Booking With US Sites & US TA's

[The_Big_M]

Thats because at the end of the day it is money - they want your money, and probably the consultant is working on a commission basis!

 

Quite likely. The ship and the agent also have sales targets and every sale helps them meet or beat that goal.

[diecastaussie]

My wife and I are relatively new to CC but we have been cruising for 12 years. The sentiments being expressed on this thread about "discrimination against Australians" and "restriction of trade" couldn't be more true.

Like many others, we learned early that US TAs gave better service and value than local TAs and we have booked many cruises that way until 2 years ago when we were informed by our US based TA that he could no longer book Princess for us because we were Australians. Consequently we booked an NCL cruise with him because NCL didn't have the restrictive booking policy. Last year we got the urge to travel Princess again; couldn't book through our friendly US TA so we booked through a local company that promotes itself as Australia's largest (Cheapest?) on line booking agency. The fare was packaged with a cheap return flight (JetStar) and a night in a hotel in Bangkok. The total was more than double what the US TA had on their website. Apart from the money what really upset us was the misinformation that we were given by the local TA on several occasions before departure. E.g - we had a business commitment during our stopover in Singapore and needed to know where the ship would dock so that we could arrange to be picked up. From previous experience we guessed that it would be the Container Terminal due to the size of the ship (Diamond) but twice we were assured that she would dock at the Singapore Cruise Terminal, once by the TA consultant and once by Princess Australia staff and this was after we had pointed out that the Singapore Port Authority website had the ship scheduled to dock at the Container Terminal. End result, missed meeting, very unhappy prospective client equals lost business. Thank you Princess Australia.

This year decided to cruise with MSC for the first time - couldn't book this cruise overseas either, tried a different local agent who was very efficient, courteous and expensive but unfortunately forgot to tell us about all of the extra charges e.g. water, coffee and movies that MSC have. MSC Australia subsequently tried to explain these extra charges away by saying that when you travel on an Italian ship you must expect to experience things the Italian way!

I agree wholeheartedly that the cruise lines are "ripping us off" in Australia. We are currently looking at another cruise on Diamond in May next year where a Balcony cabin is quoted by Princess Australia at approximately AUD$6900pp and the same cabin category on the Princess US site is quoted at the equivalent of AUD$5580 (US TAs are currently quoting the equivalent of AUD$3400).

I notice that some contributors have suggested that we should contact the current affair programs - I have sent numerous emails to the major channels them but have never had any response, I suspect that the TV channels are reluctant to do any sort of report that might embarrass potential advertisers. I also contacted the Victorian Office of Fair Trade and was referred to the ACCC who indicated that they had received numerous complaints about the restrictive booking policies of the cruise lines but that they were powerless to act because they believed that in each case the restrictive policies had been instigated by Head Offices that were located outside of Australia and therefore the ACCC had no jurisdiction.

I have also contacted DFAT regarding these restrictive policies in relation to the Australia/America Free Trade Agreement. A DFAT staffer has taken the details of my complaint, being particularly interested in the substantial discrepancy between the 2 official Princess websites for the same product. He has promised to come back to me within 7 days regarding a decision as to whether DFAT will further investigate the matter.

Will keep you all informed as this just might be what we need to get the cruise lines to back off their restrictive polices.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Diecastaussie - I presume that cruise in May you are talking about is the Diamond Bangkok to Vancouver or Beijing to Vancouver. We will be on the Beijing to Vancouver part. Would like to talk to you regarding your experiences on several of the other cruise lines (italian etc) email me please eileen js at bigpond dot net dot au. Maybe we can exchange information. We want to visit our friends in England next year and are thinking of doing a med cruise.

[dougo in oz]

This year decided to cruise with MSC for the first time - couldn't book this cruise overseas either, tried a different local agent who was very efficient, courteous and expensive but unfortunately forgot to tell us about all of the extra charges e.g. water, coffee and movies that MSC have. MSC Australia subsequently tried to explain these extra charges away by saying that when you travel on an Italian ship you must expect to experience things the Italian way!

 

I'm sorry you experienced such carppy service from Princess Australia - seems that nothing much has changed there since I last contacted them.

 

But re your MSC experience, funny that you were advised that "you must expect to experience things the Italian way" - we did in 2006 (and never again) but we didn't have to pay for water or movies, so it seems that the Italian way is moving and shifting !! Doesn't surprise me that you got that answer from MSC Australia, they didn't even have the courtesy to respond to my letter following our cruise and I know that there were a lot of unhappy Aussies on board in 2006.

