuals", they all use travel agents. My guess is these individuals realize having a travel agent on their side is worth it and in almost all cases, they save you money and don't cost you more.

 

When I mean "very well traveled individuals" - I mean it. These people impress me on their trips (not just cruises but amazing adventures).

wonderful, and that's why we book with an agent. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

You are making this into something more than what I was explaining. If an agent gets group space when the cruise comes out, if the price goes up, the agent can still sell the cruise at the lower rate, assuming they still have the group space.

 

 

But you did miss my point.  What happens when the price goes DOWN!  The Group pricing likely stays exactly the same while everyone else is getting their fares repriced at the new....lower price.

Hank

[suzyed]

17 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

But you did miss my point.  What happens when the price goes DOWN!  The Group pricing likely stays exactly the same while everyone else is getting their fares repriced at the new....lower price.

Hank

Nope... not usually. As a matter of fact most times I don’t even bother calling my TA since my fare is still way below the “discounted” fare that the cruise line is currently offering.

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by suzyed

[Coral]

15 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

But you did miss my point.  What happens when the price goes DOWN!  The Group pricing likely stays exactly the same while everyone else is getting their fares repriced at the new....lower price.

Hank

I have my TA often re-fare and still get group amenities. It hasn't been a big deal.

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Coral

[AZJerry]

1 hour ago, ecs66 said:

We have gone through Princess directly a couple times, but when we've called regarding our bookings, we never spoke to the same person twice and it was a bit annoying and inefficient.  Each rep was professional and pleasant, but having to re-connect with a different person every time made my hair hurt.

When we first started Princess cruises, we lucked out and got a wonderful PCP. We've used him ever since. He proactively calls us when he can, is always willing to make adjustments, gone to bat for us to get us a credit when the price dropped after final payment, etc.

 

Even when he's been out of the office when we wanted to book a new cruise, we informed the rep we booked with that we normally work with him so he got credit. He calls us the first morning he's back verify all the cruise details. 

 

The problem I have with threads like this is that it's easy to say "use a good travel agent". How to find said "good TA" is the problem? I know the rules here prohibit specific recommendations so I'm not asking.

[bemis12]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

But you did miss my point.  What happens when the price goes DOWN!  The Group pricing likely stays exactly the same while everyone else is getting their fares repriced at the new....lower price.

Hank

 

You two are both right.  Really.  Now one of you should walk away.

[suzyed]

11 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

I book directly because that eliminates one possibility of error. I'm sure many people have wonderful TAs who never make a mistake, but I've not had such good experience with that so I'm not about to go that route again. If I handle things myself by booking through the cruiseline, then I have nobody to blame but myself if something's not right. So far, this hasn't happened, which it did when I booked through a TA.

Never had a mistake...guess we've been lucky!

[caribill]

17 hours ago, voljeep said:

when a TA gets a block of cabins to book, is the price for those cabins locked in at price, or is the price adjusted to the current price when the client actually contacts the TA for the rate ?

 

17 hours ago, Coral said:

They are locked in at that rate, unless the rate goes down. If the rate goes down, they get the lower rate.

 

My experience is that when you book a cabin with a TA that still has room in their group space, then the price is the current Princess one less any discount that the TA is giving. So it could be higher or lower than when the group space was arranged which is usually set up (at least by our favorite TA) the first day that cabins are available to be booked.

 

The group space reserved by a TA is not for specific cabins until someone books actually them. And sometimes it is only a GTY that is available in the category you want even though you are still part of the group space allocated to the TA.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, AZJerry said:

 

The problem I have with threads like this is that it's easy to say "use a good travel agent". How to find said "good TA" is the problem? I know the rules here prohibit specific recommendations so I'm not asking.

 

At your next Meet & Greet on the ship, ask your fellow roll call members what TA they use and why they use that onme.

[caribill]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

That can a bit of a con.  I can call a cruise line (as a regular passenger) ask for the "group office" and tell them I want 25 cabins on such and such a cruise.  As part of the deal the cruise line may agree to give me a free cabin which I could then use for myself or perhaps sell to another cruiser. But this does not really benefit those who are part of the so-called group booking.  In fact, we have seen many "group bookings" that cost more then if we simply booked a cabin ourselves. 

 

 

Mixing apples and oranges here.

 

If you have a group that needs 25 cabins, you can certainly contact the cruise company and get a group rate.

 

But if you want to book one cabin, you will not get a group rate from a cruise line. But you can from a good TA.

 

However, TAs request a number of cabins when an itinerary is first available and this gets the TA a group rate which can be passed on to individual passengers. Note the words "can be passed on." A good TA will pass on the savings to the passenger, but many TAs just keep that extra savings for themselves.

 

As I asked one TA "that is the cruise line price, what is your price for me?" and the response was "the cruise line price is our price too." In other words, they passed none of the group space savings to the passenger.