I'm seriously considering to bypass my TA this time and had a question please

[MamaTene]

Interesting thread with valid points on both sides of using a TA vs booking direct with Princess. As for me, have ALWAYS used a TA (same one for the last 15 cruises AT LEAST) and have to say that the price the cruise line states is the pp rate for cruises I have booked is always significantly more than what my agent quotes me BEFORE applying her agency discount. Case in point, Princess recently posted a drop in the pp price for our category. THAT price is over $200 more per person than what we are paying! I for one will stick with my agent as they always monitor rates for drops that indeed end up lower than what we are paying and adjust accordingly as well as positioning us it such a way as to get coveted upgrades!

[land lover]

My rule of thumb expensive cruise book with TA, inexpensive, book with princess.

[MamaTene]

My rule of thumb expensive cruise book with TA, inexpensive, book with princess.

 

LandLover: You saying that Princess doesn't fare so well in providing discounts for the more expensive cruises?

[jagoffee]

LandLover: You saying that Princess doesn't fare so well in providing discounts for the more expensive cruises?

 

They do not provide any discount that they will not also provide to your TA. The TA discount is usually base on a %, so it is more money for the expensive cruises.

[DMRick]

I almost always book through an online bidding company. Most times we end up with the same TA (because they bid so well, or give great obc). I have gone to three different Cruise Critic posters TA's for prices and at no time was the price as good as what I already had..but all three times it came with a mini lecture (although nicely done) about how poor my service was going to be if I went with the cheaper person, and once I was told I prob wouldn't get the price I was quoted. I was told that if the price lowered, they wouldn't work for me to get it lowered, etc. They were wrong. Have never had a bad experience booking this way, and often when on the cruise when others are throwing around the great price they got, I can sit there and smile to myself about my even lower price.

 

So, really, it is what makes you comfortable, and if you have compared and you are happy with your price, the service you have gotten, etc, stick with it.

[Colo Cruiser]

LandLover: You saying that Princess doesn't fare so well in providing discounts for the more expensive cruises?

 

More incentives and wiggle room with an expensive cruise/TA.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[mysaddlebred000]

More incentives and wiggle room with an expensive cruise/TA.

 

We have been debating if it is time to change TA's. I really like her but Iwe have been a little upset with the perks she has been giving us lately especially with our last cruise. Her price was exactly the same as on Princess's website - $24,000. She gave us a balcony breakfast which we don't understand since we were in a suite and why would we want that when we can go to Sabitini's or have the MDR breakfast delivered on our balcony? She also gave us a $30 credit for wine and $200 OBC. She had given us those same things on a $10,000 cruise the year before. We have been booking three cruises a year with her.

 

We know what we want so she really has just had to book the cabins we ask for. There have been a couple cases where she has commented that she spent a lot of time on the phone doing this or that. Like last week when we wanted to book a cruise six weeks out. We were taken back because we rarely ask her to do anything more than just book the cabin. My wife usually deals with her and she is gutless to ask her what she is complaining about. And I have been instructed not to keep my mouth shut when I answer the phone.

 

She is so nice on the phone but we seriously are thinking of either booking with Princess or finding a new TA.

 

We do have two future cruises that we booked through her, but am thinking of booking another one but not with her.

 

Question: can she look up our account with Princess and be able to see that we have other cruises booked. My wife really likes her and does not want her to find out if we decide to go with someone else.

[Colo Cruiser]

We have been debating if it is time to change TA's. I really like her but Iwe have been a little upset with the perks she has been giving us lately especially with our last cruise. Her price was exactly the same as on Princess's website - $24,000. She gave us a balcony breakfast which we don't understand since we were in a suite and why would we want that when we can go to Sabitini's or have the MDR breakfast delivered on our balcony? She also gave us a $30 credit for wine and $200 OBC. She had given us those same things on a $10,000 cruise the year before. We have been booking three cruises a year with her.

 

We know what we want so she really has just had to book the cabins we ask for. There have been a couple cases where she has commented that she spent a lot of time on the phone doing this or that. Like last week when we wanted to book a cruise six weeks out. We were taken back because we rarely ask her to do anything more than just book the cabin. My wife usually deals with her and she is gutless to ask her what she is complaining about. And I have been instructed not to keep my mouth shut when I answer the phone.

