Help!! Price Drop and Can't Get in Contact with TA

[SRQfireman]

I see what all have different ideas of what an emergency is......

kick back and relax this weekend.....it's summertime

 

should have proof read this earlier....should be ,"I see we all have different ideas of what an emergency is....."

[kichan]

The TA e-mailed me this afternoon to let me know that she was able to get the credit for the price drop.

 

Since my situation has been resolved, this will be my last post regarding this issue - any more discussion about it will be like beating a dead horse.

 

For those of you who responded that my situation was not an emergency, I never said that it was. I was just stating that there should be an alternate way of contacting a TA, or at least the agency IF there was an emergency. Clearly my situation was not.

 

I hope that this will help someone else in the future, and yes, it does pay to keep checking your reservation.

 

Happy sailing!

[hdawson]

Hope you reconsider firing your TA. Seems like you got excellent service.

[mrg0433]

My daughter recently became a travel agent because she was tired of the cruiseship run around. She keeps her cell phone with her so she can help anyone with a problem. In the past when I called a cruiseline with a problem, I would get passed from one person to another. That's one reason I like having my travel agent responding to problems on my behalf. She can get action faster than I can. I find the cruiseline is more likely to cater to a travel agent who brings in lots of clients than one individual. That's been my experience.

I have just noticed that the price of my cruise has dropped again. I tried calling my TA, but the office is closed until Monday, and Royal Caribbean cannot do anything because it is a TA booking. Has anyone else been in this situation, and what did you do?? I have sent her an e-mail, and hope to hear from her soon. I'm past final payment, so I can't cancel and rebook. This will probably be the last time that I book a Royal Caribbean cruise with a TA, as I am seeing now that there really aren't any advantages. I was told that I would be notified if there was a drop in the price, and this has not happened - both times, I have had to tell them that there has been a price drop and requested the credit....

[PhoenixCruiser]

The TA e-mailed me this afternoon to let me know that she was able to get the credit for the price drop.

 

 

Great news, Congratulations :D

 

###

[Ella2]

Kichan, glad it worked out for you. :)

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[fodorspeter]

Just another good reason to NOT use a TA when booking RCCL. No advantages, other than a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates. Book direct and be in control of your vacation. Any price reductions before final payment are automatically credited to your account. Most of these TA's have the same feelings one expressed on this post - let the client watch for price reductions and then call them - great customer service!

 

Peter

[cruisedoctor]

Fodorspeter, your statement "Any price reductions before final payment are automatically credited to your account." is 100% INCORRECT

 

No bookings are automatically price adjusted. Not even those booked directly with the cruise line by a passenger. The only way one gets a price adjustment, is if someone (either the passenger or the TA) notices that the prices have changed, and contacts the cruise line to ask for the price adjustment. AND, the new price promotion has to be applicable to the previous booking. That is, a promotion for new bookings only, will not be applied to a current booking.

 

The purpose of using a "travel expert" is not to get a discounted price. The trend of travel agencies discounting in order to get business was started by large volume agencies who couldn't offer expertise and service, because they needed to sell in great volume instead. The purpose of using a travel expert is to take advantage of their knowledge, and abilities to make things happen that you as a consumer can't. A good agent is there to keep you from making an uninformed mistake. For example, it is possible for someone to do research on the internet and try to handle a legal matter on their own, rather than hiring a lawyer. And, they might be able to pull it off. But, they might not, and it could end up costing them dearly. There is no substitute for someone formerly educated and having significant experience. And, the best part, is that a TA doesn't cost you anything. Try finding a lawyer that works for nothing.

 

Those of you who have been on many cruises are likely more knowledgeable than a large percentage of TA's who may never have been on a cruise themselves, or only have limited experience in selling them. If you feel that your capabilities and experiences are equal to, or better than the agent's you are thinking of using, then being in total control of your booking may make you feel better.

 

However, in today's cruise marketplace, the chances of finding a applicable price reduction are pretty slim. Probably less likely than some sort of problem or question arising, which you will then have to spend your own time seeking out the solution or answer for. I don't know about you. . . but, I would rather have someone else doing that legwork for me . . . while I use my time for more productive or enjoyable pursuits.

 

There is an old saying "Be careful what you wish for, because it may come true.

