Question and advise Please

[cruisingdames]

We (DH and I) booked a cruise for the Meds for this coming fall. (Oct) Paid a hefty deposit as we had no FCC. My sister in law who is travelling with us contacted our travel agent because she heard from other cruisers that HAL dropped the prices on our B2B. Checked HAL website and prices have indeed been reduced. Our online TA refuses to contact HAL to get a price adjustment stating that she had already given us a great price. Needless to say we are not too happy with this as her price which was lower than the HAL brochure rate, should still be further reduced since HAL dropped their prices. Now our question is............. can we cancelled our bookings with this agent and transfer the booking to another online TA. What happens to our hefty deposit, final payment is only due in July. What if further reduction are offered by HAL prior to final payment and we would like to take advantage of this. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

We booked early to ensure we got on this cruise, now price reductions are being offered for all categories............. I hate this but it is prior to final payment............

 

Barb

[Hstergo]

Sounds like you have a very lazy TA who doesn't want to do their job

[kjw869]

We (DH and I) booked a cruise for the Meds for this coming fall. (Oct) Paid a hefty deposit as we had no FCC. My sister in law who is travelling with us contacted our travel agent because she heard from other cruisers that HAL dropped the prices on our B2B. Checked HAL website and prices have indeed been reduced. Our online TA refuses to contact HAL to get a price adjustment stating that she had already given us a great price. Needless to say we are not too happy with this as her price which was lower than the HAL brochure rate, should still be further reduced since HAL dropped their prices. Now our question is............. can we cancelled our bookings with this agent and transfer the booking to another online TA. What happens to our hefty deposit, final payment is only due in July. What if further reduction are offered by HAL prior to final payment and we would like to take advantage of this. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

We booked early to ensure we got on this cruise, now price reductions are being offered for all categories............. I hate this but it is prior to final payment............

 

Barb

 

Hstergo is right, you have a lazy agent. I would cancel this cruise and rebook with another TA. You should receive a full refund if processed through HAL on your credit card. However, the agency may have a cancellation penalty.

 

I then would rebook through another agency. We have a TA that we have used for our last four cruises, and if HAL's price is reduced, she calls HAL and gets the reduction. Not only do I get a 12-15% discount off Holland America's website prices, but on my upcoming cruise, my TA got an additional $175 that I was not even aware of from a promotion with the cruise line.

 

You may want to call your agent and mention that you are considering cancelling your cruise and booking with another agency before going through all these hoops. The downside is if you booked a certain cabin, you may not get that cabin back.

 

Good lucki and let us know how this turns out!

[kazu]

Not impressed with your agent at all. Besides cancelling, you can also just transfer your booking to HAL. That way you can keep your cabin and any other arrangements you have already paid for (like shore excursions). Then, if you want to transfer it to a new TA you can from HAL. Or you can leave your booking with HAL. If your online agency offered you any perks, obc, etc. you will lose those but your booking will remain as is.

 

If the agency has cancellation fees, you will be subject to them. (a number have a $50 fee pp). I agree with the previous poster - tell your TA you are considering cancelling & going elsewhere - maybe then they will do their job:rolleyes: If the agency has a higher up, I would contact them as well.

[serendipity1499]

Sounds like you have a very lazy TA who doesn't want to do their job

 

We (DH and I) booked a cruise for the Meds for this coming fall. (Oct) Paid a hefty deposit as we had no FCC. My sister in law who is travelling with us contacted our travel agent because she heard from other cruisers that HAL dropped the prices on our B2B. Checked HAL website and prices have indeed been reduced. Our online TA refuses to contact HAL to get a price adjustment stating that she had already given us a great price. Needless to say we are not too happy with this as her price which was lower than the HAL brochure rate, should still be further reduced since HAL dropped their prices. Now our question is............. can we cancelled our bookings with this agent and transfer the booking to another online TA. What happens to our hefty deposit, final payment is only due in July. What if further reduction are offered by HAL prior to final payment and we would like to take advantage of this. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

We booked early to ensure we got on this cruise, now price reductions are being offered for all categories............. I hate this but it is prior to final payment............

 

Barb

 

Not impressed with your agent at all. Besides cancelling, you can also just transfer your booking to HAL. That way you can keep your cabin and any other arrangements you have already paid for (like shore excursions). Then, if you want to transfer it to a new TA you can from HAL. Or you can leave your booking with HAL. If your online agency offered you any perks, obc, etc. you will lose those but your booking will remain as is.

 

If the agency has cancellation fees, you will be subject to them. (a number have a $50 fee pp). I agree with the previous poster - tell your TA you are considering cancelling & going elsewhere - maybe then they will do their job:rolleyes: If the agency has a higher up, I would contact them as well.

 

I would be inclined to agree with you all about the TA being lazy, however something confuses me.. The OP alludes to the fact that her present Agents price is lower than HAL's brochure price, but is it lower than HAL's reduced price?..If it's 10%-12% lower than HAL's reduced price it's still in the ballpark.. Perhaps HAL lowered their prices for NEW bookings only & her present TA may have a group allotment price which was not reduced..

