prepaid gratuities on invoice?

[trvlfan]

I booked 2 "O" cruises this winter, the first with a TA, which, although there was no promotional prepaid gratuities package from O, my TA said she would arrange for them (presumably through her own arrangements with O). The second cruise I booked directly with O online, which did include the prepaid gratuities as part of the promotional package.

 

My question is this: on the second cruise (booked directly), the prepaid gratuities is listed on my invoice, however on the TA booked cruise, where it is not part of any promotion but promised by my TA, there is no listing of it on the invoice. Should this be listed on the invoice, or do I just "trust" my TA? Also, there is supposed to be an OBC credit of $300 by using AMEX Platinum - that also is not listed.

 

Anyone have any experience in having these TA arranged credits show up on your invoice?:confused:

[no fuss travel]

With my TA, it does not usually show up on the invoice unless it was offered by Oceania. I usually get a gift card in the cabin which I have to acknowledge when on board the ship.

[TERRIER1]

I use an online TA and pre-paid gratuities appear in a paragraph along with the OBC if given. The invoice doesn't put the pre-paid gratuity or OBC in the itemized lines. These are the ones offered from the agency. If this is an offer from the agency then I would get it somewhere in writing on the invoice.

[trvlfan]

Thanks - good to know. Didn't want to keep pestering my TA for an accurate answer (not the best agent and will use another on my next booking!)

[PaulMCO]

My TA puts his "gifts" on his invoice - whether it is a rebate or prepaid gratuities. Oceania specials will be on their invoice as well as any other gifts (like Bronze level credits)

[Mura]

Regardless of whether it's on your invoice or not, you should have a card in your cabin upon boarding acknowledging the gratuities.

 

If you don't have them, go to the hotel manager and ask. I would bring my confirming emails (or whatever you have) to support your claim if this should be the case. I doubt that will be necessary ... but it's good to have supporting documents.

 

I personally don't recall if we had this info on our invoice or not -- OTOH, our invoice comes from our TA so might well have that info!

 

If it's any consolation, I've been on CC quite a while and I don't ever recall reading a post that said "I was supposed to have prepaid gratuities but I didn't get them."

 

Good luck!

 

Mura

[neepawa]

The invoice that comes from our TA has always included info on pre-paid gratuities (from TA or Oceania), Oceania OBCs, TA OBCs and TA FF points.

Cheers,

Don

[dundeene]

cruising June and 11th and both the grats credit and Amex $300 OBC show on my invoice

Amex also gives you a free wine tasting onboard;)

[Nuka]

One of the larger online agencies, had handwritten notes on the invoice from Oceania detailing the shipboard credit from them. Upon boarding, the credit was applied to our account a few days after the cruise began. I suspect they did not want to pay the onboard credit until they were sure we were on the ship. Worked out in the end though. Others who booked with this agency had a similar experience.

 

Since then, I go to a 'full service' agency with a TA who I am comfortable with. I know others probably pay less and may get more credits, but for me good service has value that more than makes up for not getting some credits. Others might feel differently ;).

[joan24]

cruising June and 11th and both the grats credit and Amex $300 OBC show on my invoice

Amex also gives you a free wine tasting onboard;)

 

We never could figure out what happened with our AMEX Platinum OBC. We never got it and we paid with that card. That is supposed to be the only way you could get credits. The answer from AMEX was that the cardholder had to call them on the day of booking.

[wripro]

In order to get the Amex platinum benefits the TA has to contact Amex, get a tracking number and give that number to the cruise line. You should not have to do that yourself.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wripro is correct, but it's also true that in some cases it's an either-or situation. On our November Riviera cruise, it was either an Amex Plat benefit, or prepaid gratuities offered, not both. (I didn't mind, I cancelled my Plat last year--just couldn't justify the increased fee here in Canada.)

[Riverroad]

In order to get the Amex platinum benefits the TA has to contact Amex, get a tracking number and give that number to the cruise line. You should not have to do that yourself.

 

This has been our experience every time. The only time we had to do it ourselves was when we used an online TA who either didn't know the procedure or didn't want to be bothered. Never used that TA again.

[wripro]

Wise move!