Will probably lose out on super upsell offer due to TA

[rwilk1129]

Got email from TA that got offer from Princess to upgrade from obstructed balcony to Mini suite for $99 pp. Phoned TA and told her yes I wanted. She tried to call Princess while I was on hold but came back and said could not reach and left voicemail. Did not get a callback from TA so phoned and agency was closed at 7:00. Phoned first thing this morning and TA voicemail said off until Friday.Phoned agency and asked for somebody to contact Princess and said Princess would call them within 72hrs. Anybody ever heard of this? I figure I have lost out and I am very disappointed in TA. I cruise about 6 times a year and somebody must want my business. wish I could find a good TA

[umuva]

The e mail offer is not a guarantee of getting it. TA basically gets you in line and Princess decides.

 

 

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[hpeabody]

I almost missed out on an upsell offer because I was NEVER NOTIFIED about the offer, I accidently found out the offer went out a week prior when I was on the phone with Princess about something unrelated. Luckily, that person gave me the information I needed and I connected with the Yield Dept person and got an upsell, and have even changed again at not additional upsell charge. I just got very lucky on this one. I know I need to pursue it with my Travel Agency, it is a big one, though, so I know they get busy. Actually I am happy I did not have the TA in the middle and just dealt directly with Princess Yield Dept. myself.

[easyboy]

That's a nice upsell you (might have) missed!

 

 

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[cruzsnooze]

Same thing happened to me with an upsell from a mini to a full suite. I used a big box company which does NOT look at all the emails and does not pass along upsell offers. They say they are too busy to read all the email and contact us. I will go back to booking directly with the cruise line.

[Iamcruzin]

I hope you all received a nice discounted price and or OBC for your bookings because you aren't receiving any service.

[azbirdmom]

I use a TA who forwards the offers to me quickly. And then I call Princess myself. She would do it for me as these offers are always indicate "you or your TA call...." so I just take the middle-person out of the equation and deal directly with Princess on the upsells. If the offer hasn't expired yet, you might try calling the number on the offer yourself. Good luck!

[suzieb25]

I hope you didn't miss it. I took an upsell from an obstructed oceanview to a premium balcony for my upcoming two week cruise. The all day wait for a call back from Princess was nerve wracking!

[vettprincess]

Got email from TA that got offer from Princess to upgrade from obstructed balcony to Mini suite for $99 pp. Phoned TA and told her yes I wanted. She tried to call Princess while I was on hold but came back and said could not reach and left voicemail. Did not get a callback from TA so phoned and agency was closed at 7:00. Phoned first thing this morning and TA voicemail said off until Friday.Phoned agency and asked for somebody to contact Princess and said Princess would call them within 72hrs. Anybody ever heard of this? I figure I have lost out and I am very disappointed in TA. I cruise about 6 times a year and somebody must want my business. wish I could find a good TA

 

HI:

I was reading these upsell posts and I had to chime in. Have had terrible luck with agents-at 2 big companies. We have called Princess and gotten help sometimes but when they know you have booked with an agency they say they can't work with you.

So sick and tired of the lousy agents I have had that going forward I will book with all cruise lines directly-they are much more helpful.

Edited September 29, 2017 by vettprincess
more info

[Steelers36]

I almost missed out on an upsell offer because I was NEVER NOTIFIED about the offer, I accidently found out the offer went out a week prior when I was on the phone with Princess about something unrelated. Luckily, that person gave me the information I needed and I connected with the Yield Dept person and got an upsell, and have even changed again at not additional upsell charge. I just got very lucky on this one. I know I need to pursue it with my Travel Agency, it is a big one, though, so I know they get busy. Actually I am happy I did not have the TA in the middle and just dealt directly with Princess Yield Dept. myself.

 

Isn't that a special exception? My information is it has to be the TA if the booking is with a TA. I just went through my first upsell and I have more to say in response to another poster.

[Colo Cruiser]

Got email from TA that got offer from Princess to upgrade from obstructed balcony to Mini suite for $99 pp. Phoned TA and told her yes I wanted. She tried to call Princess while I was on hold but came back and said could not reach and left voicemail. Did not get a callback from TA so phoned and agency was closed at 7:00. Phoned first thing this morning and TA voicemail said off until Friday.Phoned agency and asked for somebody to contact Princess and said Princess would call them within 72hrs. Anybody ever heard of this? I figure I have lost out and I am very disappointed in TA. I cruise about 6 times a year and somebody must want my business. wish I could find a good TA

 

Sometimes it takes 24-48 hours. Chill out and give them a chance.

[Steelers36]

Same thing happened to me with an upsell from a mini to a full suite. I used a big box company which does NOT look at all the emails and does not pass along upsell offers. They say they are too busy to read all the email and contact us. I will go back to booking directly with the cruise line.

 

Why not seek out a "small box" TA who provides service along with the discount? My TA was absent from work yesterday when notice came. But the office of support/service staff got it and called me and I had them immediately put the call in for my wife's cruise. I just wasn't sure at first if they were going to get back to our TA or the person in the office. Also, do they call back in evenings when TA offices are closed, but people who book direct don't have office hours. I don't think they do those TA calls at night. They deal with and call back people in order (think of them handling upsells for multiple cruises - not just yours).