 

Concerning booking with US TAs, have you tried looking for another one who could help?

 

Finally, good on you for taking the rip-off merchants to task and trying to do something about it. Let's hope that some where along the line you succeed.

[cruser]

Hi everyone

 

I am so glad I found this post, we have booked though US on-line travel agents 4 out of 6 cruises even though we live in Oz. I tried to book with ***** for a 2nd time and got an email back saying that certain cruise lines (princess included) would not allow them to take bookings because of a commercial decision. I think it has to do with Oz having their own Princess Line now, its separate to USA Princess and so when you go on line for Princess you get the Ozzie one not the USA one.

The difference in price is significant, $AU1600 per person for a 15-day Princess cruise, when you have to pay for a long haul flight as well that can mean giving up and not going at all.

 

I wouldn't mind paying a bit more to keep the business in Oz but I would like to know where that extra money goes, $AU1,600 is a lot of money.

 

I've never heard of anyone being refused boarding, I don't see how they could if you paid in good faith using your Ozzie address with the US TA and its not actually against the law, just a 'commercial decision'.

 

I'd be interested in more info from anyone who has any ideas about how to get around this, I feel its like a breach of Free Trade.

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[cruser]

My wife and I are relatively new to CC but we have been cruising for 12 years. The sentiments being expressed on this thread about "discrimination against Australians" and "restriction of trade" couldn't be more true.

Like many others, we learned early that US TAs gave better service and value than local TAs and we have booked many cruises that way until 2 years ago when we were informed by our US based TA that he could no longer book Princess for us because we were Australians. Consequently we booked an NCL cruise with him because NCL didn't have the restrictive booking policy. Last year we got the urge to travel Princess again; couldn't book through our friendly US TA so we booked through a local company that promotes itself as Australia's largest (Cheapest?) on line booking agency. The fare was packaged with a cheap return flight (JetStar) and a night in a hotel in Bangkok. The total was more than double what the US TA had on their website. Apart from the money what really upset us was the misinformation that we were given by the local TA on several occasions before departure. E.g - we had a business commitment during our stopover in Singapore and needed to know where the ship would dock so that we could arrange to be picked up. From previous experience we guessed that it would be the Container Terminal due to the size of the ship (Diamond) but twice we were assured that she would dock at the Singapore Cruise Terminal, once by the TA consultant and once by Princess Australia staff and this was after we had pointed out that the Singapore Port Authority website had the ship scheduled to dock at the Container Terminal. End result, missed meeting, very unhappy prospective client equals lost business. Thank you Princess Australia.

This year decided to cruise with MSC for the first time - couldn't book this cruise overseas either, tried a different local agent who was very efficient, courteous and expensive but unfortunately forgot to tell us about all of the extra charges e.g. water, coffee and movies that MSC have. MSC Australia subsequently tried to explain these extra charges away by saying that when you travel on an Italian ship you must expect to experience things the Italian way!

I agree wholeheartedly that the cruise lines are "ripping us off" in Australia. We are currently looking at another cruise on Diamond in May next year where a Balcony cabin is quoted by Princess Australia at approximately AUD$6900pp and the same cabin category on the Princess US site is quoted at the equivalent of AUD$5580 (US TAs are currently quoting the equivalent of AUD$3400).

I notice that some contributors have suggested that we should contact the current affair programs - I have sent numerous emails to the major channels them but have never had any response, I suspect that the TV channels are reluctant to do any sort of report that might embarrass potential advertisers. I also contacted the Victorian Office of Fair Trade and was referred to the ACCC who indicated that they had received numerous complaints about the restrictive booking policies of the cruise lines but that they were powerless to act because they believed that in each case the restrictive policies had been instigated by Head Offices that were located outside of Australia and therefore the ACCC had no jurisdiction.

I have also contacted DFAT regarding these restrictive policies in relation to the Australia/America Free Trade Agreement. A DFAT staffer has taken the details of my complaint, being particularly interested in the substantial discrepancy between the 2 official Princess websites for the same product. He has promised to come back to me within 7 days regarding a decision as to whether DFAT will further investigate the matter.

Will keep you all informed as this just might be what we need to get the cruise lines to back off their restrictive polices.

 

just read your whole message - I rec'd an email from ***** about this, the CEO Alan Fox gives a list of the lines involved:

Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers. The TA has been restricted to only selling to citizens of US and Canada unless they have a residence in US or Canada.

