TA Commission

[C at Sea]

Just spoke to the Cruise Club that we have used in the past as opposed to a High Street TA.

They said it would be very unlikely that any TAs would try to cheat and offer any other incentives for a 2012/13 cruise on P&O, Princess or Cunard. They were intending to offer M&S vouchers but P&O told them they couldnt and any TA trying to cheat would face financial penalties!

So wherever, or with whoever, you book it will be the same price. Only advantage to booking with our cruise club is that because we are loyal customers they wave any credit card fees and if we book before end of April we get double Co-op points with our co-op membership!

I suppose late discounts will still apply but because we are travelling with friends who are limited to school hols and we also want a specific cruise and cabins, we will book early.

They said its all because P&O have said they are fed up with having to deal with passenger complaints onboard when they have found passengers have paid less than themselves!

Personally I think all thats just sour grapes! I think if someones paid less - good for them! Anyway they'l still have paid less if its a last minute booking and heavily discounted! As the teenagers say "suck it up!"

[u2cruiser]

Just spoke to the Cruise Club that we have used in the past as opposed to a High Street TA.

They said it would be very unlikely that any TAs would try to cheat and offer any other incentives for a 2012/13 cruise on P&O, Princess or Cunard. They were intending to offer M&S vouchers but P&O told them they couldnt and any TA trying to cheat would face financial penalties!

So wherever, or with whoever, you book it will be the same price. Only advantage to booking with our cruise club is that because we are loyal customers they wave any credit card fees and if we book before end of April we get double Co-op points with our co-op membership!

I suppose late discounts will still apply but because we are travelling with friends who are limited to school hols and we also want a specific cruise and cabins, we will book early.

They said its all because P&O have said they are fed up with having to deal with passenger complaints onboard when they have found passengers have paid less than themselves!

Personally I think all thats just sour grapes! I think if someones paid less - good for them! Anyway they'l still have paid less if its a last minute booking and heavily discounted! As the teenagers say "suck it up!"

 

Interesting, thanks.

 

Wonder what will happen when all the TAs try to push the other cruiselines with higher commission? :confused:

[jenny wren]

Interestingly one of the TAs (one that has full page ads in papers) that we have asked to quote us for 2012 has offered £30 less than everyone else...but of course they are not actually on sale yet so we'll have to wait until April 7th for 'concrete' price !!:confused:

[terrierjohn]

The complaints about pricing that P&O highlight are very unlikely to be due to TA discounts which are rarely more than 10% of the brochure price.

 

They are undoubtedly due to P&O's heavy discounting of late availabilities when they are trying to fill up their ships.

 

In which case does that mean that the Carnival group no longer intend to offer large discounts to sell the last few cabins and will therefore sail part empty?

 

Forgive me if I sound cynical but I somehow doubt this will happen, but time will tell.

[C at Sea]

According to the TA I spoke to, late discounting by P&O will still happen because they will want to sell off remaining berths.

Its really a case of people making the decision - book early, get cruise/cabin etc that they want or take a late, discounted place and end up in a cabin thats left.

Neither should really complain about the other!

[tom_uk]

According to the TA I spoke to, late discounting by P&O will still happen because they will want to sell off remaining berths.

Its really a case of people making the decision - book early, get cruise/cabin etc that they want or take a late, discounted place and end up in a cabin thats left.

Neither should really complain about the other!

 

Your final comment is absolutely true, of course. Many (most?) of us here are experienced cruisers, and can see the pluses and minuses of both approaches; we are thus able to remind ourselves of the 'pluses' of our particular choice when we find that another passenger has paid a third or more less than us for the same accommodation, or when we find that our low-cost late-booked cabin is actually a broom cupboard, next to the launderette, above the kitchen. I wonder how many of the complaints that P&O receive are from comparatively-new passengers who don't have this perspective?

[u2cruiser]

According to the TA I spoke to, late discounting by P&O will still happen because they will want to sell off remaining berths.

Its really a case of people making the decision - book early, get cruise/cabin etc that they want or take a late, discounted place and end up in a cabin thats left.

Neither should really complain about the other!

 

I totally agree with your last sentence. We all have the choice to secure a preferred cabin or take a gamble and wait.

 

We've never paid full brochure price from a TA for any cruise, so this new system is a little disconcerting. The cruise we're interested in works out at £170 night for lowest category balcony at brochure price, after all the savings are deducted. We've usually managed at around £100 night so this is over our heads at these prices.

[MattyBarlow]

Ive had 5 quotes on the same cruise and all the TA's have come back with exactly the same deal.

[shoreham01]

I think that whoever decided that this was the way to go is completely ignorant of the retail industry as a whole, and also the way people shop for any commodity, be it something to wear or a holiday or anything else. Psycologically we are more likely to shop if we feel we have been given a bargain of some kind, be it a reduction in price or in the case of cruise lines OBC. If we don't get any incentive we feel cheated and therefore reluctant to part with our money in a particular business or travel company. In our case although we are booked on a P&O cruise, we are usually loyal to Princess and were looking to book for 2012. As there were no incentives we have booked with Celebritiy who are still giving OBC and a good price. Obviously I am not speaking for everyone, but I really do feel that this is how the majority shop.

