why do Brits pay so much more for a Cruise with Princess than U.S. guests.

I was interested to read a post from one of our American friends who said that he had noticed a big difference in fare charging between U.S. and European guests.

 

Could someone help me to check this out?.

Today I obtained a quote online from Princess. I live in the U.K.

 

11 nts New England Quebec to New York. 5th Oct.2018

2 persons in a Premium Suite on Royal Princess. No flights.

 

Quote was £9900 . Not sure current Dollar equivalent.

Could someone out there in the U.S. try for a quote using the same details...let's find out.

I was interested to read a post from one of our American friends who said that he had noticed a big difference in fare charging between U.S. and European guests.

 

Could someone help me to check this out?.

Today I obtained a quote online from Princess. I live in the U.K.

 

11 nts New England Quebec to New York. 5th Oct.2018

2 persons in a Premium Suite on Royal Princess. No flights.

 

Quote was £9900 . Not sure current Dollar equivalent.

Could someone out there in the U.S. try for a quote using the same details...let's find out.

 

Book via the USA:D

I came up with $13938 or 9800GBP

There are several possible questions involved on this thread:

a) Is there REALLY a difference between what a US resident and a UK resident pays?

b) Are they REALLY buying the same thing? Is there something different, such as government required protections which justifies a different pricing?

c) Are there VAT or other built in costs?

d) Even if there are none of the above differences, is there anything wrong with a company's trying to get the best price for the product they are selling based upon different market conditions/customer attitudes in different areas?

Book with a US travel agent. You can also check on line as to what prices are.

 

It is a question frequently posed. I have found after talking to friends and family that you need to be aware of what the price includes.

 

Price may include tips, taxes, perhaps a package for drinks, specialty dining, etc. Also in the UK you have more protection under travel laws.

I haven't found a mad difference in pricing (Brexit pound slide considered)

 

Many US websites including Princess switch you to a UK site due to your IP address when booking.

 

It's easy to get around of course but not for someone who is a mild computer user.

 

 

OP, I checked my favourite cruise UK deal websites....same price as yours.

A lot of cruise lines have different pricing depening on where you book.

 

Take NCL as an example, I have heard several times that they are cheaper then Royal when you compare simlar dates/ports/ships. But every time (during several years) we have been comparing NCL with Royal then Royal has been cheaper on the Swedish sites.

 

MSC offers free water and drink coupons if you book in the US but not if you book in Sweden.

There are some T&C differences that make a NA booking even more attractive. Re-pricing is one. Some jurisdiction in NA do provide the same type of travel protection that the UK does.

 

Our impression is that it is purely charging what the market will bear. It is not just cruises either. We have booked air, a safari, cruises, hotels, and AI's with companies outside of our NA trading area. The most recent was an Australian cruise. Booking in Australia was a little over 30 percent less expensive than booking with our on line TA.

 

It does not always work. Occasionally the vendor will not accepts a NA credit card. We find the more common when using our Visa instead of our Amex card. We have accomodation addresses in the UK and Australia-travel friends. On one web site Thomson, it took us a little while to realize that they used an EU address and postal code as the check. So we used the address of a hotel that we would be staying in. After that, the reservation we wanted was processed without a hitch. The last air we booked was in Argentina. Phoning down to the Aerolineas call center in Buenos Aires saved us about a third on our return flights to the Falls over what google and others were quoting.

 

My DS did a Baltic cruise on Celebrity. Although very unusual, she saved about 15 percent by booking in the UK over the best price that her US on line TA could quote. This was highly unusual.

I think over the last year or so, prices between the UK and USA have evened out a lot. As witnessed by the price comparison at the start of this thread. It just seems TA's in the USA give away more freebies (OBC, Wine, Speciality Dining etc) than what UK TA's give.

The website says 5329 per person (presumably for the cheapest location) plus $245 port fees & taxes = $11,148 but kind of a moot point because it also says Premium suites are sold out.

 

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I think over the last year or so, prices between the UK and USA have evened out a lot. .

 

Agreed, Dave.

And it seems to have been a trend for quite a few years.

 

At one time it was well worth booking thro a North American TA - so worthwhile that a few years back some cruise lines banned US TAs from selling to folk not resident in North America. There were ways round that, but we've given up now because the differences have been minimal, and it's a topic I've not seen on CC for years.

We now tend to book late bargains (one of the joys of retirement) and late bargains seem to be better on our side of the Pond. That also makes returnable deposits irrelevant to us because we book after last-payment date.

 

Things to watch for if booking thro a US TA..........

1. Your money's not safeguarded by ABTA (& I don't think there's an equivalent in the US?) so it's imperative to pay by credit card - not PayPal, bank transfer, debit card etc - because the credit card issuer is liable if the TA goes belly-up or runs off to South America.

2. You commit to a price in USD. If the pound drops before payment it'll cost you more. Conversely if the pound rises........

3. Some costs like port fees aren't necessarily included in US TA prices.

 

Certainly Brits do usually get stiffed by cruise lines compared to North Americans.

But stand by for an Aussie to join this thread to tell us we get off lightly compared to them.;)

 

JB :)

I came up with $13938 or 9800GBP

 

Many thanks Mcdonaldbam.

That answers the question.

It's a lot of dough for 11 days...

Many thanks Mcdonaldbam.

That answers the question.

It's a lot of dough for 11 days...

 

Isn't that for a "Premium Suite"? How about less grand accommodations?

Agreed, Dave.

And it seems to have been a trend for quite a few years.

 

At one time it was well worth booking thro a North American TA - so worthwhile that a few years back some cruise lines banned US TAs from selling to folk not resident in North America. There were ways round that, but we've given up now because the differences have been minimal, and it's a topic I've not seen on CC for years.

