mollymac Posted June 12, 2012 #1 Share Posted June 12, 2012 How does this work? We just booked Alaska for next July while on Marina last week. The agent said this offer is good until the end of June but that she was unable to process that offer. She said to call with our booking number and talk to an Oceania agent. Has anyone done this yet? What is the deal? Are the excursions even known yet? Do you just commit to a package, or a specific number, ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted June 12, 2012 #2 Share Posted June 12, 2012 How does this work? We just booked Alaska for next July while on Marina last week. The agent said this offer is good until the end of June but that she was unable to process that offer. She said to call with our booking number and talk to an Oceania agent. Has anyone done this yet? What is the deal? Are the excursions even known yet? Do you just commit to a package, or a specific number, ???? It is not up to you to take care of this offer.. Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 12, 2012 #3 Share Posted June 12, 2012 What Jan is trying to say (and many people don't realize that this is true), is that once you book your cruise through a Travel Agent, Oceania may no longer make changes to your booking except through that Agent. Therefore, when your Agent suggested that you "just call with your booking number", you were misled. On a similar subject, if you buy the Oceania Excursion Package, then the Travel Agent in question will be earning a commission on that sale, and as such, THAT AGENT should be the party who explains the whys and wherefores of the Excursion Package to you......not a clerk at Oceania. To put the best face on it, your Travel Agent seems lazy. A more cynical observer might say that she was uninformed and tried to make YOU do the job while you are PAYING her to do it. In short, it might be time for a new Agent. A Word to the Wise is Sufficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypercafe Posted June 12, 2012 #4 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I got the impression the trip was booked while on the ship. How does one contact the agent on the ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondorner Posted June 12, 2012 #5 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I got the impression the trip was booked while on the ship. How does one contact the agent on the ship? Oceania always sails with an Oceania Club Ambassador, who handles future bookings on the ship. He or she has a small office where you go at the open hours (listed in Currents, the ship's daily paper) to dicuss or conclude the reservation. You don't need an appointment, but there are usually enough "customers" that we've usually had to wait a few moments. The Oceania Club representative also offers a presentation, usually a couple of days before the end of your voyage, about future cruises. Any booking you make during the cruise is automatically assigned to your travel agent. They know which agent booked you on your current voyage, and that is to whom they assign the future cruise. In the past, if you wanted to gain the discount for a future cruise that had not yet been introduced, they would make a "dummy" booking onto a present voyage, which you could then switch to your desired voyage once it had been announced. Now, the also sell a Future Cruise Certificate which entitiles you to the discount once you decide upon the voyage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skiladyldp Posted June 12, 2012 #6 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I am a new cruiser. We are going on our first cruise in October. I booked with a travel agent and she has been no help what so ever. I went into the Oceania website and booked my own excusions and paid for them. So I guess she gets a commison off this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DOJO466 Posted June 12, 2012 #7 Share Posted June 12, 2012 How does this work? We just booked Alaska for next July while on Marina last week. The agent said this offer is good until the end of June but that she was unable to process that offer. She said to call with our booking number and talk to an Oceania agent. Has anyone done this yet? What is the deal? Are the excursions even known yet? Do you just commit to a package, or a specific number, ???? My wonderful TA sent me the entire brochure a few months ago. It listed all the excursions and the different packages but I must have deleted it after I decided I did not want the package so am unable to forward to you. As others have mentioned, it seems your TA just doesn't want to do the work. Not a good sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 12, 2012 #8 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I am a new cruiser. We are going on our first cruise in October. I booked with a travel agent and she has been no help what so ever. I went into the Oceania website and booked my own excusions and paid for them. So I guess she gets a commison off this? Yes, just about anything (except airfare) that you add to your invoice (even the beverage packages) would be part of the commission structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollymac Posted June 12, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I am sorry that I did not make myself clear. We booked with the ambassador on board Marina. We did not use or refer this booking to a travel agent. The ambassador had no informtion on the excursion package other than the fact that the cruise we booked was eligible for the 2 for 1 shore excursions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted June 13, 2012 #10 Share Posted June 13, 2012 What Jan is trying to say (and many people don't realize that this is true), is that once you book your cruise through a Travel Agent, Oceania may no longer make changes to your booking except through that Agent. Therefore, when your Agent suggested that you "just call with your booking number", you were misled. JimandStan... as you said, "may"... sometimes they do! ;) We are on East Coast Time and our travel agent is on Pacific Coast Time (ok, ok ... we need a new TA on OUR time zone, but haven't done so since we've moved :o). Anyway, we called Oceania one morning right when they opened in order to switch our cabin to a PH3 aft on deck 7 on Riviera that we saw open up the evening before. The Oceania Rep was completely understanding and understood that we didn't want to wait for our TA to go to work 3 hours later. She changed our cabin for us!!! We were very happy! :D I do think that sometimes they do make exceptions. The Oceania agent understood that we really wanted the room and also knew that we could lose it if we waited. We were very happy that she did this for us. I am sorry that I did not make myself clear. We booked with the ambassador on board Marina. We did not use or refer this booking to a travel agent. The ambassador had no informtion on the excursion package other than the fact that the cruise we booked was eligible for the 2 for 1 shore excursions. Well, I guess my experience is moot now. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted June 13, 2012 #11 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Anyway, we called Oceania one morning right when they opened in order to switch our cabin to a PH3 aft on deck 7 on Riviera that we saw open up the evening before. The Oceania Rep was completely understanding and understood that we didn't want to wait for our TA to go to work 3 hours later. She changed our cabin for us!!! We were very happy I'm very glad that they made an exception for you, but not everyone who reads this thread will have your winning patter on the telephone, or as simple a request. Passengers making changes to an Agent placed Booking violates the Agent/Cruise Line contract, and so "officially" such changes are not permitted, period. Although you may have found someone who violated that policy for you, such an action cannot be considered typical (even if you and I both agree that it would be better customer service). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted June 14, 2012 #12 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I'm very glad that they made an exception for you, but not everyone who reads this thread will have your winning patter on the telephone, or as simple a request. Passengers making changes to an Agent placed Booking violates the Agent/Cruise Line contract, and so "officially" such changes are not permitted, period. Although you may have found someone who violated that policy for you, such an action cannot be considered typical (even if you and I both agree that it would be better customer service). I'm now not so sure I should have posted this on CC. I don't want to get anyone in trouble. We really appreciated the agent at Oceania working with us since our travel agent was 3 hours behind. I understand the Agent/Cruise Line contract better now, but at the time I called I didn't know that I was asking someone to do a violation. :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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