not fair - Aussie cruises are disadvantaged yet again

[mummsie]

We have been looking at the new cruises just out for 2011 - Australians are NOT ABLE TO BOOK THESE. It is just so unfair. Looks like we will be going with another cruise line. The bookings for the cruise we are looking out are going very fast so by the time bookings are open to us the ship will be booked out. We can see what cabins are left but there is no option to book if you live in Australia. Why are we always disadvantaged like this. mummsie

[Colo Cruiser]

Can't book through a US TA?

[mummsie]

Can't book through a US TA?

 

no unfortunately its not easy - they are saying they will refuse boarding if you try and book through an o/s t/a - we normally book direct but we are even unable to see the prices. They are all blacked out for us. Mummsie

[fairstars]

no unfortunately its not easy - they are saying they will refuse boarding if you try and book through an o/s t/a - we normally book direct but we are even unable to see the prices. They are all blacked out for us. Mummsie

 

Mummsie,

They may say that but it is not correct; we have booked several cruises through the US and another through the UK, you can use your FCC with the US TA and get the same benefits as the US citizens. The deposits go directly to Princess and you get your booking number to complete the Princess personalizer. They will not deny boarding, this is a myth. It is not easy to now find a US based TA that will allow Australians to book but apparently there are still some as well as other overseas TAs that you can book with.

 

Happy cruising

Chris

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Same thing here folks in the US get to book weeks if not months before us,

 

however I was told that a number of cabins are locked out, so can not be sold to US folk, so these cabins can go on sale in other markets.

 

yours Shogun

[Luke Warmwater]

So what you are saying is that you can see the cruises online but not the rpices. Can you not ring the cruiseline to enquire about one you are interested in? Is there not an online TA where you can see generally what the prices are? Can you not connect through a proxy server which will give you prices through another source?

[tinker 4]

Try booking through a Canadain TA? You can book either in Canadian or US funds.

[Ando]

There are a few aussie TA's that can book through Princess US for you. Obviously cant give names here but do a AU google search for "cruise holiday specialist" and call the top few organic search results and you will find one that will do it - if at first they say no ask to speak to the manager. I have a "US" booking through them for my Diamond cruise in Dec 10. Have done this several times without a problem.

Good luck

Ando

[rugbypopsie]

We have been looking at the new cruises just out for 2011 - Australians are NOT ABLE TO BOOK THESE. It is just so unfair. Looks like we will be going with another cruise line. The bookings for the cruise we are looking out are going very fast so by the time bookings are open to us the ship will be booked out. We can see what cabins are left but there is no option to book if you live in Australia. Why are we always disadvantaged like this. mummsie

 

It is not illegal, do some research and you will find a way.

[Coral]

I am sure there will be cabins available when the cabins open up for the Aussies.

[cherylandtk]

An excellent summary article of cross-border bookings, particularly as it impacts Australians, was posted on the CC News section yesterday. It does a great job of identifying the rumors, regulations and policies, and the differences between.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3847

[BoPippy]

That is weird.u would think a dollar is a dollar?Aren't there any cruises out of Austrailia.It is a huge country!I wonder if the same would be for us booking a cruise out of Austrailia?

[Kinkacruiser]

You will discover that some cruislines (the major players) have a restrictive policy about booking non-USA residents, other do not. I'm guessing that the recession has forced some to open their doors to us.

[Murrumbeena]

We also have booked through US TA online for cruises leaving from the US and have never had any problems:)

Maureen

[mezza]

What do you mean blacked out - please explain! I have never NOT been able to book princess cruise online from the minute it hit the page. If you mean there is a message there saying something to the effect of "the prices aren't available yet" - just go to a couple of other headings - like itinerary or ship and then back to prices and they will come up!!The system is a bit strange at times and even then I have just rung Princess direct and booked on the phone!

[villauk]

This is the same in the UK. We're awaiting prices for Sun Princess for April 2011. The cruise shows on the Princess website but says prices are not available (have tried mezza's tip from above post, but still doesn't work). Our TA can see the cruise on her site but is unable to obtain cabin details or prices. She rang Princess and was informed the cruise is not open to UK residents, only USA and Australians???? They will not take any bookings from the UK until they have decided if it's open to us or not:confused:!!

[Miss Jolly]

That is weird.u would think a dollar is a dollar?Aren't there any cruises out of Austrailia.It is a huge country!I wonder if the same would be for us booking a cruise out of Austrailia?

