Travel Agent Of No Help

[Ladyinflight]

I usually book all my own cruises directly with the cruise line but decided to turn the responsibility of a family cruise over to a travel agent because I didn't want the responsibility of this big a task. I had used this TA before once for a cruise and had no problem. We wanted 13 balcony cabins on a RC ship.  I picked a date and the ship (Sensation) and let the agent know.     She notified me the next day that all the balconies were gone for our date so, I moved on to another date and another ship.  The next day she called and told me all the balconies on the Explorer were all gone.  Time wise we were at least 16 months until the cruise so, I could not believe that all the balconies could be booked already.  I decided to call RC to see for myself.  Well, I had no problem booking 13 rooms for our party and, they are all on the same side of the ship close to each other.  I can't understand where that TA was coming from.  I am sure she would have made a little money from our booking.  Why do you think she would do such a thing?

[Markanddonna]

You are correct in thinking she could have made a nice profit from 13 cabins!  Perhaps she didn't try hard enough.  There is no reason why an individual can do better with booking direct. I prefer direct booking, so I think you are the big winner!

 

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, Ladyinflight said:

I usually book all my own cruises directly with the cruise line but decided to turn the responsibility of a family cruise over to a travel agent because I didn't want the responsibility of this big a task. I had used this TA before once for a cruise and had no problem. We wanted 13 balcony cabins on a RC ship.  I picked a date and the ship (Sensation) and let the agent know.     She notified me the next day that all the balconies were gone for our date so, I moved on to another date and another ship.  The next day she called and told me all the balconies on the Explorer were all gone.  Time wise we were at least 16 months until the cruise so, I could not believe that all the balconies could be booked already.  I decided to call RC to see for myself.  Well, I had no problem booking 13 rooms for our party and, they are all on the same side of the ship close to each other.  I can't understand where that TA was coming from.  I am sure she would have made a little money from our booking.  Why do you think she would do such a thing?

That just seems very odd. If the cabins were there (as it seems they were), there should be no reason for a competent TA to make the booking and earn their commission from the cruise line.

[sanger727]

I’ve never heard of something like this happening for a cruise. It certainly sounds like you dodged a bullet of a possibly lazy or incompetent TA. The only thing that I’ve experienced that was somewhat similar was with flights in a vacation package. We booked a vacation package with flights Nd hotel. I priced matched with Expedia and found a TA that offered a better package. Booked it but she offered price matching so I kept on watching Expedia’s package price to see if it was worth having her try re-pricing the trip. Shortly after this, our specific flight disappeared from Expedia’s offerings. The airline still offered the flight but it couldn’t be booked by Expedia. I have since learned that TAs buy what essentially amounts to flight vouchers in bulk to keep their pricing down. I think that the airline only offers a certain amount of tickets per flight that can be booked with those fares. So once those seats are booked the airline is still offering the flights but it can’t be booked with one of those vacation package type deals. No idea of a similar system fell into play here. But any true ‘TA’ who won’t book you on a cruise/flight/hotel that has available isn’t worth dealing with.

[Philob]

OR the TA didn't have any experience in booking groups.

 

OTH the TA had booked groups before, but doesn't want to do it again 😎

[SRF]

Or, the TA assumed you want all the cabins in a row.

[All That Jazz]

Personally, I would call her back and ask. Go to the source and find out.

[bonsai3s]

OP...just a friendly reminder to make sure to ask RCCL for a group rate...if I'm not mistaken, you would qualify if you book a minimum of 8 cabins.  Happy Sailing!

[leaveitallbehind]

32 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

OP...just a friendly reminder to make sure to ask RCCL for a group rate...if I'm not mistaken, you would qualify if you book a minimum of 8 cabins.  Happy Sailing!

 

The number of staterooms booked to which you refer to as 8 only has bearing on the level needed to receive a per person stateroom rate credit against the group booking.  If it is in fact 8 (it can vary by cruise line) then at that level, one person's stateroom rate is credited with one more per every 8 booked. There is no "group rates" per say with groups being established at the then prevailing rate for a given itinerary and stateroom category.  But if the group is booked at an early reduced booking rate then that rate will be locked in.  (Lower rates would also still be available if pricing decreases later). What will be added by the cruise line typically will be some amount of OBC or other on board group perks.

Edited December 17, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[Ladyinflight]

My spouse and I are paying for this family cruise and I just didn't want to nor knew how to do a group booking but, thankfully, RC is making it easier than I thought.  They informed me that we are getting a group rate as long as the rooms don't fall below 8 in total.  So far, so good.  

[ger_77]

I would call the TA back, telling her you were able to book the cabins you wanted, and ask why she wasn't able to do the same.  It would be interesting for you to hear her response.  Her loss, not yours.

 

Smooth Sailing!   🙂🙂🙂

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 12/16/2019 at 10:22 PM, Ladyinflight said:

I usually book all my own cruises directly with the cruise line but decided to turn the responsibility of a family cruise over to a travel agent because I didn't want the responsibility of this big a task. I had used this TA before once for a cruise and had no problem. We wanted 13 balcony cabins on a RC ship.  I picked a date and the ship (Sensation) and let the agent know.     She notified me the next day that all the balconies were gone for our date so, I moved on to another date and another ship.  The next day she called and told me all the balconies on the Explorer were all gone.  Time wise we were at least 16 months until the cruise so, I could not believe that all the balconies could be booked already.  I decided to call RC to see for myself.  Well, I had no problem booking 13 rooms for our party and, they are all on the same side of the ship close to each other.  I can't understand where that TA was coming from.  I am sure she would have made a little money from our booking.  Why do you think she would do such a thing?

