Booking a cruise with a travel agent

[ocav]

3 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

That was my experience with my Warehouse TA. Never spoke to the same person who booked the cruise and waited a life time on hold the 2 times that I had to call. I only used them for $250 OBC and had to call 21 days before sailing to get conformation of the OBC. The other time I called was to find out what portion of the cruise would be refundable  if I canceled so I knew what value to insure. Whoever I spoke to were very helpful but I wouldn't expect great service if something should have happened and I needed  them to go to bat for me. Now after this Thomas Cook situation I'm more hesitant to use a TA.

my Thomas Cook booking is being transferred to be a RCI managed booking, as are all of them 

[SilkySal]

41 minutes ago, ocav said:

my Thomas Cook booking is being transferred to be a RCI managed booking, as are all of them 

Sounds like RCI is doing the right thing by cruisers booked with Cook. Are they honoring any deposits paid to Cook or will cruisers be out some $$?

 

Found this on a Celebrity thread:

 

As per the X U.K. website:

 

THOMAS COOK UPDATE

Updated: 24 September 2019, 2.30pm

We’re sorry to say that on Monday 23rd September, Thomas Cook was placed into administration. Please be assured we will be doing everything we can to ensure you still have an amazing trip. We will honour all elements of the booking which Thomas Cook made through Celebrity Cruises.

I HAVE BOOKED MY HOLIDAY WITH YOU THROUGH THOMAS COOK. WHAT SHALL I DO NOW?

If you are travelling before Monday 30th September, please call 01932 834145.  

We reached out to all guests affected by the news via email on Monday 23rd September, if you have not received our email, please email us at customerserviceuk@celebritycruises.com with the following information:

• Your full name, ship name and sail date
• Celebrity Cruises booking reference
• Copies of receipts for payments made to Thomas Cook
• Copy of your latest Thomas Cook invoice
• Copy of your ATOL certificate

To ensure our team see your email as quickly as possible, please ensure your email subject line is displayed as follows: THOMAS COOK: [INSERT YOUR CELEBRITY CRUISES BOOKING REFERENCE SHIP AND SAIL DATE]

If you are travelling before Monday 30th September please call us on        0845 345 2451 – we’re open Mon – Fri 08:30 – 20:00, Sat 09:00 – 18:00 and Sun 10:00 – 17:00. 

We will now be managing your cruise booking directly – plus any other elements Thomas Cook arranged through us. If you have an outstanding balance, we’ll be in touch to organise direct payment.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY BOOKING?

Please rest assured we will honour all elements of your booking which Thomas Cook made through us and we’ll take you through the process when we’re in touch. 

THOMAS COOK BOOKED MY FLIGHTS, BUT THE CRUISE IS BOOKED WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES - WHAT SHOULD I DO ABOUT MY FLIGHTS?

Please refer to the ATOL certificate you received from Thomas Cook at the time of confirmation. If your flights were booked through a non-Thomas Cook airline, please contact them directly to discuss your booking. 

You can also visit the dedicated CAA webpage for further advice – https://thomascook.caa.co.uk/

We will honour all elements of your booking which Thomas Cook made through us, so the cruise portion of your booking is unaffected.

THOMAS COOK BOOKED MY FLY-CRUISE PACKAGE WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES, WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

If we arranged your flights as part of the package, they’re covered under Celebrity Cruises ATOL certificate which you received from Thomas Cook at the time of confirmation and are unaffected. 

THOMAS COOK HAS CEASED TRADING, SO IS MY ATOL CERTIFICATE STILL VALID? 

Yes.  ATOL, which stands for Air Travel Organiser’s Licence, is a scheme which protects customers if a travel company they booked with stops trading. This stops you becoming stranded abroad or out of pocket.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• All package holidays with a flight sold by Thomas Cook are protected by ATOL. ATOL certificates are issued at the time of confirmation and give details about the level of protection this provides you
• Cruise-only holidays sold by Thomas Cook are protected by ABTA

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by SilkySal
add

[vacationlover_mn]

argh!  I hate the searching on here.  So, I KNOW there have been threads about how to find a good travel agent, but I can't find them 😞  I also wish they had direct messaging on here, so one of you could just send me the name of yours.