 

Today, when they called back, the office person who first dealt with it was out, but a co-worker got the call from Princess and called my cell. We had it done in 5 minutes. IF or IE to B2, TYVM Princess for $99/pp (5-nighter). I know - you can get $99 for a 7-nighter, but it's not a bad deal at all. My wife can now surprise - and treat - our younger daughter to a Balcony.

 

<One of these days, I should try and find out just how much discount the no-service guys give, because I doubt it can be anymore or worth the total loss of control. I'd book with Princess before that.>

[Steelers36]

Sometimes it takes 24-48 hours. Chill out and give them a chance.

 

Agree.. we were just about 24 hrs this week. Understand they could be handling upsells for several voyages at once. And ours was not selective - it was for all Insides who were prepared to take up the offer. They take contact messages and call back in order received.

[Steelers36]

HI:

I was reading these upsell posts and I had to chime in. Have had terrible luck with agents-at 2 big companies. We have called Princess and gotten help sometimes but when they know you have booked with an agency they say they can't work with you.

So sick and tired of the lousy agents I have had that going forward I will book with all cruise lines directly-they are much more helpful.

 

Yes, I like the control of doing my own booking for all types of travel. Don't like to use TA's. But I am a convert when it comes to web-based US cruise agents that provide great discounts and some good service. I do all the work and make my own research and booking and they just do the details necessary to take it on and create my discount. I can still deal with Princess for many things and have access to my status 24/7 via Cruise Personalizer. I still treat it as much as I can as my own booking arrangements and the TA is a way to save me some money. That said, an experienced one can be very helpful in some situations, especially if they do a lot of business with Princess (or your preferred cruiseline). So, as I have posted before I am happy to give up some control (booking changes dealing with pricing) in return for a nice discount and often some OBC.

And I believe I can form relationship with a TA when I land on the right one. I have before but left her as she failed to come with good pricing. Now I think I have the best of both worlds.

[satxdiver]

The OP's experience is why I switched to directly booking with Princess. I have never found the TA's extras to be worth the hassle of working through them. Maybe someday I will try a TA again. My experience with three TA's has all been bad.

[Thrak]

We live in California and my TA is located here in our home town. He was out of town and called from Chicago to tell us we had an upsell offer. I said to take it. He called back in 5 minutes and it was a done deal. That is the kind of service I like. :) (He also gave us a very nice up front discount on our cruise sailing the 8th.) I do the work to find my cruises and book them but later I usually move them to my TA. I have, in the past, considered using the big box folks for their crazy OBC but the service isn't there nor is there any up-front discount.

[Steelers36]

We live in California and my TA is located here in our home town. He was out of town and called from Chicago to tell us we had an upsell offer. I said to take it. He called back in 5 minutes and it was a done deal. That is the kind of service I like. :) (He also gave us a very nice up front discount on our cruise sailing the 8th.) I do the work to find my cruises and book them but later I usually move them to my TA. I have, in the past, considered using the big box folks for their crazy OBC but the service isn't there nor is there any up-front discount.

(y)(y)(y)

[Musky Ike]

The money I have saved over the years is of way more value than any off chance I might miss an up-sell. I'll stick to the known benefit.

[Coral]

You can call direct for an upsell. You don't have to go through the TA.

[RocketMan275]

The money I have saved over the years is of way more value than any off chance I might miss an up-sell. I'll stick to the known benefit.

It's hard to beat a 10% discount on Princess cruises. I wouldn't deal with a TA that offered anything less.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I seldom use a TA anymore (even though I used to be one) for this very reason of having to go through a third party for every little thing.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Regardless of which TA you use for whatever reason, unless that person or their office forwards the upsell email on or call you in a timely manner you may miss out. I have had this happen.

 

The best upsell I have taken was a cruise I had booked direct and when the email arrived to me I literally picked up the phone immediately!, and success!!

 

 

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[cruzsnooze]

 

 

 

<One of these days, I should try and find out just how much discount the no-service guys give, because I doubt it can be anymore or worth the total loss of control. I'd book with Princess before that.>

It's a rather large OBC that is refundable, usually it is $700 or more. I compared that to a brick and morter TA who offered $100 by contrast. I used to book directly with Princess which I still do before I turn it over to this companyjust prior to final payment, It's an awful lot of OBC to miss by leaving my booking with Princess. I think it's time to shop around again and see what's out there.

[Steelers36]

It's a rather large OBC that is refundable, usually it is $700 or more. I compared that to a brick and morter TA who offered $100 by contrast. I used to book directly with Princess which I still do before I turn it over to this company just prior to final payment, It's an awful lot of OBC to miss by leaving my booking with Princess. I think it's time to shop around again and see what's out there.

 

That sounds promising, but any dollar discount is only relevant when one understands the length of cruise and type of cabin involved - IOW the total spend. I could say we saved >$1000/pp, and we did, but that's not a 1-week cruise out of FLL to the Caribbean in an Inside cabin.

 

Also, if book with a TA, don't have to deal through them for "every little thing". Only bigger things like cancel, change of cabin category, payments. It's reported here we can even call in response to Upsells on our own.

[RocketMan275]

I hope you all received a nice discounted price and or OBC for your bookings because you aren't receiving any service.

My TA provides all the services you might want. Her service is, if anything, far superior to anything you get from the cruise lines. And, she discounts the price by 10%.