Voyage Sales Onboard

[S1971]

9 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

Their argument could be you had 14 days to book an appointment so why make concessions.  I wonder many serious Cunard customers would walk away ? Not many. If there is something I definitely want to book I make sure I get an appointment and that is without playing the Priority card and getting a priority booking slot. 

 

But the point is, several attempts were made to get an appointment, but to no avail.

 

The process of booking onboard should be an easy one, not a frustrating one.

 

[S1971]

9 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

who seems to take any opportunity to nit pick at Cunard

 

I've been quite complimentary about Cunard if you read all my posts rather than "nit pick" around them.

 

Unfortunately you seem to hone in on any negatives and reply accordingly.

 

Back to the thread.

 

@Megabear2 has made several attempts to book whilst onboard to no avail, this as a result has potentially led to a loss of discount etc, in my opinion that's poor customers service, if you don't agree then fine.

 

I accept Cunard have faults, that's the bottom line and my opinion.

 

 

Edited June 9 by S1971

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

But the point is, several attempts were made to get an appointment, but to no avail.

 

The process of booking onboard should be an easy one, not a frustrating one.

 

I have never found it difficult, there are plenty of other ways to make an appointment eg, The Purser’s desk can book them or you can loiter around loyalty sales and ask for an appointment in person for a later date. Which is your preferred method ? and what direct experience can you share that  would be helpful for  folk trying to make future bookings. 

[Victoria2]

2 hours ago, S1971 said:

 

I've been quite complimentary about Cunard if you read all my posts rather than "nit pick" around them.

 

Unfortunately you seem to hone in on any negatives and reply accordingly.

 

Back to the thread.

 

@Megabear2 has made several attempts to book whilst onboard to no avail, this as a result has potentially led to a loss of discount etc, in my opinion that's poor customers service, if you don't agree then fine.

 

I accept Cunard have faults, that's the bottom line and my opinion.

 

 

 Excuse me if I ‘hone in' on your criticisms and in this thread, the service you are nitpicking at  as  'advising' to walk away from a cruise line because of a 'can’t book' onboard issue is in my opinion, petulantly anti the cruise line because you can book, but it takes a spot of planning.

 

There are feasibly over a thousand plus passengers who might want to book onboard which would be an impossible feat to facilitate and some sort of system is needed, and it’s there as demonstrated by appointments booked.

Phoning or visiting the front desk or Grills concierge to make an appointment has always been preferable to queuing at the future sales office and it’s up to individuals to use the time during their cruise to access that facility, via queuing or an appointment. No problem, Just be proactive as obviously, many passengers were as leaving anything last minute is subject to disappointment and booking onboard is no different.

 

I will edit to say a voicemail system for the Future Voyage office would be a welcome addition...at least for passengers 👍 if only for a reply to come back saying there are no more available appointments and queuing is required.

 

 

 

Edited June 9 by Victoria2

[S1971]

50 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I have never found it difficult, there are plenty of other ways to make an appointment eg, The Purser’s desk can book them or you can loiter around loyalty sales and ask for an appointment in person for a later date. Which is your preferred method ? and what direct experience can you share that  would be helpful for  folk trying to make future bookings. 

 

I guess you are one of the fortunate ones that never has any difficulty or problems with Cunard, but clearly some do as @Megabear2has pointed out with this thread.

 

Whilst my preferred method of booking is irrelevant, I don't book whilst onboard as I don't feel the need to "loiter" around a sales desk in the hope of being seen, my bookings are done via a trusted and respected cruise agent.

 

I know what's coming next, but regardless of that these are my opinions only and if they are not to your satisfaction you are welcome to put me on your ignore list.

Edited June 9 by S1971

[Winifred 22]

5 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

I guess you are one of the fortunate ones that never has any difficulty or problems with Cunard, but clearly some do as @Megabear2has pointed out with this thread.

 

Whilst my preferred method of booking is irrelevant, I don't book whilst onboard as I don't feel the need to "loiter" around a sales desk in the hope of being seen, my bookings are done via a trusted and respected cruise agent.