[terrierjohn]

I think that whoever decided that this was the way to go is completely ignorant of the retail industry as a whole, and also the way people shop for any commodity, be it something to wear or a holiday or anything else. Psycologically we are more likely to shop if we feel we have been given a bargain of some kind, be it a reduction in price or in the case of cruise lines OBC. If we don't get any incentive we feel cheated and therefore reluctant to part with our money in a particular business or travel company. In our case although we are booked on a P&O cruise, we are usually loyal to Princess and were looking to book for 2012. As there were no incentives we have booked with Celebritiy who are still giving OBC and a good price. Obviously I am not speaking for everyone, but I really do feel that this is how the majority shop.

 

You are 100% correct, we all love to bag a bargain; but conversely we hate to overpay. So the only way for P&O to cater for this is to ensure we all pay exactly the same price.

 

Now in all honesty does anyone believe this will happen; no of course not, P&O will continue with their fluid pricing policy based on demand, and they will have exactly the same number of complaints as before.

 

However if their CEO had the b**** to be honest he would tell us that the only reason for this new policy is the hope that it will increase their overall profit. Personally I doubt it, but I would admire him more if he were honest, rather than being so devious.

[William Dean]

However if their CEO had the b**** to be honest he would tell us that the only reason for this new policy is the hope that it will increase their overall profit. Personally I doubt it, but I would admire him more if he were honest, rather than being so devious.

 

Carol Marlow does not, as you say, have any balls. At least in a physiological sense.

 

However she has always struck me as a good businesswoman. She certainly was a better leader for Cunard than the current occupant, who appears to want to cut, cut and cut again. Almost as if he were related to the ConDems.

 

WD

[jenny wren]

Ive had 5 quotes on the same cruise and all the TA's have come back with exactly the same deal.

 

did you ask the TA who has the full page ads in the Sunday Papers? they quoted us £30 less plus £120pp obc for one that we were trying to price up!! :)

[C at Sea]

Yet if you actually look in the newspaper at their ad, they are quoting the same price for a cruise with them as the P&O brochure.

[davecttr]

I have read elsewhere that TUI (Thomson TA's?) are upset that Thomas Cook have allegedly negotiated a 'special deal' because of their volume of sales. Apparently TUI are basically saying give us the same deal or we will not be promoting your product!. With the high volume players possibly getting a bigger commission they would still be able to offer booking incentives?

[C at Sea]

We have just swapped our deposit for a cruise next Feb with Thomas Cook(we had discount cos out of old brochure!) and they told us, when we asked about the new season, that they will only be offering the brochure prices for 2012/13. They have apparently "adopted" Oceana for next season and may be able to offer incentives for that but not discounts. They also said obc comes from P&O not TA.

[southwinds]

Imagin there is so much time for P&O customer relations dealing with complaints about people complaining about the price they paid and others on board paid far less.... then there are those who have never cruised seeing a brochure and thinking that is the real price... I am always telling friends who say '' how can you afford to go on a cruise?'' that we dont pay the prices in the brochures... P&O must loose people who dont cruise who dont know about the pricing game..

[C at Sea]

But unfortunately - the brochure price is now the price you pay!! With P&O, Princess and Cunard anyway.

[amberpop]

We have just defected from our TA that we've booked our last two cruises with. I was told by them that they couldn't tell me anything until the cruise was on sale, but, they could offer free parking (P&O doing that), or travel down (maybe not sure) by coach on the day. I explained we were travelling down to Southampton by train the day before so free travel was not an incentive to us.

After this conversation (few days later) I read on P&O forum about a cruise company who were offering double co-op dividend points. After contacting usual TA to see if they could offer anything else, being promised a call back that didn't arise after 3 days, we decided to give them a call. They were able to tell me how much OBC we would receive on our chosen stateroom (P&O giving it to passsengers who have sailed with them before), and, how much the price and deposit would be. They appeared very knowledgeable so we pre-registered with them, we will get about £50 divided at the least back from them, and at least they showed some interest.

[C at Sea]

We'v just preregistered for a Fjord cruise June '12. Quote given was same as P&O but cc charge wavered as we are good customers and double Co-op points. Free parking and some obc as per P&O but not free travel down which would have been good as we always use Eavesway Coaches. Slighty concerned about something she said right at end of call about P&O might apply fluid pricing! I said surely it should be the same as the preview brochure if its booked as soon as they go on sale, but she said they often change the prices! Haven't experienced this before though, has anyone else?

[feebee_71]

On the very popular cruises or for scarce cabins fluid pricing can kick in on opening day but rarely does it happen and often people don't notice it at the start.

 

It's unlikely you will be affected by it unless you are booking one of the 'one off' cruises or something like one of the 10 4 berth balcony cabins on Oceana for a popular summer holiday destinations cruise.

 

Good luck for what you have pre-registered for and I hope everyone gets what we have pre-registered for.

 

Feebee_71

[daiB]

We'v just preregistered for a Fjord cruise June '12. Quote given was same as P&O but cc charge wavered as we are good customers and double Co-op points. Free parking and some obc as per P&O but not free travel down which would have been good as we always use Eavesway Coaches. Slighty concerned about something she said right at end of call about P&O might apply fluid pricing! I said surely it should be the same as the preview brochure if its booked as soon as they go on sale, but she said they often change the prices! Haven't experienced this before though, has anyone else?

 

They have done this for a number of years now. When we were using a high street TA, they were late in getting through on booking day and the price had gone up £20/30. I think they got through about 11.00 in the morning.

 

 

:):)Happy Crusiing:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[Merlin7]

Fluid pricing can happen on the day if your TA is not on the ball.

 

Ours is :D