Cruise prices?

[cambriah]

Hi All:

 

We have been on several cruises and thoroughly enjoy the cruise experience.

We normally contact our TA, discuss where and when we want to go, get a price and then book.

My question is this: If the price is reduced, or. If the cruise line adds additional promotions (e.g. On board credits) does the TA normally look into this, or is it my responsibility? Put another way, if the price of the cruise comes down, may I qualify for the lower price?

 

Your thoughts/opinions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cambriah

[CruiserBruce]

You should always monitor, and if needed, notify your TA to check on something you have found. Some TAs are aggressive about this, others not. Ultimately it is your responsibility.

 

As to whether or not you qualify, that will have a dozen variables. You can find these in the small print of the sale.

Edited May 30, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[ehfl]

A good TA will do this for you, but they are very few and far between. If you're having to do all the work yourself, then you might as well cut out the middleman.

[CaveDiving]

A good TA will do this for you, but they are very few and far between. If you're having to do all the work yourself, then you might as well cut out the middleman.

 

I do not understand exactly what you mean.

 

My experience is that dealing with a travel agent often results in a better deal than booking directly with a cruise line.

 

Scott & Karen

[wieslaw]

Hi All:

 

My question is this: If the price is reduced, or. If the cruise line adds additional promotions (e.g. On board credits) does the TA normally look into this,......

Cambriah

 

Hi.

I do not know if the TA does or does not check for the reductions ...... but my guess is, probably not.

 

The prices do change a lot: up.down,up .... all different promotions, some for new bookings only, some for- military, seniors, residency discounts, some are only on certainn cabins cat. , some are offered only for very short period of time ....... how can a TA keep track of all of that ? , if the TA has many different bookings, many different ships and many different cruise lines - how would a TA find the time to do all the checking ?

[Keith1010]

The answer is that it varies by cruise line and even promotion.

 

Always good to keep checking prices and if the prices go down followup.

 

Keith

[Essiesmom]

It also varies by country of origin. If you are in Europe of Australia, rules are different about price drops. EM

[Dayenu]

My question is this: If the price is reduced, or. If the cruise line adds additional promotions (e.g. On board credits) does the TA normally look into this, or is it my responsibility? Put another way, if the price of the cruise comes down, may I qualify for the lower price?

 

For US cruisers (don't know how it works in other countries) - you should check if the price is down, and notify your TA. If this is before the full payment day, you will get an adjusted invoice for lower price, if after the full payment - maybe an upgrade or a small cabin credit, or nothing.

 

Whether or not your TA will watch the price - who knows. It's your money, so spend a few minutes per week to check on prices.

[navybankerteacher]

A good TA will do this for you, but they are very few and far between. If you're having to do all the work yourself, then you might as well cut out the middleman.

 

The "good travel agent" is likely to have many customers - and cannot be assumed to be checking each line's pricing every day. On the other hand, it would only take a minute of your time to check daily for price reductions.

[marco]

It depends on your TA but more importantly it depends on the line. Sometimes they offer a promotion and the caveat is "new bookings only/not applicable to prior bookings.". We have used the same TA for several years and over the years, many times we've gotten a call or an e-mail: "The rate for your cruise has gone down, I'm sending you a new invoice showing a different final payment due". And if it's after the final payment has been made, we either got a refund of the difference or an OBC for the amount.

[Treven]

Hi.

I do not know if the TA does or does not check for the reductions ...... but my guess is, probably not.

 

The prices do change a lot: up.down,up .... all different promotions, some for new bookings only, some for- military, seniors, residency discounts, some are only on certainn cabins cat. , some are offered only for very short period of time ....... how can a TA keep track of all of that ? , if the TA has many different bookings, many different ships and many different cruise lines - how would a TA find the time to do all the checking ?

Mine sure doesn't and I'm not sure if I'd expect her to. The few times I've asked her to look into a price reduction, based upon info I'd gotten here, she reported back to me that the price reduction wasn't for the category my cabin was in.