SATaxman Posted February 19 #51 Share Posted February 19 10 minutes ago, Harters said: Worth a look at Tripadvisor's cruise forum which has no problems about names being named. I did that cross-check after I'd come across Cruise Critic's own list of recommended UK travel agents. does this list USA TAs also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vallesan Posted February 20 #52 Share Posted February 20 10 hours ago, Snaefell3 said: Yep. But then, you have more recourse if itineraries get a major change, no? You know I really don’t know! Fortunately we’ve never experienced major changes. Yes we have missed ports because of weather. I think we are living through ‘extraordinary’ times so some ‘extraordinary’ things are happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted February 20 #53 Share Posted February 20 11 hours ago, SATaxman said: does this list USA TAs also? UK only, I'm afraid. Google found the list for me so maybe there's something similar out there for the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJL2023 Posted July 3 #54 Share Posted July 3 Does anyone know if the perks for booking onboard are combinable with the savings from a cruise with the Oceania Club Savings promotion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mauibabes Posted July 3 #55 Share Posted July 3 @EJL2023 In our booking experience, we have never lost any On Board Booking Perks, they were always combineable. Now that is not to say something could change. WE always book one or more cruises On Board whenever we sail on O and sometimes we do have to swap a trip because life got in the way or another great opportunity presented itself and we just could not refuse it. We do try to have at least one trip “On the Books” at all times, got 4 now 🤞🤪🙏🛳️ The OBB Discount, Reduced Deposit, SBC, etc helps the bottom line. Mauibabes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osandomir Posted July 3 #56 Share Posted July 3 (edited) 1 hour ago, EJL2023 said: Does anyone know if the perks for booking onboard are combinable with the savings from a cruise with the Oceania Club Savings promotion? In the situation like that we lost onboard booking discount but kept OBC applied for initial booking on board if I remember correctly. It did make sense because the price of the cruise was lower with the new promotion at the end. Edited July 3 by osandomir 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thought2go Posted July 3 #57 Share Posted July 3 On 2/18/2024 at 10:29 PM, ak1004 said: Our TA gives us around 10-11% rebate for O bookings and ~13-14% for SS, so I assume she gets more for SS bookings. I need to find that TA before my next booking!🤗 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SATaxman Posted July 4 #58 Share Posted July 4 20 hours ago, Thought2go said: I need to find that TA before my next booking!🤗 Me too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted July 4 #59 Share Posted July 4 When we book on any line, we get the perks offered and transfer it to are TA for additional amenities from them. Our TA calls them amenities.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ak1004 Posted July 5 #60 Share Posted July 5 On 7/3/2024 at 3:57 PM, Thought2go said: I need to find that TA before my next booking!🤗 Not difficult to find.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muckyduckway Posted July 13 #61 Share Posted July 13 On 2/19/2024 at 5:58 PM, Vallesan said: Yes you are reading this absolutely right. Whatever offer I have booked on board I get a further 10%, or maybe a fraction less 9.5% , from my TA. I can only say ‘go for it’! The TA still gets commission on the trip. We met people, who are now friends, on a Regent cruise. They always sail Regent, hated their one and only cruise with Oceania, but that’s another story! Anyway, they always use/used the UK Oceania/Regent UK rep but never transferred to a TA so were/are losing out on the extra discount. The good thing about using the Oceania rep is that she has all the cabin availability right there in front of her so you don’t have to go back and forth with an agent if you require a specific position, deck etc. In the UK we have a great rep, can always pass on the information …. if that’s allowed! Another UK cruiser here who would love some hints re reps and TAs that give good discounts. Always book B cabins, so maybe we're not spending enough to get the kind of discount percentages mentioned. Best we've got has been about 4%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted July 13 #62 Share Posted July 13 17 minutes ago, Muckyduckway said: Another UK cruiser here who would love some hints re reps and TAs that give good discounts. Here's the link to the Cruise Critic article mentioning the major players in the UK's TA industry. