Policy regarding transfer of booking to agents

[stanjj111]

I just got information regarding the policy of RCCL to not allow booking to be transferred to travel agents after 60 booking with RCCL directly. The agencies that I deal with give obc's. I like to check with the different agencies 100 days out to get the best deals. This policy eliminates this and I am disappointed.

 

What do others think of this policy?

[Richiebaseball]

It just means you either transfer for your perks within 60 days of booking (or heaven forbid book with an agency in the first place) or keep it directly with the cruise line and forego the perks.

It's all about choices and you still get to choose one or the other, you just can't choose both anymore.

[Lsimon]

On the one hand anything that limits a consumers rights or benefits will never be "liked", so no one will think this is a good policy except for Celebrity employees and shareholders.

 

Oh the other hand it is the cruise line's prerogative to allow such transfers in the first place and it is nice that they still allow such transfers to take place.

 

Don't forget that in the USA, and many other countries, there is no cancellation fee if you were to cancel a cruise booked with Celebrity before the final payment date. So since you can always cancel and rebook at 100 days out, your only risk in shopping around then is if price goes up or if you have a cabin you don't want to risk losing in a category that is in demand.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

It is what it is. I'm with Larry-- I think it's generous that they're allowing the booking to be transferred to a TA at all, whom they now have to pay a commission to. The TA doesn't do much to earn that commission if they did not have to do the legwork to sell the customer on that cruise and if they only have it for the period prior to final payment. Requiring the booking be transferred within 60 days at least means the TA must deal with any issues regarding the booking for the bulk of the life of the booking.

 

In general, I believe TAs are unlikely to have radically different OBC offers 75 days out or 300 days out, nor are they based on how close you are to your sail date, so just take the best offer available at the time you must transfer. Maybe you'll end up with a better offer than if you had waited!

[marieps]

We always book on board for the OBC, then transfer to my local (not web) TA for either more OBC or some other perk. She always gives a bottle of wine and once even comped the airport limo round trip.

 

Her X rep also honors price drops. We got a $400 dicount very late in the game on Equinox when X instituted a break for GA residents. I like having a TA looking out for that stuff.

[Albert Ross]

In the UK you have 48 hours in which to transfer the booking.

[tartantiara]

In the UK you have 48 hours in which to transfer the booking.

 

 

Is that 48 hours from when you book or from when you disembark ?

[Albert Ross]

Is that 48 hours from when you book or from when you disembark ?

If you book with the UK office it is 48 hrs from when you book and pay the deposit.

If you book on board you get 30 days to transfer it to an agent.

If you book a 'ghost cruise' on board then the timer starts from when you turn it into a 'real' booking

Confused?

[stanjj111]

Spoke to agent at RCCL to find out where to get forms. I asked why this changed policy and she had no idea why. FYI in addition to the 60 days after booking if you booked before Oct 2010 you can get grandfathered in and transfer.

[Northshorecruisers]

So glad I read this thread. I had wrongly thought that the policy would be the same as HAL and I just had to send a fax to them and my travel agent requesting the transfer at any time prior to the cruise.

 

Where do I get the form to do the transfer and how do I go about it?

[C 2 C]

So glad I read this thread. I had wrongly thought that the policy would be the same as HAL and I just had to send a fax to them and my travel agent requesting the transfer at any time prior to the cruise.

 

Where do I get the form to do the transfer and how do I go about it?

 

Welcome to Celebrity.

 

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/faq/Celebrity%20Booking%20Transfer%20Form.pdf

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Where do I get the form to do the transfer and how do I go about it?

 

Your TA should have one. Ours fills out her portion, emails it to us to print out and we fill out our portion, then we fax it back to her. She then submits it to Celebrity.

[jerseygirl3]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

[Lois R]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

 

Hi, I think a passage is what you are saying it is.....I have 2 I bought

last month on Century. I don't know when I am going to use them

yet. Why doesn't your sister just call her TA and give them the

Passage number? That passage number is the new reservation number.

I think the person at Celebrity is wrong.

[Richiebaseball]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

 

You can transfer a passages without naming a cruise. You should be able to transfer to the agent anyway. Call back and remind them first that this was purchased two years ago, before the policy change. That should do the trick. But regardless, from what I have been hearing they are transferring within 60 days of booking the specific ship and sail date.

 

But to make this easier in the future, consider just booking with the agent to begin with. Even when booking a passage you can still assign it to your agent.

[Richiebaseball]

Spoke to agent at RCCL to find out where to get forms. I asked why this changed policy and she had no idea why. FYI in addition to the 60 days after booking if you booked before Oct 2010 you can get grandfathered in and transfer.

 

The reason is pretty simple. Money. The reason there is a transfer policy in place at all is to allow someone to book a cruise, even when their agent is not available, without cutting the agent out. Cruise lines do not want to alienate agents but when someone is looking to book a cruise, they want them to go ahead and book. Strike while the iron is hot so to speak. But maybe it's 2 in the morning or maybe their agent is out of town or maybe another reason. No worries. Go ahead and book and then transfer to your agent.

