What questions should I ask a TA?

[cpa2be]

I booked my next cruise on board, so I currently own the booking. If I decide to transfer it to a TA, what questions should I ask before doing so?

 

What is their cancellation policy?

Do they charge for changes?

I know there must be more but I'm blanking out.

 

Thanks.

[Cruises n Vegas]

It is a great idea to transfer it to a TA. Specifically an agent from a "Cruise Only" agency. These agencies have alot of pull with the cruise lines and can get alot more accomplished then the average travel agency.

 

I can only speak for myself but I spend an enormous amount of time putting out fires created by inadequate cruise line employess or just plain unforseeable problems that pop up. Most of the time my passengers never even know that there was a problem and that is the way it should be. It could be anything from misspelled names to missing payments to mistakingly cancelled cabins. If you have to handle these problems on your own, first of all you don't have the inside phone #'s so you will be calling general reservations and talking to someone new each time. It can be vry frustrating. You might also be surprised to find out that the chances are whoever you talke to has probably never been on a cruise before. They are also not very interested in, nor could they answer alot of questions you may have. You need someone who has your best interest in mind and has the experience and knowledge to make sure you get the most enjoyable, hassle free experience for your money.

[cpa2be]

Thanks Cruise n Vegas.

I can't disagree with anything your saying. Just because my end looks smooth does not mean someone behind the scenes did not iron out problems on my behalf.

 

I just don't want to make a mistake and hand it over to a TA without knowing what pitfalls to watch out for. I've been reading these boards for a long time and have learned a lot. I know that all TA's are not created equal. I want to ask the proper questions so that I don't come up with an unpleasant suprise down the road.

[Cruises n Vegas]

I can't stress enough to you the imprtance of booking with an agent in a cruise only agency. Most of us are experts in our field, love what we do, yet know we will never get rich at it - that is a good sign that we must love our jobs :-).

 

I understand your uneasyness. I booked my first cruise 14 years ago for my honeymoon. My TA told me NOTHING! Unfortunately, I didn't do my homework and didn't book with an expert. Nothing major went wrong with my cruise but I did all of the investigating on my own and found out quickly that if I didn't ask the right question, I wasn't getting the right answer. I fell in love with cruising and also realized the need for qualified agents. Thus, my career unfolded before my eyes.

 

Referrals are good places to start. Then ask how much time they put into their jobs. Full time agents are obviously the best. Ask how many cruises & site inspections they have done, the more the better. Qualifying the passenger is important - age group, activity level, adult only etc. There are certain ships/cruise lines that will fit certain individuals. Also, some agents will put their passengers on anything that floats. I don't. There are a few ships I wouldn't go near. I won't post them here but will tell you privately if you are interested.

 

Lastly, follow your gut instinct. If you feel like you are being snowed then hang up and call a new one.

 

I hope I have helped and let me know if you have any further questions.

[cpa2be]

Thanks Deborah. I appreciate your repsonses.

[bob278]

I think it is important to ask if they can save you any money. There are several legitimate discounts out there that you might not get without asking. If the TA does give you a price below what you currently have from the direct booking, you should find out how they cut the price.

 

For instance, are they a key account or do they have a group put together they are adding you to? Did they have an unpublished, but valid coupon?

 

Are they finding a resident or senior rate? Be very careful that you qualify for anything like that. If the agent won't tell you how they could cut the price, I wouldn't deal with them.

 

I would also ask what services they provide (monitoring rates for drops that they would automatically apply to your account - or applying lower rates if you call after finding them), will they help you with the cruiseline air or pre/post-cruise packages, etc. While I am not opposed to using a cruise only agency, you may also want help with air, hotels or pre/post-cruise extensions outside the cruiseline offering.

 

And I definitely agree with the last bit of advice Cruises n Vegas gave you. If you aren't comfortable or it seems that the TA is giving you something too good to be true, hang up and call someone else.

 

My last piece of advice. Get all details in writing. E-mail at a minimum, but even better, on agency letter head.

[cpa2be]

Bob - thanks for your input! All great suggestions that I had not considered.

[Cruises n Vegas]

I think it is important to ask if they can save you any money. There are several legitimate discounts out there that you might not get without asking. If the TA does give you a price below what you currently have from the direct booking, you should find out how they cut the price..

