Princess to Introduce Price control

[Coral]

My TA found out about this yesterday. It may take awhile for some of the smaller TAs to find out. It may be possible that they can rebate back some of their commission in OBC which is what many TAs do with RCCL.

 

For me, I am not happy with a lot of changes Princess is making (even before this announcement) and was sort of tired of the degrading of the cruising experience. It may be a good time to take some nice land vacations.

[JimmyVWine]

Jimmy, I hate to tell you this, but the same two clicks of a mouse will get you the discount prices and the NCF on a cruise invoice. Really. Just because we cannot discuss TAs here does not mean the information is not readily available. There is nothing hush-hush about it on the internet. Cruise Critic is not the place to look for it, same as Ford.com is not the place to look for the information you can get at Edmunds or KBB.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. I have searched high and low for discount prices on my next cruise, and everywhere I look I get TAs offering me the exact same price as Princess. Maybe I can get a $50 OBC, but that is not worth it to me to relinquish control over my vacation. Yet I know that when I board the ship, there will be someone there who beat my price by $200, and I wasn't able to find it. The information simply isn't as readily available as Edmunds. Do an internet search on "actual price paid for 2011 insert whatever make and model car you want" and you will find plenty of useful information. Do a search for "actual price paid for Princess cruise to insert place and date" and you get a lot of nothing.

[1 HappyCruiser]

My personal experience in trying to find a TA to book my first cruise was that the prices given on the internet always seemed to come with the caveat "call us and we'll give you our "best deal"."

 

Well, here's my problem with calling them. As soon as I do, they have my phone number from caller ID, and I have "done business with them". That makes them and all of their "associated entities" (e.g. anyone they want to sell their caller ID list to) exempt from the "Do Not Call" list. I already get too many unsolicited telephone calls at dinner and in the evenings from Politicians.

 

If a TA would provide their "best deal" publicly without me having to provide them personal information, I could shop and then only give my personal information to the one I really intend to do business with...

 

Just my 2 cents....

 

If you want to block you number from being seen, just dial *67 before you call their number.

[Kmkub]

I've not yet used a TA to book with Princess. To save a couple hundred, honestly, I'm not sure it's worth it.

 

Booking through Princess gives me drama free browsing of all the available cruises, without having to hear about a TAs headache or daughter problems or favorite toe-nail polish color... and I get to see my options, change them on a whim, review them again.. . change them again, without having to pick up the phone each time I change my mind about date/length/destination, to relate that info back to someone who will get back to me (or email me) when THEY have time.

 

I guess the couple hundred lost is completely worth it to me. If I want to book at 3 a.m., I don't have to wait on anyone. If I want to change something, I go change it... instead of calling someone, relaying the information and then waiting for them to change it.

 

I don't LIKE it that self sufficiency is more expensive, but I'm willing to pay it, regardless.

[Toto2Kansas]

I've not yet used a TA to book with Princess. To save a couple hundred, honestly, I'm not sure it's worth it.

 

Booking through Princess gives me drama free browsing of all the available cruises, without having to hear about a TAs headache or daughter problems or favorite toe-nail polish color... and I get to see my options, change them on a whim, review them again.. . change them again, without having to pick up the phone each time I change my mind about date/length/destination, to relate that info back to someone who will get back to me (or email me) when THEY have time.

 

I guess the couple hundred lost is completely worth it to me. If I want to book at 3 a.m., I don't have to wait on anyone. If I want to change something, I go change it... instead of calling someone, relaying the information and then waiting for them to change it.

 

I don't LIKE it that self sufficiency is more expensive, but I'm willing to pay it, regardless.

If we were talking only a couple of hundred dollars, that would not phase me in the least. But on some cruises we have saved a couple of thousand dollars............now that makes a huge difference to me. ;)

[Pam in CA]

Not trying to flame, but what's so bad with searching for a good price.....:confused::confused::confused:

Exactly. I always comparison shop, whether it's a new car, a mortgage, a refrigerator, a camera or a cruise. I never accept the full retail manufacturer's price unless I have to and that's the only way I can get it.

