Ipeeinthepools

So after you've dealt with this agent for a while are you actually cutting out the larger agency? Is that correct? If that is true do you also give up other benefits from the agency such as booking travel insurance with improved benefits? What about errors and omission coverage? What happens if the TA makes a mistake that costs you thousands of dollars or your trip gets cancelled due to a mistake? Does this TA carry their own insurance policy? You might be paying a high price for your additional discount.

It's always a good idea to keep checking and sometimes there are price reductions. However lately I've evolved to booking most of my cruises when they just open reservations and most of the time the prices only go up from there. HAL also seems to have some very good promotions within 90 days of the cruises opening up for sale. However, these 10 percent OBC offers still seem to fall short of what I have found on other cruise lines for group rates and then I received additional OBC over and above the group rate. I just checked the rebates on my upcoming HAL cruises that I'm receiving from my toilet paper TA and they are in the region at the published HAL prices. Perhaps HAL just doesn't offer group rates.

Just out of curiosity, were you able to get this type of discount on our upcoming trip on the Konigsdam?

I'll give that website another try. I tried that awhile back, maybe Covid was still affecting things, but I didn't have any success. Maybe this is more Agency specific than I realized. I have tried with my current TA but she was not able to offer anything but a small amount of OBC. I also have friends who cruise a lot that use a different TA but the same agency and they have never got this type of discount.

Thanks, we'll need to chat sometime on our upcoming cruise. Maybe you can try a referral one more time to see if you get another $75.

You're almost correct. I believe the data and I am at least skeptical about your claims. Maybe you are the smartest cruise shopper in the world and the rest of us just don't get it. However it looks like you are the only person currently making that claim. You also didn't understand the example. $100 off the cruise rate plus the standard $50 OBC is better than your $100 off after the cruise. That's why I switched from a big box TA to an individual TA for other cruise lines. I just haven't been able to find these same type of offers with HAL. As an example, here's the type of difference that I have been able to get on my October cruise on another cruise line. I booked onboard through the cruise line and my pp fare for a 14-day balcony cabin was $3100. When I switched to the group rate when I got home the fare was reduced to $2600 pp plus I will get a couple hundred OBC. I booked on-board to get the onboard booking bonus. I'm reasonably new to HAL looking for the same kind of discounts.

Thanks for the link. However you and I are talking about completely different experiences. I've worked with a couple TAs that have blocks of rooms at reduced prices and there was a limited amount of these cabins. They weren't on every cruise, they weren't in every cabin category and I have never seen them advertised. You would need to call the TA and have them check on the particular cruise. Now perhaps the TA's could sell these cabins at the regular price and get a larger commission and provide kick-backs out of that larger pot. I don't know. The TA's I have worked with just provide the lower rate.

I'll disagree, there is a difference. Many cruise lines used to offer group rates travel agencies and the fare reduction often approached 10%. In addition you also got the standard amount of OBC from the TA based on the value of you booking. I am a frequent customer of one of the TAs that also sell toilet paper and you get a gift card after you complete the cruise. I stopped using that TA with the other cruise lines because the group rates I was offered and additional OBC was a lot more than the gift card. However with HAL I have not been successful in finding any group rates,

I haven't heard anything about the Upgrade Fairy in a long time. I assumed she part of a witness protection program. I've only seen her evil twin, the Upsell Fairy.

Actually I've found it difficult to get group rates with the big box agencies. The group rates I've found come from TA's that work with other large agencies. Don't most TA's actually work for some large agency much like a real estate agent? The agency gets a block of rooms at a reduced price. I've never sensed this was a reduction in commission for the individual TA. In any case can you send me a link for this other discussion or at least a hint to help my search, because I haven't seen it. Thanks

I'm not asking for any specific TA recommendations. I'd just like to know if group rates exist on HAL. If they do I'll continue my search, but so far I haven't found any TAs with group rates. How often have you been able to find group rates on your HAL cruises?

On the subject of price reductions, do any TA's get group rates. When I've sailed on other cruise lines I have often been able to book at a group rate through the TA at lower price. I haven't seen any discussion about group rates on HAL cruises.

If they are winning your money you must have lost your money. 🤔 So I suspect it's the same money but they have less chance to win your money compared to the odds for you to lose your money. The casino always wins.

Sounds like a suite guest to me. There just isn't much space in a regular cabin.

Maybe part of the problem with scooters is that people have them and don't have an accessible cabin. perhaps HAL shouldn't allow scooter unless you have an accessible cabin. The scooters shouldn't be left in the hall because they are very wide.

Really? Maybe I was eating on the balcony. (I'm not leaving it on the balcony.) Maybe I balanced the plate on my lap or maybe the tray was on a chair and I used the small chair and my DW used the desk. In any case, there isn't room in the cabin for the tray. I'll put it outside, just like I'm told.

Are you telling us that the tray is wider than a service cart? I'm not sure that's the case.

There you go. Some people just refuse to believe that's the policy. Same for every cruise line in the Carnival corporation. I've also never got any card with directions. BTW if people with scooters were concerned about hallway access they wouldn't leave their scooter in the hallway.

Never seen this on any room service order and never seen anything about dishes brought from the buffet. Sorry you don't agree but all of the accessibility issues are the same between cruise lines and apparently Carnival corporation has decided they are not an issue. Please help returning the dishes to the kitchen as soon as possible instead of gathering them in your cabin.

I honestly can't find any HAL policy on the issue but John Heald a Senior Cruise Director from Carnival has addressed this issue numerous times on FB. I see no reason that Carnival's sister company HAL, would be any different. His response has been consistent over the years, here's one of his responses. "we do prefer you to place your room service trays outside of your cabin door as soon as you have finished with them. This way we can get them collected quickly, washed and cleaned and back into service" I'm sorry if others object, but this appears to be the policy.

Please tell me how a few dishes in the hallway are a bigger obstacle than service cart, laundry or other trash bags left in the hall by the staff?

A couple dishes in the hallway hardly make a difference when there are service carts and other items that are left by the staff in the hallway during the day. There isn't much room in a standard cabin and my "desk" has plenty of other items on it and I use it as a "desk" during the day. If emergency evacuation was really an issue the staff wouldn't be permitted to leave items in the hallway.

Or you can just place the dishes in the hallway if there isn't enough room in your cabin. The typical cabin doesn't have a dining room table. The stewards will pick them up from the hallway.

No. There's never any charge to have a chance to lose your money.

After all of this dialogue, tell me again what is the major issue that people are complaining about?