Booking through Celebrity vs. TA

[smeyer418]

One of these days the cruislines will wake up and realize that the travel agencies are taking the commissions they receive and basically splitting them with the cruiser. They will take that business model and convert it to one without any commissions, upgrade their computer systems to create an easier interactive booking process and then hire some more customer service people who know what they're doing. This will shave 15% of sales off their cost structure leaving them ample room to staff appropriately and reduce prices in these difficult economic times which should result in a competetive edge in the vacation business.

 

As I've said many times, this is all about money. You can throw out there all of the service elements you want to, but in the end, it's all about the price of the cruise. If the cruiselines were to eliminate commissions, the travel agencies would have nothing left to sell than service. A fee upfront for consulting, a fee for any changes like price drops and switching cabins, etc. (wait a minute, some are doing that now!!). At that point, those that swear by their TA's would have to ask themselves whether paying a couple hundred more than booking direct is worth it. Hmmmn.

 

 

You are of course aware that a cruise line tried this. Renaissance tried no commissions. and where are they today? dead and gone. It may be that sometime in the future this will be true and PCC and the equivalent at cruise lines are an attempt to wean cruisers away from TA's but since at the present time more than 90% of cruisers use them, it won't happen quickly. It is still true that most people haven't cruised and that these people in general are more comfortable booking through a TA that is recommended by a friend. You are of course free to do what you want, but its so far out of step with the industry and you are leaving money on the table....which is ok with me too....but until the world changes and TA's don't get paid commission I'll take the savings thank you very much.

[ubdkjrb]

You are of course aware that a cruise line tried this. Renaissance tried no commissions. and where are they today? dead and gone. It may be that sometime in the future this will be true and PCC and the equivalent at cruise lines are an attempt to wean cruisers away from TA's but since at the present time more than 90% of cruisers use them, it won't happen quickly. It is still true that most people haven't cruised and that these people in general are more comfortable booking through a TA that is recommended by a friend. You are of course free to do what you want, but its so far out of step with the industry and you are leaving money on the table....which is ok with me too....but until the world changes and TA's don't get paid commission I'll take the savings thank you very much.

 

History will bear out that those that are first to attempt major change are failures. Back ten years ago, those retailers that tried online sales failed miserably. Now better than ten percent of all consumer products excluding grocery is done on the web. As booking engines and their servers become more interactive, booking a cruise will be as easy as doing your bill payments online. How many people thought ten years ago that they wouldn't really have a need for a checkbook anymore? I have two daughters in their early twenties who have no idea what a travel agent is. When they want to buy airfare, rent a car or book a hotel room they simply jump online and get it done.

 

We buy our concert tickets online, we file our taxes online, we order our pizza's online, etc. etc. etc. It's they way it's going to be.

[lvtotrvl1]

This is almost too good to be true! Let's see, $200 plus $15 bottle of wine plus $50 free dinners plus $150 free gratuities equals $415. Commissions to the agency are 14% on average so let's say half of that went to the agent who is doing the gifting. That means for the TA to break even with the $415 gift the cruise without taxes and fees would have to be approximately $6,000. Pretty pricey cruise - but possible.

 

My point would be if you are the average cruiser whose cruise without taxes and fees is about $1600, you could expect OBC or perks of around $100. Then my question would be is it worth it to lose control of your reservation and rely soley on your TA to find price drops, etc. And don't forget that many TA's charge for things like cabin changes and price drops, so that $100 might not go so far afterall.

 

These perks are group amenities...The agency must have booked them into one of their groups, and in doing so, they will receive different amenitites...It's not something that the agency is giving out of their pockets.

[smeyer418]

History will bear out that those that are first to attempt major change are failures. Back ten years ago, those retailers that tried online sales failed miserably. Now better than ten percent of all consumer products excluding grocery is done on the web. As booking engines and their servers become more interactive, booking a cruise will be as easy as doing your bill payments online. How many people thought ten years ago that they wouldn't really have a need for a checkbook anymore? I have two daughters in their early twenties who have no idea what a travel agent is. When they want to buy airfare, rent a car or book a hotel room they simply jump online and get it done.