 

I know what's coming next, but regardless of that these are my opinions only and if they are not to your satisfaction you are welcome to put me on your ignore list.

Does your trusted and respected travel agent give you  the same discounts and benefits that booking on board does ? If so you are very  lucky. For me the extra benefits , far out way the minimum effort  and time it takes to get an appointment. 

[S1971]

15 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 Excuse me if I ‘hone in' on your criticisms and in this thread, the service you are nitpicking at  as  'advising' to walk away from a cruise line because of a 'can’t book' onboard issue is in my opinion, petulantly anti the cruise line because you can book, but it takes a spot of planning.

 

There are feasibly over a thousand plus passengers who might want to book onboard which would be an impossible feat to facilitate and some sort of system is needed, and it’s there as demonstrated by appointments booked.

Phoning or visiting the front desk or Grills concierge to make an appointment has always been preferable to queuing at the future sales office and it’s up to individuals to use the time during their cruise to access that facility, via queuing or an appointment. No problem, Just be proactive as obviously, many passengers were as leaving anything last minute is subject to disappointment and booking onboard is no different.

 

I will edit to say a voicemail system for the Future Voyage office would be a welcome addition...at least for passengers. 👍

 

 

 

 

I believe phoning and visiting were done more that once without success, but yes perhaps a voicemail system would be helpful for those passengers wanting to book onboard, but not all of us passengers choose to book onboard 👍

[Victoria2]

4 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

I believe phoning and visiting were done more that once without success, but yes perhaps a voicemail system would be helpful for those passengers wanting to book onboard, but not all of us passengers choose to book onboard 👍

We used to if onboard when itineraries went live as the perks were financially of benefit, especially the very low deposit required.

We would book an appropriate appointment, book and then had our booking transferred to our agent. Worked very well.

Now being very picky on cabins and never being onboard at the correct time, our agent books within a minute or two of bookings going live.

[S1971]

28 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

Does your trusted and respected travel agent give you  the same discounts and benefits that booking on board does ? If so you are very  lucky. For me the extra benefits , far out way the minimum effort  and time it takes to get an appointment. 

 

I am very happy with my trusted and respected "cruise agent", a little extra % here and there is not important, but I get a good deal which I'm satisfied with, what is important is that I get a personal service, a guaranteed immediate answer to any queries I have, all details are dealt with by him and that takes away any stresses should they arise, Cunard don't offer that level of service for obvious reasons.

 

To me that's more important than possibly saving a few quid.

 

 

Edited June 9 by S1971

[Victoria2]

2 minutes ago, S1971 said:

 

I am very happy with my trusted and respected "cruise agent", a little extra % here and there is not important, but I get a good deal which I'm satisfied with, what is important is that I get a personal service, a guaranteed immediate answer to any queries I have, all details are dealt with by him and that takes away any stresses should they arise.

 

To me that's more important than possibly saving a few quid.

 

 

Hear Hear.

I have written exactly the same in the past and so on this we are in complete agreement on all aspects mentioned. 🙂

 

 

[Megabear2]

9 hours ago, NE John said:

@Megabear2 You got lucky on the tangents taken from your original post and question. At least it didn’t turn into an argument over “gravy vs sauce”…

I'd no idea a simple question, relevant to only me on one voyage would generate 4 pages of people delving so far into a relatively minor inconvenience and falling out with each other. It's not the end of the world to me.

 

To be clear, I do of course appreciate everyone onboard cannot get an appointment.  However my post was a simple enquiry from someone who had not booked onboard a Cunard ship for a very long time, in fact my late mother made the last onboard booking I was involved with and she died in 2015.   Processes have obviously changed since then with appointment being the only way to book onboard, that's fair enough. 

 

This will be my last post but I do wish to point out that as only the third voyage on a new ship Queen Anne apparently has processes for doing things slightly differently to the other ships - not my words but those from the nice staff at the purser's office who I spoke to following the very good advice from Exlondoner to ask there.  Yes, maybe I should have asked the question earlier in my trip but to be truthful I wanted to experience the ship and the service levels before committing myself to what for me is a very large sum of money.