What did you pay for your cruise w/o air?????

[srphnx]

The expectation that a TA will check on reductions is nealy always a short cut to heart ache. There isn't much incentive as they are paid a percentage and a busy TA can sell over 750 cruises a month, mine does that and more. I would not however pay anyone for changing the price, not a single dollar so I agree with that wholeheartedly. And all upgrades are from Princess not TA's... unless they see the price change and remember your other category (unlikely) and make the move.

 

These days the best policy is to pick an online site with live pricing and availability and check it like you do your email, NO ONE will ever be as concerned about what you pay as you are.

 

Life is at it's best when your address floats

<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>

Diamond Princess 05/04 ~~ Mercury 06/02

Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98 ~~ Legend o.t. Seas 09/95

<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>

Diamond Princess 12/04

Diamond Princess 11/04 ~~ Diamond Princess 04/04

Sea Princess 01/02 ~~ Vision o.t. Seas 04/02<FONT color=red>

West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>

Ecstacy 09/01

<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>

Century 12/97

<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>

Century 9/96

 

[Lynda90]

Yes, I agree with everything you said. I was able to find live pricing which is the only reason I was able to know about the price reductions. I thought it was standard practice to charge for changes. I'm sure glad everyone in this group is sooooo helpful. Next time things will be different.

 

Thanks,

Lynda

[BJS]

QUOTE]I had to call each time I saw a reduction as the ta never informed me of any reductions We ended up first getting upgraded to category AA in a mini-suite and now we have been upgraded to a premium suite. This was done by Princess, not the ta.

lyndabaker If you are doing all the watching and Princess all the upgrading why not just book with Princess directly?

 

Future cruises:

May 04 Amsterdam

Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2

Jan. 05 Diamond Princess

July 05 Star Princess

Aug. 05 Star Pincess

 

Past cruises:

04 Dawn Princess x 2

03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,

Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess

01 Ryndam x 2

00 Sky Princess

79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[Lynda90]

BJS: When I called Princess, the price they quoted me was significantly higher than the ta.

 

Lynda

[srphnx]

Booking with Princess directly means you will NEVER get a reduction on TA commission which nearl all of the high volume TA's do.

 

The 15% the TA gets for the booking can be retuned to you in discount or nearly all of it anyway, that adds up to real money in most cases. ANY TIME Princess has a number no matter how low, it can be discounted further by a TA if they choose to.

 

Life is at it's best when your address floats

<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>

Diamond Princess 05/04 ~~ Mercury 06/02

Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98 ~~ Legend o.t. Seas 09/95

<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>

Diamond Princess 12/04

Diamond Princess 11/04 ~~ Diamond Princess 04/04

Sea Princess 01/02 ~~ Vision o.t. Seas 04/02<FONT color=red>

West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>

Ecstacy 09/01

<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>

Century 12/97

<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>

Century 9/96

 

[surmy555]

Caribbean Princess - 5/15/04 sailing booked Jan 04

 

Cat K inside Guarentee - upgraded to a Cat II inside

 

$688 per person including all taxes

[BJS]

srphnx<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>can be discounted further by a TA if they choose to.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Those are the key words.

 

Always a lower price to be found somewhere.

 

Not disagreeing with you nor starting a debate but have heard about some of those great TA comission discounts and they were still higher than what we paid directly with Princess for that cruise and category. Also know that high volume TAs give shipboard credits and that these type of credits can not be combined with CCL stock ownership shipboard credits.

 

Some ways to book work best for some and other ways best for others - just depends on what fits your needs and what you are happy with.

 

Future cruises:

May 04 Amsterdam

Sept. 04 Star Princess x 2

Jan. 05 Diamond Princess

July 05 Star Princess

Aug. 05 Star Pincess

 

Past cruises:

04 Dawn Princess x 2

03 Grand,Sun,Tahitian,

Royal Princess x 2,Island Princess

01 Ryndam x 2

00 Sky Princess

79 Sitmar's Fairwind

[srphnx]

And to further the spirit of non-arguing, I suggest that every person chech both ways every time, to be sure they are happy... that way the proof is in the pudding for you, your circumstance and your cruise.

 

My TA does ask about past pax status and checks for that rate but often presents me with options... i.e. this is the way this booking would work vs. the way this would work.. all in all shop, compare, pick and CRUISE.

 

Life is at it's best when your address floats

<FONT color=red>Alaska</FONT>

Diamond Princess 05/04 ~~ Mercury 06/02

Rhapsody o.t. Seas 05/98 ~~ Legend o.t. Seas 09/95

<FONT color=red>Mexican Riviera</FONT>

Diamond Princess 12/04

Diamond Princess 11/04 ~~ Diamond Princess 04/04

Sea Princess 01/02 ~~ Vision o.t. Seas 04/02<FONT color=red>

West Coast-Baja Mexico</FONT>

Ecstacy 09/01

<FONT color=red>Eastern Carribean</FONT>

Century 12/97

<FONT color=red>Western Carribean</FONT>

Century 9/96

 

[cactusrose]

Sale me away,

 

If your price includes govt fees and port charges, Id say you got a good deal. The most important thing is that you are happy with the cabin, ship and itinerary.

