Princess newbie

We have not sailed on princess for at least 10 years but we want to do the partial Panama Canal transit winter 2019 and Princess seems to be our best option. The big box travel agent I usually use doesn’t seem to cater to Princess (offers many more perks and benefits for other lines) is the the TA or does Princess not offer many perks. I saw they had a drink package for a short time in the summer. Will they offer this again? Are we better to book directly with Princess? So many questions - I would appreciate any guidance.

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I’m fairly new to Princess. 2 cruises so far in 2017. We booked our European cruise through the sip & sail promo which so far comes around every year in June. Our upcoming Alaska cruise we booked through a big name online travel name (with one of their franchisees that I found on a site where TAs compete for your business) and we got the all inclusive beverage package, free grats, free dinner in one of the specialty restaurants, and $400 OBC. But we have also booked direct with Princess. I say look around and go with the best deal for you.

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Buy 100 shares of Carnival stock to get tax free OBC every time you sail.

Our TA gives us a discount on each booking plus some OBC

question - how much commission do TA's make, on average?

Use a 7 day , nice balcony at $ 1,000 pp as an example

We have not sailed on princess for at least 10 years but we want to do the partial Panama Canal transit winter 2019 and Princess seems to be our best option. The big box travel agent I usually use doesn’t seem to cater to Princess (offers many more perks and benefits for other lines) is the the TA or does Princess not offer many perks. I saw they had a drink package for a short time in the summer. Will they offer this again? Are we better to book directly with Princess? So many questions - I would appreciate any guidance.

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-Beverage Package has been offered the past two summers, maybe again this summer. The promo may or may not cover your selected cruise. Our February 2019 cruise was offered this past summer, but our January 2018 cruise was not offered.

-Princess has promos going all the time. Their current promo for your itinerary is the Anniversary Sale which for a 10 day cruise is $200 to $400 OBC depending on cabin cat, Specialty Dining & $100/pp refundable deposit. One of the most generous is their 3 for free. Watch for it. It is currently not available for your cruise.

-Princess allows stacking of OBC, so it isn't one or the other.

-If you are active or discharged check out the Princess site for the military benefit, 10 day cruise is $100 OBC per qualified passenger up to 2 passengers per cabin.

-If you own Carnival Corp stock in any account, excludes stock held as part of a mutual fund, you can get additional OBC, 10 day cruise $100/cabin. Check out Carnival Corp shareholder benefit.

-Princess allows you to cancel and re-book if a better promo comes along.\, and with a refundable deposit you don't lose anything. Note: some T.A's charge for changes, ours does not.

-We always use a T.A., shop around. Most T.A.'s provide additional benefits such as OBC, bottle of wine, reduced fare, group benefits, etc.

-T.A's pass along Princess promo perks as their own, but most do offer additional benefits.

You can subscribe on Princess website for their email promos.

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question - how much commission do TA's make, on average?

Use a 7 day , nice balcony at $ 1,000 pp as an example

Somewhere in the 10% range (+ or -) of the commissional base fare, excluding any port charges, dependent on the volume of business the T.A. does with Princess. The commissional fare for a $1,000 fare might be $800/$900. T.A.'s also get points for bookings that they may use to provide customers with on benefits such as wine, specialty dining.

$1,000 is a good fare for a nice balcony. Balconies on popular itineraries usually go for more like $160/pp/day and up.