 

Any advice on finding a travel agent who:

1) gives obc

2) often has group rates on many sailings

3) is at least somewhat responsive?  Really, I only would need them to book my cruise, but it would be nice if they were easy to reach in case we had to cancel due to an emergency or something...

[FLACRUISER99]

Lots of folks got burned when a large FL travel agency went belly up.😵

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

argh!  I hate the searching on here.  So, I KNOW there have been threads about how to find a good travel agent, but I can't find them 😞  I also wish they had direct messaging on here, so one of you could just send me the name of yours.

 

Any advice on finding a travel agent who:

1) gives obc

2) often has group rates on many sailings

3) is at least somewhat responsive?  Really, I only would need them to book my cruise, but it would be nice if they were easy to reach in case we had to cancel due to an emergency or something...

 

Speak to your fellow cruisers on board, such as at the M&M. 

[vacationlover_mn]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

Speak to your fellow cruisers on board, such as at the M&M. 

A very good idea!  Hopefully my next M&M doesn't get cancelled, like my last 2 😞

[Wine-O]

9 minutes ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Lots of folks got burned when a large FL travel agency went belly up.😵

My FL TA always takes my credit card for payment and then sends it directly to the cruise line, so I don't give them anything.  They get their commission back from the cruise line.  🍷

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

A very good idea!  Hopefully my next M&M doesn't get cancelled, like my last 2 😞

 

On the Roll Call thread, propose an informal M&M on embarkation day, pre-muster, at some bar, like the pool bar or Schooner.   These are more enjoyable for us than the formal M&M. 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, SilkySal said:

Sounds like RCI is doing the right thing by cruisers booked with Cook. Are they honoring any deposits paid to Cook or will cruisers be out some $$?

 

Found this on a Celebrity thread:

 

As per the X U.K. website:

 

THOMAS COOK UPDATE

Updated: 24 September 2019, 2.30pm

We’re sorry to say that on Monday 23rd September, Thomas Cook was placed into administration. Please be assured we will be doing everything we can to ensure you still have an amazing trip. We will honour all elements of the booking which Thomas Cook made through Celebrity Cruises.

I HAVE BOOKED MY HOLIDAY WITH YOU THROUGH THOMAS COOK. WHAT SHALL I DO NOW?

If you are travelling before Monday 30th September, please call 01932 834145.  

We reached out to all guests affected by the news via email on Monday 23rd September, if you have not received our email, please email us at customerserviceuk@celebritycruises.com with the following information:

• Your full name, ship name and sail date
• Celebrity Cruises booking reference
• Copies of receipts for payments made to Thomas Cook
• Copy of your latest Thomas Cook invoice
• Copy of your ATOL certificate

To ensure our team see your email as quickly as possible, please ensure your email subject line is displayed as follows: THOMAS COOK: [INSERT YOUR CELEBRITY CRUISES BOOKING REFERENCE SHIP AND SAIL DATE]

If you are travelling before Monday 30th September please call us on        0845 345 2451 – we’re open Mon – Fri 08:30 – 20:00, Sat 09:00 – 18:00 and Sun 10:00 – 17:00. 

We will now be managing your cruise booking directly – plus any other elements Thomas Cook arranged through us. If you have an outstanding balance, we’ll be in touch to organise direct payment.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY BOOKING?

Please rest assured we will honour all elements of your booking which Thomas Cook made through us and we’ll take you through the process when we’re in touch. 

THOMAS COOK BOOKED MY FLIGHTS, BUT THE CRUISE IS BOOKED WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES - WHAT SHOULD I DO ABOUT MY FLIGHTS?

Please refer to the ATOL certificate you received from Thomas Cook at the time of confirmation. If your flights were booked through a non-Thomas Cook airline, please contact them directly to discuss your booking. 

You can also visit the dedicated CAA webpage for further advice – https://thomascook.caa.co.uk/

We will honour all elements of your booking which Thomas Cook made through us, so the cruise portion of your booking is unaffected.