 

She is so nice on the phone but we seriously are thinking of either booking with Princess or finding a new TA.

 

We do have two future cruises that we booked through her, but am thinking of booking another one but not with her.

 

Question: can she look up our account with Princess and be able to see that we have other cruises booked. My wife really likes her and does not want her to find out if we decide to go with someone else.

 

WOW! Time to move on for sure. Sometimes I think they just get lazy.

It reminds me of the last 4 home purchases we made over the last 30 years. We did all the work by finding them and just handing them over to my agent. What a life, I should become a realtor. :rolleyes:

[avcruz]

Question: can she look up our account with Princess and be able to see that we have other cruises booked. My wife really likes her and does not want her to find out if we decide to go with someone else.

 

 

No, she will only be able to see and have access to the cruises she booked. Any cruises you book directly with Princess or with another TA are not available to her.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Edarrich]

My princess cruise planner got me more perks and cheaper care than TA. Call planner dept and compare for yourself.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mysaddlebred000]

No, she will only be able to see and have access to the cruises she booked. Any cruises you book directly with Princess or with another TA are not available to her.

 

 

Thanks for the info. That is good to know. We really hate to hurt her feelings since we have one cruise that isn't until fall 2015 and she probably will be looking it up for one reason or another. I can't see either of us approaching her and asking why she isn't giving us more. Maybe she is thinking of retiring and building up a nest egg.

 

I know being able to contact your TA is important. I see more of a need for one on an exotic cruise more so than a winter b2b2 to get out of the cold in the Caribbean.

 

So then:

What do you think a TA should give you in perks for the following cruises?

$5,000

$10,000

$20,000

[caribill]

No, she will only be able to see and have access to the cruises she booked. Any cruises you book directly with Princess or with another TA are not available to her.

 

 

 

Not my experience.

 

On a b2b booked with different TAs, the TA I had used for the first segment knew I had the second segment booked.

 

I do not know if she knew who the 2nd segment was booked with.

[jagoffee]

My princess cruise planner got me more perks and cheaper care than TA. Call planner dept and compare for yourself.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Perhaps I do not understand the process, but I doubt it. Are you suggesting that you cannot find a competent TA who you can now transfer this exact booking with the price/benefits from Princess and get some additional benefits?

 

Are you sure that Princess has direct bookings that cannot be transferred? Does not make any sense to me.

[Luckiest Dog]

By reading your posts I've been realizing more and more that I should be looking for a different way of booking my cruises or at least a TA that will discount and perhaps add an OBC. One other option is booking directly with Princess - which I know many of you do. I just have a quick question though - if I book with Princess is it possible to deal with just one person or would I be dealing with different people each time I called about something? I don't think I would like that very much because I've dealt with some really good ones but with others that I just didn't connect with when I called to enquire about something.

 

Your advice is much appreciated!!

 

Camelia

 

I usually book direct. My most recent booking, I booked direct with Princess 9 months out and got a pretty good deal. Shortly after, I checked with a TA web page for he same cruise. There was a week long promotion that offered the same price as Princess direct, but with free paid gratuities ($345 credit), $285 OBC from TA an $200 OBC from Princess. The price direct with Princess went up $500 for our same category sometime later ( recently reduced by $100). I was able to get TA and Princess on the phone and Princess transferred the booking to the TA. That equates to an $830 discount.

 

Although not related to TA, we will also have 100% FCC of $599 each applied from the Getaway Cruise promotion, $200 FCC OBC we placed on the last cruise and $250 CCL stock. By the way, I give credit to the Cruise Critic posters for every bit of the savings. You can learn a lot just by reading here.

[bhopal21]

By the way, I give credit to the Cruise Critic posters for every bit of the savings. You can learn a lot just by reading here.

 

Likewise.

 

I had booked 8 cruises over 4 years and finally decided to check with a TA for cruise number 9 and have never looked back.

 

I just wish that I had saved that money on the first 8.;)

 

Mike:)

[woodyren]

I really don't need a TA or a PVP at all. I can research prices, pick out the best cabins in the category that suits, find which cabins are available, get the cheapest air fares and hotels all from the comfort of my laptop or smartphone. I actually enjoy doing this.

