UK resident booking princess via US site any thoughts?

[happy cruisin]

Hi everyone ,I'm sure someone will know the answer.

We are platinum princess and are wondering how we book Princess on a US agency as we have seen a great deal and want to go for it.The price is significantly more on Princess if I access from the UK but a US agent has quoted a lot less (inc all taxes etc) He said he cant book UK citizens but has anyone had any experience of this ?

Looking forward to any help .

Thanks;)

[britsbest]

Yes You need a US address to book with US agents.

 

We tried but by the time you factor in the 55% discounts we get + 10% for booking through our bank its not worth the hassle

[britsbest]

We are not allowed to "recommend" agents..........please delete your agents name b4 the thread gets deleted

[sidari]

I would if i knew how!!!!!

[antsp]

we have always booked through a us ta never a problem, any advice ask away

[boone2]

We are sailing with UK friends in August from NY. They booked through the same TA as us in the US,( my friend is president of the travel company that's why we use this TA) There was never any question about them booking through the US and I never understand it when the question is raised on these boards. They did not need to give a US address and did not use our Canadian address.

Terry

[macka]

We had our U.S. friends book through their TA. The TA knows we are in the UK and Princess have our address in the uk too, they send us all the offers so there is no subterfuge. It is so much cheaper to book this way, I can assure you that it is well worth the hassle for us as first timers, maybe you old hands get better discounts eh?:rolleyes:

[Bettcc]

Hi everyone ,I'm sure someone will know the answer.

We are platinum princess and are wondering how we book Princess on a US agency as we have seen a great deal and want to go for it.The price is significantly more on Princess if I access from the UK but a US agent has quoted a lot less (inc all taxes etc) He said he cant book UK citizens but has anyone had any experience of this ?

Looking forward to any help .

Thanks;)

We are UK residents and we have booked our last three cruises with the same U.S agency with no problems whatsoever and at a considerable monetary saving . Our next cruise is late April all done on the internet, tickets etc. printed out nothing left to do now. If I can help let me know. Bettcc

[cathi]

Interesting thread that has been discussed many times. It is my understanding that UK residents can not book through a US agency. It was part of the agreement when P&O sold Princess. So what the agent is telling you is the truth - he can't book UK residents.

[britsbest]

Maybe he "shouldn't" rather than "must not".

 

Obviously your friend who runs a T.A. can bend this rule, for a rule it is ........as far as I am aware. Like I said earlier, we always get upto 55% discounts of the brochure price +10% extra off from the bank with whom we book. This makes for great deals!

[Toto2Kansas]

We have friends in Australia that were not supposed to book through a U.S travel agent at the time. They found a TA that used her own address for the booking and they booked several cruises that way through her. Is it legal? Probably not. But I am not sure of any other way around this. They could not book if they used their AU address, princess would not allow it.

[antsp]

its not illegal its just princess uk can charge more and get away with it, we are going on emerald princess in May and have save £1300 against the best uk price, hassle ? not at all, use cruise compete call the agency and book if the first TA does'nt want your booking the next one will

[WeBeGone]

It's not illegal for US TA's to book UK pax. Princess "prefers" UK people to book with UK agents but it's not required.

[nijh]

Betcc and Sidari

 

Care to mail me? Sorry for the code - NOSPAMn_hansell at NOSPAMyahoo.co.uk

[happy cruisin]

Thanks everyone for the replies

Sidari ,Bettcc ,anstp and nijh thanks for the info.

I would like to know more can you mail me please ?

in code...... the streetwhere the prime minister of uk lives preceded by the 12th letter of the alphabet and a dot then at (a well known british telecommunication internet dot com)

 

Britsbest What bank do you use to book with as mine doesnt offer any 10% saving?

 

Thanks

[nijh]

Any info also gratefully rcd - see above for addy.

[Joy R]

We booked a Princess cruise for next December through a US travel agency (quite a well-known one) that has a free phone no. from the UK. We couldn't book this cruise through Princess UK as it does not exist on that website! I think we also got good value because of the strength of the pound against the dollar. The TA was very helpful, and we had no problems. Our booking is on the Cruise Personaliser, and the only hassle is that we have to book our own flights, hotels and transfers.

