Back to back cruise - Website anomaly

[hgt]

Dear all,

 

I've been looking to combine a couple of cruises out of Malaga on Celebration next April in order to make a 14 night cruise.

 

The Thomson website seems to cope with back to back cruises, except for some reason it does not seem to list an option of combining the 23/04 'Spirit of Iberia' with the 30/04 'Continental Coasts' (other dates are however available online).

 

Has anyone got any ideas why that might be? I did e-mail Thomson who seemed to miss the point completely and said they could see it as available on the system at their end. Obviously I could call up or book via a TA but then I'd miss out on the web discount and possible Topcashback too!

 

Many thanks in advance!

[kate52]

Can't see any obvious reason for this. Not Easter. No special offers. Both available separately.

Looks like one of those quirky Thomson glitches that the IT department aren't clever enough to fix- and there are a few of those this year!

[Lanzalady]

Dear all,

 

I've been looking to combine a couple of cruises out of Malaga on Celebration next April in order to make a 14 night cruise.

 

The Thomson website seems to cope with back to back cruises, except for some reason it does not seem to list an option of combining the 23/04 'Spirit of Iberia' with the 30/04 'Continental Coasts' (other dates are however available online).

 

Has anyone got any ideas why that might be? I did e-mail Thomson who seemed to miss the point completely and said they could see it as available on the system at their end. Obviously I could call up or book via a TA but then I'd miss out on the web discount and possible Topcashback too!

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago with Iberian Treasures/Spanish Sunsets. One day it was there and shown on the list and the next it wasn't. A few days later I looked again and it was back again. I booked it and then a few days later it was gone again.... and it is still not showing as a 14 day itinerary on the website. But I called Thomson and they said that it was still available and that it must be just a glitch on the website. They seem to update the site every few days as there is always something different.

[hgt]

Well I managed to book my desired combination of cruises over the phone... but in doing so I learned that the price varies massively depending on who you speak to and where your call gets routed!

 

I initially called last night on the 0203 636 1803 number which appears to go through to the Swansea call centre. The lady gave me a price, but I didn't book at the time as I wanted to have a think. I later decided I was happy with the price and decided to call back first thing this morning to book... but that's when the problems started......

 

Firstly I called the same number and got through to a lady in Swansea who advised that they only deal with existing bookings, and I needed to call another number. So I called the given number which routed me though to a TA somewhere in Devon. A very nice lady, but she couldn't find me combination of cruises on the system at all (the TA system is obviously similar to what we see online and hence the cruises I wanted are missing). She offered to call head office and would get back to me.... she called back to inform me that head office had confirmed that those particular cruises could not be booked together.... Aaaargh!

 

So, I thought I'd ring the Swansea number again to see if I've get further with someone else. A chap answered who again said that he couldn't make a booking, he would transfer me to someone who could... which of course sent me to a random TA who could not help!

 

So then I called the booking number that is given in the brochure... this time I got through to a nice lady who from the accent I think was in a North-East call centre. She confirmed that she could indeed see the cruises I wanted on the system and would be able to book them for me (yay), but as it was a back to back cruise she would have to speak to her manager who will calculate the price for me (?). Anyway she came back and gave me a price which was approx £250 more than I'd been given the night before (same cabin, board level, same everything). So I explained about the price I'd been given previously, so the lady went away to see what discount she could apply, and reduced the price by approx £100, but of course this was still £150 more than I'd previously been told!

 

So, in desperation I thought I'd wait until evening time again (after 6pm) and try the Swansea number... I got though to a lady who was able to help first time, and sold me the cruise for the exact same price I'd been given the previous day :-) So all was fine in the end, but why do the prices vary based on who you speak to!

 

So the moral of the story.... call the Swansea call centre in the evenings to get the cheapest price!

[kate52]

Glad you got your cruise sorted, but really!! It should NOT be that complicated.

At least you can relax now and look forward to a lovely cruise!