Princess Deals and TA Issue

[Dlady47]

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this or not.

 

I am going on a group cruise arranged by a travel agent. We are paying top dollar and until recently all attempts to get her to lower our price and respond have gone unanswered. Last July princess offered a great deal on the suite we’d already booked. I asked her to get us that lower price. She never did. They also offered a free drink package in the timeframe we booked, we never got that either.

 

After complaints to Princess and others, she’s suddenly woken up and is trying to get us a better deal. Is there any chance Princess will give us the deal on the beverage package even though it ended months ago, or are we out of luck?

Edited May 31, 2019 by Dlady47

[shanecindy21403]

I'd of fired that TA a long time ago. When you saw the lower pricing and/or the drink package I would have just went and booked direct with Princess. Why would you have booked with a TA that has no benefits? I usually book direct to get the best deal then transfer it to a TA who discounts or gives me additional perks.

[Reader0108598]

Princess will not give you past promotions. I say have princess pull the booking from that TA who not only did you no good but cost you money! Why give her the commision? I did this once!

 

 

Good luck!

Edited May 31, 2019 by Reader0108598

[Times Prince]

Princess usually does not honor deals after expiration.

What incentives did the TA offer for your "group cruise"?  On board parties?  We once took a "group cruise" and never saw the TA onboard, so unless you already know everyone in your group and like to socialize with them there may be no advantage.

[skynight]

You will probably receive something, maybe a little OBC. But a lesson learned. Move your booking if you don't get what you want. I am assuming you are in North America. Not all T.A.'s are the same.

Edited May 31, 2019 by skynight

[silversneakers]

6 hours ago, Dlady47 said:

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this or not.

 

I am going on a group cruise arranged by a travel agent. We are paying top dollar and until recently all attempts to get her to lower our price and respond have gone unanswered. Last July princess offered a great deal on the suite we’d already booked. I asked her to get us that lower price. She never did. They also offered a free drink package in the timeframe we booked, we never got that either.

 

After complaints to Princess and others, she’s suddenly woken up and is trying to get us a better deal. Is there any chance Princess will give us the deal on the beverage package even though it ended months ago, or are we out of luck?

If it is a group booking she probably had group rates and not sure if that can be negotiated for one and not all.

[dickinson]

No excuse for TA not responding to you.  In spite of that, it is possible that you have a group rate and therefore not able to get other promotions and pricing.  When is your cruise?  Has final payment passed?  If not you could try to get your booking transferred to Princess.

[Reader0108598]

50 minutes ago, dickinson said:

No excuse for TA not responding to you.  In spite of that, it is possible that you have a group rate and therefore not able to get other promotions and pricing.  When is your cruise?  Has final payment passed?  If not you could try to get your booking transferred to Princess.

OP said they are paying top dollar ,group bookings usually afford you a better price and some perks! 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Reader0108598

[dickinson]

29 minutes ago, Reader0108598 said:

OP said they are paying top dollar ,group bookings usually afford you a better price and some perks! 

 

To the OP the price they got for a suite was probably what they felt was "top dollar".  With only one post on cruise critic, unless they post back with more info, we will never know.  Either way, not only should the TA have responded back to them, they should have kept calling the TA back or spoken to owner of agency or something.  

[deliver42]

I have a question. Why in the world would you use a TA paying top dollar in the first place?

[Dlady47]

Without giving away who this travel agent might be, this is a group cruise related to the type of business I'm in. She's done several of these and has a large set of regulars who appear to be fine with the prices and service they get from her. I still have a week to cancel, but several people have told me that they signed up because I was going. As you can see, I feel obligated to take my lumps and go.

If I transfer the cruise to Princess, I won't be able to attend the group events.

When we booked, we were told that the rates charged were the initial rates for the cruise, but we would get the best deal available. That never happened.

 

You guys have answered my questions, and I thank you all for that. The answer is what I thought it would be--we're out of luck. As someone else said, live and learn. I'll never do another one of these group cruises again.

I have booked three other cruises via an excellent TA, so I do know what they can do for a traveler, which makes this doubly frustrating.

[Reader0108598]

3 minutes ago, Dlady47 said:

Without giving away who this travel agent might be, this is a group cruise related to the type of business I'm in. She's done several of these and has a large set of regulars who appear to be fine with the prices and service they get from her. I still have a week to cancel, but several people have told me that they signed up because I was going. As you can see, I feel obligated to take my lumps and go.

If I transfer the cruise to Princess, I won't be able to attend the group events.

When we booked, we were told that the rates charged were the initial rates for the cruise, but we would get the best deal available. That never happened.

 

You guys have answered my questions, and I thank you all for that. The answer is what I thought it would be--we're out of luck. As someone else said, live and learn. I'll never do another one of these group cruises again.

I have booked three other cruises via an excellent TA, so I do know what they can do for a traveler, which makes this doubly frustrating.

Thanks for coming back and explaining I think we have all had this or somthing similar happen 🙂  Stay on the TA sounds like she is keeping any perks for herself. Hope you have a good cruise!

[dickinson]

Thanks for coming back. Glad you have a better TA for your other cruises. Enjoy this cruise!

[happy cruzer]

It would seem that a "Group Cruise" is a different beast - that the changes in prices and promotions probably don't apply to.  If they do offer "anything" different (meeting rooms, group dining, one lunch in a dining room, etc.) it would be hard to compare apples to apples.

