Princess - Pricing Question

[Juliadlf]

I've read some posts where individuals stated that Princess still allows TA/online agencies to sell cabins for less than what Princess may be selling the cabins for.

 

Is it "price reductions" or is your TA/online agencies providing "perks" for your booking such as reducing their commission thereby reducing your cost for the cabin, providing onboard credits, free insurance, wine, etc.?

 

I've checked several online agenices and I'm not seeing any cost differences but have seen perks.

 

Advice?

[travellady]

The "online only" agency I use definitely offers a price reduction ranging from about 10-12% of Princess advertised prices. I've just used them again for my 3rd Princess cruise and once again, got a great price.

 

Click on the Cruise Agencies link here on CruiseCritic, found towards the upper right middle of CruiseCritic pages, and check pricing from the online agencies listed. I suspect you'll find a price reduction from the Princess quoted prices.

[corkpopr]

if bill's hardware sells a panasonic cordless phone for 50 dollars, the same model at costco is probably 36 dollars. the difference is that bill buys them 10 at a time and costco buys 20,000 per order.

 

The big travel agencies that book 2000-5000 cruises a year buy blocks of cabins and get preferred rates for giving the cruise lines so much business. you also usually get far better service thru a travel agent.

[jenni011573]

I have seen the same thing as just posted asking about this very same question along with a few others. I checked out Expedia and they were $200 cheaper for Cat. AF offered a bottle of wine and $100 shipboard credit. On Cruise.com they were about $300 cheaper. When I asked Princess about this the agent told me that booking with an outside agency is a little cheaper because they get group rates but it is better to book direct with Princess because they have the knowledge of sales and will adjust your pricing if the sailing sells lower than what you paid for. She also said that they will more than likely upgrade their booking guests before another agencies guest. I was told this yesterday by a Princess Rep.

I am trying to decide what to do. Is it that Princess is just trying to get a direct booking by saying they will more than likely update the rates on the bookings and give more of a chance for upgrades?

[travellady]

My online agency adjusts price when Princess pricing goes down, and I was upgraded 2 categories. I believe your Princess rep just wanted to make a sale. I've had nothing but great service from my TA - sorry I can't state who that is due to Cruise Critic disallowing TA recommendations.

[Iamthesea]

Hmmmmm....I have never noticed that link before. Intersting!

 

My agency is not listed, however they do give the best prices and this last cruise, we received a $75 pp shipboard credit. Thank you! CNM ;)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I have seen the same thing as just posted asking about this very same question along with a few others. I checked out Expedia and they were $200 cheaper for Cat. AF offered a bottle of wine and $100 shipboard credit. On Cruise.com they were about $300 cheaper. When I asked Princess about this the agent told me that booking with an outside agency is a little cheaper because they get group rates but it is better to book direct with Princess because they have the knowledge of sales and will adjust your pricing if the sailing sells lower than what you paid for. She also said that they will more than likely upgrade their booking guests before another agencies guest. I was told this yesterday by a Princess Rep.

I am trying to decide what to do. Is it that Princess is just trying to get a direct booking by saying they will more than likely update the rates on the bookings and give more of a chance for upgrades?

 

What the Princess rep told you made me laugh.

The cruiseline reps are usually the least knowledgeable people not the most and for this you get the privledge of paying more.

We booked through a travel agent and our inlaws got upgraded from a mini suite to a full suite.

Find a knowledgeable travel agent and save some money and some headaches.

 

Bill

[DrivesLikeMario]

S.S. Oceanlover is right. Booking directly with Princess is the last thing I'd do. They could care less who you are, will never remember you and most certainly WON'T drop your cruise rate automatically when the price goes down. As usual, the phone rep. didn't know what she was talking about. Even more reason to use a cruise-only TA.

[critterchick]

Our TA (cruises only) is a Princess key account (I can't remember what they call it, something like that) agency, and they often undersell Princess, especially on certain categories of cabins. For example, we're booked on the Diamond Princess repo in 2007. The price schedule on Princess and Travelocity for minisuites is ADs $1029, ACs $1049, ABs $1069 and AAs for $1089. Our TA (and another site we looked at) has the same prices for ADs and AAs, but the ACs are $725 and the ABs are $735. So we went with an AB guarantee and we'll see what we end up with.

I'll pass alone one sage bit of advice that I've seen posted many times before. NEVER book a cabin that you won't be happy with and gamble on an upgrade. Book in a category you like, and if the upgrade fairy visits, you can celebrate your extra good fortune.

I saw something else on the Princess site that made me go "hmmm." I was just farting around on a Sea Princess Norwegian cruise and when I tried to book an AB minisuite, it said that none were available, but I could "guarantee" and if one came up, I could have it. But it doesn't say what will happen if one doesn't come up – AA (highest category on the ship)? Oceanview? I thought that was kind of odd.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks to all who responded. Very helpful.

 

travellady: I did see a couple of agencies-based on your recommendation to check the agencies on cc- whose pricing is very competitive. Totally surprised me how low their quotes were. I quoted the exact same room category, oceanview, cabin number, etc and the pricing differences is amazing. Also, some requested less than others for the deposit.:confused:

 

However, how would I (not familiar with these agencies) be able to check on the reliability of this agency as it appears they are totally internet based? Can't mention the name, can I?

 

Could use some advice on how to check.