[Loonbeam]

Yep, just spoke to the Cruise specific agency, they didn't give me details but they are both pleased and unhappy. Apparently the essage they got was a bit vague as far as specifics, but it sounds like they have to show a list price same as Princess. I am not on good enough terms there to ask for a copy of the communication.

 

It doesn't surprise me the smaller agents haven't seen it, since neither does a lot of Princess, but I would have thought the national one would have...

 

I have had it confirmed, so there is no doubt in my mind this is happening. Give it a few days, and I am sure you will receive a different answer (maybe they just haven't gotten the fax or phone call as yet). In my experience, the top sellers (or those with inside contacts) get the information before anyone else. ;)

[Gordoncruickshank]

At the moment in the uk the only price is what is on the Princess web site. The only discounts are where the TA has negotiated group rates on cretain cruises and pre books a block of cabins.

 

If you want to choose exactly when you go and where you pay the Princes web site price with very little obc.

 

Last year I got $800 OBC and 10% off. Quite frankly I would not pay what Princess are asking just now for our cruise in 21 days time which is why, next year, we are on Celebrity. Got some discount, a bit more OBC (had to beek by end of Aug for that) and room rate per day in Aqua class much less.

 

RCI has reduced the commision as well - last year you could always beat at least 10% fro the TA but not now.

 

There is a move from the cruise companies who are saying to the TA that they will pay a flat booking fee per cruise as the TA just gave away most of their commission to customers. I can see the cruise companies point.

 

The Motor Manuafacturers did this years ago massively reducing front end profit margin for dealers, making it up on bonuses later. It makes them more in control of the "street price".

 

No one really booked on the company's own web site before as it was always cheaper elsewhere. It is in the companies' interests to drive as much traffic as they can internally particularly by uinternet booking which is much cheaper and less labour intensive.

[englishbird]

I am a TA and this started in the UK a few months ago. You will now get the same price in any Travel Agent, online and through Princess direct.

 

They have also cut our commision from 15% to 5%, so we are unable to afford to discount their holidays. This also applies to P&O UK and Cunard.

 

If any agent is found to be discounting, they risk losing their commercial agreement with Princess may not be allowed to sell them in the future.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I'm going to take a wait & see approach to the new pricing routine. If it turns out to follow the same road as RCCL did a few years back, then I'll have to reconsider sailing with Princess as their prices will probably almost the same. All things considered RCCL might even have an edge on the food and definitely with their productions shows as well as some big name guest entertainers which Princess would never consider.

We will miss the new smoking rules to begin in Jan as they were a long time in coming.

[t60]

snip I honestly expect the next to be a cut in past passenger benefits (guessing). snip ...

 

This has already happened on P&O

 

Sandy in Spain

[1 HappyCruiser]

I am a TA and this started in the UK a few months ago. You will now get the same price in any Travel Agent, online and through Princess direct.

 

They have also cut our commision from 15% to 5%, so we are unable to afford to discount their holidays. This also applies to P&O UK and Cunard.

 

If any agent is found to be discounting, they risk losing their commercial agreement with Princess may not be allowed to sell them in the future.

 

OK. Then if I have no questions what so ever to ask a TA concerning the trip they why should I utilize an agent at all? Are they still able to give any incentives like cabin credit, wine, etc. of would that be against Princess's policy as well? From what I read the prices that people from the UK pay are considerable more than what we pay here in the US.

[1 HappyCruiser]

This has already happened on P&O

 

Sandy in Spain

 

What have they taken away?

[KansasCityGuys]

As a travel agent, I have not received an email yet with this notification. Maybe, i will receive something today. In fact, when the new smoking policy went into effect; I learned about the change here, first and then after lunch on the same day, I received the email which Princess sent out to all their travel partners.

