What Am I Missing….This Stinks

[Guppy99]

36 minutes ago, woneill63 said:

Wow, quite a few responses on this thread, interesting topic.

If I am sailing solo, and got a price increase of 30/40 % over booking two in a cabin, what's to stop me from "booking" a stateroom for two and then just showing up all alone ?  You could say your cabin mate missed their flight or got in a car accident on the drive in to the port.

i guess you haven't read through all the replies. this was the topic of discussion for the pst half of the thread.

[woneill63]

Yeah, no.  Life is too short for all that.  

[canderson]

On 10/30/2021 at 4:02 AM, jg51 said:

.

Hello, "neverlaysup."  Thanks for your interesting comments.

You may find the following hard to believe, but it is true, so here we go ...

 

We have been traveling (all fifty states and over thirty nations) for about forty-three years.  During the last forty years (since 1981), we have NEVER used a travel agent -- because, over the course of the first three years, we learned how to make arrangements ourselves, and we much preferred the ease and greater degree of control that we found that we exercised by doing everything ourselves.

 

We never knew -- until you told us today -- that all the "on-board credit" (that we've incessantly read about, for more than a decade) has been a result of the use of travel agents. 

 

You said this:  "you are overpaying for your cruise"

On the contrary, we strongly suspect that the following is what is happening instead:

(1)  Someone who uses a travel agent is paying more than we  pay by booking directly ... and then ...

(2)  The travel agent takes the overpayment and arranges with the cruise line to convert it into on-board credit (so that the passenger is forced to spend it on the ship) ... and then ...

(3)  The cruise line, to thank the travel agent for the extra money, gives him/her a kickback.

 

We will continue to book our own travels, rather than use a travel agent, who may be involved in a "shady" business transaction.

.

 

Neverlaysup has it about nailed above.  There are so many misconceptions in your post about how the transaction is managed by passenger/TA/line that I barely know where to start.  

 

The deposit and final payment go directly to X, processed by the TA.  The TA doesn't get paid their commission by the line unless the cruise is cancelled or until you cruise, and some lines aren't overly prompt about that, either.

 

It's a good thing that it doesn't work the way you describe it.  That would turn it into a very messy business indeed.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2021 by canderson

[PTC DAWG]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:02 AM, jg51 said:

.

Hello, "neverlaysup."  Thanks for your interesting comments.

You may find the following hard to believe, but it is true, so here we go ...

 

We have been traveling (all fifty states and over thirty nations) for about forty-three years.  During the last forty years (since 1981), we have NEVER used a travel agent -- because, over the course of the first three years, we learned how to make arrangements ourselves, and we much preferred the ease and greater degree of control that we found that we exercised by doing everything ourselves.

 

We never knew -- until you told us today -- that all the "on-board credit" (that we've incessantly read about, for more than a decade) has been a result of the use of travel agents. 

 

You said this:  "you are overpaying for your cruise"

On the contrary, we strongly suspect that the following is what is happening instead:

(1)  Someone who uses a travel agent is paying more than we  pay by booking directly ... and then ...

(2)  The travel agent takes the overpayment and arranges with the cruise line to convert it into on-board credit (so that the passenger is forced to spend it on the ship) ... and then ...

(3)  The cruise line, to thank the travel agent for the extra money, gives him/her a kickback.

 

We will continue to book our own travels, rather than use a travel agent, who may be involved in a "shady" business transaction.

.

 

Lots of wrong here