Its not just money either, we went on Dawn Princess which is an Ozzie Princess cruise line ship and found the whole experience nowhere near as professional or enjoyable as the American ships. We did write a letter to the cruise line but all they did was offer a free cruise which we refused because we had said we would never cruise on an Ozzie boat again.

 

I'll watch this board to see what happens next

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[Australian family]

just read your whole message - I rec'd an email from ***** about this, the CEO Alan Fox gives a list of the lines involved:

Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers. The TA has been restricted to only selling to citizens of US and Canada unless they have a residence in US or Canada.

Its not just money either, we went on Dawn Princess which is an Ozzie Princess cruise line ship and found the whole experience nowhere near as professional or enjoyable as the American ships. We did write a letter to the cruise line but all they did was offer a free cruise which we refused because we had said we would never cruise on an Ozzie boat again.

 

I'll watch this board to see what happens next

 

Cheers

 

Joan

 

Gee you should have taken them up on the offer of a free cruise.

[rkmw]

just read your whole message - I rec'd an email from ***** about this, the CEO Alan Fox gives a list of the lines involved:

Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Star Clippers. The TA has been restricted to only selling to citizens of US and Canada unless they have a residence in US or Canada.

Its not just money either, we went on Dawn Princess which is an Ozzie Princess cruise line ship and found the whole experience nowhere near as professional or enjoyable as the American ships. We did write a letter to the cruise line but all they did was offer a free cruise which we refused because we had said we would never cruise on an Ozzie boat again.

 

I'll watch this board to see what happens next

 

Cheers

 

Joan

 

hi Joan, what did you complain about for them to offer a free cruise and what Australian family said you should have taken up the offer

 

also i'd be careful about mentioning TA's on here as its against the rules

 

rkmw

[cruser]

I really didn't want to go on the ship again, we did segments of a world cruise and although the trip itself was great, great ports, I like the ship itself to be a big part of the holiday and this ship just wasn't up to standard. Even if its free if you don't enjoy it its not a good holiday.

 

I notice you have been on Sitmar, I emmigrated to Oz in 1970 on the Castel Feliciti (I think thats the right spelling), had a great time although it was nothing like the modern cruise liners and it only cost $au20

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[cruser]

hi Joan, what did you complain about for them to offer a free cruise and what Australian family said you should have taken up the offer

 

also i'd be careful about mentioning TA's on here as its against the rules

 

rkmw

 

Sorry I didn't realise we weren't allowed to mention TAs at all, I only put the name because it was related to the topic and listed the cruise lines, I wasn't recommending them or anything. I just thought that if I was going to quote the info he gave me I should put his name. Now I know won't do it again.

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[Australian family]

I really didn't want to go on the ship again, we did segments of a world cruise and although the trip itself was great, great ports, I like the ship itself to be a big part of the holiday and this ship just wasn't up to standard. Even if its free if you don't enjoy it its not a good holiday.

 

I notice you have been on Sitmar, I emmigrated to Oz in 1970 on the Castel Feliciti (I think thats the right spelling), had a great time although it was nothing like the modern cruise liners and it only cost $au20

 

Cheers

 

Joan

 

Yes I went on the Fairstar twice, back in the days when you had to pay full brochure fares! I really enjoyed it, but the newer ships are much better. If the Fairstar was still around, I wouldn't consider sailing on it now. When you are young it is different.

 

Princess must still have taken you complaint seriously though to offer you a free cruise.

[cruser]

well it was a 54-day cruise and the first complaint was that we paid our deposit 12months in advance and then when we found that there was no anytime dining we wanted to change our minds and they refused to return our deposit. Then on the cruise we had to report our shower faulty 5 times before it was fixed, the food was not real good, there were only about 3 broadway-type shows and none had any real props or story, I could go on but every time we complained on-board we got the excuse that it was a world cruise and so was different to short cruises. My argument was if that is the case then they should advertise it that way, we would have lost our deposit rather than risked not having the high standard we enjoyed on other cruises.

 

Anyway I wrote it all down in a long letter, they phoned to apologise and offered the free cruise, they did seem a bit shocked when we refused, but like I said it doesn't matter how much money you save if you don't enjoy yourself its not a good holiday.

 

We won't go on an Ozzie ship again but we are going on more cruises, cruising is a great way to have a holiday and we enjoyed the trip from England back to Oz, the port stops were great, just a shame about the ship.

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[newfarmers]

I really didn't want to go on the ship again, we did segments of a world cruise and although the trip itself was great, great ports, I like the ship itself to be a big part of the holiday and this ship just wasn't up to standard. Even if its free if you don't enjoy it its not a good holiday.

