Lesson learned - last minute bookings

[Pam in CA]

Oh, I understand Kruisey, but I have to tell you, I haven't booked a cruise locally in over 15 years.

Again, I agree with Toto. I, too, haven't booked a cruise through a brick and mortar local TA in many years. Not all TAs do the same volume or get the same discounts; your local TA might do maybe one Princess cruise a day, if that, whereas some online TAs do as many as 20 - 30 Princess cruises a day, or more. They are able to get better rates but as Toto says in a previous post, they don't hold your hand and they usually don't book independent air or hotels. It's a matter of finding the one that's best for you.

[Umbarger]

I am looking to book a last minute Alaska cruise. I keep checking the Princess web site and wondering why the price has remained the same. Now I know why. Will quit looking on the Princess site and try to find a flash promotion.

 

Any ideas on how to find a flash promotion?

 

Thanks!

[Ken076]

Not all TA's discount pricing. If you find one in the future that gives you the same price as on the Princess website, thank them nicely and move to the next one on your list. ;)

 

Toto & Pam - Are these discount TA's allowed to advertise the lower fares? Can I locate these TA's by checking internet or do I need to be calling?

 

And...how do I find out about these "Flash Promotions"?

 

I got a great 2-for-1 Alaska rate from Princess but I'm thinking discount TA or last-minute for the next Princess cruise.

 

thanks, Ken

[lvtotrvl1]

Kruisey, I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. Many discount TA's deal in volume and discount their own commission. We have found if they have a group going on a cruise we book and they get us that pricing, the extras are usually shipboard credit associated with being booked in the block of staterooms the TA has for that cruise. But we have always found great discounts even when there is not a group we are booked into.

 

Totally agree Toto. I work with a large agency and the discounts do not always come due to a group. Many large agencies do and will discount their commission to get the booking.

[Embracedbylife]

Umbarger - what I did was took a look at this website (cruise critic) on the middle-to-right upper part of the screen where is says "Talk Ship!" there is a link to Cruise Agencies. I used their first one listed and saw the same flash rates my friends got on their last minute cruise, so maybe this one will do the trick?

[Minoushka]

On my last cruise on Princess last Jan on the Grand-HELLO SUE/TOTO- I got a GREAT price reduction directly from Princess.I use to deal with TA"s but their mistakes always caused me a lot of grief especially a certain auction site .They could never get my requests right nor spell our names correctly plus NO ONe ever answers the phone !!! So I gave up on them I now have PVP from the cruise line themselves .So Far excellent service and OK prices

They call me with Price reductions and my next cruise on CB already went down 300$ pp

I too check prices regularly and call PVP to make sure

Because so many good TAS tanked this tear I hesitate to book with them I really do prefer direct contact with the cruise line

The moral of the story is to be thankful of the price you get even if it goes down after final payment On our last cruise they brought the price down a lot but I could not benefit as I was past final payment.We still had a GREAT cruise

I think you have to keep checking the prices as I was told not all bargains are posted on the website you do have to call .I do and I hope my next cruise will go down again

 

 

Michele

[RealDeal]

Had to chime in here.

 

I normally book thru a discount/online agency. I was very interested in the CB out of Brooklyn in June and had been watching rates (w/online agencies) for quite a while. They were OK, but not great. Finally, about 3 months prior to sailing (thus, way before final payment), I received a promo for Princess, which took the fare down a couple of hundred dollars LOWER than the least expensive agency fare I could find. Some would leave it at that, but instead what I recommend is finding an agency who will take it over & further discount the rate. My agent discounts Princess cruises 10%, so in this case not only did I get the Princess past passenger promo (which was the lowest price I had seen anywhere) but I also got an additional 10% off by having my agent take over the booking.

 

Just food for thought...Although rare, sometimes Princess actually does offer a better rate than online agents.

[happy cruzer]

So is anyone seeing the big discounts on inside cabins? My experience is that there is very little discount possible when you already are in the least expensive cabins.

 

Just checking.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Toto & Pam - Are these discount TA's allowed to advertise the lower fares? Can I locate these TA's by checking internet or do I need to be calling?

 

And...how do I find out about these "Flash Promotions"?

 

I got a great 2-for-1 Alaska rate from Princess but I'm thinking discount TA or last-minute for the next Princess cruise.

 

thanks, Ken

 

Yes Princess allows them to advertise discounted prices. Most of the discount websites I check offer the discounted prices right on their websites.

 

I don't know about the flash promotions as I always book way ahead of time.

 

Bill

[RealDeal]

Had to chime in here.

 

I normally book thru a discount/online agency. I was very interested in the CB out of Brooklyn in June and had been watching rates (w/online agencies) for quite a while. They were OK, but not great. Finally, about 3 months prior to sailing (thus, way before final payment), I received a promo for Princess, which took the fare down a couple of hundred dollars LOWER than the least expensive agency fare I could find. Some would leave it at that, but instead what I recommend is finding an agency who will take it over & further discount the rate. My agent discounts Princess cruises 10%, so in this case not only did I get the Princess past passenger promo (which was the lowest price I had seen anywhere) but I also got an additional 10% off by having my agent take over the booking.

 

Just food for thought...Although rare, sometimes Princess actually does offer a better rate than online agents.

 

For some reason, I can't edit my post, but I should have clarified that Princess's promo was a past passenger promo & you had to log into the web site for that rate to appear.