Final Payment for Transatlantic Situation

[runner2013]

Hi all, 

I'm posting to see what you all think about a situation my DH's friend is in.

We both think something doesn't sound right. It's just too 'wierd' from everything we've ever known about paying for a cruise before you go. 

Here's a quick recap of what's happening:  DH's friend and his long time girlfriend, plus 2 other couples are booked on a 23 night cruise starting in Italy, and ending in Ft. Lauderdale beginning of April 2024. They bought a drink package and the flights through Princess as well. 

(Here's what's so concerning to us). 

1, His buddy booked a gauranteed cabin. He told the TA he wants to be on deck 9 and the TA said " no problem you're all set"

2. His buddy is having payments taken out every week? or every month?   I'm assuming by the Travel Agency as opposed to Princess directly since he didn' t book with Princess. With the amount he quoted my DH that is being taken out, if it's every month there's no way it will be enough to pay for everything. before final payment date. 

3, DH was talking to his buddy yesterday and he tells him the TA said he doesn't need to have the trip paid in full until 2 DAYS before the cruise leaves. I have never heard of that. It's always been 90 to 120 days out depending on length of trip. 

 

I told my husband things sounds sort of 'wrong' about a lot of this.  Supposedly this is a reputable travel agency but I'm concerned the travel agent is very inexperienced and/or confused. 

I say this because, as we all know, you do not get to pick what deck, or where you are with a guaranteed cabin.  I have also never heard of an instance where final payment was 2 days out. For this trip I believe its 120 days out if not more.  I thought maybe his buddy was confusing the gratuities with the actual cruise payment since he could have paid those onboard each day.  But he bought the all in drink pkg, wifi, tips etc. so that option won't come into play at all. His buddy also told him the TA said he won't get his room assignment until the day he gets onboard. Now this may or may not be true. I know a lot of folks on here who've said they don't get their room until a day or two before, but never have they waited until the day of the cruise to get it. After all, how would the porters know what to put the luggage? 

 

So I guess I just want to hear what you think about all of this. DH and I are definitely concerned for his buddy, and he's been trying to get more info out of him but his friend seems to be fine with everything he's being told.  The scary part of all this for me is, DH and I were married on a cruise 17 months ago and his buddy came, so he knows what he did for our trip regarding payments etc.  but it's as though he's completely blowing off what the 'rules' for final payment and cabin choice were. 

Should we stick our noses in and get involved or should we just step back and see what unfolds?. There are 2 other couples going and we keep telling ourselves they are all adults who have cruised before. It's not our place to say anything. 

Thanks for your thoughts

 

 

[skynight]

What sounds funny.

Payment in full due 90 days prior to sailing date for a 24 day cruise. That's sometime in January.

Payments made to the TA and not to Princess. It's never a good idea to place funds into a T.A.'s hand. Always direct to the cruise line.

When you book a guarantee cabin you are reserving a specific category. You will receive a cabin somewhere on the ship that equal to or better that the guarantee. In the case you describe it may be that the T.A. has a group of cabins reserved. T.As often do that. In that case the T.A. knows the location of that cabin. I have seen passengers boarding where the T.A. is on board. The passenger sees the T.A. and then gets the cabin assignment. Maybe that is what is going on.

Me, I would not get involved and I would never book this way.

[Kmkub]

First thing to tackle - are you sure about the dates ? Princess doesn’t send ships to Ft Lauderdale from Europe in the Spring. That happens in late Fall. In Spring, ships will be going to Europe from Florida.

[skynight]

5 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

First thing to tackle - are you sure about the dates ? Princess doesn’t send ships to Ft Lauderdale from Europe in the Spring. That happens in late Fall. In Spring, ships will be going to Europe from Florida.

Correct. There are no scheduled Princess cruise from Europe to Ft. Lauderdale in April of 2024 nor 2025. They go in the other direction, eastbound.

[Paula_MacFan]

8 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

First thing to tackle - are you sure about the dates ? Princess doesn’t send ships to Ft Lauderdale from Europe in the Spring. That happens in late Fall. In Spring, ships will be going to Europe from Florida.

Agreed.  There are a lot of strange things about this, but doing a search on the Princess website reveals no TA cruises starting in Italy for April 2024.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[SCX22]

There's World Cruise Segment on the Island Princess that's a TA departing in April of 2024.

[runner2013]

Its the April 2nd, 23 day repositioning cruise starting in Rome/Civitavecchia and ending in fort Lauderdale. On the Island Princess. 

[john watson]

Yes, the Island Princess is sailing a world cruise in the opposite direction to the general repositioning ships. It might be legitimate.  Having said that if you wanted to set up a dubious travel agency you would sensibly sell cruises that agreed with actual sailings.  Have they logged into the Princess website to look at checking in, excursions and all the other things you need to do?

Regards John

[azbirdmom]

Sounds like something is missing here, maybe in translation?

 

Is it a reputable agency?  Is the agent also an owner or is there someone else he can escalate to?

