Advantages of using Princess Travel Planner?

[Namvvet68]

What are the advantages of using the Princess Travel Planner? If we form a group(5 cabins) is there any advantage to that.  Do we get a better price than the prices shown on the web-site?   I understand that if the price goes down, you will be able to take advantage of that reduction.  

Edited April 22, 2020 by Namvvet68
added more questions

[kucheraa]

I like using Princess, they can do everything for the whole group. If prices drop they will do that too. Extra perks too. Give it a try.

[caribill]

No discount for just five cabins whether you use a Princess Travel Planner or a travel agent.

 

Pricing from a Princess Travel Planner will be the current Princess list price.

 

Many (but definitely not all) travel agents will give you discounts and additional perks to what the Princess Travel Planner can give you.

 

Many have reported that their Princess Travel Planner is more willing than a TA to search for a better fare for you if you call between the time you make the booking and final payment is due.

[Steelers36]

12 hours ago, kucheraa said:

Extra perks too.

Really?  Curious what extra perks a PVP can offer that customers cannot get elsewhere.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Steelers36

[Coral]

I see no benefit of using a Princess Travel Planner. I get more benefits from my Travel Agent than direct from Princess. My Travel Agent gives me better prices (and benefits) then Princess direct.

 

There will be no better prices when going direct than what is on the website.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Coral

[weedpindle]

No matter who you use to book a cruise, website, PVP, or a TA, the PRICE is the Same. Period. The difference is a TA can give some (how much up to TA) of the commission back as a perk.

[voljeep]

what about a TA that books group space ?

[susancruzs]

I always use my travel agent, have been for 20 years.  She gives me a better price than Princess and price drops.

[memoak]

 I stopped using aTA back in the 1990’s when they forgot to send in final payment. Now I use a Princess Travel Planner and they are great and will contact me whenever a new promo will help me

[XBGuy]

Some here, have had better experiences with their Princess Personal Cruise Planner than I have.  I am glad to hear that.  It is clear that some are better than others.

 

Over the last eight years, or so, three different PCPs have introduced themselves to me via e-mail or telephone.  I cannot recall one instance where a PCP has provided any added value beyond the service that I would expect from any telephone agent.  More than once, voice messages that I have left have been ignored.

 

I have always booked our cruises from the Princess web site.  Not once have I screwed that up.  Like most, I have called Princess on multiple occasions and worked with whatever agent picked up the call.  My questions or issues were successfully addressed every time.

[voljeep]

10 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

Over the last eight years, or so, three different PCPs have introduced themselves to me via e-mail or telephone.  I cannot recall one instance where a PCP has provided any added value beyond the service that I would expect from any telephone agent

I've fired one, got fired by one, currently on my third … nada, nada, nada … ha

 

[Gwendy]

May be different here in Australia than in US.  Last year I used Princess personal Planner after she emailed me and introduced  herself.   Absolute nightmare,  not familiar with cruise I was booking, a 54 night cruise in a single cabin she offered me $100 OBC.  I eventually negotiated more but it was hard work,  had to chase up air details and then just before I flew out she left and handed my booking to someone else who was just as inefficient.

No feedback at all after I had paid my money.  First and last time I will ever use them.  Back to TA or do it myself.

[Namvvet68]

On 4/22/2020 at 7:09 PM, kucheraa said:

I like using Princess, they can do everything for the whole group. If prices drop they will do that too. Extra perks too. Give it a try.

What extra perks did you get?

 

[Steelers36]

 

On 4/23/2020 at 10:20 AM, Steelers36 said:

Really?  Curious what extra perks a PVP can offer that customers cannot get elsewhere.

 

1 hour ago, Namvvet68 said:

What extra perks did you get?

 

 

Crickets form the OP on this one.  Not surprised.

[trvlwrld]

free cabin upgrades, rebooking to same cabin when price drops, FCC applied much easier when reservation goes haywire

[satxdiver]

On 4/23/2020 at 2:36 PM, voljeep said:

I've fired one, got fired by one, currently on my third … nada, nada, nada … ha

 

😲😲😲

 

I dumped two TA so far.  I tried one of the internet based TA and got a little OBC but decided it was not worth it because of the lack of interest on his part.  So I have gone back to my PVP.  

