Question for Travel Agents

[Italy52]

I am not soliciting names of travel agents, I am just seeking answers to a Princess related question.  Hopefully, someone who is a TA can help.

 

My cruise sails in August, I am fully paid.  We currently have an inside cabin and I saw on the Princess website that a few balcony cabins are available for my cruise.  When I called my TA and asked if it was possible to upgrade, she told me she would have to check my existing reservation in the system.  According to her, since I originally booked during a certain promotion, my balcony cabin upgrade fare would be based on my original fare and not what is posted on the current sale fare Princess is showing on their website.  I am perfectly willing to pay an upgrade to my original fare but not $6,000.  The present sale upgrade would only be about $3,800 for our 14-day cruise.  Does my TAs explanation sound right?  I am thinking it might have something to do with the "new bookings only" comment from Princess.  On our last cruise I was able to upgrade with no problem so I thought I would throw the question out to the TAs.  Thanks in advance for any guidance you might be able to provide.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just curious, but why don't you just put in a bid to upgrade your cabin?

 

Princess Upgrade – Cruise Room Upgrades - Princess Cruises

 

BTW I'm not a travel agent. 

 

Edited June 11 by Ken the cruiser

[ontheweb]

So, you asked your TA for an answer and did not like the answer you were given. Now you want another answer from a different TA. Do I have that right?

 

I am also not a TA, but I do trust the answers that my TA gives me.

[Italy52]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, but why don't you just put in a bid to upgrade your cabin?

 

Princess Upgrade – Cruise Room Upgrades - Princess Cruises

 

BTW I'm not a travel agent. 

 

Ken, with regard to your question, my travel agency does not allow us to participate in the Princess Upgrade Program.

[cr8tiv1]

Not a TA...

 

Sales are usually for "new booking" that appear usually after final payment date.

 

Options:

1.  You could "cancel for any reason" current sailing (receive FCC) and rebook minus insurance and lose ALL promotions with original booking.

2.  You could rebook "new promotion" for current price of stateroom.  You may/may not get back your current stateroom cabin.

3.  You could request to upgrade for price difference.  Princess could be philanthropic and say yes, or deny.

4.  Nothing in the "past" applies anymore.  Princess keeps moving the goal post.

5.  You could bid for upgrade and keep all of your original promotions.  Cabin selection is not guaranteed.  You could wind up anywhere.

 

There is a business reason for Princess to offer these "sales".  It is not for the benefit of current passengers.

Edited June 11 by cr8tiv1

[Italy52]

2 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Not a TA...

 

Sales are usually for "new booking" that appear usually after final payment date.

 

Options:

1.  You could "cancel for any reason" current sailing (receive FCC) and rebook minus insurance and lose ALL promotions with original booking.

2.  You could rebook "new promotion" for current price of stateroom.  You may/may not get back your current stateroom cabin.

3.  You could request to upgrade for price difference.  Princess could be philanthropic and say yes, or deny.

4.  Nothing in the "past" applies anymore.  Princess keeps moving the goal post.

5.  You could bid for upgrade and keep all of your original promotions.  Cabin selection is not guaranteed.  You could wind up anywhere.

 

There is a business reason for Princess to offer these "sales".  It is not for the benefit of current passengers.

Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

 

Option No. 3:  I tried this one and it was a "no go" -- see my original post. 

Option No. 5:  The company we book with does not allow us to participate in bidding for upgrades

 

Oh well. I am happy I have a cabin for our 14-day cruise to Alaska.  Would it be nice if we could have upgraded -- sure. Thanks again for everyone's post, I appreciate them.

 

 

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Italy52 said:

Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

 

Option No. 3:  I tried this one and it was a "no go" -- see my original post. 

Option No. 5:  The company we book with does not allow us to participate in bidding for upgrades

 

Oh well. I am happy I have a cabin for our 14-day cruise to Alaska.  Would it be nice if we could have upgraded -- sure. Thanks again for everyone's post, I appreciate them.

 

 

will you ever again use this same TA? 😉

and were you aware of any of these things mentioned when you booked?

 

just curious

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Option No. 5:  The company we book with does not allow us to participate in bidding for upgrades

I hope they sell the cruises to you at a ginormous discount to make up for all these restrictions.

 

Have you logged in to your Princess account to see if you are eligible to bid? If eligible, I'd bid.

Edited June 11 by Itchy&Scratchy

[latebloomer56]

We tried rebooking a few years ago. It wasn't worth the grief we got the same answer, but we did get some OBC that time small amount but was a nice gesture this was after final payment. Before final we had no issue we cancelled and re joked the cabin we originally wanted that was not available at the time of booking.

Was only for new bookings, which I think they have all gone to.

Edited June 11 by latebloomer56

[cr8tiv1]

4 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

 

Option No. 3:  I tried this one and it was a "no go" -- see my original post. 

Option No. 5:  The company we book with does not allow us to participate in bidding for upgrades

 

Oh well. I am happy I have a cabin for our 14-day cruise to Alaska.  Would it be nice if we could have upgraded -- sure. Thanks again for everyone's post, I appreciate them.

