Will someone tell me I have nothing to worry about or should I freak out.....

[duke052]

I am a TA. Your Ta should of checked into this right away. If this person has a supervisor go right to them. I would get this situation corrected today. A booked reservation is more important than a new one.

[sanditoes4]

Well I went and sat in her office forcing her to call RCCL accounting office and figure out what happened. Well an hour and a half later I walked a winner!!!! This morning I have printed our set sail passes and I guess our Doc's are soon to come....not only will I not use her anymore, I don't think she would let me in the door a next time!!!! I am thinking of trying the direct approach for next Jan. using RCCL site right from the bat!! I can't go any worse than this one did, can it????

 

Thanks for all your support and the push to go get it taken care of, when I wrote the OP I really was feeling like a pain in the ass over nothing and after hearing that I was really in the right I went head first and did what my TA should have been doing all along!!!

 

Again thank you all, it's nice knowing you have people on your side and a place like this to come find them!!!

 

Take care everyone and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!!

[wraithe]

Like many others have said, not all TA's are "difficult". I don't use a TA to set up my cruises, I try to book onboard and take care of everything that I can myself. Once all the I's are dotted, and t's are crossed, I transfer my booking to my TA because he then gives me a very nice "gift" of an obc based on a percentage of what the cruise costs. I think that's the best of both worlds, but YMMV. I'm really glad it worked out for you.

[Russ_MT]

Glad to hear it worked out and thanks for the update.

 

By your tag line, you must be a very nice positive person. However, you also need to stand up for what you paid for and you can do that nicely which I'm sure you did.

 

Not all TA's are bad. We gained a lot on our first cruise from the knowledge of the TA. She helped us make choices that as uninformed people, we knew nothing about.

 

However, using this forum, you can probably get good information to make decisions on your own. I wouldn't rule out using a TA again, but certainly you should be careful.

 

We learned a lesson in booking our next cruise while on our last cruise. While on board you can book another cruise and get credits and discounts. Unfortunately, the on board agents had their appointments filled up and we missed that opportunity by the time we checked. Next time, we will make an appointment early on. We can always cancel and get a refund, but we can't get the credit after we leave the ship.

[critterchick]

Sanditoes, I'm glad it worked out for you - way to go! As Russ_MT said, take advantage of the onboard booking credit while you're on your cruise, but make sure that the Loyalty Ambassador does NOT transfer your booking to your TA - remember to tell him/her not to do that - they usually ask if you want to, but just say no!

 

Have a fabulous time!

[shmthaus]

Our TA has taken very good care of us on numerous bookings. Don't blow off all TA's. They are like dentists, you just have to find one you can work with and won't hurt you.

[RDeagazio]

Sanditoes-- congrats!! I'm happy it all worked out.

[ScottC4746]

I leave on 1-11-07 on the Enchantment. On Friday 12-8-06 I was trying to print our set sail passes (had been trying all week) I finally called the 800 number and asked what was wrong, why couldn't I print. He said that their system said we were not paid in full yet, and to call our TA.

 

I did, her last statement to me, today, was she was busy with other things and she'd call me. Um, 3 weeks lady, that's all we have. The first time I checked RC site our names were spelled wrong....we don't have time for errors.....what if RC keeps seeing our cabin as deposit only and sells it next Friday, what if I have a paid airline ticket (booked privately) and nothing to do when I get there???

 

HELP, am I making a fuss over nothing??? It is the agencies check that is missing all our money is good!!! What do I do.......I was so dumbfounded today by her answer I just hung up, I couldn't believe she had said that.....Please HELP me and fast we only have 17 office days to handle this??????

 

What would you do???? I am going to call her everyday but what if it's too late....what if my cabin is already gone???

 

I could cry.....

This is why I don't do travel agents. If a mistake is made I want it to be mine not theirs.

[lvtotrvl1]

Let us know why the payment was not made....glad it worked out for you!!!

[seamour]

I leave on 1-11-07 on the Enchantment. On Friday 12-8-06 I was trying to print our set sail passes (had been trying all week) I finally called the 800 number and asked what was wrong, why couldn't I print. He said that their system said we were not paid in full yet, and to call our TA.

