Price Increase when booking transferred to TA

[Big_G]

Can I ask the other obvious question here? If you have used this TA for 10 years, why did you decide to book directly with RCCL?

 

I don't but many people do because they can choose their cabin and then transfer it to get the extra perks. I don't book through a TA anymore but when I did, the closest I came to doing this was finding the cruise and category on the cruiseline website and then calling the TA to book it.

[ariawoman]

I don't but many people do because they can choose their cabin and then transfer it to get the extra perks. I don't book through a TA anymore but when I did, the closest I came to doing this was finding the cruise and category on the cruiseline website and then calling the TA to book it.

 

You can choose your cabin when booking with a TA too, so, I don't get this argument. If pretty easy for consumers to check if a certain cabin is available and then call their TA. Additionally - they'd get whatever perks RCCL was offering, plus the perks their TA was offering, if they booked at first with the TA, so I'm just not understanding why someone would book direct with the intent to transfer. I presume that happens moreso for people who are only looking for perks and not service and they transfer to the highest bidder, so to speak, not someone who is loyal to 1 TA as the OP appears to be.

 

As for another poster saying that some of the folks on this thread just defend RCCL because they don't like TAs....some of these folks ARE TAs....it's not a matter of defending them at all. If we believed RCCL was to blame, we'd point to them. None of us have any dogs in this fight, we are just calling it as we see it.

 

This instance the OP was rebooked by the TA, into what, or why, none of us can know - only the OP can do that research and find out the whys behind all this. I'm doubtful that it's a service fee - because the OP has a standing relationship with this TA and would have been aware of that practice previous to this instance.

Edited March 16, 2014 by ariawoman

[cruisnseas]

For all you defenders of RCL, no, RCL changes booking numbers when transferring a booking from a U.S. client to a Canadian TA and vise versa. I have had it happen in at least 2 instances where it was done by RCL and the only way I found out and knew the bookings had actually been transferred to me was in cruisingpower.

 

Please - back your info up and stop just blaming the TA because of your personal animosity towards TA's.

 

What you are discussing is a different situation than what the OP is discussing but nevertheless in your situation YOU ARE being rebooked. You cannot just change a booking number without creating a new booking. It just doesn't work that way.

 

And I have no animosity towards TAs. I use them almost exclusively these days. I do, however, have an issue with a TA that screws up and then tries to blame Royal or just make the customer cover the mistake. This TA cancelled and rebooked to get the OP into a group. The TA should have either 1. checked the price first and made sure the OP was ok with it or 2. covered the extra cost on their own. There is simply no excuse to do otherwise.

 

I might be wrong but I believe crusinseas worked for Royal and still has contacts there.

 

You would be correct. I worked for several departments including Resolutions and the exec department (those folks that respond to Adam's emails) over the years. I still regularly stay in contact with people in almost ever department.

[debshomespun]

When the transfer form is faxed to RC, it does take them SEVERAL days to make the transfer to the Travel Agent. Many times, the IT equipment will change what the charges are on the booking. I have had it happen to me many times (I am a TA). I always get the amount my client is paying BEFORE I fax the transfer in. Then, when the transfer comes through from RC, I check it. When there are mistakes, I immediately call RC and have it corrected. This also happens many times with Celebrity. (same process). The booking number stays the same. This is for US reservations. I don't know how they process reservations with a US TA, and Canadian passengers. RC just needs to be notified the numbers are not correct ASAP, and they should fix them without a problem. If not, call back, as we all know, the next RC rep will fix it.

[workingonlytocruise]

What you are discussing is a different situation than what the OP is discussing but nevertheless in your situation YOU ARE being rebooked. You cannot just change a booking number without creating a new booking. It just doesn't work that way.

As is typical for RCL, you are wrong. RCL us making the changes, not the TA, but please, continue to justify.

And I have no animosity towards TAs. I use them almost exclusively these days. I do, however, have an issue with a TA that screws up and then tries to blame Royal or just make the customer cover the mistake. This TA cancelled and rebooked to get the OP into a group. The TA should have either 1. checked the price first and made sure the OP was ok with it or 2. covered the extra cost on their own. There is simply no excuse to do otherwise.

 

 

You have not the slightest idea if this is true or not or do you have access to the booking. Yes, you do have a lot of animosity towards TA's based on your biased defence of RCL without a shred of proof to back it up.

You would be correct. I worked for several departments including Resolutions and the exec department (those folks that respond to Adam's emails) over the years. I still regularly stay in contact with people in almost ever department.

 

If you say so.

[Host Jacquelyn]

Wow, lots of questions. Let me try to get to them all:

 

1. I transferred to the TA before final payment, not after.
   
2. Yes, I have used the TA for over 10 years, but I always book direct and transfer prior to final payment. I watch the rates and will call whenever there is a price drop. I don't like to bug a TA to do all that work. I know, it is their job, but I once got reamed out after I called an old TA twice about a price drop. He asked me how he was supposed to make any money if everyone called in everytime there was a price drop. Again, this was an old TA, but I still remember the humiliation.
   To whomever said I am shopping the res around to the highest bidder, that is untrue.
   