[fodorspeter]

Fodorspeter, your statement "Any price reductions before final payment are automatically credited to your account." is 100% INCORRECT

 

No bookings are automatically price adjusted. Not even those booked directly with the cruise line by a passenger. The only way one gets a price adjustment, is if someone (either the passenger or the TA) notices that the prices have changed, and contacts the cruise line to ask for the price adjustment. AND, the new price promotion has to be applicable to the previous booking. That is, a promotion for new bookings only, will not be applied to a current booking.

 

The purpose of using a "travel expert" is not to get a discounted price. The trend of travel agencies discounting in order to get business was started by large volume agencies who couldn't offer expertise and service, because they needed to sell in great volume instead. The purpose of using a travel expert is to take advantage of their knowledge, and abilities to make things happen that you as a consumer can't. A good agent is there to keep you from making an uninformed mistake. For example, it is possible for someone to do research on the internet and try to handle a legal matter on their own, rather than hiring a lawyer. And, they might be able to pull it off. But, they might not, and it could end up costing them dearly. There is no substitute for someone formerly educated and having significant experience. And, the best part, is that a TA doesn't cost you anything. Try finding a lawyer that works for nothing.

 

Those of you who have been on many cruises are likely more knowledgeable than a large percentage of TA's who may never have been on a cruise themselves, or only have limited experience in selling them. If you feel that your capabilities and experiences are equal to, or better than the agent's you are thinking of using, then being in total control of your booking may make you feel better.

 

However, in today's cruise marketplace, the chances of finding a applicable price reduction are pretty slim. Probably less likely than some sort of problem or question arising, which you will then have to spend your own time seeking out the solution or answer for. I don't know about you. . . but, I would rather have someone else doing that legwork for me . . . while I use my time for more productive or enjoyable pursuits.

 

There is an old saying "Be careful what you wish for, because it may come true.

 

I guess I should be more respectful to someone wth SEVEN posts on cruisecritics, but I won't. First, remember that I am talking about only RCCL. I have had an automatic adjustment from them on a cruise I took in March of this year. I booked direct and they credited $120 to the credit card I used. On a cruise I booked direct last year, they didn't credit me, but they called and asked if I wanted it credited or used to upgrade from an outside to a balcony, which I did. If you took some time and looked thru the posts on this cruise line you would find any number of people who have had the same thing happen to them. So you are quite as smart as you think you are. Face it, TA's, if all cruise lines go the way RCCL has; you need to be looking for something else to do for a living. Especially with attitudes like yours.

 

Peter

[cruisedoctor]

Fodorspeter, equating quantity of posts to quality of content can be foolish. Sometimes, you just have to believe that someone with industry credentials knows what they are talking about.

 

I just got off the phone with the "top accounts" customer service desk at RCL, and posed the question, "If a passengers books a stateroom directly with RCL, and a new promotion comes out at some point that lowers the price, does RCL AUTOMATICALLY (without a request by the passenger) lower the cruise price on that direct booking, and credit the difference back to the passengers credit card?" The answer was an emphatic NO. No booking, either one made directly with RCL, or thru a travel agency, is automatically reduced. The only way a reduction is granted is if it is requested either by the travel agent, or by the passenger if the client books directly.

 

When I brought up your situation, or those which you pointed out from other threads, RCL customer service did explain how such a thing could happen. But, it is was not automatic based on direct booking.

 

When a passenger calls RCL to book direct they can end up speaking to one of RCL's two reservation departments. The first one is the general reservations department (the same reservationists that the average travel agent calls into). Or, the passenger might end up speaking to a representative in RCL's "consumer sales" department. The people in consumer sales are in effect "inside travel agents" who only sell RCL products. They work on a commission basis, and like outside travel agents, the more they sell, the more they make. My source told me that some of these inside agents in the consumer sales department are very agressive, and may at times, go back to check on booked passengers to see if they can save them some money, as a way to cement their relationship in order to get their future cruise business. RCL tells me that that is the only way a direct booking could have been given a lower price, without the passenger directly asking for one. It is NOT automatic...because the cruise line could not remain profitable if they lowered the price for every booking in a category, because a new promotion came out to move a few unsold staterooms in that category. It wouldn't be a sound business practice.

