Benefit from booking onboard vs TA

[C-Board]

Will be cruising with Princess this Sept and am planning a cruise for 6 in the fall of 09 and am wondering if there are benefits to booking on board on this yrs cruise vs through a TA. Some of the posts indicate that if a lower price is advertised down the road Princess will adj. your booked price accordingly. Is this right? A lotta decisions, especially when doing the planning for 6 other people. Any help from seasoned cruisers will be most welcome.

[mii]

Sure you could reserve the cruise while on board and get any shipboard credit. Then once you get home do some shopping for a TA whose prices might be a little cheaper and also get shipboard credit on top of what Princess gave. If you find a TA with a cheaper price give them the booking number you got from princess and they will transfer the cruise over to them. Good luck.

 

Marilyn

[paul929207]

Assuming you purchase a Future Cruise Credit while on board, there is not a big difference. You can transfer the booking to any TA who has a better price. By booking early, you get a better chice of cabins.

[BLS]

Booking onboard give you a lower deposit amount ($100pp), plus ship board credit and you can tranfer the boooking to the agent of your choice (ofter at a lower price)

To us it's a win, win situation!

[vagabonder1]

having cruised for the very first time this January, and not sure what to expect (honestly wasn't sure if cruising was our 'thing') we quickly reserved our next cruise while on board. We are SO hooked it great! We just went to the little reservation room, gave them our credit card (we only paid $100 for both DH and I) and had to reserve a cruise within the next 3 years... and the $100 would be credited towards that cruise.

I book everything we do through Continental to double dip with airline miles.... and last week I called them up, gave them our princess number, they saw we already had the $100 credit and reserved us on the New Years Cruise aboard the Ruby without having to pay any more... so we get the low depost, the ship board credit, and extra airline miles through out TA. It worked out very nicely (I honestly didn't think it was going to)!

 

Jamie

[Pam in CA]

Booking onboard has its advantages. When you book onboard, you pay only the $100/pp deposit. You then have a choice of either making the booking a Princess booking or have it assigned directly with the TA who booked your current cruise. If you make it a Princess booking, you can do your research and get quotes from any TA and once you make your decision as to which TA you want to use, just give them the booking #. If you book onboard and say it's OK to use your current TA, when you get home, have that TA give you their price. You are not locked into the Princess price or quote given to you by the Cruise Consultant onboard. The bottom line is that you can almost always do better pricewise by getting quotes but you're booked into the cabin you want by booking onboard and you've paid only $100/pp. It's the best of both worlds.

 

Likewise buying Future Cruise Credits which allow you to pay $100/pp deposit on any future cruise for up to four years. You don't have to specify a cruise when you pay for the FCC but when you find a cruise you want to take and find the best price with a TA, all you have to do is to tell them you have a FCC and they'll use that to book your cruise.

 

I always have two FCCs on hand for booking future cruises as I've found that they give me the flexibility to book a cruise when I first hear about it rather than wait until I have the money for a deposit, which is now 30% of the total price.

[Colo Cruiser]

IMO, other then buying some FCC's onboard, booking onboard has no other advantage unless I know exactly what cruise/cabin I want. I would rather come home and search/book myself at my leisure. :)

[Pam in CA]

IMO, other then buying some FCC's onboard, booking onboard has no other advantage unless I know exactly what cruise/cabin I want. I would rather come home and search/book myself at my leisure. :)

That works sometimes but not always. We booked a cruise while onboard the Sapphire Princess this past April/May for a cruise in late 2009 and there were only 4 oceanview cabins left. I booked and when my sister and BIL booked the same cruise the next day, there was only 1 left. We have since changed our minds and booked another cruise but if we'd wanted to go on that cruise, waiting until we got home would have put us on a wait list. Not the worst thing in the world but not something I like.

[Colo Cruiser]

That works sometimes but not always. We booked a cruise while onboard the Sapphire Princess this past April/May for a cruise in late 2009 and there were only 4 oceanview cabins left. I booked and when my sister and BIL booked the same cruise the next day, there was only 1 left. We have since changed our minds and booked another cruise but if we'd wanted to go on that cruise, waiting until we got home would have put us on a wait list. Not the worst thing in the world but not something I like.

 

 

I agree if you know the exact cruise and cabin cat you want why not do it onboard.

I never have booked onboard or been in that much of a rush so I don't worry about it, but I am more flexible with my dates. :)

 

To me that is the only advantage.

[Pam in CA]

I agree if you know the exact cruise and cabin cat you want why not do it onboard.

I never have booked onboard or been in that much of a rush so I don't worry about it, but I am more flexible with my dates. :)

 

To me that is the only advantage.

True. In my case, I tend to take longer cruises that are done only 1x or 2x a year so either you book that cruise or wait for the next year. :)

[skf]

If you watch the Princess web prices, you can get a price reduction for the asking if the price goes down. You do have to call & ask.

Steve

[C-Board]

Thks so much for all the good info. Its great to have such a good resource to go to for honest info. Happy cruising to you all.