reservation cancelled due to TA mistake

[cheeringmom99]

hi all, i need some guidance. my reservation was cancelled due a mistake by the TA. he gave me the wrong information on final payment due and RC cancelled our Christmas cruise. so he is scrambling to find us other cabins. we paid for inside cabins on the same deck but he is unable to find us anything even close together. He did find one room on the promenade area ( an upgrade) but the other room is two decks down on the other side of the ship- an inside end cabin. Should I ask him to ether upgrade us to something remotely close or just take what I can get. We have cruised before and not had the same deck and it is a pain. I am paying a lot of money to be close to my older kids but now I am not sure that is going to happen. Any seasoned cruisers out there with some advice??

[bluemarlin1]

If your travel agent made a mistake, you should be INSISTING that they make good by picking up the tab for the difference for better cabins next to each other!

[MonDreamr1]

We had one TA mistake, when it was caught, our category was sold out. She upgraded us to the next available category that fit the requirements (location/# of people per room) we'd originally booked without us having to request it. She (her company) paid the difference in fare. I'd press it.

[azgrandmax3]

Our TA also make a mistake regarding a recent cruise. Once aware she immediately took responsibily and took care of the cost difference. A hard lesson learned. If I were you and this is not taken care of to your benefit, time to find another TA. Ours was taken care of with additional apologies, so we have again booked another cruise through her. Errors do happen with everyone, it just has to be dealt with.

[Mickeylee]

I agree with the others - the TA should do whatever they have to do to make up for their mistake. I was a TA for many years and when we made mistakes (and mistakes do happen - TA's are human too ;)), we got them fixed - doing whatever was necessary.

[cheeringmom99]

thank you all for the responses. I looked online and there are no rooms available for three or more people. I think that is where he is getting running into trouble but they were going to "waive" the third person for an inside cabin. so in reality I am getting the butt end of the deal since i originally paid for an inside that fit three people. I just don't want to be on different decks than my older kids but it looks like that is going to happen. It is a voyager of the seas ship. Should I ask for a suite that will accommodate 5 people? do they even have such cabins?

[wvufan]

Not sure if it is feasible, but could the TA perhaps offer to pay for an upgrade for the people who ended up in the cabins you were supposed to have? Seems like he is trying to be helpful and apparently willing to pay some more, so that would solve it.

 

Regardless, you will be on a Christmas cruise with your family and that is plenty to be thankful for.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[Jimnbigd]

It is a voyager of the seas ship. Should I ask for a suite that will accommodate 5 people? do they even have such cabins?

Chances are the Royal Family Suite cabins are already booked, but you can try.

 

The Voyager of the Seas is much better I think, but you could see if anything is available on the Carnival Conquest also from New Orleans, but this is a Sunday departure/arrival, not Saturday -- which would mess things up if you have Saturday airfare already booked for the return. Or check on the 5-day Carnival Ecstasy and spend a couple of days in NOLA if the Ecstasy has acceptable cabins.

 

Your TA most certainly should compensate you -- at least giving you his/her commission. Sounds like it is time for a new TA.

[Wilda]

I would suggest you start dealing with the owner of the agency (unless that is the current TA). Your TA may not have the authority to upgrade, etc....and the clock is ticking on the availability of cabins on holiday cruises. You may also request a 3-way call with RCI...they surely have a record of your deposit and may work harder to find a solution.

[herbanrenewal]

How old are the older children - presumably adult since the TA can book them into a room without an adult. If one or both are still minors they need to be sharing (at least on paper) with an adult.

 

Personally, I would find the 2 floors apart to be unacceptable for a family vacation. For a Christmas vacation - no way. there's got to be a cruise line somewhere with 2 rooms on the same floor.

 

But if the kids are adults, and you don't mind the separation and find the offered accommodations acceptable I'd still push for same floor rooms but accept a huge amount of OBC for the inconvenience and loss of the family togetherness that was a purpose of the trip.

[torpeedo]

If this is the Voyager Christmas cruise, there are several outside cabins Cat G Deck 6 and 7 but they are as forward as you can get, but together. Probably for two but I would ask for those. Suites all sold out as most everything seems to be. Good luck and enjoy the cruise

[bajathree]

OK people....lets get back to reality here....your TA gave you bad info on final payment date of 2 interior cabins which caused the cancellation of those resi's and ALL MONEY REFUNDED. Yes, this sucks....but how do you think that you are now going to go from 2 interiors to getting upgraded to a Royal Family Suite....seriously.....you would be talking the TA paying out thousands out of his/her pocket....just not going to happen.

[cheeringmom99]

OK people....lets get back to reality here....your TA gave you bad info on final payment date of 2 interior cabins which caused the cancellation of those resi's and ALL MONEY REFUNDED. Yes, this sucks....but how do you think that you are now going to go from 2 interiors to getting upgraded to a Royal Family Suite....seriously.....you would be talking the TA paying out thousands out of his/her pocket....just not going to happen.

