What if TA is off for the weekend?

[gt_mustang_gal]

Did you put one on hold like people suggested?

 

Yes, I did. Not sure if that's going to make a difference or not? I guess if I went in and hit "cancel", then there would technically be another one open. The question is - at what rate?

[Sue L]

Yes, I did. Not sure if that's going to make a difference or not? I guess if I went in and hit "cancel", then there would technically be another one open. The question is - at what rate?

 

You have it on hold at the lower rate, right? Just have your TA switch the booking, DON"T cancel anything.

[gt_mustang_gal]

You have it on hold at the lower rate, right? Just have your TA switch the booking, DON"T cancel anything.

 

Yep, it's on hold for $1,200 less than what we originally paid. Of course, the room that I put on hold is in an area of the ship that we'd rather not be in. I hate to lose the center hump location, but I'm certainly not going to complain about the location if we save $1,200!!! ;)

 

How can they switch the booking without cancelling the other booking?

[Sue L]

Yep, it's on hold for $1,200 less than what we originally paid. Of course, the room that I put on hold is in an area of the ship that we'd rather not be in. I hate to lose the center hump location, but I'm certainly not going to complain about the location if we save $1,200!!! ;)

 

How can they switch the booking without cancelling the other booking?

 

 

they can take over the other room and then cancel the second booking but the lower price will now be on the booking. Then if no one grabs the other cabin while they are doing the switching then you can grab that one back. It is a bit complicated but doable.

[gt_mustang_gal]

they can take over the other room and then cancel the second booking but the lower price will now be on the booking. Then if no one grabs the other cabin while they are doing the switching then you can grab that one back. It is a bit complicated but doable.

 

Awesome! Thank you so much! :D I hope I can sleep tonight. LOL! You can bet that I'll be on the phone right at 8:00 in the morning.

[Sue L]

Awesome! Thank you so much! :D I hope I can sleep tonight. LOL! You can bet that I'll be on the phone right at 8:00 in the morning.

 

Good luck and keep us posted on what happens.

[gt_mustang_gal]

they can take over the other room and then cancel the second booking but the lower price will now be on the booking. Then if no one grabs the other cabin while they are doing the switching then you can grab that one back. It is a bit complicated but doable.

 

I called the travel agency at 8am. The room that I had on courtesy hold at the lower price is GONE. It has been REMOVED from the system. So that idea didn't work. There are now more Junior Suites available but the rates have gone back up the full $1,200. I asked to speak with a manager but was informed that no managers will be in the office until after 9am. :mad:

[Sue L]

I called the travel agency at 8am. The room that I had on courtesy hold at the lower price is GONE. It has been REMOVED from the system. So that idea didn't work. There are now more Junior Suites available but the rates have gone back up the full $1,200. I asked to speak with a manager but was informed that no managers will be in the office until after 9am. :mad:

 

when did you put it on hold? It usually lasts 24-36 hours even though it says 24 hours. So sorry it didn't work.

[gt_mustang_gal]

when did you put it on hold? It usually lasts 24-36 hours even it says 24 hours. So sorry it didn't work.

 

Hey Sue - let me run this one past you. The travel agency is now telling me that they talked to RCCL and that RCCL claims they know nothing about a price drop over the weekend. I faxed them screen shots of quotes from RCCL, their OWN website, and also several other travel agencies online. It clearly proves that the Junior Suites were $999 this weekend. So now the travel agency is saying that if I can provide them with reservation numbers of individuals who GOT this $999 rate, then they might have more leverage. (Of course, I've begged the people in my Meet & Mingle group to give me their reservation numbers) Something just doesn't seem right about this. I talked to RCCL and they were definitely aware of the price drop this weekend. So what's going on here?

[Tranquil Waters]

I called the travel agency at 8am. The room that I had on courtesy hold at the lower price is GONE. It has been REMOVED from the system. So that idea didn't work. There are now more Junior Suites available but the rates have gone back up the full $1,200. I asked to speak with a manager but was informed that no managers will be in the office until after 9am. :mad:

 

Are you sure the cabin is not "in the system" when your TA checked because it is on hold for YOU (from when you yourself called)?

[gt_mustang_gal]

Are you sure the cabin is not "in the system" when your TA checked because it is on hold for YOU (from when you yourself called)?

 

No. I checked on it myself before I called the travel agency...and RCCL said the reservation didn't exist. I had the courtesy hold reservation email and everything. But it had been like 32 hours, so I guess it expired. My guess is that they probably deleted it as soon as they increased the rates from $999 back to $1599.

[Sue L]

Are you sure the cabin is not "in the system" when your TA checked because it is on hold for YOU (from when you yourself called)?

 

go onto the RCCL and check your res because if they agency tried pulling it up through the TA portal they won't be able to because you own it they don't. And the RCCL if they didn't work over the weekend may not know what dropped and didn't. You can't expect them to know every ship and category drop.

 

Also if it disappeared then they no longer have access to it and can't see it. Tell them the code someone provided you with.

[gt_mustang_gal]

And the RCCL if they didn't work over the weekend may not know what dropped and didn't. You can't expect them to know every ship and category drop.

 

 

I have the names of the 4 individuals that I talked with at RCCL. The last one was a manager who said she was making notes in my reservation to indicate that a price drop had occurred and that I tried to get a reduction, but my travel agency does not work on weekends. I gave the travel agency the names of the people at RCCL and told them there were notes in my reservation. Nothing that I say is helping and they really don't seem to care.

