New Booking - Would Like Xferred to TA

[brentp]

My wife and I put a cruise on a 2 day hold yesterday direct with Celebrity while we "pondered" if the trip made sense for us. There was a specific cabin that became available, so we wanted to preserve that option as part of our decision to go or not to go.

 

Good news is, the trip makes sense. So, . . . now on to the issue. I originally was going to book through an online agent because they were offering pre-paid gratuities with the booking as a perk. They did not have a hold option - and I didn't want to book w/deposit and then cancel a day or two later if we decided not to go.

 

Deposit is due today/tomorrow, . . . final payment due early Sept if that makes any difference.

 

I think I have 4 options now.

 

1) Release the reservation with Celebrity, wait for the room to become available "on-line" and rebook with this agent. Risk is the room gets snagged by someone else that is on the ball, . . . upside is the perk.

 

2) Pay the deposit to Celebrity, then transfer to the agent after the fact. Risk is whether the online agent will honor the prepaid gratuities on a transfer (I have an EMAIL into them to ask - no reply yet).

 

3) Pay the deposit to Celebrity, and go find an agent, any agent, that would like to own this reservation and would be willing to pre-pay the gratuities or other similar perk. Risk is that this was the only one I found that made the offer outright, . . . so lots more leg work on my end to go find a new TA.

 

4) Keep the reservation completely with Celebrity and feel like the loss of the perk is the cost to keep the stateroom. I really don't like this one, . . . and probably wouldn't go this route (I think I would try #1 and take my chances). :(

 

Thoughts on what makes the most sense from the experts?

 

I know you can't list TAs on the forum, . . . but how does one go about finding a TA with a good perk if the one I found doesn't work out? I think if I knew that I had more options on TAs - I would feel more comfortable and go with #2 or #3 above.

[Ma Bell]

If you deposit with Celebrity you should be able to transfer to a TA without losing your gratuities. If you cancel and rebook, you may not get the cabin and the price could be higher. You can still get whatever perks are offered by the TA.

[zoncom]

Decide upon agency with best Perks. Call them up and ask how to handle transfer if still in hold period. They will take care of it. We are ending summer sales season so new sales will include OBCs. Just got $200 per cabin OBC for 14N outside.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

The rule of thumb seems to be to transfer the booking to a TA shortly before payment is due. You keep control of it for longer, and avoid issues such as missing a short-term price drop because your TA failed to act in time. The exception to this that I would see is if you believe you found a TA that's offering a great bonus (OBC, prepaid grats, insurance) that's a limited time offer. Most such offers from TAs are standing offers; they'll be there in September when you're ready to transfer your booking. There's also the possibility that an even better offer will come along.

 

In my limited experience, I've never heard of a TA that would not honor a bonus offer for a transfer-- they're getting your business; it doesn't matter from where the booking originated. In fact, you're doing them a favor by having done some of the leg work for them.

 

It's not that difficult to find TA's that will offer bonuses for taking your booking. Can't discuss the means here, of course. But if you're content to stick with the one you found, you could wait for the answer, hopefully today. Follow up and ask if the offer will still be valid in September, and explain that you just want to keep control of the reservation longer. This also saves them from possible work, servicing the reservation in the event of a price drop or having to run interference in the event of a snag.

 

A thought-- if you're waiting on them for an answer to a basic question, and should it turn out they won't honor the bonus for a transfer, maybe they're not such a hot TA. Is this an indication of trouble down the road?

 

I would pay the deposit to Celebrity and wait for the answers from the TA. If the answers are acceptable, transfer the booking in September. In the event they say that they won't honor the bonuses for transferring, you have a month to find a more cooperative TA. If they say they'll honor the bonuses for the transfer, but the offer ends soon, you need to decide if it's worth it to jump on the offer or to shop around.

[pacheco18]

There can be a downside to waiting to transfer - if there is a "group" deal involved.

 

Many agencies with clout get blocks of rooms that get "group" benefits. If you book after the group has been filled, the TA may not have those earlier group benefits available. This has happened to friends of mine who booked the same cruise as ours with the same TA. They could not get the additional "group" benefits. COuld be less of an OBC etc.

[janftica]

I had already paid in full for my cabin on Millie, and had rec'd an email from a TA well known around here ;) That was giving OBC of up to $350 for new bookings on the same sailing date as mine.

