E-Mail Sale received from TA - $300 less than directly from cruiseline - what gives??

[hedyc]

I thought that the TA's could not undercut the price of the cruiseline. Called Celebrity to see if they would match the price and they can't. They confirmed that TA's are not supposed to charge less, but can offer other things like shipboard credits, gifts, etc.

What gives?

Any suggestions other than moving the booking which I don't want to do for many reasons. The cruise is over a year away.

Thanks in advance.

[Char]

I thought that the TA's could not undercut the price of the cruiseline. Called Celebrity to see if they would match the price and they can't. They confirmed that TA's are not supposed to charge less, but can offer other things like shipboard credits, gifts, etc.

What gives?

Any suggestions other than moving the booking which I don't want to do for many reasons. The cruise is over a year away.

Thanks in advance.

It is possible that they have contracted group space at a lower rate and they ARE allowed to advertise the contracted fares. If it is a reputable TA I wouldn't pass up that much savings. :)

[newmexicoNita]

yes, TA do still get lower prices in some cases; it's the question of advertising that can be in question. I just checked both Celebrity this morning and NCL, both websites have higher prices than we have. There certainly isn't $300 difference, but some. NMNita ps just make sure you are dealing with a reputable company.

[canderson]

My semi-weekly rant on the topic:

 

The new policies do NOT assure that everyone will have the same price for a particular cruise, nor need one be automatically suspicious when finding a lower price than what Celebrity is posting on their site. Deals can still be had if you know where to look and you happen to pick the right cruise.

 

KEEP SHOPPING, FOLKS!

[newmexicoNita]

My semi-weekly rant on the topic:

 

The new policies do NOT assure that everyone will have the same price for a particular cruise, nor need one be automatically suspicious when finding a lower price than what Celebrity is posting on their site. Deals can still be had if you know where to look and you happen to pick the right cruise.

 

KEEP SHOPPING, FOLKS!

You are right, it is like everything else, it pays to shop. Not always is the lowest rate the best as sometimes service is worth a few more dollars, but basically you are correct. NMNita

[covey]

If you don't mind sharing, I certainly would appreciate the name of your agent and agency. covey41@AOL.COM Thanks:)

[SS Cruise Lady]

If you don't mind sharing, I certainly would appreciate the name of your agent and agency. covey41@AOL.COM Thanks:)

 

We are not allowed to name TA's, but I will share a procedure that I have used. I called a number of different travel agents who are near us and requested a price quote for a specific cruise/cabin category, etc. When a TA gave me a quote that was a little lower than the others, I contacted Celebrity to find out if they have done business with them and if there were any issues. After Celebrity informed me that they have done a lot of business with this TA without any problems, I booked my cruise with them.

[hedyc]

They have done me wrong once before for a shipboard credit that was inadvertently sent to them instead of being put back onto my credit card by Celebrity and then I had to have Celebrity fight with them for about four months. They would not call the Celebrity rep back and in the end Celebrity just gave me back the money - about $300US and said that they would continue to contact the agency tow work it out. The agency also charges a cancellation fee if you cancel at anytime after booking. It is so far away from the actual cruise I don't want to have to bear the cancellation fee if something else should come up. I think it would be $100.00 for each of the four of us.

This advertised price would mean a savings of 4 x $300 for me and I am not feeling great about not grabbing it. But I will hold out. Hopefully Celebrity will lower their prices before Dec. 2006 and I will be vindicated.

[Richard Stein]

If the sale was received on a Tuesday it was a happy hour sale on unsold inventory. This seems to happen for Celebrity and RCCL a lot. HAL offers the best price to repeaters early and is never on the 90 day tickers of certain agencies. On my 11/10 Celebrity cruise I booked early with elite status. They are selling my category of cabin for hundreds less than I paid and the line does not want to budge. It will be my last Celebrity cruise.

[TPKeller]

If you don't mind sharing, I certainly would appreciate the name of your agent and agency. covey41@AOL.COM Thanks

We are not allowed to name TA's

Big Brother has not yet forbidden us from talking privately among ourselves, and the last time I read them, this request is permitted within the community guidelines, as long as it is done off-line.