 

We buy our concert tickets online, we file our taxes online, we order our pizza's online, etc. etc. etc. It's they way it's going to be.

 

while all the above may be true, 10 years ago(or at least from 2001), the demise of the cruise line TA was predicted by pundits. It hasn't happened. Unlike airfare, renting a car or booking hotel rooms cruises tend to be 90% booked through travel agents. I am sure that the cruise lines would like to save the 15% or so they pay TA's but none have come up with a formula that has been successful. The one cruise line that tried died 25 September 2001. They had been in existence since 1989. So that so far the prediction of the TA's demise, like the report of the demise of Samuel Clemens was at one time highly premature. Yes he did eventually die but there is no current cruise line that will dare what Ren did. Yes I am sure that 9 11 did speed up Ren's demise but to end so soon after 9-11 means that they were in extremist before that.

[ubdkjrb]

while all the above may be true, 10 years ago(or at least from 2001), the demise of the cruise line TA was predicted by pundits. It hasn't happened. Unlike airfare, renting a car or booking hotel rooms cruises tend to be 90% booked through travel agents. I am sure that the cruise lines would like to save the 15% or so they pay TA's but none have come up with a formula that has been successful. The one cruise line that tried died 25 September 2001. They had been in existence since 1989. So that so far the prediction of the TA's demise, like the report of the demise of Samuel Clemens was at one time highly premature. Yes he did eventually die but there is no current cruise line that will dare what Ren did. Yes I am sure that 9 11 did speed up Ren's demise but to end so soon after 9-11 means that they were in extremist before that.

 

Kind of depends on your definition of travel agents. Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. aren't you typical "travel agent"; they are more like a booking engine with a little bit of customer care. These sites are much less dependant on commissions than the true travel agencies both online and brick and mortar. Their mainstay income is predominantly the advertising others pay to put banners, etc. on their website. There is huge money involved with these sites that get millions of hits a month. If cruiselines were to eliminate commissions, it would only be a bump in the road for these online giants. They would continue to book travel, including cruises, as they are now with no additional charges to the traveller. The other "true" TA's would have little choice but to charge for their services. This, then, would be the true test of the worth of a TA; is it service or is it price. The answer is clear to me - it's price and service is merely an imaginary aborition of wishful thinking. This is born out with the current practice of booking direct to maintain control and ease of change up till final payment and then transfer to a TA to get the commission split.

 

So if you don't count these large online booking sites and you discount those bookings that eventually end up with a TA but start as a direct booking, my guess would be that only around 50-60% of cruises are booked with "true" travel agents.

[Bridge Maven]

Years ago people needed travel agents to book a cruise because the general public did not have access to the information that is readily available today. There was a time when we would go to a travel agent, ask for ideas for a good vacation, and a considerable amount of time was spent assessing what would be a good fit for us, advising us accordingly, and taking care of every detail of that vacation for us.

 

While a few of those type of travel agents still exist, they are in the minority, and most of them basically just facilitate the transaction or give a gift. Then when they do give advice, based on my experience, it is often based on which cruise line gives them the best commission instead of which one is best for us. Around five years ago when I was planning our first European Cruise I called a few travel agents to get ideas. One insisted that Holland America was the only cruise line that was good in Europe and tried to talk me out of every other one. Then when I asked for a quote, she told me that she didn't do that over the phone and I should come into her office. When she said that to me I felt as if I was dealing with an car salesman :)

[PrincessCarolyn]

For our upcoming Solstice cruise we received $200 OBC, bottle of wine, two free dinners in any of the specialty restaurant, paid gratuities. You don't get that by booking directly. Oh, and our price went down and we got the lower price from the agent.

