princess booked me without my permission.. what the.....

[luckyinpa]

When you do a booking online, on the payment page, there is a check box to hold the quote. Within minutes, you will receive an email with a "Booking Confirmation" that will confirm the details of your booking/hold. If you make no payments, the "booking" will expire in a few days.

 

this is great news. i had no idea

 

im likely going to book monday nite. gotta wait for some news on monday. so maybe not a bad idea to hold the room now

 

this is great info! thanks again. i'm very excited about this ship. canceling my other november cruise due to conflicts and i was bumming till i found this one.

[The Wilkies]

This happened to me few years ago. I searched a cruise plus various extras. Shortly after received an email with booking confirmation. Panic set in so I rang them. Apparently I wasn't the only one, blamed it on a computer glitch. Instantly cancelled and email received apologising.

[cherylandtk]

how would a newbie to princess know this? try to think about it from a newbies perspective

 

i believe the agent should tell people this since we are not all experts

Well, now you are more experienced. And calmer....yes? This is how you go from being a newbie to a veteran.

 

Many agents, both independent and cruiseline based won't know you are a newbie unless you start out with "I'm a newbie and need to know all the details about how this works". Do that and you should get more hand-holding than you truly want, but you will become knowledgeable. (But you do have 2500 posts; you're not a total newbie ;) )

 

As for what you might do next, here is a possible reply to this energetic new PCC with her 'fantastic' pricing offer:

 

"Hi there Zealous, you gave me a real fright, I was so upset at first that I thought I might have a cardiac event. Then my new friends over at Cruise Critic explained what a courtesy hold booking was and that it would drop off after a few days. I sure wish you had bothered to explain that to me, your new client with little cruise experience.

 

While I have you, I am still wondering what that 'fantastic' special pricing was that you emailed me about? As far as I can see this quote is the exact same price that I can see for myself on the Princess website. Is that correct or am I missing something? Do you regularly have special pricing not available on the website?

 

I've been told that if I seek out a discount cruise travel agent I can regularly save 10% or so on the price of my Princess cruises. Do you have pricing like that?

 

I look forward to hearing from you, Zealous.

Sincerely yours,

Lucky"

 

Yeah, you'll come off like a smart aleck, but she will know you did not just fall off the turnip truck. And then, wish her a fond farewell and seek out a discount TA.

 

And do continue to ask questions here on Cruise Critic....just in the future take a deep breath before getting yourself all twisted up for what may be nothing. If it turns out to be something, we'll all tell you and then you can spool yourself up all you want. :D

[luckyinpa]

i did write her directly with my recommendations for a new script and about the fantastic saving and told her it would have avoided both of the unpleasantness we are now dealing with. i actually stayed 98% professional in my reply except for that blurb above. she may be new. never know.

[luckyinpa]

thats quick. already got me a new consultant. and she proves that they do not have a canned script to follow as its totally different than the other one.

[luckyinpa]

original woman writes back:

I agree and it is something we have asked for in the past. It rarely is an issue, but when communicating by email I can understand.

I like your idea, and brought it to our department manager. He was impressed as well and we will now add an amendment in our templates.

There are select voyages I am able to get better pricing. The voyage you are interested in is not one of them. I am able to give $25.00 per person onboard credit that is not available online.

Thank you for your time and attention.

[Colo Cruiser]

When you do a booking online, on the payment page, there is a check box to hold the quote. Within minutes, you will receive an email with a "Booking Confirmation" that will confirm the details of your booking/hold. If you make no payments, the "booking" will expire in a few days.

 

 

It's not a quote, it's an actual booking. However if the cruise is far enough out Princess will usually give you 48-72 hours to finalize/deposit etc.

It's done this was all the time........

To the OP this is one of the reasons I don't use a Princess PVP, for us it's always been high pressure/endless emails and most PVP's don't stick around long.

