All those deals

[flightiebel]

Hi Guys, I was wonderin if you would share where you get all those amazing deals from? I am looking at cruising Emerald Princess 2007. :)

[kendon]

For me, a good deal is hit or miss. I leave no stone unturned and get quotes everywhere. For me, one agent has not shown to be consistently able to provide the best deal. As for service, all I'm looking for is a ticket at this point. If you have never cruised before, a good agent who goes beyond the call of duty is invaluable.

[sradogna]

Hi Guys, I was wonderin if you would share where you get all those amazing deals from? I am looking at cruising Emerald Princess 2007. :)

 

I read a good tip on these boards a few months back that I've been using. Go ahead and book your cruise directly through Princess to hold your cabins. Make the deposit and have any future cruise credits you possess applied.

 

Then, shop like crazy for the best price you can find. While your shopping for the best price, also keep an eye on the prices on the Princess website. If they go down all it takes is a simple phone call to Princess and they will adjust your prices or you can self-upgrade by moving to a higher category for the same price. That way when you are finally ready to transfer the booking to an agent you already have the best deal available from Princess and you didn't have to argue with an agent to get the lower prices.

 

As long as you transfer the booking from Princess to a travel agent BEFORE final payment you can take as long as you want to find the best deal and not have to worry that your cabin won't be available. All it takes to transfer the booking is a simple phone call to Princess.

 

As for where to find the deals ... check all the advertisers on these boards as well as the consolidator mentioned in a previous post. Don't forget to make sure you know whether or not port taxes are included so you can make apple to apple comparisons.

[cynt]

If you already have the best price through Princess, why would you switch it to a TA? Am I missing something?

[sradogna]

The discount agencies (many advertised on this site) will always beat the lowest princess price. Book directly with Princess to secure your cabin and the best Princess price you can get. Then use this Princess price as a starting point and find the discount agency who will give you the best deal. You don't have to be in a hurry while you shop because you can transfer to the agency of your choice right up until final payment.

 

For instance on my current cruise leaving in November, I booked with Princess direct back in March at $899. Then the Princess price was reduced in June to $799 so I changed cabins to take advantage of the $799 price. For as long as the booking stayed directly with Princess, I could make any changes without having to go through an agent who will sometimes moan and groan about honoring price reductions.

 

About a month before final payment, I started shopping for the best travel agency deal. The one that ended up working the best for me offered $100 OBC and free round trip transportation to the pier so I transferred the booking two weeks prior to final payment to take advantage of the freebies from the agent.

[bishop35]

I booked with an online agency that gave me the best price. Then... after I booked it with them... Princess dropped their price by $50 PP. The travel agent wouldn't, as of yet, drop their price by $50PP. Now we are still below the Princess price but not by the same amount as when we booked. This is a little frustrating, if you are saving $200... then you should still be saving $200 if Princess drops their prices, but it hasn't worked out that way with us. Just a warning that things can change after you book with an online TA.

[Twelvevman]

I booked with an online agency that gave me the best price. Then... after I booked it with them... Princess dropped their price by $50 PP. The travel agent wouldn't, as of yet, drop their price by $50PP. Now we are still below the Princess price but not by the same amount as when we booked. This is a little frustrating, if you are saving $200... then you should still be saving $200 if Princess drops their prices, but it hasn't worked out that way with us. Just a warning that things can change after you book with an online TA.

 

My TA lists their policy under the FAQ's. I have not been lucky enough to be able to test hem on it yet :( but I hope to have no issues if Princess drops their prices for my cruise

 

Price goes down prior to scheduled final payment date / penalties starting

xxx.com will always lower your price during this period. Since we work on a net cost plus profit basis the lowering of a cruise price has no effect on our agency. We love to see prices go down...it makes for happy clients. We try and watch the prices, but can not check them all. Please feel free to check the cruise lines sites and email us if you see they have lowered the price.

[sradogna]

Bishop35 ... your experience is exactly why I started waiting until just before final payment to make the transfer to an agent.

 

Twelvevman ... I know the agent who you are speaking of and I have had great success with him lowering the prices prior to final payment. I would find out about the lower price and email them and within a few hours they would have it taken care of. I would book with them always, but lately they haven't had the best price on my cruises.