 

 

Wow Kitty that sounds great-but you must have booked an expensive room/suite? I'd love that!

 

I personally think it boils down to your agent and your experience w/ them.

I'll tell you why: I booked last 3 cruises w/ my agent. Last cruise I found it WAY cheaper thru Celebs website (300pp) and she didn't want to give me the credit. SO the agent gave me a $100 on board credit for an 11 night balcony room/cruise. SO i basically paid MORE and got a small obc from agent.

 

NOW another thing that happened w/ my agent: I wanted to book a certain cruise because I had $500 credit from the cruise line. My agent said she called the cruise line and they had no record of my credit. I believed her and went and booked another cruise. Well about 2 weeks later that bugged me and I called the other line I was going to cruise-they said "yes we have a credit here under your name" Did the agent make a mistake? I don't know but it didn't sound kosher.

 

I am now confident to book my own cruise myself through the cruise lines website. Also, the cruise line does NOT want to deal with you if you booked through and agent. I found this out personally. They will answer a general question but they really can't do much for you in the way of credits and/or price drops.

 

Everyone is different I suppose-some people are lucky enough to have a friend or family member as an agent.

[robtulipe]

You know they aren't paid the commission on the total cost, taxes and NCF are excluded. and the cost without taxes was more like $3500...

 

Commissions paid be as high as 20% with incentives and hold backs.

 

But the point is that you never get these with the Cruise line so even with a couple of fees it is still worth it to both get the amenity and to have someone who can use more clout than an individual cruiser will ever have.

 

I'll keep the extra money thank you and you can keep what is clearly a prejudice against TA's-IMO.

Also the cruise fare is divided into a commissionable and non commissionable portions will reduces the portion a TA will get commission on. You don't normally see that as separate charges on your invoice unless you book through a TA.

[robtulipe]

Very interesting. Today, for the first time, I booked directly with Celebrity.

Forf eleven years we have always booked with a very large travel agency with 24/7 service. The only problem I have had with this booking is that in order to print the invoice from Celebrity, you need adobe (whatever that is) which we do not have. However, there is a link that you can push, which I have done; and, so far all I see is a circle that keeps moving. I may direct that problem to the attention of my wife who is our resident computer guru.

The cruise lines invoices and eDocs are Acrobat PDF (portable document format) from Adobe and usually the message these document are attached to have a link to download Adobe Acrobat Reader software for free. This software will allow you to open, print and copy portions of a PDF but not allow you to create a new document. Go to http://get.adobe.com/reader/

[hlk08003]

Dealing direct is the easiest way to go, especially if you have monitored pricing patterns closely. On the other hand it is nice to give your agent a comission if the price is the same or better. My question is, if I book direct, and pay the cruiseline directly, can I then turn the booking over to the agent for her to get a comission?

[bardstowntraveller]

For both of the Celebrity cruises I have booked/taken, I have gotten a better deal through an on-line TA. I shopped several agencies and always found the fare to be identical to Celebrity's but the added perks brought the cost down significantly.

 

On our first cruise, we were offered a $200 OBC. Prices went down after we booked and the agency reduced our price without a problem. They also reduced the OBC to compensate.

 

On the cruise we are now booked on, we received a $200 OBC and prepaid gratuities. So far, prices have gone up, not down on our cruise and our category and many others are sold out. Booking through a TA saved us over $1000.

 

I have started shopping another cruise on Celebrity. Our TA has offered a $300 OBC. Through a little investigation I discovered that the price differential between what Celebrity started offering our category ($1799) and the price now being offered ($1949) was $150pp the same amount as the OBC being offered. Based on this info, I wonder if Celebrity provides special pricing to the larger of the on-line TAs.

[robtulipe]

Dealing direct is the easiest way to go, especially if you have monitored pricing patterns closely. On the other hand it is nice to give your agent a comission if the price is the same or better. My question is, if I book direct, and pay the cruiseline directly, can I then turn the booking over to the agent for her to get a comission?