 

Now just because you book direct with RCL's consumer sales department, doesn't mean that you are going to be dealing with an inside agent willing to check your booking every day. Remember, just like outside travel agents in the real world, some are excellent, some are average, and some just don't care about anything except getting the commission on your sale. It's the luck of the draw. And, remember, since they work on commission, they only make money on new bookings. The time they may spend servicing an already sold one, means lost revenue from any new sales they could be making during that time period. And, similar to the rules for outside travel agents, if the inside agent finds a fare reduction for you, that reduction means a reduction in their commission too. The only potential benefit to offset their commission reduction, is that you might book with them again at some time in the future. If the agent you are working with is in it for the long run, this might be incentive enough for them to put forth the extra effort on your part. However, if the agent is only interested in maximizing their short term gain, taking a cut in pay, for your benefit won't make much sense to them.

 

So, the bottom line, the only way you can be 100% sure that you haven't missed a price reduction, is by personally rechecking the price of your booked cruise each and every day. Because, no one else can afford to do this on your behalf. And, hopefully, the value of all the time you spend doing this, will be offset by a possible (never assured) price reduction equivalent to or greater than what all your time was worth.

 

Peter, you can choose to believe this or not, that's your call. The purpose of this response is to prevent potential passengers from falling into the false sense of security that booking direct with RCL will give them the assurance of receiving automatic price reductions, with no input on their part. It's like going to church...the priest/preacher/minister tells the congregation what is the right thing to do. But, in the end, each individual needs todecide whether to believe and follow, or live life on their own terms.

[imsulin]

fodorspeter has a history of negative comments about travel agents on several categories on this Board. He seems to just pop up and "contribute" to topics like this, always promoting booking directly with the cruise line, and advising posters to stay away from travel agents. I've never seen fodorspeter post anything except negativity towards travel agents, and wonder why he just can't seem to post anything about his recent or forthcoming cruises, his cruising experiences, or anything cruise-related aside from not booking cruises through a TA. I still proudly work as an outside TA, and am retired from a 25-year previous non-travel related career, from which I receive a generous monthly check, and also continue to work full-time in another non-travel related profession, from which I receive bi-monthly paychecks. I save my TA commissions for personal travel, including cruising. It's a shame that fodorspeter indulges not only in negative postings about TAs, but also in obviously faulty grammar and punctuation.

 

"So you are quite as smart as you think you are"...fodorspeter

 

cruisedoctor: EXCELLENT post, and thanks so much for taking the time to state the facts!

[fodorspeter]

Must have been an English teacher. One who doesn't bother to look at my previous posts as they would discover many posts not about travel agents. Something about cruisedoctor's source's information bothers me. So RCCL has two separate departments that take general reservation calls - one that has order takers that don't get paid commissions and one that has "inside travel agents" that do get paid commission. Wonder what determines which gets the calls? Doesn't seem to make sense that the cruise line would pay insiders a commission when they could simply route all calls to the order takers.

 

Regardless, when I got the call last fall from someone (don't know if it was an order taker or an inside TA) offering me an upgrade instead of a refund - I did not instigate the contact. They simply said that the price of the category for my sailing had gone down $200 apiece and I could either have that refunded to my credit card or have a balcony instead - which I opted to do. When I booked my March, 2005 cruise, I asked that lady if the price went down prior to final payment, would I get the lower price or perhaps an option to upgrade - she said that if I wanted to, I could pre-authorize her to apply any reductions directly to the credit card I gave her for the down payment or she could indicate that it was ok for her to call me with any upgrade options if they became available. I told her I was happy with the balcony I booked as it was exactly where we were at several years ago and we loved the location. It wasn't two weeks later that she emailed me that RCCL had credited $120 to my credit card. I call that AUTOMATIC. You can say 100% no way - but you'd be wrong.

 

Its TA's like you with your high and mighty "I am the only one in the world that knows all the real information and all you cruisers only think you know" that really p***** me off. And then you get another TA to follow right behind you with the grammar lessons and the kiss a** EXCELLENT post and trying to give credence to stating facts - which are highly suspect.

 

Peter

[Guest nhrich]

Peter, your arguments against using TA's are getting very old. Maybe you have never had a good experience using TA's, but I have many clients who have. That's why they keep coming back and referring others.

 

Rich, ACC

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