Letting a Princess booking expire and cancel?

[Dcopperfield]

Hey folks, first time poster here although I've relied on this forum for helpful info for quite a while - so thank you for all your continued input!

 

I made several bookings for my extended family for a 10 day Med Sailing on Majestic Princess via my TA. My issue is that booked 7 cabins instead of the 5 that we actually require (duplicate bookings for 2 families - entirely my fault). This was during the £1 deposit Princess Flash Sale so given the silly deposit I was definitely not paying as much attention as I would have had the deposit been the usual 15% or so.

 

I called my TA and they said they would need me to pay a £150 cancellation fee for the duplicate bookings... Given that it was an honest mistake (I accept it's my fault) and that I have booked several cruises with them this year I expected a little discretion, however, got nowhere with them. The way they handled the call actually infuriated me to the point where I will never make another booking with them again..

 

My question is if I just let the duplicate bookings run their course and don't pay the final balance when it's due - presumably the bookings would just get cancelled automatically? Do they have any recourse for a cancellation charge at that point? Their t's and C's do state a cancellation charge would be payable etc, however, my feeling is that they can sing for it and will have difficulty in collecting it.

 

It's such a small amount to be overly concerned by but their lack of discretion in correcting an obvious error and their subsequent response has really p****d me off.

 

Any insight greatly appreciated 🙂 

 

Edited May 11 by Host Kat
Edited per OP's request,

[PacnGoNow]

Welcome to the Princess forum.  

First, just be aware, the rules of CC…we are not permitted to mention the name of any TA.

 

I have not encountered your dilemma of duplicate booking cancellations past the FP, in the UK, I presume.  I see you are booked in June on the Sky.

 

If it were me, at this point, I would check in for the cabins you are using, get ready to sail for those cabins totally. Print out your travel summaries.
 

If questioned, upon check in, explain the error and that you tried to cancel the extra cabins, as they will be no-shows. 

 

My concern is that those cabins

are assigned in duplicate for some of the same passengers?  
 

Maybe someone in the UK that has used this TA could let us know, if they’ve ever been billed post cruise by the TA? 
 

My other suggestion, would be to ring PCL in the UK.  Tell them the TA is not cooperative and you would like PCL to get those extra cabins, booked in error, back in their inventory. Most likely, they will not touch a TA booking. So, this is up to you, if you want to pursue.
 

Do let us know what happens.

 

Why didn’t this booking cancel, when FP was due?

Should have cancelled already.  Check the website.

 

Edited May 11 by PacnGoNow

[Essiesmom]

As the above poster asked…did you make final payment on all 7 cabins?  When did you discover your mistake?  If you paid for all of the cabins, and are past final payment, you are not going to get much if anything back if you cancel on a cruise that sails in June.  Might as well just check in and spread out!  EM

[Mark_K]

53 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Welcome to the Princess forum.  

First, just be aware, the rules of CC…we are not permitted to mention the name of any TA.

 

I have not encountered your dilemma of duplicate booking cancellations past the FP, in the UK, I presume.  I see you are booked in June on the Sky.

 

If it were me, at this point, I would check in for the cabins you are using, get ready to sail for those cabins totally. Print out your travel summaries.
 

If questioned, upon check in, explain the error and that you tried to cancel the extra cabins, as they will be no-shows. 

 

My concern is that those cabins

are assigned in duplicate for some of the same passengers?  
 

Maybe someone in the UK that has used this TA could let us know, if they’ve ever been billed post cruise by the TA? 
 

My other suggestion, would be to ring PCL in the UK.  Tell them the TA is not cooperative and you would like PCL to get those extra cabins, booked in error, back in their inventory. Most likely, they will not touch a TA booking. So, this is up to you, if you want to pursue.
 

Do let us know what happens.

 

Why didn’t this booking cancel, when FP was due?

Should have cancelled already.  Check the website.

 

Why do you think it’s beyond final payment date when they say, “My question is if I just let the duplicate bookings run their course and don't pay the final balance when it's due - presumably the bookings would just get cancelled automatically?”

[dreaminofcruisin]

Interesting situation. I'm sorry I don't know the answer, but if it was me...I think I would try it and see what happens.

Good luck!

Welcome to (posting on) cruise  critic.

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Why do you think it’s beyond final payment date when they say, “My question is if I just let the duplicate bookings run their course and don't pay the final balance when it's due - presumably the bookings would just get cancelled automatically?

 

You’re right.  Thanks for that.

 

That’s the reason I asked if it was the June Sky booking.  FP

should have been made. IDK.

 

Maybe this is another cruise, further out?