Edited April 26, 2020 by satxdiver

[susancruzs]

free cabin upgrades, rebooking to same cabin when price drops, FCC applied much easier when reservation goes haywire

 

I get all that with my TA although in over 20+ years, I've never had a booking go haywire, don't know what it means.

 

I get price drops, staying in the same cabin.  If I don't have the $100, my TA gives me the $100. deposit.  I've never paid Princess more than $100. for a deposit and I take long cruises, never 7 days.  

 

I've been cruising since 1982 and years ago I sold outside sales for an agency, I will not book through Princess.

[Coral]

13 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

free cabin upgrades, rebooking to same cabin when price drops, FCC applied much easier when reservation goes haywire

I think you are confused. People get this regardless who they book through. It is not limited to those who book through Princess.

[voljeep]

some have posted that their 'TA's' don't forward move-over offers, and are reluctant to do re-fares since it directly affects their  commission … guess it just depends on the TA

[Coral]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

some have posted that their 'TA's' don't forward move-over offers, and are reluctant to do re-fares since it directly affects their  commission … guess it just depends on the TA

I think there is a difference between Order Takers and Travel Agents. Big box stores are order takers.

 

I use a real agent who looks out for my best interest. No problems with re-fares and move over offers. A happy client will tell their friends. 

[iancal]

We prefer to deal with an agent who is independent of the cruise line.  Besides, our on line TA gives us commission rebates in the form of OBC's.  More than once she has added us to one of her groups resulting in slight price reduction and/or  free excursion included.

 

And yes, she has not only advised us of a move over offer but also arranged a three way call with Princess to confirm the details and then requested a follow up written offer for us.  We  were extremely happy to take advantage of the move over offer.  Hope it happens again!

 

We feel we get a much more objective view from our TA.  She gives us unbiased feedback from her customers.  More than once she has told us about a better offer on an equiv. ship/cruise line that we were not aware of.  She has also asked us to wait a few days when we were about to book inside the final payment window because she had knowledge of a price reduction coming down in the next five days or so.  I do not believe that a cruise line employee would offer up any of this information.

Edited April 26, 2020 by iancal

[voljeep]

5 minutes ago, iancal said:

  She has also asked us to wait a few days when we were about to book inside the final payment window because she had knowledge of a price reduction coming down in the next five days or so

why could you not of booked the exact cabin you wanted, then 5 days later , do a re-fare when the price was reduced … sure you would need to pay more upfront, but then have the difference returned back to your form of payment … pre- C-19, of course ...

[iancal]

When you book inside the final payment window there is no re-faring.  The price is final.   

 

We book most of our cruises inside the final payment window...the entire fare is due and paid at time of booking.

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, iancal said:

When you book inside the final payment window there is no re-faring.  The price is final.   

We re-fared 4 times after final payment on our last cruise - booked directly with Princess

 

a different cruise, we re-fared 5 days before sailing … netted about $ 100 on that one

[iancal]

Some cruise lines will re-fare IF you purchased outside the final payment window.  Others will not.  We have been upgraded or rec'd cruise line OBC's on the rare occasion when we booked well in advance of the final payment window.

 

Typically we buy inside the window to get a great price.  We don't care about a $50 or $100 price drop when we buy inside the window.  In this instance the saving was $250. per person with a higher balcony cat.  Well worth the  5 day delay in booking.

 

We also check pricing outside the country.  We did a late booking Australia/NZ cruise a few years ago.   We booked direct by phone with RCI in Sydney.  Their price was 30 percent less than the best price that our US on line TA or RCI US could give us.  That is about the only time we have booked direct with the cruise line in years, if ever.

 

We are not married to any one cruise line.  The logo on the funnel does not matter to us.  We shop on the basis of itinerary/ship/price rather  than cruise line so it make sense to us to deal with a TA who handles all brands.

Edited April 26, 2020 by iancal