Flatbush Flyer

No one is questioning your decision or opinion. If you want to turn down a rebate offer, go right ahead. My reply to your post was merely meant to respond to all those thread contributors who think that rebating disadvantages TAs. A bit of research would clearly evidence that the reality of widespread rebating in all sorts of businesses is a proven profit-making strategy.

“Same” tour would most often mean exactly the same exact tour by the same tour provider, blah blah blah, which would probably be impossible to find.

I was born in Brooklyn where the first complete learned sentence spoken by most toddlers is “Never pay retail.”

Actually, I would and I do- whenever s/he is out-of-network or the fee is way out of line with the regular range of fees in my region. For example, I recently needed a root canal (dam pop corn kernel. Given the immediacy of the procedure, I had to use a well-respected endodontist whose “list” price was almost twice the network rate. As we had some mutual early life experiences, I asked if he would drop the assessment fee of several hundred dollars since my dentist had already done X-rays and evaluation. His answer, “no problem.” Read articles in Consumers Report of Checkbook.org on this topics. Everyone states that medical/dental fees are always negotiable. Of course, one has to be reasonable and base the request on comparable rates to get a positive answer. Let me counter with another consumer question: would you ever pay MSRP for a new car?

What you seem to be missing is that, with a savvy TA, you shouldn’t have to ask. If will be offered to you to incentivize a long term, mutually beneficial relationship. Sorry but, you too are extremely short sighted when it comes to the big picture.

Beyond “convenience” (which is important to those of us who may visit at least 50-75 new/repeat ports annually), there are some “proprietary” ship tours (particularly in more obscure small ports e.g., an island like Vanuatu) where the best tour venues/transports are all contracted by the ship. Savvy travelers will know when (and why) it’s better to do ship or private tours or DIY. Speaking of DIY “sightseeing,” there is one area where private to small group tours will almost always trump a self-guided or HOHO trek. It is historically accurate and culturally/artistically rich looks at interesting/engaging entities. For example, we are live theater buffs and recently did a fact-packed History of Broadway tour. It was a two hour walk/talk trek (Broadway’s Beginnings) that was fascinating in scope and detail and led by a long-serving dance captain who helped make more vivid our knowledge of the Great White Way.

And therein lies the major problem: It is not JUST “country by country.” The “info accuracy” challenge is often multi-faceted with varying requirements among country, state (or equivalent), city, port authority, air/sea carrier…. And the U.S. State Dept. (et al. general non-public health entities) doesn’t always have the latest info nor does it have other than the “country only” requirements.)

Your post is typically shortsighted. Rebates (in all sorts of businesses) are a proven revenue generator that increases total bottom line profit by catalyzing repeat purchases and client recruitment. Our primary TA is well known and well respected in the cruise industry. Not only does it provide rebates ranging from 5 to 10% of the commissionable fare, it issues finder’s fees of several hundred $ for referrals that end up being paying customers.Add to this the reality that many cruise lines pay TA commissions on a sliding scale based, in part, on sales volume AND provide pass through client incentive $ (e.g., to pay gratuities) to those same TAs, and it quickly becomes obvious that a smart TA and its Agents, employing the right Rebate (and related perks) strategies will have net profits that are far higher than if they didn’t rebate. It’s the same reason why TAs pay “dues” to TA consortia that increase each TA’s bottom line by supplying added client incentives and off loading some other TA costs (e.g., advertising). Please recognize that a savvy individual travel agent will always be working to build a client base that focuses on clients who don’t require a ton of handholding and who book numerous and/or longer cruises annually perhaps even with the same single cruise line (preferably premium luxury ones). That same savvy individual agent also will look to align themselves with a Travel Agency (and/or TA consortium) that employs associated customer service reps (to handle issues that may arise regarding TA advocacy) and rewards that Agent well.

Whose invoice are you checking? Some folks who use certain TAs never see the actual O invoice.

Glad you found your preference. It means mor cabin choices for us R ship devotees!