 

If so, when they make FP on the cabins they are using, the TA is going to want FP on all of them or charge the cancellation fee on the ones they cancel.

You would think the TA knows how many bookings they made?

 

UK rules are different than the US rules.  Interesting to see what happens.

[Mark_K]

3 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

You’re right.  Thanks for that.

 

That’s the reason I asked if it was the June Sky booking.  FP

should have been made. IDK.

 

Maybe this is another cruise, further out?

 

If so, when they make FP on the cabins they are using, the TA is going to want FP on all of them or charge the cancellation fee on the ones they cancel.

You would think the TA knows how many bookings they made?

 

UK rules are different than the US rules.  Interesting to see what happens.

Sky is Norway/Iceland, they were talking about a Med cruise.

 

if the T&C give the booking agency the right to charge £150, I expect they will, regardless of whether those rooms are officially canceled or Princess cancels them for nonpayment of the outstanding balance.

[Essiesmom]

So final payment has not yet been made.  How are you doing it?  Can you do it online, or do you have to do it through the TA?  Or is the TA going to do it automatically when it is due?  If so, then the TA has the credit card number and could access it to charge the cancellation fee.  Do you have more than one credit card?  If so, and you can make the payment online, or even on the phone with Princess, I would do so with a card different from the one you used for the deposits.  Then I would temporarily lock the card that you used for the deposit so the TA can’t charge you the fee.  I think the TA should have noticed when you booked that you had double booked two cabins and straightened it out then.  EM

[ldubs]

 

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

So final payment has not yet been made.  How are you doing it?  Can you do it online, or do you have to do it through the TA?  Or is the TA going to do it automatically when it is due?  If so, then the TA has the credit card number and could access it to charge the cancellation fee.  Do you have more than one credit card?  If so, and you can make the payment online, or even on the phone with Princess, I would do so with a card different from the one you used for the deposits.  Then I would temporarily lock the card that you used for the deposit so the TA can’t charge you the fee.  I think the TA should have noticed when you booked that you had double booked two cabins and straightened it out then.  EM

 

 OP admits it is their honest mistake and I presume their obligation.  I can see how the cruise line might give the benefit of the doubt, but they didn't and were not obligated to do so.  Op is angry because they didn't get special treatment.   Blocking credit cards as a way to do an end run is not a good look, in my opinion.

[Dcopperfield]

3 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

Interesting situation. I'm sorry I don't know the answer, but if it was me...I think I would try it and see what happens.

Good luck!

Welcome to (posting on) cruise  critic.

Thanks! I'm inclined to let the duplicates run and see what happens 👍

 

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

You’re right.  Thanks for that.

 

That’s the reason I asked if it was the June Sky booking.  FP

should have been made. IDK.

 

Maybe this is another cruise, further out?

 

If so, when they make FP on the cabins they are using, the TA is going to want FP on all of them or charge the cancellation fee on the ones they cancel.

You would think the TA knows how many bookings they made?

 

UK rules are different than the US rules.  Interesting to see what happens.

 

Each cabin was a separate booking - but they can see for sure that I've made a duplicate... They're just not using discretion to cancel without penalty.

 

3 hours ago, Mark_K said:

Sky is Norway/Iceland, they were talking about a Med cruise.

 

if the T&C give the booking agency the right to charge £150, I expect they will, regardless of whether those rooms are officially canceled or Princess cancels them for nonpayment of the outstanding balance.

 

I suspect you're probably right and that's what the TA will hang their hat on. 

 

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

So final payment has not yet been made.  How are you doing it?  Can you do it online, or do you have to do it through the TA?  Or is the TA going to do it automatically when it is due?  If so, then the TA has the credit card number and could access it to charge the cancellation fee.  Do you have more than one credit card?  If so, and you can make the payment online, or even on the phone with Princess, I would do so with a card different from the one you used for the deposits.  Then I would temporarily lock the card that you used for the deposit so the TA can’t charge you the fee.  I think the TA should have noticed when you booked that you had double booked two cabins and straightened it out then.  EM

I don't think the TA can automatically take payment - it's an online payment via their website for payments. Inclined to let it run and see what happens.

 

Thanks for all your input folks and, of course, I'll remove the named TA in my original post when I figure out how.

 

Thanks again!

[Dcopperfield]

4 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

 

 OP admits it is their honest mistake and I presume their obligation.  I can see how the cruise line might give the benefit of the doubt, but they didn't and were not obligated to do so.  Op is angry because they didn't get special treatment.   Blocking credit cards as a way to do an end run is not a good look, in my opinion.

