TA Prices vs. Princess Promotions

[kjg46]

I have read number of posts on this board about how much folks are saving their cruises by booking with or transferring to a TA. With most of our cruises, I usually book with Princess then transfer to a TA. This usually benefits us to a tune of $100 and some wine and strawberries.

 

After reading board members comments say they save between 10% and as much as 20%. (I am not sure if folks are quoting brochure vs. actual vs.TA) I decided to check many online travel companies to see if anyone is offering a substantial saving. Our current booking is a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Caribbean Princess this August, Premium Aft balcony Cat B4. We currently enjoy $650 in onboard credits (military, sales promo, onboard credits and a Specialty dinner) We were able to have Princess reprice our booking three times since we originally booked last summer.

 

So I checked 4 or 5 companies that link to this Cruise Critic web site, 2 or 3 other internet sites that link to credit unions and a large agency that feeds into our local neighborhood travel agency. To my surprise, almost of these companies are within $100 of each other and our current Princess booking. Some will provide a $50 onboard credit but most are only offering the current Princess 50 Year promotional offerings. Could this be due to our particular Baltic cruise vs. a Caribbean or Mediterranean cruise? Or, are folks overstating the savings from their TA’s?

Has anyone else had the same experience?

[paul929207]

Sounds like you just haven't found the right TA yet. A TA is not required to give a discount or any perks.

 

BTW, when I quote the savings from a TA, I am comparing the price on the Princess site when I am booking to the price from my TA. I am not using a brochure price.

[Iamcruzin]

I have searched and searched but have not found any TA offer that has sparked my interests. I have made many friends along the way who are CC members and not one of them has found this magic TA that offers big discounts and hundreds of dollars of OBC. Many of the online sites that I have searched have the brochure price so inflated that it's just an insult to my intelligence. I am sure that there are those who don't know better and think they are actually receiving the 82% advertised savings. On the Celebrity board the TA offerings are more realistic and similar to what you have described. I have been satisfied booking through Princess and following price, making the call myself to have it adjusted. I'm currently booked on Celebrity again due to the all inclusive promotion which include the classic drink package, paid gratuity, and $300 OBC. I probably could have found a TA who would give me a $50 obc but I already saved that much in a price drop that I handled myself.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Iamcruzin

[Orlando Vic]

To me, a good TA is one who will notify me of price drops (and then recalculate the new price). I'm not sure Princess would do that.

[thinfool]

Our current booking is a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Caribbean Princess this August, Premium Aft balcony Cat B4. We currently enjoy $650 in onboard credits (military, sales promo, onboard credits and a Specialty dinner) We were able to have Princess reprice our booking three times since we originally booked last summer.

 

 

Does your list include the Shareholder Benefit, which, for your itinerary would give you another $250. per cabin?

[Colo Cruiser]

August is part of peak season, you won't see alot of Princess discounts but a TA can usually do a better job. Our Aug Med cruise is sky high and have not seen any Princess promos worth a darn, but the TA soothed the pain somewhat. ;)

[RocketMan275]

I have read number of posts on this board about how much folks are saving their cruises by booking with or transferring to a TA. With most of our cruises, I usually book with Princess then transfer to a TA. This usually benefits us to a tune of $100 and some wine and strawberries.

 

After reading board members comments say they save between 10% and as much as 20%. (I am not sure if folks are quoting brochure vs. actual vs.TA) I decided to check many online travel companies to see if anyone is offering a substantial saving. Our current booking is a 14 day Baltic Cruise on the Caribbean Princess this August, Premium Aft balcony Cat B4. We currently enjoy $650 in onboard credits (military, sales promo, onboard credits and a Specialty dinner) We were able to have Princess reprice our booking three times since we originally booked last summer.

 

So I checked 4 or 5 companies that link to this Cruise Critic web site, 2 or 3 other internet sites that link to credit unions and a large agency that feeds into our local neighborhood travel agency. To my surprise, almost of these companies are within $100 of each other and our current Princess booking. Some will provide a $50 onboard credit but most are only offering the current Princess 50 Year promotional offerings. Could this be due to our particular Baltic cruise vs. a Caribbean or Mediterranean cruise? Or, are folks overstating the savings from their TA’s?

Has anyone else had the same experience?