[grod19]

No. I checked on it myself before I called the travel agency...and RCCL said the reservation didn't exist. I had the courtesy hold reservation email and everything. But it had been like 32 hours, so I guess it expired. My guess is that they probably deleted it as soon as they increased the rates from $999 back to $1599.

 

doesnt the courtesy hold reservation have the price on it?

[Sue L]

I have the names of the 4 individuals that I talked with at RCCL. The last one was a manager who said she was making notes in my reservation to indicate that a price drop had occurred and that I tried to get a reduction, but my travel agency does not work on weekends. I gave the travel agency the names of the people at RCCL and told them there were notes in my reservation. Nothing that I say is helping and they really don't seem to care.

 

 

what a shame they are giving you the run around. Why don't you request a three way call with RCCL and your agency and ask specifically if there are notes in your res. and the contents. This way you are getting both sides of the story first hand. If they won't then call RCCL and ask to speak to the resolutions dept, they may be able to help

[steponboard]

mustang gal , lesson learned, book directly and keep control over your reservation. next time you need something you can call RCL and just do it. There isn't a bottle of wine or OBC that compensates what you lost in money or time or aggravation.

[Desert Cruizers]

gt mustang, I will never use an online Travel Agency, I will only use one within my own city or I will book directly. I like being able to sit down with an agent and be there at the time my reservation is called into the Cruise Lines. That way I know what I requested is being given correctly. I understand those who have had terrible experiences using a TA, a friend of ours from last cruise did due to a final payment not being made to the Cruise lines but back to her office. It was resolved and they cruised.

I won't sit her and post that one is better over the other, as it comes down to our satisfaction on the Service we received, regardless of which agency we used.

[djneph]

No. I checked on it myself before I called the travel agency...and RCCL said the reservation didn't exist. I had the courtesy hold reservation email and everything. But it had been like 32 hours, so I guess it expired. My guess is that they probably deleted it as soon as they increased the rates from $999 back to $1599.

 

I used to work for RCI. When you make a reservation and it is cancelled it is NOT DELETED. The reservation number stays in the system, but just shows as CX (cancelled) instead of BK (Booked) or OF (Offered, when you put a cruise on hold w/o deposit). All bookings stay in the system for a while it will just show CX for a cancelled booking. So if you have a reservation number it should be there, it won't disappear.

[Loves_Dogs]

mustang gal , lesson learned, book directly and keep control over your reservation. next time you need something you can call RCL and just do it. There isn't a bottle of wine or OBC that compensates what you lost in money or time or aggravation.

 

 

EXACTLY!!...You took the words right out of my mouth.

[gt_mustang_gal]

I used to work for RCI. When you make a reservation and it is cancelled it is NOT DELETED. The reservation number stays in the system, but just shows as CX (cancelled) instead of BK (Booked) or OF (Offered, when you put a cruise on hold w/o deposit). All bookings stay in the system for a while it will just show CX for a cancelled booking. So if you have a reservation number it should be there, it won't disappear.

 

All I know is that I gave her the courtesy hold reservation number straight from the email and even offered to forward the email to her. There was no record of it at all (according to her) to prove the price drop. She asked me which room number I put the hold on and then told me that the room was reserved and paid for by someone this morning.

[cruisedreamer1987]

SueL or Flagger or any of the other TA's out there: do you gaurantee your OBC dollar amount or know of any travel agencies that do? Of course not! You wouldn't stay in business.

 

Actually TAs can guarantee OBC. If it is cruise line issued.

 

TAs usually get those handy flyers in which tell you "if you book your client ..... than we offer....".

 

This happens quite frequently and is mostly not accessible to the public.

 

Clients only know of the difference if they try to cash in their OBC (as most of these are non refundable) unless the TA makes clear where the OBC comes from (which is really not that important anyways).

 

If a TA issues OBC out of commission it just can not be guaranteed. A lot of the rates drop big time these days and with agency commission rates generally between 10-16% of the cruise fare (minus the NCCF) there is really not much leverage of an OBC issue coming from the TA unless it is a suite booked on a 14 Night Grand European cruise.

 

Most of the big OBC offers come from cruise line offers.

 

I.e. a 3 Night cruise at $179 pp with an NCCF of $100 (pretty standard for a Bahamas cruise) has a commissionable rate of $79. Let's say the commission is 16%, the agency makes approx $25 on the booking (double occupancy).

If you have commission share as an agent with your agency (which is most likely) your commission is somewhere between $10 (40%) and $20 (80%).

 

Hardly a chance to issue OBC MUCH LESS GURANTEE ANYTHING. Now if a cruiseline wants to promote a sailing they can further reduce the price or keep the price but get TAs to promote the cruise by simply issuing - let's say $25 OBC for all new bookings. There is your OBC guarantee.

 

 

:D;)

[Bridge Maven]

mustang gal , lesson learned, book directly and keep control over your reservation. next time you need something you can call RCL and just do it. There isn't a bottle of wine or OBC that compensates what you lost in money or time or aggravation.

 

I agree with you completely!

[fridaythe13th]

gt gal... Not sure when in January you are sailing but I see the JS on the 10th has dropped to $999.