Unauthorized booking

Has anyone else had this happen to them? I booked a cruise directly with Princess yesterday. Earlier in the weekend, I had checked with a website where different travel agents give "competing" quotes. I didn't accept any of the quotes, because they were mostly more expensive than booking directly with Princess. A few were about the same, and one or 2 were minimally less - not enough for me to take a chance on.

This morning I logged onto Princess Personalizer, and saw the passenger immigration section was showing "incomplete". I thought that was odd, since I had completed it yesterday and printed out our boarding passes and luggage tags. So I completed it again, and went back to the home page of Personalizer. I looked closer, and there were TWO bookings for my cruise now showing - one with my original booking number, and another booking that had been made by a travel agent that I had never spoken to or communicated with!!! I called Princess, and the agent thought it was odd, too - she said it was a temporary hold, and would drop out of the system after a day or two since no deposit had been made.

I was worried - since I had completed the Personalizer passenger immigration forms, including setting up my onboard account with my credit card. Princess assured me that my info is secure - but it still shook me up that a travel agent went ahead and booked a cruise for me without my knowledge! :eek:

Has anyone else had this happen to them? I booked a cruise directly with Princess yesterday. Earlier in the weekend, I had checked with a website where different travel agents give "competing" quotes. I didn't accept any of the quotes, because they were mostly more expensive than booking directly with Princess. A few were about the same, and one or 2 were minimally less - not enough for me to take a chance on.

 

This morning I logged onto Princess Personalizer, and saw the passenger immigration section was showing "incomplete". I thought that was odd, since I had completed it yesterday and printed out our boarding passes and luggage tags. So I completed it again, and went back to the home page of Personalizer. I looked closer, and there were TWO bookings for my cruise now showing - one with my original booking number, and another booking that had been made by a travel agent that I had never spoken to or communicated with!!! I called Princess, and the agent thought it was odd, too - she said it was a temporary hold, and would drop out of the system after a day or two since no deposit had been made.

 

I was worried - since I had completed the Personalizer passenger immigration forms, including setting up my onboard account with my credit card. Princess assured me that my info is secure - but it still shook me up that a travel agent went ahead and booked a cruise for me without my knowledge! :eek:

I can olny deal with the Immigration Section. This happened to me just before our last cruise - the flashing in red Incomplete next to our immigration stuff. I called Princess and they assured me it was done.:)

They send a blast email to everyone who will be on an upcoming cruise and the system cannot differentiate between who has completed it and who has not. So they just put it as not completed.;)

I would check again for the "second" booking to disappear. Usually the hold is only for 24 hours:(

Whoo,

If you know the agency that put the hold on the cabin, I would call them and find out what is going on.

Maria

This has happened to me in the past, nothing to worry about. The TA put the booking on a 24 hr hold for you, to make sure they had secured the pricing and availability that you were asking about. It will drop off if no deposit as made, as did mine. It's not unscrupulous. But I too was a bit confused about the double booking because I didn't go with that TA but booked directly with the CL. Happy Sailing!

TA's will do a hold and it shows as a booking, it will drop off.

No deposit no booking.

The same thing happened to me. I was a bit freaked out but like others said, it dropped off after a day or so.

My (now) TA said this is a normal thing for travel agents to do. They hold a cabin for you in case you decide to book with them.

Thanks, all. It was unsettling!!

Yes - this is common. This let's the agent hold the price they quoted while you decide.

If they didn't do this and you called the agent back to book the cruise, the price may have gone up and they would not have been able to honor the price.

So - all is well. Nothing wrong with checking it out to make sure.

The same thing happened to me. I was a bit freaked out but like others said, it dropped off after a day or so.

 

My (now) TA said this is a normal thing for travel agents to do. They hold a cabin for you in case you decide to book with them.

This is why you should always check back if you're interested in a particular cabin number and it shows unavailable when you first try. It might just be on a 24 hour hold and could be released back to open inventory when the hold expires. Princess or your TA might be able to tell you if that particular cabin booking is just a hold or does already have a paid deposit on it. You might also check back on or near final payment day to see if the original booking has been canceled.

I had the same thing happen to me a few months ago. Very unnerving. I called Princess and they said it would expire in 72 hours, it eventually did but I didn't like it sticking around the way it did. When you take a courtesy hold with other lines, that doesn't happen so it's a shock to open the Personalizer and see a new cruise there.

