Oh No! Not the Discount Question Again..

[Trailblazer99]

The prices are the same but we get anywhere from 8-12 percent of the base fare returned to us in the form of on board credits.

 

That is a "cash-based value add" that is now not allowed.

[GrandmaHofmann]

What hassle? I always book my cruises on line. If the price goes down, I call Princess and with no difficulty whatsoever, I get the price changed. There are no hassles to it. I book on line. I pay on line. I download my cruise papers. Easy peasy.

[Beopthtuh]

well like everyone says the proof will be jan 2012 when the us passengers try to book princess cruises get the price quoted by princess at a less favourable rate.

will they stay or will they go to another line no one can say.

unlike us brits who stayed for years ,lets hope the usa makes a difference and prices come back down

[Putterdude]

In speaking with my TA a few months ago he said that even if the no-discount policy came to fruition there would likely be nothing that would preclude TAs from booking "groups" and passing the savings back to clients through OBCs, prepaid gratuities and other perks as they do with other lines.

[chamima]

Princess Cruise Lines has announced that effective January 1, 2012,

that they will NO LONGER allow DISCOUNTING of any cruises.

All cruises MUST be sold at the current Princess market price.

All promo codes are included. (including Captain's Circle rates).

Non cash-based value adds will be allowed, but will be limited.

The above message is from cruisecritic.com, this follows a similar new policy from Carnivals P&O brand in the UK which started in April this year and created quite a bit of discussion at the time.

Whilst I can understand UK holidaymakers stoically accepting this policy I wonder whether it will be meakly agreed to by US cruisers? :eek:

 

 

This seems to be Cruise Critic uk

[Pam in CA]

This seems to be Cruise Critic uk

Which means it applies to the UK, not the US, compounding the confusion. :(

[mcrcruiser]

One of the very large on line brokers just sent out a e-mail that after Dec 31 st ,they can not discount Princess cruises:o

[LARGIN]

One of the very large on line brokers just sent out a e-mail that after Dec 31 st ,they can not discount Princess cruises:o

 

I received that email also.. I wonder if it is a marketing ploy.. :confused::confused:

[Rassa]

This is your last chance to book Princess Cruises at a discount. Princess joins all the other major cruise lines in banning discounts. Book your Pricess Cruise during our Holiday Sale for maximum savings on new bookings.

 

Hope you are right Kinkacruiser that it is just a sales push, because I found this on a US site I buy from. Nevertheless, prices for cruises bought from the US are generally cheaper.

Rosie

[keagle]

See this link for more.

[LARGIN]

The more I read the more I think it is a marketing ploy :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Aussie TJE]

See this link for more.

 

Thanks for the link - very interesting!!

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Quite a lot of folk got this e mail , including me,

 

what I find odd is they would know that they should not be selling to none

 

US folks, then again may be they do not care anf just want our money

 

yours Shogun

[hockey grannys go 4]

I received that blurb also. I figured that if that was the case i would boycott Princess for 2012 and if many of us did this i wonder if they would let the ta get back to selling the cruises the way they want. there are many other lines out there vying for your $$$$

[Loonbeam]

My TA says the same thing (smaller local agency).

 

What is banned by the new rules is an agent advertising or quoting a lower rate than Princess at that time as the sale price.

 

So, if Princess is selling cabin X for $1000, the agency must advertise it as $1000. What is still in question is can they say $1000 plus "bonus OBC" in advertising or must they wait till you call them. There is also a question on how group bookings will be handled in that respect, but since they don't do many of those if any for Princess, they may not be aware of those rules.

 

As always, any difference comes out of the Agency's commission (excluding group bookings which is a different revenue model), which depending on the volume and type of relationship is between 7 and 15 percent in general.

 

From what I have heard at Princess there are two drivers. One is to reduce a number of complaints received that Princess is 'ripping people off' because they won't match TA pricing on direct bookings. The other, quite frankly, is to move some bookings to Princess in house, where the margin is higher since they don't have to pay that 7-15 percent. How that will work in terms of servicing is yet to be seen.

 

But just to be clear. There is NOTHING stopping an agency from discounting a cruise on Princess. They will not be able to ADVERTISE the discounted price any longer. Any marketing campaign suggesting so is disingenuous at best.

 

 

 

I asked my parents who own a large national travel agency if Princess was prohibiting any discounting effective January 1, 2012. My parents spoke with their Princess rep today who told them that there has been NO CHANGE in the selling policy, only that agents are prohibited from advertising discounted prices or advertising agent provided amenities. Apparently a number of travel agencies who received their new Princess contracts misinterpreted the section dealing with advertising cruises. According to my parents, travel agents are only prohibited from "advertising" reduced prices or offering discounts or amenities in any print or electronic media. Of course Princess could change this policy at any time.

