3 day sale

[Steelers36]

On 5/25/2023 at 9:09 PM, ebw24 said:

I do not know if they are a big agency or not, but we received a great deal from our phone/internet provider. It was pretty specific in that the deal is only good for Alaska and an interior cabin. Must be sailing this year though as well. Funny enough we already had booked an interior cabin for an Alaska cruise through princess for September 2023. We checked and saved about $800 on the cruise fare by booking through that provider instead of Princess. We were lucky that we were still before final payment, so we could cancel the booking through princess and get a full refund. The cruise fare for a 14 night Alaska cruise through Princess was $875 pp and the deal through our provider for the same 14 nights ended up being $420 pp.

I don't imagine an ISP is also a travel agency.  They must have made some bulk purchase arrangement as no one is going to get that kind of deal from booking with their TA. If the numbers you mention are accurate, your discount from Princess' rate represents 87% of the commissionable fare and no agency can do that unless they also had some sort of bulk purchase.  I have assumed your numbers do not include the standard port taxes amount.  Great deal for certain.  I am a little surprised it is possible to book a week to/from Alaska for under $450/pp, which must be the case for a B2B to cost $875.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, Thrak said:

I don't get the huge discounts (10%) that others here say they get from their TA but I do always get a discount. When I get the final bill from the TA it's less than what I actually "owe" Princess. I'm happy supporting a local guy and he gives me excellent service. I've called him on a weekend when he was across the country for something and, even though it's 8 or 9PM where he is - and it's the weekend,  he responds to the voice mail and takes care of my issue. No, he is not allowed to advertise a discount. Yes, he does give me a discount.

 

If you want a guaranteed 10% discount buy Princess Gift Cards from AARP. You don't have to join AARP - Just join the AARP Rewards Program (Free). $100 gift cards are $90 and $500 gift cards are $450. I'm paying for our 32 day B2B2B this fall with discounted gift cards. (Often a 10% discount on something doesn't really amount to much but, in this case, it definitely adds up to substantial savings.)  I will also pay for our Solar Eclipse cruise next year with discounted gift cards and, because we only have $100 OBC on that cruise, I will most likely also purchase extra discounted gift cards and purchase OBC.

It may depend on how people quote their discount.  If I mention a discount percent, it is always based on the commissionable fare since that is how the agencies I have ever seen do it and it is a consistent rate.  If you look at the discount as a percentage of the cruise fare, it will vary.  This is because the non-commissionable fare (NCF) is a fixed amount per day, whereas the cabin cost varies from Inside to Balcony to Deluxe, etc. 

 

A 10% discount on an Inside for a week in the Caribbean will be a lot less percentage on the full cruise fare than 10% for a Mini-Suite for 10 nights around a holiday period.  Princess' NCF used to be $25/day for most voyages and is now $27/day. 

 

In my case, I can get 10% or 12% off the net cruise fare (cruise fare minus NCF).  This is from two different agencies.  My former agent and agency used to be 15% pre-Covid.  Then, discounting was fluctuating and settled under 10% when I was booking our trip we took last Fall.  My new agency was giving me 12%.  I have since realized my former agent (now re-aligned with some former associates into their own business) is at 10%.  I will return to her next time and forego the 2% since she is just that much better to work with.

[Steelers36]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:42 PM, bjkTX said:

Things may have changed over the last few years when I wasn't paying much attention - but when I did I was always told no one could publish prices publicly that were lower than what Princess showed.  The agencies could give you a lower quote - but they couldn't advertise it.  If that's still the case all we'll ever see online is what Princess lists.

True. Agencies public advertisements and public facing website pages are supposed to be quoting Princess rates.  However, they are free to offer lower rates to customers either directly when talking or via hidden webpages or booking engines that customers may access.  They can publicly advertise group OBC AFAIK.

[Ken the cruiser]

11 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

As someone that works for the agency having this sale, I can tell you 100% that we DO get group rates that are lower priced than cruiselines offer. This is because the group holds are taken out as soon as the cruise goes on sale. That price is locked in. The majority of times, the cruiseline rate goes up, but the locked in group rate doesn't - there are definitely exceptions, of course, (especially after final payment) when promos by the cruiseline mean they have lower pricing than the group rate. However, the agent is then free to use the promo rate and under no obligation to use the group rate. As an example, over Christmas I booked Ruby for myself and three additional cabins for friends. Since it was a holiday sailing, the cabins we were looking at were priced at $2200 pp on Princess site, with no OBC or packages included. Under my agency group rate, we got them for $1600 pp with Princess Plus (group rate was locked in while that was still included in the price - no longer the case) and $150 OBC per person. Neither my commission nor the agency commission paid for any of those "perks". Having said that, you have to shop around - not all agencies or agents are created equal and sometimes booking direct is the best way to go. I would never limit myself to one agent/agency, even though I'm an agent myself!

