Personal Cruise Consultant ?? New Thing!

[95south]

I agree completely....I have always (25+ cruises) booked directly with RCI....I can't imagine them ever making it "mandatory" to use a TA or vacation planner...absolutely no reason to do this...many of us book directly with an RCI CSR on the phone. You get the "control" issue....many don't or don't want to....their choice just like it's our's.

Nobody said they would make it "mandatory".

[sparks1093]

Nobody said they would make it "mandatory".

 

You said "RCI is really steering people to use a travel agent." and the next step to that if they really want to steer people to using a TA is to make it mandatory. While I don't see it happening I do see it as a logical progression to your statement. (And in the post the PP quoted I did say "I hope they never make it mandatory" which is what I suspect the PP was referencing.)

[dep]

I presume you are referring to Royal's Certified Vacation Planners. I have been using Erika, a Royal Certified Vacation Planner since 2008 and find her to be awesome. Always gets me the cabin I want and searches for the best price, sometimes lower than what I see on their web site. I tried TA's twice and never again. I know, I didn't have the correct TA but I like to be able to have service or a question answered when I want, not 2 or 3 days later. I do not need the perks the TA's provide to enjoy my cruise.

 

I have called, Erika, Probably five times since January and have never ever gotten a return call yet

Edited June 22, 2018 by dep
spelling

[ryano]

Exactly, and not relying on someone else to do it for me. I don't have to wait until they are open, I don't have to wonder if what they are telling me is what the cruise line really said, I don't have to worry about them going out of business, I don't have to worry about my payments making it to the cruise line, I don't have to deal with them making a mistake in my booking details or anything along those lines. I have read of people having each of those issues with TA's in my time on CC and I choose to deal with the company itself rather than a third party.

 

Excellent points. Ive yet to find a TA that provides anything over what Im getting with RC anyway. The price is the same unless they can book you into a group rate and there are very little perks that come with it. Im already getting 100.00 OBC from Royal. Not worth losing the control of the booking you speak of. If you go through a TA, Royal wont even talk to you at all about anything.

[John&LaLa]

Excellent points. Ive yet to find a TA that provides anything over what Im getting with RC anyway. The price is the same unless they can book you into a group rate and there are very little perks that come with it. Im already getting 100.00 OBC from Royal. Not worth losing the control of the booking you speak of. If you go through a TA, Royal wont even talk to you at all about anything.

You get whatever the TA offers on top of any Royal promotion.

 

 

 

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[ryano]

You get whatever the TA offers on top of any Royal promotion.

 

 

 

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The best Ive found is another 100.00 in OBC. Not worth losing "control" of the reservation in my opinion :) I only have a few more days to switch over. Probably just gonna keep it with Royal.

[ONECRUISER]

RCI is really steering people to use a travel agent. I stopped booking with RCI years ago and go through a TA. I get better room rates as well as stateroom credits to spend on the ship. RCI will absolutely book you the cruise but don't expect anything extra unless they're running some sort of special. I've also never heard of a "cruse consultant". That might be RCI lingo for the person who books your cruise. Kind of like Disney has cast members not employees.

Been using same Royal Cruise Consultant for years. I know his work schedule, but if he isn't in anyone I talk to there will help. They have better hrs then regular 9-5 TA, at times it's 3am when I'm booking/changing cruises so this works better for me...

[travellovers2]

We used a TA to get points for our preferred hotel chain, but the mistakes were one after the other. Then they tell me something on the phone and when I received the reservation it was something else. So I had enough. I called the hotel chain rewards line, they looked into it and the best part is that it was recorded, so they had to give me what they promised.

 

After that, I lost trust and never used them again. I prefer to give up the points and avoid the headaches.

[Ashland]

Nobody said they would make it "mandatory".

Yes...someone did...read the posts before quoting my post response :rolleyes:

[cruisinfanatic]

Exactly, and not relying on someone else to do it for me. I don't have to wait until they are open, I don't have to wonder if what they are telling me is what the cruise line really said, I don't have to worry about them going out of business, I don't have to worry about my payments making it to the cruise line, I don't have to deal with them making a mistake in my booking details or anything along those lines. I have read of people having each of those issues with TA's in my time on CC and I choose to deal with the company itself rather than a third party.

