Is there going to be a 3-Day Sale this year?

[mnocket]

Is there going to be a 3-Day Sale this year from the TA that can't be named?  Historically it's happened right about now.

[ceilidh1]

1 minute ago, mnocket said:

Is there going to be a 3-Day Sale this year from the TA that can't be named?  Historically it's happened right about now.

It's pushed off to August, but it is happening! 

[ceilidh1]

Up to $700 OBC

Princess Plus (always available, so not really part of sale)

[mnocket]

24 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Up to $700 OBC

Princess Plus (always available, so not really part of sale)

Great.  Thanks for the info.  I was wondering how Princess Plus would affect this sale.  Now I have something to compare current TA discounts against.  I'm looking at a  2023 cruise, but it's filling up and I'm not sure I should wait.  Thanks to you I can make an informed decision.🙂

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

It's pushed off to August, but it is happening! 

Correct. Our TA from that agency confirmed for us that it would 19-21 August.

[Peckishpixie]

Yes, in August

[tert333]

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

Great.  Thanks for the info.  I was wondering how Princess Plus would affect this sale.  Now I have something to compare current TA discounts against.  I'm looking at a  2023 cruise, but it's filling up and I'm not sure I should wait.  Thanks to you I can make an informed decision.🙂

I may be the only one that feels this way, but I have spent the last year booking, cancelling and then rebooking cruises.   While I am looking forward to a number of 2022 cruises, I think I will use 2023 to travel in a different way - maybe go to a European city and spend a couple of weeks in an airbnb just to get to know the city.   The cruise prices for 2023 are high and am ok with waiting under the demand starts going down, along with the prices.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, mnocket said:

Great.  Thanks for the info.  I was wondering how Princess Plus would affect this sale.  Now I have something to compare current TA discounts against.  I'm looking at a  2023 cruise, but it's filling up and I'm not sure I should wait.  Thanks to you I can make an informed decision.🙂

Princess Plus is always there now.  But, I think the appeal of the 3-day was also the cabin upgrade feature that Princess used to have in their annual 3-For-Free sale which is gone now.  Princess did have a promotion for free cabin upgrade (within same category) earlier this year.  

[Wishing on a star]

If they are adding a bit more OBC, I am not sure it will be as great as a deal as what they have offered before???

Anyhow, can anybody give me a first name of a good agent, or the city, where they have booked this 3-Day Sale?

I did contact one agency, out of Florida, and sadly, did not get a decent agent, and haven't really heard back.

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

If they are adding a bit more OBC, I am not sure it will be as great as a deal as what they have offered before???

Anyhow, can anybody give me a first name of a good agent, or the city, where they have booked this 3-Day Sale?

I did contact one agency, out of Florida, and sadly, did not get a decent agent, and haven't really heard back.

 

Princess had a similar thing at the beginning of this year when they offered the free cabin upgrade and if you also wanted the PLUS features, that was there as well.  We got a B type cabin for the F pricing and there was a free Specialty dining per person as well.  I don't normally get the PLUS.  If I had to re-fare for it now, it would be a very bad idea.  If I could add it on for $40/pp/day, it's still an option, depending on what I might do about wine for next cruises.

 

[Thrak]

Booked this sale once but the cruises were cancelled by COVID. As it turned out, by the time all was said and done we would have been just as well off booking ourselves and transferring the booking to our usual TA. Part of the reason we booked via this agency's "sale" was the inclusion of the beverage package. After a while Princess started offering the package in an attractive deal that negated the benefit of this agency's deal. The cash off the top from our regular TA combined with the later Princess deal would have made things easily as good for us as this agency's "deal".  Also, the actual local agent had ZERO clue about cruises. Fortunately, his wife works in the office with him and she knew what was what.

 

These days booking Princess Plus is good enough for us. Our TA will sweeten the pot with a price reduction. No need for us to worry about this "sale".

[Steelers36]

26 minutes ago, Thrak said:

No need for us to worry about this "sale".

Been my thinking of late.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks!

I did contact the Cruise Center closest to me in my State, and they answered right away.

So, that's good!

