Cruise Value Center agency went under...

[navybankerteacher]

Aside from eliminating any chance of agent oul-up --often there is bad communication concerning accomodation choices, and almost always there is excessive delay in receiving the documents from an agent -- doing your own research and booking on your own direct with the cruise line is part of the anticipation/fun of going on a cruise.

[maryhou]

OMG that stinks.......

 

thank God we paid for our Christmas cruise in full since we were less than 60 days out. I have used them the last four years to book. I'm gla dI didn't book with them for spring break yet, I would have been ticked.

[Jade13]

HAL was amazing with me this afternoon. They allowed me to cancel my upcoming cruises which we booked with the "now gone" TA and I rebooked with one that I have faith will last.

 

The folks I feel the worst for are those who made their final payments for their upcoming cruises to that TA, who then may have folded without paying the cruiseline. This company was known to post the payments to themselves, hold the money for about a month, then pay the lines.... I am afraid there are folks who will be SOL....:o

 

I just feel fortunate that my payment was made to HAL and I have docs in hand for this weekend.

 

Is HAL honoring the pricing?

 

Does anyone know in this situation whether the cruise lines still have to pay out commission the agency? I am sure there will be creditor problems.

[localady]

No Jade, HAL refuses to honor Cruise Values' price. Can't really blame them. That is why I cancelled and rebooked.

I booked with a TA I have known to give great service and am going to be happy with the price she gets me. It may cost us a bit more, but I know all payments will go directly to the crusieline.

[Paulchili]

No Jade, HAL refuses to honor Cruise Values' price. Can't really blame them. That is why I cancelled and rebooked.

I booked with a TA I have known to give great service and am going to be happy with the price she gets me. It may cost us a bit more, but I know all payments will go directly to the crusieline.

 

Sher,

This surely cannot be for your 11/15 cruise - that one would have had to been paid for some time ago.

Is this for a future cruise?

Paul

[lizzielady]

My sister and I have booked 5 or 6 cruises with them. We always got the very best prices, but got absolutely NO service. We had to "hound" the rep, got inaccurate visa info for our Oceania Asia cruise, and fouled up "air" info. In EVERY case we "caught" and fixed the errors ourselves.

 

BTW, all of the charges were made directly with the cruiseline, not with the agency. The last cruise we took with them was a BtoB on the Prinsendam last year. There were no problems, but we had decided not to book any more cruises with them, even if we had to pay more. Now, we are so glad that we changed. Our most recent bookings are with the HAL related specialists in Seattle. We really love the service and hospitality.

[Sandytoes]

Is HAL honoring the pricing?

 

Does anyone know in this situation whether the cruise lines still have to pay out commission the agency? I am sure there will be creditor problems.

"The agent said it was not clear whether they would be paid commissions on sales they had already closed, or if the cruise lines were going to be paid for cruises clients had booked."

 

http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/Travel-News/index.aspx?id=TW182350

[localady]

Sher,

This surely cannot be for your 11/15 cruise - that one would have had to been paid for some time ago.

Is this for a future cruise?

Paul

 

Sure is Paul, we like to book out a bit so we can get the cabins we choose.;) This involves cruises to Alaska next summer and a Carribean the winter after.

Thankfully, our cruise this weekend was paid months ago, but I was alarmed that the money was going to the the failed agent rather than directly to HAL. (I posted a thread at that point about my trepidation.) I feel terrible for those folks that are in limbo, having paid the now defunct TA final payment, and never having that payment made to the cruiselines.:mad:

[maryhou]

We are cruising for Christmas and now that I read the articles from CC posted I decided to call Carnival. Thank god when I booked on November 4th it went straight to the cruiseline. Carnival did tell me they have been paid :D

 

If I have any issues they told me to call 1-800-344-0401 and these are the people that will be dealing with all CVC issues.

 

Good luck!

[Dave M]

Wow!

 

Please confirm my status for me.

 

I just stumbled onto this thread, never dreaming it would apply to me. My 1/19/09 Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Volendam was through this agency. Sure enough, when I went to HAL's online check-in section I was met with the dreaded "The Signature Boarding pass can only be printed when the booking is paid in full. Please review your booking or contact your travel professional." That's despite my printed "Booking is paid in full" statement from the agency. Sure enough, the 10/7/08 final payment shows on my CC as being charged by the agency, not by HAL.

 

I assume this means I should get on the phone with HAL when they open tomorrow and that I'll likely have to dispute the charge to my CC. In the meantime, I'll have to pay my final payment again, this time directly to HAL and likely for a higher amount.

 

Is that correct?

 

I also have a booking on the Rotterdam for next summer with this agency, so I’ll ask about that one, too.

[Jade13]

Wow!

 

Please confirm my status for me.

