Should I be alarm when a TA is selling at less than what RCCL offer?

[William W]

Being a bargain hunter, I was able to locate a travel agent over the internet who is selling cabins at a lower price than RCCL as well as other major internet travel site for the particular ship and date that I'm traveling. The travel agent in question is quoting me a price that is $166CAD cheaper than what other agents are quoting for 2 adults and 1 child traveling on Liberity of the Sea on a September sailing.

 

Should I be alarm? Are there things that I should be watching out for before I leave a deposit with them?

[akcruz]

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Often times prices quoted on the internet will not include some of the taxes or port fees. Once you add them all in they are usually about the same.

 

If you do find that they are cheaper, I would document everything and make sure you know about any additional fees the TA may impose. If it looks to good to be true it probably is!

[travelntreats]

Being a bargain hunter, I was able to locate a travel agent over the internet who is selling cabins at a lower price than RCCL as well as other major internet travel site for the particular ship and date that I'm traveling. The travel agent in question is quoting me a price that is $166CAD cheaper than what other agents are quoting for 2 adults and 1 child traveling on Liberity of the Sea on a September sailing.

 

Should I be alarm? Are there things that I should be watching out for before I leave a deposit with them?

It is entirely possible that this agency had some group space they secured quite some time ago at lower rates than what you are now being quoted.... hard to say. Ask them how they are offering it so low compared to other sites you have seen at higher rates.....many times you can tell alot about an agent you are dealing with by their response. Also check to see what kind of addons they may have ommited and that the pricing you are seeing includes your port charges/taxes, etc.

 

Do they charge any fees to book with them.... any change fee's....any cancellation fee's.....???? Just a few questions I would be asking before providing a c.card to them !

 

Good luck and keep us posted. :cool:

[grandgeezer]

You've got to do your homework and pick a reputable internet TA. If you find one, there is money to be saved, based on category and length of cruise, it could be several hundred dollars per person. I've booked 13 cruises through an internet agency and have saved $50 to $300 p.p. over the cruisline or "brick and morter" TA. Board rules prevent me from naming names though. These were apples for apples comparisons.

[Sue L]

RCCL does not allow TA's to discount their cruises so all prices should be the same unless the TA is holding group space. Make sure you are seeing prices with ALL the taxes and fees added in.

[A2Mich]

RCCL does not allow TA's to discount their cruises so all prices should be the same unless the TA is holding group space. Make sure you are seeing prices with ALL the taxes and fees added in.

 

I completely agree with this. My cruise only TA quotes me prices that at first glance are higher than some online rates. BUT, my TA always includes all port charges, taxes, fees, etc in her prices. Many of the online agencies are giving the base price, not including taxes, port charges, fees, etc. So, definitely be careful that your price quotes are all including the same things.

[Richiebaseball]

It could be group space. One way you can find out is to ask them to hold a cabin and send you the confirmation from Royal Caribbean. This will have the price. If the price they offer is lower than that, they're discounting. Now while discounting is against Royal Caribbean policy, there are agencies that do it. Whether or not anything is done by the cruise line remains to be seen. You just have to decide if that's the type of company you want to do business with.

[snorkelman]

I always run my desired cruise through the free service that allows you to compare quotes. Usually the quote are exactly the same and the on board credit or free insurance is the difference. However this last cruise that I booked some of the TAs caught a florida discount that others did not and it was a significant difference in price. That is one legit way that multiple TAs may quote you different prices with everything else being apples and apples (port charges, taxes etc.) I always give my business to whichever TA FINDS me the best deal, not one who will just match it.

[travelntreats]

To the OP.... make sure that this agency you are thinking of working with is not offering you rates that are discounted due to Sr. Rates, Resident promos, etc... that you may not qualify for too !

[grandgeezer]

I don't really care how they massage the numbers as long as it is legal and above board. All I care about is what it cost me out of my pocket. She wouldn't have been in the business for such a long time if she wasn't playing by the rules. There is nothing wrong with an agent buying up alot of cabins on popular routes and selling them at a rate less than a single cabin price. The cruise lines would have weeded her out long ago. I'll keep taking my savings and reinvesting it in more cruises.

[travelntreats]

And who said you shouldn't keep working with your TA ??? :confused::confused:

 

My post(s) were not directed to yours in any way.

[yogimax]

We are on a September Liberty sailing. Note that discounts are now being offered for residents of certain states as well as seniors

[Richiebaseball]

I don't really care how they massage the numbers as long as it is legal and above board. All I care about is what it cost me out of my pocket. She wouldn't have been in the business for such a long time if she wasn't playing by the rules. There is nothing wrong with an agent buying up alot of cabins on popular routes and selling them at a rate less than a single cabin price. The cruise lines would have weeded her out long ago. I'll keep taking my savings and reinvesting it in more cruises.

 

Interesting take on the subject. If someone is "massaging the numbers" that would imply that something isn't as it should be. It's certainly not illegal for someone to discount a Royal Caribbean cruise. No one is going to jail for it. But it's not really above board either. They have a policy and it's up to an individual agency whether to adhere to that policy or not. Thinking that because someone has been in business for a long time that they must be playing "by the rules" is a bit naive.

[Joy2theWorld]

We recently booked a trip for almost $400 less than what RCCL quoted. This included a resident discount that we were eligible for and it was included in both quotes. We received our cruise docs and it has the price of our tickets listed on that, but that is not what we paid. The agent must have offered an additional discount and for that I am thankful. I don't see a problem with an agent offering a discount as opposed to an on board credit like most do. In fact, I'm not quite sure I know anyone who would complain about getting a discount.