 

Bob,

 

You are right, asking about saving money is very important. I forget that passengers are not familiar with the details about the different agencies. Being a cruise only agency gives us the ability to do a lot of volume with the cruise lines and yes we are a Key Account with RCCL. In fact, we are in the top 100 agencies with them and a few other criuse lines. Our volume gives us better rates, upgrades etc which saves our clients money. Not to mention senior rates, residency rates and other promos. Blocking group space on promo sailings is an enormous savings to our passengers as well. I also would like to mention that I can't remember the last time I didn't cut my commission. The volume allows me to do it.

 

However, the volume also doesn't allow me the time to monitor all of my cruise bookings to see if the price has been reduced unless I am escorting a group. But I always tell my passenger to monitor it themselves and I will make sure that they get the lower price. It has happened many times before.

 

Also, the owner of our company owns a full service travel agency which allows us to handle all of our passenger's needs. I almost never utilize the cruise line's air, unless there is an air promo.

 

I know that this slounds like I am blowing my own horn. I am really not. I am proud of the job that I do but I also find that there aren't many agents that are as detailed. These are all things to look for in an agent/agency. Following through to the end is essential.

[MonaCK]

Keep in mind -- not only cruise only agencies are highly proficient in pulling deals with the cruise lines. My mom has been an agent for 25 years, and is very good at what she does. She has connections not only within the cruise industry, but within the all inclusive industry as well. both are her bread and butter since the airlines began to cut commissions.

 

LIke the others have said -- get it in writing. Go via word of mouth to an agent who has done well for a friend - and most importantly - make sure it's someone that you feel comfortable with.

 

Like Deborah said - the little details are what is most important. An agent who is going to look out for you.. let you know if there are discounts.. make sure you have all the information/docs you need.. etc etc.

 

Good luck :)

[mringenoldus]

cruises n vegas

Does the being a Key Account with RCCL make any difference in the current cruise fares now that RCCL has imposed the new policy? We are planning a trip on the Monarch but have only found the same quotes on all web sites.

[Cruises n Vegas]

cruises n vegas

Does the being a Key Account with RCCL make any difference in the current cruise fares now that RCCL has imposed the new policy? We are planning a trip on the Monarch but have only found the same quotes on all web sites.

Being a Key Account has nothing to do with the new policy. Key Account agencies get preferred pricing on certain sailings, among other things.

 

And by the way, there are ways of getting around the "policy"

[canuckcruiser68]

Yes Cruises in Vegas there are ways around the policy right up until someone out there turns your agency in!

[earthgirl04]

Hi Cruises n Vegas,

I have only been on 1 cruise and it was put together through the company my husband works for. Could you give me an idea of a ggod cruise to take my children on? Their ages are 13,9,and 5. I know Disney is good, but any others that might not be as expensive.

Thank You

[Cruises n Vegas]

Yes, Disney is great for kids but also quite expensive. After all, you are paying for that "Disney" name.

 

Carnival has a great childrens program called "Camp Carnival" and they are pretty resonably priced. Royal Caribbean's Voyager class ships are pretty popular with kids and adults love them too. Their program is called "Adventure Ocean".

 

Both programs are good for the kids. Check the details on both at their web sites. Then decide which cruise line YOU prefer and book that one!

[jkrislc]

Yes, Disney is great for kids but also quite expensive. After all, you are paying for that "Disney" name.

 

Princess also has a good program with very nice facilities on their newer ships. A plus for Princess is that they limit the number of children in each age group as to not overwhelm the children's program that they have in place.

[Ericknow32]

I must agree with that Vegas person. My travel agent handles everything for me. Agents know good rooms, bad rooms, and the main differences. I know my agent is only there to help me. Recently I had a room on a cruise sold out from under me and I don't need to do a sing thing to fix the problem. My agent will take care of me.

 

In the end I just want to say

 

Travel agents are great.

[sandsand]

To the OP: I would definately ask if they will honor any Crown & Anchor coupons you may receive and if so at full face value or a percentage.

[Cruises n Vegas]

To the OP: I would definately ask if they will honor any Crown & Anchor coupons you may receive and if so at full face value or a percentage.

 

This is a new one to me. Why wouldn't an agency honor a Crown & Anchor coupon and for anything less than full amount? Has this happened to you or anyone you know? If so, what did you do about it?