 

I just stumbled onto this thread, never dreaming it would apply to me. My 1/19/09 Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Volendam was through this agency. Sure enough, when I went to HAL's online check-in section I was met with the dreaded "The Signature Boarding pass can only be printed when the booking is paid in full. Please review your booking or contact your travel professional." That's despite my printed "Booking is paid in full" statement from the agency. Sure enough, the 10/7/08 final payment shows on my CC as being charged by the agency, not by HAL.

 

I assume this means I should get on the phone with HAL when they open tomorrow and that I'll likely have to dispute the charge to my CC. In the meantime, I'll have to pay my final payment again, this time directly to HAL and likely for a higher amount.

 

Is that correct?

 

I also have a booking on the Rotterdam for next summer with this agency, so I’ll ask about that one, too.

 

Yes.

[Jade13]

Also, If this company owes any passengers monies, how does one gets in line with their creditors? Remember, HAL allowed discounting. But other cruise lines did not so this Agency would agree to give a check back upon ones return on certain cruises or vacations. So, even if they paid the cruise line directly there is no way to get the money back (by disputing with a credit card company) but one should still file a complaint etc. Do you go through Ensemble the consortium that they belonged to?

 

If one is before final they can cancel. If the cruise line did not get paid but money charged to the agency they can dispute it with the credit card company. If one has paid in full and money has gone to the cruise line, the cruise is still goof, BUT CVC was suppose to give a refund check so where does one file (I understand this will probably never be seen).

 

Oh, and if before final, someone can still get the cruise line to transfer to another agent where there may be a savings. But those who are paid in full and expecting a rebate check (not done with HAL but Celebrity RCCL and others) need to know where to file a complaint?

[Desdemona01]

Wow!

 

Please confirm my status for me.

 

I just stumbled onto this thread, never dreaming it would apply to me. My 1/19/09 Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Volendam was through this agency. Sure enough, when I went to HAL's online check-in section I was met with the dreaded "The Signature Boarding pass can only be printed when the booking is paid in full. Please review your booking or contact your travel professional." That's despite my printed "Booking is paid in full" statement from the agency. Sure enough, the 10/7/08 final payment shows on my CC as being charged by the agency, not by HAL.

 

I assume this means I should get on the phone with HAL when they open tomorrow and that I'll likely have to dispute the charge to my CC. In the meantime, I'll have to pay my final payment again, this time directly to HAL and likely for a higher amount.

 

Is that correct?

 

I also have a booking on the Rotterdam for next summer with this agency, so I’ll ask about that one, too.

 

Dave,

Contact your credit card company ASAP and put a dispute on the charges. My friends are working with AmEx in this way. Then contact HAL. HAL will fax you a form to sign transferring your booking to them--they won't really discuss your booking unless you do this (they wouldn't even confirm if my friends' balance was paid in full--they found out later that final payment was never received by HAL). Even though the final payment date had come and gone, their cabin was still being held for them, so I think they'll be ok.

 

Good luck!

Des

[knighthawke]

Holy Cow! This agency is about 10 min from where I liveb and have used iot several times. In fact, I have a cruise next monday I booked with them!!! Luckily, I got my tickets in hand last week fully paid for *whew!* Dodged a bullet there!

[knighthawke]

Wow! that is who my cruise is booked through. At least I got my tickets Saturday. Do I need to call HAL and doublecheck.

 

 

I did...just in case. I did notice that, thopugh my initial payment on my CC statement says "Holland America", the final payment was made to "Cruise Value Center" which worried me. Luckily, that was back in Aug and everything is fine now.

[scottjeanne]

I am one of the ones that got caught out by the agency. I am going on the December 19 Australian cruise. I paid my final payment on 9/05 and it went to the agency. I have spokenwith HAL and they hav not canceled our booking. I am out the final $6800+, but I did register a dispute on our credit card. It is more than 60 days though, so I am hoping to get it back. Wish me luck.

[thisworldtraveler]

Each of the cruise lines are handling the situation differently, I've found out.

 

Holland America has not yet made any specific provisions for the closure and is still working to figure out a system to handle these affected reservations.

 

Other cruise lines are in the midst of assembling a special desk, others have decided to just work through their existing resolutions apparatus. Carnival as another poster said above has its own hotline.

 

If you have Prime Travel Insurance, you'll need to call another specific Travel Agency who will help you figure out if there are problems with your policy and if anything needs to be done to take care of that issue.

 

The specifics on the Prime Travel mess is on the same site as the original story about the CVC failure - http://www.thisworldtraveler.com . Since it is a specific TA, I don't want to violate the rules of the board to list it here.

