Advice needed - Changing TA's

[mariakitty]

I am having a problem with my TA and I am very close to moving my booking to a different agency, or possibly directly to Princess. We are currently booked on the Diamond - Mexican Riviera in March 2007 and final payment is due on 12/15/06. Without mentioning the name of the agency (though it IS a cruise critic member agency!), I booked online but had to call directly to apply my future cruise credit. I should have known I was going to have a problem with the booking when the agent I talked with didn't know a thing about Princess of the future cruise booking and kept trying to get me to pay the deposit. Finally he decided to keep me on the line and call Princess, and after over a 10-minute wait I hung up the phone (the kids were crying, which didn't help).

 

When I checked my email the next day, my booking had been invoiced, however I didn't receive the $150 cabin discount that is reflected online. That was the same day Princess lowered the cruise fare, so I emailed the agent to get the reduced price and upgrade to an AA category because all of the mini-suites had the same price. Well! I received a new invoice with the new category and new lower price, but still no $150 discount! I have tried calling and emailing again and now I hear nothing.

 

To make matters worse, the new invoice has the bed configuration changed from a queen to twins, and our late traditional dinner seating has been changed to anytime. We are cruising with another couple who used a local TA and I am VERY sorry I didn't do the same. If I'm not going to get the $150 discount, what do I do to move the booking to another TA, or is it too late for that? I don't want to mess up my future booking deposit. Possibly this is just a lesson learned, but I would like to know my options, if any.

 

Thanks!! :)

[Toto2Kansas]

First of all, you need to check to see if this current agency charges a cancellation free, as many do nowadays. If they don't, then it is very simple to switch your booking to another TA. Just contact the TA you would like to use, see if they are willing to take over the booking, before final payment is made. Sometimes you need to fax a letter over to Princess, other times you do not.

The bed arrangement is very easily rectified by just telling your room steward when you get to your stateroom. And the dining is very possibly because your preferred seating was already full.

Best of Luck, I hope you are able to resolve your problems.

[Pam in CA]

First, check with your contract with your online TA to see if there is a cancellation fee. You can change your booking from one TA to another with no penalty or fee from Princess, but some TAs charge $50 or $75 if you cancel or change the booking.

 

Next, run, don't walk, to a new TA. All you need to do is to give them your booking #. You may have to fax a letter to Princess with your signature saying that you're changing TAs.

 

Tell your new TA that you want traditional dining and the beds in the queen configuration. This last isn't a big deal since you can request your steward make the change after boarding. He or she will come to your cabin anyway to make sure everything's OK and to ask whether you have any special requests.

[Sandytoes]

E-mail them a letter.

Explain about the $150 credit. Show them the lower fare, minus the $150 credit.. Give them the total you are expecting to pay. Final Payment Amount.

If you have a statement from Princess showing the credit scan it in and forward to the TA.

 

Let us know how this turns out.

Good Luck

[LonghornKJK]

Just a warning -- I changed TA's for our Alaska cruise and I faxed the request to Princess. I was told it would take 48 hours for the transfer to go through. The new TA couldn't do anything with the booking until it was official. The new TA warned me not to mention the transfer to the former TA until it went through in case she might cancel the booking.

 

Well, I should have listened. I felt like I was being sneaky so on the day I expected the transfer to go through, I told the former TA that I had asked for the transfer (she had kept asking me in emails because she knew I was considering it.) And lo and behold, she cancelled the booking! It took an hour on the phone with the new TA and Princess to find me another cabin and then all we could get was a guarantee, though later, we got a free upgrade. The Princess rep advised me on how I could file a complaint against the former TA but when she finally apologized, I let it go.

 

Once you find out if there is a cancellation fee, keep the transfer to yourself until it goes through! Good luck!

[makai 7]

I too had many problems with one of the On-line TA's who advertise on this site.

I decided to transfer my booking to another TA who advertises on this site. You will have to fax a letter to Princess authorizing the transfer.

 

While TA #1 did not charge a fee to "give up the booking", Princess REFUSED to honor the contracted price for the cruise (Tahitian Princess owner's suite) even though we had a booking number and had paid a deposit several months prior.

We ended up being charged $374 more for the cabin.

 

I sent a letter to Princess customer relations two weeks ago requesting that they honor the original contracted price and the issue is under investigation.