Please correct me if I'm reading this wrong. But if I'm Elite I can also get the same price as the "group holds" being secured by the TA if I book the same cruise on the first day. If so, then the TA really isn't getting some hidden behind the scenes discount. They have just learned that getting those group holds locked in on the first day of some select itineraries is just smart business. That would make better sense than certain TAs getting some hidden deal from the cruise line.

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Please correct me if I'm reading this wrong. But if I'm Elite I can also get the same price as the "group holds" being secured by the TA if I book the same cruise on the first day. If so, then the TA really isn't getting some hidden behind the scenes discount. They have just learned that getting those group holds locked in on the first day of some select itineraries is just smart business. That would make better sense than certain TAs getting some hidden deal from the cruise line.

No doubt one or more TA's may chime in.  The large agencies out there have ability to book blocks of cabins on many voyages and Princess must be giving them a lower-than-published rate.  So, it is more than the $50 or $75 OBC thing.  They can then sell their group space until it is all gone.  If they have left over, they turn it back in to Princess.  What I don't know is if a large agency blocks 5000 cabins and turns back in 2500 of them if that affects the rate they got.  We are not privy to how Princess deals with huge agencies that do large volume of sales.  Princess pricing may go down from launch as time passes and the difference between a Princess rate and that original agency rate may shrink.  At least this is how I understand it.

 

ETA:  That said, the huge agency (online and lots of little boxes) that has traditionally had the "3-Day Sale" in the summer, offered extra goodies and bonuses, similar to when Princess used to have the "Sip 'N' Sail" promo or the "3 For Free" promo. IIRC, the quoted cruise fare prices for the 3-Day Sale used to be Princess normal pricing, but goodies were included.  IDK the situation today.

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Steelers36

[ceilidh1]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Please correct me if I'm reading this wrong. But if I'm Elite I can also get the same price as the "group holds" being secured by the TA if I book the same cruise on the first day. If so, then the TA really isn't getting some hidden behind the scenes discount. They have just learned that getting those group holds locked in on the first day of some select itineraries is just smart business. That would make better sense than certain TAs getting some hidden deal from the cruise line.

 

No, being elite gets you around $100 or so off but the group holds are a lower fare than that usually. Not always. Sometimes the price is locked in as the same price it would be if you booked on day one of sales. As prices rise, the group hold price remains the same so that is the advantage.

 

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

No doubt one or more TA's may chime in.  The large agencies out there have ability to book blocks of cabins on many voyages and Princess must be giving them a lower-than-published rate.  So, it is more than the $50 or $75 OBC thing.  They can then sell their group space until it is all gone.  If they have left over, they turn it back in to Princess.  What I don't know is if a large agency blocks 5000 cabins and turns back in 2500 of them if that affects the rate they got.  We are not privy to how Princess deals with huge agencies that do large volume of sales.  Princess pricing may go down from launch as time passes and the difference between a Princess rate and that original agency rate may shrink.  At least this is how I understand it.

 

 

The group space works in a few ways - the BEST group pricing is that taken out by the big agency for all of their branches and agents to use. There is a whole department within our agency that figures out which ships/sailings/dates etc would be the most in demand, and they work with the cruiseline (not just Princess) groups department to put holds on large numbers of cabins. Once the cruise is on sale, any agent within that agency (and there are thousands and thousands of us throughout North America) can book into that rate. The holds stay in place until just before final payment - anything not sold is released back to inventory and from that point on, the regular "public" rate applies to any bookings BUT, if the cruise is selling well and the group holds still have space the holds may be taken back sooner or traded for other inventory (this is where a good TA can really cash in - if there are 20 oceanview cabins on group hold for $1000k, for example, but Princess has sold all of that category, they will "trade" the group hold cabins for balcony (or another higher category that has inventory available) for the SAME rate. A good TA should be watching for this kind of movement and snapping up those cabins at the bargain pricing!