 

You never know how you will end up the deal.   And, honestly, I don't know of we will actually do this cruise or not.   I don't think Princess is going to do anything to offer any big deals or promos or price reductions on this itinerary.  Right now the fares seem high.  And, you can always cancel or re-fare in advance of final payment.  

 

We did put a deposit on a cruise while Princess has had a good Promo.

We shall see if that ship sails!

[CineGraphic]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

No need for us to worry about this "sale".

I'm with you.

Princess Plus @ a casino rate, with my TA's added discount/obc.

[Paula_MacFan]

18 hours ago, Thrak said:

Booked this sale once but the cruises were cancelled by COVID. As it turned out, by the time all was said and done we would have been just as well off booking ourselves and transferring the booking to our usual TA. Part of the reason we booked via this agency's "sale" was the inclusion of the beverage package. After a while Princess started offering the package in an attractive deal that negated the benefit of this agency's deal. The cash off the top from our regular TA combined with the later Princess deal would have made things easily as good for us as this agency's "deal".  Also, the actual local agent had ZERO clue about cruises. Fortunately, his wife works in the office with him and she knew what was what.

 

These days booking Princess Plus is good enough for us. Our TA will sweeten the pot with a price reduction. No need for us to worry about this "sale".

 

Agree 100%!  I bought into the 3-day sale hype a couple years ago and booked a cruise.  NEVER AGAIN!  We got a horrible agent who knew nothing and was awful to communicate with.  Also I specifically asked if there were any cancellation or change fees, and was told 'no' in writing.  Then when we got our invoice in the small print it said '$100 cancellation/change fee'.  I will stick with Princess Plus and traditional TA going forward -- learned my lesson!

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, lx200gps said:

a small OBC clearly added by the agency

This is why that 3-day thing doesn't excite me.  We get the TA OBC, plus a discount off the fare.

[lx200gps]

13 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

This is why that 3-day thing doesn't excite me.  We get the TA OBC, plus a discount off the fare.

The small OBC is independent of the sale,  applied all the time. During the sale the OBC is MUCH higher, in addition to all the other perqs added.

[Nerkbuck]

What added benefits do you get for booking through a TA? We have never used one,

[CineGraphic]

39 minutes ago, Nerkbuck said:

What added benefits do you get for booking through a TA? We have never used one,

 

Our TA discounts the price and gives us a bit of OBC as well.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Nerkbuck said:

What added benefits do you get for booking through a TA? We have never used one,

I prefer to make and manage all my own travel arrangements.  However, I am willing to give up some of the control of a Princess booking in order to gain a great discount off the fare with a TA.  Now, it is true that not all TA's offer fare discounting and in that case, I do not see any value-add to use them.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Steelers36

[Wishing on a star]

I believe that now, TAs cannot actually discount a fare.  So, the discount that you would see will be some $$$ taken off a part of their commission.  So, the discounts are not usually that great.  Depending on the total price of the Princess Cruise.  (for example a 2000. fare might be quoted with a $100.00 discount,  this would be  more significant on a more expensive booking.)

TAs are able to add a bit of OBC, and things like bottle of wine, dinner at specialty restaurant, etc.

 

I do not know how much this unique 3 Day sale will offer this year.

People in the know are saying it will be an OBC type thing.

I will def. be checking soon to see what quotes we get.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Wishing on a star

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I believe that now, TAs cannot actually discount a fare.  So, the discount that you would see will be some $$$ taken off a part of their commission.  So, the discounts are not usually that great.  Depending on the total price of the Princess Cruise.  (for example a 2000. fare might be quoted with a $100.00 discount,  this would be  more significant on a more expensive booking.)

TAs are able to add a bit of OBC, and things like bottle of wine, dinner at specialty restaurant, etc.

 

I do not know how much this unique 3 Day sale will offer this year.

People in the know are saying it will be an OBC type thing.

I will def. be checking soon to see what quotes we get.

 

First, I will predict the 3-day sale is not going to benefit anyone who already has a future booking made a while back as prices have increased quite a bit on many/most(?)/all(?) Princess voyages.  We have four voyages booked for OCT 2022 and on average, prices are up at least $25/day and that is net with our discount. 

