vent - what's the point of having a TA?

[Randyk47]

Hey Gary.....long time no see. I was up in the DC area 3 weeks ago for a conference out at Tyson's Corner. Got off the plane at National and walked outside....remembered right away why I left the area. How's the picture taking going?

 

Donna - Absolutely right on. Long as my wife and I have our wits about us we'll arrange our own travel. If....and we've tried.....we could find a "brick and mortar" TA who could match the deals we're getting then they'd have our business. It's just business and nothing personal against TA's. Have one and love her like part of the family but not enough to pay her a $1,000 more for our upcoming cruise.

[Longboysfan]

Have used the same agent for the past 4 years.

Met her on the Summitt.

 

She is the best.

 

Most agents should be able to get the standard things from the line.

 

Mine watches for the specials and discounts that come along.

[Leela]

Arrgh, my saga just goes from bad to worse. Now I don't have my cruise documents and we're leaving in less than two weeks. Here's what happened:

 

I went away to Sri Lanka, and assumed that the documents would be mailed to me while I was gone, on paper via US Mail. That is how it worked the past two times I cruised with Celebrity, including this past April.

 

I got back from Sri Lanka on Monday, and found our documents had not arrived. I emailed the travel agent, who wrote back and told me that Celebrity had switched over to an electronic system, and had sent them via email on September 8th, so we should have them.

 

Well, my husband gets about 800 *useful* messages a day, and THOUSANDS of spam messages on top of that, so when the email arrived in his mailbox he figured "oh god, more spam" and deleted it without really looking at it. Plus, he's only cruised once before, so he has little or no idea as to how booking or even preparing to board a cruise works because I was there to handle it the last time. If I had known the documents were coming by email I would have warned him to watch out for them, but I had no idea....The travel agent never told us they would be sent electronically to my husband. I never asked, either, because I cruised Celebrity earlier this year and I got my documents on paper via US Mail. I just didn't think about it.

 

So the travel agent "put in a request" with Celebrity to have the documents re-sent to us. It's been two days and they still haven't arrived. I've written back to the travel agent again telling them we don't have the documents and that I'm more than a little concerned about the situation.

 

I mean really...this is supposed to be our 10th Anniversary cruise...I don't want to be denied it due to some stupid bureaucratic snafu. My husband asks "isn't there just a URL we can go to to get them?"

 

Excellent question.

 

I just logged into Celebrity's web site and see the "Online Check-in" tab under our reservation. Will filling out the stuff there suffice for us to be able to get on board? I've never done things this way, I don't know how they work, and our travel agent has been less than helpful. Like, if we were really just supposed to use the Celebrity web site, they should tell us that rather than telling me they'd put in another request to email me the documents. They should have said something like "oh, it's all online when you log into their web site" rather than me having to guess and ask you all here! I mean really, this travel agent is earning a commission FOR WHAT????? I picked the date, the ship, the cabin, etc etc etc. Grrrrrrr.

[Leela]

Well, I used the online system and was able to input all the information and print the express pass, so I guess that means we're all set.

 

If only the travel agent had said "Go to Celebrity's web site" rather than "they emailed you the documents," I wouldn't have gotten so frustrated. Them telling me they would "email the documents" implied to me that I was going to get a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF document that I'd have to print out and fill in and bring with me. It doesn't imply that there's a web site I have to log in to to handle everything.

 

I know I'm being pedantic, but I'm just so annoyed at the complete lack of service I've gotten from this travel agent. As I said upthread, I used them because we would get LOTS of frequent flyer miles for doing so, and the truth is it just wasn't worth the stupidity for me.

[AFT_LOVER]

I am reading this saying to myself, who ripped these folks off! You should file a complaint with the TA commission. Since it is the cruiseline, not the TA that charges the deposit & final payment to your cedit card, how can this TA be making extra money since her commission is paid by "X" not you.

 

Hopefully you have moved on to a good one. If I can help more just email me since you maybe do not want to publicize info. TA that give air miles? That is a new one but maybe when you booked with the air reservationist who doesn't have a clue about cruising. Credit card companies also advertise travel depts and their rates are thru the roof! Now I am seeing ads for buyouts of cruises & that has to be the room next to the anchor. So hopefully no one is falling for any of these.