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/best-cruise-travel-agents As you'll know, whilst it's OK for Cruise Critic to mention names, we are not allowed to on their forum. The cruise forum of CC's owners, Tripadvisor, has no such qualms. Using the CC article and TA, you should easily find yourself a shortlist. Good hunting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vallesan Posted July 13 #63 Share Posted July 13 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Muckyduckway said: Another UK cruiser here who would love some hints re reps and TAs that give good discounts. Always book B cabins, so maybe we're not spending enough to get the kind of discount percentages mentioned. Best we've got has been about 4%! Hi. I don’t think the cabin grade makes a difference. We usually book A1 on the larger ships and PH2 on the smaller ones. In saying that doubt if we’ll sail on the smaller ones again as the prices have gone silly. We just booked a B1 midships for a cruise we particularly wanted to do in October. We were waitlisted for an A1 but I really didn’t think it would materialise so we took the mid-ship just as it became available. Anyway, sorry, getting if the point we got our usual 10% discount on Oceania’s price so it’s obviously not ‘cabin grade’ dependant. I’m not sure how to advise you of the agency we use. I got my ‘hands smacked’ last time I have out hints! I can see Harters had replied. Need to be near the bottom. Just above the huge big TA who specialise in everything. Edited July 13 by Vallesan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted July 13 #64 Share Posted July 13 9 minutes ago, Vallesan said: Maybe he has found a way! Only as I posted at #62 - it gave me a shortlist of 3 or 4 to get prices from. I'd started out with half a dozen or so picked from from the CC article and a crosscheck with the TA forum eliminated a couple of them (folk reported poor customer service). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vallesan Posted July 13 #65 Share Posted July 13 1 minute ago, Harters said: Only as I posted at #62 - it gave me a shortlist of 3 or 4 to get prices from. I'd started out with half a dozen or so picked from from the CC article and a crosscheck with the TA forum eliminated a couple of them (folk reported poor customer service). I edited my post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted July 13 #66 Share Posted July 13 So you have. 😀 I've actually deleted one of the TAs on my shortlist. As you know, we booked our next cruise whilst onboard Vista and were then looking to transfer it to a TA. As you suggested, doing that would, hopefully, get us some more discount. So, the now deleted company told me that they couldnt accept a transfer and I'd have to cancel with O and start again, effectively as a new customer with them. As we know, a transfer is perfectly normal and was happily accepted by the TA we had been dealing. So, of course, with regard to the possibility of my future business, the other company has made a right royal mess-up of their chances. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vallesan Posted July 13 #67 Share Posted July 13 5 minutes ago, Harters said: So you have. 😀 I've actually deleted one of the TAs on my shortlist. As you know, we booked our next cruise whilst onboard Vista and were then looking to transfer it to a TA. As you suggested, doing that would, hopefully, get us some more discount. So, the now deleted company told me that they couldnt accept a transfer and I'd have to cancel with O and start again, effectively as a new customer with them. As we know, a transfer is perfectly normal and was happily accepted by the TA we had been dealing. So, of course, with regard to the possibility of my future business, the other company has made a right royal mess-up of their chances. 😉 You suggested in another post that some TAs may be less than ‘lily white’. Sounds like you could be right! I’ve only used two agents to transfer cruises to and never an issue. In fact when we’ve booked onboard they usually ask if we want it transferred to the agent we booked the current cruise through. Never heard of an agent refusing a transfer. My thoughts could be that they don't deal extensively enough with Oceania so can’t offer the same discounts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted July 13 #68 Share Posted July 13 3 minutes ago, Vallesan said: Never heard of an agent refusing a transfer Possibly a new/inexperienced employee. But, either way, she lost the chance of that cruise and any other ones in the future. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muckyduckway Posted July 14 #69 Share Posted July 14 Thank you both, very helpful on all counts. I'll follow advice offered in due course. And may I add, I greatly appreciate the time and content of all of your posts (and reviews) here. Not only do you bring an informed UK/Europe angle on the topics discussed, but you do so with good grace and a steady hand. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thought2go Posted July 15 #70 Share Posted July 15 On 7/13/2024 at 1:33 PM, Harters said: Here's the link to the Cruise Critic article mentioning the major players in the UK's TA industry. https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/best-cruise-travel-agents As you'll know, whilst it's OK for Cruise Critic to mention names, we are not allowed to on their forum. The cruise forum of CC's owners, Tripadvisor, has no such qualms. Using the CC article and TA, you should easily find yourself a shortlist. Good hunting Do you happen to know if there is a similar article for US based Agents?? any folks out there that can point out an article. While I have a list I’m going to be checking into- would love a second opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Harters Posted July 16 #71 Share Posted July 16 10 hours ago, Thought2go said: Do you happen to know if there is a similar article for US based Agents?? I don't know, I'm afraid. It was Google that found me the UK one so maybe that'd be worth a try. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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