You can transfer a direct booking to a TA before the final payment, after final payment it can't be transferred. You need to fill out, sign and return a form that X will send you by email (to print out) or regular mail. The form must be faxed or mailed back to them as they require your signature on this document.

[smeyer418]

....

 

I have started shopping another cruise on Celebrity. Our TA has offered a $300 OBC. Through a little investigation I discovered that the price differential between what Celebrity started offering our category ($1799) and the price now being offered ($1949) was $150pp the same amount as the OBC being offered. Based on this info, I wonder if Celebrity provides special pricing to the larger of the on-line TAs.

 

That is really strange because according to Celebrity's announced policy, the fare on its website and the fare that a TA may advertise or sign a client up for are to be EXACTLY the same. The amenity that the TA offers is also restricted by Celebrity but includes the gratuity and certain other incidentals.

[neilrr]

For both of the Celebrity cruises I have booked/taken, I have gotten a better deal through an on-line TA. I shopped several agencies and always found the fare to be identical to Celebrity's but the added perks brought the cost down significantly.

 

On our first cruise, we were offered a $200 OBC. Prices went down after we booked and the agency reduced our price without a problem. They also reduced the OBC to compensate.

 

On the cruise we are now booked on, we received a $200 OBC and prepaid gratuities. So far, prices have gone up, not down on our cruise and our category and many others are sold out. Booking through a TA saved us over $1000.

 

I have started shopping another cruise on Celebrity. Our TA has offered a $300 OBC. Through a little investigation I discovered that the price differential between what Celebrity started offering our category ($1799) and the price now being offered ($1949) was $150pp the same amount as the OBC being offered. Based on this info, I wonder if Celebrity provides special pricing to the larger of the on-line TAs.

 

That is really strange because according to Celebrity's announced policy, the fare on its website and the fare that a TA may advertise or sign a client up for are to be EXACTLY the same. The amenity that the TA offers is also restricted by Celebrity but includes the gratuity and certain other incidentals.

 

Smeyer418 and Bardtowntraveller - You are both correct. It starts out that all travel agents have the same pricing and deal, but then you get the larger TA's and wholesalers, and they buy up block space and are given additional incentives which are then passed on to the traveller, if the cruise lines can't sell the ship/date. Our brick and mortar travel agent has tried to match several deals and it was not possible, so we went with the on-line TA as the savings were too great to lose.

 

Neil

[caladvoc8]

Very interesting. Today, for the first time, I booked directly with Celebrity.

Forf eleven years we have always booked with a very large travel agency with 24/7 service. The only problem I have had with this booking is that in order to print the invoice from Celebrity, you need adobe (whatever that is) which we do not have. However, there is a link that you can push, which I have done; and, so far all I see is a circle that keeps moving. I may direct that problem to the attention of my wife who is our resident computer guru.

 

Adobe is a software manufacturer. Go to adobe.com and download free Adobe Reader program. That program will allow you to download and print so-called pdf (portable document format) files. Good luck.

[lawgeek]

Dealing direct is the easiest way to go, especially if you have monitored pricing patterns closely. On the other hand it is nice to give your agent a comission if the price is the same or better. My question is, if I book direct, and pay the cruiseline directly, can I then turn the booking over to the agent for her to get a comission?

 

I was recently speaking to an booking person at X and she encouraged me to book through her and then transfer the booking to an agent to reap any shipboard credits they may be offering.

[ubdkjrb]

I was recently speaking to an booking person at X and she encouraged me to book through her and then transfer the booking to an agent to reap any shipboard credits they may be offering.

 

If true, that booking person should be fired. It is certainly not in Celebrity's best interest to complete a booking and then transfer to an agent having to pay them a 15% commission. As a stockholder in RCCL, this is unacceptable employee behavior.