[JimmyVWine]

Not trying to flame, but what's so bad with searching for a good price.....:confused::confused::confused:

 

Bob

 

Time is money. Too much effort for too little result. Toto reports saving thousands of dollars. I have never seen anything like that, and from many of the posts on page one here talking about getting OBC, chocolates or $20 cover charges dropped at a specialty restaurant, most others have not either. Pricing shouldn't be that subjective and inconsistent where one person saves thousands, and another person gets a free dinner at a specialty dining venue. I have no doubt that patience and persistence can be rewarded, but that is a silly economic model. I'd rather they reward loyalty and early booking, both of which are transparent, predictable, explainable and equitable. I don't want to make 50 phone calls to find the Easter egg. If you enjoy the hunt, more power to you. I am not trying to convince you that I am right and you are wrong. I am simply stating my opinion that I am one of the people that finds price inequity confusing and frustrating.

[Times Prince]

It was an article published in "Cruise Week". I doubt if you'll even see anything on the Princess website as they would rather have you not know anything about it.

I find it very humorous that they said there doing it for our benefit so as to not be confused by any difference in the pricing.

I'm not sure if I can quote the complete article here without their permission.

I experienced that confusion when last I was shopping for better rates. While most TA's are up front about the costs, there were a few online at the time who quoted a significantly lower "cabin cost" as an enticement but then later in the booking process added local taxes for their state to bring the total cost to something close to what other TA's and agencies were honestly advertising. Hopefully it is this kind of deceptive advertising (more of a "bait and switch") that Princess is trying to limit.

 

Even good TA's can have billing procedures which have the local taxes and lower cabin prices - but they are forthright about the total price, and how much this is less than Princess' past customer web pricing.

 

We will have to see from the TA's what these changes really are.

[Princess Patches]

For me, with the loss of discounted prices, the only thing now that distinguishes Princess from other similarly priced lines (RCI, HAL, Celebrity) is their Captain's Club benefits. I guess the cancellation of free, unlimited laundry/dry cleaning or something similar will be the next announcement.

 

I never thought Princess would end three meals a day of fine dining and when they did that, it really worried me. I think there are more cuts to come.

[Kmkub]

I am simply stating my opinion that I am one of the people that finds price inequity confusing and frustrating.

I completely agree. Unfortunately, we have an entire, worldwide industry that was built on travel pricing confusion, and they are doing their best to make sure it stays as mysterious as possible. If the cruise lines start to push back, I'm fine with it. Like I said, saving $200 isn't worth the untold number of hours that I'd have to spend finding that savings. My time is valuable, too!

[San10s]

 

"This policy was created due to consumer feedback that price differences were confusing."

 

 

A statement like this always gets my blood pressure elevated! Everything and anything changing with Princess is always a benefit for them before it's for their customers. It insults my intelligence when "they" use the customer as their reason to veil what is purely a business move designed to bring more $$$ to their bottom line. Well....I have a bottom line too! They just may have reached it now.

 

Have you ever heard a company say that the changes in their service / product is for THEIR benefit?? :rolleyes:

 

Cruising has always provided me and my family with a variety of options....options for entertainment....options for dining of either being served like a restaurant or choosing to serve ouselves.....options on what accomedations we were willing to pay for......and the option on what we decided we were willing to pay for our cruise vacation. (....and many more options too) Unfortunately, Princess has continually lessened my options in many of these areas.

 

All of these changes being made by Princess...the cruise line that has had our exclusive business for the last 15 years.....has just become too much IMHO.

 

After enjoying over 17 cruises on Princess ships....I am starting to feel like my upcoming cruise in February may well be my last. :mad: :(

[Princess Patches]

On my last 17-day cruise, the savings was over $1,000 with my TA (versus the Princess website prices). So it was not just a couple of hundred dollars. It was a huge price difference. It also did not take up weeks of my time to find the savings. It was a single phone call to the same TA I have been using for years.

