Toofarfromthesea

FWIW, this was one of our favorite excursions. The meal was one of the best I ever had, and I'm not much of a salmon person. The view of the glaciers from the seaplane was spectacular. We even got some unplanned entertainment. While we were eating, a bear came out of the woods and ambled up to the outdoor grill they cook the salmon on. He proceeded to scoop the grease from the bottom of the grill and chow down on it. Good times and great memories.

I was a big fan of the carpaccio. One of my best bites all cruise.

Lots of fine dining restaurants serve mashed potatoes. They may call it something fancier but it is what it is. IAC he didn't say anything about the quality of the things he ordered.

To get exceptional you have to order something exceptional, not your same old same old. There are exceptional things on the menu, you just chose . . . differently.

Isn't that what you ordered? Didn't you have other choices?

I was going to ask if they just want to cruise around Europe or if they want a European experience. If the latter I completely agree with you. Particularly, but not necessarily, in the Yacht Club.

Oh, OK, I guess that makes sense, thanks.

I agree, but the one thing that puzzles me is why HAL is holding onto the upsell money instead of just refunding it

I was talking about this: "Like you, we have had trouble finding ones that meet all three of your criteria" The 3 criteria encompassed more than getting a confirmation in less than 10 days.

Sounds like you want it both ways. You claim that you only want the best deal, but the next minute you seem to want 'drop everything to take of me' service.

Because the NEXT booking takes priority over your existing booking.

If you get Club Orange and book the lowest class 'guaranteed' cabin I'm pretty sure you can use the Club Orange complimentary upgrade to upgrade to a specific cabin in the highest class within your category.

It should happen automatically, but on my last cruise it didn't. It was simple to get it added by Guest services. Just be sure to bring your documentation.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I don't have much to offer because I've never heard of a situation like this. One of the things posters here drummed into my head when I was a cruise newby was to be sure my deposit was charged to my credit card by the cruiseline, not the TA. And every cruise I've booked has been with a TA and this never happened. But that advice is too late for you. I hope this works out for you. And don't let this discourage you from using a TA in the future. Thousands of bookings have been made through a TA on this site and this is the first time I've heard of someone encountering this situation. There are reasons to use or not use a TA, but this isn't one of them. It is supremely unfair for someone to suggest that your situation is a reason to not use a TA. And for the record, I'm not a TA.

Last numbers I have are 1.888.628.8107 or 206.626.7381. Sounds like you got a booking agent that didn't know his business. On a future occasion you might consider using a TA.

How did you change your room to standard verandah? To take advantage of Club Orange you have to go through the ship inventory dept for the upgrade. If you simple changed your booking on your own that is not the Club Orange upgrade.

We're not allowed to name TAs here. But they aren't hard to find.

I'm not sure I buy this argument. Any large company also has access to technology and web consultants to present a professional face to the public on their website yet look at what a long term cluster flop their website is.

Due respect but if you are booking this volume of business and can't get any benefits from a TA beyond what you get booking directly with the cruiseline you are doing something seriously wrong. Now whether those benefits would inure to you or the company is an interesting point, but I don't for a minute believe that I can get 8-10% in price reductions and OBC booking a single cabin for myself while you can't get anything while booking 16-30 cabins. It strains credulity.

I completely agree. If they have to do this they should limit such low deposit bookings to just 1.

I still think it is foolish to book a cruise purely on itinerary in the broader sense. Nobody books purely on itinerary - cruiseline, ship, amenities, cost, length of cruise, time of year, etc. also play a huge part.

They chances of missing a port on a sea voyage are much different than the chances of missing a city on a land tour.

I'm talking about people who book a cruise based on a particular 'can't miss' port or two. Of course the overall itinerary matters. You're going to be on a ship, in a particular part of the world. But the details of particular ports may change.

I think it is foolish to book a cruise purely on itinerary. Things happen at sea.

Have you tried the incognito workaround?