 

I did, her last statement to me, today, was she was busy with other things and she'd call me. Um, 3 weeks lady, that's all we have. The first time I checked RC site our names were spelled wrong....we don't have time for errors.....what if RC keeps seeing our cabin as deposit only and sells it next Friday, what if I have a paid airline ticket (booked privately) and nothing to do when I get there???

 

HELP, am I making a fuss over nothing??? It is the agencies check that is missing all our money is good!!! What do I do.......I was so dumbfounded today by her answer I just hung up, I couldn't believe she had said that.....Please HELP me and fast we only have 17 office days to handle this??????

 

What would you do???? I am going to call her everyday but what if it's too late....what if my cabin is already gone???

 

I could cry.....

 

I am a TA and would never ever say that to a client. I cannot believe she did that to you. Her company should have a info type email so you can email them with the problem, explain what happened, be super nice about it and let them know you need an answer right now, not later.

 

What I don't understand is why the travel agency is issuing checks to the cruise line ? I am sure there are other's that operate differently than the one I work for but all of our payments go direct to the cruise line.

[seamour]

Well I went and sat in her office forcing her to call RCCL accounting office and figure out what happened. Well an hour and a half later I walked a winner!!!! This morning I have printed our set sail passes and I guess our Doc's are soon to come....not only will I not use her anymore, I don't think she would let me in the door a next time!!!! I am thinking of trying the direct approach for next Jan. using RCCL site right from the bat!! I can't go any worse than this one did, can it????

 

Thanks for all your support and the push to go get it taken care of, when I wrote the OP I really was feeling like a pain in the ass over nothing and after hearing that I was really in the right I went head first and did what my TA should have been doing all along!!!

 

Again thank you all, it's nice knowing you have people on your side and a place like this to come find them!!!

 

Take care everyone and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!!

 

Guess my last post was kinda late to the table, but I am so glad you got this all worked out. What was the reason the payment had not been made ?

[cruizinmimi]

Sanditoes - I'm so glad you got this worked out. You took matters into your own hands and came out shining. You really can book cruises on your own and have confidence in doing so. Hey, and we're always here to help you on the cc board :D

 

Linda

aNuImage with Arbonne

[Cruising89143]

Like many others have said, not all TA's are "difficult". I don't use a TA to set up my cruises, I try to book onboard and take care of everything that I can myself. Once all the I's are dotted, and t's are crossed, I transfer my booking to my TA because he then gives me a very nice "gift" of an obc based on a percentage of what the cruise costs. I think that's the best of both worlds, but YMMV. I'm really glad it worked out for you.

 

I do the same thing. I have a good TA that I transfer the booking to. For my cruise to the Med next year, my TA checked with her contacts in Europe to make sure that the two hotels that I booked in Venice and Barcelona were good choices. She also took care of booking my air with RCI, contacting Delta for me and getting my choice of seats booked. All this at no extra cost to me PLUS I get a very nice on board credit. RCI will not do this for you.

 

To the OP, glad that your story ends well. Have a great cruise.

[lvtotrvl1]

I would still like to know what happened. Spending that much time on the phone makes me think it was a cruise accounting problem (which happens often) rather than the TA's mistake. Please fill us in.

[beachlovergirl]

Are you in the original "N" cabin that you booked or did they give you another cabin?

[scubapuss]

Why do people use a travel agent? Is a FREE bottle of wine really worth not having any contoll of your afairs

[lvtotrvl1]

The op has disappeared suddenly without letting us know exactly what happened...maybe the agent wasn't to blame? If not , after all the negative posts here, maybe the op should let us know. If the agent was at fault, I would like to know why it hadn't been paid. I am an agent, and beleive me, I'm the first to admit there are some bad agents out there, but at the same time I've noticed that it seems to be normal on cc to jump on the "agent was wrong bandwagon" before knowing all the facts. I feel after all of the well wishes and good luck posts that the op received, the least they could do was explain the situation in more detail, other than it was settled. I'm still waiting.