 

Enjoy what you have since you are on the ship with plenty of folks to have a great time with. If you get a table filled with kids & you are like us - NO kids, then see the Maitre D to be moved. "X" is usally quite good at pairing folks.

 

We almost lost our first curise because the TA sent X the wrong amount of money for the final payment. X did not consider us to have paid for the cruise and sold our cabin to someone else. After countless phone calls between X and the TA we finally got everything resolved one week before we sailed and got on the ship in a less desirable cabin. To compensate us, our TA sent us a ship board credit. This all happened before booking information was available on line. Now, if we use a TA, we know to keep after them and to keep checking.

[AFT_LOVER]

I had the Plat AMEX before I went to DL SM AMEX for air miles to Hawai'i every February. You have to book the cruise thru the & it has to be one of the promo cruises arranged with "X". Not for all cruises.

 

 

Find a travel agent who belongs to one of the travel consortiums like Ensemble or Virtuoso. My TA belongs to Ensemble, and they have escorted cruises, cocktail parties, do shore excursions, pre-pay tips, and give gifts. And you don't pay a thing for this. My family has also been very good customers over the years and we've booked over 40 cruises with this TA, so it pays to go with an agent for the long term.

 

Another way to handle this is to get an Am Ex platinum card. I know it costs money up front, but if you cruise more than once a year, that fee pays for itself with the onboard credits. For example, I paid for my upcoming cruise with the Plat card and I'm getting a $300 credit, plus an additional $100 credit towards paying for a shore excursion. That's $400 credit right there for one cruise. And if you pay for more than one cabin with the Plat card, each room gets the credit.

[garykool81]

Hey Gary.....long time no see. I was up in the DC area 3 weeks ago for a conference out at Tyson's Corner. Got off the plane at National and walked outside....remembered right away why I left the area.

 

Hey there! Sorry for the long time it took me to respond to your post. Work has been living heck for the past few weeks with how busy we've been. It should get better as we move towards the winter months.

 

Yeah, we had quite a hot summer here in DC, eh?

[Jimsgirl]

I book most of my cruisexs with an agent in another state from which I live, and she is very good. However on Sunday the 11th I read in my local paper an ad from a local agent who is part of a very large consortium.

 

The cruise was Celebrity Infinity 14 days in November 2006, cruise price $1299 ppdc. with "free air" and "free bus" from Ft Lauderdale at the end.

Sounds good, as a single passenger I knew I would have have to pay supplement, so I called the agency. Sticker shock big time.

Fare $3154,for a Cat 11 cabin ,(even though I have done 12 cruises with Celebrity, then came more shocks "because you are a solo passenger you will have to pay a deposit of $1200 (thats right $1200)" she claimed this was Celebrity's policy. BIG LIE.

Then told me that if I changed my mind and cancelled no matter how early I would have to pay the agency $350 for cancellation paperwork.

 

What a scam, of course I did not book the cruise with her, but suppose I had been a first time cruiser, I would have have really been screwed.

[brigittetom]

Our TA was worth his weight in gold when he suggested we do one upgrade so we would have an aft veranda. This was before we knew about CC so we had no way of knowing how wonderful the aft was. He also got us an obstructed veiw when we were booking inside on the Volendam. :)

[rucruisn2]

Venting is good for the sole. So I'll put in my 2 cents worth. I have booked several cruises with our current TA plus referred many clients to her. I just booked another cruise, granted it is a short one and not very expensive, but I get no perks from her at all, pay the going rate that's on Celebrity's web site, and don't even get a "Thank you". Is saying thank you asking too much???

[brigittetom]

Good point. I should have mentioned that our TA has beat the cruiseline price each and every time. We don't get any thank you's or perks either but we're happy saving money. :)

[Richard Stein]

Example: My daughter is on the 12/10 Infinity canal cruise. She just booked. Best price she got from Celebrity was $2200 per person outside cabin. I refered her to a website where agents compete for your business. One agent still had group space in a balcony and she got it for $2000 per person and a $50 per person on board credit. I have had agents fight to get me a last minute upgrade or money back when the line drops the price 60 days out to fill the ship. See if an online agency with no direct contact to a human will do the same. I'll stick with my TA. She's protects my wallet.