We have a very reliable TA who does not play these games. We save 8% to 15% on Princess fares.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Colo Cruiser

[RDC1]

how would a newbie to princess know this? try to think about it from a newbies perspective

 

i believe the agent should tell people this since we are not all experts

You could have made a post asking if it was normal and why Princess might do this, instead of posting in a vitriolic fashion and accusing the compay of unethical behavior.

[RDC1]

It's not a quote, it's an actual booking. However if the cruise is far enough out Princess will usually give you 48-72 hours to finalize/deposit etc.

To the OP this is one of the reasons I don't use a Princess PVP, for us it's always been high pressure/endless emails and most PVP's don't stick around long.

We have a very reliable TA who does not play these games. We save 8% to 15% on Princess fares.

It is a booking with a courtesy hold. No way to give a quote without doing so since the price could change even in a few seconds. If you ask for a quote from a travel agent they are doing the same thing, you just don't see the hold on the Princess system since it goes to the TA not you.

[MCC retired]

OP requested a "quote" .

The only way for a valid quote is to hold an "option" that expires

once no payment is posted .

It was not a "booking".

Imagine how upset the OP would be if he/she liked the deal , called back and it was gone ?

Good TA's also do this to all of the time and client may never know it .

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

One of the main reasons why they ask for your full legal name and DOB is to see if you are a past passenger. I see this all the time. People forget they took a cruise 10 yrs. ago with the cruise line in question. With some cruise lines, it really can make a difference in the pricing.

 

I agree, OP, that the quote is misleading to newbies but this is one example of why a good TA will lead you through the process and explain things along the way vs. assuming you know what you're doing. Glad your new PCC is better but remember, they work for the cruise line and not necessarily for YOU.

[luckyinpa]

It's not a quote, it's an actual booking. However if the cruise is far enough out Princess will usually give you 48-72 hours to finalize/deposit etc.

It's done this was all the time........

To the OP this is one of the reasons I don't use a Princess PVP, for us it's always been high pressure/endless emails and most PVP's don't stick around long.

We have a very reliable TA who does not play these games. We save 8% to 15% on Princess fares.

 

my agent that i booked with before wrote and said. The quotes I e-mail will always have cruise line pricing and promos. Once you decide what you wish to book you can call me for any special discounts I may provide.

so i dont like that either. why cant she tell me what she has 'today' lol. i'm really ready to book direct. im definitely gonna save a room this weekend :) i know stuff changes but what is todays deal. ugh.

[Katwoman007]

Well, they do this booking hold so that they can give you a real live quote with an actual room number assignment. With this hold it locks in their best rate for that day. The price could go up the next day if not locked in. You did not pay anything, so not sure what the issue is.

[Colo Cruiser]

my agent that i booked with before wrote and said. The quotes I e-mail will always have cruise line pricing and promos. Once you decide what you wish to book you can call me for any special discounts I may provide.

so i dont like that either. why cant she tell me what she has 'today' lol. i'm really ready to book direct. im definitely gonna save a room this weekend :) i know stuff changes but what is todays deal. ugh.

 

 

1 of many reasons we don't use a PVP. ;)

[Lucky TGO]

Take a deep breath. This is called a cruise hold - they do the booking to show what the rate would be were you to book If you aren't interested it will disappear - no harm no foul. You could have checked the price yourself online as well. I

Wow that good to know. Thanks!!

Tony

[caribill]

 

truly if they just would have said "In order to lockin your pricing, I will be forwarding a booking confirmation which acts as acourtesy hold. If you do not wish to book, then just ignore the confirmationand it expires." then all would be well and us uniformed newbies wouldnt assume it's a real booking.

 

You are correct.

 

This was poor communication by Princess of what was happening. The rep should have explained it to you.

[caribill]

Good TA's also do this to all of the time and client may never know it .

 

 

Correct. And the reason is Princess sends the "confirmation" to the TA who does not send it on to the potential passenger.