 

Theron

[canderson]

Big Brother has not yet forbidden us from talking privately among ourselves, and the last time I read them, this request is permitted within the community guidelines, as long as it is done off-line.

 

Theron

?? And that's how it was handled. Oddly, I replied to this same person with the same info on 9/22. Hope the mail is actually getting there.

[hedyc]

If the sale was received on a Tuesday it was a happy hour sale on unsold inventory. This seems to happen for Celebrity and RCCL a lot. HAL offers the best price to repeaters early and is never on the 90 day tickers of certain agencies. On my 11/10 Celebrity cruise I booked early with elite status. They are selling my category of cabin for hundreds less than I paid and the line does not want to budge. It will be my last Celebrity cruise.

 

Richard, is it a private TA selling for hundreds less? I always check on the Celebrity website for the fares. Sometimes they are not even listed as the same as the rates I am quoted on the phone. So I always phone and ask for the rate for the type of cabin I am looking for. I speak to whoever answers, not the person who sold me the cruise originally. I got the best deal on my upcoming cruise from Celebrity on a happy hour special. For the next cruise the TA is listing at a total of $1200US less!! Painful when Celebrity won't match but then again they probably can't undercut their retailers.

You can, if you like transfer your booking to the TA and benefit from the lower rate. You can keep the same booking number etc. I would have done that now but I don't want to deal with the TA that has advertised.

Did you attempt to do that?

Hope this helps.

Good luck

[TPKeller]

?? And that's how it was handled. Oddly, I replied to this same person with the same info on 9/22. Hope the mail is actually getting there.

:) I hope it was, but since it's off line, you can't tell... the brief wording seemed to indicate that Cruise Lady may have thought she wasn't allowed to share, even off line.. I just wanted to make sure that was not what she was thinking.

 

Theron

[SS Cruise Lady]

We are not allowed to name TA's, but I will share a procedure that I have used. I called a number of different travel agents who are near us and requested a price quote for a specific cruise/cabin category, etc. When a TA gave me a quote that was a little lower than the others, I contacted Celebrity to find out if they have done business with them and if there were any issues. After Celebrity informed me that they have done a lot of business with this TA without any problems, I booked my cruise with them.

 

I would like to add there was one local travel agent who refused to give me a quote over the phone and told me that I would have to come into her office if I wanted one. That made me feel as if I was dealing with a car salesman so I didn't want to do business with her.

[Arubalisa]

Just as an FYI...when we booked, we received a quote from Celebrity. Called an internet agency and they were able to beat the price BIG TIME.

 

Why? Simple failure on the part of Celebrity to offer a senior citizen discount for 3 of 6 people. They also failed to offer a discount to the other 3 people in our party who were entitled to sale pricing because of their state of residence. This added up to a nice discount.

 

Celebrity wanted to get this booking themselves...they called 3 times asking how come we booked with someone else.

 

In booking a HAL transatlantic last spring, another online internet agency (other than the one used above) was also able to beat the price given to my Mom by her travel agent. It was for a suite, for three persons and saved thousands! of dollars.

 

My momma told me, "You Better Shop Around!"

[TPKeller]

Celebrity wanted to get this booking themselves...they called 3 times asking how come we booked with someone else.

This presents a question, maybe it has been answered before, I don't remember seeing it.

 

Do the cruise line agents (the ones you talk to when you call the generic 800 number) have any direct financial incentive to book your cruise? Something similar to a commission?

 

If they're just making $X per hour to talk on the phone and enter data on a computer, it isn't hard to figure out why you get better service from a good Travel Agent!

 

Theron

[dmk]

hedyc:

I'd appreciate it if you could email me the name and info regarding your TA. I had a good one for years but now he is offering the same as Celebrity. If I can receive some kind of discount, I would give my bookings I have now(directly with Celebrity) to him.

doreen.michael@videotron.ca

[smeyer418]

Besides group fares, the cruiselines still sell cabins in bulk to some of the TA's, or to a group of TA's. When they do this the risk of loss or gain passes to the TA and they can sell it for whatever price they want. The Cruise lines as long as they agree to sell in bulk cannot set the resale price. This also sometimes why when a cruise line is sold out some TA's still have inventory.

