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Personal Cruise Consultant ?? New Thing!


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We have always booked our cruises online and for the first time when we tried to book our cruise last year we were told that we have to go through a "Personal Cruise Consultant". I called and was brushed off because I needed to talk to this one specific person even though she was out of hte office nobody else could help me.

 

Why? How does RCI decide who your consultant should be and what do you do if you don't like the consultant you have been assigned to?

 

I do not like her attitude and I do not like the time it takes to get a short get it over with response via email. I have to say that we love the one we have on another cruise line. She has been great at getting us good deals even after the payment was made in full, but the RCI consultant acts like she does not even have time and everything feels rushed as if she's doing us a favor.

 

Why is RCI and other cruise lines now assigning a "Personal Cruise Consultant"? I was very happy using the online reservation system and never had a problem with it.

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Odd. I booked my next two cruises online with no problems. When I wanted to change my dining time, I sent an email and got confirmation within 24 hours that they had been changed. No issues at all.

 

I was not allowed to book our cruise online. It directed me to contact a cruise consultant.

 

I will call RCI today to see why that happened and to have it removed.

 

We are Emerald. Would that have anything to do with it? Do they require you to use consultants as your level goes up?

 

The level we have in the other cruise line is low because we had only cruised 2 times with them when I booked the cruise we just took two weeks ago. So I wonder why are they requiring this now for some and not for others. I love the other consultant, but it's the same issue of having to wait if the person is available at the moment you want to do the booking.

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I was not allowed to book our cruise online. It directed me to contact a cruise consultant.

 

I will call RCI today to see why that happened and to have it removed.

 

We are Emerald. Would that have anything to do with it? Do they require you to use consultants as your level goes up?

 

The level we have in the other cruise line is low because we had only cruised 2 times with them when I booked the cruise we just took two weeks ago. So I wonder why are they requiring this now for some and not for others. I love the other consultant, but it's the same issue of having to wait if the person is available at the moment you want to do the booking.

Were you trying to book more than 4 in a cabin?

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I was not allowed to book our cruise online. It directed me to contact a cruise consultant. ...

I've not heard of this. You must have had some special situation, such as what Ken mentioned above.

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I had no trouble booking our Anthem cruise online and when DW vetoed the cabin choice I just called the 800 number and the person that answered was able to change the cabin with a little bit of a price decrease too. On those lines that do have PVPs/PCC's or whatever I've been fortunate and had some good ones.

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RCI is really steering people to use a travel agent. I stopped booking with RCI years ago and go through a TA. I get better room rates as well as stateroom credits to spend on the ship. RCI will absolutely book you the cruise but don't expect anything extra unless they're running some sort of special. I've also never heard of a "cruse consultant". That might be RCI lingo for the person who books your cruise. Kind of like Disney has cast members not employees.

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RCI is really steering people to use a travel agent. I stopped booking with RCI years ago and go through a TA. I get better room rates as well as stateroom credits to spend on the ship. RCI will absolutely book you the cruise but don't expect anything extra unless they're running some sort of special. I've also never heard of a "cruse consultant". That might be RCI lingo for the person who books your cruise. Kind of like Disney has cast members not employees.

 

I don't want to give up the control that comes with booking myself so I hope this never gets to be mandatory.

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RCI is really steering people to use a travel agent. I stopped booking with RCI years ago and go through a TA. I get better room rates as well as stateroom credits to spend on the ship. RCI will absolutely book you the cruise but don't expect anything extra unless they're running some sort of special. I've also never heard of a "cruse consultant". That might be RCI lingo for the person who books your cruise. Kind of like Disney has cast members not employees.

 

I booked on board and the reservation was just forwarded to the travel agent that I had used for the cruise I was on. In Canada I have not found an agency that offers the great "perks" that i read about on cruise critic. Decided that I would like to have have RCI have the bookings i n future. Got the impression at that time RCI didn't want my booking. I would like to be given a good cruise consultant.

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I would call or email Crown and Anchor. They would be able to provide an answer as to why you weren't allowed to book online and need to speak to dedicated sales person. Most likely they would be able to get this changed if that is not what you want.

 

I find it easier to use a travel agent. If I get bad service, I change my travel agent.