 

Before you transfer the booking, have the new TA confirm the final, total cost of the cruise including all taxes and fees, and also confirm any shipboard credits you expect to have.

 

If you speak with a human at TA#1 before you book on-line, you do not receive the on-line discount, you have to pay the higher price.

 

You can call Princess directly to correct the Bed arrangement, I have done this in the past.

[M&MCruisin]

I too had many problems with one of the On-line TA's who advertise on this site.

I decided to transfer my booking to another TA who advertises on this site. You will have to fax a letter to Princess authorizing the transfer.

 

While TA #1 did not charge a fee to "give up the booking", Princess REFUSED to honor the contracted price for the cruise (Tahitian Princess owner's suite) even though we had a booking number and had paid a deposit several months prior.

We ended up being charged $374 more for the cabin.

 

I sent a letter to Princess customer relations two weeks ago requesting that they honor the original contracted price and the issue is under investigation.

 

Before you transfer the booking, have the new TA confirm the final, total cost of the cruise including all taxes and fees, and also confirm any shipboard credits you expect to have.

 

If you speak with a human at TA#1 before you book on-line, you do not receive the on-line discount, you have to pay the higher price.

 

You can call Princess directly to correct the Bed arrangement, I have done this in the past.

 

 

I was just about to tell the OP not to change TA because they will lose their price they booked when I saw your post. I totally understand your frustration as i too wanted to change TA's but couldnt because I would have to find another TA to honor the price and couldnt find anyone. Let me tell you why you couldnt get Princess to honor the price quoted.

 

#1, I was under the impression that the TAs buy a block of rooms and can sell for whatever price they want and often times is lower than booking direct with cruise line, thus the benefit to a TA. At least that is what another cruise line told me. I also tried to go direct with another line. Its not just Princess.

 

#2 My TA apparently took a large group of people booked on the same cruise and lumped us together to offer better pricing, which caused a multitude of other problems. Such as if they book a group of X number of rooms, they get one free, etc. But they dont necessarily pass all the savings on to those people. I only found out it was done that way because the cruise line tattled on my TA. I hope I am making sense. I did my booking through a cruise competition service and I couldnt even get them to transfer my booking to another TA. I am sure there will be tons of TA's fussing about my statements, but its how my TA and the cruise line explained all the problems I was having to me. Of course they blamed eachother too.

 

#3 Actually the contracted price is between you and TA, not the cruise line. Thats why when I called the cruise line direct, they wouldnt even change rooms or do anything to my booking. I had to contact my TA because as the cruise line stated, the TA owned the booking, not the cruise line. Weird huh?

 

I too wish I could have changed to direct but the cruise line said I had to pay the difference in price. Plus, when I booked I grabbed a good sale and now rates have gone up and no one is offering those prices.

[JLC@SD]

I am having a problem with my TA and I am very close to moving my booking to a different agency, or possibly directly to Princess. We are currently booked on the Diamond - Mexican Riviera in March 2007 and final payment is due on 12/15/06. Without mentioning the name of the agency (though it IS a cruise critic member agency!), I booked online but had to call directly to apply my future cruise credit. I should have known I was going to have a problem with the booking when the agent I talked with didn't know a thing about Princess of the future cruise booking and kept trying to get me to pay the deposit. Finally he decided to keep me on the line and call Princess, and after over a 10-minute wait I hung up the phone (the kids were crying, which didn't help).

 

When I checked my email the next day, my booking had been invoiced, however I didn't receive the $150 cabin discount that is reflected online. That was the same day Princess lowered the cruise fare, so I emailed the agent to get the reduced price and upgrade to an AA category because all of the mini-suites had the same price. Well! I received a new invoice with the new category and new lower price, but still no $150 discount! I have tried calling and emailing again and now I hear nothing.

 

To make matters worse, the new invoice has the bed configuration changed from a queen to twins, and our late traditional dinner seating has been changed to anytime. We are cruising with another couple who used a local TA and I am VERY sorry I didn't do the same. If I'm not going to get the $150 discount, what do I do to move the booking to another TA, or is it too late for that? I don't want to mess up my future booking deposit. Possibly this is just a lesson learned, but I would like to know my options, if any.

 

Thanks!! :)

From your description of "Future Cruise Booking" in lieu of a deposit.....this is the program where you book a future cruise and do not need to make a deposit when you select the actual cruise.

