why won't NCL talk to you if you booked thru a TA

[flattop223]

They told you to call NCL direct? It sounds like they don't know what they are doing. No wonder your reservation is messed up! :eek:

 

I think I would be finding a new TA. And fast!

 

yes they told me to call NCL direct yesterday but today when I called about the OBC and the other items the story was completely different. Again I did not get to talk to my TA here it seems that they have Booking Agents and Customer Service.

 

The Customer Service person said that she did not know why the Booking Agent would have told me we were all together as he booked us as guarnteed room not into specific rooms so where NCL put us from there was up to them, but she would see if she could get our rooms moved...

 

As for the OBC "it will show up on your ships account 2 to 3 days into your trip, and will be listed as a gift from the travel agency"... anyone know if this is normal

[nycruiser80]

yes they told me to call NCL direct yesterday but today when I called about the OBC and the other items the story was completely different. Again I did not get to talk to my TA here it seems that they have Booking Agents and Customer Service.

 

The Customer Service person said that she did not know why the Booking Agent would have told me we were all together as he booked us as guarnteed room not into specific rooms so where NCL put us from there was up to them, but she would see if she could get our rooms moved...

 

As for the OBC "it will show up on your ships account 2 to 3 days into your trip, and will be listed as a gift from the travel agency"... anyone know if this is normal

 

When it is an NCL OBC offered by a promotion...meaning NCL is offering you the OBC then it will be on the NCL confirmation. From my experience if the TA is buying the OBC credit for you the OBC will not appear on NCL confo. The TA, if they have there wits will put this on THEIR confo. However when the TA purchases the OBC they get a receipt via email from NCL's gift dept....tell the TA you want a copy of that receipt. At least this is how it was done when I was a TA.

 

Also when you booked did you get the TA's confo and a confo from NCL? If so, did it say a gaurantee stateroom? Most likely the agent wanted your business and gave you the gty rate so you can book with them meanwhile you wanted a cabin assignment. How stupid the TA is a fool!

[leestar]

I usually use my NCL PCC who I like very much and who provides me with very personal service but for our next cruise we went through NCL's own CAS (Casino at Sea) since they offered us a better rate. While I knew the normal policy about NCL not talking to you if you used a travel agent, I was surprised that NCL considers CAS a separate travel agent.

[Giorgi-one]

It really is an interesting thought. Here I am spending thousands of dollars to take my precious family on a special vacation and I don't even own the reservation!!!

 

That's why I always book direct. Yes, I'm a control freak. But if something goes wrong, I only have myself to blame.

 

Peter

 

It is certainly your decision but a good TA can get you a much better deal. I just booked clients on Baltic cruise and saved them $500 per person since we were holding group space. In addition, they got money off due to frequent cruiser promotion and they will get about $250 per cabin in group amenities. I all I saved them about $1500 per cabin. They didn't even know about the frequent cruiser promotion until I told them. I also got them better cabins which they had no clue about. Most people will do way, way, way, way better with a good TA who knows about cruising and has been on almost every ship out there.

[flattop223]

When it is an NCL OBC offered by a promotion...meaning NCL is offering you the OBC then it will be on the NCL confirmation. From my experience if the TA is buying the OBC credit for you the OBC will not appear on NCL confo. The TA, if they have there wits will put this on THEIR confo. However when the TA purchases the OBC they get a receipt via email from NCL's gift dept....tell the TA you want a copy of that receipt. At least this is how it was done when I was a TA.

 

Also when you booked did you get the TA's confo and a confo from NCL? If so, did it say a gaurantee stateroom? Most likely the agent wanted your business and gave you the gty rate so you can book with them meanwhile you wanted a cabin assignment. How stupid the TA is a fool!

 

yes I got confirmation from both NCL and the TA, neither had the credit listed and only the NCL had rooms, the 3 ocean view cabins had room assignments and the balcony room is GTY...

on Todays call I was told that they don't purchase the OBC untill closer to cruise time and that it will not show up in the system untill about 2 or 3 days in to the sailing... they did send me an e-mail that listed the OBC per room and told me that if for some reason it did not show up by the 3rd day of sailing to have the ships purser call them to check on it.

