TA....Expecting Too Much??

[Mike&Nancy]

Hi all,

 

I'd like to get your opinion, but first, let me say I'm not out seeking a new travel agent. This thread isn't about getting names of new ones, I'm just curious.

 

We just returned from the Brilliance recently. I thought maybe we'd hear from our agent before we left....you know, bye..have a nice trip. Nothing. I thought maybe we'd hear something on the ship...wine, etc. Nothing. I did get an email from her a week after I got back wanting to know how the trip was, and did I want her to explore cruising options we had discussed before we left. I have to be honest, it left me with a bitter taste.

 

So, my question is: am I expecting too much?? In all fairness, she isn't the first travel agent to do this, so maybe it is me. I just like to think I'm getting the best customer service available, in a market where they are a dime a dozen. So, please don't slam....just tell me if I need to lighten up. Or am I justified?

 

Again, I don't want this thread to get pulled. I'm not wanting TA names, just your guys opinion on whether I'm a pain in the a** or not. :)

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[Wolfman994]

While it would be nice to have that kind of customer service, the reality of it is you are one of a 100 people on her list. We are going on our first cruise in May and my TA knows it is our anniversary. It would be nice for her to send a bottle of wine or some sort of gift but I do not "expect it".

[hstrybuf]

Maybe you're just expecting a bit too much. I have a great TA that I adore! I neither expect nor receive a gift in my cabin or a Bon Voyage e-mail. Her great service and prices are enough for me. :)

[Host Jacquelyn]

I never received a gift from any of my TAs on any of my cruises. I referred many friends and family members to this one TA, so you think he would be grateful, but nothing. Ultimately, he gives me great service and great prices (when TAs were allowed to be competitive), so I didn't mind. I would rather my TA give me a great price upfront rather than me paying $100 more and end up with a $10 bottle of wine.

[Mike&Nancy]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Maybe the problem lies with the fact, that I don't think my prices have been all that great. Maybe I should be leaning more towards good prices and less customer (that being me) satisfaction?? :confused:

 

Nancy

[zachnlucy]

My TA gives me great prices and a bottle of unpalatable wine with my recent cruises. I'm happy.

[JudyOh]

Host Jacquelyn - trust me there is no such thing as a $10 bottle of wine on a cruise ship. You're looking at at least $22 - $25 for a bottle of chardonnay, white zin, merlot, etc. We use to be able to order it from companies in Miami cheaper, but then the cruiselines starting charging them $5 to bring it on the ship so now it all runs at least $22 a bottle.

[CruisinGrams]

We have a very thoughtful TA who has now become a friend. She works very hard to find what we need and gets us the best price. If whe sees a special offer that she thinks we may be interested in, she leaves us messages so we can call her if we want more details. She never fails to arrange to have a bottle of wine delivered to our room and if there is a special occasion she make arrangements (at her expense) for a celebration cake. She is a very detailed person and treats her clients very well. We would never consider taking our business anywhere else.

[Coralc]

If he or she is not giving you a substantial discount, is not a friend, and does not provide "gifts". Then what is that person really doing for you? Before the cruise lines all went online, it was very difficult to do any price comparison shopping among TA's. We used to receive a ton of gifts from our TA, once the cruise lines were online, we also found out that we weren't receiving any discounts either. RCI's new pricing policy has also returned us to the diificult times of price comparison shopping.

 

I have heard that some TA's will provide assistance if there are problems with your cruise. To some extent, that is correct. After a problem, the particular cruise line ignored us until the TA contacted them. After that they offered us a fruit basket and a 1 category upgrade on our next cruise. Not something to produce cartwheels of joy.

 

After 9 cruises and the new pricing, we just sort of gave up on the TA thing. Our next 2 are booked directly with RCI and we have received full value for the member discounts and coupons, and questions or problems can be resolved with one phone call directly to the cruise line. :)

[debandbill]

The local cruise only agency that I use does typically send a gift of wine or champagne but....I have requested and received a credit to our seapass instead...So instead of wine that we don't drink, we have a few extra bucks(usually $25) to spend on something we enjoy! Each cabin on our family cruise received a credit as well...lovely!

[Toto2Kansas]

We use a wonderful TA. Great Service, and discounted pricing on those lines that can be discounted. Never received a gift of any kind from here, and we normally book suites or mini suites.

