Booking on Princess.com is actually not bad

[ccheng6401]

I always booked my trips with TAs but I booked a cruise on Princess.com for the first time a few months ago. I thought the price was very good for interior but then the prices dropped after the final payment date. 

 

Now the balcony is cheaper than the interior I paid. I called Princess and asked for a free upgrade to Balcony. They not only upgraded me to balcony but also refunded me the overpayment. TA’s price is the same as Princess’s price btw.

 

Anyway, I was surprised. I thought after final payment it is impossible to get money back. I think I will definitely consider booking directly with Princess in the future again. I also like that I can see the payment details on Princess.com.      

[Thrak]

Other than our first cruise I have always booked myself. I used to transfer the cruise to our TA at the time of final payment. He got a commission and I got a break on the price. I never had an issue booking directly.

 

Now that Princess has changed things I have to transfer to him within 60 days. (Stupid rule.) We have 3 cruises booked at the moment. Two are with our TA and he has gone above and beyond watching and checking and has scored us great price drops and additional OBC. The third cruise we have booked (actually the first one to sail) I haven't transferred to him yet but will do so. I've made partial payment online using Princess Gift Cards I bought at a discount through AARP and will buy a couple more and make payment with those and then transfer the cruise to him. (Once it's transferred I can no longer just go to the Princess site an make payments - I have to have the TA do it instead. I just want to make another payment before transferring to save him the pain of calling Princess.)

[rideev]

we used to book all our cruises direct.  Then we found an online agent that gave us great OBC.  We do all our own research, then just tell her what cruise and cabin we want.  Same price but love the extra OBC.

[dog]

39 minutes ago, rideev said:

we used to book all our cruises direct.  Then we found an online agent that gave us great OBC.  We do all our own research, then just tell her what cruise and cabin we want.  Same price but love the extra OBC.

Yep, I do both but online 3 day sale gave me $900 US on 2 cruises- same fare. Princess offered nothing but a refundable deposit.

[Pegct]

First time booking with Princess directly on their website with a $99 refundable deposit. Initially unsure we would actually do cruise so did not transfer to our travel regular travel agent. Have decided we will actually take cruise but too late to transfer to agent and disappointed that attempts to call Princess or do online chat results in responses that we are # 99+ on list to talk with Princess representative. Any suggestions for specific day or time that queues wait time might be less. It has been many years since we cruised on Princess but really disappointed with lack of customer service available. Will always make sure to use/transfer to travel agent in future.

[cjpj]

Call the Princess Cruise Vacation Planner line and ask for.one to ne assigned. You can then connect with them for any changes or questions you have. And if you're lucky, you'll get a good one!

[dreaminofcruisin]

3 hours ago, Pegct said:

First time booking with Princess directly on their website with a $99 refundable deposit. Initially unsure we would actually do cruise so did not transfer to our travel regular travel agent. Have decided we will actually take cruise but too late to transfer to agent and disappointed that attempts to call Princess or do online chat results in responses that we are # 99+ on list to talk with Princess representative. Any suggestions for specific day or time that queues wait time might be less. It has been many years since we cruised on Princess but really disappointed with lack of customer service available. Will always make sure to use/transfer to travel agent in future.

 

I have had the best luck getting through by calling first thing in the morning when they open...so 8AM ET M-F.

[Pegct]

Thanks for all the suggestions.