Is there an advantage to transfer booking to TA?

[twobluecats]

Good morning! I just booked the Infinity for a Panama Canal cruise leaving Ft. Lauderdale on 3/25/07. I booked directly with Celebrity; however, is there any advantage these days to transfer to a travel agent? Since Celebrity restricted their pricing, I haven't found any agents offering any bonuses. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[captain bob]

If you do your research there is a major "online" travel agency who has been authorized to give shipboard cabin credit equal to about 10% of the cost of your X cruise for just assuming the reservation. For RCI you get a credit but it is only good on the next cruise not the current one like on "X".

 

Bob

[canderson]

Good morning! I just booked the Infinity for a Panama Canal cruise leaving Ft. Lauderdale on 3/25/07. I booked directly with Celebrity; however, is there any advantage these days to transfer to a travel agent? Since Celebrity restricted their pricing, I haven't found any agents offering any bonuses. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Only if you have a good agent. The plus side is that a good agent will take care of any amendments to your booking, and deal with any problems that might come up. A good one will also watch fares, and if they decrease, may be able to get you the lower fare. (Not likely on your itinerary, but hey ...) The minus side is that many of those amendments now MUST be made by your agent.

 

If you're going to do it, be sure you deal with an agent that will be proactive if problems arise since your ability to further deal directly with Celebrity on many issues becomes limited.

[twobluecats]

Wow! Thanks, Bob. Any suggestions on research, or would you be willing to to accept an e-mail from me?

[twobluecats]

Great points, Canderson. I appreciate the input. I'm just at a loss on selecting the right agency.

[teedee]

It doesn't happen often, in fact I haven't had this problem although I do know people who have, but I like knowing I have someone in my corner if a problem or conflict with the cruise line arises. I love my TA, she does a wonderful job, watches for drops in price for me so I don't have to bother. Also watches out for any coupons or discounts through Captain's Club.

Terri

[gkm]

We also have an excellent TA. We've always had great success getting the cabin we want and it's nice to know that if any problems arise, she's there to handle them for us. If you'd like her name you can email me. My email is below at the end of my signature block.

 

Garry

[tuggers]

Terri and I use the same agent and she is tremendous! Getting off Opera about 5 hours late meant missed airplanes, connections, etc. While everyone else was scrambling, I called our agent who found me a new flight in about 10 minutes, saving me a night at a hotel in FLL. And get this, I booked my own air originally!!!

 

Be sure your agent is a Celebrity Key Account'er and you'll get the best deal.

 

Mine is available 7 days a week which is a big plus for me!!!:D

[twobluecats]

Thanks, guys! I'm afraid I don't see any e-mail addresses listed. Can you shoot me an e-mail at twobluecats@sbcglobal.net? I'd positively LUV to chat with a recommended agent. Would it be appropriate to ask that the Celebrity-booked reservation be switched?

[negc]

Thanks, guys! I'm afraid I don't see any e-mail addresses listed. Can you shoot me an e-mail at twobluecats@sbcglobal.net? I'd positively LUV to chat with a recommended agent. Would it be appropriate to ask that the Celebrity-booked reservation be switched?

If you find a good travel agent, it would be perfectly appropriate to ask that the reservation be switched. Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations in case there is someone local that can handle these things for you. If problems arise, it can be nice to have someone local to deal with.

[gacruzr]

Terri and I use the same agent and she is tremendous! Getting off Opera about 5 hours late meant missed airplanes, connections, etc. While everyone else was scrambling, I called our agent who found me a new flight in about 10 minutes, saving me a night at a hotel in FLL. And get this, I booked my own air originally!!!

 

Be sure your agent is a Celebrity Key Account'er and you'll get the best deal.

 

Mine is available 7 days a week which is a big plus for me!!!:D

 

Gail, If you don't mind, would you send me the name and number of your agent. Is she in Ga? sue2b at hotmail dot com

 

Thanks, Sue

[Browezilla]

Wow! Thanks, Bob. Any suggestions on research, or would you be willing to to accept an e-mail from me?

Here is an online travel agency that is no frills (e.g. no hand holding, no phone), but their prices and email support are excellent. http://Http://www.***********.com They advertise on this site and therefore can be mentioned http://www.cruisecritic.com/shipshop/index.cfm Shoot, the "***" me out. Anyway, follow the Cruise critic link to the left and look for cruise quick near the bottom.

 

I've used them several times. Most recently, for a group cruise next month.

I recommend booking onboard to get the shipboard credit and then transfer the booking of the price reduction or other value added gift. Also, if you buy 100 shares of RCCL stock, you can get a $100/reservation shipboard credit.

[dileep]

Good morning! I just booked the Infinity for a Panama Canal cruise leaving Ft. Lauderdale on 3/25/07. I booked directly with Celebrity; however, is there any advantage these days to transfer to a travel agent? Since Celebrity restricted their pricing, I haven't found any agents offering any bonuses. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

We booked our Concierge Class South America cruise on the ship during our Baltics cruise. We were told that Celebrity does not allow discounting.

 

Within a week of getting home, we had an e-mail from an on-line travel agency with a price almost $1000 lower pp than what we had booked. We were able to transfer the deposit and the stateroom to the TA, and all we lost was the shipboard credit which was much smaller than what we served. They do not refund a $259 service fee that they charge if you cancel. Celebrity is fully refundable until the final payment.

