booked yester, today cruise is £150 cheaper but I'm still stuck with higher price!!!

[The Dragon]

Booked for the Grand leaving Southampton on 29th May yesterday at almost EXACTLY this time yesterday. Just went on to the travel agent's website and they have the cabin NEXT DOOR to ours now on for £150 cheaper. Phoned the agent who said nothing he can do. If I tranferred to the new price I'd lose my deposit (of £280) so it wouldn't benefit me.

 

Agent says that because Princess have dropped their prices, not the agent, there's nothing they can do about it. Agent phoning Princess for me now but says that if I went in to a shop and bought somthing then next day it was on sale it would be my hard luck. I said I'd take it back and buy it at the cheaper price!!!

 

I'm not happy at all!!!!!

 

Hannah

[WeBeGone]

I hear your agnst but unfortunately that's the way it is. It's like buying a plane ticket one day and the next day seeing that it's now a lower price. The airline won't let you turn in your ticket and buy a new one at the lower price. The cruiselines won't let you do that either. Sorry for you but there's nothing to do in this case. :(

[cruisin36]

Your problem appears to be your TA. Princess (at least in the USA) will not charge a cancellation fee prior to final payment, which is usually 75 days prior to cruise.

[Babs02]

unfortunately the rules are different in the UK to the USA where they can get a price reduction if it occurs.

 

It does seem unfair that Princess runs different rules for different countries.:mad:

 

Babs

 

Crown Princess June 2007

Navigator of the Seas February 2008

Emerald Princess August 2008

Grand Princess May 2009

upcoming Pacific Princess July 2010

[WeBeGone]

I assumed the OP was in the UK since he/she refered to the price in Euros. UK passengers get screwed by Princess as they don't get their deposits back.

[The Dragon]

oh no. I was hoping you would all tell me some number I could phone to sort it out!! TA said he'd phone Princess for me but said he offered little or no hope. He still hasn't called me back so he might be trying to get me something, even if it is a little more OBC.

 

It seems Princess price discrimination to european passengers is utterly unbelievable.

 

thanks for the responses, even if I didn't really want to hear that is the case!!

warm thanks

Hannah

[The Dragon]

UPDATE!!!

MY TA is officially wonderful and got Princess to honour the discount and then some so we're £206 better off on the booking. Seriously happy.

 

thanks for the responses, seems I got lucky this time round.

 

Hannah

[newmexicoNita]

Your problem appears to be your TA. Princess (at least in the USA) will not charge a cancellation fee prior to final payment, which is usually 75 days prior to cruise.

 

I was about to say the same thing; maybe things work differenntly in the UK. Unless the new price is a special promo for new bookings only there should be no reason a person can not get the lower price.

 

Nita

[Toto2Kansas]

UPDATE!!!

MY TA is officially wonderful and got Princess to honour the discount and then some so we're £206 better off on the booking. Seriously happy.

 

thanks for the responses, seems I got lucky this time round.

 

Hannah

 

Wonderful (and I must admit "surprising" news). There have been so many complaints lately from those in the UK not being able to get the lowered price, it is refreshing to see that there are times they can get around this rule. Congrats!

[sunsetbeachgal]

Hang onto that TA, and make sure you recommend him/her to your friends!!

[WeBeGone]

Congratulations - I bet he got the lower rate because you were still within the 24 hour period.

[patseacruiser]

Definitely hang on to that TA because what you hear from the UK and Austalian TA's doesn't sit well with how they do their pricing.

[Debathome]

UPDATE!!!

MY TA is officially wonderful and got Princess to honour the discount and then some so we're £206 better off on the booking. Seriously happy.

 

thanks for the responses, seems I got lucky this time round.

 

Hannah

 

We always get the price reduction if it is prior to final payment but I am unfamiliar with U.K. policy, which should be no different but that's not always the case.

So happy to hear that you did indeed get the drop. It seems only fair. Good of your agent to give it a go. Congrats.:)

[ibethenanya]

Just curious...can UK book thru US TA's instead of paying all this non refundable stuff I keep hearing? If so why wouldn't you?

