Surprise during phone call to Princess

[NauticalOne]

Hello all, we are cruising on the Crown on January 12th. I check the cruise personalizer about once a week to make sure everything is on track. When I checked it last Friday I noticed that my military credit had "fallen off" our account (this happened once before also, but no big deal). Anyway, while I was getting the credit reinstated the young lady on the phone said "oh, I notice there is a price drop on your cruise so I am going ot refund you some money". That was a nice $216.00 surprise which I used to upgrade to a mini. We were going to try a Caribe balcony cabin, but when I got the news of the refund I decided to go with a mini since we had one before and liked it. Anyway, after the phone call I was left to wonder... If I would not have called would I have been notified/refunded for the price drop since I had already made final payment? I did not use a TA this time for the booking and I know a good TA would have checked/caught the price drop. Not so sure if when you book directly through Princess they will contact you or not. I have checked the prices a couple of times and caught a price drop earlier in the year. I received a lower fare by rebooking that time, but not sure what happens after you make final payment. Just curious. -Glenn

[waltd]

Hello all, we are cruising on the Crown on January 12th. I check the cruise personalizer about once a week to make sure everything is on track. When I checked it last Friday I noticed that my military credit had "fallen off" our account (this happened once before also, but no big deal). Anyway, while I was getting the credit reinstated the young lady on the phone said "oh, I notice there is a price drop on your cruise so I am going ot refund you some money". That was a nice $216.00 surprise which I used to upgrade to a mini. We were going to try a Caribe balcony cabin, but when I got the news of the refund I decided to go with a mini since we had one before and liked it. Anyway, after the phone call I was left to wonder... If I would not have called would I have been notified/refunded for the price drop since I had already made final payment? I did not use a TA this time for the booking and I know a good TA would have checked/caught the price drop. Not so sure if when you book directly through Princess they will contact you or not. I have checked the prices a couple of times and caught a price drop earlier in the year. I received a lower fare by rebooking that time, but not sure what happens after you make final payment. Just curious. -Glenn

 

 

If you are talking Princess I would say you were extremely lucky. If you had not called you probably would not have gotten the call especially after final payment. Yea to the CS Rep.

 

I will also say that even a good travel agent probably would not have looked at it after final payment. In the past it has always been the customer that finds the price drops and then calls and if it applies to your booking then you will get the price drop before final payment.

Happy to hear you now have a mini suite

[highheel girl]

I agree if you had not called they are not forthcoming with peoples bookings/refunds for price drops unless you ask. :)

[caribill]

I know a good TA would have checked/caught the price drop.

 

Most TAs have too many cruises booked to be able to check for price drops for all the customers on a frequent basis.

 

Whether your booking is with Princess or with a TA, whether it is before final payment or after final payment, you should check the pricing yourself and then call your TA (or Princess if they have the booking) to see if it can be applied to your booking.

 

Yes, there are a very few TAs who do this checking, but you can't rely on it happening unless you check it yourself.

[KirkNC]

Yea you need to check it yourself, but congrats on your new cabin.

[Mom33]

Enjoy your new cabin and have a wonderful cruise. :D

[NauticalOne]

Thanks all for the input. Since I booked directly through Princess (or even if I had booked through a TA), I do understand that it is up to me to catch any potential price changes. I have indeed checked for pricing differences several times and even caught an earlier price drop that worked in my favor, but just happened to miss this one. My point of starting this thread was actually to commend the Princess customer service rep for bringing the good news to my attention. Seems like all too often people are not happy with the Princess customer service and I was attempting to add a positive note for them. We are looking forward to another mini suite and one day will make it all the way up to a Vista Suite! After spending 26 years on submarines in the US Navy, cruising this way is a lot more fun (even get to see outside more ;-))! -Glenn