THOMAS COOK BOOKED MY FLY-CRUISE PACKAGE WITH CELEBRITY CRUISES, WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

If we arranged your flights as part of the package, they’re covered under Celebrity Cruises ATOL certificate which you received from Thomas Cook at the time of confirmation and are unaffected. 

THOMAS COOK HAS CEASED TRADING, SO IS MY ATOL CERTIFICATE STILL VALID? 

Yes.  ATOL, which stands for Air Travel Organiser’s Licence, is a scheme which protects customers if a travel company they booked with stops trading. This stops you becoming stranded abroad or out of pocket.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• All package holidays with a flight sold by Thomas Cook are protected by ATOL. ATOL certificates are issued at the time of confirmation and give details about the level of protection this provides you
• Cruise-only holidays sold by Thomas Cook are protected by ABTA

 

I spoke to C&A D+ rep On the phone and he confirmed our TC reservation for next June is being handled by RC direct.

Our deposit of £300 we paid 4 months ago to TC had been received by RC.

Edited September 26, 2019 by grapau27

[molly361]

31 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

On the Roll Call thread, propose an informal M&M on embarkation day, pre-muster, at some bar, like the pool bar or Schooner.   These are more enjoyable for us than the formal M&M. 

That's for sure

[blueridgemama]

I just got off the phone with my TA and she explained about the OBC question I had. She said if the OBC was being offered by RCI it would be available in my cruise planner but if it was an offer from the travel agency then it would not be available until usually the second day on the ship and would be in my on board account.

[FLACRUISER99]

56 minutes ago, Wine-O said:

My FL TA always takes my credit card for payment and then sends it directly to the cruise line, so I don't give them anything.  They get their commission back from the cruise line.  🍷

Yes thats what everyone should do. However often their are other arrangements that the TA's do such as hotels, Air, ground transportation etc. that require direct payment to the TA.

[soremekun]

2 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

argh!  I hate the searching on here.  So, I KNOW there have been threads about how to find a good travel agent, but I can't find them 😞  I also wish they had direct messaging on here, so one of you could just send me the name of yours.

 

Any advice on finding a travel agent who:

1) gives obc

2) often has group rates on many sailings

3) is at least somewhat responsive?  Really, I only would need them to book my cruise, but it would be nice if they were easy to reach in case we had to cancel due to an emergency or something...

Here's an awesome review of Harmony of the Seas.

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by soremekun

[Big_G]

We only use an on-line TA when the cruise is past final payment and the price is below the Royal advertised price. So far we've had pretty good luck with them. Because payment needs to be made right away we've never had any payment issues and every booking has come with some OBC and/or a free specialty retaurant. Normally we book further out to get a better price but so far so good.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

I spoke to C&A D+ rep On the phone and he confirmed our TC reservation for next June is being handled by RC direct.

Our deposit of £300 we paid 4 months ago to TC had been received by RC.

To Update.

Any offers offered by TC you have to supply proof by email to RC customer services which we have done as RC said they would honour these so we await confirmation.

 

[Glide_Path]

7 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Not for us.  It's actually easier than a direct booking.  I send one email, takes me a minute, and the travel agent makes the change.  No phone calls, no waiting on hold, no using Royal's website.

 

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

On RCI? It's kinda hard for any TA to make money when the most they'll likely see from RCI in commissions is 16% and that's on the comissionable portion of the fare.

I feel so conflicted sometimes about using a TA vs booking direct.  I have had both great, and horrible experiences even when using the same OTA

 

At times I would wait for an "OBC special" from one of the big online TA, doubling the OBC usually gives a 10+% in OBC.  Then, I would book the cruise going though a cash rebate site, giving anywhere from 4-12+% cash back after you complete the cruise.  Sometimes it's easy peasy, other times it would be countless phones/emails just to make sure the OBC and rebates are correctly given.

 

I'm not sure who in the end is taking the hit, but when it works, you can usually  get 10% in OBC and another 10% in cash after the cruise.

[ocav]

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

To Update.

Any offers offered by TC you have to supply proof by email to RC customer services which we have done as RC said they would honour these so we await confirmation.

