Gift from TA

[Scrumpy]

We have never gotten anything from a TA. In fact, using a TA has cost us money when they made an error and our flights were not booked when they should have been. I've started a thread because I have no idea how to vet a TA and I don't know if we've been unlucky. Sounds like there are some great ones out there, but as I think back on the times we've used one, I don't have a lot of warm fuzzies.

Scrumpy

[travelingman]

Okay - I stand corrected.

Either I am not cruisng enought to get the attention of the TA or I am using the wrong TA.

 

I will admit I do not cruise every year.

Not because I would not like to but due to the fact that my work takes me to different countries and I take the opportunity to do some personal travel in theses countries after the Company business.

 

If you think I might should try another TA, I am willing to talk to them when I book for next spring to the Carribean.

From what I read maybe I should try the TA "AmyinVail" or "ekerr19" uses.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses.

That is what I hoped to illicit from my post.

[kruzkeen]

Thanks for your nice comments, Brian.

 

I'll let you know my TA's response.

(If I want a coffee pot, I'll go buy a coffee pot. That, of course, is not the point. The point is a mutuality (is that a word? :) ) of loyalty.

Our TA always sends us wine and I appreciate that. I just thought she might like to see the OP's post.

I think it is a fine word.

 

mutuality

 

n 1: a reciprocality of sentiments; "the mutuality of their affection was obvious" [syn: mutualness] 2: a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups) [syn: interdependence, interdependency]

 

 

Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

[the2ofus]

How DO you find a good TA? Living in a rural area in Middle America has it's pluses but also some drawbacks. The number of bricks and mortar TAs is few and the percentage of business they do with cruise lines is probably small also. How do you find a TA who goes the extra mile and calls you when HAL offers a great deal? I'll be completing 99 days on HAL in October, have only once had a TA do anything special for me, and that is when I was still working and used the TA who did our corporate travel.

[BS Cruisers]

we booked thru hal direct. a bottle of wine would have been nice. brian

[dakrewser]

How DO you find a good TA? Living in a rural area in Middle America has it's pluses but also some drawbacks.

 

But you do have a computer. I use two different TAs (they handler different cruise lines), both are "bricks and mortar" agencies, but both are always available to me by email or phone. One maintains a web site with cruise listings, itineraries, deck plans, pricings, specials, etc. The other isn't quite that successful yet. One is 500 miles away from me, the other is 3000 miles away (which occasionally causes a problem with time zones!)

 

The one in the LA area does my HAL bookings and always comes through with great prices as well as little gifties - wine, champagne, dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, flowers, etc. (not all of those for each cruise, but there's always something!) WE've just started with the 2nd one (since the first doesn't book for RCCI/Celebrity) who we found thru cruise compete, but she's been very professional, very competitent and very responsive so far.

[dare2dream]

I am a simple girl, poor working white trash with not too much expendable income. In 2004 I received an inheritance from Grandma, a very unexpected windfall. In considering what to do with it DH & I decided to take our dream trip to AK in Aug 2005 for our 25th wedding anniversary. I went in and talked to a John, at a local travel agency owned by him & his wife. He spent quite a bit of time with me, offered advice, and gave me several brochures to look at.

 

In Oct the agency had a Hal cruise night that DH & I attended. The very sailing we were interested in was offered at 1200 off pp with a 300 pp shipboard credit. I promptly went in to book and found this did not apply to our desired cruisetour. The tour starts with a 7 day cruise and then 5 days on land. John said the cruisetour is not discounted because Hal can not discount the costs of transportation on land. This sounded stupid to me, but I booked.

 

I have always thought that only fools pay full fair for a cruise. Well now I am a fool. I did get the early booking discount and the exact cabin category I wanted (and could afford) and $600 shipboard credit. I am very excited about our trip, but wonder if I was ripped off. I understand that I am helping John support his 35 year old child that has decided to go back to college again, but I don't like feeling that I am doing more than my share to help with the situation.

 

Now that my kids are grown and gone we can afford to cruise in the future and I want to feel good about my next cruise vacation. Those of you with great travel agents, please E-mail me with their contact information.

 

Thanks,

Brenda

blct@comcast.net

[sail7seas]

Nothing else? We always get about $100 shipboard credit and some wine and/or flowers...

 

In the past, she has sent us gift credits to use at the Spa or Salon. I nicely thanked her for that but asked her to please not do that again.

It is a firm principle of mine to never use an HAL SPA/Salon. I have told the story here as to why (and won't bore you with repeating it), but for over ten years now, I refuse to step foot through their door other than to proceed on through to the gym. One ignorant,stupid, arrogant, dumb #^$&! has cost the Spas of Steiner and the shps of HAL ALOT of dollars!!!

I had those credits applied to our accout as regular shipboard account after wrangling for a little longer than should have been necessary at the front office. (This in the days prior to concierge service on most/all ships).

