Fed Up with TA

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Huh???

 

Having a little fun-- can't mention names of TAs on Cruise Critic. I'm such a tease.

[hulamoon]

No one can tell you on the boards, I wish they could but members can be banned, so no one does. When you get on your cruise, ask like crazy, but ask people who expect the same level of service you do.

 

Until then browse the ads and an article on cc describing the options.

 

Best of luck...

 

Also, do the air yourself, cross check kayak then check choice air. Unless you don't have the time of course.

 

If you are outside your 60 days to transfer, or cannot cancel due to price call celebrity about the transfer. In a perfect world the ageny will give you someone else to work with.

[4774Papa]

Um, did you not pay with a credit card? If you did, then you should have gotten everything back.

I did pay with a credit card, but the 30 day window since it was posted on my account had passed.

[biker1972]

Shippy: There have been agencies that are in financial trouble that have not forwarded payment to the cruiseline. Once underwater, for whatever reason, they sometimes do the unethical. Always good to pay by cc and then start checking the cc account to see that payment went directly to the cruiseline. A payment to ABC travel is not a payment to X.

[Kellie Poodle]

Shippy: There have been agencies that are in financial trouble that have not forwarded payment to the cruiseline. Once underwater, for whatever reason, they sometimes do the unethical. Always good to pay by cc and then start checking the cc account to see that payment went directly to the cruiseline. A payment to ABC travel is not a payment to X.

 

 

I know this sounds preachy, but this is one of the very reasons I purchase my travel insurance within a week of booking a cruise. I get a policy that covers bankruptcies.

[Shippy]

Shippy: There have been agencies that are in financial trouble that have not forwarded payment to the cruiseline. Once underwater, for whatever reason, they sometimes do the unethical. Always good to pay by cc and then start checking the cc account to see that payment went directly to the cruiseline. A payment to ABC travel is not a payment to X.

 

 

Guess I just assumed others did.

As soon as I book with the Internet agency, I expect an email confirmation within a few hours. I review it for accuracy & make sure it shows any perks the agency gives.

If it does not, I call & ask for another email. I have never had any problem getting things clarified more.

The next day, I go to the cruiselines website & look up the booking #. It has always been there, if not I would be immediately on the phone to the TA. The cruiseline is not going to post that without getting the downpayment.

The day after I pay the final payment, I check with the cruiseline to make sure the got it.

That is a lot of money at stake. They have always gotten it so I did not have to call the agency back.

I ALWAYS use a big interet agency...eventhough I trust them....I ALWAYS want everything in writing right away ......and ALWAYS check with the cruiseline to make sure they show the same thing.

To much money at stake. We cruise 2-3 times a year. It is like a hobby for my husband. Every morning he searches for cruises. We are pretty open about where we go so that gives us a lot of leaway to find a good deal. We do expext to find the extras agencys offer.

We also ALWAYS book our own flights. I want control of them.

When we find a cruise, I have a room held while I check flight prices to see if they are reasonable. I then firmly book the cruise.

[Host Walt]

Try this article on Finding a Cruise Travel Agent

[Michelle19]

Try this article on Finding a Cruise Travel Agent

 

 

Love it.. Thanks..

 

 

Emailed the Manager of TA's company... got a reply immediatley. They want to know how we got to this point of dissapointment.. So again, thank you all for excellent advice, we think it may just have worked. Life Lesson: I miss controlling my own booking.. (Control Freak here too!! :p )

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I guess some of it might have to do with the type of problems.

 

Personally, we only have the TA book the cabin, and then move on.

Us to the rest we do ...

[dabear]

Ditto' that T agencies do hold client funds. We once paid a deposit to a big ta (former one)for a cruise and they failed to send it to the cruise line until after 30 days and we lost our desired cabin. The TA tried to blame the cruise line but we sort of found out differently. Further the TA would not stand behind making it up (the cruise line made an exception and upgraded us to a suite.)

[pamesacruisin]

I can sympathize. We booked thru a TA that we didn't know, but was a friend of a friend. Big mistake. We have finally given up trying to ask her questions because she keeps giving us wrong information. Things like... there are no formal nights on our cruise, and transfers were included in our cruise tour back to the airport...not true! I would book directly with Celebrity next time because then they will talk to you. Since we booked thru a TA they (Celebrity) don't want to talk to me, and tell me I have to contact the TA. Frustrating since the TA doesn't know anything:mad: and I can't trust what she tells me. Lesson Learned.

