Question re: pricing cruises/bid sites

[WeRockChalkKU]

Hi,  haven’t cruised for forever.  Ready to start back up. Years ago would go through the website that had several companies present offers and competed for your business.  I would put in for what I wanted and within a very few minutes I had an offer or two; it was an automatic type of response even if it was after normal business hours or a weekend.  Then a couple of other companies would also make offers within a day or so.   A few hours ago, I filled out a new request but I haven’t had any responses.  Is that what others are experiencing?  Just curious what the latest is with that type of situation.  Thanks for any input. 

[Tampa Girl]

I found that it took a few hours to get a return from the site that I use, and it was for a WC.  The delay may be that many of the agents are working from home and do not have the support staff previously enjoyed.

[kacurl]

Yes, I have put in for many quotes. I'm finding it does take longer and am not getting as many, some are way more than the cruise lines themselves! Also quite a few new agencies that I am not familiar with.

[fkfad]

I, too, have found it took longer than in the past to get a reply.  On top of the length of time it took to receive a reply, each reply completely ignored the details I submitted regarding the cabin category and the special promotion code I had received from HAL!  This is the first time I found the responses to be useless!  It appeared to me that those replying didn't really care if they "won" my business or not!

[hvbaskey]

I used the compete site as well to see what one could yield after being out of cruising for a couple of years.   After nearly 2 days, “one” scant bid and not impressive at all.   Few years back, my email would be pinging non-stop with offers.   

Our next cruise, I went through a large on line TA site and had a decent offer, but then service degraded fairly fast after they received my deposit.  It’s still working out OK, but I wouldn’t book with them again.  It’s almost as if they don’t care.   I’m finding a huge disparity in service level from 2020 to now.

As I am new to HAL, I don’t have a vacation planner for this line and wasn’t sure whether to just book through the web site or through a new TA.   In hindsight, the web site would have been easier and the $100 OBC from the TA definitely not worth the frustration.

Anyhow, I digress.   Wish the compete site worked as it did in the past, but definitely not the same as it used to be.

[ScoutDiver]

I am in a higher priced cabin for an upcoming cruise.  The savings were significant.  The customer service is now terrible to non responsive.   Never again.  

[mightycruisequeen]

Yeah, I was pretty underwhelmed with the speed and number  of responses to my latest cruise quote request.   I honestly wonder how many cruise agents just went on to more dependable employment.