In answer to questions raised...
CL collected the penalty they imposed on us.
(Longer story: In early 2020 we booked a cruise for fall of 2020 that was cancelled d/t pandemic. CL kept our deposit toward rebooking. We rebooked the same cruise later and were made to give another upfront deposit b/c the previous deposit was in limbo [or something]. Second cruise was also cancelled d/t pandemic. CL banked both deposits. Subsequently CL sent us periodic emails stating that our banked deposits would "expire" if we didn't rebook, but our cancelled cruises were for Hawaii... and it had not yet re-opened to cruisers. We weren't going to rebook for a destination we weren't interested in. Those 2 deposits x 2 passengers--4 deposits total--ended up being banked until Jan. of '23 when we booked this cruise. The $100/person penalty was deducted from our banked deposits, so we had to repay in that amount in order to salvage our cruise. This after CL had the use of our 4 deposits for 2.5 and 3 yrs.)
For those who doubt that the TA really sent no reminders... well, I am truly speechless. Why would I be asking if he was partly at fault for not sending us a reminder if he had actually sent one?
No, his reminder did not go to my Spam folder. (I check it weekly.) We got zip, zero, nothing from him between invoicing and notice of cancellation.
Let me restate that using a TA for booking is not our custom, and in this case it seems only to have created more entanglements, confusion, and heartache. When we book for ourselves we manage everything directly with the CL and in our previous 24 yrs of travels have had nothing but good experiences. (Not cruise related... but we've also done considerable land travel with Gate 1 and have nothing but praise for all of our interactions with the company. Superb service at every step of the way!!)
Last, please hear me say this: my intent in my OP was not to blameshift nor escape personal responsibility, but to get clarity on whether or not it *was* our fault. Repeat: this is only the second time in 25 yrs that we have had to use a TA to book. After our cruise was cancelled for nonpayment the CL rep told me in no uncertain terms that it was our TA's job to keep us apprised of final payment date. TA said it was not. I asked here in hopes of getting a clear answer--not because my day is not complete w/o being called an idiot.
Maybe someone can shed light on why a CL would require using a TA rather than allowing passengers to book directly?