 

Why does Cruise Critic prohibit members exchanging information on Travel Agents?

[paul929207]

Why does Cruise Critic prohibit members exchanging information on Travel Agents?

I assume it is so we don't have TA constantly hyping themselves. While there are times I would like to give someone the name of my TA or get the name of theirs, I am glad we don't have the spam

[RocketMan275]

I assume it is so we don't have TA constantly hyping themselves. While there are times I would like to give someone the name of my TA or get the name of theirs, I am glad we don't have the spam

 

There's a clue in the first post.

[Iamcruzin]

To me, a good TA is one who will notify me of price drops (and then recalculate the new price). I'm not sure Princess would do that.

 

 

I don't know of any TA's who would go out of their way to lose commission. You are truly blessed to have found such a person.

[yoyosma]

If you are looking at online agencies, give them a call. They can't put up their prices on their public websites. The exception may be if you can log in to their website, but call anyway.

[Kenswing]

I don't know of any TA's who would go out of their way to lose commission. You are truly blessed to have found such a person.

 

They make up for it in return customers and referrals. It's all about customer service..

[JimmyVWine]

If you book directly with Princess and get a very good sale price, (especially if you get re-fared once or twice), you aren't going to find a TA who can beat that price by 10%-20%. The TA may have a few perks to offer. But they aren't going to knock hundreds off of Princess's lowest sale fare. For example, if a fare stars out at $1299, can a TA knock $200 off if that? Quite possibly. But when Princess puts that category on sale for $899, can a TA knock that down by another $150-$200? No. This is when you will see prices from all sources come within $50 of one another. However, there are cruises that never go on sale. If you are paying brochure prices from Princess, then it is not at all unusual to find that TA prices are lower.

[Iamcruzin]

If you book directly with Princess and get a very good sale price, (especially if you get re-fared once or twice), you aren't going to find a TA who can beat that price by 10%-20%. The TA may have a few perks to offer. But they aren't going to knock hundreds off of Princess's lowest sale fare. For example, if a fare stars out at $1299, can a TA knock $200 off if that? Quite possibly. But when Princess puts that category on sale for $899, can a TA knock that down by another $150-$200? No. This is when you will see prices from all sources come within $50 of one another. However, there are cruises that never go on sale. If you are paying brochure prices from Princess, then it is not at all unusual to find that TA prices are lower.

 

Thank you. That makes perfect sense. This is why I don't see a major difference. All this time I have been monitoring threads like this and I have never seen it explained that way.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

If you book directly with Princess and get a very good sale price, (especially if you get re-fared once or twice), you aren't going to find a TA who can beat that price by 10%-20%. The TA may have a few perks to offer. But they aren't going to knock hundreds off of Princess's lowest sale fare. For example, if a fare stars out at $1299, can a TA knock $200 off if that? Quite possibly. But when Princess puts that category on sale for $899, can a TA knock that down by another $150-$200? No. This is when you will see prices from all sources come within $50 of one another. However, there are cruises that never go on sale. If you are paying brochure prices from Princess, then it is not at all unusual to find that TA prices are lower.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. We tend to book cruises that are a good deal to begin with, and TAs I have checked won't discount much, if at all. In addition, more and more TAs seem to be charging booking, cancellation and fare drop processing fees. The exception is if a TA has booked a group rate, then there can be savings to be had.

 

The main reason, IMO, to use a TA is having someone to go to bat for you if there is a problem with the cruiseline. I am no longer willing to pay extra for that service, however, which is what ended up happening to me recently with a booking.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Ryndam2002

[O2Bcrusin]

If you book directly with Princess and get a very good sale price, (especially if you get re-fared once or twice), you aren't going to find a TA who can beat that price by 10%-20%. The TA may have a few perks to offer. But they aren't going to knock hundreds off of Princess's lowest sale fare. For example, if a fare stars out at $1299, can a TA knock $200 off if that? Quite possibly. But when Princess puts that category on sale for $899, can a TA knock that down by another $150-$200? No. This is when you will see prices from all sources come within $50 of one another. However, there are cruises that never go on sale. If you are paying brochure prices from Princess, then it is not at all unusual to find that TA prices are lower.

