Who has booked directly through Princess?

[cruizer2d]

Hi--I booked our 2/9 M.R. with an OL agent. They had a flash promotion (from Princess?), so we got a good price. Princess OL was much more expensive. If I wanted to book thru Princess, will they price-match an OL agent,especially if they are the ones promoting the flash? BTW, this is the 1st time I heard the term FLASH. What, exactly, does it mean? Thanks in advance.

[chasetf]

Who has booked directly through Princess? Any good experiences? Any bad experiences? Pros? Cons? Would you recommend it?

The only time we have booked through Princess is when taking advantage of a last minute special. We had not problems... but the reservation was simple (no air or special needs). We always go through our TA otherwise because it is nice to have someone else working for you if you run into a problem. ;)

[Times Prince]

About half of our cruises have been booked directly with Princess.

 

Advantages (for us) of booking directly:

• Much greater cabin choice is offered by the Princess phone agents than online or by TA's
  
• They hold a cabin for 24 hrs without a deposit, allowing you to verify whether vacation can be scheduled at that time
  
• They honor the written prices sent via email - we've gotten some fantastic last month before the cruise deals.
  
• We've gotten prices that were not beat by any other TA deal (we checked)
  
• We buy Princess Travelcare insurance as we get a automatic upgrade (either booking directly or through TA)
  
• All travel details are online, including pricing in My Princess website
  
• Travel documentation is mailed directly to us. (no delay for resend or pickup at the TA office)

Advantages (for us) for booking through a TA:

• Sometimes better prices
  
• Have had some good brick and mortar TA's that have gotten us cabin upgrades more frequently through their interaction with Princess.
  
• We usually get some bon voyage present from a TA (like a bottle of wine in our cabin, or Princess bags)
  
• We've had some really good TA's who are knowledgeable and who led us to cruising in the first place

[DetroitMark]

Looks like the advantages to doing it yourself outweigh letting someone else do it for you according to your math. I tend to agree.

 

The advantages of using an agency that you cited wouldn't be enough to tip the scales for me. If I had even one agent come to me and say, "Here's a great little hotel that most people don't know about" it might have gone differently for me.

 

But what I got was "Looks like mini-suites on Princess are running about 36 hundred. Do you know where you want to stay in Venice?"

 

Like if I knew that I wouldn't be calling you. And I can get the 36 hundred figure by logging on to the website. Nice work lady. Did you break a sweat?

[rjg41]

While this is true a good bit of the time it isn't always cheaper to go with an agent. Last summer I received an e-mail special from Princess that no agency could compete with and I did book directly with them. I watched the fare until sailing and it never went that low again.

 

The agents you dealt with missed something since it is Princess's stated policy that they will never sell for less than they offer travel agencies, including commission.

 

As for 15%, doubtful since at that discount rate off a legitimate fare, in most cases, even Excel agencies would almost be paying you to go.

[hightownCO]

My third cruise is coming up and on all, booked with the same on-line TA (one found thru cruise critic).

 

On all three, the savings by going with this TA starts out to be pretty good, like $400 cheaper. But by the time we actually make our final pay, with price drops (agent won't always reduce) the savings has been about $100.

 

Have decided that for a $100 savings, it's just not worth it anymore. I'd rather be in control of my booking and able to call Princess direct. Have also had some problems with this TA in getting deposit refund on a cancelled cruise and them messing up our booking with another booking.

 

So unless there are some great OBC offers from a TA + significant saving, I'll just book through Princess from now on.