[antsp]

yes , i do every time

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

Just curious...can UK book thru US TA's instead of paying all this non refundable stuff I keep hearing? If so why wouldn't you?

 

Yes, you can although a bit of research beforehand is required as some US TAs state that Princess / HAL etc will not allow it, but others you can book with without any apparent issues. It is all rather strange :eek:

 

I saved well over £1,000 on my next cruise by booking through a US TA and I have the security of knowing that if I need to cancel I can without penalty (assuming I have not gone passed the final payment date). :) In the UK, if we cancel at any time we lose the deposit we have paid which is usually 10% or so of the total cost.

[bananavan]

I hear your agnst but unfortunately that's the way it is. It's like buying a plane ticket one day and the next day seeing that it's now a lower price. The airline won't let you turn in your ticket and buy a new one at the lower price. The cruiselines won't let you do that either. Sorry for you but there's nothing to do in this case. :(

 

 

Actually, if you book an airline ticket and then go to YAPTA dot com you can enter your confirmation number to monitor the price changes. If the price drops, you will get an email telling you what to do in order to get a voucher for the price difference.

I do not know if this works for international travel but it does for travel within the US. My family has been very fortunate using this service over the past two years.

[CanWeGoYet?]

Actually, if you book an airline ticket and then go to YAPTA dot com you can enter your confirmation number to monitor the price changes. If the price drops, you will get an email telling you what to do in order to get a voucher for the price difference.

I do not know if this works for international travel but it does for travel within the US. My family has been very fortunate using this service over the past two years.

 

Please excuse the further hijack...is there a time limit on how long new price drops can be honored? I just learned Alaska will honor price drops that occur within 3 months of booking.

[bananavan]

tink: Each airline is different therefore it is worth checking the Yapta site to find out what applies to your case.

I checked and Alaska does honor any price drop no matter what the price but you must book your flight through them and yes, the 90 day limit is in effect.

[spongerob]

unfortunately the rules are different in the UK to the USA where they can get a price reduction if it occurs.

 

It does seem unfair that Princess runs different rules for different countries.:mad:

 

Is it the cruise line who is to blame, or the consortia that run the travel business in the UK? It's always easy for a TA to blame the cruise line when they don't want to change. You hear the same complaints whether it's Princess, Royal Caribbean, or whomever.

 

Different countries do have different rules. I work in an international business, and how we do things varies even between the US and Canada, and is just that much more complicated for the UK and Europe, or Australia. We play by their rules, we don't make up our own based on the nation. I assume cruise lines do the same (not that they don't take advantage!)

 

Just sayin'...there's always another side to the story.

[friedshrimp]

Booked for the Grand leaving Southampton on 29th May yesterday at almost EXACTLY this time yesterday. Just went on to the travel agent's website and they have the cabin NEXT DOOR to ours now on for £150 cheaper. Phoned the agent who said nothing he can do. If I tranferred to the new price I'd lose my deposit (of £280) so it wouldn't benefit me.

 

Agent says that because Princess have dropped their prices, not the agent, there's nothing they can do about it. Agent phoning Princess for me now but says that if I went in to a shop and bought somthing then next day it was on sale it would be my hard luck. I said I'd take it back and buy it at the cheaper price!!!

 

I'm not happy at all!!!!!

 

Hannah

 

My understanding is that is the way it is in the UK. In the US, they will refund you the difference up until final payment date....at that point it's "too bad". You could always move to the US to solve the delima??

[Babs02]

Is it the cruise line who is to blame, or the consortia that run the travel business in the UK? It's always easy for a TA to blame the cruise line when they don't want to change. You hear the same complaints whether it's Princess, Royal Caribbean, or whomever.

 

Different countries do have different rules. I work in an international business, and how we do things varies even between the US and Canada, and is just that much more complicated for the UK and Europe, or Australia. We play by their rules, we don't make up our own based on the nation. I assume cruise lines do the same (not that they don't take advantage!)

 

Just sayin'...there's always another side to the story.

 

I don't know who sets the rules, but even if you book direct with Princess you still don't get refunds if the price is dropped after booking. So its not the TA

 

Babs