I have words, but can't use them here!!!

[jean87510]

10 hours ago, brillohead said:

Even when I only booked 1-3 cruises a year, I still booked with a TA when I knew I had one that was good to work with.  (I'm the first to admit that not all TAs are the same; I'm incredibly thankful that I have a wonderful one.)

My TA almost always gets me a slightly lower fare than I can get by booking directly, and almost always includes a little bit of OBC, even though I book dirt-cheap rooms at dirt-cheap rates most of the time.  

Even if it's only once or twice a year, if I can save a hundred bucks on a cruise, you can bet your sweet bippy that I'm gonna save a hundred bucks!!!! I may be ugly, but I'm not stupid, and a hundred bucks in my pocket is a hundred bucks I can save towards my next cruise!  LOL

And even with all my many post-COVID bookings (this number of cruises is not my norm -- I'm only taking advantage of the low rates and the double points promotion right now), I still did all the planning myself for every single sailing.  I picked the itinerary, ship, date, and room number, and emailed the information to my TA, who then processed the booking and sent me the booking confirmation.  The only difference is that if something does go wrong, or if I want to move from one room to another, I don't have to deal with sitting on hold -- the TA handles it all for me.

You are lucky to have good experiences.  

 

I still think that the majority of people who just use TAs is higher for frequent cruisers than the 1-2 a year.  Its funny but I had a situation a couple of weeks ago with carnival to add a cabin with family members to our booking.  I went local with recommended TA and an online one.  Both told me I would have to move my original cabin and cabins would have to be on the same deck.  Even though one person was 28.  And no OBC, perks...  So I called carnival and spoke to one of their specialists.  We finagled the booking to move my husband in one room, me in the other, just to get the senior and status stuff, different floors, stayed in cloud 9 area.  We could have kept the 28 year old but it would have been more.  Neither TA would do this for me.  Even when I suggested it as an alternative.  So I did try but in the end, TA and I do not work as well as others.

[CILCIANRQTS]

Great taste!!
Less filling!!
(Repeat)

 

[jean87510]

33 minutes ago, ChC said:

TA is not the answer for everything.

 

The world had moved on. Direct sales are the future. Look at what happened to the hotel reservations, the holiday package reservations. Cruise industry is slow to adapt but changes are here. Soon or later it will happen.

 

If an issue the cruise company can not solve, I doubt TA can do too much of the magic. TA had to use the same system the cruise line company uses. For sure, some clever TA could solve some minor issues by bypassing some obvious methods that cruise line representatives are not allowed to use. Or a reputable TA can use accounting trick to bill back in OP's case. However, it is also true that TA are also restricted to what they can do and what they should not do, not to mention the system restrictions.

 

As someone believe in direct booking, I don't preach people that use TA to change. Because I understand many people do need TA as things can be complicated. Or people have a good relationship with their TA. Or some people prefers stress free and would like their TA to take charge. 

 

However, I do notice some posters here are preaching people that normally book direct to 'use a TA' for whatever reasons. And it is constant. I find that annoying. 

 

I also think OP has a great case to help RCL to improve its system. OP identified a problem. This problem should be dealt with by RCL from their backend system to prevent it happening again. Booking a cruise should be like ordering a cup of coffee from a vending machine. Whatever happened in OP's case should not have happened. TA should not be the problem or even a topic in OP's case. I felt posters should discuss the specific problem OP had faced and make suggestion on how to solve it between the OP and RCL. A very common 'my TA would have solved it' or 'that is why I use a TA' is grossly off topic.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Absolutely correct.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, ChC said:

TA is not the answer for everything.

 

The world had moved on. Direct sales are the future. Look at what happened to the hotel reservations, the holiday package reservations. Cruise industry is slow to adapt but changes are here. Soon or later it will happen.

 

If an issue the cruise company can not solve, I doubt TA can do too much of the magic. TA had to use the same system the cruise line company uses. For sure, some clever TA could solve some minor issues by bypassing some obvious methods that cruise line representatives are not allowed to use. Or a reputable TA can use accounting trick to bill back in OP's case. However, it is also true that TA are also restricted to what they can do and what they should not do, not to mention the system restrictions.

 

As someone believe in direct booking, I don't preach people that use TA to change. Because I understand many people do need TA as things can be complicated. Or people have a good relationship with their TA. Or some people prefers stress free and would like their TA to take charge. 

 

However, I do notice some posters here are preaching people that normally book direct to 'use a TA' for whatever reasons. And it is constant. I find that annoying. 

 

I also think OP has a great case to help RCL to improve its system. OP identified a problem. This problem should be dealt with by RCL from their backend system to prevent it happening again. Booking a cruise should be like ordering a cup of coffee from a vending machine. Whatever happened in OP's case should not have happened. TA should not be the problem or even a topic in OP's case. I felt posters should discuss the specific problem OP had faced and make suggestion on how to solve it between the OP and RCL. A very common 'my TA would have solved it' or 'that is why I use a TA' is grossly off topic.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

Absolutely correct.

And there are the ones that will never post that RCI should get its act together when it comes to various issue. Their answer is simply to get a TA to deal with the problems.

[kelbell]

Absolutely, well said!!

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

And there are the ones that will never post that RCI should get its act together when it comes to various issue. Their answer is simply to get a TA to deal with the problems.

 

I for one, am extremely open and truthful. If I have an issue, I'll mention it. Guess I just live a charmed life😇

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I for one, am extremely open and truthful. If I have an issue, I'll mention it. Guess I just live a charmed life😇

Yes you do. And my general comment was not aimed at you.