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I booked on board and the reservation was just forwarded to the travel agent that I had used for the cruise I was on. In Canada I have not found an agency that offers the great "perks" that i read about on cruise critic. Decided that I would like to have have RCI have the bookings i n future. Got the impression at that time RCI didn't want my booking. I would like to be given a good cruise consultant.
Strange, I've had people book through RCI, give the reservation to a TA, and got lower room price and OBC. Might want to shop around or look for reviews on good TA's.
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Whether you book through the cruise line & agent or a Travel Agent, the booking is with whomever you booked with. The only big difference, if booked with the cruise line then your able to call and get a room change, price adjustment 24/7 whereas with a Travel Agent and it's a weekend many times your not able to make those changes. I believe that is what people refer to as having control of their booking. I use a local TA and can speak with anyone in the office to make any changes regardless whether I used my TA or an associate in the office. I have yet to lose out on a price drop or room change, just drop her office an email and get an answer fairly quickly.

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Not sure what you mean by lose control over the booking?

 

It means that if there is a problem with the booking I have to work it out with the TA, not Royal. I prefer not to work through a third party unless I have to.

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So if you think RCL is pushing for travel agents to be used why can’t you keep your booking and not transfer it over to a TA until just before final payment?

 

I don’t usually transfer mine over. For one thing I book so far out the TA does not yet have specials yet it seems. Life also gets busy and I forget about the quick deadline of 30 days. Just saying if they really wanted you to use a TA they could make it a bit easier.

 

I don’t think they care one way or the other.

 

If I was assigned a personal consultant and didn’t like the service I’d look elsewhere. I book on board usually and call C and A if I need anything.

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It means that if there is a problem with the booking I have to work it out with the TA, not Royal. I prefer not to work through a third party unless I have to.

If you weren't using a TA, you would still be "working it out" with the cruiseline

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So if you think RCL is pushing for travel agents to be used why can’t you keep your booking and not transfer it over to a TA until just before final payment?

 

I don’t usually transfer mine over. For one thing I book so far out the TA does not yet have specials yet it seems. Life also gets busy and I forget about the quick deadline of 30 days. Just saying if they really wanted you to use a TA they could make it a bit easier.

 

I don’t think they care one way or the other.

 

If I was assigned a personal consultant and didn’t like the service I’d look elsewhere. I book on board usually and call C and A if I need anything.

 

You only have 60 days to transfer a booking to a TA.

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I don't want to give up the control that comes with booking myself so I hope this never gets to be mandatory.

I agree completely....I have always (25+ cruises) booked directly with RCI....I can't imagine them ever making it "mandatory" to use a TA or vacation planner...absolutely no reason to do this...many of us book directly with an RCI CSR on the phone. You get the "control" issue....many don't or don't want to....their choice just like it's our's.

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I have been called a few times over the last 20 years by individuals claiming to be my personal cruise consultant. I have never used one nor has it ever been mentioned when I call RCCL to book a cruise.

I believe they troll for business .. I've gotten calls and emails...No thanks.

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I presume you are referring to Royal's Certified Vacation Planners. I have been using Erika, a Royal Certified Vacation Planner since 2008 and find her to be awesome. Always gets me the cabin I want and searches for the best price, sometimes lower than what I see on their web site. I tried TA's twice and never again. I know, I didn't have the correct TA but I like to be able to have service or a question answered when I want, not 2 or 3 days later. I do not need the perks the TA's provide to enjoy my cruise.

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The reservation was only for the two of us, so this has nothing to do with trying to book more than what is allowed online, if that is the case.

 

I called RCI yesterday and was told that this person works for RCI and is assisnged to be our consultant. I told him that I don't want nor need a consultant and then he said that there is no reason I should not be able to book online if I wanted to. Too late now, when we tried to book the cruise we were not given any options. I was told that I had to go through that one person that was "assigned" to us. Even when I called back to make a change I was told that I had to speak to her.

 

If I decide to cruise again with RCI after this cruise in October, then I will raise hell about being blocked from doing it myself.

 

This also happens to us with Holland America, but the consultant they assigned is wonderful so I don't have any problems with booking through her, I just hate the time it takes to be on the phone rather than me seeing online what I want and just booking it. But she does stay on top of it and has been able to get us excellent packages.

 

So, if RCI is not going to provide better service, I will just start booking with other cruise lines that have not required us to go through a "consultant" or that provide better service.

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If you weren't using a TA, you would still be "working it out" with the cruiseline

 

Exactly, and not relying on someone else to do it for me. I don't have to wait until they are open, I don't have to wonder if what they are telling me is what the cruise line really said, I don't have to worry about them going out of business, I don't have to worry about my payments making it to the cruise line, I don't have to deal with them making a mistake in my booking details or anything along those lines. I have read of people having each of those issues with TA's in my time on CC and I choose to deal with the company itself rather than a third party.

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