Effects of discounting begin......

[aqusis]

http://cruisequick.com/rcipolicy.htm

[pudy68]

Hmmphh!

[lscole]

Very interesting

[7nucruzers]

anyone heard the term "boycott"?????

[lizardhowson]

http://cruisequick.com/rcipolicy.htm

 

I say more power to CruiseQuick. If you don't like the rules, get out of the game.

 

 

I wonder how many TA agencies will make the same decision ??

[smeyer418]

anyone heard the term "boycott"?????

 

just so you know its likewise illegal for a group of travel agents to agree to boycott someone over a pricing issue....

[cruizeblues]

WOW! Bummer...Just when I finally found the perfect cruise TA! :(

[7nucruzers]

smeyer418 - i wasn't referring to travel agents I was referring to cruisers who actually pay the fare!!!

[coupleofcruisers]

And so it begins........I wondered how long it would take for this to happen and who would have the guts to be the first one! :D Kudos to cruisequick!

[nosnobunny]

They might as well be in the driver's seat because if RCCL is going to pull the rug out from under them by matching or beating their price, they have nothing to lose. I believe they're fighting for their life.

 

Beth

[Merion_Mom]

So, what do you all think that this does to current reservations? Or, more importantly, PENDING ones?

 

I have a quote from a certain TA, mentioned recently within a few inches of this post, and I accepted that quote, & I haven't received my booking number yet.

 

Carol

[RACE20]

I am currently book thru cruisequick and have sent an email off to Rccl voicing my displeasure with the new pricing policy. Maybe there is a slight chance they will rethink. Happy Sailing

[abridalmaven]

I think currently booked ones are ok because if RCI accepted the bookings and it was before that cut off date, it would not apply.

[llmoyer123]

with all that's going on with celebrity and RCCL and CQ discontinuing them as of tomorrow, do you think this is risky at all booking with them?

 

what would happen if, heaven forbid, they went "under" after i paid my deposit to them, do you know?

 

is my deposit safe? would i make final payment directly to celebrity or RCCL?

 

i'm booked with CQ but my cruise is a ways in the future and i'm a little concerned about the repercussions on CQ if all the cruiselines follow suit.

 

any thoughts on this? can you educate me as to whether my deposit is safe?

[xpcdoojk]

Do you have a booking number, that you can verify at the RCI site? If so, I would sleep well tonight.

 

The rest of this is a lot of worrying about nothing, IMHO.

 

 

 

jc

[travellady]

I just used Crruisequick to book a Dec 2005 Xmas cruise. I would have potentially used them to book an RCCL cruise if RCCL had released their Dec2005 itineraries and rates - but they have yet to do so. With Cruisequick ceasing to book RCCL after Friday, I guess that means I keep my Princess booking. Seems RCCL is losing my business because of this new policy and the fact they have yet to release Xmas 2005 info.

 

I don't want to wait too long as I got a great rate for my Princess booking and I know the ships fill fast for the holidays and rates rise rapidly.

[xpcdoojk]

so you are more loyal to a silly travel agency than to the cruise you want to take? Silliness is running amok on this topic. JMHO.

 

jc

[berd0625]

My Voyager cruise is with CQ. I paid my deposit, and have a booking number, but final payment isn't due until April. Should I be concerned? I won't be able to afford the same cruise if I lost my price with CQ.

 

 

Any thoughts?

[xpcdoojk]

I am not a lawyer, see Bicker or Smeyer, but you have a contract, so why would your price change? That would be a breach of contract with all of the attending problems for the breakee....:D . Silliness, silliness, JMHO! ;)

 

I am thinking of a prayer thread being started. The topic of said prayer to be an end to the mindless discussion of this topic.:eek: :p ;)

 

jc

[vossjemi]

Their memo clearly states their reasoning was because RC wouldn't answer their questions about what they CAN do. I don't know how much of a top seller of RC/C cruises CQ is, but it sounds like if RC still values their business, they will answer their questions and reach an agreement instead of just announcing an edict w/out any negotiation whatsoever. If RC couldn't care less about CQ, then I guess CQ is on its way out of business, unless they can make enough profit from other cruiselines.

 

I too have a booking with CQ. I have an RC booking # and can do my travel docs and my excursions directly on RC website. The deposit for my cruise didn't get charged by CQ but by RC directly. I'm assuming if CQ goes under, I now deal directly with RC and make final payment to RC.

[sherryberry71]

JC, with all due respect, I have to disagree with your comments. While there are many posts about discounting/not-discounting, it is still a very valid concern to alot of people. We are not talking about a $3.95 charge for a hamburger at Johnny Rockets anymore, we are talking what could possibly be $100s of dollars at times, and could be the back-breaker if whether or not some people will be able to cruise the line of their choice (RCCL) if that is what they would want.

 

While I agree this has been discussed numerous times and there doesnt seem to be any definitive black or white answer, I dont think it is fair to discount someone's valid concern by calling it 'silliness'.

 

Again, said with all due respect..

 

Sherry

[BADBUOY]

The travel agents act as 'middle men' for the cruiselines. They make a few points off every sale (some are more profitable then others) but enough to run their business and provide food for their tables.

 

If the cruise lines were to deduct the cost of the 'middleman' on the face of each ticket then I'm sure many people would have a problem with buying direct. Some may say that they receive personal service from their TA's but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter who you book with as long as your being treated fairly.

 

So charge passengers the same price that the TA's get and everyone will be satisfied. But we all know this is a cash grab going direct and each of us know are at the mercy of each cruiseline that decides this is the way to go.

 

The affordable cruise may be a thing of the past.

 

BD

[travellady]

JC - my loyalty is to how much money I want to spend. From the research I've done, I believe I'll be equally happy on the Princess cruise as an RCCL cruise. I had an opportunity to save 400.00 on a Princess cruise, Princess had it available to book, I could use any agent I chose and get a discount.

 

RCCL did not have what I was looking for available to book. My plan was to book Princess, see what RCCL came out with, and then make my final decision based on price and possibly other factors but both appear equal to me at this point in terms of what I'll enjoy.

 

And to add to this, I would have booked last week on my Voyager cruise to get the onboard booking credit but was told I couldn't because again, the dates I was looking for were not available. I was not offered any alternative solution from the TA onboard, in fact I got the sense that it was a bother for her to do much research and I didn't sense she cared a lot about me being a loyal customer or not.

 

So, several factors have played into my decision as to who I book from and what I book. And, I haven't written RCCL off - I have a Vision of the Seas booking for Jun 04 and suspect I'll it enjoy it as well.

[Aldeya]

so you are more loyal to a silly travel agency than to the cruise you want to take? Silliness is running amok on this topic. JMHO.

 

jc

 

 

what a bummer! My last three cruises were booked with cruisequick.com. I got the BEST price for all 3 of them. I tried other lines and to my family RCI has more advantages than others.

 

as for your comment xpcdoojk.... It's not about loyalty to a TA. It's about the fact if we can or cannot afford RCI cruise anymore. Unfortunately wirhout discounts we will not be able to cruise even once a year.EVEN 'the cruise we want to take"....

[Erie Dave]

Maybe a silly question, but how can you compare the price of RCI to the Princess when RCI wasn't available for the comparison? Sometimes when things aren't quite accurate, they don't make sense and sound silly.

 

I have been checking various sites over the past few days, and none of the prices seem to have changed much. I may be in the minority, but it doesn't appear that this new policy has affected much more that the traffic on these threads.