Aussie booking with US TA for a X cruise

[Xcitdcruiser]

Hello,

I have also posted this in the Aus Board but seeing as its Celebrity specific,i thought i'd also give it a try here.

 

I'm currently booked with X Aus for April 14. The 123 promotion has been released & X Aus will not apply the promotion to my booking.

 

I've re-jiggled my dates & am considering cancelling & re-booking but on another sailing. But this time through a US TA where they appear to be more flexible & offer TA 'free grats or $300 OBC' which is more than any Aus TA has been able to offer.

 

For Australians that have booked through US TA's - how have you found them to handle your reservation? Anyone been denied at boarding? Did you correspond via email re the booking?

 

I understand that we are not able to name TA's -I'm wanting to know about your experience with them.

 

Thanks!

[BrusselsGirl07]

I would try ringing Celebrity again and ask them to apply the promotion to your booking. There is a thread on here with people successfully having the promotion applied to their booking. Maybe tell them what you have seen reported on cruise critic, and you would like the same courtesy applied to you. Asking again can't hurt. Good luck!

[Waihekean]

Well of course I am not Australian, but from "down under" in NZ:D

 

And the rules regarding bookings by non US residency depends what each individual cruise line policy is.

Fortunately for us Celebrity does allow non resident bookings and you do not need an address.

 

I just checked the American TA website and they used to have a special section for overseas visitors listing all the cruiselines that allow this. This feature has now gone, so I presume you will have to check with the TA.

 

The ones that does not allow booking, price drops etc. are Princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean, Cunard, Oceania, Costa & Star Clippers.

 

My cruise last year on the Equinox was via this large website/discount TA and received several price drops after my booking totalling $1580 US for the cabin.

 

I could have gone for the 1,2,3 promotion, but as cruise fare has gone up by $900 US per person since my early saver fare, this did not have any benefit to us.

 

So, for me it has been a good experience to book with an American TA.

[2aussiecruisers]

We are Australians, living in Australia and we use a large US Travel Agent, You do not need a US address to book Celebrity or Azamara or Seabourn (these are the lines I have experience with). I commumicate via e-mail, I use the same person at the agency and have received nothing but excellent service. I always receive an onboard credit from the agency regardless of any other deal the cruise line is offering.

 

I've just booked a March 2014 Celebrity cruise and received the classic beverage package as the benefit. I believe you may be looking at the same US travel agency I use as you mentioned they are offering free grats and $300 OBC. They are also offering the free classic beverage package but just not showing it on the site - just ask for it as part of the 123 promo.

 

One thing to note is that US sites do not show the price including tax, sometimes it looks as if the Australian prices are higher (sometimes they are) but they will have the tax inclusive price as that is a requirment by law in Australia.

 

With regard to adding the 123 benefit to your existing booking, I would try Celebrity Australia again if you really want to keep this booking. From everything I can see in the terms & conditions the only people not eligible are residents of the UK. Although it does say for new bookings only but it appears that Celebrity are happy to add the benefit to exisiting booking so long as you pay the rate of the day for the cabin booked - as yours is an April 2014 booking I doubt that your cabin price would have increased yet.

 

All in all we have had no problem at all dealing with a US travel agent and we will continue to do so as long as they provide a better deal...

 

Good luck!!

[Jade13]

I think the "trick" is to book your own airfare, and cruise only with the US TA.

[Xcitdcruiser]

Thank you for the replies. I am becoming more confident booking with a US TA.

Can anyone point me in the right direction where I can find the fine print regarding non USA residents being able to book with a US TA? (I'm sure they wouldn't exactly word it like that !) My biggest fear would be to be denied boarding :/

 

I did see that an aussie has been able to get the bev package applied via X Aus but to be honest i can't really be bothered with them anymore. I made so many phone calls, spent so much time on hold & spoke with several 'managers' last week only to be told the same thing. If I really wanted to keep the sailing date I would probably try again but have now re-thought dates & may actually end up sailing on my 30th birthday which is enticing!

 

One last question.... is it correct that does not allow TA's to discount the fare? (unless they have booked a certain amount of cabins?) That is why US TA's offer additional perks?

[Waihekean]

Your US online TA should check if the cruise line you book with will allow a non US resident to book with them, so make sure they do.

 

I would go with the TA that has a lot of info on their web site and that also has listed the free phone numbers for Australians, New Zealanders etc.

 

Once you have made contact by phone and got a TA allocated to you from then on you can just e-mail your personal TA.

[Pushka]

I've used a German site to book a princess cruise and I'm Australian. I've contacted Princess Australia and told them and they are fine with it. You may have been in the USA for instance when you booked so they can't prohibit you from travelling. Further, princess have honoured Two price drops, and we had to get these by contacting our German TA.

 

 

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[SamfromOz]

Hi Xcited,

 

We are Australians living in Sydney, and cruised on X last year out of Miami after booking through a US online travel agent. We had absolutely no problems, and our US agent gave us an onboard credit and pre paid gratuities as well.

 

We are currently in the process of booking another X cruise from Seattle on August. We have quotes from a couple of agents, and have received confirmation on the 1-2-3 go program. So we are getting pre paid grats. and classic drinks package for free with our cruise.