 

I called Celebrity up and asked IF I would get any obc with my paid in full booking and they said NO its only for new bookings. However she suggested that IF I called the TA up and asked if I would get the offers on a new booking with them I could cancel my original reservation and rebook thru the TA. She said once my cabin gets cancelled it goes back on line and IF its in the same category I can ask the TA to allocate it back to me.

 

I opted to let my pie shaped cabin go and went with the CC class instead, and ended up $ 200 cheaper on the booking and got $350 from the TA and another $150 from Celebrity for a new booking on the same sailing!

 

Not only did I get a much better deal, price but got a huge amount of perks to go with it....

 

IF you are NOT stuck on the cabin, its worth shifting...but you might still get the cabin you want if you cancel and rebook the same day!

 

Good Luck...it worked for me! :D

[brentp]

Thanks for the replies, . . .

 

I had done the 'bid' thing over the weekend, . . . and these guys were still the best in the end (OBC - through Celebrity) plus the pre-paid grats the agent was offering (~9.5% of the cruise fare).

 

PartyAllDaTyme - what you say makes a lot of sense. In thinking this through, I should just go a head make the deposit direct with Celebrity to preserve the stateroom. I agree - if the agent I found doesn't get back to me quickly or want the reservation transferred with the offer they had, . . . I've got a few weeks to find one that does.

 

Not important to this discussion, . . . but I didn't say what the cabin was in first message, but it is the Eclipse's 1st aft balcony cabin on the slant of the hump on deck 9 (Cat 1A). The one with the 2x size balcony. The cruise is over Thanksgiving week. The original booking folks must have decided to upgrade or cancel. Either way, . . . our gain. An aft (low wind) slant with larger balcony on Deck 9 for $50pp more than an outside stateroom (our usual). Sweet! Obviously, we are excited. None of these were available over the last week we've been considering this trip, . . . but this one "popped" up while I was playing reservation games yesterday (literally, wasn't there one minute, showed up the next).

 

Thx!!!

[gbearbuck]

I had already paid in full for my cabin on Millie, and had rec'd an email from a TA well known around here ;) That was giving OBC of up to $350 for new bookings on the same sailing date as mine.

 

I called Celebrity up and asked IF I would get any obc with my paid in full booking and they said NO its only for new bookings. However she suggested that IF I called the TA up and asked if I would get the offers on a new booking with them I could cancel my original reservation and rebook thru the TA. She said once my cabin gets cancelled it goes back on line and IF its in the same category I can ask the TA to allocate it back to me.

 

I opted to let my pie shaped cabin go and went with the CC class instead, and ended up $ 200 cheaper on the booking and got $350 from the TA and another $150 from Celebrity for a new booking on the same sailing!

 

Not only did I get a much better deal, price but got a huge amount of perks to go with it....

 

IF you are NOT stuck on the cabin, its worth shifting...but you might still get the cabin you want if you cancel and rebook the same day!

 

Good Luck...it worked for me! :D

 

Would this still work if you booked the cruise through the passage program or flat out booked it while on the ship... in other words if you cancel and rebook would you loose the obc from passage (and the $100 deposit)?

[Ma Bell]

The reason I say to go ahead and make your deposit with Celebrity is that a friend found an FV cabin and put it on hold and called his TA. He released the cabin and she picked it right up, but the price was $300pp more in the few seconds it took.

[Janet987]

Just keep rules in mind...would have to be done before final payment, etc.

Great cabin..we had that position on the Solstice.

 

 

How can I transfer my direct booking to a travel professional?

You can transfer your reservation to a travel agent at anytime unless your reservation is within final payment period or it has been paid in full, or includes a ChoiceAir booking . If you would like to transfer your reservation, please fill out the Travel Agent Transfer form provided below and fax back to us.

[CoachT]

Just know that the ability to transfer a booking to a TA after 30 days of booking direct is about to come to an end in the near future.

 

Also expect the perks to be lowered as Celebrity and Royal have stated they will pay a lowered commission on any transferred booking except on booked on board.

[richsea]

Just know that the ability to transfer a booking to a TA after 30 days of booking direct is about to come to an end in the near futureQUOTE]

 

Hi CoachT. Can you elaborate on that?

[labeachcomber]

I would recommend definitely either option #2 or 3.