 

BUT................since she does (or at least did as for RCI) give us great discounts on cruises, I would much rather have the best price to be found then flowers or a bottle of wine. With what she has saved me over the years I can buy whatever I want on the ship.

 

When we book a cruise, I am not looking for a friend in a travel agent who I will probably never meet, I am not looking for a gift, all I want is the best price she can offer me and good customer service. That is what puts a smile on my face.

 

And over the years, we have found less and less of the gifts being sent from TA's to the ship. Whenever we have seen someone sent a gift, it is usually because they have paid quite a bit more for their cruise then we did. Personally, I will take the discount.

(speaking of all lines here since RCI can no longer discount cruises)

[tasbm1]

I found a great TA that really meets our family's needs. She finds us great deals on our trips, brings the documents to our house because we are usually time "challenged" (we both work, have long commutes and our son has many evening activities), we always get something in the cabin/hotel room (wine, gift basket, on-board credit) and she sends us a cute pewter Christmas ornament every year. She always calls before we leave to make sure we have everything and she calls when we get back to see how everything went. From what people tell me, we really got lucky to find her.

[Oppgaard]

Being a TA on the west coast, I book a lot of the 3/4 night Baja cruises and usually do so when the fare is about $249. Out of that fare, $99 is NC or non commissionable, so only about $150 of that is commissionable. When you consider the amount of time it takes for booking, phone calls to and from the client, doing all necessary paperwork, mailing both the invoices, brochures and welcome aboard packet I send plus sending the cruise docs priority mail or in some cases, personally deliver, there is not, if any, money left over. On top of that, it seems that people who do this cruise are often first time cruisers and have a lot of questions and you need to spend a lot of time with them. Needless to say, there is no money left over to send a $25 bottle of wine to them when they are onboard. If they are a repeat client and book cruises of higher value, then I try to do something special for them even on a cruise where I am losing money, however it still irks me when I find out that so and so were upset because I did not send them wine or champagne when this is their one and only cruise they booked with me. It is also very upsetting to find out that they book their other cruises through someone else who didn't want to bother booking them on the cheapie 3 or 4 nighter.

[sleepybert]

This is something that I've been debating for awhile. All of our previous vacations have been booked through the same agency. We've mostly had the same TA, except this upcoming trip. We booked with a different TA in the same office, because she happened to be the only one there. I'm finding that if I had booked directly with the cruise line, then I'd be able to have stuff done right away or know the answers right away. This TA is like, well see you when your tickets are in. We wanted stateroom decorations (never done before) for a birthday onboard and she kept putting it off, which only makes be bug her more to see if it's been done. For our next trip I really am leaning towards just booking directly with RCI. Also, I've learnt alot from these boards about how to go about doing things myself.

[newmexicoNita]

Being a TA on the west coast, I book a lot of the 3/4 night Baja cruises and usually do so when the fare is about $249. Out of that fare, $99 is NC or non commissionable, so only about $150 of that is commissionable. When you consider the amount of time it takes for booking, phone calls to and from the client, doing all necessary paperwork, mailing both the invoices, brochures and welcome aboard packet I send plus sending the cruise docs priority mail or in some cases, personally deliver, there is not, if any, money left over. On top of that, it seems that people who do this cruise are often first time cruisers and have a lot of questions and you need to spend a lot of time with them. Needless to say, there is no money left over to send a $25 bottle of wine to them when they are onboard. If they are a repeat client and book cruises of higher value, then I try to do something special for them even on a cruise where I am losing money, however it still irks me when I find out that so and so were upset because I did not send them wine or champagne when this is their one and only cruise they booked with me. It is also very upsetting to find out that they book their other cruises through someone else who didn't want to bother booking them on the cheapie 3 or 4 nighter.

