Learned Something New Today

[californiagirl]

This may have been discussed 2 years ago when the change occurred but I was not aware.  If a cruise is booked initially through Princess the customer has only 60 days after booking to transfer the booking to a travel agent.  It involves a more complicated process as well.  I knew the transfer had to be completed prior to final payment being made but didn’t know there was a time limit as well.  We booked a cruise for November in mid-August and final payment was due tomorrow.  I had called my big box travel agent to transfer the booking shortly after booking it but the wait times were really long.  So I decided to transfer the booking when I was ready to make final payment.  Well…2 hours and 30 minutes later I was able to achieve my goal.  They finally ended up cancelling and rebooking.  The price had not increased and we each got $50 onboard credit that was a Princess promo after we did the original booking.  This in addition to the benefits the travel agent was offering, which was the reason for the transfer.  The cruise was also $2.00 cheaper. 😂
 

I asked about Celebrity as we are planning a Galapagos Island cruise for 2023 and she said with them we had only 30 days to transfer the booking.  I will probably just book direct with the travel agent going forward.  
 

Sadly it seems more and more that travel agents are being squeezed out.

[Ginnyfyr]

This travel agent says thank you for planning to book directly with a TA in the future.

[pms4104]

42 minutes ago, californiagirl said:

This may have been discussed 2 years ago when the change occurred but I was not aware.  If a cruise is booked initially through Princess the customer has only 60 days after booking to transfer the booking to a travel agent.  It involves a more complicated process as well.  I knew the transfer had to be completed prior to final payment being made but didn’t know there was a time limit as well.  We booked a cruise for November in mid-August and final payment was due tomorrow.  I had called my big box travel agent to transfer the booking shortly after booking it but the wait times were really long.  So I decided to transfer the booking when I was ready to make final payment.  Well…2 hours and 30 minutes later I was able to achieve my goal.  They finally ended up cancelling and rebooking.  The price had not increased and we each got $50 onboard credit that was a Princess promo after we did the original booking.  This in addition to the benefits the travel agent was offering, which was the reason for the transfer.  The cruise was also $2.00 cheaper. 😂
 

I asked about Celebrity as we are planning a Galapagos Island cruise for 2023 and she said with them we had only 30 days to transfer the booking.  I will probably just book direct with the travel agent going forward.  
 

Sadly it seems more and more that travel agents are being squeezed out.

No, TAs are not being squeezed out.

 

More likely, cruiselines are encouraging clients to work directly with their own TA ... rather than using the cruiseline reps to make lots of changes and refares to a booking ... then transfering the booking to agents/agencies who earn commission for doing nothing but submitting final payment.

 

So, in reality, cruiselines are tired of their peeps spending their time on what clients ought to have their intendef TA handle.

[WillCruiseForMoney]

I have booked direct and transferred to my TA twice in the recent past.  I was looking for a specific rooms and when they came up I put them on hold. Called my TA and she instructed me to pay the deposit and forward her the confirmation, didn't want me to risk losing them by releasing the hold.  Within 24 hours the booking was transferred to her.  No action on my part.

 

[nini]

Due to strange circumstances, we have transferred a few times. It has been 60 days for quite some time. It is fortunate that you were able to cancel ad re-book with a beneficial outcome.

[4cats4me]

2 hours ago, WillCruiseForMoney said:

I have booked direct and transferred to my TA twice in the recent past.  I was looking for a specific rooms and when they came up I put them on hold. Called my TA and she instructed me to pay the deposit and forward her the confirmation, didn't want me to risk losing them by releasing the hold.  Within 24 hours the booking was transferred to her.  No action on my part.

 

This is what we’ve done on several occasions.   

[californiagirl]

On 9/10/2021 at 8:09 AM, WillCruiseForMoney said:

I have booked direct and transferred to my TA twice in the recent past.  I was looking for a specific rooms and when they came up I put them on hold. Called my TA and she instructed me to pay the deposit and forward her the confirmation, didn't want me to risk losing them by releasing the hold.  Within 24 hours the booking was transferred to her.  No action on my part.

 

This has been my experience with Princess going back to 2001.

 

On 9/9/2021 at 5:18 PM, pms4104 said:

So, in reality, cruiselines are tired of their peeps spending their time on what clients ought to have their intendef TA handle.

When I book initially through a TA a Princess peep is involved in the booking process regardless.  So I don’t see how it makes a difference.

[pms4104]

1 hour ago, californiagirl said:

This has been my experience with Princess going back to 2001.

 

When I book initially through a TA a Princess peep is involved in the booking process regardless.  So I don’t see how it makes a difference.

The difference is that some people tend to be very high maintenance and make lots and lots of changes using Princess reps because "they don't want to bother" their intended TA until final pay time.  

[californiagirl]

Ah got it. 😊