I think the OP should be very careful about canceling & re-booking..She should contact other on-line Agents first & find out what their Group allotment prices are for the exact same cabins..Also she should check out the perks offered by her Agent as well as other Agents..IMO most on-line Agents are competative & I'm sure her Agent does not want to lose the booking..If she gets a cheaper price from another Agent, she can use this as her argument with her present Agent..

Hopefully Lisa will see this thread & comment on it..

To the OP, Good luck & please let us know how you make out..

Cheers..Betty

[gerryl12]

Whatever happens I would never use this travel agent again. The agent does sound lazy but we do not have all the facts.

[kazu]

I would be inclined to agree with you all about the TA being lazy, however something confuses me.. The OP alludes to the fact that her present Agents price is lower than HAL's brochure price, but is it lower than HAL's reduced price?..If it's 10%-12% lower than HAL's reduced price it's still in the ballpark.. Perhaps HAL lowered their prices for NEW bookings only & her present TA may have a group allotment price which was not reduced..

 

I think the OP should be very careful about canceling & re-booking..She should contact other on-line Agents first & find out what their Group allotment prices are for the exact same cabins..Also she should check out the perks offered by her Agent as well as other Agents..IMO most on-line Agents are competative & I'm sure her Agent does not want to lose the booking..If she gets a cheaper price from another Agent, she can use this as her argument with her present Agent..

 

Hopefully Lisa will see this thread & comment on it..

 

To the OP, Good luck & please let us know how you make out..

 

Cheers..Betty

 

I didn't see this in the op's post Betty - just it was a good price - most on line TA's have a better price than HAL, but if the price drops, then they may not. Most will match. Your advice is solid. sorry if I missed something - but the TA is still a loser IMO - if that was the case - all the TA had to do was explain it. Doesn't sound like it to me. Good luck to the op:D hope they come back to let us know

[bozemanman]

We (DH and I) booked a cruise for the Meds for this coming fall. (Oct) Paid a hefty deposit as we had no FCC. My sister in law who is travelling with us contacted our travel agent because she heard from other cruisers that HAL dropped the prices on our B2B. Checked HAL website and prices have indeed been reduced. Our online TA refuses to contact HAL to get a price adjustment stating that she had already given us a great price. Needless to say we are not too happy with this as her price which was lower than the HAL brochure rate, should still be further reduced since HAL dropped their prices. Now our question is............. can we cancelled our bookings with this agent and transfer the booking to another online TA. What happens to our hefty deposit, final payment is only due in July. What if further reduction are offered by HAL prior to final payment and we would like to take advantage of this. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

We booked early to ensure we got on this cruise, now price reductions are being offered for all categories............. I hate this but it is prior to final payment............

 

Barb

 

 

Without question if it was me this happened to, I would cancel the cruise with this agent/agency. I would then speak with this person's supervisor and HAL about the problem. There is no excuse for this person's laziness and it should not go unaddressed (IMHO).

 

There are plenty of great, helpful agencies out there. Sorry you had such an awful experience, but go find another agency.

[RuthC]

I'm confused here.

Did HAL's price drop below what the agency originally charged? Or is HAL's price less than it used to be, but still higher than the agency's price? Just not as big a difference as before?

[serendipity1499]

I didn't see this in the op's post Betty - just it was a good price - most on line TA's have a better price than HAL, but if the price drops, then they may not. Most will match. Your advice is solid. sorry if I missed something - but the TA is still a loser IMO - if that was the case - all the TA had to do was explain it. Doesn't sound like it to me. Good luck to the op:D hope they come back to let us know

 

Kazu, I would be inclined to agree, but don't think we have all the facts... Not all TA's can reduce their prices when HAL does, if they have a lower allotment rate to start with.

Perhaps the TA knows that HAL can't give her a lower allotment rate..The OP never stated if her TA's rate was higher than HAL's new reduced rate..Don't you think it's possible that the Reduced HAL rate is for NEW BOOKINGS ONLY..I don't believe the OP completely understands why the TA will not contact HAL

& I can't condemn the Agent for being lazy until all the facts are in..

I'm confused here.

Did HAL's price drop below what the agency originally charged? Or is HAL's price less than it used to be, but still higher than the agency's price? Just not as big a difference as before?

 

Exactly the way I feel Ruth..:confused:The OP never stated that the TA's rate was higher than HAL's reduced rate..I'ts why I suggested that the OP should check out other Agents Group allotment rates before canceling & re- booking.. Still wonder if the price drop was for NEW BOOKINGS only..She has not been back to clarify the info..

Cheers..:)Betty

[cruisingdames]

Thank you for all your suggestions.............. the price quoted by this online TA was slightly lower than those published on the HAL website for our Ryndam cruises. Prior to this booking we always booked directly with the Shiplines. We met this TA on our last cruise and she gave us her business card. Nice and pleasant lady. We contacted her and she quoted us rates that were slightly lower than HAL prices. No OBC or other benefits were offered. That was fine as the price was slightly lower, wanted to give our business to this individual who works from home, the TA did advise that if the price was going to be reduced prior to final payment that she would give us a price adjustment, all this was verbal. We booked, paid our deposits, prices now have been reduced and the agent refused to provide a price adjustment, prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL. Hope this clarifies our position and reason we took this course of action.