 

Service from the TA is excellent. They send us reminders of what we need to do and even called us by telephone to wish us Bon Voyage.

[flashdog_1]

I don't understand why you lost the onboard credit. you just give the travel agent the booking number, they give their perk and you keep the credit as far as I know. They tell you this when you book aboard the ship, that you may transfer it to an agency and keep the onboard credit. Or are you saying that this agency's $259 non-refundable service fee cancels out the onboard credit dollar for dollar? But you still came out $1000 ahead, or do you look at it as $750 ahead???

 

Some agencies give free insurance if not an onboard credit.

[dileep]

I don't understand why you lost the onboard credit. you just give the travel agent the booking number, they give their perk and you keep the credit as far as I know. They tell you this when you book aboard the ship, that you may transfer it to an agency and keep the onboard credit. Or are you saying that this agency's $259 non-refundable service fee cancels out the onboard credit dollar for dollar? But you still came out $1000 ahead, or do you look at it as $750 ahead???

 

Some agencies give free insurance if not an onboard credit.

 

The travel agent got me in a conference call with Celebrity and they transferred the reservation and deposit, but said that the onboard credit could not be transferred. And yes, after all was said and done, we saved about $900 per person.

 

The only risk was if I changed my mind before the final payment, I would have lost $250, which was a good trade off.

 

The agency offered travel insurance, but I got a better price elsewhere.

 

They appear to be the only agency with deeply discounted prices. I checked others for months just for fun, and nobody came even close.

[Cindy G]

I "found" our TA right here on CC....recommended by another CCer. She does all of the above, watches for price drops, checks for coupons, clears any mishaps with X, and sends a bottle of champagne to our cabin with vouchers for the specialty restaurant. She also send us the information regarding "Happy Hours" and specials on other cruise lines. For example, a couple of weeks ago, a 7 day Costa cruise, balcony cabin, less than $700.00 with taxes and port charges.

She is awesome. We have learned so much and feel taken advantage of by our previous TA.

[tuggers]

If the new ta had this booked as group space, they would lose the onboard credit. This would also be the reason the price was cheaper. And it makes no difference in the reservation, so if I could save $900 by giving up $200 I would certainly do it. This is a situation that my ta checks for all the time, can I save more by making another booking and losing the onboard. Sometimes, yes, sometimes no. But it's good to have someone who goes to the trouble to check.

 

Now if they were just the victims of an ill trained ta conferencing in an ill trained csr then that's a whole other matter. They can both convincingly tell a passenger 'no' and the pax would know no different. Just be out $200.

 

Does that make any sense?

[gracecarmo]

Would you be kind enough to send me your TA's name? I feel the same way that you do, about being taken advantage of.

gracecarmo at sunflower dot com.

 

Thanks

[canderson]

We booked our Concierge Class South America cruise on the ship during our Baltics cruise. We were told that Celebrity does not allow discounting.

 

Within a week of getting home, we had an e-mail from an on-line travel agency with a price almost $1000 lower pp than what we had booked. We were able to transfer the deposit and the stateroom to the TA, and all we lost was the shipboard credit which was much smaller than what we served.

Dileep -- is this one in the same general part of the world as Clinton's old home town? If so, you've picked well, as those $1000 discounts are hard to find anywhere else, and they're 100% legit!

[canderson]

They appear to be the only agency with deeply discounted prices. I checked others for months just for fun, and nobody came even close.

To be fair, I don't think they're "discounted". If you're using the agency I think you're using, what you're getting is the original fare (the fare offered when the itinerary was first released), or very near it, rather than the greatly increased current fare that has been caused by some number of price hikes by Celebrity. Other agents who follow the standard business model are stuck with the current (higher) rates.

 

The agency I'm thinking of does particularly well for its customers on certain S. American runs. I recall pointing out last year that an agent had $1000 per person lower prices for S. American cruises coming up this next month. Wonder if they have any cabins left?

 

I'm not aware of any other agencies that will put down the money up front and hold the original pricing for their customers. If there are others doing it, they're evidently pocketing the difference, because there's no evidence of such large price differences anywhere else.

 

So while it might not technically be a discount, it sure as heck looks like one compared to today's prices, and is still an AWESOME deal -- and a VERY good reason for people to keep shopping for X cruises.

[dileep]

If the new ta had this booked as group space, they would lose the onboard credit. This would also be the reason the price was cheaper. And it makes no difference in the reservation, so if I could save $900 by giving up $200 I would certainly do it.

 

Now if they were just the victims of an ill trained ta conferencing in an ill trained csr then that's a whole other matter. They can both convincingly tell a passenger 'no' and the pax would know no different. Just be out $200.

 

Does that make any sense?

 

We were part of group space. We got the last CC cabin in their allocation. I was not complaining about losing the credit, just stating the facts. She did ask Celebrity and knowing that the most likely answer would be no.

[dileep]

The agency I'm thinking of does particularly well for its customers on certain S. American runs. I recall pointing out last year that an agent had $1000 per person lower prices for S. American cruises coming up this next month. Wonder if they have any cabins left?

 

 

Since you kinda asked it is OLVC. We booked the 22-Jan-2006 cruise in June 2005 with them.

[flashdog_1]

That makes sense now, Tuggers. A group booking would cause you to lose the onboard credit. Thanks.