[cherylandtk]

8 hours ago, Dlady47 said:

<snip>If I transfer the cruise to Princess, I won't be able to attend the group events.

That right there explains the issue; your group cruise has ‘extras’ added above what is just the regular cruise.  These extra events have a cost, which was incorporated into your initial pricing.  Most times, with an affinity group like yours, there is a set price and you take it or leave it.  

 

If you want to take advantage of sales, price drops and rebooking, do not book as part of an affinity group.  But I do agree that the TA owed you a phone call to explain it to you.

[cruisinggran]

We are also booked on one of these group cruises.  We are like the other person

paying top $$$$ for the cruise with the promise of being able to take advantage

of promotions and price reductions. When I check other web sites the price is comparable to what we are paying so to me the t/a did not give us any deal to book with them.

 Like the op so far we havebeen unable to take advantage of any promotions.

 if you cancel and book with Princess you loose the ability to join the group for functions. But you can take advantage of their promotions. 

I am sure the leader of our group was as us not informed of all the rules of the booking from the t/a so no blame there.

so you live and learn people.  We have cruised 100+ and still learning.

 

 

 

 

[Coral]

36 minutes ago, cruisinggran said:

 

I am sure the leader of our group was as us not informed of all the rules of the booking from the t/a so no blame there.

so you live and learn people.  We have cruised 100+ and still learning.

 

I am not so sure and would not let her off the hook. Her posts on this board did not make her look good. I would definitely not be involved with her again.

[cruisinggran]

1 minute ago, Coral said:

I am not so sure and would not let her off the hook. Her posts on this board did not make her look good. I would definitely not be involved with her again.

Thank you Coral as I said you live and learn.  The message I am trying to get out is

people have to be careful when they join a group cruise whether it is your best friend or

a neighbour. 😘😘😘😘

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, cruisinggran said:

Thank you Coral as I said you live and learn.  The message I am trying to get out is

people have to be careful when they join a group cruise whether it is your best friend or

a neighbour. 😘😘😘😘

These posts are definitely are educational for many. I do hope people do learn from them and ask questions. I thank you for posting about this.

[azbirdmom]

I'm not sure if it's the same person but there is a TA who is a moderator for a FB group that I used to belong to.  There is lots of good info shared there and I enjoyed participating.  When the Antarctica cruises were released, she put together a group and published pricing that was significantly higher than what I had already booked for.  I had no interest in booking with her because I already have a fantastic TA but I asked her if the price was discounted and she indicated that Princess did not allow that beyond the group pricing that she was offering.  I left the group as it was clear to me that the mods were mining the group for clients.  Let the buyer beware!

[DrivesLikeMario]

OP, I'd say your chances are pretty slim in getting past promotions.  If you haven't paid the final payment and you have a refundable fare, you can cancel and re-book with another more competent TA.

Whenever someone books into a Group, they should ask if the TA will be able to adjust pricing in the future as long as the new promotions don't say "for new bookings only".  They should know what their GAP amenity is ahead of time (OBC, cocktail party or whatever they choose).  Also, they should ask if there are booking fees or cancellation fees by the TA and if the TA is quoting refundable rates or non-refundable rates.

[DrivesLikeMario]

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I'm not sure if it's the same person but there is a TA who is a moderator for a FB group that I used to belong to.  There is lots of good info shared there and I enjoyed participating.  When the Antarctica cruises were released, she put together a group and published pricing that was significantly higher than what I had already booked for.  I had no interest in booking with her because I already have a fantastic TA but I asked her if the price was discounted and she indicated that Princess did not allow that beyond the group pricing that she was offering.  I left the group as it was clear to me that the mods were mining the group for clients.  Let the buyer beware!

 

Princess is one of the few cruise lines that will allow TA discounting as long as it isn't advertised.  Maybe she was advertising it somewhere or they considered the FB postings "advertising"?  A lot of brick & mortar cruise travel agencies will not allow TAs to discount their commission whereas smaller, independent agents can, and most often, DO.

[Fouremco]

On 5/31/2019 at 8:58 AM, Dlady47 said:

If I transfer the cruise to Princess, I won't be able to attend the group events.

How important are the group events to you? Will there be plenty of time to socialize with your friends outside the set events, or do they take up most of your time aboard? You don't indicate what the difference in price might be if you were to cancel and book directly with Princess, but is attending the events worth the extra money?

 

On 5/31/2019 at 8:58 AM, Dlady47 said:

this is a group cruise related to the type of business I'm in.

Are there potential tax write offs? Maybe you can recoup part of the higher costs if you can claim a legitimate business expense. 

[Ombud]

On 5/31/2019 at 10:50 AM, happy cruzer said:

It would seem that a "Group Cruise" is a different beast - that the changes in prices and promotions probably don't apply to.  If they do offer "anything" different (meeting rooms, group dining, one lunch in a dining room, etc.) it would be hard to compare apples to apples.

My PCP gets me 1 free lodging + extra OBC if booking 8 rooms. That's just me & my kids. I only get extra OBC if only 5 rooms (ie: college kids can't make it). And she refares if a better promo comes along. 

[happy cruzer]

Yes, ombud explained how their TA does that group.  But each group is probably different and is treated differently as far as price matching, refaring and rebooking.  Each group has different perks such as group events so are probably treated differently.  My TA has a block booking that seems to be treated a bit differently.  So far to the advantage but who knows for next comparision?