 

A TA gets the exact same price that you would get from Princess even on Princess's lowest sale fare. If it is already booked the TA would just need to rebook at the lower fare as long as Princess hasn't put any restrictions on the fare like for new bookings only. If that were the case then one wouldn't get the lower price even if booked through Princess. If it was before final payment you could cancel and rebook as long as there wasn't a non refundable deposit. Some large online TA's will charge for rebooking when there is a fare reduction. An independent TA most likely wouldn't do that because they want to keep their clients happy. They will watch for fare reductions and don't mind losing some commission because in the end it will pay off with return customers and referrals. I don't think any cruise line will watch for price reductions and call you if one comes up. A TA can give you a better price if they are willing to kick in some of their commission or if there is a group booked with their company or an associate company, otherwise there are no discounts. You will also get great customer service when booking with an independent TA and as someone else mentioned they will go to bat for you if there is an issue.

[JimmyVWine]

A TA gets the exact same price that you would get from Princess even on Princess's lowest sale fare.

You quoted my post but it is unclear if you are agreeing or disagreeing. Of course the TA can get the same price. But the OP wants to know why they cannot find a lower price. It seems as if we are in agreement that once Princess lowers it's price to rock bottom, the TA can do no better unless they are willing to shave some profit off of their end. Even if they do, the amount will be modest.

[eandj]

We have always paid less with our agent than the lowest sale price on Princess. Loyalty to an agent over years and regular cruising gets us the usual specialty dining, bottle of wine, on board credit as well as a smaller cruise rate, usually $75-100 per person. We are happy no matter which line we choose.

It IS possible to find a great agent willing to work to keep your business.;)

[Shelly97060]

To me, a good TA is one who will notify me of price drops (and then recalculate the new price). I'm not sure Princess would do that.

 

 

I agree. My TA does this and it has saved me quite a bit over the years. :)

[azbirdmom]

Some TAs also book group space on many cruises and pass along extra savings to clients. I always have found that my TA can do better than what Princess is advertising at the time of the booking and will cheerfully refare if the prices go down. I used to book directly with Princess but haven't since we found our current TA - the amount we've saved coupled with the advocacy we have just is too valuable to go back.

[O2Bcrusin]

You quoted my post but it is unclear if you are agreeing or disagreeing. Of course the TA can get the same price. But the OP wants to know why they cannot find a lower price. It seems as if we are in agreement that once Princess lowers it's price to rock bottom, the TA can do no better unless they are willing to shave some profit off of their end. Even if they do, the amount will be modest.

 

I guess we agree. I found your post a little confusing too. :)

[avcruz]

A TA gets the exact same price that you would get from Princess even on Princess's lowest sale fare.

 

This is not necessarily true. Some large chains use their buying power and relationships with the cruise lines to block space on numerous sailings on a variety of itineraries. They'll do this a year or more in advance, and because they are guaranteeing the cruise line X number of cabins sold per sailing the cruise line will give them group rates that are 10-15% below their lowest advertised price. Plus the TA will throw in an OBC or a gift or both.

 

I recently purchased a Cat BC balcony cabin on a 2016 14-day Asia cruise from a major cruise-only agency here in Canada. I paid $800 per person less that the current website price. I'm getting all the amenities that Princess offers plus additional OBC and pre-paid gratuities from the TA. Plus if by chance the Princess price drops below their price, as long as it's before final payment the TA will match it.

[O2Bcrusin]

This is not necessarily true. Some large chains use their buying power and relationships with the cruise lines to block space on numerous sailings on a variety of itineraries. They'll do this a year or more in advance, and because they are guaranteeing the cruise line X number of cabins sold per sailing the cruise line will give them group rates that are 10-15% below their lowest advertised price. Plus the TA will throw in an OBC or a gift or both.

 

I recently purchased a Cat BC balcony cabin on a 2016 14-day Asia cruise from a major cruise-only agency here in Canada. I paid $800 per person less that the current website price. I'm getting all the amenities that Princess offers plus additional OBC and pre-paid gratuities from the TA. Plus if by chance the Princess price drops below their price, as long as it's before final payment the TA will match it.

 

Again, I think we agree. The point I was trying to make is that TA's can get better prices than booking through Princess when they have groups booked. I had thought someone said a TA couldn't get as good a price as Princess offers but I had misunderstood. With a group there are also amenities which can come in the form of extras like on board credit. Sorry for the confusion.