 

I am sorry, but if you believe this policy change is about "clearing up pricing confusion" for the poor, befuddled Princess customer, you are dead wrong. This is about saving Princess money and ending discounting by TAs.

[billco]

I'm going to take a wait & see approach to the new pricing routine. If it turns out to follow the same road as RCCL did a few years back, then I'll have to reconsider sailing with Princess as their prices will probably almost the same. All things considered RCCL might even have an edge on the food and definitely with their productions shows as well as some big name guest entertainers which Princess would never consider.

We will miss the new smoking rules to begin in Jan as they were a long time in coming.

Even though I have saved on every cruise I have booked with my online TA, I would stay with Princess for the following reasons:

1. I only need two more cruises to achieve Elite status. Both booked for next year.

2. I would still have Military OBC, shareholder OBC, and Future Cruise Credit.

3. Perhaps my TA could makeup with other perks.

4. I like Princess.

[Kmkub]

I am sorry, but if you believe this policy change is about "clearing up pricing confusion" for the poor, befuddled Princess customer, you are dead wrong. This is about saving Princess money and ending discounting by TAs.

Congrats! I'm not lucky, like that.

 

Every call I've ever made to a TA went something like this, "Well, how about you and your husband come in and we'll chat for an hour or so and I'll get a feel for what you like, etc, etc. etc and we'll go from there."

 

And I'm on the other end saying, "I just really want to know how much for this cruise, this date, this cabin area?"

 

And they are like, "well, as I said, come in, we'll chat., blah blah blah"

 

I just hang up.... only tried a couple... perhaps my bad, but, I don't feel I'm missing out, so, again, congrats on your savings!

[Tiffany's mom]

Apples and oranges. With one click of a mouse, (OK, maybe two), you can find out the MSRP and Invoice prices of a car. It is easy to do your homework and you know the range and can work from there. Where you end up between those two numbers is entirely up to you, but the price difference between dealers is going to be marginal. It is rare that dealer #2 won't or can't match an offer made by dealer #1. With cruise prices, (and mattresses, and a few other products) it is really hard to do your homework. You can find out the price the line is charging, but it is really difficult to find out what price the "best TA" can get, as that is so hush-hush. There is no corresponding "Invoice" to use as a baseline.

 

With one click I can find Princess list price. With another couple of clicks I can find discount prices from 5 or 6 other sites. There is one that will give you 5 quotes from different agents. It is not a "hush-hush" thing. I paid about half that Princess want for my next cruise. Being retired we do not have unlimited funds for cruises. I guess you do.

 

I just we will doing just Princess discount last minute cruises from no on, when no one wants to pay full prices and the ships are half empty. We got a great prices from Princess on a cruise the spring as the ship was half empty a month before the cruise.

[JimmyVWine]

With one click I can find Princess list price. With another couple of clicks I can find discount prices from 5 or 6 other sites. There is one that will give you 5 quotes from different agents.

 

Sure, you can find the comparisons. But where are the deals? Every internet published fare is the same (or more) than Princess. Or else you have to fill out a form and "we'll get back to you"; or you have to "give us a call". Maybe "hush-hush" isn't the right phrase. But there is certainly a lack of transparency. Trust me. I am not adverse to a good challenge and I generally like internet price comparisons. But I spent a looooonnnnngggg time searching before booking my upcoming cruise and I could not find anything that beat the Princess-direct price (with the aforementioned exception of a modest OBC). But I know that a deal must be out there. If somebody out there is selling a mini-suite for $1200 whereas Princess sells it for $1475, just come out and say it. But either they can't or won't. I've used internet search engines enough in my life to know that I am not "doing it wrong". Instead, it must be that I am not tapping in to the right sources if other people are finding $1000 savings. Why is it that cruises have to be so much more difficult than hotel rooms or airline tickets?

[coops]

Sure, you can find the comparisons. But where are the deals?

 

 

 

 

 

Not from Princess that's for sure.