[newmexicoNita]

Booked my cruise through a TA, the travel agent told us that all our cabins were together.

 

We got the confirmations and the 3 ocean view cabins are 1 at either end of the ship and one in the middle all on the same deck. I don't call that together or as the TA said "right next to each other"

 

Called NCL and all they will say is "oh, you booked with a travel agent, you have to call them for any changes"

 

for things like the Shipboard Credit we were promised I know I would have to go thru the Travel Agent but for room change within the same catagory?

 

the reason, the TA tech owns the reservation according to the cruise lines. The reason for this, partly is communication. He said, she said, it was said, etc????

 

BTW it sounds like your TA screwed up but believe me, as others have mentioned many TAS do work very hard for their money and are not in business to get rich. take it from me. Did you go with an online agency or a mom and pop one? Was the agent recommended to you? I am only asking this because you are getting the run around. A good agency would not do that.

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

Why do people keep telling this poster the "same" information....I think they only need to know "one time" that that TA owns their reservation.....why do people feel the need to keep repeating it??? ugh!

 

For the same reason I just did, sometimes we don't take time to read all the previously posted comments. You don't have to read the responses if you choose not to.

 

Nita

[ubdkjrb]

It is certainly your decision but a good TA can get you a much better deal. I just booked clients on Baltic cruise and saved them $500 per person since we were holding group space. In addition, they got money off due to frequent cruiser promotion and they will get about $250 per cabin in group amenities. I all I saved them about $1500 per cabin. They didn't even know about the frequent cruiser promotion until I told them. I also got them better cabins which they had no clue about. Most people will do way, way, way, way better with a good TA who knows about cruising and has been on almost every ship out there.

 

Your example is the exception, not the rule. Most bookings thru TA's are not for group space. Yes, on average you might save a few hundred dollars booking thru a TA either in the form of a discount or OBC, but getting the opportunity to upsell two to three weeks out is enough of a reason for me to book direct.

 

Peter

[Giorgi-one]

Your example is the exception, not the rule. Most bookings thru TA's are not for group space. Yes, on average you might save a few hundred dollars booking thru a TA either in the form of a discount or OBC, but getting the opportunity to upsell two to three weeks out is enough of a reason for me to book direct.

 

Peter

 

Anything you can do on your own, a good TA can also do for you. Actually, group space is not the exception since we hold group space on many cruises. You just have to book with the right agency.

[Giorgi-one]

Technically the TA owns the reservation so if you need anything done, it has to go through the TA to the cruiseline.

 

TA does not own the reservation. The reservation is in the name of the passengers and money is paid directly to the cruise line by the passengers. However, it would be a free-for-all if everyone who booked thru a TA was calling the Cruise Line making changes. TAs would be receiving changes from the cruise lines with no clue as to why or how the change was made. In some instances this could affect the pricing quoted by the TA. Passenger could make a change which lowers the TA commission so the TA would have the right to revise any discounts provided to the clients. If someone wants to handle their own reservation then book directly and forgo any discounts or group pricing that TA can offer. If you book thru a TA, then they handle the reservation. Trick is to get a good TA who you can trust.

[ubdkjrb]

Anything you can do on your own, a good TA can also do for you. Actually, group space is not the exception since we hold group space on many cruises. You just have to book with the right agency.

 

The one thing a TA can't efficiently do for you is negotiate an upsell. They don't know up front what upsells are available so they can't know what to counter-offer. Also, group bookings may not be the exception at your travel agency, but they are the exception overall in TA-land.

 

Peter

[newmexicoNita]

Your example is the exception, not the rule. Most bookings thru TA's are not for group space. Yes, on average you might save a few hundred dollars booking thru a TA either in the form of a discount or OBC, but getting the opportunity to upsell two to three weeks out is enough of a reason for me to book direct.

 

Peter

 

what makes you think upsells only affect those who book directly?

 

Nita