[canderson]

Besides group fares, the cruiselines still sell cabins in bulk to some of the TA's, or to a group of TA's. When they do this the risk of loss or gain passes to the TA and they can sell it for whatever price they want. The Cruise lines as long as they agree to sell in bulk cannot set the resale price. This also sometimes why when a cruise line is sold out some TA's still have inventory.

This arrangement can be especially valuable to someone shopping for a cruise whose price has been ratcheted up considerably by Celebrity as time progresses. Some will hold the original price, creating a substantial differential against current Celebrity pricing. For those TA's/agencies that are willing to gamble their dollars on their knowledge of which cruises will increase, their investment in "cruise futures" can create some great deals for those that can't or just didn't book early.

[newmexicoNita]

This presents a question, maybe it has been answered before, I don't remember seeing it.

 

Do the cruise line agents (the ones you talk to when you call the generic 800 number) have any direct financial incentive to book your cruise? Something similar to a commission?

 

If they're just making $X per hour to talk on the phone and enter data on a computer, it isn't hard to figure out why you get better service from a good Travel Agent!

 

Theron

I believe the mass marketed lines have agents that work on an hourly basis. They may have a bonus program for top sales, but still are primarily hourly employees. Some TA also are employed by the hour, in fact many are with a bonus program as well after you reach a certain level each month. Others are commissioned. Top agents love to work on commission, nearly, less experienced ones prefer to be paid by the hour. At least this has been my experience in the business. NMNita

[urkidn]

This presents a question, maybe it has been answered before, I don't remember seeing it.

 

Do the cruise line agents (the ones you talk to when you call the generic 800 number) have any direct financial incentive to book your cruise? Something similar to a commission?

 

If they're just making $X per hour to talk on the phone and enter data on a computer, it isn't hard to figure out why you get better service from a good Travel Agent!

 

Theron

 

I know for sure that Celebrity's agents do get commission. A few weeks ago, I had an agent put a couple of cabins on hold for me. He told me that he could only hold them for 24 hrs (he later admitted that this was not true and they could be held longer). That night the price went up $400/cabin and when I phoned the next day that particular agent was off for two days so I confirmed the reservation with another agent. A couple of days later the original agent phoned back and was quite upset because apparently the person who puts the deposit through gets the commission. He cancelled the first deposit and put it through again under his name. He also inadvertently charged me twice for each cabin. The mistake was fixed but I was dinged about $115 in the difference in exchange rates which Visa reluctantly reversed. They claim it was the cruise lines' error because the transaction should have been a "reversal" as opposed to a "credit". I am not particularly pleased with this agent and will definitely consider transferring my bookings when the date gets closer. I've only been researching this cruise for a short time and I felt I knew more about it than he did.

[flashdog_1]

I think that every single sailing does not automatically have a senior discount available, nor a residence one. There's a particular cruise I'm booking and every TA I talk to says there's no senior discount. Can any of you travel agents verify this? Thanks.

 

Also, should I be suspect if an online agency advertises a balcony for the inside price stated on celebrity.com and does not state how long the special is available?

 

Please send me the name of the agency, also. pgauker@bellsouth.net

[cruiseco]

I think that every single sailing does not automatically have a senior discount available, nor a residence one. There's a particular cruise I'm booking and every TA I talk to says there's no senior discount. Can any of you travel agents verify this? Thanks.

QUOTE]

 

Just remember that special discounts (seniors, residents, etc) are only offered because they have to. Any cruise line would prefer to have enough pricing power that no discounts are necessary to fill the ships.

 

Each sailing is evaluated as to what, if any, discounts will be needed to get 100% occupancy at the minimum expected per dium fare. Some sailings will fill up quickly enough that no additional discounts are offered. For others they'll pull out every discount they can think of -- "Happy Hour specials, free air, and all the rest.