 

Enjoy!

 

1952 - Excalibur (freighter)

1972 - Song of Norway, Caribbean

1980 - Hawaii American Curise line, Tahiti

09/01/2002 - Veendam, Alaska

05/29/2003 - Pacific Princess, Alaska

11/26/2003 - Star Princess, Australia/New Zealand

 

5/28/2004 - Star Princess, Venice to Barcelona

 

11/06/2004 - Diamond Princess, Mexican Riviera

[Lidi]

CruisingMommy, what airline are you flying? We are leaving the next week for our Caribbean Princess cruise and so far that is a great rate. I would like to check into that. TIA

 

Norway 5/11

 

[prose]

Only thing I can say is that we paid less $ for our 15 day Hawaii cruise in 2005 than we did for our 10 day Panama Canal in 1999.

 

Paula

[crosj]

Coral Princess 10 days Cat aa $4000 (including $200 ship board credit) April 2005

 

Sun Princess 3 day Cat BC $400 for the room. May 2004

 

Rhapsody of the Seas- 7 day Mardi Gras- Cat JR-

$2000 for the room.. Feb 2004

 

Island Princess 7 day northbound Alaska Cat BC $2400 for the room- Aug 2003

 

Thats all my memory will allow me to remember.

 

Elation-04/01 Mexico

Radiance-4/02 Panama Canal

NCL Sun -6/03 Alaska

Island Princess 8/03 Alaska

Rhapsody-2/22/04 Mardi Gras

Sun Princess 5/04 left Coast

Coral Pricess 4/05 Panama Canal

[CruisingMommy]

Lidi - We are flying on Delta/Song. They just dropped their rates thursday (I have been watching for weeks). We booked it through Expedia as they discounted our children's fares (under 2).

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Noordam, 8/97

Grandeur of the Seas 10/98

Monarch of Seas 10/99

Grand Princess 12/00

Grand Princess 9/01

Adventure of the Seas 12/01

Explorer of the Seas 8/02

Caribbean Princess 9/04

[skarletohara]

To LyndaBaker:

That $1,299 price for the mini was right in

line with my recent price quotes for the Alaska itinery. Alaska itineraries from my

experience cost approx $150 - 200 more per person for the mini-suites than, say, the Mexico cruise on the same ship.

I've been pricing both recently. So you did

quite will with your Penthouse upgrade!

You will love those full suites. They're fabulous.

 

Carnival Holiday 6/92

RCCL Monarch of the Seas 6/94

Celebrity Infinity 6/28/01

Star Princess 2/08/03

Golden Princess 12/06/03

Diamond Princess 9/25/04

[Lynda90]

Why thank you ms. scarlet; I do feel better and I'm looking forward to the suite. When you think about everything that's included with the cruise, it's really a bargain. I went shopping today and did some real damage to the credit cards but I plan to look fabulous!

 

Lynda

[dewla]

I know the summer months are higher because kids are out of school. We paid $870 pp for Baja deck balconies. We booked four cabins.
This includes a $25 shipboadr credit so we raly paid $890 per person.
This is for the 6/5/2004 sailing on Carribeacn Princess.

laura

[LetmeCurise]

To Lyndabaker,
The price you paid is EXCATLY what we paid for our cruise on the Diamond to Mexico on 10-16-04
We booked a MIni AA cat. grty. and have paid $1299.00 per person..(paid in full at time of booking)
So maybe Princess will upgrade us to a full suite also.. Would'nt that be heaven.. But if not we know that we have booked a cabin that we will be happy with and have paid a fair price for our vacation....
P.S.
Just last week i found a coupon in the Entertainment book for $100.00 off a princess cruise, So i mailed it in to see if it will be applied to our cruise, Who knows ???
But if not all is great because we HAVE A CRUISE BOOKED>>>>>:-)
After booking

[dewla]

I know that the dates you are cruising is very important as to the price. For example, we livein Houston and Rhapsody of the Seas goes out of Galveston. It was over $1200 per person if we wanted to cruise over Spring Break, but $399 the next week!
I think that times when kids are out of school is always the highest. If you can cruise when kids are in school you will get the very best deals!

Laura

[helen123]

Does $1500 include port charges & taxes?
If it does I think you got a great deal!

[Lynda90]

Letmecruise: The $100 coupon from Entertainment Book is only good on Love Boat Saver fares which tend to be much higher than most pay. So, unless you paid that brochure price, the coupon will not be good. I think the back of the coupon specifies the terms. But, who knows, maybe you'll get lucky. I stayed in an category AA mini suite last year when I went to Mexico and I loved the cabin. so even if you don't get an upgrade, you'll be very happy with what you have. Happy cruising!

Lynda
5/29/04 - Diamond Princess to Alaska