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I am just now getting a chance to read this thread (been busy at work) I am been using the same TA since we book our Zuirderdam cruise in 2003. She has been great and has always matched or came really close to the prices I find on the internet. Even if she is a few dollars more I do not mind paying because I can always call her on the phone or stop by her office (it is close to my home) She has managed this national company office for more than 10 years. Last December her HAL rep gave in the Oosterdam plate for the start of the Oosterdam doing the Mexican Riviera and the first person she thought of was me and wanted me to have it. I was so thrilled she thought of us. She also usually send us a bottle of wine. I think that the TA's often get little gifts from all the cruise line gifts.

 

Sail, did you ever hear back from your TA?

 

Here is a picture of the plate our TA gave us.

[cruznon]

I recently left a local TA after I had booked (within three months)three cruises--all of which I did the research and she simply booked and handed me the tickets. (We even laughed about this.) I had few questions, but it was good to know she was there.

 

One cruise was for my Mom's 80th birthday, one my daughter's birthday. One booking was an S suite. I thought at least there would be a bottle of wine, flowers...something....NOTHING on any of the cruises. (Not even a follow up call/e-mail to ask how everything went.) She had messed up my parents dining requests--with serious consequences. SO after the third cruise, I decided I could do everything she did and didn't need her.

Our next cruise has been booked with an online agency--I got a great price and they've been very responsive to any inquiries. I don't expect any TA gift or follow up from this booking, but I did expect some token/guesture of appreciation for my business from my local TA.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for posting the picture of your plate. We have a collection of them and I treasure them. We have Veendam, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Maasdam, and Zuiderdam (a gift from a treasured HAL friend). I have them on display on a very long counter in my family room and we get so much pleasure from them.

 

 

Yes..I did hear back from my TA. Her first response was within 15 minutes of my original e-mail to her. She said she was able to learn that, indeed, the coffee pot was a gift given to TA's who booked alot of HAL cruises. My TA apparently doesn't book enough to have gotten one. :-( The OP's TA very generously and kindly passed along that gift to her customer).

My TA said she is 'not done with the subject'. I'm not sure what that means?

 

 

MY TA has always felt that HAL should have been acknowledging some of their 'better customers' in more concrete ways than a medal on a piece of ribbon. She thinks it remarkable how they do so little to reciprocate extreme loyalty they get. (I am not referring to what occurs on the ships......that is whole different story IMO. We could not ask for a bit more when a board. That is why we continue to go.)

 

I think it's amazing how just an e-mail now and then out of Mariner's Office perhaps.....simply, Thanks for your Business. We know you've sailed with us a ton of times and continue to. That would go a loooooong way IMO.

[ekerr19]

Sail - Thanks for reporting back in with us. I think your TA is right, the more HAL bookings an agency does, the more likely they are to receive the perks.

 

Last year on the Maasdam, we met one of VP's from Sales & Marketing - his wife was posting on our Roll-Call thread and he told some fantastically funny stories of all the HAL promotional materials he's dealt with - and some of the duds that he still has stored in his garage. We got a big kick out of hearing about some of the failures.

 

I do think HAL needs to "step it up" a bit in terms of Mariner's perks. Even Princess seems to have better perks than HAL. I remember hearing on one of our first cruises that 500- day medallion holders and greater received free cocktails in any lounge, I recently asked a bartender about it and he said they stopped doing that years ago. It would be a nice little perk, IMO - if you have on your medallion, it should at least be good for a free drink.

 

I was in the gift shop right after I received mine and still had it with me - DH was joking with the sales gal that the medallion was easily "the most expensive piece of jewelry in the shop" and we got a good chuckle out of it, otherwise it's not good for too much else. :)

[Stevesan]

My TA apparently doesn't book enough to have gotten one.

 

That's a shocker. I thought we used the same agency, you know - the one that specializes in cruising. They get a ton of HAL biz!

 

BTW - ours always sends a travel alarm each time. Good thing, too. They're poorly designed so they don't last very long.:)

 

Another BTW - believe it or not, I got a far better price (along with lots of goodies and an OBC) from AAA for our upcoming Europe cruise. Now that was a real shocker.

However, it's a good thing we have some experience because the agent, a extrememly nice person and a good friend, knows little about cruising. Not her fault, though. AAA doesn't give their agents nearly the personal cruising time true cruise agencies provide for their agents.

[sail7seas]

That's a shocker. I thought we used the same agency, you know - the one that specializes in cruising. They get a ton of HAL biz!

 

BTW - ours always sends a travel alarm each time. Good thing, too. They're poorly designed so they don't last very long.:)

 

Another BTW - believe it or not, I got a far better price (along with lots of goodies and an OBC) from AAA for our upcoming Europe cruise. Now that was a real shocker.

