Online price when calling Princess is higher

[coaster]

Seems to be a higher price when calling Princess. Website price does not seem to be available when calling. Tried to upgrade to a balcony for our Sapphire cruise and the price difference was more than the website.  Only way to pay to upgrade is by calling. They claimed it was for new bookings only and we would have to cancel and rebook.

 

Also, called the other day to book another cruise and they said we can't match the website price, just book it online. Only called to book that cruise as I needed clarification on a couple of things. Is this the norm with Princess?

Edited February 9 by coaster

[57eric]

This is why I use a TA.

[coaster]

1 hour ago, 57eric said:

This is why I use a TA.

I get the TA thing. Princess could save so much on TA commissions if they made it easier to deal direct with them. 

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, coaster said:

Seems to be a higher price when calling Princess. Website price does not seem to be available when calling. Tried to upgrade to a balcony for our Sapphire cruise and the price difference was more than the website.  Only way to pay to upgrade is by calling. They claimed it was for new bookings only and we would have to cancel and rebook.

 

Also, called the other day to book another cruise and they said we can't match the website price, just book it online. Only called to book that cruise as I needed clarification on a couple of things. Is this the norm with Princess?

Did the fare go down on a cruise you already have booked?  If yes, cancel and rebook at the lower fare. Then it will be a new booking. 

 

Book on the website, rather than call.  

[coaster]

31 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did the fare go down on a cruise you already have booked?  If yes, cancel and rebook at the lower fare. Then it will be a new booking. 

 

Book on the website, rather than call.  

Price went even higher the other day online going to a balcony. Cancel and rebook is the response from the Princess call center. Ended up canceling and booking with a TA who was able to get me the current online price for a balcony. Princess just seems to steer you to a TA as booking direct will just cost you more than website pricing if you decide to upgrade an existing reservation. Strange as Princess just loses money in commission fees when you book with a TA.

 

Edited February 9 by coaster

[djlinux]

2 hours ago, coaster said:

Seems to be a higher price when calling Princess. Website price does not seem to be available when calling. Tried to upgrade to a balcony for our Sapphire cruise and the price difference was more than the website.  Only way to pay to upgrade is by calling. They claimed it was for new bookings only and we would have to cancel and rebook.

 

Same thing happened to me  but I have managed to re-price a cruise a few times the past several months. My only advice is don't take no for an answer. They always tell me it is only for new bookings and I should cancel and rebook. I had a good priced flight through EZ Air so I didn't want to do that and lose my good price on flights. One time after a lengthy discussion and complaints on my part they finally said they would investigate if they could match the website price only to come back to say they can't but could do even better and then quoted a price $1000 higher than my current price while the website was $400 cheaper than my current price. Not sure how they thought that was better. After much more discussion they finally figure out how to give me the website price but it took almost 2 hours of my time (mostly on hold while they seek answers, take a break, have lunch, who knows).

 

Based on my experience begging and pleading and not taking no for an answer will eventually get you what you want but it is really frustrating. It does depend on who you get though. I have had a couple experienced agents that are really helpful but most of them don't seem at all interested in customer service and would rather you just go away.

 

 

[Ombud]

CVPs can refare while changing rooms. I went from a cove balcony to a regular balcony for $100 and kept my same booking number. If I had booked myself online and canceled original booking it would've been a higher price

6 hours ago, djlinux said:

... I had a good priced flight through EZ Air so I didn't want to do that and lose my good price on flights....

Keeping flights while changing booking # is called a "lift and shift" which all CVPs (and TAs maybe?) can do

[djlinux]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

Keeping flights while changing booking # is called a "lift and shift" which all CVPs (and TAs maybe?) can do

 

When they did it for me they just re-fared it, they didn't change the booking #.

 

I was hoping for more efficient service through a CVP but was out of luck there too. My CVP left Princess during COVID. I got a new one and tried to contact them and my e-mail bounced so it seems they left too? I requested a new CVP through the website twice but didn't hear anything either time. Maybe I'll have to try a TA but I generally prefer to research and book on my own. I'd prefer it if Princess would provide half decent customer service.

[MacMadame]

On 2/9/2024 at 3:15 AM, Ombud said:

CVPs can refare while changing rooms. I went from a cove balcony to a regular balcony for $100 and kept my same booking number. If I had booked myself online and canceled original booking it would've been a higher price

Keeping flights while changing booking # is called a "lift and shift" which all CVPs (and TAs maybe?) can do

I've had a good experience calling the CVP line to get refared *and* a cabin upgrade (better location) for less than the original booking.

 

On 2/9/2024 at 6:43 AM, djlinux said:

I was hoping for more efficient service through a CVP but was out of luck there too. My CVP left Princess during COVID. I got a new one and tried to contact them and my e-mail bounced so it seems they left too? I requested a new CVP through the website twice but didn't hear anything either time. Maybe I'll have to try a TA but I generally prefer to research and book on my own. I'd prefer it if Princess would provide half decent customer service.

Yeah, I never got a response via email or filling out the form asking for a CVP. I finally bit the bullet and called the CVP line and it worked great.

[nycruiser80]

On 2/8/2024 at 11:06 PM, coaster said:

Price went even higher the other day online going to a balcony. Cancel and rebook is the response from the Princess call center. Ended up canceling and booking with a TA who was able to get me the current online price for a balcony. Princess just seems to steer you to a TA as booking direct will just cost you more than website pricing if you decide to upgrade an existing reservation. Strange as Princess just loses money in commission fees when you book with a TA.

 

 

If you think of it another way, the commission they pay travel agents is then reallocated in the case of a direct phone booking, to the Princess agent. The Princess agent gets paid a salary plus they get paid a small commission albeit smaller than a TA for making your booking. Also, the Princess agent may be getting healthcare benefits as well. In the end, someone is getting paid to book your cruise. I’m assuming internet bookings are a bit different as the overhead for internet bookings is different though I’m sure Princess outsources the internet booking capabilities to another company. Then in that case some of the commission that would be paid to a TA goes to that source.

[roomba920]

Not only are the fares different, but so are the deposit amounts.

Princess is currently advertising a cruise in 2025 in the Mediterranean with $100 deposit, yet a mock booking requests an $800 deposit for 2.

When I called to inquire why this was so, I was told multiple times that the $100 deposit is only if you don't get the cabin location upgrade (even tough there's no such disclaimer stating that online). I tried another mock booking where I chose to have Princess choose my cabin location, and it still requested an $800 deposit, so there goes that answer out the window.

[Rick&Jeannie]

So many of the call center reps just simply don't know so they latch onto an "explanation" that they hope will make you go away.

[Coral]

On 2/8/2024 at 9:30 PM, coaster said:

I get the TA thing. Princess could save so much on TA commissions if they made it easier to deal direct with them. 

It probably costs them more to have their staff book it as opposed to a travel agent. They have to provide training, benefits and a salary to the individuals answering the phone. From the comments on this board - those who book direct seem to call more often than those who go through travel agents as they want "control of their booking".