 

We transferred our recent Equinox cruise to an online TA after booking directly with Celebrity. Got about $440 OBC. Originally it was close to $700, but it was reduced after I called them up to get a residency discount once it became available. The residency discount saved us $520. So we were sitting on $960 OBC before we even got on the ship!

 

As has been mentioned, you will have to give up some control of your reservation. You can't decide in the middle of the night that you want to switch from early to late seating. You have to rely on the TA after contacting them to make the call to Celebrity to get you any price drops or residency discounts that may come up, rather than calling Celebrity yourself and knowing it got taken care of. If your TA isn't on the ball, they may miss these discounts if they come and go rapidly.

 

You still will be able to book your own shore excursions, specialty restaurants, etc.

 

I did get a bit aggravated because I'm a person that likes to be in control of everything. Our online TA forgot to make our final payment, and I found out the day after it was due. Had to make some phone calls to them to make sure it was processed immediately. Had a bit of pushback with obtaining our residency discount. Had a few days wait in order to figure out what exactly our reduced OBC was. But in the end, was the $440 OBC (not to mention the additional $520) worth it? You betcha! My credit card was only charged about $200 after all our expenses for our 10 day cruise due to this huge amount of OBC.

[brentp]

The reason I say to go ahead and make your deposit with Celebrity is that a friend found an FV cabin and put it on hold and called his TA. He released the cabin and she picked it right up, but the price was $300pp more in the few seconds it took.

 

A very good reason to do the deposit with Celebrity indeed!

[brentp]

And the answer is, . . . #2

 

Talked to a live person at the online TA with the perk. He is very nice and instantly recommended to make the deposit with Celebrity to preserve the stateroom - then fill out the reservation transfer form. They will honor the perk as if I booked online direct through them. He took all the information in advance, created an account, and then ask that I call him once I see the transfer has taken place on the Celebrity website.

 

Only a few weeks to final payment, so I have already faxed the transfer form just to be done with it.

 

Thanks for all the input!!!

[CruisinManiac]

You didn't say how long a cruise you are taking, but is the pre-paid gratuity really worth all the aggravation? What is it... $100, $150, $200?

 

I got an email from Celebrity with their current promo. This could be a better deal.

 

Celebrity's August Promotion

 

Receive up to a $200* onboard credit when you book a veranda, Concierge class, AquaClass or suite by August 14, 2010. Book a 7 to 14-night Caribbean sailing beginning October 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011. Use your credit to dine in one of our specialty restaurants, enjoy a relaxing spa treatment or any other onboard purchase.

[pacheco18]

I am doing 2 different 2 week cruises with Celebrity

I am in CC class on both - not suites

I have OBCs of 585 and 625 from my TA

I do not understand how anyone books directly with the cruiseline.

They give you nothing.

[brentp]

You didn't say how long a cruise you are taking, but is the pre-paid gratuity really worth all the aggravation? What is it... $100, $150, $200?

 

I got an email from Celebrity with their current promo. This could be a better deal.

 

Celebrity's August Promotion

 

Receive up to a $200* onboard credit when you book a veranda, Concierge class, AquaClass or suite by August 14, 2010. Book a 7 to 14-night Caribbean sailing beginning October 1, 2010 through April 30, 2011. Use your credit to dine in one of our specialty restaurants, enjoy a relaxing spa treatment or any other onboard purchase.

 

To me, it is. At $23/day for 2 people, this amounts to over 9% of the current cruise cost (without the port fees/taxes). This is money we would pay one way or another, . . . so it directly lowers the cost for the cruise.

 

Above and beyond this, we are also getting the $100 OBC (balcony cabins) from the Celebrity August Promotion you referenced ($150OBC for CC/AQ, $200 for suites).

[villauk]

Just know that the ability to transfer a booking to a TA after 30 days of booking direct is about to come to an end in the near future.

 

Also expect the perks to be lowered as Celebrity and Royal have stated they will pay a lowered commission on any transferred booking except on booked on board.

Do you know if we booked onboard our Celebrity sailing for a future Royal cruise, could we then transfer the booking to a UK TA? A TA has informed us this is possible, but I thought you could only do this as a US passenger? He did say it has to be transferred quickly and we would also be able to keep any OBC/perks offered by Celebrity. Do you inform Celebrity when onboard that you intend to transfer the booking or when we return? We've never done this before and so are a little unsure of the procedures. We would welcome any advice (sooner rather than later as we sail this weekend;)). Many thanks.