 

im 8 days away from my TC booked holiday and I have yet to have ANY communication from RCI besides the original email asking for payment proof (which was sent in Monday night).

[Iamcruzin]

11 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

 

Question about OBC with the TA  When I have booked direct my OBC is listed on my RCI account page so that I can use it to purchase things in my cruise planner.

It is not available online now in my account. I called and she said it would show up in  my on board account on the 2nd day of the cruise. Does that sound right?

Yes if the OBC is coming from the Travel Agent. That's why I called close to the cruise to verify. Mine was there on day one. I checked once we got to our room. They probably tell you day 2 to cover any delay in the electronic transfer.

[grapau27]

7 hours ago, ocav said:

im 8 days away from my TC booked holiday and I have yet to have ANY communication from RCI besides the original email asking for payment proof (which was sent in Monday night).

Being so close to your cruise they ask you to ring RC with your confirmation number, name, cruise ship and date of cruise.

If you paid final balance 3 months ago TC should have paid RC and when you ring TC they can confirm this.

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Being so close to your cruise they ask you to ring RC with your confirmation number, name, cruise ship and date of cruise.

If you paid final balance 3 months ago TC should have paid RC and when you ring TC they can confirm this.

Correction.

When you ring RCCL they can confirm if your bill was paid by TC.

Edited September 27, 2019 by grapau27

[ocav]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Being so close to your cruise they ask you to ring RC with your confirmation number, name, cruise ship and date of cruise.

If you paid final balance 3 months ago TC should have paid RC and when you ring TC they can confirm this.

When I rung I was told to wait for an email back, or until it is 7 days before. 
final balance was paid in July, I can’t ring TC though however as they don’t exist.

[grapau27]

13 minutes ago, ocav said:

When I rung I was told to wait for an email back, or until it is 7 days before. 
final balance was paid in July, I can’t ring TC though however as they don’t exist.

I followed on a correction post saying RCCL not TC.

I rang C&A D+ about another  cruise in October and they confirmed payment had been received from TC.

I believe that you can only check in to get your cruise docs after final payment has been received.

Still ring though to make sure.

Edited September 27, 2019 by grapau27

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

I followed on a correction post saying RCCL not TC.

I rang C&A D+ about another  cruise in October and they confirmed payment had been received from TC.

I believe that you can only check in to get your cruise docs after final payment has been received.

Still ring though to make sure.

Just curious but do your credit card invoices show as the payments going to TC or do they appear as Royal Caribbean.

 

In North America travel agents act as a facilitator for the payment which is made directly to Royal and only in a very few cases actually take the clients money.  Most payments are made directly to Royal using the clients credit card.  Royal actually has it in their agreement that it must be processed this way.  Very few exceptions, one being if the client pays by cash.  In our case if a client pays by cash we do have a company credit card we use and the payment is still made immediately to Royal.  

 

At no time is the client ever ever at risk of losing any money.  I would not recommend anyone booking with a TA who did not use the clients credit card to pay Royal directly

[grapau27]

10 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just curious but do your credit card invoices show as the payments going to TC or do they appear as Royal Caribbean.

 

In North America travel agents act as a facilitator for the payment which is made directly to Royal and only in a very few cases actually take the clients money.  Most payments are made directly to Royal using the clients credit card.  Royal actually has it in their agreement that it must be processed this way.  Very few exceptions, one being if the client pays by cash.  In our case if a client pays by cash we do have a company credit card we use and the payment is still made immediately to Royal.  

 

At no time is the client ever ever at risk of losing any money.  I would not recommend anyone booking with a TA who did not use the clients credit card to pay Royal directly

Thomas Cook on Credit Card statement.

Last payment was 6-17-2019 to TC.

C&A D+ rep confirmed payment received.

We have section 75 credit card payment protection in the UK.

Edited September 27, 2019 by grapau27

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thomas Cook on Credit Card statement.

Last payment was 6-17-2019 to TC.

C&A D+ rep confirmed payment received.

We have section 75 credit card payment protection in the UK.

Interesting.  Looks like a totally different system in the UK.