New Policy from Princess

[trbarton]

I just received the following from my T/A. 

 

“Dear valued client,

Princess has recently implemented a new transfer policy which went into effect November 12, 2018.

Bookings that are booked directly with Princess may only be transferred to an agent within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside of final payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.

Princess will make a one-time exception until 12/31/18.”

 

Princess is really cracking down on transferring your booking. 

 

Tom😎

 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by trbarton

[Carolina Cruisr]

Received the same message. Don't care for the new rule but what can you do?

 

[susancruzs]

I received it, too!  I never book with Princess always through my TA so doesn't make any difference.

 

I would imagine it does have an impact on people who cruise more often than I do (once or twice a year), book many cruises.

[victory2020]

NCL has a similar policy. but period to transfer is shorter.

[JF - retired RRT]

Already a couple of threads on this 2 or 3 weeks ago.

I didn't know anything about it and went "YIKES!!". I was past slightly more than the time limit since I usually wait until close to final payment before I transfer my bookings and I have 2 cruises in Dec./Jan. next year. Called the TA, she told me what to do to get them transferred and it worked! Whew.

Then I spotted a cruise that had very good pricing but was past final payment. Booked ASAP with my TA and got the cabin I wanted.

[paul929207]

We always book thru a TA, so doesn't affect us

[Pam in CA]

Several threads on the new policy since it was implemented a month ago. 

 

What is new is the 1x transfer to TA option through the end of the year. I don’t know if that’s for all TAs or just the TA that sent out the email. The TAs were blindsided by the new policy and there were a lot of upset passengers and TAs. Princess was adamant “no exceptions” but apparently, they’ve modified it. 

[beachmets]

3 hours ago, trbarton said:

I just received the following from my T/A. 

 

“Dear valued client,

Princess has recently implemented a new transfer policy which went into effect November 12, 2018.

Bookings that are booked directly with Princess may only be transferred to an agent within 60 days of booking creation so long as (a) the request is made outside of final payment period, and (b) the booking is not paid in full.

Princess will make a one-time exception until 12/31/18.”

 

Princess is really cracking down on transferring your booking. 

 

Tom😎

 

 

What exactly does “transferring your booking” mean.  We always book through princess website or with our cruise planner

[Shmoo here]

1 minute ago, beachmets said:

What exactly does “transferring your booking” mean.  We always book through princess website or with our cruise planner

You can book a cruise either directly with a cruise line (as you do) or through a travel agent.  

 

If you book directly, you can transfer your booking to a TA, if you wish.  Often people will do this to grab the perks a TA will offer for using them to book trips.

 

 

[beachmets]

3 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

You can book a cruise either directly with a cruise line (as you do) or through a travel agent.  

 

If you book directly, you can transfer your booking to a TA, if you wish.  Often people will do this to grab the perks a TA will offer for using them to book trips.

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

You can book a cruise either directly with a cruise line (as you do) or through a travel agent.  

 

If you book directly, you can transfer your booking to a TA, if you wish.  Often people will do this to grab the perks a TA will offer for using them to book trips.

 

 

Oh thanks.  Was not aware of this

[Colo Cruiser]

1 minute ago, beachmets said:

 

Oh thanks.  Was not aware of this

We save 8% to 12% over Princess rates booking with our TA.

[Pam in CA]

3 hours ago, beachmets said:

 

Oh thanks.  Was not aware of this

Like some others, I always book with a TA rather than directly as I prefer to save money, sometimes lots of money, and get extra OBC. So, the new policy doesn’t affect me. But many book directly and then check pricing with several TAs. You can save 10% or more if you find a good, high volume TA over anything offered by booking directly even with a Princess Cruise Planner. 

[Casey12]

I always book with a TA also. She seems to answer emails 24 hours a day. Don't know how she does it.

 

Hopefully everyone who holds and then transfers their cruises will see this.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Casey12

[getting older slowly]

Can I ask a silly question, why would you book direct with princess then transfer to TA, as it has been say that you get extra freebies with a TA ???

 

We book with a TA, and she look after everything...   but that is us..

 

Right back to my G&T

 

cheers Don

[billco]

6 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

Can I ask a silly question, why would you book direct with princess then transfer to TA, as it has been say that you get extra freebies with a TA ???

 

We book with a TA, and she look after everything...   but that is us..

 

Right back to my G&T

 

cheers Don

We used to book cruises with Princess far in advance and then immediately transfer the booking to our TA. As Princess announced sales or price reductions we would refer back to the original Princess booking to see if it was worth asking our TA to rebook. However, our TA prefers that we book directly with her, so we now just do simulated bookings with Princess for record keeping.

[getting older slowly]

Thanks for the answer Billco

 

Cheers Don

[Thrak]

GAH!!! First I have heard of this. The "new and improved" CC has had me less interested in keeping abreast of things here and we were cruising for the past month so haven't really checked things as the Princess Internet access isn't all that great and I had no desire to waste my minutes. We always book directly with Princess and then transfer to our TA shortly before final payment. At that point he gives us a price break. It's been a win/win where I keep full control of the booking, do all the work, and then transfer it. The TA gets a commission for doing almost nothing and kicks a bunch back as cash off the price of the cruise.

 

We currently have 3 cruises booked but it sounds as if it is too late to transfer them to the TA. What is the reason for such a change? I'm not at all pleased that we can no longer move these bookings to our TA. Since we've been out of the country for the past month (cruising with Princess) this comes as a total surprise to me.