[turquoisesea]

I have seen online TA's offer discounts on excursions or paid tips. So.. how do they do that? :confused:

[Sue L]

I have seen online TA's offer discounts on excursions or paid tips. So.. how do they do that? :confused:

 

 

they take it out of their commissions which is not that much, believe me.

[Richiebaseball]

Here is the ultimate problem with it. Royal Caribbean determines who can or can't sell their product. They have a no discount policy. The policy is no discounting their cruise lower than their regular price. This is a strategy that numerous companies use. That's the reason that IPhones are basically the same price everywhere. Or Bose speakers. Apple and Bose set the prices. If Best Buy doesn't want to sell it for that price, Bose can pull their product out of their stores. Because the product ultimately belongs to Bose. You didn't see a Mitsubishi TV in a Circuit City store for years because of this. Now of course you don't see Circuit City stores but that's another story.

 

Anyway, Royal Caribbean owns the product and they determine who can and can't sell their product. Now let's face reality. In the current economy I don't see a cruise lines turning down business. But the economy won't stay like this forever. It will turn around. And when it does, Royal Caribbean could decide to take a closer look at their distribution system. It wouldn't be the first time that Royal Caribbean has stopped doing business with an agency, even a large agency, because they determined it wasn't the way they wanted to do business.

 

Plus if the agency I do business with blatantly ignores the no discounting policy of Royal Caribbean, I'm gonna start to wonder if there are other policies they may be ignoring. Policies that may be there for my protection and benefit.

 

People can do business with whomever they choose. They just need to be aware of the facts. Then if something does bite them you know where, they were forewarned.

[ubdkjrb]

Another thing to keep in mind about group space. Once booked, you're stuck with that cabin at that price. If prices go down, too bad. The agency can move you around within the cabins in their "group" but they won't honor price reductions.

 

Peter

[William W]

Thanks for all the replies. There are definitely different angles to look at this than I originally thought.

 

I have not yet booked the cruise nor talked to the agent since I originally posed the question as we have been playing phone tag for the last couple of days.

 

For a saving of $166 between 3 people, would I be better off if I were to book directly with the cruise line and hope for a price adjustment for a September sailing?

[cruisinfanatic]

Another thing to keep in mind about group space. Once booked, you're stuck with that cabin at that price. If prices go down, too bad. The agency can move you around within the cabins in their "group" but they won't honor price reductions.

 

Peter

Not true!

Cabins booked as a group are eligible for price reductions same as a single cabin

[unklez]

1. Is the TA price apples to apples with other prices?

2. Maybe they have a group booking?

3. Are they giving you cash back from their commission?

4. Worth asking lots of questions before booking with this TA.

[Richiebaseball]

Thanks for all the replies. There are definitely different angles to look at this than I originally thought.

 

I have not yet booked the cruise nor talked to the agent since I originally posed the question as we have been playing phone tag for the last couple of days.

 

For a saving of $166 between 3 people, would I be better off if I were to book directly with the cruise line and hope for a price adjustment for a September sailing?

 

Personally I would think playing phone tag for a couple of days would be enough to make me look for a different agency. If you find a good one you can get a discount in the form of an OBC and they'll lower the price if you qualify. Personally I would look for one that doesn't charge a cancellation fee or a fee to make a change. Or if you're more comfortable with booking direct then go that route. There's just no discount.

[Richiebaseball]

I always run my desired cruise through the free service that allows you to compare quotes. Usually the quote are exactly the same and the on board credit or free insurance is the difference. However this last cruise that I booked some of the TAs caught a florida discount that others did not and it was a significant difference in price. That is one legit way that multiple TAs may quote you different prices with everything else being apples and apples (port charges, taxes etc.) I always give my business to whichever TA FINDS me the best deal, not one who will just match it.

 

Good strategy and I'm well aware of the site. I will say if an agency can't even quote me the lowest fare that I qualify for, I would never use that agency. Especially when I tell them upfront what state I live in and if I'm a senior. It isn't difficult to find resident and senior rates. Also if a promotion is running like the current one with $$$ off per person, if they can't quote me that price, I'm running away. That's a lazy agency and if they can't be bothered to take an extra couple of minutes to see what promotions are running I don't hold out much hope that they can offer me any service at all.

[Dem920]

Another thing to keep in mind about group space. Once booked, you're stuck with that cabin at that price. If prices go down, too bad. The agency can move you around within the cabins in their "group" but they won't honor price reductions.

 

Peter

 

As a former TA and a person who's DH still is a TA, that simply is not true. He has a group going on Mariner of the Seas and our price has dropped 4 times since it was booked over a year ago and each time everyone in the group that was eligible for the discount (i.e. Resident or Senior or Militray) got the discount. People changed categories, cabins and number of people in a cabin and all were honored in the group. While all these changes are more work for my husband and means less commission in his pocket, but he would rather keep the customers. While there are a few promotions that get offered by the cruiseline that can not be used by groups (i.e. New Booking Only sales), most can be used and prices can be adjusted up until sailing.

[crusinmama06]

Another thing to keep in mind about group space. Once booked, you're stuck with that cabin at that price. If prices go down, too bad. The agency can move you around within the cabins in their "group" but they won't honor price reductions.

 

Peter

 

No, not right. The TA can call in and get the same price reduction. As long as its not just for "new bookings"