Rare CineGraphic Posted December 17, 2021 #1 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Yesterday I received an email from Princess with a nice casino offer. After finding a sailing with a price I liked by clicking on the link provided in the email, I decided to call my PVP to make a booking. For those of you wondering what a PVP is, it's a Personal Vacation Planner who works for Princess. I'm not sure if they are salaried, or get commission, but I'm sure that someone on here knows for sure. We recently switched to a PVP instead of using a discounted travel agent because we found that it was more important for us to have control over our bookings, versus the small discount our travel agent was giving us. The PVP seemed nice enough, if not overly chatty, but the prices he quoted me were $150 higher per person than what I was seeing on Princess.com. When I pointed that out, I felt like he was trying to "bamboozle" me with lots of words, and very little reasoning. After I slowed him down and I did the math out loud for him, he admitted his numbers were wrong, but he still thought I should book now and look for a future price reduction. I simply did not feel comfortable with any of this, After we ended the call, I emailed him screen shots showing the better fare from Princess.com and asked if he could honor the pricing, or if I should just go ahead and book it myself online. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'll give him a few days. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, My hopes are that his higher pricing was nothing more than a simple mistake, and that he wasn't trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted December 17, 2021 #2 Share Posted December 17, 2021 I would have felt the same way also. I am ok with someone saying "you are right, I didn't see that price - let me re-adjust this for you". I am ok with people admitting a mistake as long as they correct it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare iamaqt2 Posted December 17, 2021 #3 Share Posted December 17, 2021 37 minutes ago, CineGraphic said: Yesterday I received an email from Princess with a nice casino offer. After finding a sailing with a price I liked by clicking on the link provided in the email, I decided to call my PVP to make a booking. For those of you wondering what a PVP is, it's a Personal Vacation Planner who works for Princess. I'm not sure if they are salaried, or get commission, but I'm sure that someone on here knows for sure. We recently switched to a PVP instead of using a discounted travel agent because we found that it was more important for us to have control over our bookings, versus the small discount our travel agent was giving us. The PVP seemed nice enough, if not overly chatty, but the prices he quoted me were $150 higher per person than what I was seeing on Princess.com. When I pointed that out, I felt like he was trying to "bamboozle" me with lots of words, and very little reasoning. After I slowed him down and I did the math out loud for him, he admitted his numbers were wrong, but he still thought I should book now and look for a future price reduction. I simply did not feel comfortable with any of this, After we ended the call, I emailed him screen shots showing the better fare from Princess.com and asked if he could honor the pricing, or if I should just go ahead and book it myself online. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'll give him a few days. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, My hopes are that his higher pricing was nothing more than a simple mistake, and that he wasn't trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of me. I didn't know booking a casino offer was even possible outside of the casino department. I've always had to utilize them to receive the best pricing offers, and all the benefits including free play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CineGraphic Posted December 17, 2021 Author #4 Share Posted December 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said: I didn't know booking a casino offer was even possible outside of the casino department. I've always had to utilize them to receive the best pricing offers, and all the benefits including free play. In the past, I've had offers where I've been required to book through the casino department, and offers that I can book via my TA or PVP. This one clearly says, "Call 1.800.PRINCESS or contact your Travel Advisor and reference offer code:________" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suekel Posted December 17, 2021 #5 Share Posted December 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said: I didn't know booking a casino offer was even possible outside of the casino department. I've always had to utilize them to receive the best pricing offers, and all the benefits including free play. If it's just a casino discount, anyone can book it for you. My TA gets me the discount. If it's a free cruise you must go thru the casino department. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare iamaqt2 Posted December 17, 2021 #6 Share Posted December 17, 2021 9 minutes ago, CineGraphic said: In the past, I've had offers where I've been required to book through the casino department, and offers that I can book via my TA or PVP. This one clearly says, "Call 1.800.PRINCESS or contact your Travel Advisor and reference offer code:________" Ahh... I've actually seen that wording, and still used the Casino Department. It just seemed easier to keep my offers that way. I never thought to use a TA for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted December 17, 2021 #7 Share Posted December 17, 2021 19 hours ago, CineGraphic said: After we ended the call, I emailed him screen shots showing the better fare from Princess.com and asked if he could honor the pricing, or if I should just go ahead and book it myself online. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'll give him a few days. The price you saw is known to be good at the time you saw it. If you wait a few days, the price you saw may no longer be available. Forget the PVP. Book it any way you are able to now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CineGraphic Posted December 17, 2021 Author #8 Share Posted December 17, 2021 10 minutes ago, caribill said: The price you saw is known to be good at the time you saw it. If you wait a few days, the price you saw may no longer be available. Forget the PVP. Book it any way you are able to now. Yes, prices can vary, but the price online was lower before I spoke with him, and after I spoke with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog Posted December 17, 2021 #9 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Last casino offer I booked myself online. Casino discount showed up near end of booking process. I put it on hold. Called Princess to complete the booking- pay deposit. agent had higher price until I told her I had it on hold for casino discount 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voljeep Posted December 18, 2021 #10 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Mine was NOT a casino offer problem ( I wish it was ) As I remember - during a refare, the Princess rep was not seeing the INTERNET pricing ... they were only seeing the Princess INTRANET pricing .. When I explained what I was seeing, it was easily handled and the re-fare done. was a one-off and hasn't happened since Sunny, 67 ... high today 83 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelers36 Posted December 18, 2021 #11 Share Posted December 18, 2021 17 hours ago, CineGraphic said: Yes, prices can vary, but the price online was lower before I spoke with him, and after I spoke with him. I'd still make the booking and if you want a PVP to take it over, you can do that. Or, find a better TA who provides the service and gives a healthy discount. I used to get 15% off the commissionable fare pre-Covid and now it is 12%. Still beats anyone out there I have ever heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nocl Posted December 18, 2021 #12 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Sounds like a not very good PVP. The only time I ran into an issue like that they did a hold on the cruise. Then went to check if that pricing was available, then called me back to confirm the booking and take down payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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