However, it's a good thing we have some experience because the agent, a extrememly nice person and a good friend, knows little about cruising. Not her fault, though. AAA doesn't give their agents nearly the personal cruising time true cruise agencies provide for their agents.

 

 

Stevensen....

I seriously doubt we use the same TA and can't imagine where you got that idea??

I use a brick and mortar who is down the street and round the corner from our home.

I used to book with AmEx Platinum Travel (if that is who you are referring to?) but switched from them years ago.

[Stevesan]

Stevensen....

 

I seriously doubt we use the same TA and can't imagine where you got that idea??

 

I use a brick and mortar who is down the street and round the corner from our home.

 

I used to book with AmEx Platinum Travel (if that is who you are referring to?) but switched from them years ago.

 

 

Sorry about that, S7S. I misremembered from a previous posting - it must have been someone else.

The reference was not to AmEx. Can't mention the agency's name, but they're just down the street from HAL's HQ. You'd luvem. They're not always the cheapest, but they're always the best, IMNSHO.:D

[ekerr19]

Sorry about that, S7S. I misremembered from a previous posting - it must have been someone else.

The reference was not to AmEx. Can't mention the agency's name, but they're just down the street from HAL's HQ. You'd luvem. They're not always the cheapest, but they're always the best, IMNSHO.:D

 

Steve - That's my agency too. Just found out they have been sold - JL will continue on for 2-3 years, but not with the day-to-day, she and DH will be taking some escorted cruises - we are hoping to book on in 2006.

[Stevesan]

Steve - That's my agency too. Just found out they have been sold - JL will continue on for 2-3 years, but not with the day-to-day, she and DH will be taking some escorted cruises - we are hoping to book on in 2006.

 

I did not know that!!!. I'm certainly sorry to hear it. Hopefully, they'll keep employing the same skilled agents and retain equivalent customer service. It took me three years to find them. I don't want to go thru another search. Good cruise agents are scarce as hen's teeth.

 

Ironically, my best experience was booking directly with HAL (it happened to be our Zuiderdam B2B). The HAL reps were always anxious to please and very knowledgeable about their ships, even steering me away from a less desirable cabin location. It was great getting documentation immediately via e-mail attachment, often while we were still on the phone together. Believe it or don't, this was one time HAL's pricing equalled or bettered agency prices.

[SDHALFAN]

Hi Lisa - (LAFFNVEGAS),

 

Thanks so much for posting a photo of your Oosterdam plate. A couple of months ago I received a totally unexpected gift from The Mariners' Society, thanking me for my loyalty to HAL. It was, of course a plate, and the handwritten note accompanying the plate said that it was the "Inaugural Oosterdam Mexican Riviera/Sea of Cortez plate." However, when I unwrapped the plate it turned out to be the "Maasdam 2005 Inaugural Roundtrip Norfolk/Caribbean" plate. I did get a huge laugh out of that. It's okay, I appreciated the thought and had been on the Maasdam just a few months earlier from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal - a great cruise and I hope that they will offer it again sometime soon.

 

Before any of you get your knickers in a knot because you didn't get such recognition of your undisputed loyalty to HAL I should explain that my late husband and I were invited to go aboard the Oosterdam when she was beginning her homeport adventure out of San Diego. My husband had passed away several months prior to the invitation and I e-mailed The Mariners' Society to ask if I could bring my daughter instead. We exchanged several e-mails (Mariners' Society and moi) and I became quite friendly with one of the young ladies there. The upshot is that since my daughter is a Trauma Nurse she was on call that night and since I can't drive at night (night blindness) - we couldn't go, much as both of us would have loved to. Soooooooo - I'm thinking that this was a nice way for HAL to say, thank you - sorry you couldn't join us that night but we still appreciate your loyalty.

 

Anyway, Lisa: it's nice to see what my plate should have looked like, but, hey, as I've said before I like my Maasdam plate and appreciate the thought.:)

[sail7seas]

Stevensen.....I know the Agency about which you speak and I have contacted them in the past but did not actually book with them.

 

 

Seems I'm too late if the Agency has been sold. Hopefully, for their loyal clients, they'll continue to run it as well as apparently it has been in the past.

[the2ofus]

Oh goody,

 

I had just begun to receive mailings from that agency, and now you tell me it's sold. The agent I had contact with seemed very knowledgeable and I was looking forward to working with her in the next year. Seems I'm a day late and a dollar short, as usual.:(

[ekerr19]

Oh goody,

 

I had just begun to receive mailings from that agency, and now you tell me it's sold. The agent I had contact with seemed very knowledgeable and I was looking forward to working with her in the next year. Seems I'm a day late and a dollar short, as usual.:(

 

Nothing will be changing!!! I spoke with my agent this afternoon - they are somewhat excited about things - and as I mentioned JL will be involved for several years - I am excited about the escorted cruises she and her DH will be participating in - if you have any other questions please email me...