Group booking and CAP points

[cruisescouter]

And yes, TCs are paid out after the sailing and will only be the cruise fare (no fees/taxes) for the lowest cabin category usually. As for GAP, sometimes it is best to give your TA a range of dates if you want to get the most out of GAP

Edited July 1, 2014 by cruisescouter

[crusinthrough]

In my experience, most people would rather choose how to spend their OBC than be forced into a particular amenity - every person in the group gets the same amenity, and a bottle of wine isn't going to be of much use to somebody who doesn't drink (as an example).

 

I confess that I don't understand why, if you are using a TA (disclaimer: I am one) it matters how many GAP are offered by RCI on a cruise - if I were on the other end of the line, I would just want to know what my perks are going to be. If a TA is offering $100 OBC, then it may be an 8 point cruise, or it may be a 4 point cruise and the TA is adding $50 out of its commission, a consortium or something else that isn't on the GAP list. Either way, you get $100 to spend.:)

 

Now, if you are booking a group with just your family and friends, then IMO the TA should offer you a variety of amenities tailored to your group. But I imagine that, more often than not, groups are larger than any individual bunch of people, so the TAs offer the most commonly desired amenity, which IME is spending money.

 

Some TAs do keep the extra berth payment for themselves. But I wouldn't conclude that your TA is doing so just because s/he told you payment doesn't come until after the cruise. If s/he was trying to keep it, then s/he wouldn't have told you even that much.

 

Thank you for the clarification from a TA.. my group consists of family and close friends celebrating a special occasion. Most of the people coming are 1st time cruisers and have no knowledge about OBC and not anticipating any.

 

I'm paying for a welcome gift for each room as a thank you. If my TA would have mentioned the number of GAP points and my options, I could have split the GAP points between a smaller OBC and a welcome gift. Honestly, the people in the group would appreciate the welcome gift more than the OBC.

 

Hopefully, you are correct regarding the berth. I just feel in general the TA has offered less information vs more information and most of the information provided has been in response to questions after reading something on CC. In general, I guess I prefer options.

[cruisescouter]

Thank you for the clarification from a TA.. my group consists of family and close friends celebrating a special occasion. Most of the people coming are 1st time cruisers and have no knowledge about OBC and not anticipating any.

 

I'm paying for a welcome gift for each room as a thank you. If my TA would have mentioned the number of GAP points and my options, I could have split the GAP points between a smaller OBC and a welcome gift. Honestly, the people in the group would appreciate the welcome gift more than the OBC.

 

Hopefully, you are correct regarding the berth. I just feel in general the TA has offered less information vs more information and most of the information provided has been in response to questions after reading something on CC. In general, I guess I prefer options.

 

Also, check with the TA to see if you can change the GAP points to include a gift (to be honest the cash is worth more). You can adjust them up to a certain time. And don't forget the TC is just the cruise fare (no fees or taxes), and usually of the lowest cat.

[crusinthrough]

So, I think that some TA's might make up the tour conductor difference out of their own pocket so their client pays less up front and then just keep the credit when they get it in two to four weeks; other TA's may offer the credit after sailing, like your TA told you, for instance. I don't profess to know the correct answer, but I do know it can be confusing and there may be the possibility of offering the tour conductor credit in several different ways.

 

thanks for your responding. RC's website also says "the cruise credit can be used towards the base cost of one person's fare in your group, or spread across one or more fares in your group. The cruise credit will be allocated in the stateroom category equal to the stateroom category in which there are the greatest number of staterooms that sail in your group."

 

I understand this to mean that the credit is given prior to the sailing, which I think is more helpful than after the cruise. There's nothing I can do. I just wanted to know other people experiences.

[zzmaxwell]

Goodmorning!

 

I just did a group cruise where I was the coordinator and we earned 4 berths as we had 34 rooms booked. We were just a small group of friends but it just kept getting bigger and bigger. We sailed in February.

 

I had always had the same TA but she retired. I looked for a different TA and we had some big problems so I decided to do everything on my own. It worked flawlessly booking through RCCL. I will tell you that the berths were seperated as I told them how to do before we did our last payment. I get a financial sheet anytime I want and it takes it off the total price owed from the time it is earned and I know how much is to be divided. I just told each individual how much to subtract from their final payment and it was so easy. RCCL will call you and finish it as you request before you ever sail.

 

We had so many like cruising that we have already booked another group cruise on the Allure for March of 2016 and it already shows me what we have earned with the 2 berths we have earned already on my financial sheet.

 

As for doing it this way I was never told about any GAP points. We did not get that doing it on our own. Do you know if we can request them if we call RCCL? I'm going to anyway but thought I'd ask up front. :) Sometimes the first person you talk to doesn't know how things work and just says NO.

 

I think the sad part of the whole TA thing is that online agencies and the travel industry as a whole have made it extremely hard for them to make any money and so they have had to find other ways to make it in the industry. I LOVED my TA but after her retirement it was a horrible ordeal finding one that had our groups best interests in mind and so now after the last cruise and all the air and excursions and the whole cruise thing I learned so much that now I don't need one but then again we miss out on little perks offered to them because we don't have access to them in Iowa like some of you do in places like Florida.

 

Hope you get it all worked out and I'm sure your group is going to have an awesome time!!!!!

 

Happy Sails!

Robin

[Markysgirl]

Not sure if it's the discretion of the TA when you get your Tour conductor credits. I was definitely told it would be discounted from the current cruise I will be on at the time. Was also told this by another TA I almost used as well, so I would mention it to them again. Was just the GAP points that was not discussed and happy to hear I will be getting them. We have 28 people booked so far, so happy I can offer them a bit extra considering they are all spending so much to come to the wedding.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums