Do you expect your TA to stay on top of new promos After you've booked?

[dpepper64]

My agent thru NCL is great   She calls a few times after booking.  Always calls the week before final payment.   I would highly recommend her  

[RocketMan275]

56 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

But something was strange - the date given was 10 days before NCL's requirement. So, I called the TA and asked "what's up with that?" I was told that because some clients, despite multiple reminder emails, still messed up paying on time; they added the 10 days to give more flex time against foul-ups.  🙄

Also allows additional time to correct instances where credit cards are declined, etc.

[julig22]

1 hour ago, cruiser2015 said:

But something was strange - the date given was 10 days before NCL's requirement. So, I called the TA and asked "what's up with that?" I was told that because some clients, despite multiple reminder emails, still messed up paying on time; they added the 10 days to give more flex time against foul-ups.  🙄

That's what my TA did as well. I would think that's pretty standard, since they have to process the payment after you give them the information.

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, VIKINGCRUISER said:

Hi All,

 

Just a question regarding using a TA (as it has been a while for me in using one).

 

Do you expect a TA to be on top of any promos that would benefit us as clients Prior or after we have booked? 

 

Based off the NCL website, it seems NCL has a "FREE 2ND GUEST + FREE AT SEA" promo going on that I was never told about,and only found out about because I decided to look up ongoing promos on my own.

 

I just want to understand what most people expect and try understand the expectations I should set for myself with using a TA, or am I better off going straight through NCL?

 

Signed

Confused😕

 

 

Never. The got your money. They are off to another one of their 100’s of clients. 

[cruiser2015]

9 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Also allows additional time to correct instances where credit cards are declined, etc.

If you wait until the very last day (not recommended).

[cruiser2015]

8 hours ago, julig22 said:

That's what my TA did as well. I would think that's pretty standard, since they have to process the payment after you give them the information.

Makes sense...but mine was processed within minutes.

[EllieinNJ]

My TA doesn't reduce the price but gives me pretty good OBC or cashbacks if I want.  I deal with her to make new bookings but then usually deal with her customer service department to make changes, price reductions and payments.  I just recently made final payment on another cruise line and had several gift cards plus a credit card.  They patiently took all the info and made sure all the numbers matched.  I then get my final statement about 48 hours later with a paid in full notation.

[graphicguy]

Get a call a week before sailing wishing me "bon voyage" and asking if I need hotels, etc booked.  I prefer to take care of my own hotels, flights, etc.  So, it's more of a courtesy call.  

 

Get either a phone call or an email a couple of weeks after returning from the cruise to see how it went.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by graphicguy

[RocketMan275]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:33 AM, VIKINGCRUISER said:

Hi All,

 

Just a question regarding using a TA (as it has been a while for me in using one).

 

Do you expect a TA to be on top of any promos that would benefit us as clients Prior or after we have booked? 

 

Based off the NCL website, it seems NCL has a "FREE 2ND GUEST + FREE AT SEA" promo going on that I was never told about,and only found out about because I decided to look up ongoing promos on my own.

 

I just want to understand what most people expect and try understand the expectations I should set for myself with using a TA, or am I better off going straight through NCL?

 

Signed

Confused😕

 

 

It's been my experience that chasing promos on NCL is a waste of time.  For example, the "FREE 2ND GUEST + FREE AT SEA" promo" you referenced or the "FIFTY Percent Off" promos don't really result in a savings.  As mentioned multiple times here on CC, the 'fifty percent off' is the same price as the 'Free 2nd Guest'.  Everyone gets the Free at Sea Promo unless they specifically decline it at booking.  

 

Then there is the constant emails reminding me that the current NCL promo ends tonight.  Except it never ends, it's just replaced by another promo which results in the same bottom line.

 

Don't be deceived by NCL marketing.  There 'promos' almost never result in a savings.

 

Now, price drops are another thing. You can get some nice savings should NCL drop the price of the cruise.  Don't expect NCL, a PCC, or a TA to contact  you about price drops.  Those you'll need to find for yourself.  

 

Also, NCL will tell you that a price drop isn't applicable since that category is sold out.  Be sure, you're looking at that category when you call because very often it isn't sold out and if you can show NCL then you can get the price drop which can be far more valuable than any NCL promo.

[APDMOM]

We used a TA before they went out of business.  We monitored prices ourselves, because we assumed they were busy with too many bookings to keep up with price drops.  

 

We called in price drops to the TA, and they always adjusted our bookings if we were eligible for the price drop.  

 

We liked the extra perks of using a TA, but after experiencing 2 TA’s going out of business, one walking away with our international flight $$$, we now book directly. 

[ontheweb]

I don't expect him to monitor for price drops as doing that for all his clients would consume his entire work day. I do expect him to take care of price drops when I call him, and he has.

 

One time he did call us to alert us to a good offer for an itinerary that we had told him we were interested in. And we did book the cruise in question.

[Joken35]

We ahead a sailing before the Covid shut down that had 3 reductions before final payment.Had I not kept looking at the NCL site, she would not have known to contact me about it. It actually became a joke as we had 3 couples booked for this trip. I didn’t think she was going to answer the phone when she saw our number come up. Yet others tell me their TA was on top of things like this.