[RDeagazio]

Why do people use a travel agent? Is a FREE bottle of wine really worth not having any contoll of your afairs

 

 

There are many more reason to use a GOOD TA than just a free bottle of wine. I've been in this business 27 yrs and have invaluable contacts that can help secure cabin categories that are not available online, can get my clients upgrades etc. Not to mention when there is a problem, I'm usually able to get things resolved ASAP and a GOOD TA far more knowledgable than most of the cruise line reservation agents. The key here is to use a GOOD TA.. with the internet being so popular, most of the newer agents are inexperienced and are only interested in closing the sale for their commission rather than being service oriented.

[Cruising89143]

Why do people use a travel agent? Is a FREE bottle of wine really worth not having any contoll of your afairs

 

Where did you get the idea that a TA only offers a free bottle of wine? I would much rather have a GOOD TA backing me to deal with the cruise lines than trying to deal with them myself. Also RCI does not give me an OBC unless it is the balcony credit and the on board booking credit.

 

I have read horror stories right here on this board about folks trying to get things straightened out with dealing with the cruise lines directly. I saved an additional amount of money by going through my TA and not directly dealing with RCI. If one feels better with booking directly with the cruise line then that is good but some of us do not.

[Cruising89143]

There are many more reason to use a GOOD TA than just a free bottle of wine. I've been in this business 27 yrs and have invaluable contacts that can help secure cabin categories that are not available online, can get my clients upgrades etc. Not to mention when there is a problem, I'm usually able to get things resolved ASAP and a GOOD TA far more knowledgable than most of the cruise line reservation agents. The key here is to use a GOOD TA.. with the internet being so popular, most of the newer agents are inexperienced and are only interested in closing the sale for their commission rather than being service oriented.

 

Very good post Bob. Many of the folks working for the cruise line have never stepped foot on board a ship and are reading from a computer screen sitting in front of them and many times the info is incorrect.

[isujim]

One of my favorite sayings.........

 

YOU NEVER NEED A GOOD TA...........UNTIL..........YOU NEED A GOOD TA:)

[WeLuvVacation]

The op has disappeared suddenly without letting us know exactly what happened...maybe the agent wasn't to blame? If not , after all the negative posts here, maybe the op should let us know. If the agent was at fault, I would like to know why it hadn't been paid. I am an agent, and beleive me, I'm the first to admit there are some bad agents out there, but at the same time I've noticed that it seems to be normal on cc to jump on the "agent was wrong bandwagon" before knowing all the facts. I feel after all of the well wishes and good luck posts that the op received, the least they could do was explain the situation in more detail, other than it was settled. I'm still waiting.

 

Here is the OP's post from yesterday.......

 

Thanks everyone!!!!! I knew I had some merit here but I thought maybe I was being pushy???

 

We did make final payment WAY back on Nov.8th!!!!! That was one of my questions to her, why they hadn't caught this until I had to say something?? She said this stuff happens it is only a check and she'd call me...well she didn't have to, I called her first!!!!

 

So I am in the right then to go to her face to face and scream for some action!!!!! Good, yes she is local and I am there right after work tonight!!!

I will post tomorrow what I find out!!! Thanks to everyone for your support, this is only cruise #2 for me and we used her last time too...she didn't go beyond the call of duty that's for sure but nothing even close to this came up either??

 

The day is not over yet, let's cut the OP a little slack here huh!

[takeatrip]

Next time, book directly with the cruise line! That way, YOU'RE in control!

 

How is the customer anymore in control that way than with a travel agent? Either way you are expecting the payment to be credited as it should be. Can the agent on the phone at RC not screw up too?

[BearySweet2Cruise]

and still we wait.......for the rest of the story..............................................:confused::confused:

[becky272]

I feel for you. I have been there. I got ripped off, and didn't go. So I ALWAYS book my own trip. Play awhile on the net, find a good price book directly with the comp. no mid. man to mark up the charges, mess everything up. RC is good with cust. calling direct. I do it everytime I book. Just sit at that TA office and don't leave til it's fixed or you get your $$ back and book on your own. Call RC and tell them, that way they may offer some advice or hold the cabin til your TA get his/her head out of their ass.:D