New Policy from Princess

[Colo Cruiser]

35 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 try you may get them transferred by the end of the month.

They are making a bunch of exceptions right now.

Or at least they were over the last couple of weeks.

[JF - retired RRT]

14 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

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.

Call your TA ASAP and ask him/her to help get you transferred.

Some called Princess direct and received an immediate "yes". However, if you want the TA savings, you need to start there.

My TA filled out a "Take Over" form and sent it to Princess, then instructed me to call Princess. I got a "no" and a couple of days later I received an email with a "yes".

Go for it!!

[Sea Day Cruiser]

 My TA was not successful in getting my two cruises transferred when she first tried. She told me to call Princess and Princess turned me down. I asked to speak with a supervisor in customer relations. That person asked who I wanted to transfer the bookings to. Then she told me she would make an exception because it was a travel agent I had booked through before. She emailed me the transforms which I had to fill out and sign before the transfer could be completed. I emailed them back that night and the bookings were transferred by noon the next day.  

[killineybay]

So to clarify this, I need to transfer my booking within 60 days to my TA.  It might be easier to book with them in the first place.  I usually leave my booking with Princess for a few months before final payment.  I do all the work anyway.  I know which cabin I want and have recently been booking on line.  So now I will be sure to transfer the booking to my big box store to get the onboard credit.

[dickinson]

Thrak - Have you taken everyone's advise that you CAN transfer your bookings to your TA before Dec 31?  They are doing this as a one time exception.  Obviously they got a lot of complaints (including me).  Earlier in this thread I said how I got mine transferred but now you should have no problem getting the 1x exception.

[SLO Dancers]

This really gets me upset. We often book directly with Princess and then transfer to a TA to save money. I feel they should have given some warning about this policy. This will cost me $$$.

We are Elite and have a lot of days with  Princess, but they have changed and become more mercenary and are cheapening the brand. We probably will be switching to other cruise lines with smaller ships.

[dog]

On 12/12/2018 at 2:31 AM, 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

I only book directly with Princess when I cannot get in touch with my regular TA and want a certain cabin. The transfer form has to be emailed to me to fill in and faxed back to Princess. I just don't see the need for that when I call Princess and tell them who I want my online booking transferred to. No one helped me with my booking. My TA offered a small discount.

[cherylandtk]

13 hours ago, Coral said:

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

I get that this is likely the reason for the change.  I know passengers can change dining without going through their Princess OR their TA, too.  So I got to thinking, and if a TA makes cabin or booking promo changes, don’t they still have to call Princess to accomplish it, which still uses up a Princess employee time? Or can everything be done direct in Polar? Just wondering.  

[Coral]

26 minutes ago, cherylandtk said:

I get that this is likely the reason for the change.  I know passengers can change dining without going through their Princess OR their TA, too.  So I got to thinking, and if a TA makes cabin or booking promo changes, don’t they still have to call Princess to accomplish it, which still uses up a Princess employee time? Or can everything be done direct in Polar? Just wondering.  

Most things can go through POLAR (re-faring, changing cabins, changing promos). It is just when things don't cooperate with POLAR or unusual circumstances (asking for reduction after final payment) that they call. I had made final payment a week before my cruise and had a price reduction the day of final payment and she called for that. Or to ticket an EZ Air - I think there is a form but she called for that as I wanted it ticketed early.

 

Even though people can make their own dining changes - I know my TA got a million calls recently when Princess changed this. I think we use the same TA.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Coral

[casavaha]

Princess is now allowing transfers up to Dec. 31, regardless of when you book. But after that it is 60 days from

when you book. 

I always book with Princess's vacation planning dept.  They know all the promotions and ins and outs of booking.

But I always transfer to American Express where I can get airline miles and 5 x points.  We do two T/A's a year

and not having to pay for airfare is really great.

 

Greg

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

I've never had much luck with OBC or any other savings when booking Princess through a TA. So, we book Princess directly.

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, SLO Dancers said:

This really gets me upset. We often book directly with Princess and then transfer to a TA to save money. I feel they should have given some warning about this policy. This will cost me $$$.

We are Elite and have a lot of days with  Princess, but they have changed and become more mercenary and are cheapening the brand. We probably will be switching to other cruise lines with smaller ships.

Why does it cost you $$$?  Just transfer your current directbookings to a TA by the end of the year and transfer your new bookings within 60 days.  Since I also cruise on Celebrity, I am used to the 60 days.  You get used to it and it is not a big deal from our experience.

[jagoffee]

58 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I've never had much luck with OBC or any other savings when booking Princess through a TA. So, we book Princess directly.

As we cannot discuss individual TAs on this forum, I suggest you discuss TAs with other passengers on your next cruise.  You will be able to find some TAs that will improve your luck. You can still get your best deal directly and then transfer to a TA for more savings within 60 days.

good luck.

 

Or just continue to stay with Princess directly, but consider it a choice to pay more more and not luck.  Nothing wrong with that choice and it is great for Princess’s profit margin.

