Holding back cabins for UK?

[Scottie Girl]

Does anyone know if Princess hold back cabins for UK reservations?

We are looking to book a balcony cabin on the Dawn for Sydney to SF April 2009 but looking at Princess website all balcony cabins seem to be booked. We were on the Sun on the 2008 cruise that was canceled and are disappointed that we may not get a balcony on the Dawn as we are unable to book in the UK until end of August.

[terrierjohn]

For all cruises listed in UK brochures Princess say that they hold back a number of cabins in each category for UK customers. But from experience, where these have been on sale in the US for some months, the cabins left are never the best choice. I suggest you contact your TA and tell them what you want and have them ring Princess as soon as the sales open up, and you should get what you want.

[haggis]

Hello Scottie,

Yes, I had a look at the availability on this cruise. Looking at the waitlisted cabins, balcony and above, I would guess that the travel agents have taken the lot. In our case Thomas Cook etc. I always book through TC because of this and have never yet been disappointed. I see you are in Surrey so if you can contact TC in Kingston I'm sure they will be able to assist. They have a good cruise rep. Have you phoned Southampton and queried it with them? Good luck

Jimmy

[phillipahain]

Given that Princess charges a hell of a lot more to UK customers than USA ones and that the terms are far less favourable when it comes to cancellation etc its high time Princess stopped delaying sales to the UK till months after its released in USA

 

Since this also means all the tours are sold out to USA customers well before the cruise booking even opens up in the UK its totally unfair and deliberate discrimination

[Scottie Girl]

Thank you for your replies. Our travel agent will contact Princess as soon as bookings become available. Certainly agree with Phillipalain about the difference between US and UK. So unfair that US citizens book so many cruises and then cancel with no penalty before final payment. It doesn't give us in the UK the chance to book decent cabins.

[Bestbubba]

Scottie Girl

 

We're in the same boat (pun intended!) waiting for the Exotics brochure to come out first week in September. Why not try what we have done - booked what we wanted with a US TA and when the UK brochure comes out if we can get what we want with a similar price we will cancel US booking and book here! Sounds like a plan;)

 

Sue

[terrierjohn]

Any expert out there know if you can book through a US TA against your UK Captain's Circle number, and also use any future cruise credit and get the benefit of the on board credit?

[YYC F/A]

I am a TA in Canada and yes, we have taken clients who have booked an OBC in foreign currency, and we have had it converted to USD in order to book a cruise in USD. We have a contact at Princess to help us with this.

 

So if you have a good TA who specialises in Princess, they should be able to do this for you. If they say they can't, find a Princess Specialist... hint - a look at whom is certified as a Princess Commodore Agency on the Princess website agent locator will give you a clue as to whom does a lot of business with Princess and will likely be able to help you!

 

I took out group space on several 'exotic' sailings for 08/09 because I knew that things would likely be tight closer to the time, and that way we can offer or clients preferred pricing and superior cabin categories. If you find a good TA that specialises in Princess, chances are you might find the same for your preferred sailing.

[Bestbubba]

Any expert out there know if you can book through a US TA against your UK Captain's Circle number, and also use any future cruise credit and get the benefit of the on board credit?

 

Excellent point! We decided to hold fire on this issue until the UK bookings are open, don't want to confuse things with our US TA in case we decide to "jump ship" in September. Just wish Princess would simplify things and let us all book at the same time. I have been reading the same message on the UK Princess site about the Captain Circle on-line benefits update for years:rolleyes:

 

Sue

[Nylsor]

We are waiting to book on the Beijing to Bangkok cruise for October 2008. It will go on sale in the UK on September 3. This cruise went on sale in the US at the end of June. All mini-suites and suites are now waitlisted on the princess.com site. No-one at Princess was able to tell me why Princess cruises are sold in the US months earlier than in the UK. I posted on this site and no-one else was able to tell me either. We decided that it is most probably to do with the fact that UK clients are sold a 'package' including flights / transfers whereas US clients are not - hence the difference in the cost of the cruise and the time of sale. We did look at booking with a US agent but then looked at the cost of the flights - absolutely prohibitive at almost £3000. I e-mailed Princess two weeks ago and asked if any staterooms were held back for UK clients and received a reply assuring us that they were and advising that booking should be made on the first day of sale to ensure a reservation. We have pre-registered with a cruise specialist who told us that they are informed of prices about a week in advance of sale. Our local independent TA advised us that we would have a far better chance of a reservation by dealing with a cruise specialist. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

[arxcards]

Hello Scottie,

Yes, I had a look at the availability on this cruise. Looking at the waitlisted cabins, balcony and above, I would guess that the travel agents have taken the lot. In our case Thomas Cook etc. I always book through TC because of this and have never yet been disappointed. I see you are in Surrey so if you can contact TC in Kingston I'm sure they will be able to assist. They have a good cruise rep. Have you phoned Southampton and queried it with them? Good luck

Jimmy

Don't know that T\A's are holding many of these - I think these are actually sold to passengers. There was a huge discussion on the cancelled Sun Princess roll call, and at this post that started in May - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=559503

 

There were a huge number of passengers waiting & prepared for the day that this Dawn Princess cruise was made available, with one of the affected Australian T\As having a huge number of passengers to book on this cruise the day it was released.

 

Scottie Girl, I hope you are able to get a suitable cabin, and there are cabins held for UK. I would think that you should have received some prefered treatment due to being on the cancelled cruise, but there has been severe interest in this cruise.

 

Good Luck,