[MandE-UK]

well like everyone says the proof will be jan 2012 when the us passengers try to book princess cruises get the price quoted by princess at a less favourable rate.

will they stay or will they go to another line no one can say.

unlike us brits who stayed for years ,lets hope the usa makes a difference and prices come back down

Thia makes sense. However, what really remains to be seen is if Princess cuts the discount they give to US TAs from 15% to 5% as they have already done in the UK. I would imagine that it would effectively prevent any TA from passing on either discounts or OBC, as they would need the 5% purely to cover overheads. What it has meant in the UK is that every TA you ring has the same price for a cruise as also do Princess UK. There is just NO competition any longer.

[Loonbeam]

Unfortunately, commission changes are guarded more closely than the queen jewels.

 

That said, I think if there were to be any changes, there would be a time lag between the new advertised pricing model and any commission changes.

 

Thia makes sense. However, what really remains to be seen is if Princess cuts the discount they give to US TAs from 15% to 5% as they have already done in the UK. I would imagine that it would effectively prevent any TA from passing on either discounts or OBC, as they would need the 5% purely to cover overheads. What it has meant in the UK is that every TA you ring has the same price for a cruise as also do Princess UK. There is just NO competition any longer.

[terrierjohn]

What hassle? I always book my cruises on line. If the price goes down, I call Princess and with no difficulty whatsoever, I get the price changed. There are no hassles to it. I book on line. I pay on line. I download my cruise papers. Easy peasy.

Of course I had forgotten that this, US only policy for Princess, applies.

How exactly does this work? I presume you have to request it and the reduction is not automatic for everyone? Also there is no incentive for TA's to advise their customers, since a reduction to you would result in lower commission. Are both points correct?

If so it hardly matters to Nth American cruisers, just as long as they are savvy enough to monitor for price reductions.

[Coral]

One of the very large on line brokers just sent out a e-mail that after Dec 31 st ,they can not discount Princess cruises:o

 

I received that email also.. I wonder if it is a marketing ploy.. :confused::confused:

 

I have several friends who are TAs. I received an email from one of these friends today that they were informed by home office that discounting would not be allowed and that incentives would be allowed (but limited). This friend forwarded the info they had received from their parent company. This was not a marketing ploy as I do not book with this friend (I already had a TA when I met this person) and it was not a mass email. I trust this person entirely.

 

I had spoken to my TA this weekend and she had not received any "real details from Princess" at the time. I didn't want to bother her tonight as I know she is probably busy.

 

I think there is going to be a breaking in period such as what RCCL and Celebrity went through before everything got figured out. It took awhile for these companies to come up with something that worked for both TAs and the cruise line. From what I understood from my various TA friends - Princess really hadn't communicated much to people on how this was going to work (until probably today)....

 

I am sure the TAs have a lot of questions. Hopefully they will fill us in as they receive more information.

 

I do encourage people to book this year if they know they will be cruising.

[Putterdude]

Got the email as well!:rolleyes:

[azdmelani]

I got the email from the large TA as well and their amenities and price were better than any other TA, so I booked.

 

Is it a hoax? Probably not, but I can get a price adjustment if the price goes down. Win win in my book.

[Coral]

delete

[Bowie MeMe]

I checked my Diamond cruise last week and there was no change. Since I have to change this booking because of a change in plans I guess I will have to do so before the end of the year. I wonder if they are doing this days before Christmas thinking people will be too busy to worry with it thus a higher price for those who wait until after the holidays. :confused:

 

I have never gotten a price reduction in the last 6 years because my TA from a large on-line agency always had a price better than the reduced price from the booking and adds OBC, gifts and great service on top. I think I am not liking my better price being taken from me for what reason? I will certainly not get better service from Princess than I get from a TA that is now a friend to all the cruisers in my family.:(

[Pam in CA]

I've emailed Alan Wilson, editor of Cruise News Daily, and asked him to look into this. He said this is the first he's heard of the change and has promised to check with Princess. The answer will be in Cruise News Daily after he gets the answer directly from Princess. If you don't subscribe, I strongly recommend this daily (weekdays) emailed newsletter. Lots of good cruise information. :)

[Cruise Junky]

I received a couple of emails on this..same one a lot seemed to have gotten which looks like a booking ploy to me and another clarifying the policy that Princess has asked them not to "advertise" discounts but they are still free to discount.