 

Barb

[kjw869]

Thank you for all your suggestions.............. the price quoted by this online TA was slightly lower than those published on the HAL website for our Ryndam cruises. Prior to this booking we always booked directly with the Shiplines. We met this TA on our last cruise and she gave us her business card. Nice and pleasant lady. We contacted her and she quoted us rates that were slightly lower than HAL prices. No OBC or other benefits were offered. That was fine as the price was slightly lower, wanted to give our business to this individual who works from home, the TA did advise that if the price was going to be reduced prior to final payment that she would give us a price adjustment, all this was verbal. We booked, paid our deposits, prices now have been reduced and the agent refused to provide a price adjustment, prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL. Hope this clarifies our position and reason we took this course of action.

 

Barb

 

 

Great, and thanks for letting us know the outcome.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[kazu]

Thank you for all your suggestions.............. the price quoted by this online TA was slightly lower than those published on the HAL website for our Ryndam cruises. Prior to this booking we always booked directly with the Shiplines. We met this TA on our last cruise and she gave us her business card. Nice and pleasant lady. We contacted her and she quoted us rates that were slightly lower than HAL prices. No OBC or other benefits were offered. That was fine as the price was slightly lower, wanted to give our business to this individual who works from home, the TA did advise that if the price was going to be reduced prior to final payment that she would give us a price adjustment, all this was verbal. We booked, paid our deposits, prices now have been reduced and the agent refused to provide a price adjustment, prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL. Hope this clarifies our position and reason we took this course of action.

 

Barb

 

Thanks for letting us know - I think you did well - Glad you got things resovled.

[RuthC]

... prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL.

This clarifies everything! Thanks for filling in the blanks.

 

Congratulations on getting the lower fare, although it was the hard way. Have a great cruise.

[vbmom87]

Thank you for all your suggestions.............. the price quoted by this online TA was slightly lower than those published on the HAL website for our Ryndam cruises. Prior to this booking we always booked directly with the Shiplines. We met this TA on our last cruise and she gave us her business card. Nice and pleasant lady. We contacted her and she quoted us rates that were slightly lower than HAL prices. No OBC or other benefits were offered. That was fine as the price was slightly lower, wanted to give our business to this individual who works from home, the TA did advise that if the price was going to be reduced prior to final payment that she would give us a price adjustment, all this was verbal. We booked, paid our deposits, prices now have been reduced and the agent refused to provide a price adjustment, prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL. Hope this clarifies our position and reason we took this course of action.

 

Barb

 

Thank you for letting us know how it turned out. Way too many posters leave us hanging.

 

You may want to check out some online agencies now and you may be able to get an even better deal that might include some OBC and/or free dinner. As I understand it, you can transfer your booking from HAL. Not sure you want to do this after all you have been through already, but I have always gotten a better price than HAL's price by going with someone else. Last summer we booked the 14 day HAL itinerary to Alaska and we saved $800 by going with an online TA. Actually they have an office in Florida but anyone can purchase via phone or online.

[serendipity1499]

Thank you for all your suggestions.............. the price quoted by this online TA was slightly lower than those published on the HAL website for our Ryndam cruises. Prior to this booking we always booked directly with the Shiplines. We met this TA on our last cruise and she gave us her business card. Nice and pleasant lady. We contacted her and she quoted us rates that were slightly lower than HAL prices. No OBC or other benefits were offered. That was fine as the price was slightly lower, wanted to give our business to this individual who works from home, the TA did advise that if the price was going to be reduced prior to final payment that she would give us a price adjustment, all this was verbal. We booked, paid our deposits, prices now have been reduced and the agent refused to provide a price adjustment, prices now listed by HAL are lower than this agent's prices.

 

Problem has now been solved, we cancelled our booking (no penalty) and have booked with HAL. Hope this clarifies our position and reason we took this course of action.

 

Barb

 

Thanks for letting us know how you made out..You can still check prices with other TA's & if you find a lower rate can transfer your HAL booking to the new Agent..

We did that on our Amazon cruise on the Prinsendam & used an Agent which advertised on the Cruise Critic WEB site..We had an outside "F" class cabin on Dolphin Deck booked with HAL & our Agent gave us an outside "E" cabin on Main Deck for almost 9% less..Our cabin was almost in the same area but one deck higher..

Since then we've always gotten a better rate from this Agent..

Just a suggestion..

Enjoy your cruise..:)Betty

[SwissMyst]

Is a travel agent's commission based upon the booking price? :confused:

 

There are precise rules for cancellations and percentages of refunds at various stages before the final payment date as I recall - best to check out the fine print with HAL. But we too have canceled and rebooked with our HAL online agent and reaped hundreds of dollars in savings when the timing was right. We always take pot-luck with our cabin so that is not an issue with us when we rebook.