[ghstudio]

I can sympathize. We booked thru a TA that we didn't know, but was a friend of a friend. Big mistake. We have finally given up trying to ask her questions because she keeps giving us wrong information. Things like... there are no formal nights on our cruise, and transfers were included in our cruise tour back to the airport...not true! I would book directly with Celebrity next time because then they will talk to you. Since we booked thru a TA they (Celebrity) don't want to talk to me, and tell me I have to contact the TA. Frustrating since the TA doesn't know anything:mad: and I can't trust what she tells me. Lesson Learned.

 

Ah yes....the "use our friend" TA.....a very very poor idea. I started down that path once.....the TA knew alot about Carnival and NCL cruises.....didn't know squat about Celebrity. Asked if she could help me plan an african trip....I got the "deer in the headlights" look.

 

If you want to get a travel agent to help in all areas, find someone who knows the area you are going to....that is: knows as in "has been there".

If you want a cruise TA...find someone who knows your cruise line and has been on some of their cruises. (eg. we found a TA who had been on the Xpedition and they were very helpful on our trip). I've never found a good TA for airlines....I spend the time to do it myself and I check airlines that aren't on the big web airline booking engines (aer lingus, air berlin, etc).

 

You gain nothing by dealing with Celebrity direct except mostly right information...and it's the mostly that's troubling. At least with a TA that knows the cruise line, you get some financial pluses and you might even get a "group" rate.

 

I would never book with Celebrity direct, except if booking while on a cruise...but then I always switch the reservation to a TA within 60 days.

[4774Papa]

Ah yes....the "use our friend" TA.....a very very poor idea. I started down that path once.....the TA knew alot about Carnival and NCL cruises.....didn't know squat about Celebrity. Asked if she could help me plan an african trip....I got the "deer in the headlights" look.

 

If you want to get a travel agent to help in all areas, find someone who knows the area you are going to....that is: knows as in "has been there".

If you want a cruise TA...find someone who knows your cruise line and has been on some of their cruises. (eg. we found a TA who had been on the Xpedition and they were very helpful on our trip). I've never found a good TA for airlines....I spend the time to do it myself and I check airlines that aren't on the big web airline booking engines (aer lingus, air berlin, etc).

 

You gain nothing by dealing with Celebrity direct except mostly right information...and it's the mostly that's troubling. At least with a TA that knows the cruise line, you get some financial pluses and you might even get a "group" rate.

 

I would never book with Celebrity direct, except if booking while on a cruise...but then I always switch the reservation to a TA within 60 days.

You say:

 

"If you want to get a travel agent to help in all areas, find someone who knows the area you are going to....that is: knows as in "has been there".

If you want a cruise TA...find someone who knows your cruise line and has been on some of their cruises. (eg. we found a TA who had been on the Xpedition and they were very helpful on our trip). I've never found a good TA for airlines....I spend the time to do it myself and I check airlines that aren't on the big web airline booking engines (aer lingus, air berlin, etc). "

 

What can you find out from a TA that you can't from reading cruise critic? I enjoy doing the research myself.

[Tweedy]

Just curious.. What would you do if you just did not like the service you were getting from your travel agent? I dont wanna bash the company or get into any horrible details, but overall this vacation planning with him/her has been a nightmare. We still have 5 months before our European Cruise and I was just curious, if your TA just wasnt doing it for ya, what would/could you do?

 

I complained to the manager and didn't get anywhere when we had terrible service from a TA we used when we booked our Panama trip back in 2008. Let's just say they lost our business and we went to someone who provide service above and beyond my expectations. We have been happy every since.

[ghstudio]

You say:

 

"If you want to get a travel agent to help in all areas, find someone who knows the area you are going to....that is: knows as in "has been there".

If you want a cruise TA...find someone who knows your cruise line and has been on some of their cruises. (eg. we found a TA who had been on the Xpedition and they were very helpful on our trip). I've never found a good TA for airlines....I spend the time to do it myself and I check airlines that aren't on the big web airline booking engines (aer lingus, air berlin, etc). "

 

What can you find out from a TA that you can't from reading cruise critic? I enjoy doing the research myself.

 

we were on about the sixth Xpedition cruise...so there was little info on cruise critic...in fact we are one of the first to provide a review. It was invaluable to have someone who could talk about altitude sickness in Quito, the differences in the cabins and so on. For most cruises today, you are right, you don't need a handholding TA for the cruise...but some would like to set up a few days extra before/after the cruise and a TA can help with that (and celebrity can't unless you buy their (overpriced) packages). You enjoy doing the research, as do I, but there are many who want a TA to pick the hotel, etc. I used a TA extensively to plan a private tour of China....and she had been to china to every place I wanted to see and had great input. As I said, I never have used a TA for personal travel air tickets in/out of the US..however I did let the TA get air tickets inside China on airlines I had never heard of at the time.