But then more and more people started booking directly with Royal and Celebrity, calling them whenever they needed anything, a cabin change, a price change, a category change, and then right before final payment they would transfer to an agency for a perk. This meant that the cruise line did most of the work servicing the booking and still had to pay a commission. One of the reasons they pay a commission is for the agency to service the booking. So basically they felt they were getting screwed on both ends. And they were. So they made a change.

[Northshorecruisers]

Xellent - Thanks for the form!! I was surprised it didn't mention the 60 day rule on the form - at least not that I saw.

 

I can understand that Celebrity doesn't like doing all the work up till the last couple months before the cruise and then the cruise is transferred - but so far I haven't even talked to anyone at Celebrity. I've done everything on line, including making payments that they never had to touch.

 

I'm so glad I found this post. If 3 months from now I went to transfer my booking and was told I couldn't - I would have cancelled my cruise and gone back to HAL.

[C 2 C]

The reason is pretty simple. Money.

 

So true.

However if X were to give the same "incentives" that they allow the TA to give in SBC, OBC, free insurance, or paid gratuities, I for one would never change. The agency I use charges $50 for an outright cancellation of a booking, so I delay as long as possible. Just before 60 days were up, I faxed the forms to the TA and due to a busy office or other SNAFU, the deadline was missed. X would not allow the transfer so I cancelled all four bookings. X stuck to the rules but no longer has my deposits, and I'm free to look at alternatives. With X's pricing policies of seriously dropping prices after final payment date on many sailings, I'm in no hurry to commit to their inflexible policies.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

 

The Celebrity agent is wrong. I got a Passages in early February and couldn't use it until itineraries came out in early April. I then transferred the booking to my TA in early June, no problem.

 

When I asked Celebrity about this specific question, it was explained to be thusly-- "How would you be able to transfer it to a TA within 60 days if the cruise you want to take doesn't exist yet? There's no booking to transfer. Passages is only a certificate. The Passages number will become your booking number, but not until you select a cruise. "

[Lsimon]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

 

The last time we bought a passages certificate was before they disallowed more than one on board credit - a couple years ago. But at that time the certificate was assigned immediately to our agent before any actual booking.

[MMDown Under]

This custom fascinates me. How did it come about originally?

 

Was it to encourage cruisers to book when they were already on a cruise?

 

If a cruiser wants to use a TA, wouldn't the cruiser book with that TA initially, rather than the cruise line?

[C 2 C]

I have been told as well, both by my TA and on board marketing manager, that new "Passages" also have to be assigned within 60 days.

[Lois R]

I have been told as well, both by my TA and on board marketing manager, that new "Passages" also have to be assigned within 60 days.

 

Hi Arno, looks like you and Steve were given different information.

Why am I NOT surprised?:rolleyes:

[PartyAllDaTyme]

This custom fascinates me. How did it come about originally?

 

Was it to encourage cruisers to book when they were already on a cruise?

 

If a cruiser wants to use a TA, wouldn't the cruiser book with that TA initially, rather than the cruise line?

 

Correct, it's to encourage future bookings. The Passages certificates never expire, though they are nonrefundable.

 

You get some OBC with the Passages, similar to the offers for booking your next cruise on board. The price you pay for the Passages certificate essentially serves as your deposit, but you cannot get the usual free upgrade you get for booking an actual cruise while on board. Passages is handy if you're not sure what cruise you want to take next, or (as it was in our case) the itinerary has not yet been released.

 

You can book your cruise when you are finally able to, then transfer the booking to a TA for any benefits they provide and keep the OBC from Celebrity. You miss out on X's OBC offer if you book directly with a TA from the get-go.

 

These are experiences for North American bookings. I'm never sure what rules apply for Australia, Europe, and so on.

[stanjj111]

I'm really aggravated. My sister purchased a Celebrity Passages certificate two years ago while on a Celebrity cruise. It never expires, so we were told.

 

She tried to use it yesterday to book Eclipse for next spring. She wanted the booking to go to her travel agent. The person with whom she spoke at Celebrity told her since it had been 60 days since she purchased the certificate, it could no longer be transferred to a travel agent.

 

That doesn't sound right to me. When you purchase a Celebrity Passages certificate, you don't name a travel agent. You do when you do an onboard booking (or you can elect to transfer an onboard booking to the TA of your choice within 60 days). But how could you transfer a Celebrity Passages certificate when you're not actually naming a cruise. I can understand the need to transfer it within 60 days when you actually make the booking using the Passages certificate, but not when you simply purchase it.

 

Am I wrong? I'm hoping the person she spoke with at Celebrity was mistaken and she is going to call Celebrity back tomorrow.

 

Anybody know for sure what is the policy?

 

 

Booked on RCCL in May of 2010 before policy went into effect in Oct. 2010. Although all the agents did not know this I talked to a supervisor and she indicated that the booking was grandfather in. Keep trying until to get the right person.