Transferring my booking to princess and then cancelling, information please.

[Mist_ynight]

So I'm considering cancelling my Alaskan cruise next summer. My DH and I have decided to go with a cheaper cruise or possibly not cruise at all next year (which will really suck but finances may dictate our choice). I've booked it with an online TA and they will charge me $200 to cancel. Is it possible to switch my booking to Princess and then cancel? How much will princess charge me to cancel? I booked using FCC and don't want to loose them. Any information you can give me would be great. I do know that I can transfer but since we are undecided on what we are doing I don't want to do that. Final payment is not until April of 2012 so I can wait a while before cancelling.

[Toto2Kansas]

Even if you switch your booking over to Princess, your online TA will probably charge you the $200 cancellation fee, as you are actually cancelling your booking with them and transfering it over to Princess. Sorry!

As long as you cancel before final payment with Princess, there are no cancellation fees, and you can have your FCC placed back into your account. (even if you cancel with the online TA, you can have your FCC's placed back into your Circle Savings Account).

But I don't think you are going to find anyway around paying the online agent you originally booked with for transfering or cancelling this cruise.

[Mist_ynight]

I didn't realize they would charge me to transfer my booking to princess. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay the money. I guess it's ok so long as I don't loose my FCC.

[Toto2Kansas]

I didn't realize they would charge me to transfer my booking to princess. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay the money. I guess it's ok so long as I don't loose my FCC.

There are many great travel agents that discount as well as some of these online TA's that do not charge change or cancellation fees. You might do some research before you book your next cruise if you don't wish to book direct. Many of these large online agents do charge change and cancellation fees...............and I would never book with one who does with so many choices our there. :) Good Luck!

[Mist_ynight]

I just called my travel agent and it's $100 either way. I guess I should have called them first. Atleast $100 is better then $200. I'm going to wait and see what happens cause I'm probably better off re-booking as opposed to cancelling. Thanks for the help :)

[Pam in CA]

I didn't realize they would charge me to transfer my booking to princess. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and pay the money. I guess it's ok so long as I don't loose my FCC.

They have to clearly disclose that there is a change/cancelation fee before booking. If you have any documentation that this was not disclosed before you booked with them, such as a quote without the cancelation fee info, I'd ask to speak to a supervisor or even the owner of the agency. Just merely posting it on their website somewhere isn't enough unless it's visible near the Contact Us link.

 

Unfortunately, this is a lesson learned for everyone to make sure you're aware of any added fees before booking. Princess doesn't charge any fees unless it's a passenger name change after final payment.

[Mist_ynight]

Pam it is on my reservation, I just didn't notice it. I didn't know there were some TA's that didn't charge cancellation fees. I really wish we were able to discuss TA's on here, it would make it so much easier to get reccomendations from people who have used great TA's. I've booked once directly through princess and twice with an online TA. I think I will look around some more if we decide to book a different cruise. There are just so many websites out there that it's hard to find a good one.

[thinfool]

Pam it is on my reservation,

 

Was it 'in place' where you could read it before you 'accepted' the reservation, or did it appear after everything was done?

[Pam in CA]

Pam it is on my reservation, I just didn't notice it. I didn't know there were some TA's that didn't charge cancellation fees. I really wish we were able to discuss TA's on here, it would make it so much easier to get reccomendations from people who have used great TA's. I've booked once directly through princess and twice with an online TA. I think I will look around some more if we decide to book a different cruise. There are just so many websites out there that it's hard to find a good one.

Ouch. A suggestion is that when you're on the cruise and meet someone whose opinions you respect, ask them who they use and for recommendations.

[Mist_ynight]

thinfool it was in place when I booked, I thought it was $200 cause I had asked about cancelling it when booking. I didn't know they would charge you if you transferred to Princess but I should have figured it out, they're not just going to let people transfer their bookings and loose out on money.

 

Thanks Pam I'll do that on my next cruise.