 

What I do need is the $500 + fare reduction due to a group on one cruise plus the free grats, over $600 of OBC, and a specialty dinner voucher that come with my other 3 cruise bookings. These things are over and above the perks offered by the cruise lines if booking directly.

 

So for me it's a TA every time.

 

The only thing I need them for apart from the money is to change my cabin once I have my gty allocated or to reduce my cost if there is a price drop. That takes one simple phone call and they call the cruise line to get it done. I don't have to wait on hold.

 

For their part they get whatever commission they receive for doing little else other than pressing a few buttons on their computer of a couple of phone calls. Win Win.

Edited August 23, 2014 by woodyren

[CruzinNoony]

For those of you looking for a good discount TA my best advice is to ask others on your next cruise. We can't give that information on Cruise Critic. :rolleyes:

[bhopal21]

For those of you looking for a good discount TA my best advice is to ask others on your next cruise. We can't give that information on Cruise Critic. :rolleyes:

 

That is how I found ours.

 

Mike:)

[Thrak]

I've booked both ways. When I booked a 15 day Hawaiian cruise directly with Princess I had a TA tell me later that I did really well. She said she might have saved me $50 but that I had gotten a killer deal.

 

There are two things I like about booking directly:

 

1. I can grab a price drop instantly without waiting to get in touch with the TA
   
2. I can see all the pricing and payment details online - with a TA booking I don't see that info online
   

Booking with a TA I tend to get a little bit of OBC from the TA and I have also ended up with a lower price than I can find online with Princess. I called my TA when I saw a small price reduction on my upcoming Mexico cruise and he sent me back email saying he had re-booked but at an even lower price than I had seen. I'm currently booked at $100 pp less than the lowest price I've seen on the Princess site - and I check a lot. :)

[bhopal21]

I can see all the pricing and payment details online - with a TA booking I don't see that info online

 

I can see that with mine as well.

 

Mike:)

[geoherb]

If you book directly with Princess after the final payment date, you can't later transfer the booking to a TA. I found this out when I saw a great price for one of our cruises to Alaska over a weekend. I booked it online with Princess, intending to get in touch with my TA on Monday to see how much better he could do on the price. Since it was after the final payment date, though, I could not transfer it to him. The good news was that the price had gone up, so I was glad I booked when I did.

[satxdiver]

I plan my cruises a long time in advance and book with Princess. I then watch the prices offered by Princess while researching what a discount TA can do for me. Before the final payment, I transfer the booking to a TA that I have found most of the time. I don't really need a vacation planner since I do my own research online at various locations and make my own decisions. Luckily I have the time now to do this.

[Thrak]

 

Question: can she look up our account with Princess and be able to see that we have other cruises booked. My wife really likes her and does not want her to find out if we decide to go with someone else.

 

No, she will only be able to see and have access to the cruises she booked. Any cruises you book directly with Princess or with another TA are not available to her.

 

Another question: Can a TA see your past cruise history? They may not be able to see cruises you have booked with another TA but, when they are booking a cruise for you, can they see your cruise history?

[A.stew12305]

I have never used a TA. Don't you have to pay them? Is the price usually offset by obc? Sorry if this comes across ignorant, but I have no clue how a TA works. I've booked our past and upcoming cruises through Princess directly

[caribill]

I have never used a TA. Don't you have to pay them? Is the price usually offset by obc? Sorry if this comes across ignorant, but I have no clue how a TA works. I've booked our past and upcoming cruises through Princess directly

 

Although there are a few TAs that will have a service charge for booking a cruise, almost all TAs will book a cruise without you having to pay anything extra.

 

Some TAs will always charge the same price as Princess.

 

Some TAs will give a discount to Princess pricing. (Never advertised or shown on their web site; must find out pricing by asking for a quote).**

 

Before booking with a TA learn if there will be any fees for making changes or any fee by the TA if you cancel the booking.

 

Also important is how accessible is the TA if you need to contact him/her. Reachable evenings or on a weekend if there is a true emergency? Someone you can contact when your TA is on vacation or out sick?

 

**Sometimes you can get OBC or other amenities from a TA that you cannot get from a booking directly with Princess. Sometimes these come by the TA giving up some of his/her cvommission, but more often they come from discounts Princess gives TAs for booking "groups" and from amenities TAs can chose from that Princess does give for those bookings.