ams cruiser

A few thoughts...

 

Option A is not likely to give you any level of personal service UNLESS your local store has an agent that takes a personal interest in you. If you are dealing with their national office....yeah' date=' it is all about price and perks, but not personal service.

 

Option B is giving you the better price either by having access to a group booking or by basically giving you a rebate on some of their commission/points. If there is a price drop, they will likely be able to get you some sort of an adjustment. It will certainly be easier to make it happen thru them because they want to make you happy. They want your return business. Are you aware of the referral credit? If you know someone who has cruised Princess, they can "refer" you to Princess--a very easy on line transaction. If you book a cruise within 24 months of the referral, both you and the person who referred you get $25 in OBC. OK, it isn't a huge amount, but it all adds up. And they don't have to be your BFF...just someone you know who has cruised Princess! I THINK this credit is per person, so if there are 4 in your family, that's another $100 in OBC on top of anything else you are getting!

 

Will there be price drops or last minute specials? No one can say for sure as it depends on sales prior to that time. If the ship is filling their balcony cabins, there won't be discounts. Right now, there is a "Sip and Sail" package that includes a "free" All inclusive Beverage Package for the first 2 people in a balcony cabin. Whether this is good on your dates, I don't know. If you don't drink much alcohol (the package includes sodas, specialty coffees, juices, bottled water, etc also), you can usually get some more OBC instead of the package. There are also some "last minute deals" for Alaska this year including balcony cabins. How these prices compare to the "regular" prices you are seeing for next year, I don't know. You'll have to do your own looking.

 

What you can do--book now. If a better deal comes out before the penalty date, you can cancel and rebook the new deal. But I like the concept of working with an individual in a smaller agency. For that reason, I'd pick B.[/quote']

Thanks for the quick reply! Yes, Option A would have me speaking to a different person each time I call. It is only because it is a well-established large big box warehouse company with a travel service, that I, at least, feel secure in knowing that they would be reliable, if not necessarily the least expensive.

 

I much prefer the idea of working with an individual TA who would be looking out for my best interests. Because I found Option B through an internet cruise bidding referral service, I don't know much about them and how responsive they would be.

 

I would love to find a TA from a smaller agency recommended to me by a friend - the kind of TA with a personal touch who would alert me to possible drops in prices or new promotions, but I don't know if Option B is too large to provide the "smaller agency" experience. Their website says they are the "three-time winner as North America's Leading Cruise Travel Agency - World Travel Awards" and that they are "trusted by over one million cruise consumers since 2003". So even though I have the name of a specific agent, who was very personable and helpful, I'm not sure how much of an interest she would have in keeping me happy, given the volume of business do. (I guess one small test would be for me to try to call her back and see how easy she is to reach!)

 

I definitely want to book soon, and take advantage of the "Sip and Sail". Princess told me that in lieu of the beverage package, we would get a $300 (150 per person) OBC. I'm not sure what to do, because, although my DH drinks alcohol, I don't - but that is a question for another thread!

 

I have heard of the Princess referral program, but we did go on our first Princess cruise around 8 years ago.

 

One thing the Option B TA told me was that if there was a price drop and they were able to get me a lower price, we'd have to weigh it against the value of the "Sip and Sail" promo, which I guess we would have to give up.

This will be the first cruise I have ever booked myself, and I'm having a tough time making decisions. (Only my third cruise ever, and the last one was in 2008! ) Cruise Critic was so helpful to me 8 years ago as a complete newbie, so I'm hoping to get some advice.

Here goes:

Option A

Book cruise through well-known wholesale club travel agency.. Cost of cruise is the Princess published price, but with $405 OBC ($355 from the agency, $50 from Princess.) (I’ve read through some cruise blogs that any unspent OBC from this travel agency-not the Princess OBC- could be put on our credit card, although I’m not sure how to verify that.)

or

Option B

Book cruise through recently discovered online TA (have read a few good reviews, and they have a brick and mortar agency in another state). I spoke with a very pleasant travel agent on the phone. She seemed very competent and said she works in the agency office and gave me her personal extension. Their actual discounted price is about $110 less than Option A with the OBC.

My first inclination was to go with Option B, because it is $110 cheaper. But there are two factors that have me leaning towards Option A:

1) They are a well-established business. The travel agency is just one part of their divisions, so I have complete confidence in them. (Option B is probably reliable. It seems to be a regular travel agency that also does a lot of online business.)

2) It seems (and I could be completely wrong about this) that if there were to be a price drop, I could get it more easily through Option A, since the rate is Princess’s regular fare. The person I spoke to at Option A said that if I saw a price drop before final payment, I should just give them a call and they would get the adjustment for me, with no fees for changes. I’m not sure how a price drop would translate into Option B's already discounted fare.

I don’t know what the likelihood is of there being a price drop as this is for a B2 Balcony on a July 2017 Alaska cruise (round trip out of Seattle.) Do summer Alaska cruises ever have price drops before final payment is due?

Neither agency charges a fee for changes or cancellations.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am suffering from a serious case of analysis paralysis, and would like to move forward!