I booked thru an on line agent and gave them my CC# (full payment since it was only 10 wks b4 cruise). I did immigration stuff etc and then when I went in to check again to do preferances etc next day, reservation was gone. I called Princess and they said to call agency, which I did. They didnt send deposit thru quickly enough. All worked out OK and we're leaving in 2wks on this cruise

The first time I saw an "unauthorized booking" on my cruise personaliser I went through the roof. Then I found out it was a courtesy hold that a TA will put on the cruise so he/she doesn't loose the pricing and cabin that they offered you. It goes away in a few days if you decide not to book.

So you can relax........:)

We had this happen once when we checked with the future cruise booking office aboard ship. We checked a price for a future cruise. Decided not to book and after we got back home our TA sent us confirmation that we had booked. We had only purchased a future booking credit without any commitment to a specific cruise.

Call the TA told her Princess made a mistake and had it cancelled and our future booking credit restored.

I have read several stories on these boards of people who have used a compete site and then an agency went ahead and booked the cruise without confirmation. I avoid using such sites. I get bids, but all directly.

This happened to me--and unnerved me at the time. I was reassured here that the extra booking would go away. And it did.

I have stopped giving my Captain's Circle number when requesting quotes. I put in a note that I am a past passenger and will supply it when booking.

This happened to me--and unnerved me at the time. I was reassured here that the extra booking would go away. And it did.

 

I have stopped giving my Captain's Circle number when requesting quotes. I put in a note that I am a past passenger and will supply it when booking.

All the TA needs is your phone number, and they can pull your Captain's Circle number. Remember though that Princess now has many "personalized" offers that only apply with your CC number, so if the booking agent does not have that, the quote may be higher.

Whoo don't abandon ship (Emerald 1/7) on us! ;)

Whoo don't abandon ship (Emerald 1/7) on us! ;)

No - I'm not abandoning ship on 01/07/11 !! Just squeezing in an extra cruise before then! :) Guess I couldn't wait that long!

........I was worried - since I had completed the Personalizer passenger immigration forms, including setting up my onboard account with my credit card. Princess assured me that my info is secure - but it still shook me up that a travel agent went ahead and booked a cruise for me without my knowledge! :eek:

My agent does it all the time. It is how she can guarentee the price quote while I am thinking about booking. It drops off if we decide not to go ahead with the booking.

I have never had another agent or agency do it.... but then I pretty much deal directly with my TA. ;)

My agent does it all the time. It is how she can guarentee the price quote while I am thinking about booking. It drops off if we decide not to go ahead with the booking.

 

ditto.

OP - This is perfectly normal. If you had decided to go with that TA, they would be able to give you that price they quoted. If they didn't hold the cabin with a booking and called back when you were ready to book with them, they would've been subject to the prevailing rates at that time.

It's for your benefit; it ensures you that you'll get the pricing they quote you.

The same thing happened to me. I was a bit freaked out but like others said, it dropped off after a day or so.

 

My (now) TA said this is a normal thing for travel agents to do. They hold a cabin for you in case you decide to book with them.

Our TA did this when we queried about pricing for a BF guarantee cabin. Interestingly enough I found from the personalizer that I had immediately been assigned a BA cabin in a prime Caribe deck midships location. This did the trick, and we completed the booking.:D

This is a normal practice to hold a cabin and price for 24 hours, and from our example, can have an upside. Note that you can also do the same thing phoning Princess directly, and hold a cabin with no monetary commitment at all.

It is a little shocking to see a booking you did not make, but they are temporary. From the OP's experience it is always good to verify what booking you are providing information to Princess for.

Interesting post and I am resurrecting it, as the same situation just happened to me.

The only difference is that I was never even contacted by a TA nor was provided a quote from them, on the previously eluded to website.

I was Initially shocked and am thankful for CruiseCritic contributors!

I have read several stories on these boards of people who have used a compete site and then an agency went ahead and booked the cruise without confirmation. I avoid using such sites. I get bids, but all directly.

When using that site I never enter my Captain's Circle# so they don't have access to my information and can't put a hold on the cruise.

When using that site I never enter my Captain's Circle# so they don't have access to my information and can't put a hold on the cruise.

They didn't even provide a quote!