 

However, there have been threads in the past by such potential passengers who discover the "booking" when they look at My Princess on the Princess web site. The result is a person (just as upset as this OP) who posts how their TA made a booking without permission.

[caribill]

my agent that i booked with before wrote and said. The quotes I e-mail will always have cruise line pricing and promos. Once you decide what you wish to book you can call me for any special discounts I may provide.

so i dont like that either. why cant she tell me what she has 'today' lol. i'm really ready to book direct. im definitely gonna save a room this weekend :) i know stuff changes but what is todays deal. ugh.

 

Good reason not to use that TA.

 

There are many good TAs out there who will tell you how much the fare will be if you book with them. Your TA just was not one of them.

[mediator]

wow they wanted my birthday to talk to a supervisor. really. just wow. the fake booking number wasnt enough lol

 

this is almost funny. and yes i do think they should explain that this isnt a real booking. i wouldnt be here on this thread if i thought it was a courtesy hold.

 

and i'm ok with the you snooze you lose thing. i'm well aware pricing changes and i had monitored pricing on my other cruise daily to call in about pricing changes etc.

 

truly if they just would have said "In order to lockin your pricing, I will be forwarding a booking confirmation which acts as acourtesy hold. If you do not wish to book, then just ignore the confirmationand it expires." then all would be well and us uniformed newbies wouldnt assume it's a real booking.

 

Drop it already.

[pablo222]

OP requested a "quote" .

The only way for a valid quote is to hold an "option" that expires

once no payment is posted .

It was not a "booking".

Imagine how upset the OP would be if he/she liked the deal , called back and it was gone ?

Good TA's also do this to all of the time and client may never know it .

 

Folks here have reported seeing the "Quote Booking" show up in their personalizer.

I think the problem for the original poster was that it was unexpected / unexplained.

 

I've been in the other situation, get a quote, decide to act, only to find a higher price.

That's way worse!

[Grego]

If you didn't put down a deposit, I don't think you're booked. It is almost for certain a courtesy hold that will expire in a couple of days if you don't apply a deposit.

 

Correct. If you don't make a deposit you haven't booked the voyage. You were given a temporary hold confirmation pending the deposit transaction.

[CI66774]

This is a courtesy hold that will expire on the date given. I wouldn't give it another thought.

[luckyinpa]

well using my new found information i placed a hold on for my trip. Deposit of 362.00 is due by August 7, 2017

 

so does that mean i have until monday nite or sunday nite at midnight.

 

i had no idea u could do this and its great info! it also shows you really do have to check inventory every day.

[MrMan]

Fare

 

:

 

 

 

 

 

904.00

 

 

 

 

 

904.00

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

1,808.00

 

 

 

 

Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses

 

:

 

 

 

 

 

125.00

 

 

 

 

 

125.00

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

250.00

 

 

 

 

Total Fare

 

:

 

 

 

 

 

1,029.00

 

 

 

 

 

1,029.00

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

2,058.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Amount Received:

 

 

 

 

 

0.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Due:

 

 

 

 

 

2,058.00

 

 

 

 

Payment Details

 

 

 

 

 

Deposit of

 

362.00

 

is due by

 

August 7, 2017

 

. If the deposit due date falls on a weekend, booking will not cancel until the next business day.

 

Final payment of

 

2,058.00

 

is due

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

its also wrong. if you do a deposit of 362 your final payment isnt 2058

 

 

 

You are not listening. This is a courtesy hold. No harm no foul. If you want to shop prices, going to the website might be your better option

 

 

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[MrMan]

Folks here have reported seeing the "Quote Booking" show up in their personalizer.

 

I think the problem for the original poster was that it was unexpected / unexplained.

 

 

 

I've been in the other situation, get a quote, decide to act, only to find a higher price.

 

That's way worse!

 

 

 

Agree, but in addition the OP compounded the issue by coming out of the gate with unethical practice accusations, mob mentality accusations with those trying to help. It's best to get facts first before flying off the accusational handle.

 

 

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