[vossjemi]

Yes, some online email only agencies accept the coupons but only allow you a certain % due to the decreased commission they are already taking. My online email only TA only allowed us 84% of the coupon, which we knew in advance and were ok with because even with this, they still beat anyone else's price by hundreds of dollars. Booking early also gets you cheaper prices. On our jan cruise, we paid about $1500 less than what RC recently listed as the price for our cabin type...they are now sold out of our cabin type, so that may be why, but early booking got us a good cabin and a cheaper one at that!

[jcanino]

Yes, some online email only agencies accept the coupons but only allow you a certain % due to the decreased commission they are already taking. My online email only TA only allowed us 84% of the coupon,

It is not the TA that is reducing the price of the cruise it is RCI. If the TA submits your coupon to RCI, they in turn reduce the price on the coupon. This seems to be reverse rebating where they are cheating you out of $$ the cruise line is giving you.

[Cruises n Vegas]

This seems to be reverse rebating where they are cheating you out of $$ the cruise line is giving you.

 

This is exactly why RCCL instituted the new policy. These "online agencies" are really hurting the industry. They low ball the prices, don't take coupons, SERIOUSLY lack in service and before you know it, poof, they are gone and without a way to track them down. So RCCL gets the complaints but they didn't make the booking and may not have even received any money. There solution was to not allow discounting. They thought it would weed out the fly by night agencies but it hasn't. It has only hurt the reputable agencies that are used to giving a little discount to their loyal passengers.

 

I am hearing more & more horror stories about these online agencies but apparently consumers are not listening. Just wait until something goes wrong and you need them to go to bat for you. Good luck. It's not worth the risk to save a few bucks. Booking early will always save money but that is not exclusive to them, that is standard in the industry.

 

Buyer beware!

[bthorn1108]

To the OP: I would definately ask if they will honor any Crown & Anchor coupons you may receive and if so at full face value or a percentage.

 

This should not be an issue anymore, for several reasons:

 

1. The agency hasn't rebated any of their commission in determining your original cruise price, therefore, they shouldn't have to recapture it from your C & A coupon.

 

2. I believe that RCCL has instituted a new policy, whereas, C & A coupons are only good on new bookings. Therefore, you could not apply a C & A coupon to an existing booking.

[Cruises n Vegas]

This should not be an issue anymore, for several reasons:

 

1. The agency hasn't rebated any of their commission in determining your original cruise price, therefore, they shouldn't have to recapture it from your C & A coupon.

 

2. I believe that RCCL has instituted a new policy, whereas, C & A coupons are only good on new bookings. Therefore, you could not apply a C & A coupon to an existing booking.

 

 

1. The agency earns commission on the reduced price of the cruise AFTER the coupon has been applied. Their reasoning is that without the coupon, they would've earned more commission. True, but still unacceptable to discount the coupon.

 

2. I just apllied 4 C&A coupons to 4 bookings - 2 were made in May and 2 were made in June. They were applied in CruisingPower, a RCCL agent booking engine.

[AllAboard]

Cruises N Vegas, I take offense to your post about online agencies. As in any business or industry, there are always going to be some bad apples out there. But, your post makes it sound as if all internet agencies are bad. As an internet agency owner, this really offends me. I have a very long list of many happy and returning clients, so we're not all bad. You're obviously trying to gain a little business for yourself on these posts.

 

And, by the way, you speak of "ways around the RCCL policy." I agree with Canuckcruiser68....until someone turns you in. You have the nerve to talk about how some internet agencies are less than legitimate. At least some of us stick to the rules and policies, even if we don't agree with some of them. Enough said.

[Cruises n Vegas]

No, enough isn't said.

 

I am not trying to "gain a little business for myself" but if it makes you feel better to belive that then go ahead.

 

I am sorry that you took offense to this post. It was not a personal attack on you or your agency. I was making a general statement about internet agencies that I stand behind. Not only do I stand behind it but we were told by RCCL that it is the very reason that this policy was instituted. Again, I am sorry that you took offense to it, and your agency may be the exception to the rule, but I didn't make it up.

 

By the way, "having the nerve" to say there are ways around the policy does not mean that I/we are doing anything "less than legitimate". We were also told by RCCL that the way we're doing things is perfectly acceptable. So maybe I should take offense, but I won't.

 

Enough said.