 

The other kind of group space is taken out by individual agents (usually only if you know you will be selling more than 3 or 4 cabins on a sailing). These rates are also locked in and work in the same way, but can only be accessed by the agent that placed the holds or the franchise that agent works for.

 

In the event that Princess public pricing is lower than group rate pricing (definitely happens), agents can book into public pricing but slide the booking into the "group" to get the group amenities (usually OBC). These amenities are chosen when the holds are put on and are based on number of cabins held, etc - the group department has a lot of negotiating power because the cruiselines know that they typically sell most, if not all, of the group space by virtue of the fact there are so many agents accessing it.

[voljeep]

@ceilidh1 when you do 'group holds' is it specific cabins or just cabin categories?

[ceilidh1]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

@ceilidh1 when you do 'group holds' is it specific cabins or just cabin categories?

Categories

[ceilidh1]

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

No doubt one or more TA's may chime in.  The large agencies out there have ability to book blocks of cabins on many voyages and Princess must be giving them a lower-than-published rate.  So, it is more than the $50 or $75 OBC thing.  They can then sell their group space until it is all gone.  If they have left over, they turn it back in to Princess.  What I don't know is if a large agency blocks 5000 cabins and turns back in 2500 of them if that affects the rate they got.  We are not privy to how Princess deals with huge agencies that do large volume of sales.  Princess pricing may go down from launch as time passes and the difference between a Princess rate and that original agency rate may shrink.  At least this is how I understand it.

 

What I find interesting is that when combined there are quite a few larger travel agencies in the US, Canada and the UK and possibly other countries. Are these larger agencies allowed to put "group holds" on a select set of specific cabins (to include cabin numbers) or just a number of cabins reserved at a specific "pre-defined" category rate (with a specific cabin number being assigned at the actual time of booking)?

 

For example, last summer we were on a 21-day (B3B) which spread across 11 different (7, 14 or 21 day) itineraries where no individual cabin number was advertised on more than one of those legs. I'm guessing the "group holds" don't include specific cabin numbers.

 

I have no issues with "group holds" as long as we as individuals can still book a specific cabin, which has not yet been actually booked, the old fashion way. But what would be annoying is if these individual TA "group holds" could lock in specific highly sought after cabin numbers. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Deleted

 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[ceilidh1]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What I find interesting is that when combined there are quite a few larger travel agencies in the US, Canada and the UK and possibly other countries. Are these larger agencies allowed to put "group holds" on a select set of specific cabins (to include cabin numbers) or just a number of cabins reserved at a specific "pre-defined" category rate (with a specific cabin number being assigned at the actual time of booking)?

 

For example, last summer we were on a 21-day (B3B) which spread across 11 different (7, 14 or 21 day) itineraries where no individual cabin number was advertised on more than one of those legs. I'm guessing the "group holds" don't include specific cabin numbers.

 

I have no issues with "group holds" as long as we as individuals can still book a specific cabin, which has not yet been actually booked, the old fashion way. But what would be annoying is if these individual TA "group holds" could lock in specific highly sought after cabin numbers. 

Categories, not specific cabins (at least that's how our agency does it). The cruiseline groups department keeps close watch to make sure they don't run out of categories available to sell to public if there are lots of unsold group holds in those categories. If that happens, the categories are traded or holds released.

[PacnGoNow]

50 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Categories, not specific cabins (at least that's how our agency does it). The cruiseline groups department keeps close watch to make sure they don't run out of categories available to sell to public if there are lots of unsold group holds in those categories. If that happens, the categories are traded or holds released.

Are all these group holds released just before FP,

or are some released later, say 60

day, 30 day, etc?  TIA

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have no issues with "group holds" as long as we as individuals can still book a specific cabin, which has not yet been actually booked, the old fashion way. But what would be annoying is if these individual TA "group holds" could lock in specific highly sought after cabin numbers. 

As you have seen the answer, you know the agencies are not booking specific cabin numbers. I think this is pretty universal from past comments from TA's, etc.

[mistyPA]

I booked the Enchanted Princess a couple of months ago and just for the heck of it, I checked a club membership travel agency and saved $600 on an inside cabin and have a $200-$300 obc. It was an incredible deal. I called Princess and asked if they could match and was told no, so I went back to the travel agency, booked, then once I knew the new reservation was set, I went back and canceled the reservation on Princess. 

 

I am curious to check the 3 day sail.