 

If this is what you did.........the 150 is not a cruise fare discount........it is a cruise credit that is applied to your stateroom account.......and is a credit toward your shipboard expenses.

 

and the 150 will show up on line but not on the invoice.

[JLC@SD]

From your description of "Future Cruise Booking" in lieu of a deposit.....this is the program where you book a future cruise and do not need to make a deposit when you select the actual cruise.

 

If this is what you did.........the 150 is not a cruise fare discount........it is a cruise credit that is applied to your stateroom account.......and is a credit toward your shipboard expenses.

 

and the 150 will show up on line but not on the invoice.

 

Here is a post with the program as described by Princess:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=7970148#post7970148

 

Circle Members can receive up to $150 in onboard credits! While onboard your next Princess Cruise, visit the Future Cruise Consultant and take advantage of this very special offer. Make a reduced deposit of only $100 per person and get an onboard credit of up to $150 per person to be used on your next voyage. Credit amounts vary, but everyone saves. It's our reward to you for planning ahead. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity during your next cruise, as this offer is only available onboard.

[crewsn]

We had a Future Cruise Credit which we applied to our upcoming cruise. We decided to book through Princess and have them apply the FCC to this cruise. We then transferred the booking to an on line TA who had a block of cabins on this cruise and saved a couple of hundred dollars each. The on line TA via email agreed this was the best way to handle the FCC.

 

Steve

[mariakitty]

From your description of "Future Cruise Booking" in lieu of a deposit.....this is the program where you book a future cruise and do not need to make a deposit when you select the actual cruise.

 

If this is what you did.........the 150 is not a cruise fare discount........it is a cruise credit that is applied to your stateroom account.......and is a credit toward your shipboard expenses.

 

and the 150 will show up on line but not on the invoice.

 

Thanks for the info. :) The $150 discount that I was referring to is not the onboard credit that you receive as a perk for the future cruise credit. It's actually a discount that the online TA offers when you book with them, and you get it whether you have the future cruise deposit or not. The amount of the discount varies depending on the room category, but in our case it was $150 (though it's now $160 on the AA category we upgraded to). Our shipboard credit that we receive for doing the future cruise credit already shows up on My Princess, so I'm not worried about that (thank goodness!).

 

I am going to give my TA one more chance to fix this, then I will go to the supervisor and then a new TA. I did find out there is a $50 cancellation fee, but that would still put me ahead by $100 since I have now found a local TA that will price match. One thing I have learned here is that I seem to know a lot more than most of these online TA's regarding Princess, and even though I like to do most of the booking myself, you just cannot replace a local TA. :)

 

I will keep you posted! :)

[M&MCruisin]

Thats great news that you found someone to price match! Go for it, if you can get the room you want! Happy cruising!

[JLC@SD]

Thanks for the info. :) The $150 discount that I was referring to is not the onboard credit that you receive as a perk for the future cruise credit. It's actually a discount that the online TA offers when you book with them, and you get it whether you have the future cruise deposit or not. The amount of the discount varies depending on the room category, but in our case it was $150 (though it's now $160 on the AA category we upgraded to). Our shipboard credit that we receive for doing the future cruise credit already shows up on My Princess, so I'm not worried about that (thank goodness!).

 

I am going to give my TA one more chance to fix this, then I will go to the supervisor and then a new TA. I did find out there is a $50 cancellation fee, but that would still put me ahead by $100 since I have now found a local TA that will price match. One thing I have learned here is that I seem to know a lot more than most of these online TA's regarding Princess, and even though I like to do most of the booking myself, you just cannot replace a local TA. :)

 

I will keep you posted! :)

 

Your situation must be getting better......three :) s....good luck and you will have a good time.

 

The problem with on line TAs is that you don't know if the person you are dealing with started in the business last week......;)

[lindnet]

The Princess rep advised me on how I could file a complaint against the former TA but when she finally apologized, I let it go.

 

So you are saying that there is a process in place for filing complaints against a TA?

 

I've been dealing with one who is the only one running her office and is used by alot of people on CC. She has only responded to emails or phone calls after I've left several and it always takes a couple of weeks to get any answers.

 

Right now I'm trying to get the rest of my refund that she was supposed to get for me when I switched from a balcony to an inside. Princess refunded part of it, then told me when I called, that there WAS a mistake, but the TA would have to call them. Of course I have emailed her and called her several times and get no response. My final payment date has passed, not sure if I can even switch TA's at this point.