 

 

I too, am a TA and know exactly what you are saying. I base, what and if I give a gift on the price of the cruise mainly. I normally do send something, but not on those mini cruises unless it's a client that has referred several others to me. Then I will send either wine, a fruit basket or a ship board credit. I wish I could send something to everyone, but I do have to make a few bucks for my time. LOl. As for calling before or after a cruise or other vacation I normally do follow up. How can I know if things went well if I don't. As agents we do not have the time or money to cruise every ship, stay in every Orlando or Vegas hotel or tour Europe everyday. I depend on what my cliants have offer. I also care that they have a good experience. I too have used agents in the past who have not followed up and it has left me cold. Would I continue to use them, maybe, but I still like the personal touch. Just my thoughts, NMNita

 

ps wolfman, you might be one of 100 on her/his list, but show me a TA with that many really active cliants at any one time. I want to know their secret. No agent can do a good job with anywhere near that many cliants. She/he would be no more than an order taker.

[wrinklesandme]

Got to post on this one.

 

Service costs nothing. It sounds like the OP was just looking for a phone call from the agent wishing them Bon Voyage! I'm sure most would prefer the lower fares and discounts in lieu of a bottle of wine. When I book with an on-line agency, I expect nothing but good fares. (I have a whole cupboard full of cheap wine from various vendors.) But, there all also those who would prefer the TA of days gone by, who would do everything for the traveler and send gifts.

 

Years ago, before I had access to the internet and no longer worked in the industry, I booked a cruise for 5 cabins with an agent. She was horrible. I told her exactly what I wanted and she still messed it up. My flights did not correspond with my cruise. duh?! Also, considering the amount of money spent with her, and no "real" discount, we got nothing! No wine, no cheese tray, nothing. (Plus, I had to pay the $200 to get my airline tickets changed that she messed up.)

 

IMHO, if brick and mortar agencies are to survive, service needs to be their number one priority. A phone call and a $25 bottle of wine is nothing in the scheme of things.

 

JMHO.

Leigh

[Max Circus]

With commissions being drastically reduced in recent years, it has to be tough for travel agents. They need to find the right balance between "volume of clients" and "customer service". I imagine that's the only way to stay in business these days.

 

My wife and I haven't used one since our honeymoon. That is mainly because we like to be in complete control of the trip we plan. One bad experience we had with a resort not being paid by the agent almost cost us the whole trip. We also have liked booking our air and cruise separately - gives us much more flexibility and feel less like part of the "herd" as I have seen others comment.

 

Like anything else, it is personal choice. Travel agents can be great and certainly relieve most of the stress in planning a vacation. If you have a good one that remembers what you like and above all is always reachable, stay with him or her. I just wouldn't always expect "amenities".

[Retired not Expired]

On my last cruise, I was fortunate to have a TA would really worked with me since I had a couple with me who's budget would not allow a lot of extras. She got us good deals on the cruise, air flights, etc. To top it off she sent me a beautiful, hardbound photo album that held 4 X 6 photos, plus the front cover acted as a frame for a photo (I put in one of the ship). Wine or a gift basket would have been a distant memory. This sits out to give us wonderful memories every day.

 

Would I use this TA again? You bet. Would her use her again without the gift? You bet. She provided a great service and that's what it's all about. The gift was just icing on the cake. Here's to TA's that provide GOOD service. They earn your business, with or without a gift.

[JudyOh]

But if you are only making $100 commission a $25 bottle of wine is a LOT. Consider, heat and electric, water, rent, postage and time spent with client. You've made very little.

[Gonedownlately?]

...What can a TA really achieve for a traveler anyway, at least in regards to pricing?

 

On Sunday we visited a heavily-advertised cruise-only TA in our hometown. We told her we wanted 8 cabins (including one suite) for an April '06 Royal Caribbean itinerary. She wrote down our information and told us she'd contact the RC folks on Monday. Monday afternoon she got back to me with the pricing: exactly the same as what I can book directly using RC's web site! I told her I was surprised that a "leader in the cruise industry" such as her agency couldn't negotiate a better price than I could do on my own; she really didn't have a response...

 

Like a lot of people on this thread, I'm concerned first about price. I don't need tepid wines and wilting flowers. I'm a savy-enough traveler to be able to figure out transfers and air transportation by myself. If a big-wig TA can't negotiate a better rate for a large group, what do I need 'em for?

 

Does anyone out there think a different TA could do a better job for me? Or are the rates too tightly controlled by the cruise line? Luckily I have time to figure this out...

[newmexicoNita]

Got to post on this one.