Every single one of the issues you listed has been reported when dealing directly also. Good TA's are out there. Sorry you have no desire to find one and take advantage of the hundreds of dollars in OBC and other perks, they'll give you to earn your business. It's no one's loss except yours

[cruisinfanatic]

The best Ive found is another 100.00 in OBC. Not worth losing "control" of the reservation in my opinion :) I only have a few more days to switch over. Probably just gonna keep it with Royal.

Unless you've booked the least expensive cabin on the ship, any good TA will offer a lot more than that.

Take the total cost of your cruise and subtract $250pp (very rough estimate)

The TA would give you around 10% of that amount in OBC or other perk

[John&LaLa]

The best Ive found is another 100.00 in OBC. Not worth losing "control" of the reservation in my opinion :) I only have a few more days to switch over. Probably just gonna keep it with Royal.

Personally I like giving control to my .com TA

 

Easier to get them to fix/change something.

 

They do a thousand times more business with Royal than I do. So when they ask, Royal listens.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Our perks tend to be some dollars off and free tips. And often some additional OBC, always a surprise.

 

Every now and again we get dinner or a spa treatment

 

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[sparks1093]

Every single one of the issues you listed has been reported when dealing directly also. Good TA's are out there. Sorry you have no desire to find one and take advantage of the hundreds of dollars in OBC and other perks, they'll give you to earn your business. It's no one's loss except yours

 

I have looked at some .com ones and was underwhelmed by the offers. We have maybe a couple of brick and mortar TAs in my state and they are an hour's drive or more away. And yes, you are right, it is my loss but I appreciate your response nonetheless.

[Rala]

Exactly, and not relying on someone else to do it for me. I don't have to wait until they are open, I don't have to wonder if what they are telling me is what the cruise line really said, I don't have to worry about them going out of business, I don't have to worry about my payments making it to the cruise line, I don't have to deal with them making a mistake in my booking details or anything along those lines. I have read of people having each of those issues with TA's in my time on CC and I choose to deal with the company itself rather than a third party.

 

If you have a competent and trustworthy TA, you don't have to worry about or deal with any of the above. Also, the perks like OBC, pre-paid gratuities, free specialty dining and spa credits, wine and champagne in cabin on arrival (not all on every cruise, but at least a couple in my experience) are an added bonus. We have over 40 cruises accrued with a few different TA's and very few issues and those few that did arise were quickly "worked out" to our satisfaction I guess I don't need the same amount of "control". Happy Cruising! :D

[ONECRUISER]

Every single one of the issues you listed has been reported when dealing directly also. Good TA's are out there. Sorry you have no desire to find one and take advantage of the hundreds of dollars in OBC and other perks, they'll give you to earn your business. It's no one's loss except yours

It's called choice, nobody's loss...

[mpdog42]

Exactly, and not relying on someone else to do it for me. I don't have to wait until they are open, I don't have to wonder if what they are telling me is what the cruise line really said, I don't have to worry about them going out of business, I don't have to worry about my payments making it to the cruise line, I don't have to deal with them making a mistake in my booking details or anything along those lines. I have read of people having each of those issues with TA's in my time on CC and I choose to deal with the company itself rather than a third party.

 

Thanks Sparks, You said it spot on!!

 

Mike

[Snit13]

I have called, Erika, Probably five times since January and have never ever gotten a return call yet

 

Erika 13178? That is strange.

[sparks1093]

If you have a competent and trustworthy TA, you don't have to worry about or deal with any of the above. Also, the perks like OBC, pre-paid gratuities, free specialty dining and spa credits, wine and champagne in cabin on arrival (not all on every cruise, but at least a couple in my experience) are an added bonus. We have over 40 cruises accrued with a few different TA's and very few issues and those few that did arise were quickly "worked out" to our satisfaction I guess I don't need the same amount of "control". Happy Cruising! :D

 

Ah, but you won't know that they aren't competent and trustworthy until they aren't:'). I've never seen an online TA offering all of those perks when I've checked out their pricing. This really is a "to each his own decision" and what I choose to do has no bearing at all on what you choose to do.

[dep]

Erika 13178? That is strange.

 

Yes that’s her extension 13178

[one_beachlvr]

I don't want to give up the control that comes with booking myself so I hope this never gets to be mandatory.