[Bridge Maven]

I was recently speaking to an booking person at X and she encouraged me to book through her and then transfer the booking to an agent to reap any shipboard credits they may be offering.

 

If a Celebrity employee said that to me I would report them to a supervisor because her suggestion would require Celebrity to pay employees, as well as travel agents, for the same booking.

[emptynest1]

I was recently speaking to an booking person at X and she encouraged me to book through her and then transfer the booking to an agent to reap any shipboard credits they may be offering.

I don't see the problem with this or why you feel someone needs to be fired. When I booked this cruise onboard Constellation the Captains club rep told me how easy it is to transfer this booking to a TA and I still get the OBC for booking on the cruise.

[Bridge Maven]

I don't see the problem with this or why you feel someone needs to be fired. When I booked this cruise onboard Constellation the Captains club rep told me how easy it is to transfer this booking to a TA and I still get the OBC for booking on the cruise.

 

My opinion on this issue is probably affected by the fact that I owned my own business for many years before I retired, so I have a tendency to view things from the perspective of senior management.

[ubdkjrb]

I don't see the problem with this or why you feel someone needs to be fired. When I booked this cruise onboard Constellation the Captains club rep told me how easy it is to transfer this booking to a TA and I still get the OBC for booking on the cruise.

 

There is a big difference between informing someone about what they could do and "encouraging" them to do it. Many people are loyal to their TA's and might be reluctant to book another cruise while onboard unless they knew they "could" transfer it.

 

I stand by my original statement: if someone from Celebrity encouraged me to transfer my booking that I just made to a TA - they should be fired.

[Umbria lover]

I'm pretty new to all this, so I'm not really sure if I would be 'entitled' to anything but....we recently booked an inside cabin thru a TA, then later I saw an offer from Celebrity (their one day Oct 27 sale) that for $100 pp more you could have an obstructed view cabin. I contacted our TA but he said that offer was for new bookings only. Now I see that the cost of our cabin has gone down $100pp - should I contact the TA again, even tho this offer says it's for new customers only? I would expect that most of these price reductions have this disclaimer, yet many people have said they were upgraded or got OBC. Or does this just apply to cabins above a certain price level? Maybe at our 'bargain' rate there's no incentive for our TA to help??? :confused:

[emptynest1]

There is a big difference between informing someone about what they could do and "encouraging" them to do it. Many people are loyal to their TA's and might be reluctant to book another cruise while onboard unless they knew they "could" transfer it.

 

I stand by my original statement: if someone from Celebrity encouraged me to transfer my booking that I just made to a TA - they should be fired.

 

I'm sorry, I'm just not getting the reason for being fired. If Celebrity wanted to keep the reservation then they would not offer a transfer to a TA. Celebrity has made it very easy to transfer and no one discourages the practice, and I would say that the onboard rep did not come right out and say to transfer it, but was very eager to relate the possibilities to me even when I did not ask.

It's good business, and that comes from someone who runs her own company.

[ubdkjrb]

I'm sorry, I'm just not getting the reason for being fired. If Celebrity wanted to keep the reservation then they would not offer a transfer to a TA. Celebrity has made it very easy to transfer and no one discourages the practice, and I would say that the onboard rep did not come right out and say to transfer it, but was very eager to relate the possibilities to me even when I did not ask.

It's good business, and that comes from someone who runs her own company.

 

Think about it. If it were your business, would you want to keep the reservation or transfer it along with a 15% commission? The answer is obviously keep it. They allow transfers only because, at this point, they still need the TA community to fill their ships. But, by no means, do they "want" to transfer a booking that has already been made thru their reservation department. If you can't understand that, you need to stay away from running a business.

 

As an additional note: Carnival has a policy that no transfers allowed after 30 days. They want to keep their commissions as well.

[emptynest1]

Business isn't all about taking every penny in profit. It is give and take with others to achieve the ultimate job. The cruise industry still needs the TA's or they would not use their services.