 

Service costs nothing. It sounds like the OP was just looking for a phone call from the agent wishing them Bon Voyage! I'm sure most would prefer the lower fares and discounts in lieu of a bottle of wine. When I book with an on-line agency, I expect nothing but good fares. (I have a whole cupboard full of cheap wine from various vendors.) But, there all also those who would prefer the TA of days gone by, who would do everything for the traveler and send gifts.

 

Years ago, before I had access to the internet and no longer worked in the industry, I booked a cruise for 5 cabins with an agent. She was horrible. I told her exactly what I wanted and she still messed it up. My flights did not correspond with my cruise. duh?! Also, considering the amount of money spent with her, and no "real" discount, we got nothing! No wine, no cheese tray, nothing. (Plus, I had to pay the $200 to get my airline tickets changed that she messed up.)

 

IMHO, if brick and mortar agencies are to survive, service needs to be their number one priority. A phone call and a $25 bottle of wine is nothing in the scheme of things.

 

JMHO.

Leigh

 

AMEN! I don't know that any agent is going to save a great deal, a few dollars, yes, especially when we are affiliated with the larger cruise agencies, but even then, depending on the time of travel we can't guarentee better prices, but we can give service, and a little extra such as wine, on board credit or whatever. I do not ever want to be known as an order taker only!! NMNita

[newmexicoNita]

...What can a TA really achieve for a traveler anyway, at least in regards to pricing?

 

On Sunday we visited a heavily-advertised cruise-only TA in our hometown. We told her we wanted 8 cabins (including one suite) for an April '06 Royal Caribbean itinerary. She wrote down our information and told us she'd contact the RC folks on Monday. Monday afternoon she got back to me with the pricing: exactly the same as what I can book directly using RC's web site! I told her I was surprised that a "leader in the cruise industry" such as her agency couldn't negotiate a better price than I could do on my own; she really didn't have a response...

 

Like a lot of people on this thread, I'm concerned first about price. I don't need tepid wines and wilting flowers. I'm a savy-enough traveler to be able to figure out transfers and air transportation by myself. If a big-wig TA can't negotiate a better rate for a large group, what do I need 'em for?

 

Does anyone out there think a different TA could do a better job for me? Or are the rates too tightly controlled by the cruise line? Luckily I have time to figure this out...

 

Not always can an agent save cliants money, it depends on the size of the agency, the time of year one is sailing and othre things, but we can give service, help you through, what could be rough spots, and take care of all the details, leaving you free to only worry about how many suit cases you want to take and what excursions you book. For you, I am not sure any agent would satisfy you. The wine would not be to your liking, the fruit basket not your type of fruit or the photo album just a bother. If you have the time, whether at work or in the evenings go ahead and handle the cruise yourself. NMNita

[kc320]

I have been fortunate to find a TA who not only gives great service but on my last cruise sent a gift of Choc. Covered Strawberries to my cabin. Whether it will be an everytime event or just because at that time she knew I needed a little "boost" it made an impression on me. She had helped me in the past when I had to cancel 2 cruises, 1 of them was not even booked thru her.

 

I don't think a follow up phone call or email is asking to much of any TA, gifts are nice but I realize many TA's don't have the budget to send gifts.

[normaxs]

For many years our TA sent a gift to the cabin and that was nice but no big deal. When the small agency was bought out by a large national group she let me know that she was no longer going to be able to that.

But she does handle lots of details, she knows what we like and makes sure those arrangements are in place. The cabin is midship & lowest deck for the type chosen, my dining choices are always correct, pre and/or post cruise arrangements are taken care of. She watches the prices so if they go down I automaticaly get the difference credited to my credit card.

I do usually find an email waiting for me when I return asking me to call when I have time & let me know how it went.

This is more important to me than the small gift she might send. I've used her for years and will continue to do so. Sure I could do it myself on line but what's the advantage?

Norma

[alb38]

Nancy,

 

I cannot say enough good things about the TA that I used. We had nine people in our party ages 1 - 58 so she tried to accomodate everybody. Anytime I had a question that I felt was just stupid I emailed Shannon with the question and she responded right away. When she sent our travel documents she also included a photo album and wrist bands for seasickness. When we returned home she had sent my mom (since mom took all of us) a welcome home card. I have already contacted her with my next trip information. If you would like her email address I will gladly send it to you. I know you aren't in Pennsylvania but I did everything over email with Shannon to plan our first cruise!

 

Andrea