 

I notice you have been on Sitmar, I emmigrated to Oz in 1970 on the Castel Feliciti (I think thats the right spelling), had a great time although it was nothing like the modern cruise liners and it only cost $au20

 

Cheers

 

Joan

 

 

Hi Joan

 

My parents and sister were also 10pound tourists who came out here on the Castel Felice in 1957 or 58 (I think).

 

Small world

 

Pete

[cruser]

Hi Joan

 

My parents and sister were also 10pound tourists who came out here on the Castel Felice in 1957 or 58 (I think).

 

Small world

 

Pete

 

I've met a few on past cruises, its surprising how many of us there were who came by boat, I know a lot came by air as well. It was a good trip and I remember they showed all these great docos about how wonderful Oz was. We were all nervous about moving but all hoping that it would be as good as the films. I must admit I've never regretted leaving UK for Oz, I could never go back to live.

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[NSWP]

Small world indeed, I migrated with my family on Sitmar Line - Castel Felice in 1966, Southampton to Sydney, from memory being 18 I shared a 6 berth cabin with 5 other men and the heads (bathroom) was way down the corridor. Plenty of Italian food on that ship!

 

I was born into cruising at an early age having as a boy also 'cruised' on a troopship - Nevasa from Southampton to Hong Kong and back, twice. (My Father was a British Army Officer - thus the family went with the Regiment.)

 

So many of us ex poms have the cruising blood in our veins !

 

Not the end of the story I met my wife on a cruiseship P&O 'Iberia' off Fiji somewhere in 1970 ! Born to cruise, like many of us on here. LOL.

 

SORRY FOR THE THREAD HIJACK

[lizzy77]

Yes Cruser I totally agree with you on your comments about the Dawn Princess.

We were on her for 23 nights as part of the last Cherry Blossom Cruise and the ship was very disappointing. Our cabin flooded, the beds were awful and the air con was not working properly. We had only been on US based cruise ships before and in our opinion The Dawn rated a dismal last.

The shows were terrible and the we didn't bother to go to them after a few nights. The service in the buffet was nowhere near the standards that we have had before. However we made some great friends, went to some fantastic ports and enjoyed our holiday anyway.

What really annoys me is that Princess Australia sell the Sun and the Dawn here as "Premium Cruising" and are trying to stop us from buying our cruises overseas to get a superior product:mad::mad:.

[cruser]

Small world indeed, I migrated with my family on Sitmar Line - Castel Felice in 1966, Southampton to Sydney, from memory being 18 I shared a 6 berth cabin with 5 other men and the heads (bathroom) was way down the corridor. Plenty of Italian food on that ship!

 

I was born into cruising at an early age having as a boy also 'cruised' on a troopship - Nevasa from Southampton to Hong Kong and back, twice. (My Father was a British Army Officer - thus the family went with the Regiment.)

 

So many of us ex poms have the cruising blood in our veins !

 

Not the end of the story I met my wife on a cruiseship P&O 'Iberia' off Fiji somewhere in 1970 ! Born to cruise, like many of us on here. LOL.

 

 

 

SORRY FOR THE THREAD HIJACK

 

Hi Les

 

I remember the shared cabins, I was one of five married couples with no kids, the wives were in a cabin on the port side and the husband were on the starboard side - worse thing was one of the couple had only been married 5 days, they were going to treat the cruise as their honeymoon. We still had a good time, and how can you complain when it was only $20?

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[cruser]

Hi Lizzy

 

we went on the cherry blossom in 2006 on Sapphire Princess, it was wonderful, we disembarked in Beijing and went on a private land tour for a week before heading back to Oz.

 

Well you can probably understand why we weren't interested in a free cruise - I love american princess but I was so disappointed by the Ozzie boat.

 

I think its awful that booking on-line has become so restricted, before Oz Princess took over we actually used the USA Princess site and got a really good price for a transatlantic cruise, so its not just TAs that are the problem. Its not just the exchange rate either, we work the cost out using the currency converter and then by day and the difference is still enormous.

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[diecastaussie]

As I posted earlier, I contacted DFAT re the "closed market" booking policies that were being enforced by US cruise lines.

 

I received this response late yesterday:

 

"The issue of differential cruise holiday pricing in the United States and Australia has attracted attention in the travel press over the past year.

The complaint is that Australian consumers have, via the internet, found cruise holiday packages available on US websites at a price considerably cheaper than the best available price in Australia for the same package.