 

I always prefer to have a discount off the cruise fare, rather than more OBC because we get OBC from our FCD's, OBC from the TA (usually/often), OBC from CCL Shareholder benefit, and sometimes OBC from Princess, and sometimes Specialty Dining credit which is like OBC to me.  Since we do not do ship tours (rarely) and don't drink much, we don't need a ton more of OBC. 

 

I disagree with your assertion about TA's unable to discount fares.  It is true they cannot publicly advertise or post fares other than current Princess "list" pricing, but they most certainly can offer discounts.  Once you establish a relationship/contact with a discount TA, you can get their true rates.

 

Your suggested typical discount is 5%.  All of the discount TA's that I am aware of and have priced, who give cash discounts off the fare and not OBC or gift cards, have a set % rate off the Commissionable Fare.  This is something less than the Princess price you see because a portion of that fare is Non-Commissionable.  The Non-Commissionable portion is a fixed amount.  It is the Commissionable portion that increases as you move through cabin categories from Inside, to Oceanview, to Balcony and so on.  Therefore, savings in dollars increase with the cabin type booked. 

 

The best I have ever seen/heard of is 15% discount.  I have been on many cruises using a large agency that gave this rate.  Since Covid-19, their rate has fluctuated I will say.  IDK exactly what it is today, but they may well return to the previous rate in time.  Our current booking is with an agency that gave us 12% off (loyalty goes so far and it would have cost us about $1,000 to stay with our "go-to" agency at the time we booked).  That is the highest discount I have encountered prior to finding our "go-to" agency that gave 15%.  I am quite happy with that and I know it is among the best discounts out there in US market.  From what I have read and gleaned ~10% may be more typical.

 

If you apply the discount dollars to the Total Fare, the % is less obviously, but still well above the 5% you suggested.  Shopping around can pay off, and it takes a bit of work, but once you catch the star, you are good to go.

 

[Wishing on a star]

True!  But I think the best discounts are few and harder to find.

The people who are asking and do not have a relationship with one of these TA/agencies would probably not get the better discounted rates.  If there are any out there right now.

 

I finally booked thru a TA recommended by more than one person here on CC.  Did not get a better discount.  And really did not feel I got the very best service either.

 

If you know of a TA who can beat this exclusive 'sale'. (which I assume they work with Princess on this???). Then I would would be happy to know!!!

 

Before COVID, we booked thru a better TA that I finally found out about.  I think that might have been thru this board too. I think they did offer a good discount.   (Different Cruise Line) But, sadly, all cruises got cancelled.  I don't think our agent is back to work with this agency.  But, we have reached out to another agent there!

[Thrak]

9 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I believe that now, TAs cannot actually discount a fare.  So, the discount that you would see will be some $$$ taken off a part of their commission.

 

So what?  When I get $400 or $500 off of a fare I am happy. I know some folks here say they get 10% or so off the top.We don't get that much but are happy with what we get. We like the local guy - he's a nice guy - and he gives us what he can afford to give. It works for us. It works for him. He also responds to a call within half an hour or so even if he's on the other side of the country and it's 9:00 PM where he is. (Seriously. More than once.) We aren't greedy and would be booking the cruises anyway. The discount off the top is gravy.

[caribill]

15 hours ago, Nerkbuck said:

What added benefits do you get for booking through a TA? We have never used one,

 

In addition to what others have said:

 

a) TAs can set up a "group" for a cruise and will get a lower group price for clients who they can book at the group rate. Discount TAs will pass all or part of this discount on to their clients. Non-discount TAs will just keep what will be extra profit. (Note: Although booked as part of a group, it is not a group in the sense you even know anyone else in the group much less ever meet them on purpose.)

 

b) For inexperienced cruisers, a good TA can give useful advice and help a client select a cruise and cabin type the client would be happy with. Most good TAs have been on a number of cruise ships and thus have real life experience to share. Many Princess phone reps have never seen a cruise ship much less been on a cruise.

 

c) If you have a problem, a good TA can work with Princess as your advocate to get the problem solved. If your booking is with the cruise line, the cruise line rep is on the cruise line's side, not yours, and may not be able to resolve a problem to your satisfaction.

 

Others have posted that they are happy with their non-discount TAs. Not all good TAs are discount TAs and not all discount TAs are good TAs. Those that are happy with their non-discount TA are happy because of (b) and (c) above.