Booking with Princess cruise consultant?

[Sea Hag]

9 hours ago, latebuyer said:

I'm just wondering if you used a cruise planner could you cancel and rebook or would that be frowned upon? Thanks everyone for the responses. Very informative.

I'm lucky enough to have a wonderful CVP. She takes care of things that I can't do for myself online. I've had to cancel more than one cruise, and all it took to do that was a simple email to her with the details. This is not frowned upon. She's refared many cruises for me when there's a price drop and has helped me in other ways. She was able to snag my preferred cabin for the upcoming eclipse cruise on the elite sales day as soon as sales opened. Bookings were crazy on that day, at that time! Plus, she's a really nice person that I always enjoy talking to.

[Gilford57]

50 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Even then i’ve got a better quote once by 100.00 or so for the caribbean. As for TAs it seems better quotes are for guarantees and i’m not interested in that having a bad experience being placed under the kitchen.

Then you are not looking in the right places.  I would take @Hlitner's advice for finding a good TA.

[muffydawg]

Our Caribbean cruises are and have been simple, so simple that the process to book them online with Princess or through that major credit card cruise sailing program that using the services of a Princess CVP has not been necessary. However, for our 2024 European sailing (first time using the pre-cruise hotel program & transfers) we are using a CVP and the experience has been quite wonderful.

 

She has been professional in her communications with us and prompt in answering questions --at this stage I have only positive feedback to share about using a Princess CVP.

[MacMadame]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Other folks simply do not know which cruise/travel agencies to trust, and they feel more comfortable dealing direct. 

That was me. I looked online for TAs and got completely overwhelmed. So I booked myself. It was easy enough. The work came later with booking excursions. And the refares. And having questions. (Cruise Critic helps with that but can't answer things like why are there no excursions for Puerto Vallarta?)

[leck57]

17 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I thought the call center was for general assistance, but if a guest was booking a new cruise and elected that option in the phone tree when calling in, that you would get a US-based agent.  Has that changed as well?  

 

No way I would want to book a cruise with the overseas call center where I would not trust their knowledge and use of POLAR. 

 

I recently entered a competition that Princess had in the major newspapers here, and thinking it would lead to more marketing emails I put my "junk mail" email address, and not the one Princess usually sends me info about cruises I booked. Within weeks I received an email to my junk email from a Princess vacation planner introducing themselves. I assume the hundreds of thousands who entered the competition got the same so hardly a personal approach. I can't really tell, but it seems the email has come from somewhere like the Philippines based on names, although I can't be certain. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

That was me. I looked online for TAs and got completely overwhelmed. So I booked myself. It was easy enough. The work came later with booking excursions. And the refares. And having questions. (Cruise Critic helps with that but can't answer things like why are there no excursions for Puerto Vallarta?)

There are quite of few of us here on CC that can help with many things, but we are not permitted to help with the travel/cruise agency dilemma other than to suggest that there are better options then booking direct for those that want to save money (and also get some decent advice).

 

As to Puerto Vallarta (our winter home for 18 years) we can certainly give advice to those who want to do things on their own.  There should be quite a few cruise line excursions and I have no idea why they are not listed for your particular cruise.  Like just about all the cruise lines, Princess does do a lot of business with "Vallarta Adventures" for the provision of many or their excursions, but that company does not accept direct bookings from cruisers.  There are times when an excursion in PV is a good option (such as for the Las Caletas beach day or the Rhythms of the Night tour) and there are other times when we suggest that folks might enjoy doing their own thing (such as just a day walking around town, shopping, eating, and going to the beach).  If your cruise is within the next few months and there are no excursions listed, you might want to call Princess (or your CVP) and ask the question.  

 

Hank

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

There should be quite a few cruise line excursions and I have no idea why they are not listed for your particular cruise.

The cruise is over a year away so my theory is that they are trying to finalize some contracts for 2025. 🤷‍♀️

The excursion I want to do is run by some scientists and I doubt Princess will have a version but I want to wait and make sure. 😄 Also, I am slightly hesitant because I don't want to bother the dolphins that are involved. Maybe you know something about the company put it on? Do they have a good rep for being respectful of the local wildlife?

 

https://www.wildlifeconnection.com/dolphins-tour/

 

As for not being able to recommend TAs and particular CVPs, I get why that's a rule but it does make life difficult sometimes. I did get a private recommendation but I'd booked my cruise too late to transfer it (missed the deadline by 7 days!) so I'm stuck with the CVP system.

[AZjohn]

Informative thread (well, as far as staying inside CC web site rules).

 

We all started out as rookies to cruising and just as other things in life, it takes some time and experience to figure things out.😊.

 

As several posts mention, there are several reasons to go with a CVP over a 3rd party TA or booking on Princess web site.

 

In other ways, once you talk to seasoned cruisers on the first couple cruises you learn how much $ can be saved on cruises going with a TA.

 

I think it’s all in your comfort level which way you go but, for me personally I wanted an agent that was not employed by the cruise company itself so there was no conflict of interest. I wanted a TA that is my advocate, not the cruise line (and save some $ at the same time).
 

But, I no longer need any initial hand holding, just do as I request and be there if something goes sideways.

 

Cheers

Edited December 22, 2023 by AZjohn

[latebuyer]

I thought i’d give an update my situation. I did phone and leave a message with my cruise consultant this morning letting him know i wanted to book and he never returned my phone call. I decided to go ahead and book as supposedly today is the last day for 100.00 deposit. (I know probably not). I will give it a go with the call centre. However i am going to phone and get a different cruise consultant. Next cruise i will ask for travel agent recommendations. I will continue to try different things out until i settle on the right one. Thanks for the encouragement.

[latebuyer]

I wondered if the 100.00 deposit would actually end and it did i guess they do those as short flash sales.