3. The $100 is not a booking fee. I have never paid one with this TA before. He says the total rate came from RCCL, and he says he will get it adjusted. He sounded as horrified about it as me. I am sure he will work it out, but I now need to wait for RCCL to actually execute the refund. Their processes have seemed really, and I mean REALLY, messed up recently.
   
4. I can't believe my TA has group space on this sailing. It is a Med cruise, that is still only half full. He is a Canadian TA, would seem like a strange fit. Also, I asked what prices would be for an upgraded room, and he is quoting me the current fares.
   

[Host Jacquelyn]

For all you defenders of RCL, no, RCL changes booking numbers when transferring a booking from a U.S. client to a Canadian TA and vise versa. I have had it happen in at least 2 instances where it was done by RCL and the only way I found out and knew the bookings had actually been transferred to me was in cruisingpower.

 

Not sure if you were addressing my situation or answering in general, but my booking was originally in Canadian dollars, I transferred to a Canadian TA, and the booking is still in Canadian dollars.

[willing292]

I always book every cruise thru the same TA. On my initial booking, she gives me a copy of the invoice from RCI, because on at least half of our cruises, when final payment is due, the price is always mysteriously higher. RCI doesn't know what they're doing! I say that, and yes, I am loyal to royal, I just make it my business to keep them in line. Once, they charged me the full final payment, one year in advance. They read my booking documents wrong! It then took about one month for them to refund me the money, because they could only refund $500 at a time. And then, they argued about the exchange on the money, as canadian and us were not at par. They are a billion dollar company, and yet they sometimes operate as though the cruise industry was only invented yesterday!

 

 

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[cruisnseas]

Jacquelyn, your TA may be working with a consortium to get group space or has a promotion with multiple TAs for that group space.

 

Either that or your TA made a mistake. But there is just no other reason your booking number would have changed unless it was cancelled and rebooked. If it isn't a group booking and your TA cancelled and rebooked, they made an error and they need to fix it.

 

As for the other poster who is questioning my information, believe what you want. I have far more knowledge of the internal systems than you do and I am actually correct. I will say it again: booking numbers CANNOT change unless the original booking is cancelled and a new one is created. And yes, it is Royal's system doing this....at the request of the travel agent. Heck, even the travel agents on here are agreeing with me. But go ahead and believe travel agents never mess up. Its ok. You'll just be wrong.

[brfan]

Wow, lots of questions. Let me try to get to them all:

 

1. I transferred to the TA before final payment, not after.
   
2. Yes, I have used the TA for over 10 years, but I always book direct and transfer prior to final payment. I watch the rates and will call whenever there is a price drop. I don't like to bug a TA to do all that work. I know, it is their job, but I once got reamed out after I called an old TA twice about a price drop. He asked me how he was supposed to make any money if everyone called in everytime there was a price drop. Again, this was an old TA, but I still remember the humiliation.
   To whomever said I am shopping the res around to the highest bidder, that is untrue.
   
3. The $100 is not a booking fee. I have never paid one with this TA before. He says the total rate came from RCCL, and he says he will get it adjusted. He sounded as horrified about it as me. I am sure he will work it out, but I now need to wait for RCCL to actually execute the refund. Their processes have seemed really, and I mean REALLY, messed up recently.
   
4. I can't believe my TA has group space on this sailing. It is a Med cruise, that is still only half full. He is a Canadian TA, would seem like a strange fit. Also, I asked what prices would be for an upgraded room, and he is quoting me the current fares.
   

 

Is it possible the $100 is related to the drop in the Canadian dollar? When you transferred your booking maybe that somehow triggered them to update the price to the current exchange rate they are using and caused the price to go up by $100?

[Hoopster95]

Wow, lots of questions. Let me try to get to them all:

 

1. The $100 is not a booking fee. I have never paid one with this TA before. He says the total rate came from RCCL,

 

How about an exchange rate issue from US$ to CDN$, or vice versa?

[Host Jacquelyn]

Is it possible the $100 is related to the drop in the Canadian dollar? When you transferred your booking maybe that somehow triggered them to update the price to the current exchange rate they are using and caused the price to go up by $100?

 

Anything is possible, but an even $100 would be quite a coincidence! :D I know, I am trying to make sense of it too. Also, I only booked a few weeks ago, and the exchange rate has not dropped that much since then.

[sandm]

I can not explain why the increase in cost however, I CAN tell you that RCCL does change booking numbers with out rebooking.