IMO the cruises out of Australia are generally inferior to those that leave from the Northern hemisphere - we get the older ships down here although occasionally a newer ship will pop in and Diamond Princess does do the Aus to NZ circuit over summer.

[phillipahain]

Every Country outside of the USA is unable to see the USA prices on Princess.com

 

They have a sophisticated way of checking where your ISP is located and thus direct you to the website in your area

 

However there are USA online TAs where it is possible to get the USA price and even book

 

Princess has always been difficult and protectionist of its USA clients who get incredible deals as opposed to the rest of the world

 

From what I understand the Aussie market pricing and restriction is specially structured with higher prices in order to compensate for the norm in Australia of "no tipping"

[caribill]

From what I understand the Aussie market pricing and restriction is specially structured with higher prices in order to compensate for the norm in Australia of "no tipping"

 

If the prices were less than $100US more for a week cruise, once might believe that. However, the price differences seem to be much higher than that.

[spongerob]

...Princess has always been difficult and protectionist of its USA clients who get incredible deals as opposed to the rest of the world...

We don't always get "great deals" compared to anyone else. I had a friend in the UK compare prices for cruises with her agent versus our on-line pricing and the difference was not always that dramatic.

 

There are a lot of reasons why people in Australia and the UK pay more for cruises. One example that is of recent relevance is the "duty of care" that cruise operators are requried by law to provide when there are travel interruptions. You're paying for that risk in your pricing. And I'll get if both you and Mummsie look hard enough you'll find some regulation that does not allow a company to release pricing beyond 12 months.

 

Everything happens for a reason. Quit crying about supposed slights based on nationality, research your own respective corporate governance laws, then decide for yourself why costs are higher. I'm done with trying to explain it on these boards. I have posted links to direct evidence, and still get told I'm just being jingoistic - comments that come through loud and clear despite the fact that the people making them have their heads stuck in the sand.

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Every Country outside of the USA is unable to see the USA prices on Princess.com

 

They have a sophisticated way of checking where your ISP is located and thus direct you to the website in your area

 

However there are USA online TAs where it is possible to get the USA price and even book

 

Princess has always been difficult and protectionist of its USA clients who get incredible deals as opposed to the rest of the world

 

From what I understand the Aussie market pricing and restriction is specially structured with higher prices in order to compensate for the norm in Australia of "no tipping"

 

That statement gets my hackles up. That is a supposition by some Americans that presume that is the reason why we get charged more. The truth is that the cruise lines CAN charge us more and DO charge us more and CAN get away with it! You Americans must tip an awful lot because the price difference on our next overseas trip is $7000AU each! Do you tip $7000 on a 23 day cruise? If you do you must be exceedingly rich!

 

Read this article and become enlightened!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3847

[boating girl]

I don't understand the supposition that Australians do not tip. Do Australians not tip when it is the norm where they are traveling? We are Americans and are used to tipping but we usually research ahead of time and tip what is average where we are traveling. Don't others do the same?

We do have friends from another country who are not used to tipping. When we travel with them, we end up tipping more to compensate for them not tipping. They just say, " we don't tip". I thought they are the exceptions though. Otherwise, they are lovely, generous people. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

[Nylsor]

Hi There,

 

Same thing here folks in the US get to book weeks if not months before us,

 

however I was told that a number of cabins are locked out, so can not be sold to US folk, so these cabins can go on sale in other markets.

 

yours Shogun

Sorry Shogun this is not true. When we wanted to book our SE Asia cruise for October 2008 it went on sale in the US in June 2007 and in the UK in late August 2007. Because we wanted to book a mini-suite for a special anniversary I e-mailed Princess UK and asked if there would be a selection of cabins available for UK clients. I was assured that there would be cabins 'locked out'. Not so. When this cruise was released to the UK market the only cabins available were a very small selection of inside cabins. We had a fantastic TA who managed to get us a mini-suite by calling in a favour. We were registered with three other UK cruise specialists none of whom could get us anything other than an inside cabin.

Only three other couples flew with us from the UK to Beijing. There were very few UK clients on board - those that were had boarded in Vancouver and had booked with US TAs.

[CFD130]

So why is it Aussies cant book a

princess cruise?

Just curious

[caribill]

So why is it Aussies cant book a

princess cruise?

Just curious

 

Princess.com web site checks for the web address of the inquiring computer. If it is from Australia, it will not allow access.