[Coral]

22 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 It's been a win/win where I keep full control of the booking, do all the work, and then transfer it. The TA gets a commission for doing almost nothing and kicks a bunch back as cash off the price of the cruise.

 

We currently have 3 cruises booked but it sounds as if it is too late to transfer them to the TA. What is the reason for such a change? I'm not at all pleased that we can no longer move these bookings to our TA. Since we've been out of the country for the past month (cruising with Princess) this comes as a total surprise to me.

Princess doesn't see this as a "win win". Their agents are doing all the work on the booking and then at the last minute, you transfer it to your TA and they get the commission and Princess (who has been answering your questions and adjusting your price doesn't get any commission.

 

It is obvious why Princess is doing this. They are tired of their phone agents doing the work and not getting the commission. All the other lines have already changed this.

 

Princess seems to be making exceptions through the end of the year. I would try to get it transferred.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Coral

[Thrak]

Just now, Coral said:

Princess doesn't see this as a "win win". Their agents are doing all the work on the booking and then at the last minute, you transfer it to your TA and they get the commission and Princess (who has been answering your questions and adjusting your price doesn't get any commission.

 

It is obvious why Princess is doing this. They are tired of their phone agents doing the work and not getting the commission. All the other lines have already changed this.

 

Princess agents aren't doing squat on my bookings. I book directly and don't ask them to do anything. They don't adjust my pricing or answer any questions. I'm not happy because I have 3 cruises booked with Princess and now can't transfer them. If they want to make changes of this sort they shouldn't apply them retroactively.

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Princess agents aren't doing squat on my bookings. I book directly and don't ask them to do anything. They don't adjust my pricing or answer any questions. I'm not happy because I have 3 cruises booked with Princess and now can't transfer them. If they want to make changes of this sort they shouldn't apply them retroactively.

If you read the first post - you will see you can transfer them through the end of the year.

 

If you don't do anything after you book - why not give it to the TA up front? I am curious if you want "control of your booking" but you don't do anything with it except for booking.

 

Many people call Princess several times to switch cabins, switch dining, check on price adjustments, switch promos, etc....

Edited December 14, 2018 by Coral

[Thrak]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

If you read the first post - you will see you can transfer them through the end of the year.

 

If you don't do anything after you book - why not give it to the TA up front? I am curious if you want "control of your booking" but you don't do anything with it except for booking.

 

Many people call Princess several times to switch cabins, switch dining, check on price adjustments, switch promos, etc....

 

I am waaaaaaaaaay past 60 days. I see many posts on another thread where people are being denied a transfer to a TA because they are more than 60 days out from booking.  I have cruises that I booked in May, July, and September. I had no advance warning about this change and am not at all pleased. Heck, I wasn't even in the country when this change was (NOT) announced. I was on a Princess cruise. I can't simply cancel and rebook as I would lose the perks that I booked under and the cost of the cruises has gone up by an insane amount. If Princess wants to make a change of this magnitude they really should have grandfathered existing cruises and put a "start date" for implementing this change.

[Ombud]

My PCC gets me the room I want, can let me know if a slight shift in dates will remove most of the single supplement, and gets me extra onboard credits. In fact I've got over $350 that I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with on the Caribbean in July as I already have free gratuities. Why would I give up all of that go to TA and get the same thing?

Edited December 14, 2018 by Ombud

[Coral]

15 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I am waaaaaaaaaay past 60 days. I see many posts on another thread where people are being denied a transfer to a TA because they are more than 60 days out from booking.  I have cruises that I booked in May, July, and September. I had no advance warning about this change and am not at all pleased. Heck, I wasn't even in the country when this change was (NOT) announced. I was on a Princess cruise. I can't simply cancel and rebook as I would lose the perks that I booked under and the cost of the cruises has gone up by an insane amount. If Princess wants to make a change of this magnitude they really should have grandfathered existing cruises and put a "start date" for implementing this change.

Princess is NOW allowing one time exceptions through December 31st (again, read the first post). 

 

They were denying some initially but you can still transfer it. 

 

Calm down.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Coral

[Thrak]

3 minutes ago, Ombud said:

My PCC gets me the room I want, can let me know if a slight shift in dates will remove most of the single supplement, and gets me extra onboard credits. In fact I've got over $350 that I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with on the Caribbean in July as I already have free gratuities. Why would I give up all of that go to TA and get the same thing?

 

It's the cash discount off of the price of the cruise that I will lose out on due to this change. I checked on just cancelling and booking again but I have 3 cruises booked. The first one I looked at would cost me $200 in OBC and an extra $2,050 in cabin fees. Not an enticing prospect. The other 2 cruises are just as bad so cancelling and booking again is not an option. My TA would have knocked a percentage off of the price of the cruise.

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Ombud said:

My PCC gets me the room I want, can let me know if a slight shift in dates will remove most of the single supplement, and gets me extra onboard credits. In fact I've got over $350 that I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with on the Caribbean in July as I already have free gratuities. Why would I give up all of that go to TA and get the same thing?

They often offer more. Or in my case, they charge me less for the same cruise! Plus - they look out for your best interest. Princess agents looks out for ..... Princess! When everything goes fine, everything is great. When things go South, a good agent is worth their weight in GOLD.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Coral