 

If you are still within the time for doing this you might think about transferring your booking to a (different, of course) travel agent.  With a group like that and balcony cabins I'd expect to get some pretty decent perks from a TA, that I wouldn't want to leave on the table.  Don't let your bad experience with the original TA put you off TAs completely.

[MCC retired]

6 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

If you are still within the time for doing this you might think about transferring your booking to a (different, of course) travel agent.  With a group like that and balcony cabins I'd expect to get some pretty decent perks from a TA, that I wouldn't want to leave on the table.  Don't let your bad experience with the original TA put you off TAs completely.

A Good TA would do backflips for a group booking like the OP has.

Unfortunately the original TA was a loser .  Those type don’t last in the business.

Produce or get out .

[ducklite]

It's possible the agency had a block on hold and the agent only looked at that inventory.  Pretty foolish of them to not go further into the process.

[BaumD]

On 12/17/2019 at 12:22 AM, Ladyinflight said:

I usually book all my own cruises directly with the cruise line but decided to turn the responsibility of a family cruise over to a travel agent because I didn't want the responsibility of this big a task. I had used this TA before once for a cruise and had no problem. We wanted 13 balcony cabins on a RC ship.  I picked a date and the ship (Sensation) and let the agent know.     She notified me the next day that all the balconies were gone for our date so, I moved on to another date and another ship.  The next day she called and told me all the balconies on the Explorer were all gone.  Time wise we were at least 16 months until the cruise so, I could not believe that all the balconies could be booked already.  I decided to call RC to see for myself.  Well, I had no problem booking 13 rooms for our party and, they are all on the same side of the ship close to each other.  I can't understand where that TA was coming from.  I am sure she would have made a little money from our booking.  Why do you think she would do such a thing?

If your TA looked for 13 cabins on Royal Caribbean's Sensation, she wouldn't find any as Sensation is a Carnival ship  !!!

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, BaumD said:

If your TA looked for 13 cabins on Royal Caribbean's Sensation, she wouldn't find any as Sensation is a Carnival ship  !!!

 

Maybe the supposed TA didn't know that.  The OP is really lucky that he did not get that TA.  Shame that he is not allowed to post the name of the TA on CC to protect other potential clients from the TA.  I know the rules however and recognize that that is not possible.

 

DON

[Ladyinflight]

2 hours ago, BaumD said:

If your TA looked for 13 cabins on Royal Caribbean's Sensation, she wouldn't find any as Sensation is a Carnival ship  !!!

 

11 hours ago, ger_77 said:

I would call the TA back, telling her you were able to book the cabins you wanted, and ask why she wasn't able to do the same.  It would be interesting for you to hear her response.  Her loss, not yours.

 

Smooth Sailing!   🙂🙂🙂

My time is too precious to be fooling with this person, again.  I feel, if they really wanted the  bookings, they would have called me back to see if there was another option.  I have not heard from that person since so, obviously, it was not important enough.   Who knows.

[DarrenM]

13 cabins? How big a family do you have?

 

I would have thanked the TA for avoiding me having to spend so much time in close proximity to so many outlaws.

[DarrenM]

There again I even try to avoid the obligatory christmas day family get together. Even thats too much too close.

[iancal]

Call her up and ask her.  Perhaps there was a misunderstanding.

 

If you are still not happy then simply change TA's.  It really is not such a big deal given that you got what you wanted in the end.

 

There are excellent TA's to be sure but there are far more order processors/data entry clerks who pose as TA's. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

 

If you are still not happy then simply change TA's.  It really is not such a big deal given that you got what you wanted in the end.

 

 

I think I might disagree in general.  Mrs Ldubs was involved in booking a dozen cabins for our family group for a cruise happening next month.  If the TA failed and she would have had to circle around and do it herself, I think she would have considered it a pretty big deal.  

[iancal]

My comment relates to changing TA's...that is hardly a big deal.

[Toofarfromthesea]

21 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Maybe the supposed TA didn't know that.  The OP is really lucky that he did not get that TA.  Shame that he is not allowed to post the name of the TA on CC to protect other potential clients from the TA.  I know the rules however and recognize that that is not possible.

 

DON

 

No, that is a good rule, because the TA has no chance to rebut.  We only have one side of the story.

 

More than once I have read a complaint to BBB about a TA (I use that site that lets TAs bid on your cruise, so I check prospective TAs out every which way I can) and thought, "What a bum, how does a guy like that stay in business", only to read the response from the TA which puts a very different light on the matter.

[donaldsc]

41 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

No, that is a good rule, because the TA has no chance to rebut.  We only have one side of the story.

 

More than once I have read a complaint to BBB about a TA (I use that site that lets TAs bid on your cruise, so I check prospective TAs out every which way I can) and thought, "What a bum, how does a guy like that stay in business", only to read the response from the TA which puts a very different light on the matter.

 

Good point.  DON

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, iancal said:

My comment relates to changing TA's...that is hardly a big deal.

 

After unsuccessfully trying to book 13 cabins on two different cruises, I would consider it a big deal to have to change TAs.  I don't mean it is difficult, because it isn't.  But time was wasted and unnecessary effort had to be made for alternate cruises based on the bad effort of the initial TA.   The way I read your post it kind of dismisses the OP's complaint and I don't agree with that.