My Travel agent called me about an hour before the email went out. She had received the news earlier than the general public. By the time the public released email came out, I had already re-booked for the other Transatlantic, and upgraded to a suite using the 200% FCC funds. I got the last suite on the trip that was available. This would not have been possible if I had not used a travel agent.
I have been in the IT world for my entire career so its not like I am not capable of doing everything myself online. The truth of the matter is an agent simply has better tools at their disposal, and the tour companies and cruise lines still depend on them.
The reason for the cancelation I was told is all due to staffing. With a significant portion of the global cruise staff coming out of the Ukraine, they could not properly staff and train an entire ship's worth of crew. Several of the other cruise lines have postponed new ship launches for the same reason.