 

Don't use a travel agent if you don't want to give up control. I made the mistake of involving a travel agent mostly because I wanted an extra person helping me look out for when dinners and shows opened up for booking and if any sales came out. Once a travel agent was involved, RCI didn't want to talk to me. Unless you have a travel agent who is super awesome at continually checking for deals and looking out for all those things that make your cruise special, you'll do better booking directly yourself. And if you do have a travel agent who does that, tip her because the commission she'll get won't nearly pay for all the time and effort she'll expend!

[Biker19]

I made the mistake of involving a travel agent mostly because I wanted an extra person helping me look out for when dinners and shows opened up for booking and if any sales came out.

Roll Call thread crowdsourcing works wonders for that. It does't matter how the cruise is booked - you have control of that via the planner.

[Rala]

Ah, but you won't know that they aren't competent and trustworthy until they aren't:'). I've never seen an online TA offering all of those perks when I've checked out their pricing. This really is a "to each his own decision" and what I choose to do has no bearing at all on what you choose to do.

 

I rely on word of mouth recommendations and have found them to be very reliable. As I said I have over 40 cruises "under my belt", and I think if my TA were going to turn up untrustworthy and/or incompetent, they would have done so by now. I have gotten all of the perks I mentioned above, but as I said not all on every cruise, but at least a couple of them on every cruise. I totally agree that it is a "to each his/her own" decision. I am not looking for a fight here at all. Again, Happy Cruising to you. :D

[sparks1093]

I rely on word of mouth recommendations and have found them to be very reliable. As I said I have over 40 cruises "under my belt", and I think if my TA were going to turn up untrustworthy and/or incompetent, they would have done so by now. I have gotten all of the perks I mentioned above, but as I said not all on every cruise, but at least a couple of them on every cruise. I totally agree that it is a "to each his/her own" decision. I am not looking for a fight here at all. Again, Happy Cruising to you. :D

 

No reason to fight over something that is personal choice. FWIW I did a search in Royal's "find a TA" section on their website just for grins and was not surprised to find zero results for Vermont (which of course may not mean much of anything). Everyone that I know who cruises books their cruises with the cruise line, so word of mouth won't work for me. I have done searches on online TA websites (including on the website of the big wholesale store that sells memberships) and haven't found any offers that were any better than what the cruise line offered (although some of them did offer some nice perks if you spent money on a suite). Even for airfare I'll use an online TA to find the airline with the best price and then I'll go to that airline's website and book it directly since they usually offer the same price (I think there was only once were it saved me enough money to warrant booking through the online TA).

[Milwaukee Eight]

The reservation was only for the two of us, so this has nothing to do with trying to book more than what is allowed online, if that is the case.

 

 

 

I called RCI yesterday and was told that this person works for RCI and is assisnged to be our consultant. I told him that I don't want nor need a consultant and then he said that there is no reason I should not be able to book online if I wanted to. Too late now, when we tried to book the cruise we were not given any options. I was told that I had to go through that one person that was "assigned" to us. Even when I called back to make a change I was told that I had to speak to her.

 

 

 

If I decide to cruise again with RCI after this cruise in October, then I will raise hell about being blocked from doing it myself.

 

 

 

This also happens to us with Holland America, but the consultant they assigned is wonderful so I don't have any problems with booking through her, I just hate the time it takes to be on the phone rather than me seeing online what I want and just booking it. But she does stay on top of it and has been able to get us excellent packages.

 

 

 

So, if RCI is not going to provide better service, I will just start booking with other cruise lines that have not required us to go through a "consultant" or that provide better service.

 

 

 

Very odd. I wonder what is unique about your online bookings that prevent you from doing so? Probably nothing to do with you.

 

 

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[John&LaLa]

No reason to fight over something that is personal choice. FWIW I did a search in Royal's "find a TA" section on their website just for grins and was not surprised to find zero results for Vermont (which of course may not mean much of anything). Everyone that I know who cruises books their cruises with the cruise line, so word of mouth won't work for me. I have done searches on online TA websites (including on the website of the big wholesale store that sells memberships) and haven't found any offers that were any better than what the cruise line offered (although some of them did offer some nice perks if you spent money on a suite). Even for airfare I'll use an online TA to find the airline with the best price and then I'll go to that airline's website and book it directly since they usually offer the same price (I think there was only once were it saved me enough money to warrant booking through the online TA).

Here's some advice. Don't book directly with most airlines on one way non domestic fares.

 

Air2Sea is awesome.

 

Still surprised you don't think free tips are valuable. $25 a day = $175

 

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