 

Look for a TA that has a special number for Australians to ring (although ours didn't work, funnily enough, so we just used skype) Our TA seems to offer lots of pre paid grats. and has a great interactive deck plan showing vacant cabins by category, where you can select a cabin and put it on a 15 minute hold while you have a think about it. Then book by phone or online.

[piri]

We are from Melbourne and I having been booking our cruises on Regent and Silverseas for many years with an excellent Canadian agent.

 

For our upcoming Celebrity cruise on the Solstice I booked through a U.S. agent.

 

We have never had any problems and have always had wonderful service.

 

Unfortunately its hard for the Australian agents to compete with the quantity of OBCs and other perks as they just don't have the volume of sales.

 

Happy cruising!

[jessandarnie]

Yes, we are another couple and we also book with a U.S. Agency, emails are promptly replied to and their service is great. No problems as to where we reside. Most of the time their pricing is better than what we can get here, gratitues can be included and they offer their own OBC, BUT, you must bear in mind the exchange rate, which is absolutely no problem right now as our $ is worth about 5% more. So we are slightly in front cost wise. Obviously you must keep a track of the currency movements.

[Dizziedi]

We have two current bookings with a US agency - both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. The money we saved on the Solstice cruise is huge and the Royal Caribbean one was a little cheaper but a lot more OBC. We prefer to leave the money in Australia but the Australian TA's just can't compete with most of the deals offered by the US agents.

 

Cheers

Di

[Xcitdcruiser]

Thank you for all the responses -

 

I made numerous calls to TA's in the US to get quotes & it's true thay they offer 'perks' that Aus TA's don't, but what i found the for specific cruise we are after, on AUS TA had such a discounted rate (gourp rate maybe?), that even when you add the grats it still comes out cheaper than the base rate the US TA was offering - even when they were offering free grats!

 

I would highly recommend searching for a Aus online TA as their prices were well below what anyone (in the US + Aus) were offering. This was true when looking at Southern Caribbean cruises departing San Juan between Jan - April 2014 for an Aqua Class (which was my focus)

 

My short experience with Celebrity Aus has been dreadful, but I'm at a point that I am content with the sail date ( setting sail on my 30th Birthday -yipee!- & celebrating our honeymoon) we have our cabin of choice, & have saved over $1500 compared to the previous booking. I will only be contacting X Aus if there is a significant price drop. (so please X...no more big promotions where we require to cancel & rebook on another sail date!)

[mum and son]

I just returned home to Aus yesterday after cruising on the Millennium. I booked through a US TA - no problems at all with communication or the booking. No Aussie TA could match the price or service I received. Besides price, the other issue I have with Aussie TAs is that they have no "pull" with Celebrity because they book so few cruises with them compared to their US counterparts. My US TA was able to confirm things that Aussie TAs knew nothing about...

[Xcitdcruiser]

I just returned home to Aus yesterday after cruising on the Millennium. I booked through a US TA - no problems at all with communication or the booking. No Aussie TA could match the price or service I received. Besides price, the other issue I have with Aussie TAs is that they have no "pull" with Celebrity because they book so few cruises with them compared to their US counterparts. My US TA was able to confirm things that Aussie TAs knew nothing about...

 

Glad to hear that you had a positive experience with a US TA.

As mentioned, it must depend on each cruise because no US TA could beat the price i found in Aus.

I'm glad i did the research because I now do have contact details for a lovely US TA who was happy to help anyway she could. Def keeping her details!

[SamfromOz]

Well done Excitd.

Now, make sure you get that beverage package (even though you booked in Oz, that should not make a difference - their website doesn't say you have to book through the US to qualify)

Have a look at the X 1-2-3 go promotion page. There is a (US) number to ring to register for your package - but you must do this before the 27th.

[Xcitdcruiser]

Well done Excitd.

Now, make sure you get that beverage package (even though you booked in Oz, that should not make a difference - their website doesn't say you have to book through the US to qualify)

Have a look at the X 1-2-3 go promotion page. There is a (US) number to ring to register for your package - but you must do this before the 27th.

 

Hi Sam, cheers for that.

I went through a TA for the booking so X won't speak to me directly & i'm a little nervous - made the booking one week agao & still havnne't received confirmation from my TA, (she is waiting for X) to confirm in writing that the package has been applied. I know that cruisers are waiting 4 - 6 weeks .. but really? What if something in X's system goes crazy & it doesnt get applied?

 

I actually cancelled & rebooked on another sialing to get this & my TA provided the same resevation number as the orginal booking? I hope that X miss somethign & think that i've cancelled & rebooked the same cruise - not become eligible for the promotion!

 

Did i mention i was a little nervous? :o

[mum and son]

Hi Sam, cheers for that.

I went through a TA for the booking so X won't speak to me directly & i'm a little nervous - made the booking one week agao & still havnne't received confirmation from my TA, (she is waiting for X) to confirm in writing that the package has been applied. I know that cruisers are waiting 4 - 6 weeks .. but really? What if something in X's system goes crazy & it doesnt get applied?

 

I actually cancelled & rebooked on another sialing to get this & my TA provided the same resevation number as the orginal booking? I hope that X miss somethign & think that i've cancelled & rebooked the same cruise - not become eligible for the promotion!

 

Did i mention i was a little nervous? :o

 

I hope it all works out! That beverage package is a treat :D.

 

Enjoy your cruise...