 

Is the cruise shown in the Personalizer?

 

Did your DH's friend get a Princess booking confirmation and an invoice from the TA?  The first definitely shows when the payment is due and any good TA should show this on their own invoice as well.  If he doesn't have those he should ask.  Armed with this information the friend should approach the TA about the discrepancy.  If the TA still insists that payment is due 2 days before the cruise leaves I would definitely contact Princess to move the cruise to them - after ensuring that any funds that he prepaid had been applied to the cruise balance.

Edited December 22, 2023 by azbirdmom

[runner2013]

See, that's the thing, 

His buddy isn't the most reliable of people when it comes to things like this.  He sometimes tends to (I feel) put too much trust in the person telling him what's happening and not doing enough investigation of his own. If it were me I would have spent a lot of time going over everything before I was comfortable booking, and even then, I would be checking all the time to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks. But I know not everyone is like me and I can sometimes worry too much about my cruises.  I just don't want anyone to miss out on such a wonderful trip because of an oversight. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by runner2013
grammar

[runner2013]

Azbirdmom, 

DH has 'casually' tried to ask about the personalizer and the booking numbers etc. He suggested to his buddy to reread over everything a few times to make sure he doesn't miss anything.  No idea if he has done that, maybe someone else sailing with him has and says things are ok? I just don't know. 

But my biggest fear is the final payment as suggested above which would be beginning of Jan will come and go and he'll receive an email the next day from Princess saying everything has been cancelled. 

[azbirdmom]

2 minutes ago, runner2013 said:

Azbirdmom, 

DH has 'casually' tried to ask about the personalizer and the booking numbers etc. He suggested to his buddy to reread over everything a few times to make sure he doesn't miss anything.  No idea if he has done that, maybe someone else sailing with him has and says things are ok? I just don't know. 

But my biggest fear is the final payment as suggested above which would be beginning of Jan will come and go and he'll receive an email the next day from Princess saying everything has been cancelled. 

 

Doesn't sound like he's that interested in making sure that all is well.  Your husband has tried to talk to him about it and there's not much else to be done if the friend doesn't want to follow that advice so unfortunately the friend may soon be learning a very expensive lesson.

[john watson]

11 minutes ago, runner2013 said:

 

But my biggest fear is the final payment as suggested above which would be beginning of Jan will come and go and he'll receive an email the next day from Princess saying everything has been cancelled. 

 

A travel agent could pay the cruiseline on the due dates but allow its own clients to pay on a more gradual basis as an incentive to book through them.  The passenger may have misunderstood about how and when payments will be taken from his account. Either this is a genuine booking lodged with Princess or it is not.  When you suggest he might get an email from Princess regarding his booking being cancelled, this is unlikely. If it is a bogus booking Princess might know nothing about it. They might not have his genuine email address.  The passenger should have a booking refereence e.g. NB6VCE and be able to log in and check if he's been upgraded, twin beds, etc. etc. It is more likely he will be refused boarding at Civitaveccia

 

Regards John

Edited December 22, 2023 by john watson

[DCThunder]

5 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Doesn't sound like he's that interested in making sure that all is well.  Your husband has tried to talk to him about it and there's not much else to be done if the friend doesn't want to follow that advice so unfortunately the friend may soon be learning a very expensive lesson.

This is spot on. 

 

While the whole situation you describe sounds "unusual", unless you and DH are one of the other couples going on the trip and/or DH's buddy has specifically asked for assistance, I'd butt out and pop the corn. 

 

You can't save people that don't want to be saved.

[Kmkub]

I stand corrected. Island Princess goes all over the world, all the time. It gets to Ft Lauderdale in April and immediately goes to California and then to New York and right back to Europe by July.  I imagine that’s fun for the captain and crew; not the same ole same ole ports all the time.

 

 

 

I learn something new everyday. I guess I can take a nap now; I’ve learned my one thing. 🙂

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

If this were my friend, I’d ask if he got a confirmation from the TA, as that will show FP date and a booking number.  I’d tell them to go on the website and pull up the booking, request my DR, preferences, etc.

 

It is possible this is a wholesale agency with block space and they will release the passenger names closer to date.  What their deadlines are, IDK.  That means, PCL may not require the name list until 

60 days before or 30 days before, etc . We don’t know what their agreement is.  So, that means you won’t see the individual booking on the website until

names have been released to PCL.

 

Doubtful FP it would be 2 days before sailing though.

 

With a GTY cabin, it is possible to find out on sailing day.  You can ask the baggage handler, but in

Civitavecchia, it may be more difficult. US ports, they can check on the computer or a PCL agent.  Or, if there is a TA group

leader, they may have a check in desk.  

 

IF it was a close friend,  I’d try again to help,  but that’s just me.

 

Let us know what happens.

 

 

 

 

[Paula_MacFan]

43 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

I stand corrected. Island Princess goes all over the world, all the time. It gets to Ft Lauderdale in April and immediately goes to California and then to New York and right back to Europe by July.  I imagine that’s fun for the captain and crew; not the same ole same ole ports all the time.