WE are booked on the Jewel for October 2014. We booked directly with RCCL on the phone. My sister recently called RCCL to book her room and tried to link her reservation to ours and was told our reservation number had been changed. RCCL had to hold a three way phone call with me, my sister and RCCL to confirm it was ok to link the reservations. I was told I needed to call back to get the new reservation number that it was changed.

 

When I called RCCL to get the new number the agent could not tell me why it was changed but everything else was the same. Even the early dining time had not changed and it is currently filled.

[Hoopster95]

Anything is possible, but an even $100 would be quite a coincidence! :D I know, I am trying to make sense of it too. Also, I only booked a few weeks ago, and the exchange rate has not dropped that much since then.

 

$900 US today = $999.03 as of 2 minutes ago. There's a $100 diff right there.

Hopefully when you booked RCL direct, you booked in US$. Now transferring to your TA, they have it in CDN$.

[Host Jacquelyn]

Booked in Canadian dollars, and it is still in Canadian dollars. Also, I wish my res was only $1000!!

 

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Forums mobile app

[critterchick]

Jacquelyn, your TA may be working with a consortium to get group space or has a promotion with multiple TAs for that group space.

 

Either that or your TA made a mistake. But there is just no other reason your booking number would have changed unless it was cancelled and rebooked. If it isn't a group booking and your TA cancelled and rebooked, they made an error and they need to fix it.

 

As for the other poster who is questioning my information, believe what you want. I have far more knowledge of the internal systems than you do and I am actually correct. I will say it again: booking numbers CANNOT change unless the original booking is cancelled and a new one is created. And yes, it is Royal's system doing this....at the request of the travel agent. Heck, even the travel agents on here are agreeing with me. But go ahead and believe travel agents never mess up. Its ok. You'll just be wrong.

 

I have never seen a new booking number created, even with a transfer into a group, but several posters have said that transferring their bookings to a Canadian TA has resulted in a new booking number. I don't know how long it has been since you worked for RCI, but their IT department and systems have deteriorated to the point of being a disgrace - more often than not, when I even make a simple cabin change on CP, something else changes that I don't see until the confirmation arrives. I almost always call in changes now because I will end up on the phone fixing something at some point, anyway.

[shydonna]

I have never seen a new booking number created, even with a transfer into a group, but several posters have said that transferring their bookings to a Canadian TA has resulted in a new booking number. I don't know how long it has been since you worked for RCI, but their IT department and systems have deteriorated to the point of being a disgrace - more often than not, when I even make a simple cabin change on CP, something else changes that I don't see until the confirmation arrives. I almost always call in changes now because I will end up on the phone fixing something at some point, anyway.

 

 

I had my booking number change when I transferred it to my TA, changing my dining options and causing a real problem. It seems that the RCI agent I called when I booked using my NCC, had admittedly made the error and he had to cancel my booking and rebook me via my TA, thereby losing my early dining. I did get it back about 4 months later.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[brfan]

Booked in Canadian dollars, and it is still in Canadian dollars. Also, I wish my res was only $1000!!

 

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Forums mobile app

 

What I've heard is the cruise lines estimate what the exchange is when they set the price for CAD and I think they do this either quarterly or twice a year. It is possible that the cruise line exchange rate that was used when you first purchased is different then the rate when you transferred over and I assume it might have just been rounded. Though I don't know why they would have done that in the first place if the only change was transferring your cruise to a TA.

[cruisnseas]

I can not explain why the increase in cost however, I CAN tell you that RCCL does change booking numbers with out rebooking.

WE are booked on the Jewel for October 2014. We booked directly with RCCL on the phone. My sister recently called RCCL to book her room and tried to link her reservation to ours and was told our reservation number had been changed. RCCL had to hold a three way phone call with me, my sister and RCCL to confirm it was ok to link the reservations. I was told I needed to call back to get the new reservation number that it was changed.

 

When I called RCCL to get the new number the agent could not tell me why it was changed but everything else was the same. Even the early dining time had not changed and it is currently filled.

 

In your case your booking was likely corrupted and manually cancelled and rebooked. But again, it was cancelled and rebooked you just weren't notified because it made little difference (although as a courtesy it should have required a call). See my explanation below to further explain booking numbers.

 

I have never seen a new booking number created, even with a transfer into a group, but several posters have said that transferring their bookings to a Canadian TA has resulted in a new booking number. I don't know how long it has been since you worked for RCI, but their IT department and systems have deteriorated to the point of being a disgrace - more often than not, when I even make a simple cabin change on CP, something else changes that I don't see until the confirmation arrives. I almost always call in changes now because I will end up on the phone fixing something at some point, anyway.

 

Its rare that a new booking has to be created when transferring into a group. Typically this occurs when a sailing is coded to sell out or there is a great deal of group space already sold. Its sort of a work around..you can't transfer in, but you can certainly sell new.

 

Its been a little over a year since I worked there last but their system has not allowed for booking number changes within an original booking. That is the key here. It would be like your bank account number changing - it only happens if you open a new account.