Princess is laying the law down with agents that advertise commission discounts

[Host Mike]

Word on the street suggests that Princess is laying the law down with agents about their advertising beginning January 1, 2012.  Princess does not want agents to advertise commission discounts.  Princess believes that commission discount advertising will cause buyer "confusion" which makes buyers start looking around for the cheapest price.  Princess' goal is to have "consistency" in agent advertising.

[RichC]

Yea, right. I was soooo confused about the lower prices. 

[f-mattox]

Yeah, me too.

[RichC]

Just checking a few on line sites that I normally price out they seem to be inline with Princess's prices but still a little cheaper. The also post a note that if you contact them directly they could possibly provide a better price.
It seems like a lot of extra effort to get to the same place as before. 

[f-mattox]

With all the games they can play with taxes, port charges, insurance, etc. etc. it's easy to make the fare look cheaper on paper; but how many people bother to check to make sure they are comparing apples to apples.  And I'm sure their high-pressure closers would just love to get you on the phone.

[prince]

On cruisecompete.com, some agencies quote much lower prices than the "official" Princess price.  I assume they must have group contracted cabins. Is this how these agencies are able to quote the lower prices?

[Host Mike]

I picked an advertised April Crown Princess cruise on Cruise Compete and compared Cruise Compete's advertised price to the Princess web site price.  The Princess web site price was cheaper.

[RichC]

On cruisecompete.com, some agencies quote much lower prices than the "official" Princess price.  I assume they must have group contracted cabins. Is this how these agencies are able to quote the lower prices?

The best way I've seen in one place that posts the official price but when you get to a certain point it shoots back an email with the discounted price. It's a little slower than before but still workable.