We now tend to book late bargains (one of the joys of retirement) and late bargains seem to be better on our side of the Pond. That also makes returnable deposits irrelevant to us because we book after last-payment date.

 

Things to watch for if booking thro a US TA..........

1. Your money's not safeguarded by ABTA (& I don't think there's an equivalent in the US?) so it's imperative to pay by credit card - not PayPal, bank transfer, debit card etc - because the credit card issuer is liable if the TA goes belly-up or runs off to South America.

2. You commit to a price in USD. If the pound drops before payment it'll cost you more. Conversely if the pound rises........

3. Some costs like port fees aren't necessarily included in US TA prices.

 

Certainly Brits do usually get stiffed by cruise lines compared to North Americans.

But stand by for an Aussie to join this thread to tell us we get off lightly compared to them.;)

 

JB :)

 

1. Agree, so no difference if you pay by credit card.

2. If you book in US with refundable deposits, you usually have right up to FP date to decide which is better rate/deal and still not lose your deposit, so you can cancel and then book in U.K. instead.

3. Price up total package before you book either side of the pond, include added perks e.g. drink packages, OBC from both cruise lines and TA etc. so you are comparing apples to apples.

 

It’s swings and roundabouts, but we have always found there is far more flexibility with US bookings than the U.K. If you book in the U.K., basically you are tied with most cruise lines as you will lose your deposit should you wish to cancel - even changes to the booking can incur charges over here where they do not in the US.

 

Booking after final payment is the way to go if you are not fussy about cabin type, restricted to certain dates (which usually means retired ;)) - most of us still working or with kids of school age need to have set vacation dates and so all flexibility goes out the window :D.

Difficult question really. DD saved nearly £400 booking through an American ta, but we are better off booking our next cruise with a Uk ta.

 

Go figure

IF you book in certain Provinces in Canada you will have very similar protections that the ABTA provides. At the same list price as any other TA in North America, adjusted for currency.

 

The cost factor of the ABTA protection is insignificant. It is not the reason for the fare discrepancy. Not only do UK cruisers often pay more, their T's and C's are not nearly as good when it comes to cancelling outside the final payment window, deposits, or re-faring if the prices drop.

I don't really know how much the prices differ around the world but I have many times seen the comment "never pay brochure rate". If I shall book from a TA in Sweden I have to pay brochure rate and I don't get any OBC, wine etc.

Makes us smile. On our first visit to Thailand five years ago a tour agent there told us never to pay the adult fare for any tour (they typically advertise two fares-adult and children for day tours etc). She advised us to always insist on paying no more than the posted child's price and sometimes even less. Over time we found this advice to be spot on.

https://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/blog/what-does-abta-and-atol-mean

Agreed, Dave.

And it seems to have been a trend for quite a few years.

 

At one time it was well worth booking thro a North American TA - so worthwhile that a few years back some cruise lines banned US TAs from selling to folk not resident in North America. There were ways round that, but we've given up now because the differences have been minimal, and it's a topic I've not seen on CC for years.

We now tend to book late bargains (one of the joys of retirement) and late bargains seem to be better on our side of the Pond. That also makes returnable deposits irrelevant to us because we book after last-payment date.

 

Things to watch for if booking thro a US TA..........

1. Your money's not safeguarded by ABTA (& I don't think there's an equivalent in the US?) so it's imperative to pay by credit card - not PayPal, bank transfer, debit card etc - because the credit card issuer is liable if the TA goes belly-up or runs off to South America.

2. You commit to a price in USD. If the pound drops before payment it'll cost you more. Conversely if the pound rises........

 

If you are concerned about fluctuations in currency rates, it's easy to hedge the risk via currency futures.

 

3. Some costs like port fees aren't necessarily included in US TA prices.

 

I have never seen a US TA market cruises any differently than the cruise-lines themselves - TAs and lines (at least on their US websites) always advertise the fares without fees and taxes (occasionally with the fees and taxes shown in fine print) and then include them in the final total cost shown right before you actually book the cruise.

 

Certainly Brits do usually get stiffed by cruise lines compared to North Americans.

But stand by for an Aussie to join this thread to tell us we get off lightly compared to them.;)

 

JB :)

Happy Cruising

Happy Cruising

The point about USA TA/cruiseline prices is, in the UK we see a cruise advertised at say £1000. When I get to the payment page it still costs £1000, because in the UK, the price as got to include all taxes and fees. Whereas in the USA the cruise I see advertised at $800 then all of a sudden becomes $1000 when I get to the payment stage.

 

This is what JB was alluding too.

 

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Book via the USA:D

It's only a small yacht.. how did you know?

Isn't that for a "Premium Suite"? How about less grand accommodations?

What do you mean, downgrade to a penthouse suite... no way.

The point about USA TA/cruiseline prices is, in the UK we see a cruise advertised at say £1000. When I get to the payment page it still costs £1000, because in the UK, the price as got to include all taxes and fees. Whereas in the USA the cruise I see advertised at $800 then all of a sudden becomes $1000 when I get to the payment stage.

 

This is what JB was alluding too.

 

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Same, same for Aussie TA prices. The total fare is what is needed to be compared, for US TAs, add everything in (taxes fees, currency conversion, etc) and then do the price comparison.

That is how we compare any cruises. And if there are supposed freebies we back out the value, not the price, of those freebee to us. We try to arrive at a net net price of the cruise, including service fee.

 

We do not care about a small delta. But there have been a few times where we were quite surprised at the savings we have experienced by shopping/buying some travel products off shore or in our destination country.

Edited April 19, 2018 by iancal