 

Good Luck to all and Happy sailing!!!

[Happiest when cruising]

1 hour ago, mistyPA said:

I booked the Enchanted Princess a couple of months ago and just for the heck of it, I checked a club membership travel agency and saved $600 on an inside cabin and have a $200-$300 obc. It was an incredible deal. I called Princess and asked if they could match and was told no, so I went back to the travel agency, booked, then once I knew the new reservation was set, I went back and canceled the reservation on Princess. 

 

I am curious to check the 3 day sail.

 

Good Luck to all and Happy sailing!!!

Were you able to see standard pricing, without the plus/ premium package? I find it hard to compare, without having to call in to get that base rate online here in Canada. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

As you have seen the answer, you know the agencies are not booking specific cabin numbers. I think this is pretty universal from past comments from TA's, etc.

Thanks! Happily, from what I've learned in this thread is that a "group rate" is not what I originally thought it was. Prior to this thread for whatever reason, I was mistakenly under the impression a person could not book a specific cabin, other than one that was in a "group" of cabins secured by a particular TA for a lower than advertised rate.

 

I now know that's not the case. However, since we only book Reserved Collection and Vista Suites and usually on the first day they are made available, it doesn't sound like we're missing out on much and have no intention of switching from our current TA to one of the larger agencies that offer the group rate discount.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! Happily, from what I've learned in this thread is that a "group rate" is not what I originally thought it was. Prior to this thread for whatever reason, I was mistakenly under the impression a person could not book a specific cabin, other than one that was in a "group" of cabins secured by a particular TA for a lower than advertised rate.

 

I now know that's not the case. However, since we only book Reserved Collection and Vista Suites and usually on the first day they are made available, it doesn't sound like we're missing out on much and have no intention of switching from our current TA to one of the larger agencies that offer the group rate discount.

I have encountered smaller independent TA's who are associated in some way with a larger agency that has the means to make the group space and they are able to sell from those.  Don't ask me for any details as I don't have particulars of how this works.

[JimmyVWine]

21 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Free/reduced 3rd and 4th guest on select sailings

Are you positive that the free/reduced guest is not going to be offered by Princess directly?  I don’t care so much about the OBC. But the free extra guest is a big deal to me. Princess ran its “Kids Sail Free” (which they also branded as “3rd and 4th Guests Sail Free”) and that promo was very popular and saved me a bundle. I’d love to see that pop up again. Thanks. 

[ceilidh1]

1 minute ago, JimmyVWine said:

Are you positive that the free/reduced guest is not going to be offered by Princess directly?  I don’t care so much about the OBC. But the free extra guest is a big deal to me. Princess ran its “Kids Sail Free” (which they also branded as “3rd and 4th Guests Sail Free”) and that promo was very popular and saved me a bundle. I’d love to see that pop up again. Thanks. 

That I don't know...

Sorry

[JimmyVWine]

Just now, ceilidh1 said:

That I don't know...

Sorry

Thanks. 

[caribill]

22 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Imagine you have to book a suite to earn $600/pp.  Or maybe Premier.  

 or 4 people getting $150 each

[caribill]

18 hours ago, drega99 said:

Actually, I know 100 percent that big companies get discounted group rates with additional onboard credits - Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean etc. This is due to the volume of sales they provide to the cruise companies. 

 And some agencies share that discount with the customer and some just keep it to increase their profits.

[caribill]

18 hours ago, warren buffet said:

how do you know the agency is not purchasing the on board credit with some of their commission? 

When an agency makes a booking, they get amenity points based on several factors.

 

The agency can use these points to gift OBC, wine, or something else to the customer. Or the agency can use these points to gift themselves more commission.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! Happily, from what I've learned in this thread is that a "group rate" is not what I originally thought it was. Prior to this thread for whatever reason, I was mistakenly under the impression a person could not book a specific cabin, other than one that was in a "group" of cabins secured by a particular TA for a lower than advertised rate.

 

I now know that's not the case. However, since we only book Reserved Collection and Vista Suites and usually on the first day they are made available, it doesn't sound like we're missing out on much and have no intention of switching from our current TA to one of the larger agencies that offer the group rate discount.

 

You can book a specific cabin using the group rate a TA has. They reserve a class of cabins,but book the specific ones their clients want from that class allocation.

 

Even if you made a direct booking on day 1, you can transfer that booking to a TA and get their group rate discount.