[lvtotrvl1]

If I read your post correctly, you still have a lower price than the cruiseline. Why would the agency lower your price even more?

[ssbeagle]

If you choose a cruise that is off peak like a transatlantic in the fall, you will get better prices. We book our cruise through our TA (she says she returns part of her commission to her clients to give better prices) and if the price is lowered later on by the cruise line we will get the lower price. If we find the same cruise advertised at a lower price we get with her and she will lower it to meet that price. We never know when we'll get a discount or not. Our Canada/New England cruise isn't gettting lowered because that's a very popular cruise. However, I've already gotten one price reduction on our Dec 16th cruise out of New Orleans on the Golden.

[bishop35]

If I read your post correctly, you still have a lower price than the cruiseline. Why would the agency lower your price even more?

 

Example! You book a cruise and you are saving $200 from the Princess price.... Great deal. Princess lowers their price $50pp but the TA won't lower their price $50pp. Now you are not saving $200 anymore... not such a great deal. Yes... we are still saving money, but if the savings is only a small amount I might have chosen to use my local TA and give them my business. If I am only going to save $25 then I would probably use my local TA, but if I can save $200 then I might use the online TA. These figures are not acurate, just to show the example.

[coo359a2]

Hi Robert and Diane

I emailed you about your request for pictures from our Grand cruise in 2005. Would be glad to send some if you are still interested. See that you will be on the Grand again.

[iancal]

In the past we tended to book within the cancellation window. We got some good deals. For the last few cruises we have booked well in advance. The prices were fair, and in particular we watched the price for our upcoming Dec. cruise drop and then drop again. We use an on line TA. She is very good and has no problem adjusting our fare downwards even if it is only $50 pp. We have never booked with the cruise line. Tried to book with Princess once but their prices were high and they were giving me the gears re currency exchange rates so I just reverted to the on line TA. I think we prefer booking well ahead and I believe that we ended up with better deals (thanks to advice on this board). We tend to cruise in the 'shoulder' seasons and search based on value and ports.

[TinaLee]

Heck, I'd be glad to see the price for my cruise go down anywhere! Since I booked, all it's done is go up - and now all categories are waitlisted... so I'm thinking there will not be any price reductions for this cruise... or upgrades for that matter. Another case in point for booking the cabin you want right from the start!! :)

[iancal]

I think you need to keep an eye on the price and ask for the change at that time. Our fare did go down once, then it stayed the same but the category band moved so we upgraded to a better cabin for the same price. The price on our cruise has gone up and down, now it is going up as the ship starts to fill up. The fare will go down once we are in the 75 day window if there are cabins left but then you have to take what is left, ie cabin selection may be poor. And the final price actually be higher.

[nimbex1970]

What I can add, if not summarize is that "we" seem to invest time on the internet through cruise pricing searches, keep at it... save good sites to a favorite account and keep watch, EVEN though we have travel agents to ensure the best price... it's a bit of time and work.

 

carol

[duckman715]

Hi Guys, I was wonderin if you would share where you get all those amazing deals from? I am looking at cruising Emerald Princess 2007. :)

I recently booked Emerald Princess Cat BB Balcony for 10 day Thanksgiving 2007 cruise for less than most cruise lines were charging for an OVC. I would suggest that if you are considering the EP now might be a good time to book. I'm fairly comfortable that the rates will increase after the ship is launched. I booked through an on line TA but whether you go direct through Princess or a TA, you are booking so far in advance there is really nothing to lose & everything to gain.

[Jules1]

We booked our 7/4/07 Emerald Princess Greek Isles sailing through an online travel agent - the prices for that sailing have already gone up since we booked at the beginning of July. The price we got for our cat BB was $400 per person less than the Princess price.

[Details]

:) I found this thread from last August very helpful. We booked our upcoming April cruise directly with Princess last September. I watched prices and they never went down. We specifically wanted an aft cabin #E731 and requested no upgrades. The cheapest price I've found today is $250+ what we paid! I did transfer booking today to an online agency and got a $50 OBC and free photo voucher. I'm glad I booked early and thank "sradogna" for his great advice. Our final payment is due next week. Reminder: You can only transfer booking prior to final payment.