Edited December 14, 2018 by jagoffee

[Ombud]

So CCL is bringing this line into same policies as other lines by giving 60 days leeway (with a 30 day grace period) + non-Princess TA's can also update pricing thru Polaris? I'm lost trying to figure out the issue. Is it just the shock of a new business policy?

 

FWIW: I'm a solo passenger paying less with Princess ... hate solo supplement  THAT'S unfair

Edited December 14, 2018 by Ombud

[yerdua]

5 hours ago, dickinson said:

Thrak - Have you taken everyone's advise that you CAN transfer your bookings to your TA before Dec 31?  They are doing this as a one time exception.  Obviously they got a lot of complaints (including me).  Earlier in this thread I said how I got mine transferred but now you should have no problem getting the 1x exception.

I requested a transfer 2 days ago using princess' transfer form, explaining my position and requesting a one time exception. Got an email today - no transfer allowed. They say i don't fit into their exception rules, whatever that may be. I will try to escalate this on Monday to a supervisor. Can anyone provide a direct number to the  reservation support dept?

[cherylandtk]

Yerdua, I don’t have a better number, but think the denial may be because the exceptions are allowed for TA’s which have been used previously by each customer.  You could have your desired TA go to bat for you and pull your booking in, assuming s/he fits that criteria.

 

Coral- Thanks for the explanation and yes, I’ll bet we do.

[dickinson]

3 hours ago, yerdua said:

I requested a transfer 2 days ago using princess' transfer form, explaining my position and requesting a one time exception. Got an email today - no transfer allowed. They say i don't fit into their exception rules, whatever that may be. I will try to escalate this on Monday to a supervisor. Can anyone provide a direct number to the  reservation support dept?

No direct number. Explain situation to the rep who answers and say you want to speak with a manager if necessary. 

[frugaltravel]

Already being discussed - 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2608792-princess-booking-transfer-policy/

[davekathy]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:25 AM, 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😎

 

 

Sounds reasonable to me. Celebrity and RC have the same policy. 

[Thrak]

On 12/14/2018 at 6:22 AM, dickinson said:

Thrak - Have you taken everyone's advise that you CAN transfer your bookings to your TA before Dec 31?  They are doing this as a one time exception.  Obviously they got a lot of complaints (including me).  Earlier in this thread I said how I got mine transferred but now you should have no problem getting the 1x exception.

 

Not yet as I have been in bed grossly ill with some bizarre disease or something. I'm actually out of bed for a few hours now so will try to get this done tomorrow. I haven't been able to do anything at all for a couple of days. I do see the doctor tomorrow -  of course now that I seem to be improving somewhat. I actually ate a bagel today but I don't know if it's going to stay put. Bleh. I hate being sick.

 

My normal TA takes a percentage off the cost of the cruise but with the time crunch I'm actually considering just moving all three cruises to the big box as they probably have good experience with this new situation. My regular TA was totally blindsided by the change. We'll just have to do things differently in the future. It's good that Princess has backed off some on the sudden policy change.

 

It sounds as if I might not actually have any luck transferring to the "big box" as I haven't used them in the past. I'll contact Princess tomorrow for the forms as I really need to jump on this.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Thrak

[dickinson]

Thrak - hope you are feeling better soon.  I would start with your regular TA.  You have written about that person before and sounds like they are usually on top of things.  My TA didn't know anything about it at first either but now does.  My guess is your TA now knows too.

[FritzG]

Thanks for this info.  We booked a cruise while on our fall TA on the Royal, and we haven’t transferred it to our travel agent yet.  I’d better get that done today.

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, dickinson said:

Thrak - hope you are feeling better soon.  I would start with your regular TA.  You have written about that person before and sounds like they are usually on top of things.  My TA didn't know anything about it at first either but now does.  My guess is your TA now knows too.

 

I sent him my three bookings and asked about them but it was just last night and I haven't heard back yet. I also sent a note to customerrelations@princess.com last night and got a phone call from them this morning. They sent me the form and told me there were no restrictions on agencies as long as it was an agency that was registered with Princess. That would definitely include pretty much any reputable agency. I'll wait for my regular TA to get back to me but it's hard to know how things sit with local people these days after the devastating fires. He may well have lost property, friends, or family and not really be on top of his game as far as business goes. I've filled out the forms for my 3 booked cruises with his name and agency. If I don't get a response I can change that part and go from there.

[Thrak]

I sent in my transfers via email almost a week ago and had no results. I called yesterday and nobody could figure it out. I called again today and used the number I call to verify if my shareholder OBC has been received. I knew it likely wouldn't be the correct number (and I was right) but the person there transferred me to revenue support. They looked for my email and were having issues so I just emailed it again while on the phone and he applied the transfers immediately. The transfers will be worth a fair amount of money to me. Not as much as some here get but I will definitely save something like $1,200 in discounted fares. In the future I will, of course, transfer within the 60 day limit.

 

Many thanks to those here who told me to pull my head out and get this done. 😄

[Coral]

14 minutes ago, Thrak said:

In the future I will, of course, transfer within the 60 day limit.

 

 

Why not just have your Ta book your cruises? If they are that good - they should be able to book a cruise from the beginning!

Edited December 27, 2018 by Coral