 

i didn't say i wanted the royal suite. I just want to be close to my kids. i am getting the short end of the deal having to be 2 decks from my kids and getting a smaller room in the process. i booked early (beginning of year) because I knew it would be tough getting rooms close to each other so all I am asking is either upgrade me to where I can be at least on the same deck as my kids or put us in one room that can accommodate 5 people. yes, money is refunded but I also have two kids flying in from out of state and hotel reservations in NO. I don't think I am asking for too much. I am also dealing with a very large cruise company and I was expecting to be given proper information on payment dates. But that didn't' happen so I am hoping they can fix it. I am not blaming the TA. Mistakes happen but I am hoping he can get his company behind him to work this out for us.

[johneeo]

Not sure if it is feasible, but could the TA perhaps offer to pay for an upgrade for the people who ended up in the cabins you were supposed to have? Seems like he is trying to be helpful and apparently willing to pay some more, so that would solve it.

 

Regardless, you will be on a Christmas cruise with your family and that is plenty to be thankful for.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

 

Best suggestion so far. I like the way you think.

[uksimonusa]

How old are the older children - presumably adult since the TA can book them into a room without an adult. If one or both are still minors they need to be sharing (at least on paper) with an adult.

 

Personally, I would find the 2 floors apart to be unacceptable for a family vacation. For a Christmas vacation - no way. there's got to be a cruise line somewhere with 2 rooms on the same floor.

 

But if the kids are adults, and you don't mind the separation and find the offered accommodations acceptable I'd still push for same floor rooms but accept a huge amount of OBC for the inconvenience and loss of the family togetherness that was a purpose of the trip.

 

Minor kids do not need to be booked sharing with an adult, they can be booked into a cabin next to the adults or across from the adults with no problem.

 

As the kids are flying in,in this case, then I would think they are adults so a couple of cabins apart should not be a problem.

[torpeedo]

There are very very few cabins available at this point :(so no matter what, you will either have to cancel or get the best cabins you can, outside preferably as an upgrade since those will be together which is what you booked only as an inside.

[jagsfan]

I hope you are able to get accommodations that work for you. A nice OBC could soften the blow, too. It's inconvenient not to be close together, but with phones in the cabins at least you can coordinate being in the same place at the same time.

I have always made sure I got the passenger copy of the info from the cruise line. That shows deposit paid, total amount pp of the cruise, and things like final payment date.

Travel agents do their best to be on top of everything, but sometimes things just get missed. Do enjoy your cruise, anyway. Spending the time with your family makes for a

wonderful Christmas.

[trixiegolf]

This is why travel agents carry "error and omission" insurance. Nothing will be coming out of the agencies pockets.

Absolutely insist on being compensated.

Was a TA for 25 years.

[firefly333]

A nice OBC could soften the blow, too..

 

I would expect some OBC if I had lesser cabins, in a less desirable location.

[LovesCruising]

thank you all for the responses. I looked online and there are no rooms available for three or more people. I think that is where he is getting running into trouble but they were going to "waive" the third person for an inside cabin. so in reality I am getting the butt end of the deal since i originally paid for an inside that fit three people. I just don't want to be on different decks than my older kids but it looks like that is going to happen. It is a voyager of the seas ship. Should I ask for a suite that will accommodate 5 people? do they even have such cabins?

 

I can see wanting to be compensated. The TA made a mistake. Your children are adults. Does it really matter if your on the same deck??? Do you deserve a suite for this error - I don't believe so. You are entitled to the next best available with no additional money out of pocket than you were originally planning on spending.

[cruisemom72]

Hi - I can see being upset. You specifically made reservations at the beginning of the year. And while your kids may be older, you did plan early enough to enjoy having them on the same deck. Get any upgrade you can. If it were me, even though my original money was refunded, I would still be in a funk over it....because I didn't get what I wanted and planned for and actually had. I realize that mistakes are made....but it would still bother me until it was satisfactorily resolved.

[cheeringmom99]

Thank you all for your insight and suggestions. I will hopefully hear from my TA today and have another room booked by this evening.

 

Although I appreciate everyone's comments, I do not want more than I paid for. But I do expect to get what I paid for. And moving into a smaller room is not acceptable. I planned early. Maybe I should have been more persistent with the TA when he didn't answer my emails. But according to my paperwork, I had to the middle of November to make final payment and the questions I had were not important. But had we communicated better, maybe he would have caught his mistake and all would have been good. Lessons learned. I will let you know how it works out.

[M&M Hayden]

Usually with Holiday sailings final payment is due earlier than normal (non-Holiday) sailings. I agree with most that the TA should be stepping up at this point. I would also ask them if any changes are going to be made to their procedures to ensure this doesn't happen again to you or someone else.

If a TA didn't respond to my emails I would have been leary of them a long time ago.

[Bookish Angel]

3 - 5 days before my official payment due dates, I always contact the TA to authorize payment and ALWAYS request e-mail verification of same. I also contact my credit card company to make doubly sure the transaction was done and get e-mail verification. Having documentation helps dramatically if you have to deal with someone higher up than the original TA.

[honeybee85]

And situations like this are why you INSIST on an RCI invoice right away from your TA which would have specifically stated your final payment date. Then, you mark your calendar (preferably for 1 week prior) and you don't let your TA forget.

 

Would it be great if you didn't have to do this? Sure. But TA's (even good ones) are humans too.