When you then attempt to buy a cruise package at the cheaper price from the US travel agent, the agent informs you that the cruise company prohibits them from selling the cheaper package to non-US or Canadian residents.

 

While sometimes frustrating for consumers, such practices are commercial decisions made by private entities on how they want to conduct their business. Unfortunately, therefore, it is not something that can be dealt with under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA). The provisions of AUSFTA only cover measures introduced by the Parties (ie: the governments of Australia and the United States) and do not extend to regulating the behaviour of private, commercial enterprises. Such matters should be dealt with by the relevant consumer affairs bodies within Australia and/or the United States.

 

I trust this information is of assistance."

 

So it looks like DFAT is unable to help us:(, I think that the next step is to back to the ACCC with this letter and try to get them to look at the whole situation a little more closely rather than dismissing it out of hand as was their previous response.

 

I will keep you all informed.

 

Garry

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Thanks for that update Garry. Very disappointing. Come on Princess - change your policy. :mad:

[Australian family]

As I posted earlier, I contacted DFAT re the "closed market" booking policies that were being enforced by US cruise lines.

 

I received this response late yesterday:

 

"The issue of differential cruise holiday pricing in the United States and Australia has attracted attention in the travel press over the past year.

The complaint is that Australian consumers have, via the internet, found cruise holiday packages available on US websites at a price considerably cheaper than the best available price in Australia for the same package.

When you then attempt to buy a cruise package at the cheaper price from the US travel agent, the agent informs you that the cruise company prohibits them from selling the cheaper package to non-US or Canadian residents.

 

While sometimes frustrating for consumers, such practices are commercial decisions made by private entities on how they want to conduct their business. Unfortunately, therefore, it is not something that can be dealt with under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA). The provisions of AUSFTA only cover measures introduced by the Parties (ie: the governments of Australia and the United States) and do not extend to regulating the behaviour of private, commercial enterprises. Such matters should be dealt with by the relevant consumer affairs bodies within Australia and/or the United States.

 

I trust this information is of assistance."

 

So it looks like DFAT is unable to help us:(, I think that the next step is to back to the ACCC with this letter and try to get them to look at the whole situation a little more closely rather than dismissing it out of hand as was their previous response.

 

I will keep you all informed.

 

Garry

 

Thanks for the response, they certainly are pretty useless when it comes to this issue. Good luck with the ACCC.

Actually there was a story last night on Today Tonight about Australian consumers purchasing goods overseas at cheaper prices, including the US.

[The_Big_M]

Thanks for the response, they certainly are pretty useless when it comes to this issue.

 

It's not their domain or issue.

 

Equally, if we are purchasing from a shop/merchant outside Australia (just as with any country), you can't make that merchant answerable to Australian laws; hence it's not something a local authority can address.

[cruser]

Hi there

 

thanks very much for following this up with DFAT, do you think that we should concentrate on the high price charged by Oz TAs rather than restrictive practices by cruise lines in USA? As I said before it cost $AU1,200 more for a 15 day cruise and that is after converting the US price to AU $s. Is it just that the US is not giving Oz TAs access to cheap fares or is it that someone is making extra profit? I don't mind paying a bit extra to keep business in Oz but not that much.

 

I also don't really understand the part Princess Australia play in this, I would if it was only Princess who are restricted but its quite a few cruise lines and Carnival who own Princess aren't restricting their cruise sales.

 

If I can help let me know but it looks to me like you're doing a great job

 

Cheers

 

Joan

[Australian family]

It's not their domain or issue.

 

Equally, if we are purchasing from a shop/merchant outside Australia (just as with any country), you can't make that merchant answerable to Australian laws; hence it's not something a local authority can address.

 

Yes, but the Australian merchant also needs to be answerable in over charging Australians. Why should we be restricted as to where we can purchase a cruise?

I got it again the other day from an Australian agent that if we buy from overseas we aren't covered etc etc. But than we are expected to pay lots more than customers in the Northern Hemisphere.

[cruser]

Hi

 

I've never discussed it with an Ozzie TA, just said thats too expensive, what do they tell you you're not covered for? I have never ever been questioned when boarding where or how I bought my ticket. The reservation is on the Princess web site with my nationality and home address so if there was a problem why wouldn't it be addressed when the money is paid? I think its the US TAs who are carrying the risk, if they accept your booking against the advice of the cruise lines they might lose access to those cruise bookings.

 

Cheers

 

Joan