Why do Princess do it

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

This might just be a UK thing not sure but seems daft to me,

 

My next cruise at the end of this year is being advertised, so I thought would get a TA to check to see if my price I got 6 months ago was still good as I have not paid anything towards it yet apart from future Criuse credits, anyway she phoned to say no flights, Princess will sail you the cruise .

 

I thought Princess would use one or two charters at price A then put you on a normal flight for price B,

 

 

but no if you want to go on the cruise make your own way there.

 

Why do this, why advertise as a package when you can not supply.

 

Now I am sure they could get another charter, but would expect landing slots need to be booked years in advance for the big airports.

 

 

yours Shogun

[cherylandtk]

Well, daft or not, it works much the same way on this side of the pond, with a little twist. Over here, Princess will sell the 'package' of air+cruise to those who want it until they run out of air seats from the origination. Then they just sell the cruise by itself, and one must make your own air arrangments. --So far thats the same, but here is the twist--This latter option is available to everyone in the US, at the beginning, and most experienced cruisers only purchase the cruise from the cruiseline and the air from the airline (except for the occasions on long-haul flights where the package price is a better deal).

 

So yes, we see the same thing, but in your case, since you must purchase the cruise with the air package (until they run out of seats) I am sure it seems very odd that they don't have the same number of air seats as they have cruise cabins.

[peterv]

What is even weirder is that when using their online booking system it will tell you that air is not available, and that is it, you can go no further. It will not then use a cruise only for pricing.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[DrivesLikeMario]

Princess is not obligated to sell you airfare to their cruise. It's advertised because of the cruise price, not the cruise and air price, right?

 

The majority of Americans arrange their own air transportation and can usually find it for much cheaper than using Princess' air. Princess has a limited amount of space for air reservations and they aren't going to add more unless they're assured of keeping those reservations they've already sold and are assured of selling more on a consistent basis. It's all about the bottom line. ;)

[Shogun]

Hi Ladyjag,

 

Princess only shows us one price which includes air fares etc, we need to phone them to get a price without transport. The price say from Edinburgh to Ft Lauderdale, Would include my flight to London, bus to hotel bus to airport etc. Often it does not even tell you that you may need to fly the day before, as they just tell you that you will get flight details closer to holiday time. Other times it is a direct flight jump on in the moring and by afternnon you are on the ship.

 

Now on my next cruise I fly day one to London, hotel overnight , day two to USA hotel over night and on day three I get to the ship.

 

I do not recall ever seeing a cruise only price from Princess apart from there web pages.

 

yours Shogun

[hooked cruiser]

Hi Shogun,

 

As i mentioned in your earlier thread, that is unfortunately the way Princess operate. When I could not get the flight for the Sea Princess for Xmas 2006 at that stage they would not offer any discount for Cruise only. This meant that you had to pay the full price (without the flight although you were paying for it) and in addition you then had to pay and arrange for your own flight.

After a couple of months they offered me the cruise only by reducing the cost of the cruise by £200 each to allow for the no flight option. However, (This is the sting in the tail) The new price they offered was £201 more than the original.

When I questioned this they stated that as a few months (2 exactly) had passed the price of the cruise had gone up.

As we live in Ireland we have to fly to the UK first anyway with their flight option but now we will consider booking direct from Ireland.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Hi Ladyjag,

 

Princess only shows us one price which includes air fares etc, we need to phone them to get a price without transport. The price say from Edinburgh to Ft Lauderdale, Would include my flight to London, bus to hotel bus to airport etc. Often it does not even tell you that you may need to fly the day before, as they just tell you that you will get flight details closer to holiday time. Other times it is a direct flight jump on in the moring and by afternnon you are on the ship.

 

Now on my next cruise I fly day one to London, hotel overnight , day two to USA hotel over night and on day three I get to the ship.

 

I do not recall ever seeing a cruise only price from Princess apart from there web pages.

 

yours Shogun

 

Thanks for the explanation, Shogun. It is definitely different in the UK then. I can understand your frustration. Thanks again & good luck.