[Albert Ross]

Do you know if we booked onboard our Celebrity sailing for a future Royal cruise, could we then transfer the booking to a UK TA? A TA has informed us this is possible, but I thought you could only do this as a US passenger? He did say it has to be transferred quickly and we would also be able to keep any OBC/perks offered by Celebrity. Do you inform Celebrity when onboard that you intend to transfer the booking or when we return? We've never done this before and so are a little unsure of the procedures. We would welcome any advice (sooner rather than later as we sail this weekend;)). Many thanks.

In England it is different - firstly are you booked and deposit paid? If so then you have 48 hrs from when the booking was made to transfer it to a TA. Outside of 48hrs then it cannot be done. To transfer to a TA you have to complete the form on the RCI UK website giving authority to move the bookingo to a TA.

2. If it is just still an option, so it is still on hold then far easier - you call RCI and say that you want the specific agent to take it over.

3. If you have not yet made the option then it is even easier - just tell the sales guy on the ship that you want 'Fred' of 'Bloggs Travel' to have the booking and they will allocate it to them immediately.

Any on board credit offered on the booking will stay with the booking, even if you transfer it to an agent.

 

In 2&3 you need to advise the agents ABTA number.

 

Does this make sense?!

[villauk]

In England it is different - firstly are you booked and deposit paid? If so then you have 48 hrs from when the booking was made to transfer it to a TA. Outside of 48hrs then it cannot be done. To transfer to a TA you have to complete the form on the RCI UK website giving authority to move the bookingo to a TA.

2. If it is just still an option, so it is still on hold then far easier - you call RCI and say that you want the specific agent to take it over.

3. If you have not yet made the option then it is even easier - just tell the sales guy on the ship that you want 'Fred' of 'Bloggs Travel' to have the booking and they will allocate it to them immediately.

Any on board credit offered on the booking will stay with the booking, even if you transfer it to an agent.

 

In 2&3 you need to advise the agents ABTA number.

 

Does this make sense?!

Yes, great thanks. So, as we only have prices from the TA at present, when we are on board, we can book with future cruise rep and ask him/her to allocate to chosen TA (n.b.I have TA's ABTA number). One more question, as you are so helpful, we are platinum and qualify for the balcony discount. Would we be able to have the balcony discount and any onboard credit or is it one or the other? We may book 2 cabins (1 inside & 1 balcony), would we qualify for OBC for both? Many thanks for your quick response.

[Albert Ross]

Yes, great thanks. So, as we only have prices from the TA at present, when we are on board, we can book with future cruise rep and ask him/her to allocate to chosen TA (n.b.I have TA's ABTA number). One more question, as you are so helpful, we are platinum and qualify for the balcony discount. Would we be able to have the balcony discount and any onboard credit or is it one or the other? We may book 2 cabins (1 inside & 1 balcony), would we qualify for OBC for both? Many thanks for your quick response.

Hi - yes you can now have your OBC from booking on board as well as your C&A balcony discount. If you have a voucher from the C&A magazine you cannot have this too though.

Yes each room booked will have OBC.

[villauk]

Hi - yes you can now have your OBC from booking on board as well as your C&A balcony discount. If you have a voucher from the C&A magazine you cannot have this too though.

Yes each room booked will have OBC.

Albert Ross, thanks ever so much. It's our first time on Celebrity and we're really looking forward to exploring a new ship i.e. Constellation. It will be even better knowing I'll be booking my next cruise while on board;).

[Albert Ross]

Albert Ross, thanks ever so much. It's our first time on Celebrity and we're really looking forward to exploring a new ship i.e. Constellation. It will be even better knowing I'll be booking my next cruise while on board;).

No probs mate. Have a good cruise - Connie has just been tarted up too - (or Solstisized as they call it here)!

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Just know that the ability to transfer a booking to a TA after 30 days of booking direct is about to come to an end in the near future.

 

Also expect the perks to be lowered as Celebrity and Royal have stated they will pay a lowered commission on any transferred booking except on booked on board.

 

Okay, I'm dying to know if CoachT has access to some insider information, or is blowing smoke. Has anyone else heard anything about this? Any truth to it, or is it just a rumor like the one about a minimum $25 cancellation fee that supposedly will go into effect on 1/1/11? I don't mean to disparage the veracity of those posters, but it's passing strange that there's been no additional discussion or confirmation of that fact or the ones this poster presents.