 

Fair assesment, appreciate the feedback 👍

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, Dcopperfield said:

 

Fair assesment, appreciate the feedback 👍

 

Don't get me wrong.  It was an obvious and honest mistake.   I too would be disappointed (miffed) that the TA and/or cruise line would not cut some slack.  Especially if I was a frequent customer.    

[TRLD]

If made directly with Princess one could just let them expire.  Being made through a TA adds additional complexity. If one person made all of the bookings for the same cruise there is always the possibility of the TA not finalizing payment for any of them until funds are received for all of them. 

[Dcopperfield]

41 minutes ago, TRLD said:

If made directly with Princess one could just let them expire.  Being made through a TA adds additional complexity. If one person made all of the bookings for the same cruise there is always the possibility of the TA not finalizing payment for any of them until funds are received for all of them. 

That's a good point that I hadn't really considered... Perhaps I'll bite the bullet and put it down to experience 👍

 

 

[memoak]

5 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Welcome to the Princess forum.  

First, just be aware, the rules of CC…we are not permitted to mention the name of any TA.

 

I have not encountered your dilemma of duplicate booking cancellations past the FP, in the UK, I presume.  I see you are booked in June on the Sky.

 

If it were me, at this point, I would check in for the cabins you are using, get ready to sail for those cabins totally. Print out your travel summaries.
 

If questioned, upon check in, explain the error and that you tried to cancel the extra cabins, as they will be no-shows. 

 

My concern is that those cabins

are assigned in duplicate for some of the same passengers?  
 

Maybe someone in the UK that has used this TA could let us know, if they’ve ever been billed post cruise by the TA? 
 

My other suggestion, would be to ring PCL in the UK.  Tell them the TA is not cooperative and you would like PCL to get those extra cabins, booked in error, back in their inventory. Most likely, they will not touch a TA booking. So, this is up to you, if you want to pursue.
 

Do let us know what happens.

 

Why didn’t this booking cancel, when FP was due?

Should have cancelled already.  Check the website.

 

Doesn’t the post mention the Majestic not the Sky

[PacnGoNow]

39 minutes ago, memoak said:

Doesn’t the post mention the Majestic not the Sky

Yes, and I should not respond so early….I need to wake up first and smell the roses!!🌹 

 

Luckily, @Mark_Kcaught it!

 

OMG!  Happy Mother’s day eve everyone!  
 

 

[Dcopperfield]

Thank you everyone for your input 🙂

[DCThunder]

Would another option be for you to find people to sail in the duplicate cabin and reimburse you directly for the fare?  You'd need to get Princess or the TA to change the names of the passengers in those cabins, but that might not be too big a hurdle, although it's very possible it would be.

[Dcopperfield]

29 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

Would another option be for you to find people to sail in the duplicate cabin and reimburse you directly for the fare?  You'd need to get Princess or the TA to change the names of the passengers in those cabins, but that might not be too big a hurdle, although it's very possible it would be.

 

That could be a great solution if I can convince more family to come - thanks! I'd assume the TA would be more receptive to that than an outright cancellation.

[Teechur]

1. There may be a "name-change" fee. Check first before giving your uncooperative TA any more money.

 

2. Find a new TA. Will the lost $150 pound pp fee go to Princess or does the TA get to keep it?

 

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, Teechur said:

1. There may be a "name-change" fee. Check first before giving your uncooperative TA any more money.

 

2. Find a new TA. Will the lost $150 pound pp fee go to Princess or does the TA get to keep it?

 

 

#2 is a very good question.   I had assumed it was the cruise line but really don't know. 

 

I think the TA is open to criticism if it is thought they should have caught an obvious error.  I cannot tell if that was or was not the case.  

[Dcopperfield]

11 hours ago, Teechur said:

1. There may be a "name-change" fee. Check first before giving your uncooperative TA any more money.

 

2. Find a new TA. Will the lost $150 pound pp fee go to Princess or does the TA get to keep it?

 

 

I'll catch up with them tomorrow to figure out the options but like you say - the main takeaway here is find a new TA 🙂 

 

The lost deposit is for the TA rather than Princess. 

[ldubs]

10 minutes ago, Dcopperfield said:

 

I'll catch up with them tomorrow to figure out the options but like you say - the main takeaway here is find a new TA 🙂 

 

The lost deposit is for the TA rather than Princess. 

 

You mean the £150 cancellation fee.  If it was only the £1 deposit, life would be good!  😀

[Dcopperfield]

32 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

You mean the £150 cancellation fee.  If it was only the £1 deposit, life would be good!  😀

 

Correct 🙂