Read the T&Cs and Ticket Contract. All sorts of added charges are possible (e.g., furl surcharges).

And let’s not forget the importance of reading your cruise’s T&Cs and Ticket Contract (lots of stuff that will have you posting “LOL” at some the replies on Cruise Critic).

The last places I would look to would be a TA and O. Consult with the public health authorities of each country, state (or equivalent), city and port authority of each port on your itinerary. The only time the cruise line’s air airline’s require emt would matter is when their requirement(s) are more strict than all of the others. If you don’t believe me, ask all those folks on our multisegment itinerary that departed from SYD earlier this year. Many folks misunderstood O’s email that O wouldn’t require pre-tests to apply to all other “authorities.” But NSW (while it didn’t require pre-testing for arrival at SYD, did require it for departing cruise passengers) Quite a number of folks ended up paying $90 pp for a pierside test which, fortunately (for us) turned up positive and prevented their embarkation. This is NOT the place to get correct info. Do your homework.

🤔. Didn’t you see the bombardment of notices in Currents and on the TV? The “end of cruise” review must be done on the ship’s intranet before you disembark.

Oceania Regatta at 670 passengers. Great food and service with included airfare, specialty dining, wine at meals, free internet, tours credit and, in summer months, even a kids program on the Alaska cruises.

Travel a lot? Lots of folks swear by Chase Sapphire Reserve. But, it’s $400+ per year. We’re pretty loyal to United Airlines and use its Mileage Plus card at <$100/year. Pays for itself in no extra bag fees (also 70 lb limit/per bag), 2 club passes annually, extra points for any United purchase, etc.)

Not sure if that works with all phone brands. I know iPhones use iMessenger and if both parties have iPhones, all ou need is the wifi connections. BTW: turning “wifi calling” on with an iPhone is meant for a “handoff” situation where cellular service is problematic. Having wifi calling on requires that cellular service also be on and weak. It is then that the phone will switch to wifi. The problem with O is that, if you turn off airplane mode (to allow cellular), the ship’s AT&T connect@sea will appear on your top of the home screen. If you’re an AT&T customer, it will auto connect and cost plenty for a call. But, back to the problem at hand. Two iPhones each with airplane mode turned on and ship’s wifi active will transmit/receive iMessage texts (you’ll see the text messages with blue background if all is working. If both phones don’t have iMessage active, you’ll see a green background which means at least one phone needs cellular service to connect.

Though my answer is worthless if O is doing your transfers, I’m taking this opportunity to make a recommendation to folks wanting to take an Uber anywhere from disembarkation at Pier 90 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. On our recent arrival at Pier 90 (SF to NY on Insignia), the info from O gave the wrong address for the specific pier. Instead, it provided the address for the Terminal’s main office, which is several piers distant (about 4 blocks). To avoid this FUBAR, search on the Uber app for “MUSICA,” which is a well-marked building directly across 12th Avenue from the entrance to Pier 90. You’ll avoid all the chaos.

Sure - but then you have to eat Azamara’s food.

Reduced deposit, SBC on the current or future cruise (amount depends on new booking specs), discounted fare and price drop match guarantee. Nothing beats BoB. And you can then transfer the booking to your TA within the 30 day transfer window for added TA perks/$ rebate or refundable SBC.

They “promise” you? So what happens if they don’t get it back to you on time? Not sure where the US State Department “online renewal” is at this point (the beta trial has been done for several months). But, if it’s a “go,” the only downside is that your existing passport becomes inactive the day they receive the renewal application. However, it does cut out any middleman and the notoriously lousy USPS (at least for getting it to the State Dept.).

Wine drinker? If so, you may want to arrange a tour of the Valle de Guadalupe. In the last decade, many notable winemakers from California and Europe have started stellar operations here. Quality and prices are excellent and it may be your only chance to do some tasting (other than in savvy SoCal restaurants.

Duty free is a major ripoff if you can get booze in your embark city.

Still not a Margarita.

A wine margarita is certainly not a margarita.