[Desdemona01]

I am one of the ones that got caught out by the agency. I am going on the December 19 Australian cruise. I paid my final payment on 9/05 and it went to the agency. I have spokenwith HAL and they hav not canceled our booking. I am out the final $6800+, but I did register a dispute on our credit card. It is more than 60 days though, so I am hoping to get it back. Wish me luck.

 

oh, my--how heartbreaking! Good luck!

[Dave M]

Many thanks for your responses.

HAL couldn't have been nicer this morning. Final payment due date the January cruise was 10/21. No problem. HAL e-mailed me forms to transfer handling of my two bookings to them. I signed, scanned and sent them back. My fares for both cruises – as booked - were higher on HAL's system than I committed to with the agency, but would be lower with the new fares in the sale that ends today.

They tell me I'm stuck for the January cruise (I would lose my deposit if I canceled and rebooked.) Not a problem. It wasn't HAL's fault that this went awry.

I canceled and rebooked my summer Rotterdam cruise, getting today's sale fare, which was a bit lower than the already-low fare that the agency had committed to.

I lose the agency’s onboard goodies (credit, Pinnacle dinner and champagne), but I’m pleased to get this resolved. Obviously, I still get my shareholder credit on both cruises.

The agency had my money for over a month without remitting to HAL. A-A-A-R-R-G-G-H!

Yes, I'll call my credit card company and follow the correct procedure for protesting the final payment charge by the agency.

Thanks again. This board is great!

[Jade13]

I am one of the ones that got caught out by the agency. I am going on the December 19 Australian cruise. I paid my final payment on 9/05 and it went to the agency. I have spokenwith HAL and they hav not canceled our booking. I am out the final $6800+, but I did register a dispute on our credit card. It is more than 60 days though, so I am hoping to get it back. Wish me luck.

 

Some credit cards are longer. Bank of America has a 120 day dispute period.

 

Are you going to re-charge your credit card to HAL for the cruise? The biggest problem for those within final payment is that (per someone else who posted) you will now have to pay HAL's rack rate. For those outside final payment they still have the option to go direct with HAL or move the booking over to another agent who may offer a discount or OBC. In fact, one of the best benefits we had on our last cruise (since this agent was with the Consortium Ensemble) was a free First Class excursion in Ephesus, all day with lunch.

[Jade13]

Many thanks for your responses.

 

HAL couldn't have been nicer this morning. Final payment due date the January cruise was 10/21. No problem. HAL e-mailed me forms to transfer handling of my two bookings to them. I signed, scanned and sent them back. My fares for both cruises – as booked - were higher on HAL's system than I committed to with the agency, but would be lower with the new fares in the sale that ends today.

 

They tell me I'm stuck for the January cruise (I would lose my deposit if I canceled and rebooked.) Not a problem. It wasn't HAL's fault that this went awry.

 

I canceled and rebooked my summer Rotterdam cruise, getting today's sale fare, which was a bit lower than the already-low fare that the agency had committed to.

 

I lose the agency’s onboard goodies (credit, Pinnacle dinner and champagne), but I’m pleased to get this resolved. Obviously, I still get my shareholder credit on both cruises.

 

The agency had my money for over a month without remitting to HAL. A-A-A-R-R-G-G-H!

 

Yes, I'll call my credit card company and follow the correct procedure for protesting the final payment charge by the agency.

 

Thanks again. This board is great!

 

So, how much is your loss as far as new amount you need to charge to HAL for January? That is going to be the biggest issue that the cruise lines face with clients who want the price they were given and if not then want to charge back the credit card and cancel with the cruise line without penalty.

[wrp96]

Each of the cruise lines are handling the situation differently, I've found out.

 

Other cruise lines are in the midst of assembling a special desk, others have decided to just work through their existing resolutions apparatus. Carnival as another poster said above has its own hotline.

 

Carnival is telling people that booked through CVC that CVC is still in operations and they can't talk to them until CVC officially shuts down.

[bassett1]

It was posted on another CC thread (pulled because the agency was identified) and on a travel website, that a popular online discount agency went under. You can view the particulars here: http://www.thisworldtraveler.com.

 

thanks for the info but best price is not helping with insurance only with another booking, i spoke w them yesterday. they will call your cruise line for your but i unfortunately booked on princess and they are not offering any help. they are even going to take the 200 deposit they did receive for cancelling the cruise.

[kryos]

Carnival is telling people that booked through CVC that CVC is still in operations and they can't talk to them until CVC officially shuts down.

Are they even actually shutting down? Is it possible another online agency might just absorb them and take over all of their bookings?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Jade13]

Carnival is telling people that booked through CVC that CVC is still in operations and they can't talk to them until CVC officially shuts down.

 

Oh My, is this the official response that they are going to wait until Chapter 7 is filed? What do they consider Official?