 

 

 

I learn something new everyday. I guess I can take a nap now; I’ve learned my one thing. 🙂

 

 

I stand corrected as well.  I didn't do a search for world cruises and was thinking just TA.  I should know better as I just went on a cruise on the Island 🙂

 

My apologies. 

[runner2013]

Thank you everyone for your replies and insight. I'll definitely check back in and let you know what happens. DH and I are actually leaving tomorrow for a Xmas cruise on Celebrity so we won't be back until the end of next week. 

Happy Holidays everyone and safe travels. 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

What sounds funny.

Payment in full due 90 days prior to sailing date for a 24 day cruise. That's sometime in January.

Payments made to the TA and not to Princess. It's never a good idea to place funds into a T.A.'s hand. Always direct to the cruise line.

When you book a guarantee cabin you are reserving a specific category. You will receive a cabin somewhere on the ship that equal to or better that the guarantee. In the case you describe it may be that the T.A. has a group of cabins reserved. T.As often do that. In that case the T.A. knows the location of that cabin. I have seen passengers boarding where the T.A. is on board. The passenger sees the T.A. and then gets the cabin assignment. Maybe that is what is going on.

Me, I would not get involved and I would never book this way.

This.👆

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, runner2013 said:

Azbirdmom, 

DH has 'casually' tried to ask about the personalizer and the booking numbers etc. He suggested to his buddy to reread over everything a few times to make sure he doesn't miss anything.  No idea if he has done that, maybe someone else sailing with him has and says things are ok? I just don't know. 

But my biggest fear is the final payment as suggested above which would be beginning of Jan will come and go and he'll receive an email the next day from Princess saying everything has been cancelled. 

AND he'll lose all the money that he paid in.

[john watson]

46 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

AND he'll lose all the money that he paid in.

 

Worst case scenario is the travel agency does not exist and is selling cruises to many people. Pay in full or on a monthly basis.  They would know the date on which to disappear. This has happened to me but not with travel. They can send reassuring emails to clients right up to embarkation day. Then you find out the situation at the cruise terminal in Italy after a long flight. Losing all the money and needing a return flight to USA. On the other hand it may be an excellent deal where you pay monthly and the travel agent pays your account in time to the cruise line.

 

Regards John

[LeeW]

Even if the TA is holding a block of cabins, I would think that the OP buddy would have a booking number and the ability to log onto Princess and see that booking.  I've certainly seen payment plans on Royal but haven't been interested enough to look at details.  We just do the deposit and final payments.

[runner2013]

Hi all, 

I have an update regarding my DH's buddy and his cruise payment situation.

Basically, the confusion continues.  

The buddy talked to DH yesterday saying he got a phone call from his TA the other day, just before Christmas, saying he needed to make the final payment asap. (Jan 2 would be 90 days out which makes sense since the cruise leaves April 2nd). It was midnight when his buddy got this call, so he just hung up saying he was on a payment plan. We think the TA may have been located in another country, perhaps Canada, so there was a time difference, but the TA was more concerned with his buddy missing final payment than what time it actually was. 

His buddy also told hubby he only has to have 80% of the trip paid off before the cruise starts and then he pays the rest in installments after it's over. 

Never have I ever heard of this, and even DH, who isn't a well-seasoned cruiser thinks this sounds wrong. He did tell his buddy to double check with the TA because something didn't sound right but the buddy is adamant that everything is fine. His buddy is also telling him he has to buy his own flights after originally saying they were included in the original cost.

We're trying to stay out of it, his buddy doesn't want any input from us. We just hope things work out and he's not left at the port feeling like he was scammed. 

 

[SCX22]

3 minutes ago, runner2013 said:

We just hope things work out and he's not left at the port feeling like he was scammed. 

Hopefully, it doesn’t get to the point where this buddy shows up at port.  Princess should send a cancellation notice for balance non payment shortly after the final payment deadline.  If anyone gets that, there should be no reason to show up to the port.

[1412p0oi]

I booked with a famous travel agency and spoke with multiple agents. Some agents were a bit confused about some things and not as experienced, so I also heard from one that I don't need to pay until "just a few days before" while another said that I needed to pay right before 120 days. I then went on the cruiseline website and checked. Anyways went with the more expensive agent who helped me get booked, paid over the phone, immediately got a booking and confirmation number for both the TA and the cruise line, and even logged into the app and made plans. 

 

I think if your husband's friend doesn't even want to bother logging in on the cruise line website to check, then that's his thing. Beyond what you guys can do. At the same time, what he's doing sounds legit if he decided to pay using a payment plan, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Imo as long as he can locate his reservation on the cruise line's website or app, he's set. Since you said the agency is also reputable I doubt it's a scam one. It's easy to tell if you've been scammed if you check out how much money came out of your credit card and whether your reservation actually exists if you contact the cruise line...

Edited January 4 by 1412p0oi