 

So go ahead, and enjoy your cruise!

[kaisatsu]

When we lived in China, we booked our Princess cruise through one of the US airlines that we have a frequent flyer account with, because we earned bonus miles for it. They needed a US address to put on the initial booking, but they also took down our China address and said that as soon as the booking was confirmed, they'd change it. They asked that we call back the next day just to make sure it happened, and everything went fine. When it was time for cruise docs, they actually Fed-Exed all the papers to us in Beijing! Meanwhile, our Aussie shipmates, who followed Princess's rules/guidelines and paid more to book with a local TA never got anything! After endless demands, they finally got just a shore excursion guide, but the TA handed it over resentfully, because "it was her only copy!"

 

Clearly it depends on the TA, but there are definitely some out there who are keen to provide US-based service to overaseas clients!

[SheltieLady]

My sister asked me today to book her and husbands cabin when I book ours and we will use our address he in the states. I have a question about insurance for the cruise only for them, should I find something here in the states and purchase it thru my ta for them or have them find something in the UK?

 

My sister is going to be doing a wire transfer from her bank to mine and I will be using my credit card to pay for both cabins. Is there anything else I should be aware of booking her cabin here in the states?

 

Christine

[Flipper133]

Hi everyone ,I'm sure someone will know the answer.

We are platinum princess and are wondering how we book Princess on a US agency as we have seen a great deal and want to go for it.The price is significantly more on Princess if I access from the UK but a US agent has quoted a lot less (inc all taxes etc) He said he cant book UK citizens but has anyone had any experience of this ?

Looking forward to any help .

Thanks;)

I have a thread on this issue on the P&O Australia Forum (which also caters for Princess in OZ). Significant savings are available via US TAs, and there are some who will be very helpful, BUT as it has been pointed out to me if you are already on the Princess Computer System you run the risk of creating a major problem for yourself and the TA

 

As I understand it, Princess has now issued an edict to all US TAs that they can only sell Princess products to North Americans. Not sure how legal that is, but what US TA is going to risk their ability to sell to the US market just to service what could be just a one off customer from overseas.

 

cheers

[clevercruiser]

its not illegal its just princess uk can charge more and get away with it, we are going on emerald princess in May and have saved £1300 against the best uk price...

It's not the cost that makes us book with a US travel agent,

but the flexibility...

 

We like to book early to get particular cabins, but often have

to change our travel plans or cancel altogether due to my job.

 

With a booking through a US agent, any cruise-only booking can

be amended or cancelled before final payment without charge,

but if we were to use a UK travel egent, we would forfeit our

deposit if we cancelled.

 

If Princess clamped down on us using our US travel agents,

we would take our business elsewhere, so why does Princess

persist with this extremely restrictive cancellation policy? :mad:

 

 

MARK

[antsp]

I have a thread on this issue on the P&O Australia Forum (which also caters for Princess in OZ). Significant savings are available via US TAs, and there are some who will be very helpful, BUT as it has been pointed out to me if you are already on the Princess Computer System you run the risk of creating a major problem for yourself and the TA

 

As I understand it, Princess has now issued an edict to all US TAs that they can only sell Princess products to North Americans. Not sure how legal that is, but what US TA is going to risk their ability to sell to the US market just to service what could be just a one off customer from overseas.

 

cheers

the ta just regisers you under a us address, then changes it later after final booking, why all these scare tatics

[terrierjohn]

Has anybody done this and also used their UK Captain's Circle membership, AND obtained their correct cruise card colour?

[UK Cruiser]

I havetwo Captains' Circle numbers, a UK one and a US one. All my cruises are listed under both numbers so whether I book througha US or UK agent I get my correct colour cruise card. I just send an e-mail to the "other" Captains' Circle number after my cruise and the cruise is vredited for next time.

 

I also have made future cruise bookings using both numbers, although if you are on a UK purchased cruise you can only get a UK style future cruise credit and similar for a US purchased cruise.

[caribill]

 

I also have made future cruise bookings using both numbers, although if you are on a UK purchased cruise you can only get a UK style future cruise credit and similar for a US purchased cruise.

 

What is the difference between UK and US style FCCs?