 

When booking ANY cruise, always book the lowest of what you can live with.  Anything above that would be the cherry on top of the Hot Fudge Sundae.  Glad you are happy with your decision.  You will enjoy your cruise.

 

On a side bar...I am not 100% positive that your TA/company has any control over Princess offering you an opportunity to bid for an upgrade.  Go to your personalizer and see if you are eligible for an upgrade.  

[Ken the cruiser]

41 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

Ken, with regard to your question, my travel agency does not allow us to participate in the Princess Upgrade Program.

I guess that has something to do with Group rates. In any event, sorry to hear that. I’ll go back over to the peanut gallery now. 😂

[Catchum]

We upgraded on our 28 day cruise from inside to balcony was $$$$. Was it worth it - probably not, would we do it again definitely not, did we spend every possible second on the balcony - hell yes. 

[Italy52]

UPDATE:  For clarification, my TA is a big box agency that I have dealt with for many years and have never had a problem. The agents that I have dealt with have always worked very hard to get the best possible deal for me so I had no reason to question their interactions with me.  However, today, after talking with the first TA at my agency, I had an after thought that perhaps something might have been missed during the rework of my refare quote as the price seemed extremely high.  So, I waited a few hours and decided to call my TA agency again.  I spoke with a very cordial agent and asked if she would call Princess and ask if they could refare my reservation from an inside cabin to a balcony.  I was placed on hold and within 20 minutes my agent came back on the line and, as quoted by my previous agent, presented me with an extremely high number for my upgrade.  I politely thanked my agent for checking and declined to purchase the upgrade.  She told me she did not blame me for my decision. 

 

To address the issue of bidding to upgrade, it is part of my TA's Terms and Conditions that the company does not participate in cruise line bid-based stateroom upgrade programs.

 

As for how we reserve our cabins, we will always go for the inside cabins.  If, there is a deal and I can make the "magic" work, we will pay for a balcony cabin.

 

Again, thank you all for your kind and funny posts, I appreciate them.  Come August we will be celebrating our 34th cruise to Alaska.  Whether the cabin is an inside or a balcony doesn't really matter in the long run --- at least we have a cabin and we are cruising to Alaska --- our happy place.

 

Safe travels and memorable moments to all on your sailings.

[startedwithamouse]

If final payment has come and gone, and bookings are a lot less than you paid for, even with higher categories, they are trying to fill the ship. That's why it will state new bookings only.

[cruzsnooze]

3 hours ago, Italy52 said:

UPDATE:  For clarification, my TA is a big box agency that I have dealt with for many years and have never had a problem. The agents that I have dealt with have always worked very hard to get the best possible deal for me so I had no reason to question their interactions with me.  However, today, after talking with the first TA at my agency, I had an after thought that perhaps something might have been missed during the rework of my refare quote as the price seemed extremely high. 

I also book with a big box TA who issues a large shop card for the booking. They do NOT participate in the bidding process so I always book a reserve class mini since I know I will not be able to upgrade. The amount of the shop card is significant and the service from them is always fast and good. 

[ebeluga]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, but why don't you just put in a bid to upgrade your cabin?

 

Princess Upgrade – Cruise Room Upgrades - Princess Cruises

 

BTW I'm not a travel agent. 

 

I tested that when I had a balcony but wanted to upgrade to a mini suite for a recent transpacific cruise because the "new booking" price had come down a lot after final payment. After my CVP said she was not able to do the upgrade even with my paying the new booking fare difference, I went to the bidding page and the minimum bid for a mini was as if I was bidding against the original higher minimum suite fare.

[cr8tiv1]

@Italy52 Did you know about the changes to your booking policies BEFORE you booked with this TA?  Will you use them again?

[cruzsnooze]

28 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@Italy52 Did you know about the changes to your booking policies BEFORE you booked with this TA?  Will you use them again?

The TA is not the issue. They are upfront that they don't participate in the bidding process. They give a significant rebate in the form of a gift card to their big box membership stores. That's the trade off one makes fully informed. 

 It is a Princess policy not to allow an upgrade when it's for NEW bookings only.

[startedwithamouse]

45 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

The TA is not the issue. They are upfront that they don't participate in the bidding process. They give a significant rebate in the form of a gift card to their big box membership stores. That's the trade off one makes fully informed. 

 It is a Princess policy not to allow an upgrade when it's for NEW bookings only.

Princess will upgrade you, but you'll pay much more than just the difference between what you paid and the price you see. 

[happy42cruise]

There is still the possibility to check with guest services when you board to ask if there are any available cabins to upgrade to.  Sometimes there are & it never hurts to ask!

[Italy52]

58 minutes ago, happy42cruise said:

There is still the possibility to check with guest services when you board to ask if there are any available cabins to upgrade to.  Sometimes there are & it never hurts to ask!

Have you ever done this?  If so, is the pricing extremely high?

[Italy52]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@Italy52 Did you know about the changes to your booking policies BEFORE you booked with this TA?  Will you use them again?

All booking policies are explained at the time of booking.  Yes, I will continue to book with them as they are a great agency. 

[happy42cruise]

We were waitlisted but we didn't get a chance to upgrade (#6 on list) so no idea but they will tell you how much it would be & if it's too much you can decline.